----------------------------------Complete tutorial on taking your xbox apart----------------------------------- Disclaimer: I, II Jay II, will not be held responsible if any damage is done to your xbox or yourself becuase of this tutorial, doing this to your xbox will void it's warranty if it hasn't ended already.
*** This tutorial was made using a version 1.0 xbox, some of the information in this tutorial will not comply with your xbox if it's a newer version, but all the versions (1.0-1.6b) are almost the same so you shouldn't need to worry about that. ***
Table of contents: Section: I -----|(Tools & Case top removal)
Section: II -----|(Unscrewing the disc drive & Unplugging cables)
Section: III -----|(Unplugging cables continued & HDD/Disc drive removal)
Section: IV -----|(Disc drive removal continued & Unplugging cables from the motherboard)
Section: V -----|(Unplugging cables from the motherboard continued)
Section: VI -----|(Removing the motherboard/Power supply & Controller ports)
Section: VII -----|(Removing controller ports continued & Removing the Fan/Faceplate)
Section: VIII -----|(Removing the faceplate continued & Removing the power/eject buttons)
Section: IX -----|(Removing power/eject button cover & Removing aluminum heatshields & Removing heatsink fan)
Section: X -----|(Removing heatsink fan continued & Removing heatsinks)
Section: XI -----|(Daughter board removal & HDD)
Section: XII -----|(Final notes)
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//// Section: I (Tools & Case top removal)
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Remember to make a clean surface area to work on and clear some space out somewhere to put all the parts and keep them nice and organized.
The tools you are going to have to use to take the xbox apart are as follows:- Torx 20 screwdriver
- Torx 10 screwdriver
- Pliers
- Common screwdriver
- Phillips screwdriver
Ok so here's are xbox. First thing your going to want to do is unplug all of the cables and anything plugged into the controller ports and then flip it over so you have access to the bottom of the case.
Looking at the bottom of the case there is six screws holding the case together, 4 of them are under the black rubber pads and the other 2 are under the stickers (one screw for each sticker). You will need to use the torx 20 screwdriver to unscrew them.
For the screws under the pads just use your finger to peel the pads back and unscrew them using the torx 20 screwdriver.
For the screws under the stickers you can use your finger again to feel for the hole under each of the stickers and then push threw or you can use the torx 20 screwdriver to push a hole threw the sticker and continue on unscrewing the screws.
Once the six screws are out you can flip the case back over and lift the top part of the case straight up to remove the top, be careful when flipping the xbox back over to not let the bottom fall out from under the top.
================================================== === //// Section: II (Unscrewing the disc drive & Unplugging cables)
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Now that the top of the case is off we can see the drives. The first thing that you'll want to do is slide the grey IDE cable out from the tab holding it down and push it out of the way.
There are 3 brass screws holding the disc drive down, 1 of them is along the right side of the disc drive and the other 2 are on each of the front corners of the disc drive. Use the torx 10 screwdriver to remove them and then pull the screws out with the pliers.
Let's move over to the hard drive, the first thing we're going to want to do is pull out the grey IDE cable.
Now pull the power cable out of the hard drive.
One more step would be to slide the power cable out of all the tabs holding it down along the top and right side of the hard drive case.
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//// Section: III (Unplugging cables continued & HDD/Disc drive removal)
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Move over to the disc drive and pull the grey IDE cable out.
Continue on by pulling the yellow cable out aswell.
Back over the the hard drive, grab the back of the hard drive case as illustrated below and pull up until you hear a "snap" sound and there should be a small gap along the left side which is also shown below.
Slide the power cable to the outside of the hard drive case.
Grab the top left corner of the hard drive case and pull up to remove it, you might want to place your other hand on the bottom right corner for support and easier removal.
Now that the hard drive is out move over to the disc drive and on the front faceplate push back and up at the same to to lift the front of the disc drive up.
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//// Section: IV (Disc drive removal continued & Unplugging cables from the motherboard)
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The front of the disc drive should now look something like the picture below.
Grab the right side of the disc drive and still pushing back and up you can lift it straight up.
We now have a clear view of the inside of the xbox.
Pull the grey IDE cable out of the motherboard.
Pull the yellow power cable out of the motherboard.
Pull the power cable for the heatsink fan out of the motherboard (you only have to do this on version 1.0 Xbox's).
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//// Section: V (Unplugging cables from the motherboard continued)
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Pull the main fan's power cable out of the motherboard.
Pull the main power connector out of the motherboard.
Pull the controller port cables out from the daughterboard (you only have to do this on version 1.0 Xbox's, so if your xbox is a newer version they pull right out of the motherboard).
Pull the power/eject buttons cable out of the motherboard.
Section: VI (Removing the motherboard/Power supply & Controller ports)
There's 11 screws holding the motherboard in place, you'll need to use the torx 10 screwdriver to remove them. I have illustrated below where they're located and don't forget to unscrew the 2 at the back on the audio/video port.
Grab the VGA heatsink and start lifting the south side of the motherboard up, once it's up high enough you can start sliding the motherboard towards you while lifting it up at the same time and it should slide out.
There's only 2 screws holding the power supply down, again use the torx 10 screwdriver to remove them.
I have shown in the pictures below the capacitors on the power supply, DO NOT touch these becuase they store electrical energy and haven't been discharged, so even if the xbox is off and unplugged they can still deliver a fatal shock or damage the power supply. You shouldn't touch the metal bracket holding them on either since that can shock you aswell (it's best if you don't touch anything on the power supply unit exept for the very back port and the main wires coming out of it for your own safety).
Grab the wires for the motherboard power connector and lift the power supply up then towards you and it will come out.
Lift the black plastic sheet out from the case, don't worry it's not glued on or anything.
On each of the controller ports there's 2 screws holding them down, use the torx 10 screwdriver to remove them.
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//// Section: VII (Removing controller ports continued & Removing the Fan/Faceplate)
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Once the screws are out lift the back of the controller ports up until the back is facing up and then you can pull them out.
On to the fan.
Using the common screwdriver slide it into the tab on the left side and then push towards the fan which should allow you to slide the screwdriver in farther.
Holding the common screwdriver in place move over to the other side of the fan and slide the phillips screwdriver into the tab and push towards the fan just like you did in the last step and the fan should pop out as soon as you press in.
Let's continue on by removing the faceplate. On the left side there's a gap between the faceplate and case which is where you want to slide the common screwdriver into.
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//// Section: VIII (Removing the faceplate continued & Removing the power/eject buttons)
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Push the handle of the screwdriver towards to aluminum heatshield and then providing that the screwdriver is creating enough leverage the faceplate will pop off.
Move over to the other side, this time when you slide the screwdriver in you'll want to pull the screwdriver towards you instead of pushing it towards the case and it will pop that side of the faceplate off.
There's 3 tabs still holding the faceplate on, all you have to do is push on them and they'll release. Once all 3 of the tabs have been detached slide the yellow cable threw the hole.
Push down on the tab securing the power/eject board until it makes a "click" sound and stays in place on the bottom of the power/eject button circuit board.
Flip the faceplate over and press the power button in until the power/eject button circuit board falls out.
Section: IX (Removing power/eject button cover & Removing aluminum heatshields & Removing heatsink fan)
There's 2 tabs holding the power/eject button cover on, push them off with your fingers or the common screwdriver.
You can now slide the cover off by twisting it in a downward motion.
Let's remove those aluminum heatshields now. For the bottom one just grab each of the corners and pulling up it'll come out.
As for the top heatshield you will need to use the common screwdriver and on each of the tabs holding it down pry them up until you can remove the top heatshield.
Heading back over to the motherboard there's 4 screws holding the fan on the smaller heatsink down, use the phillips screwdriver to remove them (you only have to do this on version 1.0 Xbox's so if your xbox is a newer version you can skip the steps to remove it).
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//// Section: X (Removing heatsink fan continued & Removing heatsinks)
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You can then lift the fan out from the VGA heatsink (again this is only for version 1.0 Xbox's).
On the CPU heatsink there's a plastic heatsink clip holding it down, just flip the southern side of it up and it'll come off (it's not in my pictures becuase it was broken off which meens be careful when removing and putting the heatsink clip back on).
Now over the the VGA heatsink clip. This will be alot easier if your xbox is a version 1.1-1.6b since it's made of plastic and not aluminum on those versions. Anyways lets get this stupid thing off.
Ok start off by pushing down on the southern side of it.
Once completely pressed in twist it so one side slides off and then you can pull it up so the other side comes off.
You can now pull both of the heatsinks off of the motherboard, the VGA heatsink might be stuck so use one of the screwdrivers to pry it off (note: you will probably have to apply new thermal compound to the heatsinks if you remove them).
Section: XI (Daughter board removal & HDD removal)
You can now clearly see the VGA and CPU, when you apply new thermal compund remember to carefully remove any of the old stuff.
This step only applies to 1.0 Xbox's. Remove the daughterboard by pulling it up from the motherboard.
Congratulations you have completely stripped the motherboard.
Are next step is to remove the hard drive from it's housing.
On each side of the housing there's 2 screws holding the hard drive in, use the torx 10 screwdriver to remove them and then pull the hard drive out.
Don't physically disassemble the hard drive unless you wan't to wreck it, there's a reason why it's sealed air tight and that's becuase any dust particles in the hard drive would ruin the disk.
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//// Section: XII (Final notes)
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Congratulations if you followed all these steps properly then you have succesfully disassembled your xbox. Just follow all these steps in the reverse order to put your Xbox back together, remember to push every cable in as far as it goes and to tighten every screw (not to tight). Below are some links that you might find useful.
This was meant to help you understand how your Xbox works, how to clean it, and to help make installing modifications easier so I hope you learned something from this!
If you want to clean everything out make shure to use some form of air ie. a compressor or one of those bottles of air you can buy at your local walmart. You can also use a soft rag to wipe everything down.
A final note: If you want to apply new thermal compound to the heatsinks then you should go here and check those products out.
Other stuff you might like to learn about
Dissassembling Your XBOX - An In-Depth Tutorial
