How to softmod your Xbox and install XBMC for free

mfield

After literally 4 hours of swapping drives and trying every single configuration and method under the sun, I got an error on my PC saying Hard Disc not found, I got that sorted and now all I'm getting is either error 6, 9 or 13 when I turn on the xbox.

I think I will just install a chip in it but I thought this way would be handy and really want to conquer the piece of sh*t! I have installed chips in loads of consoles, but this is just baffling. Any help would be great!

UPDATE** OK I got the program to get to the install ndure menu even though the screen is showing ERROR 13. Can it be possible to get it to work with the error screen?

Nick_oliveri

Go for it. Cant hurt. Well done getting to the ndure menu. Be sure to follow the first post.

13 - kernel - Dashboard launch fail (due to missing/bad key, or anything else that would prevent it from running) and the dashboard didn't specify why it failed.

The error it gives is because of the incompatibility between the (older) dashboard (4920) that older slayer cd installs and the new dashboard/kernel versions found in some new xbox's and found in xbox's that have been connected to xbox live (when you go on xbox-live, it'll upgrade your dashboard file to i believe it is now 5659.03. This dasboard is incompatible with the dash that (old) slayer cd installs (for example 2.5 or lower) for you.

(In detail, in the eeprom chip there is a kernel which is incompatible with the dashboard (4920) that slayer installs.)

So what do you do to fix it? You can use the dashupdate found on most new xbox games! Be sure to 1st unplug your ethernet cable before you do so!!!

Besides that, just use a good installation disc and all is fine. Use a 2.6 slayer or something similar

witnessmenow

Get it back to the original dash. I'll upload a cd iso similar to the ndure cd that is being made on this guide. I'll upload at 6-7 when i get home from work.

Burn it to a cd.

Boot it up the same way as the cd from this guide.(cd drive in the secondry IDE slot , with all other hard drives plugged out)

Turn on your xbox, when it gets to the green X screen(before the error message comes up) Unplug the hard drive.

Plug it in to your pc when you have the xbox hd tools screen on your pc and chose option 1

Then type "xboxhd"

then select option 1

Then just keep typing "yes" at every option after that.

After a few mins it will say its done, then you should have your xbox working as standard again, remeber to plug the hard drive back into the xbox before powering the xbox down.

If you get there just try the hotswap again.

mfield

witnessmenow wrote: »

Get it back to the original dash. I'll upload a cd iso similar to the ndure cd that is being made on this guide. I'll upload at 6-7 when i get home from work.

Burn it to a cd.

Boot it up the same way as the cd from this guide.(cd drive in the secondry IDE slot , with all other hard drives plugged out)

Turn on your xbox, when it gets to the green X screen(before the error message comes up) Unplug the hard drive.

Plug it in to your pc when you have the xbox hd tools screen on your pc and chose option 1

Then type "xboxhd"

then select option 1

Then just keep typing "yes" at every option after that.

After a few mins it will say its done, then you should have your xbox working as standard again, remeber to plug the hard drive back into the xbox before powering the xbox down.

If you get there just try the hotswap again.

OK, cool. Cos I actually installed a chip in the end and when I boot with the chip off I'm still getting errors, even after using Slayer to restore the HD to retail state!?

I'm hellbent on getting this method working.

witnessmenow

Sorry was stuck at work for a while. Im uploading to rapidshare now , but i have to go to work again(diffrent work!) So i'll post the link tonight(at about 4am!)

Edit: here ya go

mfield

witnessmenow wrote: »

Sorry was stuck at work for a while. Im uploading to rapidshare now , but i have to go to work again(diffrent work!) So i'll post the link tonight(at about 4am!)

Edit: here ya go

Many thanks for doing that! I unlocked the drive through Slayer, ran the program as you told me and then connected it back to the XBox and locked the drive again, but it's still given me the same crap! Is the HD fooked?

vibe666

just spent the weekend softmodding 6 xboxes in a row for mates from work!

i guess that's what happens when you start bigging up xbmc amongst a group of geeks. :rolleyes:

anyway, things I've learnt.

before now over the course of last year or so I've done about half a dozen softmods using the savegame trick and although they've not always gone smoothly, I've never had a totally borked xbox that i couldn't recover from.

the best advice I can give to anyone who doesn't want to end up bricking their xbox is to BACKUP YOUR EEPROM!

if you do this (failing any catastrophic hardware failure in something other than your hdd) you will NEVER be in a position you can't recover from (on that particular xbox).

no matter whether you use the drive swap thing or the savegame softmod backing up your eeprom before you go any further and then ftp'ing it or copying it off the xbox some other way is the single most important thing you need to do if you want to save yourself a lot of potential heartache.

once you have an eeprom backup you could take out your original xbox hdd (softmodded or not) and put a sledgehammer through it and as long as you have another drive you can rebuild everything on a new drive using ndure and xboxhdm.

if you're not planning on upgrading your harddrive then I still maintain that the savegame softmod using the newest Auto Installer Deluxe v4.20 disc is by far the quickest safest and most reliable method of modding an xbox, soft or modchip. as I said I've at least a dozen under my belt now (with 3 upgraded hdd's) and no bricks at all. use common sense and RTFM and you'll be laughing (in a good way not a crazy "I just wasted 20 yoyo's on a big black brick" way).

personally, my (new) favourite method of upgrading the hdd is to start a savegame softmod to backup the eeprom in SID then build the new hdd from scratch using xboxhdm and use that to lock the new hdd with the backed up eeprom files. That then leaves you at the point in Longfield's guide where you have unleashx and just have to set xbmc as the dash.

to save a bit of time I add the XBMC files to "/e/Apps" on the xboxhdm boot disc, that way it copies them onto the drive when it's building the E partition and then once the drive is locked you just whack it into the xbox and boot off it into unleashx and XBMC is already installed as an app for you to load without any further messing around. if you want to set it as the boot dash you can do it from within xbmc itself.

damn, this thing keeps getting better and better.

EDIT: btw, for anyone looking for a nice quiet drive, I've just put a 400gb samsung spinpoint in one which is currently copying about 300gb of stuff from one xbox toit and even with the top of the case off i almost had to press my ear against it to even hear that the drive was doing anything and even then I could still hear the hdd on the other xbox (with case on) that was 5 feet away. now that IS pretty quiet. add a nice quiet 80mm case fan mod and that thing would be almost totally silent.

Black_Knight

Little problem thats bugging me and I cant seem to figure out, nor do I have much time to.

I cant set a static IP in XBMC, it freezes everytime I try. Also if I try to add a source from an IP address it freezes so I guess its a problem with the graphical interface of adding an IP address.

I can set an IP address in Unleash and transfer files that way, but streaming or connecting to my laptop isnt an option.

The only similar problem to this ive come accross is when loading different librarys (music, video etc.) and it freezes. Simple solution there was to delete the library file and it would generate a new one on start up. Unfortunalty I cant find the file used for entering the IP address.

Whoever solves my problem get a limited edition "thanks"!

ongarite

Bug in recent version of XBMC with setting static IP.

Black_Knight

Well darn my father. He gave me the recent version of XBMC to install. Any solution other then getting the Old version and replacing it?

Id have to go to athlone to get he old version of XBMC.

Enjoy your Thanks,
Thanks

Blazer

mfield wrote: »

After literally 4 hours of swapping drives and trying every single configuration and method under the sun, I got an error on my PC saying Hard Disc not found, I got that sorted and now all I'm getting is either error 6, 9 or 13 when I turn on the xbox.

I think I will just install a chip in it but I thought this way would be handy and really want to conquer the piece of sh*t! I have installed chips in loads of consoles, but this is just baffling. Any help would be great!

UPDATE** OK I got the program to get to the install ndure menu even though the screen is showing ERROR 13. Can it be possible to get it to work with the error screen?

welcome to my world...I gave this guide to all the workmates and we all bought xboxes..everyone of them bar myself were able to update the xbox..:mad:
decided to hell with it and am giving it to one of them to do as I don't have the time..:D

ongarite

Black_Knight wrote: »

Well darn my father. He gave me the recent version of XBMC to install. Any solution other then getting the Old version and replacing it?

Id have to go to athlone to get he old version of XBMC.

Enjoy your Thanks,
Thanks

Afraid not. Whats the build version of your XBMC? If you can get net access anywhere you can download an older or newer build.

Mathew Reilly wrote: »

welcome to my world...I gave this guide to all the workmates and we all bought xboxes..everyone of them bar myself were able to update the xbox..:mad:
decided to hell with it and am giving it to one of them to do as I don't have the time..:D

The only reason for getting error code 13 when using this guide is by not updating your Dashboard to 5960 BEFORE you atttempted the softmod. You do this with any LIVE enabled game, like Halo2 for example.

Black_Knight

Prob not able to get net access. Work has basically everything blocked, thankfully not boards.

I might get a chance at the weekend if I head home. At least I wont put that XBMC on my 3rd... 4th xbox.

ongarite

The latest rev of XBMC April 6th fixed the Static IP issue
Changelog:
2008-03-30 12383 fixed: static dns entries, broke internet address lookups.

Next build should be released Sunday afternoon, evening.

Black_Knight

ongarite wrote: »

The latest rev of XBMC April 6th fixed the Static IP issue
Changelog:
2008-03-30 12383 fixed: static dns entries, broke internet address lookups.

Next build should be released Sunday afternoon, evening.

Cool, ill prob go with the current build as of 2008-03-30 because if I wait around on Sunday evening for the new one to be realeased it might not be for another week until I get a second chance to change it.
Any link for the build as mentioned above? Ill grab it this weekend.

ongarite

Link here:
http://ftp.endpoint.nu/pub/repository/t3ch/XBMC-SVN_2008-04-06_rev12544-T3CH.rar

Black_Knight

ongarite wrote: »

Link here:
http://ftp.endpoint.nu/pub/repository/t3ch/XBMC-SVN_2008-04-06_rev12544-T3CH.rar

The one thing i can download at work and ive nothing to put it on! Just my luck.

Cheers

Black_Knight

1 more thing. For some reason I cant FTP certain files onto the xbox. Ive heard there is a charactor limit (42 charactors) and (! # $ % & ' ( ) - . @ [ ] ^ _ ` { } ~) cannot be used on titles and it may stop you from transfering them over. Ive not had the chance to rename any files yet but im pretty confident they dont break any of the above criteria.

That doesnt seem to be the case, some of the files that transfered are longer titled then the ones that didnt transfer.

Any ideas?

Ive tried a few different FTP programs BTW

vibe666

Black_Knight wrote: »

Any ideas?

have you tried rar'ing the files and then extracting them using xbmc?

I've never actually tried this, but if xbmc can play movies in multiple rar files I don't see why there shouldn't be an extraction option in the file manager (someone correct me if I'm wrong).

someone mentioned the static IP bug. If you're using a router turn on dhcp and use that, or it its a crossover to a laptop or desktop with a static IP then set xbmc to 'dash' and make a note of the ip listed and just change the laptop's static address temporarily to an address on the same subnet so if xbmc says 192.168.0.2 change your laptop to 192.168.0.3 and see if that works.

or download the latest build.

i just google for 't3ch' to find my builds and it gets me to the right spot every time.

Black_Knight

Im using UnleashX to get a static IP because ive an XBMC build with static IP problems. Ill update shortly.
Im using a crossover cable, most the files transfered, but for a few here and there. I retried with different FTP programs to no effect.
Ill try raring them after I update my XBMC build.

Ill see how these work. Cheers

Gegerty

I've been using XBMC with hardware chipped Xbox for years now and it has truly revolutionised my living room! However I have my doubts of its ability to handle HD content so I have switched over to using my XBOX360.

The 360 can handle Divx, Xvid and HD content. Your typical Divx download is noticably better on the 360 as well (less blotchy). Unfortunately it does not support the matroska container which has become the HD standard, but as it is just a container it is simple to extract and rebundle into MP4 format (I use GOTsent). The one thing it is lacking is 5.1 stereo for MP4, you must convert it to 2 channel stereo. Microsoft formats of course handle everything :-)

Here is a link to what it can handle:
http://www.xbox.com/en-us/support/systemuse/xbox360/digitalmedia/videoplaybackfaq.htm#h264

I also have it connected to my network and stream everything from a synology NAS.

btw this is not a hack. Simply click on the Divx file and it will go online and download the updates needed to run the file.

XBMC was great, but with modern TVs quality is important and Xbox 360 (and even PS3 dare I say :-)) is the way to go.

ongarite

Going to have to strongly disagree, XBMC is so so far ahead of 360, PS3 in playing anything EXCEPT HD content.
XBMC will play and smooth DivX/XviD far better than 360/PS3 using Pixel Shaders for this processing.
If all you do is just play and delete content, then 360/PS3 will be fine but if you want to have a library of TV/Movies & Music, then nothing, nothing beats XBMC and its getting better all the time with the recent introduction of Music scraping support of album, artist information.

I have XBMC connected to my Plasma, first as PAL 576i unit and it looked super. I now have it connected to my Plasma using HD component leads at 720p and its looks out of this world. Its interface is far far superior to 360/PS3 and always will be as its been designed especially for this purpose.

And in case you were wondering, if you have XBMC connected using HD pack in 720p, it will upscale all DVD, DivX, XviD content to 720p without a sweat.
Its region free DVD player also!!

ongarite

If you aren't using the library features of XBMC, you aren't using it at all.

vibe666

I have to agree too, using component HD cables with XBMC is still the best way to go IMHO, even with DivX support on the 360 and PS3 they can't compete, and native HD content is only marginally better than the 350mb HDTV rips when they are properly upscaled to 720p/1080i, not to mention (as has been said) the superior gui and library mode etc. in XBMC. I've had my PS3 since launch day and have a 40" 1080i TV and there's not a hope I'm going to get rid of XBMC for a good while yet.

Gegerty

ongarite wrote: »

Going to have to strongly disagree, XBMC is so so far ahead of 360, PS3 in playing anything EXCEPT HD content.
XBMC will play and smooth DivX/XviD far better than 360/PS3 using Pixel Shaders for this processing.
If all you do is just play and delete content, then 360/PS3 will be fine but if you want to have a library of TV/Movies & Music, then nothing, nothing beats XBMC and its getting better all the time with the recent introduction of Music scraping support of album, artist information.

I have XBMC connected to my Plasma, first as PAL 576i unit and it looked super. I now have it connected to my Plasma using HD component leads at 720p and its looks out of this world. Its interface is far far superior to 360/PS3 and always will be as its been designed especially for this purpose.

And in case you were wondering, if you have XBMC connected using HD pack in 720p, it will upscale all DVD, DivX, XviD content to 720p without a sweat.
Its region free DVD player also!!

You're not seeing HD quality. It looks good but its not HD, I don't care what the packet on the cables says!! And all upscaling does is match the pixels so that it doesn't look absolutely cack. It doesn't magically convert DVDs into Blu-Ray or HD! Anyway for the record, 360 upscales as well.

XBMC is by far the most versitile and I'll never knock it. I've had years of use from it and still have it setup in my living room, but I have to say since moving to 360 I've never once had to use it.

btw, the XBMC library is just a copy of media extender which the 360 uses connecting to a NAS or even just to your PC. If you want to keep a library then I'd recommend a NAS for both XBMC and 360.

Gegerty

ongarite wrote: »

And in case you were wondering, if you have XBMC connected using HD pack in 720p, it will upscale all DVD, DivX, XviD content to 720p without a sweat.
Its region free DVD player also!!

I'm talking about full 1080p and 23fps..

ongarite

Gegerty wrote: »

You're not seeing HD quality. It looks good but its not HD, I don't care what the packet on the cables says!! And all upscaling does is match the pixels so that it doesn't look absolutely cack. It doesn't magically convert DVDs into Blu-Ray or HD! Anyway for the record, 360 upscales as well.

XBMC is by far the most versitile and I'll never knock it. I've had years of use from it and still have it setup in my living room, but I have to say since moving to 360 I've never once had to use it.

btw, the XBMC library is just a copy of media extender which the 360 uses connecting to a NAS or even just to your PC. If you want to keep a library then I'd recommend a NAS for both XBMC and 360.

I never said you are seeing HD quality just playing it in HD resolution, the EXACT same as 360,PS3. I also never said that it converts DVDs into Blue-Rays or HD just that it upscales them to 720p like every HDMI DVD player or 360,PS3.

johnnyboy4711

have splinter cell have 8mb memory card and usb lead to pc so where do i go from here?
I guess i need action replay software from somewhere!
thanks
john

ongarite

Yes you need to download action replay from somewhere.
Then download the krayie ndure for splinter cell v1.1 from xbins using easy xbins program,

ongarite I have another question for you. I softmodded using 007: Agent Under Fire. My question is, can I still play this game? I tried saving/loading my game but it accessed the exploit and the ring on the xbox went into red. There seems to be no way around this..