Selecting a BIOS

Discussion about Modding the XBOX, including hardware and software hacks.
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nintendoeats
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Selecting a BIOS

Post by nintendoeats »

I recently pulled out an XBOX that I purchased hard-modded about a decade ago. One thing I want to do is put in a newer and larger HDD. I imaged the original drive using DD in Linux and wrote that image to an 80GB drive (which I will probably further upgrade with a larger SATA drive or SSD once I'm more confident with the system). Unfortunately the partition manager refuses to do anything, because the BIOS on this chip doesn't support LBA48. I burned a copy of Slayer's Auto-installer, but it provides more options than I am comfortable with. Does the model of my modchip matter? Why does flashing the BIOS affect whether or not I have F or F and G partitions? The internet was probably better at answering these questions 5 years ago.

System details:
Xbox is European, manufactured during 2005 so probably a 1.6 (I think)
Running an ancient version of XBMC at present
Mod BIOS chip says "Aladdin 2" on it, but might be a clone since it doesn't resemble any pictures that I have seen online.
The existing BIOS seems to be M8_plus_16. That's just a guess based on what Slayer seems to be saying. BIOSchecker 5.0 called it "homebrew" and wasn't able to say anything else.

So, short version of the question: Which BIOS should I install?

Thanks!

P.S. Sorry for the terrible picture, I hadn't originally taken it with the intent of identifying the modchip. If it's really important I can take the thing apart again.
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professor_jonny
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Re: Selecting a BIOS

Post by professor_jonny »

you cant really just dd the drive in Linux in some cases because of the cluster sizes and it can create problems whith larger harddisks.
the original drive may not have an ondisk partition table also best to check the cluster size is correct before you corrupt the hdd.

but the m8 bios is what you want for a 1.6 xbox unless your modchip has a 1024kb flash and will fit a x2 5034 bios.
nintendoeats
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Re: Selecting a BIOS

Post by nintendoeats »

professor_jonny wrote: Mon May 06, 2019 1:36 am you cant really just dd the drive in Linux in some cases because of the cluster sizes and it can create problems whith larger harddisks.
the original drive may not have an ondisk partition table also best to check the cluster size is correct before you corrupt the hdd.

but the m8 bios is what you want for a 1.6 xbox unless your modchip has a 1024kb flash and will fit a x2 5034 bios.
Thanks, that is very helpful.
Coldly-Indifferent
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Re: Selecting a BIOS

Post by Coldly-Indifferent »

I've never understood why anyone should really be bothered with which BIOS they had as long as it gives the necessary functionality you want.

With a v1.6 you're pretty limited anyway as only the EvoXm8plus.v16.137 series (1mb, 512K, 256K) and the 512K only x2.5035.v16plus.137 being the only two types suitable for a v1.6 with larger HDD support. Basically there is no choice with a v1.6.

Not sure why anyone would even want the x2.5035v16plus137 in preference anyway. Customizable boot animation colours and easy configuration via .ini file able......does anyone really care? So apart from the 128RAM support, which now must be of very niche interest too, why bother? And if your chip doesn't support 512K BIOS you can't use it anyway.

The EvoX ones work and I've never had any problem on my Xecuter2.6 chipped Xbox in 14 years of use and that is all that matters to me.

It was bought professionally pre-modded and I only recently worked out what BIOS's are on the two banks. The first bank can only be EvoXm8plus.v16.137 - I had no problem fitting a large HDD and it has the purple/pink EvoX logo in the top left corner and blue Xbox logo X. So that is all it can be.

But, when I'd even thought about it, and that was rarely, I'd assumed the second bank was probably x2.5035.v16plus.137 because it was missing the EvoX logo but supported, obviously, the v1.6 Xbox and larger HDDs. But it did not generate an .ini configuration file which I much later I read was a feature of that BIOS.

Only when I learned about the XBTool recently did I realise that is what must have been used just to remove the EvoX boot logo and the second bank is otherwise exactly the same EvoXm8plus.v16.137 BIOS.

If you're really bothered about modifying its look at boot the XBTool or EVTool are the things to use. But, again, I ask: does anyone really care?

VERY LATE EDIT 22.10.20

Since posting I have in fact customised an Evox M8+ BIOS for use with an Aladdin chip. I decided to add customising a Xbox BIOS to my bucket list. :)
Last edited by Coldly-Indifferent on Thu Oct 22, 2020 2:56 am, edited 1 time in total.
nintendoeats
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Re: Selecting a BIOS

Post by nintendoeats »

Just to cap this one off, I installed the M8 BIOS off the slayer disk and the disk formatting gods seem satisfied with it. I have to redo the image copy to see if this method actually works (for unrelated reasons).
ferguson
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Re: Selecting a BIOS

Post by ferguson »

Thanks for the clarification!
Today I'm gonna bluetooth shower speaker reviews online. I am an absolute noob, and I know nothing about online gaming. I would like to learn more though. Now is the right time!
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xman
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Re: Selecting a BIOS

Post by xman »

I think it is more important to leave your HDDs unlocked and use one type of bios in all your machines. That allows you to swap HDDs from one machine to another simply plug and play. There is a modded m8 bios on here somewhere I made that works on all types of xboxes, has both F and G partions, ( doesn't matter if you only want to use F. That simply means G will show no size in filemanager), but that bios will handle any sized HDD from babies to 2TB without any issues.
I use that bios in everything either hardmodded or TSop regardless of HDD size fitted in the machine. That bios handles them all.
Something goes wrong with that Xbox you can pull the HDD out and plug it straight in another like biosed machine.

You lock the HDD, you are in the shit trying to do that as the HDD is then locked to only work on that mother board.
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