How to softmod your Xbox and install XBMC for free

daederauoy

Already fixed the hard drive and I've got the mod up an running. And 750 gigs? Sweet. If I can find one I'll try and use a 1 terabyte hard drive. I'll let you guys know how it works out. If it doesn't work I can just us it as an external hard drive. Wish me luck.

evo007

Hangover wrote: »

Now that you have the eeprom, using xbhdm burn a lock/unlock disc so that you can build a new hdd and lock it, i have seen up to 750 gig IDE hdd used in an xbox.

Hi guys, with regards to the eeprom, is it just one file and its called eeprom.bin? is there a way to tell if the file is 'ok' or whether it might have been damaged somehow?

cheers

shnaek

I decided to give this a go there last night on the old xbox. I used an old pc, and got an "atapi incompatible" error on the hot swap.

Once the cd booted up and I pressed 1, a couple of things started to happen and then the PC would reboot and give me the error and tell me to press F1. Any ideas?

Cheers

Hangover

evo007 wrote: »

Hi guys, with regards to the eeprom, is it just one file and its called eeprom.bin? is there a way to tell if the file is 'ok' or whether it might have been damaged somehow?

cheers

Yep just one file, i dont know how to tell if it doesnt work but i dont think you can break it as such you just need the correct one that matches your motherboard.

evo007

Hangover wrote: »

Yep just one file, i dont know how to tell if it doesnt work but i dont think you can break it as such you just need the correct one that matches your motherboard.

ok well thats good to hear. Before i stuffed up and got the dredded error 9 code on my xbox i got the backup of eeprom.bin, bios.bin, disk.bin, hdinfo.txt and hddkey.bin.

just not super sure what to do next, ive tried a couple of things, but alas, no go.

any suggestions to dispatch the error 9 code forever and get a softmod to work with perhaps xbmc installed and maybe linux? cheers

Hangover

evo007 wrote: »

ok well thats good to hear. Before i stuffed up and got the dredded error 9 code on my xbox i got the backup of eeprom.bin, bios.bin, disk.bin, hdinfo.txt and hddkey.bin.

just not super sure what to do next, ive tried a couple of things, but alas, no go.

any suggestions to dispatch the error 9 code forever and get a softmod to work with perhaps xbmc installed and maybe linux? cheers

Ok, first off using XBHDM make a rebuild disc that includes your eeprom by using this guide -
http://www.consoledoc.com/xboxreturn2stock.html , once you have burned the disc you can make a stock xbox hdd and lock it with your eeprom to make it work with your xbox.

evo007

Hangover wrote: »

Ok, first off using XBHDM make a rebuild disc that includes your eeprom by using this guide -
http://www.consoledoc.com/xboxreturn2stock.html , once you have burned the disc you can make a stock xbox hdd and lock it with your eeprom to make it work with your xbox.

alright, will give it a go. however it does say it fixes the Error codes - 13/14/15/16 and 21?

Hogaba

Firstly, thanks for the great guide, and everyone who has contributed to it- have modded 2 xboxs successfully using it.

I'm now trying to connect my xbox to media on a networked drive and am having difficulty establishing a connection. I have both my xbox and my NAS connected to a Netgear router. I'm sharing using the 'Windows Network (SMB)' option in the dash under 'Add Network Location.'

I have username, password and workgroup set up under Samba settings on the NAS and also in xbmc. If I log into my router I can see both my NAS and xbox as attached devices. I can access my NAS from my laptop and my xbox can conect to the internet.

However whenever I try to establish the share I get a 'share not available' error. Has anyone come across something similar, or have a similar setup and can offer some advice? Any help would be appreciated.

Nick_oliveri

Your NAS has to support the SMB sharing network. It would be a good idea to search the make and model of the NAS server and see what it supports.

If you are sharing from windows itself, Vista has some issues with SMB that I can get back to you on/post a link that will help you. But in XP you just need to share a folder that isn't in your "My Documents" folder! When it asks you about file sharing just click "just enable file sharing".

Hogaba

Thanks for your reply Nick. The NAS I have is a Sumvision Net Box http://www.ebuyer.com/product/126893/show_product_reviews . Since my last post I have gotten it to work but I'm not sure what I did or changed to make it happen! If it keeps working then it's a great bit of kit- but that's a big if! Anyway, thanks for getting back to me and here's hoping I won't be back with more problems.

stupido103

Hey people.
tnx for this amazing tutorial on modding the xbox.
my friend and i am going to do it on an xbox i got, but before we start
i got a question.
.
if i mod my xbox just with unleash x on it, and nothing more, am i allowed to
play burned\copied xbox disc's?

and for installing XBMC the xbox has to be connected in the network.
is their a wireless connector for this?

tnx in advantage

stupido :rolleyes:

Nick_oliveri

stupido103 wrote: »

if i mod my xbox just with unleash x on it, and nothing more, am i allowed to
play burned\copied xbox disc's?

Yes, but we cant talk about that here!

and for installing XBMC the xbox has to be connected in the network.
is their a wireless connector for this?

There ware connectors you can get to plug into the back of the xbox. They usually aren't cheap.

stupido103

so i start this guide with my friend,
but ones we got to xbrowser we got the following error:

root@Xbox-HDM:/1 xbrowser
Looking for CD-ROM in /dev/hda...
Looking for CD-ROM in /dev/hdb...
Looking for CD-ROM in /dev/hdc...

Found harddrive!

We will now search /dev/hda for an xbox partition table.....

No xbox-partition table found on /dev/hda

Done!!!
root@Xbox-HDM:/2

so i checked but the harddrive is in the primaire thing
and i cant rewrite my hd because it is blocked :S?

stupido :rolleyes:

daederauoy

IN THE OFF CHANCE THAT THIS DOESN'T WORK, DON'T BLAME ME. IT WORKED FOR MY XBOX, BUT I'M NOT SAYING IT WILL WORK FOR EVERY ONE. DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK.

I had the same problem. If you haven't already, back up your eeprom. When you have it backed up and on your computer, go to the directory where you unpacked xboxhdm. Go into the linux folder, then into the eeprom folder. COPY paste your eeprom.bin file there. Make a new iso and burn it to a disk. For the next part you are going to have to make a MS-DOS boot disk. Grab a blank floppy disk and place it in your computer. Next, go to "http://www.allbootdisks.com/download/dos.html" and click on automatic boot diskette. Download the 6.0 file. Next, go to "http://www.xbox-scene.com/tools/tools.php?page=harddrive" an download ATAPWD. Once you have all of this downloaded, double click on the 6.0 file you downloaded. Say yes to whatever pops up and it will turn your floppy into an MS-DOS boot floppy. Navigate to your floppy drive and open it. Cut and paste ATAPWD.EXE into your floppy disk. Shut off your computer and attatch your xbox hard drive to your computer's ide AND power cables. Turn on your computer and enter your bios screen. Set your computer to boot from the floppy drive and exit your bios. When the computer starts up and boots from the floppy drive, type in ATAPWD.EXE. When the next menu pops up, select WD80EB and press enter.
THIS NEXT PART MIGHT SEEM SCARY, BUT IT WILL NOT ERASE YOUR HARD DRIVE, ONLY UNLOCK IT
Select ERASE PREPARE, and when that's done, select ERASE UNIT. A box will pop up asking for a password. Enter WDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWD. Wait about 30 min and then press F5. Your hard drive will now be unlocked. Turn off your computer, set it to boot from you CD drive, and install ndure using the normal method. It should work now, but you are not done left. This method leaves your hard drive permanently unlocked. Remember that eeprom file you burned to the cd oh so long ago? Boot up xboxhdm again, this time selecting option 3. Follow the prompts to lock the hard drive, and tell it to lock your hard drive from the eeprom. When this is done, shut off your your computer, plug your xbox hard drive back into your xbox, and it should work.

stupido103

Tanx in advantage for this information, im gonna try it tommorow, if any problems pop up ill post it here


tnx for your support

stupido:rolleyes:

stupido103

daederauoy wrote: »

If you haven't already, back up your eeprom.

how do i do this ?

stupido :rolleyes:

Nick_oliveri

You cannot get the EEPROM without the xbox being modified first.
Three things could be wrong.

Your master/slave jumper settings are incorrect (most likely)
You have not unlocked the hard drive properly by using the pause song method.
Or you have skipped the kernel selection or chose the wrong one in setting up the disc.

stupido103

Nick_oliveri wrote: »

Your master/slave jumper settings are incorrect (most likely)

xbox in master IDE cabel in primaire drive
cd-rom drive in master IDE, and pins also master, in secondairy drive

Nick_oliveri wrote: »

You have not unlocked the hard drive properly by using the pause song method

When i reconnected the song was still on pause, and its loaded from the harddrive.

Nick_oliveri wrote: »

Or you have skipped the kernel selection or chose the wrong one in setting up the disc.

I checked this twise and even re-burned the disc, but thats also no it


stupido:rolleyes:

Nick_oliveri

Ok, it finds your CDROM drive. But not the Xbox Hard drive partition . Either it is not being unlocked properly (through no fault of your own I know!) or the Jumper on the Xbox hard drive is set to cable select.
http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=513956

stupido103

wait....
does the dvd ide cable has to be unpluged to?

stupido :rolleyes:

Nick_oliveri

Its a seperate means of unlocking the xbox hard drive, it might help your situation.
Since pausing the song you copied from the CD isn't working, you might consider this method.

daederauoy

Nick_oliveri wrote: »

You cannot get the EEPROM without the xbox being modified first.

Not true. You can build or buy an eeprom reader like I did, but using it requires a bit of basic electronics know how. There is also a splinter cell game save exploit, but if you are going to use that, then you might as well use that method to mod your xbox. I'm posting the URL of an eBay page of a guy who sells eeprom readers, and another to a page on how to use it. Where you attach it to the motherboard is different depending on which version xbox you have. I'll post the URL for a site that helps you find out if you don't already know.

eBay:
"http://cgi.ebay.com/Xbox-EEPROM-Reader-Writer-Repair-Faulty-Console-or-HDD_W0QQitemZ130309163409QQcmdZViewItemQQptZVideo_Games_Accessories?hash=item1e57080991&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65:12|66%3A2|39%3A1|72%3A1205|240%3A1318|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50"

How to use an eeprom reader:
"http://www.llamma.com/xbox/Repairs/Reading_Xbox_Hdd_key.htm"

How to find out which version xbox you have:
"http://www.llamma.com/xbox/Repairs/determine_version_of_xbox.htm"

Hope this helps if Nick_oliveri's guide doesn't work. By the way, I tried every single possible way of unlocking my hard drive, and nothing worked until I used the method that I posted earlier. It takes longer, but it gets the job done.

stupido103

ok whole different story,

if i have an xbox ISO (its legal i own it!)
how do i ftp in on the xbox hdd? just the iso file, or do i need to unzip it or something??
already got xbmc running...

stupido :rolleyes:

RicoStuart

hi all..

just tried this myself, however got as far as re attaching the hdd to the xbox and booting up again.

now the xbox boots with the blob, then teh screen stays blank, and the led changes colour to orange, but nothing coming up on screen.

Tried to restore the drive, but doesnt seem to want to restore from the auto backup.

Is there a way to do it correctly? Can i get the drive back to factory? I belive i may have had a version of dashboard that is too old. Also I have a softmod chip (ithink) installed - comes up saying XECUTER2 on it? (no idea what that means!)

Nick_oliveri

Why did you try this when you had it chipped with xecuter?
That was really really unnecessary. Wow.

Now your chip is conflicting with the softmod and vice versa. I will try and dig up a link later for you to possibly "fix" it with.

RicoStuart

lol! mainly because i have no idea what i am doing - but did follow the instructions.

have, however, managed to find a copy of the dashboard, and reinstalled that. Got it all working, then used auto-installer deluxe to install XBMC and it works great!

BuckDefiant

Nick_oliveri wrote: »

Ok, it finds your CDROM drive. But not the Xbox Hard drive partition . Either it is not being unlocked properly (through no fault of your own I know!) or the Jumper on the Xbox hard drive is set to cable select.
http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=513956

Went thru it all, PC kept giving "hda: lost interrupt" early on, then the "...can't find Partition,yada yada". Google says that linux (the booting CD) occasionally has problems with AMD Athlon based chipsets and HD detection.

Used an old, slow PIII machine and it worked flawlessly the first time, so I clearly had the process down.

So, if you've got everything else straight and it's still not working (or perhaps even earlier if you've got an Athlon), switch host PCs.

witnessmenow

Im not saying your wrong, any sugestion is a good one, but the pc i do 90% of my xbox modding with is a Amd athlon and never have problems

stupido103

ok, tnx for that
im gonna try it alter

daederauoy

Okay, I've got another problem. I installed a 750 gig hard drive on my xbox, and now it runs vvvvvvveeeeeeerrrrrrryyyyyyyy sssssslllllooooowwwwwww. Why? I'm using a compatible hard drive, and I installed ndure and XBMC the right way. Is my xbox just not powerful enough to handle that kind of hard drive, or did I once again screw up royally. Please help and Thanks in advance.