Opening The Xbox 360

The outer Xbox 360 “shell” is entirely screwless. Plastic friction tabs hold
the case together. There are many different tutorials for opening the Xbox
360, with different methods. Here are some links to “opening the Xbox
360” tutorials. I decided not to cover opening the Xbox 360 in this tutorial
since it is already long enough and there are many other tutorials for
opening the Xbox 360. Notes:

- The Anandtech guide says you need to use a Torx 12 screwdriver.
There is no such thing. You need a Torx 10 screwdriver.
- Removing the grey side grill on the hard drive side is a little tricky.
The first friction tab is actually inaccessible from the top holes in the
case, so you need to stick your screwdriver in the hole by where the
hard drive button is and unclip it.


- In order to push in the back clips, you can do one of two things. You
can use a thin metal object such as a precision flathead screwdriver /
bobby pin / paperclip OR you can make an opening “key” out of a CD
spindle case. The key would not work for me, it was too flimsy, but it
works for some people. You can also purchase an “unlock kit.”

- If all you want to do is just flash the firmware, you only need to
remove the six long screws on the bottom.


Read all these guides and watch all the videos, figure out how you want to
go about opening the Xbox 360. It is not rocket science.

Anandtech Guide
InformIT Guide
Xbox-Accessories Disassembly
Hydra's Guide to Making a CD Unlock Key
Textbook’s Video
acDC's Video