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Attention Original Xbox owners - Remove the Time Capacitor before it's too late!

Sesuadra

Unconfirmed Member
Great Scott! Luckily doesn't seem like there's much damage after you have cleaned it up. Good to hear that your box is still rocking!

qs4OBnr.jpg

that's how the capacitor looked. happy that I did it :D
 

deadfolk

Member
First I've heard of this.

Just checked mine and it's 2005. My first box died the day after I finished Halo and this was the replacement.

I guess that means it's 1.6 and there's nothing I can do but wait for the inevitable?
 
First I've heard of this.

Just checked mine and it's 2005. My first box died the day after I finished Halo and this was the replacement.

I guess that means it's 1.6 and there's nothing I can do but wait for the inevitable?

I thought there was no risk to late Xbox like this one.
 
First I've heard of this.

Just checked mine and it's 2005. My first box died the day after I finished Halo and this was the replacement.

I guess that means it's 1.6 and there's nothing I can do but wait for the inevitable?
I'm pretty sure this one isn't affected by it, but I could be wrong.
 

stn

Member
Is there a really in-depth tutorial someone can recommend in case I have to do this? I'm terrible with this type of stuff and really fear screwing up my XBox. Thanks! :)
 

dubc35

Member
Is there a really in-depth tutorial someone can recommend in case I have to do this? I'm terrible with this type of stuff and really fear screwing up my XBox. Thanks! :)
With the correct tools it is very easy. Now if you find a bunch of dead roaches and roach shit everywhere like I did...then prepare for a full teardown and PCB douche (which isn't difficult either). I won't shame this thread with the pics but they're posted in other threads.
 
My Xbox has a manufacture date of 7/5/2005. So according to OP, I need to replace the capacitor. But then some recent posts say I'm fine. Should I leave it alone? I would almost certainly fuck it up.
 

OmahaG8

Member
Alright, I am confused. Fellow GAFfers in the know - please help me out.

I have two Xbox's - this first one I am unsure about. Made 2004-04-01, has a Focus labelled video chip, and a gold capacitor.


This second one I am nearly certain is a 1.6 - made 2004-04-10, has an Xbox labelled video chip, and also has a gold capacitor.


I had read (maybe erroneously) that pre-1.6 units had a black capacitor. Should I pull the capacitor from the unit in the top image?

Thanks!
 

TheChaos0

Member
Alright, I am confused. Fellow GAFfers in the know - please help me out.

I have two Xbox's - this first one I am unsure about. Made 2004-04-01, has a Focus labelled video chip, and a gold capacitor.



This second one I am nearly certain is a 1.6 - made 2004-04-10, has an Xbox labelled video chip, and also has a gold capacitor.



I had read (maybe erroneously) that pre-1.6 units had a black capacitor. Should I pull the capacitor from the unit in the top image?

Thanks!

The time capacitor will be on top of 2 overlaying circles on the board marked C7G2, C7G3 typically.

So it does look like the top picture hits the right notes, the bottom one seems to have a different layout and capacitor used as you can see it has different notation for the capacitor - C8C1, C8C1, does suggest it's a later version.

If you can boot your Xbox, you can identify your revision number. Once again if you got 1.6, you don't need to do anything. Even if there's a problem with the capacitor you cannot just yank it out as the later Xboxes cannot boot up without it. As far as I remember 1.5 is using a different capacitor as well, which is less prone to leaking however on 1.5 you can still remove it and Xbox will boot up. So the pictures above could have 1.5 in them, potentially the top one as the bottom's layout looks like 1.6, however I couldn't find 1.5's layout so hard to tell.

http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=367210&seqNum=2

You can use one final check to verify the Xbox revision that you own (or are considering buying): Look at the BIOS kernel version and dashboard version numbers. To view these numbers, boot the Xbox in dashboard mode (by powering up without a disc in the DVD-ROM drive). Go to Settings and then System Info. A disclaimer will scroll down and will eventually show you two version numbers: a K: value for the kernel and a D: value for the dashboard. You can perform an unscientific check of the revision using Table 3.5.

Xbox Revision 1.0 - Kernel version 3944,4034,4036,4627
Xbox Revision 1.1 - Kernel version 4817,4972
Xbox Revision 1.2 - 1.5 - Kernel version 5101,5713
Xbox Revision 1.6 - Kernel version 5838
 

Seik

Banned
Will check mine this week-end, thanks OP!

Hopefully mine is below 1.6 so I can just cut it off the board instead of getting my solder kit out.
 

shiyrley

Banned
I just did this to mine. I think it was just starting to leak. I just snapped it off since I don't really care about it maintaining the time or not. 1.1 model. Thanks for the warning!
 

Imbarkus

As Sartre noted in his contemplation on Hell in No Exit, the true horror is other members.
I bought my original XBox factory refurbished. Wonder if I have to fuck with all this?
 

shiyrley

Banned
Confused, mine is dated August 2004, so does it need removed or replaced?
From the ᶠᵘᶜᵏᶦᶰᵍ op:
You can use one final check to verify the Xbox revision that you own (or are considering buying): Look at the BIOS kernel version and dashboard version numbers. To view these numbers, boot the Xbox in dashboard mode (by powering up without a disc in the DVD-ROM drive). Go to Settings and then System Info. A disclaimer will scroll down and will eventually show you two version numbers: a K: value for the kernel and a D: value for the dashboard. You can perform an unscientific check of the revision using Table 3.5.
Xbox Revision 1.0 - Kernel version 3944,4034,4036,4627
Xbox Revision 1.1 - Kernel version 4817,4972
Xbox Revision 1.2 - 1.5 - Kernel version 5101,5713
Xbox Revision 1.6 - Kernel version 5838
I bought my original XBox factory refurbished. Wonder if I have to fuck with all this?
- Do I have to fuck with all this? -

Do you own an original Xbox?
Yes -> You do
No -> You don't

Bonus track:
1.6 -> Needs to be replaced, not just removed
Any other version: You choose between removing or replacing
 

RaZoR No1

Member
Thanks to you guys, I was able to save a Xbox.

Yesterday I just found one Xbox on the streets lying on the ground...
Plugged it in to see if it still works.
Removed the capacitor (already started leaking) and everything is fine now.

Now I have two OG Xbox at home for my console collection :D
 

Leonidas

Member
Oh noes, my OG Xbox still has the original capacitor in there and is one of the original revisions! Just retrieved the tools to do the job. Was hesitant to do this in the past but just remembered, hoping it is able to be saved(it still works so there's hope).

Was anyone able to successfully remove the rubber feet without damaging them? That's my main concern right now, my Xbox is virtually pristine and I don't want to detract much from that if at all possible...

EDIT: just removed the screws without any damage to the rubber feet, though the sticky substance may need to be replaced...
 
Last edited:
Oh noes, my OG Xbox still has the original capacitor in there and is one of the original revisions! Just retrieved the tools to do the job. Was hesitant to do this in the past but just remembered, hoping it is able to be saved(it still works so there's hope).

Was anyone able to successfully remove the rubber feet without damaging them? That's my main concern right now, my Xbox is virtually pristine and I don't want to detract much from that if at all possible...

EDIT: just removed the screws without any damage to the rubber feet, though the sticky substance may need to be replaced...

Good luck!

The rubber feet should just stick right back on unless the glue has perished over time. I installed modchips into 30+ Xboxen back in the day and I never had an issue with the rubber feet being damaged.

Edit: I'm lazy and I still haven't removed my time capacitor(s) yet in my Xboxes. I like to live my life on the edge :p. I should really get around to doing that this weekend.
 
Last edited:

Leonidas

Member
Good luck!

The rubber feet should just stick right back on unless the glue has perished over time. I installed modchips into 30+ Xboxen back in the day and I never had an issue with the rubber feet being damaged.

Edit: I'm lazy and I still haven't removed my time capacitor(s) yet in my Xboxes. I like to live my life on the edge :p. I should really get around to doing that this weekend.

Perhaps our Xboxes have been granted immunity, here is the interior of this ~15 year old box.

1gHPddQ.jpg


I believe I have this centered around the "bad" capacitor, no leaks. Will check again in 3 years.
 

Crowza

Member
I assume the Halo special edition Xbox (green) is v1.6? I kept that one and gave my original one away many years ago. I haven't checked it, but based on the date of release, I think it should be okay?
 

3rdman

Member
I hadn't seen this thread until now and I just finished refurbing my launch-day (ver 1.0) Xbox...

I hadn't turned my console on in about 8 years since pulling it out a couple of months ago. My plan was to update my soft-mod to a TSOP bios and upgrade the HDD to something larger that can hold all my games. The first (of several issues) was that it simply wouldn't turn on...The PSU fried upon turning it on. Probably a bad capacitor or resistor on the PSU and it turns out that those original PSUs are very cheaply built. I bought a replacement off Ebay and was finally able to turn her on. While waiting on PSU to arrive though, I pulled the capacitor that is the subject here and cleaned the board of any acid...minor damage but all was ok.

Second issue...Back in the day, I soft-modded mine to boot directly to XBMC. This was working fine the last time I turned her on but now it would constantly feeze trying to launch the program and when it did start, it'd lock up within seconds. Oddly, all games worked fine so I simply suspected it was a faulty XBMC install. Reinstalling that however didn't solve the problem. I took another tour around the motherboard and determined that the cluster of capacitors nearest to the CPU all looked bad...bulging at the top. A little research showed that the earliest motherboards really cheaped-out and were fitted with aluminum colored caps that fail often. So I changed out these 5 caps as well and that solved the problem...XBMC no longer crashed.

After everything was running, I did the TSOP flash, installed a 2TB hard drive, copied all my games to the HDD, and installed Coinops8 Massive into it. Running great now!
 
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