MA/007 with Phoenix BIOS loader Tutorial - Revision: 1.34
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The purpose of this tutorial is to show you how to integrate Phoenix BIOS loader into the 007/MA hacked game save so you can load an X2 BIOS and then a dashboard of your choice.

This hack is only ran when you need it, so should be more "safer" in Xbox live, unlike the font hack. It also does not have a problem with the clock!

This hack should be:
(1) compatible with any BIOS
(2) no xbes need to be signed!!
(3) lots of other stuff..

I have done this with MechAssault so it should work with 007:AUF.

Step 1
--------

You will need the following:

(1) MechAssault or 007: Agent Under Fire games
(2) Mega X Key/Action Replay or other

The following files from Xbins:

(1) Signed_Phoenix_Bios_Loader_V1.3.rar
(2) MechassaultwithEvox.rar or 007_With_Evox_Installer.zip

and Evox or any dashboard:

(1) EvolutionX_V1_8_3752.rar

and XBEdump

(1) xbedump.zip

and (optionally)

(1) XBtool_1.0.5.zip

Step 2
--------

(a) Create a UDATA directory

(b1) Extract MechassaultwithEvox or 007_With_Evox_Loader into UDATA
(b2) Delete DEFAULT.XBE, Evox.ini and Items.txt (and Skins directory) (this was the old hack)

(d) Extract Signed_Phoenix_Bios_Loader_V1.3 into a temporary directory
(e) Copy these files into the same place as your MA/007 save game

(ie UDATA\4d530017\62D648EBF155 for MA and
UDATA\4541000d\000000000000 for 007).

(f) Delete evoxdash.xbe, evox.ini (and Skins directory if there is one)

Step 3
--------

Extract EvolutionX_V1_8_3752.rar

It is up to you where you would like Evolution X to be installed.

You have two choices, you can either:

* Option A - Put it on your Xbox hard drive - C (easiest), E or F or
* Option B - integrate into your game save.

Now by default the X2 4977 BIOS will look for Evoluton-X on your C drive, so if you do not put Evolution-X on your C drive an additional step is required.

Option A - Installing Evolution-X to your Xbox hard drive

Use MechassaultwithEvox.rar or 007_With_Evox_Installer.zip which will allow you to boot Evox and thus allow FTP access to your Xbox. Follow the instructions contained in those zip files.

Upload Evolution-X to your C, E or F drive.

Option B - Installing Evolution-X to your gamesave

Copy Evolution-X to your game save.

(ie UDATA\4d530017\62D648EBF155 for MA and
UDATA\4541000d\000000000000 for 007).

Step 4 (if you haven't put Evolution-X on C)
--------

If you have decided that you wish to use EvolutionX on a drive other than C or in your gamesave then it is necessary to follow this step. If you have put Evox on C then skip this step and goto Step 5.

We need to modify the X2 BIOS so that it will look for EvoX on another drive and/or directory.
This is quite easy and can be done using XBtool

(1a) Extract XBtool_1.0.5.zip to a temporary directory.
(1b) Goto the Config folder of XBtool.
(1c) Move Multi.ini to "More Configs" sub-folder
(1d) Go into More Configs
(1e) Move Debug.ini to Config folder of XBtool (one directory up)

(2) Goto your Pheonix boot loader directory
(2a) Open boot.cfg
(2b) Copy the stuff after RC4Key into your clipboard (Ctrl-c)

(3) Open Debug.ini in your XBtool/Config directory
(3a) Go down to RC4_key=, and copy the RC4 key into it (Ctrl-v). Save and close it

(4) Load up XBtool.
(4a) Select open, and select the BIOS - xboxrom.bin (in your BIOS loader directory)
(4b) Go down to Boot Partitions and Executables.

Change the drive and/or directory to what you require:

Option A - Specify the drive, i.e. C, E, or F where Evox resides:

Use the slider and simply change the drive.

Option B - Specify the drive and/or directory where Evox resides:

You have to remove the 3rd boot option or there wont be enough room for the path
in the first (the paths are pooled in 1.0.2). So simply wipe the text in the third.

As a safety precaution, change the 2nd to:

Partition C: xboxdash.xbe

Now, Click Save As and save the BIOS, overwriting the old one. Now Re-open
the BIOS again. You will now notice that the 3rd boot option is greyed out! Wahoo! now the space is available for the 1st one

Now enter whatever you like into the 1st boot option.

If you integrated Evox into your gamesave, then specify Evolution-X as:

For 007:

Partition E: UDATA\4541000d\000000000000\evoxdash.xbe

For MechAssault:

Partition E: UDATA\4d530017\62D648EBF155\evoxdash.xbe

(4c) Click Save As and save it. Overwrite your old one (making sure you backed it up first - Shouldn't be a problem tho!!).

You may wan't to open it up again in XBtool to confirm the changes have been made.

All done, X2 BIOS should now look for Evox or whatever dash on the drive and/or directory you specified.

Step 5
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Next we need to sign the BIOS loader with the habibi key so it will load from 007/MA.

Extract xbedump.zip to a temporary directory, or put it somewhere in your path, like C:\Windows\System32 for Windows XP.

Open up a command prompt and goto to your gamesave:

xbedump default.xbe -habibi (signs it)
del default.xbe (deletes the old one)
ren out.xbe default.xbe (renames the new one to default)

Step 6
--------

Zip up the game save, and use the Mega X Key software to copy the save
to the memory card.

Step 7
--------

Boot your xbox with nothing in the drive.
Copy the game save from the memory card to the hard drive.

Next we boot the game:

007

Insert 007 into the drive
Enter in normal level, back to main menu and LOAD SAVEGAME

Mechassault

Insert MA into the drive
Load a campaign, select load linux, and voila

Phoenix BIOS loads.. then Evox.

The intro that you get will only run the first time

Your xbox is now free to do anything you wan't... and you won't have to sign any XBEs or have to worry about the clock problem.

and it only takes a few seconds to launch MA

oh and IGR works too.

I am quite new to this, but I installed XBMP, UAE-X and DGens on my F drive and they work. A lot of testing still has to be done!!

Upgrading to Phoenix BIOS loader 1.3
-------------------------------------------

If you used Signed_Phoenix_Bios_Loader_V1.3 or later then you are already
running the latest version. If not, you can upgrade following these instructions:

Copy the RC4 key out of boot.cfg in your original gamesave.

Extract PhoenixBiosLoaderV1.3.rar, and overwrite your original files in the game save.

Insert the RC4 key into boot.cfg

Insert the appropiate EEPROM key into boot.cfg for your xbox model
EEPROMKey1_0 (1.0 Xbox)
EEPROMKey1_1 (1.1 and higher Xbox)

See this thread on how to get the correct EEPROM key:
http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?act...ST&f=45&t=84574

Sign the default.xbe:

xbedump default.xbe -habibi
del default.xbe
ren old.xbe default.xbe

Zip up your save game, and upload it to the xbox!

UPDATE: Known Issues
-----------------------------

Reset on eject fix does not work. If you press the eject button, the tray will open half way and the xbox will reboot.

This isn't a problem if you are loading stuff off the hard drive or play originalls.

If anyone has a solution please let me know.

THANKS
-----------

Artifex, Wonderdog, Cain, NeoS, Wooger and anyone else who have all contributed to the tutorial via forum or IRC

This post has been edited by tutu: Aug 5 2003, 04:44 PM

Thanx for the info, guess i have something new to add now

and this should be ok to play live with if not in use?

hey man..

i did everything like you said, but as soon as the phoenix screen disappears, it's just a black screen.. nothing happens.

I had that problem when I was figuring this out.

Did you put Evox onto C of your Xbox?

This post has been edited by tutu: Jul 19 2003, 09:16 PM

yessah

There is a step that I did miss that is now in the tutorial.

When you sign the default.xbe it creates a new one called out.xbe.

You need to delete the default.xbe, and rename out.xbe to default.xbe

Sorry about that!!

Working from memory

great tutorial tutu, can you add the steps needed to have evox automaticly come up, so have it installed on the xbox!!
So there is no need to re-run 007/MA! So a permanent solution!!! Or could you point me in the right direction to one already done!!

Cheers mate,

Johno

quick question, when i want to use phoenix do i boot up ma/007 and load the save file?

--PooN

QUOTE (PooN @ Jul 19 2003, 10:49 PM)

quick question, when i want to use phoenix do i boot up ma/007 and load the save file? --PooN

Exactly. The hack is only run when you load the game save from ma/007. This may/may not fit your requirements but it is good enough for me while everyone else messes with fonts and that ironing out the bugs

The only problem I have is that the xbox reboots when I eject the tray - it opens half way, reboots and closes (no reset on eject fix)

I am using K: 4817, D: 4920 - anyone else have that problem? Not a big problem mind you

This post has been edited by tutu: Jul 19 2003, 10:08 PM

do you have to solder anything with this exploit?

tutu, get reloaded as opposed to bert is cheating on ernie, will fix the eject problem

This post has been edited by vintage_guitar: Jul 19 2003, 10:40 PM

Wow, great tutorial...

I finally understand how to do this ! Before I was lost sitting there going 'duh?' wondering how the hell these loaders were being run, all the confusing talk about bert and ernie hacks...

Well now I just need the hardware!

Edit: Loading a new BIOS loads all features in the new BIOS right? Not just a crappy half-patch? I mean, this does fix the DVD eject problem?

This post has been edited by RiceCake: Jul 19 2003, 10:56 PM