The softmod is pretty easy, especially if you have one of the exploitable games lying around (I had Splinter Cell). The flash-drive to controller port converter-cable and a compatible flash drive (listed on that website) is all you need.

Just write down your EEPROM number after you softmod, for the love of god, even before trying to zero it or back-it up. That was when mine froze, restarted and the disk drive failed, giving me an “error code 7”… which not many people knew could be due to a dead disk drive, because it can be due to several things. A TSOP flash (if you have a version earlier than 1.6) allows you to run without a disk drive, and an unlocked HDD. It makes it pretty much brick-proof

I had no soldering skills when I tried it, so I was very intimidated too. But a $15 RadioShack soldering iron got the job done… the flash technically only has to work once. I even “lifted the pad” on my second xbox, but there are alternate points you can use a jumper wire on, if you fuck up the first attempt. .

For a $30 xbox at a thrift store, it might be worth your time to try. I say this from the other end of doing it, but it was also my first mod, first soldering job, and I was terrified I would fuck it up. Turned out, the soldering was the least of my problems after my disk drive failed lol

But either way, good luck! It was one of my favorite projects and is still in use as a balling emulator. The thing has a lot of potential once you get into it!