XBMC4Xbox

Ok guys/Heimdall I went round a mates house to sort out his botched softmod but it's a problem I've not encountered before. I think I already know the best solution is going to be a hotswap but thought I'd check here first to see if any of you know of an easier fix.

When I switch the xbox on I just get "Xbox Live is not responding. Please try again later." I have no eeprom and I think my mate deleted some files on the C drive via ftp, also it won't play any original discs.

I did think I'd be able to get the original dash back by using Halo 2 but it's not loading the disc so that's out of the question so are my only options hotswap, modchip or eeprom reader? I've done a straight swap and given my mate a sofmodded stock hdd xbox but I think this one has a large hdd in it so don't really want to screw it up.

I'm thinking best bet will be to use xboxhdm to create an xbox hdd out of one of my old stock hdd's. Once that's done plug the current xbox hdd into an external 12v molex and have the new one (just created with xboxhdm) plugged into the xbox. Boot up, remove IDE cable from existing HDD and then insert into the new one. Switch xbox off and in theory it should be locked to the correct eeprom and the larger HDD taken out of the xbox should be unlocked. Does that make sense? It's been a long time since I tackled hotswapping!

Well Whuf, you know what I'd do, it goes without saying so I'll just give the reasons why.

1- It will allow you to send HDDs over to him in the future upgraded that he can simply plug and play.
2- You can increase the HDD size when you choose simply by plug and play.
3- NO Flubber.

This is how I do it with long distance customers and it works well. It enables you to do everything from home.

Well if I screw up the hotswap then that's the route I'll go. If you get a question from me asking what modchip to buy you know I've screwed it up

whufclee wrote:Ok guys/Heimdall I went round a mates house to sort out his botched softmod but it's a problem I've not encountered before. I think I already know the best solution is going to be a hotswap but thought I'd check here first to see if any of you know of an easier fix.

When I switch the xbox on I just get "Xbox Live is not responding. Please try again later." I have no eeprom and I think my mate deleted some files on the C drive via ftp, also it won't play any original discs.

I did think I'd be able to get the original dash back by using Halo 2 but it's not loading the disc

That should work. I wonder if the DVD drive is knackered? Try using a different one.

Thanks mate, I did consider that myself but I don't think I have any spare working ones kicking around. Well I suppose it will only take 5 minutes to take one out of my working xboxes, I'll give it a go - cheers that's a much safer option than the hotswap.

@whufclee

It won't work. Switch off xbox and larger hdd locks itself again at the loss of power. New hdd will wake up to error 5. Hotswapping only temporarily unlocks the old hdd and doesn't have the magic capability to lock a new hdd. That's why the lxhdm routine in HeXEn has to be scripted and has quite a few steps including an Evox step to lock the new hdd.

You have to maintain power to the old hdd throughout the whole process of hotswapping in order to have a chance of fixing the files.

ldotsfan wrote:@whufclee

It won't work. Switch off xbox and larger hdd locks itself again at the loss of power. New hdd will wake up to error 5. Hotswapping only temporarily unlocks the old hdd and doesn't have the magic capability to lock a new hdd. That's why the lxhdm routine in HeXEn has to be scripted and has quite a few steps including an Evox step to lock the new hdd.

You have to maintain power to the old hdd throughout the whole process of hotswapping in order to have a chance of fixing the files.

Thanks for replying, didn't realise you'd made it over to this forum - great to have someone with your knowledge on here.

The plan was to have the original hdd plugged into an external power source (PC) so it constantly has power even when I remove the IDE Cable. The new larger HDD would already have the correct file structure for xbox and would be using the xbox power supply (with no IDE cable attached as that would be attached to the original hdd). When the xbox boots up I was then going to remove the IDE cable from the original and stick it in the new HDD and then switch the system off. Could you confirm whether or not this would lock the new HDD?

The original HDD would still be powered by the PC and presumably in an "unlocked" state. If I cut the power are you saying the HDD will lock again even though there's no IDE cable attached? If so then so long as part 1 worked I'll be able to get an eeprom and unlock it with xboxhdm.

If you could clarify on whether or not that should work that will be much appreciated. Sorry it's been a very long time since I attempted a hotswap! I've done plenty of them in the past but since I got an exploitable game I never had the need to use that method any more. Cheers.

Hang on there Lee, I just did this not long ago, I put together an xboxhdm disc image that includes a stock m$ dash and a script that rebuilds the c:/ to a stock state then installs the ndure softmod files. So all you need to do is turn the xbox on and unplug the ide just before you see the words Microsoft after the flubber, then connect your computers ide to the drive, boot the xboxhdm disc or run it in a virtual machine, then type browser where you would normally type xboxhdd, you will see a very basic file browser appear then just select the script to run it and follow the prompts as you go, when its done simply re-connect the hdd back to the xbox ide BUT this is very important, DO NOT POWER OFF THE XBOX until the hdd is connected back to the xbox ide, you will end up with a hdd thats unlocked, you wont have an eeprom backup. But if you followed everything correctly then when you power on the xbox it should boot into unleashx i believe. But as soon as its booting and softmodded I always run the hexen disc and preform the 1 click softmod install, just because its good to have the hexen tools installed to your e:/ incase you want to change your default dash to xbmc

Anyways I plan on putting together more detailed instructions and most likley a video guide for this softmod method, Its a little bit risky but doesnt require you to buy any xbox-usb adapters or use any game exploits

Lee if you want more details pm me

Sounds very interesting mate, if you could send me a copy of that it would be much appreciated.

I also always re-do the softmod with HeXEn.

Arrrr Im on my way out the door, but I'll zip them up and put them on a host for you either later tonight, but realistically tommorow, I'll include really detailed instructions too, not that its hard but just so your goin in with a straight plan, Soon as I take my camera appart and clean the filters and lenses I can make a proper updated HD tutorial for the rest of the forum members, In the mean time I'll try to catch you on TS

Cheers

Not to disagree with Idots but i'm pretty sure i have used xboxhdm and hotswapped a replacement hdd as Lee suggested, i definitely have used a pre-configured version of xboxhdm (dash/softmod files preloaded) to build a modded hdd and hotswapped using that method.

Yes thats if your using xboxhdm in the traditional manner, placing a pre-built c into the C:/ folder and e: into the e:/ folder from an existing softmodded xbox then telling the disc to simply copy the files over to another xbox hdd, But you will run into problems if you use a copy of a v1.6 softmodded c: on a v1.4 xbox or vice versa, Something to do with the kernel/bios versions being different, As long as you re-connect the hdd back to the xbox ide before turning it off then on to check that it all worked, You wont have a Bricked xbox just one that doesnt boot to the dash.

This is why I suggest the xboxhdm image with the Script thats prompts you and asks what your stock kernel and dash versions are on the target xbox then builds and installs the softmod to the c:

This way you can hotswap any stock xbox and softmod it for free with the same xboxhdm image every time

@Lee
I realized that the image I put together is on my brothers computer and I couldn't get ahold of him over the weekend, but I should have it tommorow [monday]

Brilliant mate, there's no rush - I've got plenty more project on the go at the moment that can keep me occupied

True Kozz, but i have used the same xboxhdm with pre installed softmod files on a couple of consoles without having the correct eeprom on both V1.6 and V1.1-V1.4 , i had to restore a borked softmod on one and another i did where i couldnt update the dash so used my pre made disc.

1. Transfer premade hdm disc contents to hotswapped old hdd as bigkidoz suggested => No issues, straightforward application of hotswapping.
2. Transfer new hdd prepared by hdm disc directly to xbox by hotswapping old hdd out as whufclee suggested in his first post=>Definite No-go. Unless I misread his intentions?

ATA security has 3 distinct steps:
1. Lock
2. Unlock - used during hotswapping process. Lock automatically occurs upon ATA reset or loss of power as per ATA specs.
3. Disable.

the unlockhd command in hdm actually does step 2 first followed by step 3. Step 1 will never automatically happen by itself during hotswapping unless the command is issued. But it's chicken and egg as you have to do step 3 first...

Ok thanks for that, maybe I'll just do the traditional hotswap method and use hdm on the hdd that's already in there. I'll wait and see what Kozz has for me before I start, always nice to try out new stuff

POSTING IN HERE BECAUSE I CAN'T FIND THE SUBSCRIBE BUTTON

Lethagized wrote:POSTING IN HERE BECAUSE I CAN'T FIND THE SUBSCRIBE BUTTON

OKAY !!! LET US KNOW WHETHER THERE'S ANYTHING WE CAN HELP WITH.


...like finding the caps lock, so the shouting ends.