Article taken from Engadget – Turn Xbox 360 video cable into a vga cable
Recent Xbox 360 updates have allowed the system to spit out resolutions up to 1080p, and with the new HD DVD add-on drive there’s more reason than ever to use a high quality VGA signal instead of the more standard 3-cable component. However there’s a bit of a catch — VGA cables for the 360 cost about $40. According to my calculations, that’s about 2 pizzas and a case of beer less to game with. WE don’t know about you, but we find that a pretty scary proposition — yours buddies that swing over for game night probably do too.
In this How-To we’ll describe how you can turn your existing Xbox 360 video cable into a “multi-out” device capable of VGA. You don’t even need to hack inside the Xbox itself, just the cable. Total cost is around $7, including the Radio Shack project box shown above. Ready to save some cash? Let’s get in there!
The following mod allows you to use a standard Xbox 360 cable to create a special VGA cable that would normally be purchased separately. The reason we can hack the standard cable in this way is because Microsoft was kind enough to put every pin in the normal connector, even ones the cable doesn’t use. Standard plugs on other systems (notably the PS2 and Gamecube) only have the pins the plug needs.
Thank you Microsoft.
Main Tools You’ll Need:
Small pair of tweezers (very useful).Metal cutting pliers, tin snips, something along those lines.Soldering iron. A lighter powered, 15 watt range one is best.
Solder… WITH lead works best. We know that sounds awful but it’ll help you “convert” the lead-free solder inside the Xbox connector and make it much easier to work with.
Multimeter, with circuit testing option. The kind where if you touch the two probes it beeps to indicate a connection.Hot glue. Oh yeah, that’s right! Don’t leave home without it.Small, thin flat-bladed screwdrivers, a larger flat-bladed screwdriver.
X-Acto KnifeDesoldering iron (optional, see instructions).Dremel (optional, see instructions).Where is the “Parts I need” section, you ask? We’ll cover them specifically later on, depending on which type of VGA cable you’d like to build. (Breakout box, as shown, or straight VGA cable depending.)
Alright let’s get going on this sucker.
Step 1 – Take Apart Your Xbox 360 Video Cable
The Xbox 360’s video cable assembly doesn’t use screws but luckily it’s still pretty easy to take apart. Here’s how:
Insert a small, thin screwdriver at the seam shown in the above photo.Press in and towards the label (also as shown) to get around the inner lip.Once you breach the lip you should hear a crack. You’re in!Make a few more breaches like this next to each other, then insert a larger screwdriver as shown below. Twist it and the casing should pop open nicely.
Next, insert the big screwdriver at the seam near the main cable, and twist the case open at this place as well. You can now pull off the bottom portion of the plastic, and then pull the guts out of the top portion. The “TV / HDTV” switch will fall out at this point, save it if you ever plan to revert the cable to its original form (which is becoming less and less likely as this progresses).
Now pry the metal up and right off the optical audio jack, and bend it down on the right side, as shown below. You can now pull the main piece of shielding metal up away from the rest of the jack. Snip the shielding free of the main cable using your metal cutters.
Use your small screwdriver to pry up the metal near the TV/HDTV switch, as shown below.