back to noob status questions

Discussion about Modding the XBOX, including hardware and software hacks.
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Ktdre
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back to noob status questions

Post by Ktdre »

As i've been away for so long, i am definitly back to noob status :( If anyone can help me with these queries i'd be extremely grateful.

1) I have 3 xbox's (1 v1.6 - x2.6 mod chip, 1 v1.0 - x2pro mod chip and 1 v1.2 - x3 mod chip). What is the best bios i can put on 3 of them to make sure i can install a 2tb sata hard drive (using the red sata adaptor mentioned in the other post here) and run games off the hdd in iso format?

2) I used to in the past use xbins ftp to get my xbox modding files. I just wanted to know where is a good resource to these files today? Ready bioses, tools, emulators, apps etc.

3) Does anyone have a guide on how to flash x2.6 and x2 pro chips again? The X3 is easy with live config/flashbios but the other 2 i cant recall how i did them ( i really miss xbox-scene!!)


Edit:
Ok memory is coming back... i flashed them with 1mb bios hence why bank 2 on the 2pro and 2.6 dont have flash bios on them. Once i figure out if i can flash the bios off the hdd using a specific tool, i will flash a 512kb flash bios on bank 2 and the running 512 kb bios on bank 1
Found this as source for bioses http://www.eurasia.nu/modules.php?name= ... eA&show=50 you need to sign up
Considering xecuter 5035 bios...




Sorry for the noob questions honestly but i truly cant recall or source the info online nowadays with google anymore

Truly appreciate the help and guidance
shloader
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Re: back to noob status questions

Post by shloader »

Ktdre wrote: Thu May 11, 2017 1:56 pm 1) I have 3 xbox's (1 v1.6 - x2.6 mod chip, 1 v1.0 - x2pro mod chip and 1 v1.2 - x3 mod chip). What is the best bios i can put on 3 of them to make sure i can install a 2tb sata hard drive (using the red sata adaptor mentioned in the other post here) and run games off the hdd in iso format?
I've heard Xecuter 5035 is pretty forgiving on how fast a sata drive responds but I've never flashed a chip with that bios to find out. May do that tonight. Unless you plan on doing a ram upgrade, don't think it matters too much.

Do the games have to be in ISO format? That takes a bit more work if I recall.
Ktdre wrote: Thu May 11, 2017 1:56 pm 2) I used to in the past use xbins ftp to get my xbox modding files. I just wanted to know where is a good resource to these files today? Ready bioses, tools, emulators, apps etc.
They haven't gone anywhere, nor has their stuff. A lot of what they have has been made obsolete, though. a HeXEn 2017 disc would have all your essential tools and bioses.

Can't say much on Executer chips. Know I've had one in the past but I forget what I did to get a bios on it. Pretty sure it was something ran on the box to flash it. HeXEen disc may have what you need.
I make a conscious effort to use terms that can be googled.
Xbox modding is really about understanding the nomenclature, and a good HeXEn disc.
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professor_jonny
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Re: back to noob status questions

Post by professor_jonny »

There is/ was a xbins mirror on the realmodscene site.
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spicemuseum
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Re: back to noob status questions

Post by spicemuseum »

shloader wrote: Fri May 12, 2017 2:02 am Can't say much on Executer chips. Know I've had one in the past but I forget what I did to get a bios on it. Pretty sure it was something ran on the box to flash it. HeXEen disc may have what you need.
FlashBIOS typically comes on (one bank of an) Xecuter chip. If not, then yep, you're right, HeXEn has options which can be used to flash a BIOS onto a modchip.
Ktdre
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Re: back to noob status questions

Post by Ktdre »

Thanks for the guidance everyone...

Will post my findings so other users down the line may find it as a useful reference maybe

I figured out xbins is still alive and ticking as of may 2017 :) Really happy to see that.



I remember previously setting up the bios to look for certain dashboards prior to flashing the chip.... I assume now the bios you download is already pre configured and just needs to be flashed, hence no need for the bios prep tools of the past. Just get the bios (read up on compatibilities with different versions of xbox's as well as compatibility with PAL machines. Also check the size of the bios vs your chips available storage for the bios - i am still researching this to find if x2 5035 is compatible with all xbox's if modded with an xecuter chip, size wise the chips can take it) and choose a method to flash the chip.

If you want to play iso files this forum post shows that you can ( http://www.emuxtras.net/forum/viewtopic ... 187&t=3228 ), as long as you run some scripts prior to running the games. Alternatively you can modify your bios to run the scripts at launch of system prior to launching the dashboard (hence you will need a way to modify the bios- dont know which tool to use still - researching this, if anyone knows let me know).

Bioses can be found here:

http://www.eurasia.nu/modules.php?name= ... oad&cid=27

I found Hexen referenced alot on different sites also, available at http://www.theisozone.com/forum/viewtop ... 31&t=66976

How to Flash:
Basically to flash a chip you can do it using a DVD like Hexen OR Evo-x. If your system boots into a custom dash, you can use Exo-V from your hard drive or via a DVD. Also, if you did not flash your chip previously with a 1mb bios or flash the bank that had this on it originally, you should still have on one of the banks of an xecuter chip a bios called flashbios that allows you to flash a bios on the other chip's bank. Lastly you can flash it using a programmer (if you find one and find a pc you have that has a serial port)... any other ways? these are the ones i could hunt from my research online so far.

As my system boots into a dash, what i will do is use evo-x to flash my bios. Still think i should go with x2 5035 bios, but studying this further ( i have a pal system, so will use the base 5035 not the patched ones for 1080p as those seem to be for ntsc machines mainly - you could change your systems output to ntsc btw, dont know how still though)

I found the bank settings for the 3 executer chips i have. will post them here for anyone else that may need them.

X2.3pro
Image
X2.6
Image
Image
X3
Image
Image


Other resources:

Archive of discontinued products forums team executer (dont know how long this will be online, seems like not long): http://team-xecuter.com/forums/archive/ ... /f-68.html

reddit has good guidances and tips in the original xbox sub

Hope this will be helpful for someone..
Ktdre
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Re: back to noob status questions

Post by Ktdre »

[/quote]I've heard Xecuter 5035 is pretty forgiving on how fast a sata drive responds but I've never flashed a chip with that bios to find out. May do that tonight. Unless you plan on doing a ram upgrade, don't think it matters too much.

Do the games have to be in ISO format? That takes a bit more work if I recall.
Ktdre wrote: Thu May 11, 2017 1:56 pm

If you did test 5035 pls let me know how it went
I have all my collection in iso format hence a one off task vs changing each one by one to extracted state. Also i think i save a significant amount of storage per game
shloader
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Re: back to noob status questions

Post by shloader »

My lab box is doing a rather large FTP transfer for a while but I'll fire up the x5035 bios tomorrow night before I start the next transfer.

Problem with leaving them as ISO is that 4GB file size limit of FatX and the hoops you have to go through to get things to work. I've only caught reference a time or two here and never with any enthusiasm. You can use Qwix to transfer from ISO format on your PC directly to file format on the Xbox without having to worry about the exploding each iso first, does it as it transfers. Problem with Qwix is you're pushing your luck and risking a freeze if you transfer too many at once; no more than 50FGB at a time is what I cam to. I just keep everything in file format and just use any FTP client.
I make a conscious effort to use terms that can be googled.
Xbox modding is really about understanding the nomenclature, and a good HeXEn disc.
Drinking while posting happens. It's not like drinking and driving; try to be understanding.
Ktdre
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Re: back to noob status questions

Post by Ktdre »

shloader wrote: Sat May 13, 2017 6:24 am My lab box is doing a rather large FTP transfer for a while but I'll fire up the x5035 bios tomorrow night before I start the next transfer.

Problem with leaving them as ISO is that 4GB file size limit of FatX and the hoops you have to go through to get things to work. I've only caught reference a time or two here and never with any enthusiasm. You can use Qwix to transfer from ISO format on your PC directly to file format on the Xbox without having to worry about the exploding each iso first, does it as it transfers. Problem with Qwix is you're pushing your luck and risking a freeze if you transfer too many at once; no more than 50FGB at a time is what I cam to. I just keep everything in file format and just use any FTP client.
I think i may end up doing so as i think the flashed bios on my chips already supports LBA48 so not messing with flashing may be better just incase something goes wrong...

The other decision i need to make is if i should do emulation on the xbox or the wii.... I have an xecuter xtender to install two more hard drives still new in box, never got to doing it... though i feel the wii and xbox can both handle the usual suspects GB/GBC/NES/SNES/Genesis/MS/GG/TG16... it all boils down to N64 and PS1 (which arn't great from what i read on both systems).
shloader
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Re: back to noob status questions

Post by shloader »

Just did a test with x2.5035 . Seems to be even better for SATA drives. More patient. EvoxM8 always gave me an error 7 if I did a reboot from within XBMC or CoinOps. x2.5035 seems to have a longer tolerance in waiting for the sata bridge to become ready.

Unfortunately I need BFM (boot from media) versions of either iND bios or x2.5035 for how I setup some software on my box and I've never found BFM versions of these bioses.
I make a conscious effort to use terms that can be googled.
Xbox modding is really about understanding the nomenclature, and a good HeXEn disc.
Drinking while posting happens. It's not like drinking and driving; try to be understanding.
Ktdre
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Re: back to noob status questions

Post by Ktdre »

Thanks for taking the time and checking the bios out, gonna look into flashing my bios in that case... fingers crossed :)
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Re: back to noob status questions

Post by Rocky5 »

shloader wrote: Sun May 14, 2017 2:10 am Just did a test with x2.5035 . Seems to be even better for SATA drives. More patient. EvoxM8 always gave me an error 7 if I did a reboot from within XBMC or CoinOps. x2.5035 seems to have a longer tolerance in waiting for the sata bridge to become ready.

Unfortunately I need BFM (boot from media) versions of either iND bios or x2.5035 for how I setup some software on my box and I've never found BFM versions of these bioses.
There are BFM variants of the Ind-Bios in the zip file the bios comes in.

As for x2 5035 don't think there is a normal BFM variant.
( could be wrong, I know there is a prepatched VGA video variant )
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shloader
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Re: back to noob status questions

Post by shloader »

Thankyou, wasn't aware of that. I'll have to seek out that zip and the related tools. When I launch CoinOps from xbmc, and vice versa, I actually re-launch PBL to change the default dash so when I exit anything it brings me back to what I launched from. So I might bake in the settings on a bfm iND bios if it's possible.
I make a conscious effort to use terms that can be googled.
Xbox modding is really about understanding the nomenclature, and a good HeXEn disc.
Drinking while posting happens. It's not like drinking and driving; try to be understanding.
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