The Blog

Bosch PHG 630 DCE Heat Gun: Destructive Xbox CPU Removal

Nix McRetro // 23rd May 2013 // Hacks, Microsoft, Repairs

One, two, three… Lift! Up comes the Xbox CPU. It certainly shows that the heat gun outputs heat! This is absolutely not a demonstration of how to perform a proper BGA rework. The motherboard was already dead and I only kept it as a donor because I wanted components from... Continue reading

Raspberry Pi, BerryBoot and Raspbian Wheezy File Server Experiment

Nix McRetro // 11th May 2013 // Raspberry Pi, YouTube

Here begins a new journey. A journey into the world of underpowered Linux computers. This is my Raspberry Pi running Raspbian Wheezy through BerryBoot. BerryBoot gives the Pi a boot-selection and operating-system installation environment, with support for keeping multiple Linux distributions on the same storage setup. Raspbian Wheezy was based... Continue reading

Sony PS one Internal Overview and Old Modchip Install

Nix McRetro // 10th May 2013 // Hacks, Sony, YouTube

A quick look inside my old Sony PS one. This particular console has some history attached to it because I modchipped it myself a long, long time ago when I was still in high school. Ahh, memories! Taking it apart now means I get to inspect my own ancient soldering... Continue reading

Original Xbox Clock Capacitor Cleanup and Repair

Nix McRetro // 9th May 2013 // Microsoft, Repairs, YouTube

Back to the original Xbox from the previous assessment. The leaking clock capacitor has now become an actual repair rather than just something horrible to point at. The important part is not simply removing the failed capacitor. Its alkaline leakage can attack nearby copper traces and component leads over time,... Continue reading

Original Xbox Initial Damage Assessment

Nix McRetro // 7th May 2013 // Microsoft, Repairs

Here’s something for the modern gamers out there. A friend dug this original Xbox out of his garage and handed it over for an assessment. There are a few things going on here. Interesting placement of a random 9 V battery, isn’t it? These wires look like they should be... Continue reading