boot disc no longer working - bad bios flash?

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Gumby
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boot disc no longer working - bad bios flash?

Post by Gumby »

Hi all,

Running the Aladdin XT on a 1.6 Xbox.

2TB wd green sata drive with adapter

Using Slayers 3.5 lite I flashed *FEC* M8+ bios and now Xbox crashes to error 7 after getting past the now blue X on startup which used to be green with sound.

Any ideas how to fix it? I've tried several boot discs other than Slayers but non of them load now.
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Re: boot disc no longer working - bad bios flash?

Post by Rocky5 »

7 - kernel - HDD timeout

Most of the times, the IDE cable is not properly connected when you see this error. Please reattach the ide cable. Not only to the harddisk drive but also to the dvd drive. ALso try to reconnect the ide cable to the motherboard.

Press pretty hard so it goes all the way in. Make sure it is seated straight and proper in the drives and the motherboard. If you still have an error 7. Try another ide cable. If that won't work try another harddisk. If there is still no go, try to set the jumpers on the rearside of the harddisk drive. Set it to master or cable select.
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Re: boot disc no longer working - bad bios flash?

Post by Gumby »

Thanks Rocky, will go back and double check the IDE connections.

To give you some background the reason I updated the bios is because when I exit backups and the visionary app with L trigger + R trigger + start + black it would crash to error 7 instead of returning to XBMC dash. I did not have this problem with exiting the coinops app. Not sure what made that different and why it would correctly return to XBMC dash, perhaps the way it exits?
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Re: boot disc no longer working - bad bios flash?

Post by Gumby »

Rocky5 wrote:..
Just a little update. I managed to revive it by connecting a larger 500GB IDE drive I had previously set up. From the dashboard I was able to launch a DVD boot disc and switch the bios back. It said "Microsoft" as it was starting and went to the blue dashboard. Which one is that?

With the 2TB setup it seems to load kind of slow but I'm not sure what the expected boot times should be. I'm using the 80 pin cable.

Maybe I did not set it up correctly. Using 2 equal F and G partitions with 927 each and 64K clusters. I installed everything with the Slayers disc. I chose E: for the applications.

I'm not sure I did everything right. Is there a guide to follow?
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Re: boot disc no longer working - bad bios flash?

Post by xman »

Gumby wrote:
Maybe I did not set it up correctly. Using 2 equal F and G partitions with 927 each and 64K clusters. I installed everything with the Slayers disc. I chose E: for the applications.

I'm not sure I did everything right. Is there a guide to follow?
Yep that is perfect. I was going to say make sure the booting app is in E but I saw you did that. Maybe use all 3 bios boot paths all directing to E/Apps/XBMC could help. At least that way you have 3 chances rather than just one. It can also help having the 1st boot path going to a faulty boot app like a copy of XBMC with a non working .xbe file. To do this make the 1st boot path something like E/Apps/XBMC1 and name this faulty version of XBMC...XBMC1. The remaining two boot paths call them E/Apps/XBMC and the folder they go to the same E/Apps/XBMC. This just adds time for the slow WD 2TB to come on line. I say slow because I found WD sata greens just to slow to work reliably in Xboxes preferring Seagate 2TB satas myself. As for expected boot times, 10-15 seconds using a 1/2 full 2TB Seagate is what I reliably get. Slower times are expected when the HDD isn't this full sometimes up to 40 seconds for a completely empty, 1st use hard drive.
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Re: boot disc no longer working - bad bios flash?

Post by Gumby »

xman wrote:
Gumby wrote:
Maybe I did not set it up correctly. Using 2 equal F and G partitions with 927 each and 64K clusters. I installed everything with the Slayers disc. I chose E: for the applications.

I'm not sure I did everything right. Is there a guide to follow?
Yep that is perfect. I was going to say make sure the booting app is in E but I saw you did that. Maybe use all 3 bios boot paths all directing to E/Apps/XBMC could help. At least that way you have 3 chances rather than just one. It can also help having the 1st boot path going to a faulty boot app like a copy of XBMC with a non working .xbe file. To do this make the 1st boot path something like E/Apps/XBMC1 and name this faulty version of XBMC...XBMC1. The remaining two boot paths call them E/Apps/XBMC and the folder they go to the same E/Apps/XBMC. This just adds time for the slow WD 2TB to come on line. I say slow because I found WD sata greens just to slow to work reliably in Xboxes preferring Seagate 2TB satas myself. As for expected boot times, 10-15 seconds using a 1/2 full 2TB Seagate is what I reliably get. Slower times are expected when the HDD isn't this full sometimes up to 40 seconds for a completely empty, 1st use hard drive.
How do I edit/add bios boot paths? I keep reading to do this but not sure how to go about it. Do I need to add those in the evox.cfg?

I did try the XBMC shortcut with these instructions but did not seem to have any effect with my issue. I only set single path to E:\Apps\XBMC\default.xbe as instructed.

http://www.xbmc4xbox.org.uk/wiki/Instal ... mmended.29

Sounds like I need to set up similar to what this guys says in this post : http://www.xbmc4xbox.org.uk/forum/viewt ... 5757#p5757

How do I create a faulty/fake app? XMBC1 for example that you used
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Re: boot disc no longer working - bad bios flash?

Post by Rocky5 »

The issue you face is you are running an aladdin chip, they have a 256kb bank & unfortunately the bios that support 2tb drives (partition tabled drives) that are 256kb don't support v1.6 Xbox.
(Ind-Bios)

Time to softmod or have PBL load a BFM ind-bios 5003/4 after your Xbox boots, to get the partition table read off the HDD.
(You will have 137GB on F & G will have what's left, or in your case 927, this is due to the LBA48 hack in non partition table compliment bios)

Green drive maybe why you are getting error 7, they have a short spin down timer, drove me mad as every couple mins the drive would need to spin backup.
(That's what they call power management & cool & quiet, the head parked & the drive disabled after 5 mins)
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Re: boot disc no longer working - bad bios flash?

Post by xman »

Rocky5 wrote:The issue you face is you are running an aladdin chip, they have a 256kb bank & unfortunately the bios that support 2tb drives (partition tabled drives) that are 256kb don't support v1.6 Xbox.
I beg to differ to that claim. Just use an M8+ bios, the one recommended for 1.6 machines on the Slayers 2.7 disc has worked perfectly for me on many occasions and mod the boot paths as I said earlier if you have to use a slow 2TB. As for an Ind bios, if the drive is simply to slow it to will put up an error 7 all be it in a different ind text, none the less, still an error 7 and thus fail to boot. The way I see it is to actually get the machine to boot, it needs the HDD up to speed. Using an Aladdin M8+ bios, it reads solely off the modchip and then providing the HDD is up to speed, the machine boots. Compare this to an ind bios that needs to read from the ind cfg. file on the HDD. My way of thinking is if he doesn't have enough time using a stand along bios how the hell will he have enough time using a bios that needs to read from the HDD while the bios is still loading?. Aren't we out to slow down the bios before the HDD is needed?.

As for the M8+ bios quote

Software features:
Evox M8plus BIOS 'M8plus_16.bin'
Play all backups
Play all homebrew
Play all original imports
Run Debug Executables
LBA48 Hack <----------------------------
Big hdd (2TB max) support <----------------------------
Embedded In Game Reset (IGR)
Compatible with all EvolutionX software
No-patch hack
Eject trick hack
Auto patch new media flag titles
Support for Xbox 1.6 and 1.6b
Works on all regions
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Re: boot disc no longer working - bad bios flash?

Post by Rocky5 »

xman wrote:
Rocky5 wrote:The issue you face is you are running an aladdin chip, they have a 256kb bank & unfortunately the bios that support 2tb drives (partition tabled drives) that are 256kb don't support v1.6 Xbox.
I beg to differ to that claim. Just use an M8+ bios, the one recommended for 1.6 machines on the Slayers 2.7 disc has worked perfectly for me on many occasions and mod the boot paths as I said earlier if you have to use a slow 2TB. As for an Ind bios, if the drive is simply to slow it to will put up an error 7 all be it in a different ind text, none the less, still an error 7 and thus fail to boot. The way I see it is to actually get the machine to boot, it needs the HDD up to speed. Using an Aladdin M8+ bios, it reads solely off the modchip and then providing the HDD is up to speed, the machine boots. Compare this to an ind bios that needs to read from the ind cfg. file on the HDD. My way of thinking is if he doesn't have enough time using a stand along bios how the hell will he have enough time using a bios that needs to read from the HDD while the bios is still loading?. Aren't we out to slow down the bios before the HDD is needed?.

As for the M8+ bios quote

Software features:
Evox M8plus BIOS 'M8plus_16.bin'
Play all backups
Play all homebrew
Play all original imports
Run Debug Executables
LBA48 Hack <----------------------------
Big hdd (2TB max) support <----------------------------
Embedded In Game Reset (IGR)
Compatible with all EvolutionX software
No-patch hack
Eject trick hack
Auto patch new media flag titles
Support for Xbox 1.6 and 1.6b
Works on all regions
Ind-bios doesn't require the config to be present, it has its own internal one that boot evoxdash.xbe from C.

As for the M8+ supporting 2tb drives, I wasn't aware they added ozpaulb's partition table support.
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Re: boot disc no longer working - bad bios flash?

Post by Gumby »

Rocky5 wrote:
xman wrote:
Rocky5 wrote:The issue you face is you are running an aladdin chip, they have a 256kb bank & unfortunately the bios that support 2tb drives (partition tabled drives) that are 256kb don't support v1.6 Xbox.
I beg to differ to that claim. Just use an M8+ bios, the one recommended for 1.6 machines on the Slayers 2.7 disc has worked perfectly for me on many occasions and mod the boot paths as I said earlier if you have to use a slow 2TB. As for an Ind bios, if the drive is simply to slow it to will put up an error 7 all be it in a different ind text, none the less, still an error 7 and thus fail to boot. The way I see it is to actually get the machine to boot, it needs the HDD up to speed. Using an Aladdin M8+ bios, it reads solely off the modchip and then providing the HDD is up to speed, the machine boots. Compare this to an ind bios that needs to read from the ind cfg. file on the HDD. My way of thinking is if he doesn't have enough time using a stand along bios how the hell will he have enough time using a bios that needs to read from the HDD while the bios is still loading?. Aren't we out to slow down the bios before the HDD is needed?.

As for the M8+ bios quote

Software features:
Evox M8plus BIOS 'M8plus_16.bin'
Play all backups
Play all homebrew
Play all original imports
Run Debug Executables
LBA48 Hack <----------------------------
Big hdd (2TB max) support <----------------------------
Embedded In Game Reset (IGR)
Compatible with all EvolutionX software
No-patch hack
Eject trick hack
Auto patch new media flag titles
Support for Xbox 1.6 and 1.6b
Works on all regions
Ind-bios doesn't require the config to be present, it has its own internal one that boot evoxdash.xbe from C.

As for the M8+ supporting 2tb drives, I wasn't aware they added ozpaulb's partition table support.
Sorry guys I'm a little confused about what steps to take here.

I have another 2TB Samsung drive that I believe is way faster but my testing results still end up with error 7 which leads me to believe the modchip is the culprit as it has been pointed out. Could it also be the way the order/way I've installed and set things up?

My steps are basically this with a fresh install :

1. Boot to Slayers Disc
2. Format large HDD (blow away the C: E: F: G: partitions)
3. Use XBParitioner to create 2 partitions F and G with 927GB using 64KB clusters
4. Install XBMC to E:
5. Install all dashboards to E:
6. Install all apps to E:
7. Install all advanced apps to E:

To softmod do I need to remove the mod chip?
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Re: boot disc no longer working - bad bios flash?

Post by Rocky5 »

Gumby wrote:To softmod do I need to remove the mod chip?
You can just disable the chip by powering on with a quick press of the power button. Unless it always enabled.
(BT wire is soldered to ground or the ground pad the chip)

Not sure if just disconnecting it from the LPC would work, should work.
(Just lift it off the pins & leave it sitting, stick a bit of paper under it so it doesn't short or touch anything)
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Re: boot disc no longer working - bad bios flash?

Post by Gumby »

Rocky5 wrote:
Gumby wrote:To softmod do I need to remove the mod chip?
You can just disable the chip by powering on with a quick press of the power button. Unless it always enabled.
(BT wire is soldered to ground or the ground pad the chip)

Not sure if just disconnecting it from the LPC would work, should work.
(Just lift it off the pins & leave it sitting, stick a bit of paper under it so it doesn't short or touch anything)
It's always enabled because when I soldered it I do remember doing that step. I might try removing it if that is what it comes to. I think it just pulls out from the board. No need to disconnect any of the wiring I soldered on I assume.

Seems like I should be able to utilize a 2TB with this chip though...

Can you elaborate more on the Phoenix Bios Loader method you mentioned earlier?

if I do need to modify the bios , I've read Evotool is what I need.
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Re: boot disc no longer working - bad bios flash?

Post by Rocky5 »

Gumby wrote:
Rocky5 wrote:
Gumby wrote:To softmod do I need to remove the mod chip?
You can just disable the chip by powering on with a quick press of the power button. Unless it always enabled.
(BT wire is soldered to ground or the ground pad the chip)

Not sure if just disconnecting it from the LPC would work, should work.
(Just lift it off the pins & leave it sitting, stick a bit of paper under it so it doesn't short or touch anything)
It's always enabled because when I soldered it I do remember doing that step. I might try removing it if that is what it comes to. I think it just pulls out from the board. No need to disconnect any of the wiring I soldered on I assume.

Seems like I should be able to utilize a 2TB with this chip though...

Can you elaborate more on the Phoenix Bios Loader method you mentioned earlier?

if I do need to modify the bios , I've read Evotool is what I need.
Check if it is the chip or the Sata adaptor first before doing anything else.
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Re: boot disc no longer working - bad bios flash?

Post by Heimdall »

Evox M8+ definitely has ozpaulb's LBA48 code. They added it from M7 onwards. It's enabled by default, and you have to use EVTool to disable it, although I can't imagine why you'd want to do that.
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Re: boot disc no longer working - bad bios flash?

Post by Gumby »

Rocky5 wrote:Check if it is the chip or the Sata adaptor first before doing anything else.
I've tried another SATA adapter but couldn't even get it to register the drive to start boot a disc. Thinking it might be a lemon but will go back and try again anyways.

If that fails I could order another one of what I have now but for the adapter to be the culprit I would not expect it to work at all. Truth is these boxes are finicky and I guess you just need to find that perfect combination.

So far I've tried swapping jumpers on the hard drives and sata adapter in different combinations. I'll get different error codes at times but nothing stable in terms of operation. Maybe I just need keep swapping jumpers until I find that perfect combo.

I believe the SATA adapter jumper on means it's set for cable select on the adapter I'm currently using and it only has 2 pins. The HDE brand one has 3 pins that I can mess around with. It's worked before but on a different Xbox that was stolen from me a during a home intrusion :(
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Re: boot disc no longer working - bad bios flash?

Post by professor_jonny »

The SATA adaptors are all ways hit and miss on the breed brand model and revision if it works or not and if it is reliable.

Some have luck with an ultra ATA 80 core conductor cable and find they will only work with them installed.
pressing eject to power on the console can help also.
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Re: boot disc no longer working - bad bios flash?

Post by xman »

Your adapter "must" be in the slave or cable select mode to work by the way. For my adapters this is achieved by removing the links but this may differ with your adapter. Look around the board where the links are for markings that indicate how to set the different modes.
Removing them may differ with your adapter to mine. My ones have always worked perfectly using the standard 40 wire Xbox IDE cable but many have issues using the stock cable and have no choice but to use the 80 pin after market cable. It really is a matter of matching the correct parts to get these satas working correctly. Another interesting point is I could never get a WD or Hitachi 1 or 2TB sata to work with my adapters but others have been able to get them working.
You may have noticed I wrote I use the M8 bioses from the Slayers 2.7 disc. The M8 bios for 1.0-1.5 machines and the M8+ bios for 1.6 machines. I choose these bioses one, because they worked for the satas but also they are not the fastest loading bioses and that seemed beneficial. I have since used ind bioses with TSOP modded machines as opposed to modchips using the same sata adapters with the same Seagate HDDs.
Booting seems random on 1st attempt but always works on the 2nd attempt. That is how I learnt about the inb bios error 7 being in different text when the ind bios machines failed to boot. Something else of interest is the old, original Thailand made Seagate 1 and 2TB satas definitely bootup faster than the current Chinese made 1 and 2TB Seagate HDDs. I have used both and have noted this although reliability is quite exceptable with the Chinese made ones.
I hope you find something here helpful. I personally spent months getting my 1st large sata drive machine working correctly but not many had attempted them when I started trying. I say large here because 500GB, 600GB and 750GB satas seem to work perfectly every time, they just take 2 seconds longer to boot than IDE HDDs. It's was the 2TB and to a lesser degree the 1TB satas that gave me grief and once I worked it out I just continued doing the mod exactly the same way using exactly the same parts and therefore no issues have popped up. The last thing I did try was removing the modchip and TSOPing the machine and later using the ind bios instead of the M8 and M8+ bioses with the TSOP.
One problem that does rarely appear from time to time is F drive failing to load correctly. You see this when you go to filemanager and F drive says 0mB. When this happens nothing on F drive is available meaning if your booting app is in F drive, the machine fails to pass the bios start screen. This is why I say put it in E drive so the machine will boot to XBMC at least. The problem is fixed by rebooting the machine and the F drive will load correctly 2nd time around. About once every 3 months this problem occurs and I have never found a real solution to it and choose to live with it. It's a small price to pay for the massive storage these HDDs give you.
Anyway, good luck and stick with it. As always, let us know your success or failures to help others that will no doubt follow.
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