Xbox:USB Memory Card

This tutorial describes hardmodding a stock memory card for use with a PC. In general, this should make installing softmods and cheat saves easier and cheaper for people who don't feel like tracking down an Xbox Action Replay device. If you have a spare USB cable and a memory card, you'll be able to use the Action Replay save manager.

Bear in mind that before you plug it into your PC you should already have the save manager and drivers installed.

You will need:

• USB male cable
• Xbox memory card
• Dremel with a round file bit OR a small round file
• Soldering iron
• Wire stripper
• Small Phillips screwdriver
• Thin electrical tape

Preparing the Cable

1. Trim your USB cable to the desired length. 8-12 inches gives you plenty of room to work with.
2. Remove the bottom ~1 inch of insulation from the cut end of the cable and untangle the black, green, white, and red wires.
3. Strip ~5mm of insulation off the bottom of each of those wires.

Preparing the Memory Card

1. Open up the memory card by unscrewing the 4 screws on the back.
2. Remove the circuit board from the plastic shell.
3. On the back section of the memory card shell (the one with the silver Xbox Memory Unit label), Dremel/file out a notch [like so] that will snugly fit your USB cable.
4. On the front section of the memory card shell (the curved one), file down a little bit of the bezel to match the notch on the other half of the shell.
5. Remount the circuit board and reassemble the memory card to check that the notches line up.
6. Open the shell again, leaving the circuit board in place.

Attaching the Cable

1. With your soldering iron, tin the leads of the USB cable wires.
2. Note the internal data pins in the memory card - with the data port facing away from us, we'll number them 1 through 5.
3. Lay the cable across the circuit board, lining it up with the notch so that the wire leads can reach the pins.
4. Solder the wires to the pins like so, making sure that the leads are laying on top of the pins (keeping a low profile):
   • Black -> pin 1
   • Leave pin 2 alone.
   • Green -> pin 3
   • White -> pin 4
   • Red -> pin 5
5. Double check your solder joints, make sure none of them are touching each other.
6. Bundle the wires together by the base of the cable insulation and wrap them in a piece of electrical tape.
7. Reassemble the memory card, taking care to line up your USB cable with the notch in the bezel and ensuring there's enough slack on the cable inside the card.