How to softmod your Xbox and install XBMC for free

seanin4711

Hangover wrote: »

Are you using Win7 by any chance ? there have been a lot of problems with network sharing and win7. I have only set up port forwarding for torrents on my router and left the rest alone.

done the portforward for the router and having problems still!
would resetting the router have had an issues on the settings?
might try xp as have both OS's on pc!
I thought win 7 was supposed to be a breeze re: networking etc
yeah right!
when it goes wrong on windows it really goes wrong!

Hangover

Win7 to win7 or xp is fine but with xbmc it can be a pita, are you using SMB to share and have you setup the pc folders as shares ?

seanin4711

smb and having issues with the share folder i pick as i go to specific people>everyone9(manually add),come back out of the folder,right click again and the locked icon appears on nobody yet again,very confusing

seanin4711

dhcp on unleashx not giving me anything!
under IP address,subnet mask gateway all zeros!!!!
also will not save anything i input manually.

strangely enough i can see the xbmc scrolling across the bottom of my screen(internet access)
what to do?
slan
s

witnessmenow

That scrolls regardless of internet or not.

I guess just double check your not using cross over cable, most modern pc will compensate for cross over but i know the xbox does not

seanin4711

using network 5/5e into xbox worked before though!
weird!

deadzero

OK so i've gotten to the step where I boot the PC of the CD i burned but not matter what I do i get an an error ,"Disk Error 80 AX=42CB Drive 9f" I can't remember the exact numbers. I google around a bit and think it mite be an problem with the CD but I've tried two burners and no luck and body have any ideas?

Hangover

deadzero wrote: »

OK so i've gotten to the step where I boot the PC of the CD i burned but not matter what I do i get an an error ,"Disk Error 80 AX=42CB Drive 9f" I can't remember the exact numbers. I google around a bit and think it mite be an problem with the CD but I've tried two burners and no luck and body have any ideas?

Havent had that error before , are you sure you created the disc image correctly ?

illicit007

seanin4711 wrote: »

done the portforward for the router and having problems still!
would resetting the router have had an issues on the settings?
might try xp as have both OS's on pc!
I thought win 7 was supposed to be a breeze re: networking etc
yeah right!
when it goes wrong on windows it really goes wrong!

Try going to
Control Panel\Network and Internet\Network and Sharing Center\Advanced sharing settings
then turn on 'network discovery'
and 'enable file sharing for devices that use 40 of 56 bit encryption'
and 'turn off password protected sharing'

Thats all i used to do really from Win 7 to old xbox xbmc via Cat5e cable. Shouldn't be laggy. Use the PM3 skin. That's all. Oh it only plays SD AVI files. Will be laggy if your trying to play HD. Thats cus the old xbox just ain't powerful enough. I recently upgraded to an old pc with a reasonable graphics card and its rocks Confluence skin all the way.

Hangover

illicit007 wrote: »

Try going to
Control Panel\Network and Internet\Network and Sharing Center\Advanced sharing settings
then turn on 'network discovery'
and 'enable file sharing for devices that use 40 of 56 bit encryption'
and 'turn off password protected sharing'

Thats all i used to do really from Win 7 to old xbox xbmc via Cat5e cable. Shouldn't be laggy. Use the PM3 skin. That's all. Oh it only plays SD AVI files. Will be laggy if your trying to play HD. Thats cus the old xbox just ain't powerful enough. I recently upgraded to an old pc with a reasonable graphics card and its rocks Confluence skin all the way.

If the files are encoded specifically to take into account of the low cpu/ ram specs , you can encode HD files in 720P to play on the xbox.

deadzero

Yea it was the disk image, well rather the burner, third one was the charm, thanks.

RDM_83 again

Thanks great guide, was able to do the hotswop succesfully first time (though was very uncertain if the ide cable should be unplugged from pc hard disk when booting from cd, perhaps could be made clearer on guide)

XBMC seems to be working fine from SMB share from laptop on wireless after starting working completely randomly whoch was very odd because just didn't seem to work at first with same settings (and also freezes when both pc and xbox are ethernetted to router.
can't complain though playing everything i want smoothly

tetsujin1979

Followed this guide a few years ago and installed a 500GB hard drive in a second hand XBox, and love my XBMC machine

Unfortunately, it's starting to fill up, approx 50GB left on it now.
Would any of the 2TB drives on komplett.ie - http://www.komplett.ie/Komplett/catalog/ZKB_01COM/11_HDD/07_INTHD35/default.aspx - work in the XBox or is that capacity beyond its capabilities?

Sorry if this has been addressed already, I haven't read through the thread in a while

Lu Tze

Friend of mine has a 2TB sata hard disk in his. Preumably with some sort of converter to ide. Also i know some of the earlier softwarenbuilds couldn't address above a certain amount of memory, around 500GB i think so you better check on that too.

vibe666

you could always get an external usb/ethernet nas hard drive.

i got one for my brother in law and if you connect it via the ethernet into your router you can stream stuff to it rather than storing everything internally and also make it available over your local network to laptops & desktops elsewhere so other people in the house can share the content at the same time.

Sephias

HI! I just found this awesome guide!

I have followed all steps correctly but I am encountering one problem. When I am in the step after hotswapping the drive i get this error:

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

No xbox partition table found on /dev/hda

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

All cables are connected correctly and i can see the drive in BIOS.

Any idea of what to do?

(I am sorry if this question was already answered, I am an easily confused person when it comes to reading a lot of text so i might have missed a post or two)

Love
Sephias

Edit: I Fixed this error. I installed all files successfully but when i boot the xbox up i get the XBOX screen and then it goes black. Even if i start the box by pressing the eject button it still goes black after booting. I can play games but i see no dash.

Stab*City

for the life of me i cant get the xbox to connect to live so i can update the version i have is too old.. is there any way to run the update from a disc? im on a upc connection with the cisco router..

vibe666

Stab*City wrote: »

for the life of me i cant get the xbox to connect to live so i can update the version i have is too old.. is there any way to run the update from a disc? im on a upc connection with the cisco router..

you can try using a game in it.

it's been a while since i've been near an xbox to softmod it, but afaik there's a few games that automatically update the firmware when you put them in.

if you're going to buy a 2nd hand game to try and do an offline firmware upgrade with, make sure it's one of the ones that can be used to do a softmod, just for potential future use.

they're mentioned earlier in the thread, but afaik are splinter cell, 007 agent under fire and mechwarrior (altho not the re-released platinum or game of the year editions).

i should probably add that i can't confirm at all if these games will do a firmware upgrade on a really old xbox firmware, but its got to be worth a shot for the few euro it'll cost you to grab one 2nd hand in game or gamestop and you'll be able to softmod to your hearts content once its done without ever even opening up another xbox.

Spocker

Stab*City wrote: »

for the life of me i cant get the xbox to connect to live so i can update the version i have is too old.. is there any way to run the update from a disc? im on a upc connection with the cisco router..

I'm pretty sure Xbox Live no longer supports the original Xboxs, so that route would be out - you'll have to upgrade using a disc as mentioned above

Sephias

Xbox Live for original xbox is down, they closed the servers on april 14, 2010.

seanin4711

also xbins should have all the files you need!

Stab*City

Just bought original splinter cell for €1.50 on ebay..

m8

Hi
If the HD has failed in the Xbox can I build a new one without the Kernel version and maybe use a Generic kernel?

Anyone ever done this?

I only want it to install xbmc so not worried about anything else.

Thanks in advance for replies

griffdaddy

Is the HDD swap still the easiest way to mod the xbox? I got one last night that I wouldn't mind messing with. I don't have much need for a media centre at the moment though, if I get to the unleashX stage can I just install emulators etc? Would be pretty nice to have a MAME machine with a few original xbox games on it. Thanks

Myrddin

griffdaddy wrote: »

Is the HDD swap still the easiest way to mod the xbox? I got one last night that I wouldn't mind messing with. I don't have much need for a media centre at the moment though, if I get to the unleashX stage can I just install emulators etc? Would be pretty nice to have a MAME machine with a few original xbox games on it. Thanks

Just follow Supercell's original post in this thread, it's ridiculously easy. I did it yesterday on another members Xbox, same as yourself just to the UnleashX stage. I installed XBMC as an application rather than auto-boot.

m8

Anyone got an EEPROM Reader for the xbox...either for a loan of to sell?


I think it's the only was I will get the xbox with the faulty HD working again.

The_B_Man

Just wondering, is there any point me buying one of those high def cables off ebay or wherever, just to use with XBMC?

I have an xbox thats been softmodded for years just sitting there doing nothing, and I'm kinda thinking I should probably use it to replace the crappy DVD player we have!!

Also, you know them XBOX remote controls? Are they region specific or do they all just work on any XBOX?

Stab*City

ok i got splinter cell.. put it into the xbox and nothing still on the old firmware.. and its an original splinter cell..

griffdaddy

got around to doing this today, was very, very easy and enjoyable. Been fiddling around with emulators and so forth all day. Does anyone know where to get one or two xbox controllers at a good price? I'd prefer a bricks and mortar shop but wouldn't be against buying online. I had a look on ebay and a few other places and they're not as cheap as i thought they'd be.

Hangover

Stab*City wrote: »

ok i got splinter cell.. put it into the xbox and nothing still on the old firmware.. and its an original splinter cell..

I havent done it but i've been told you just go thru the motion of signing in to xbox live and it should ask you to update.