I Have A Question. Options

[samool2]

Hello, regardless of me being registered for quite a bit, I have not been very active on this forum, but I have come here to ask a question..


I'm wondering if any of you know which is the best way to go for modding an Xbox if I do not have one already.


Meaning:

I have yet to purchase an Original Xbox console.

I do not have very good soldering skills, if any.



I do not know if there is a Online shop that sells Pre-Modded Xboxs, if there is and it posts to the UK could you link me.

Thank you for your time.

[Mikesshunk]

Well if you're looking to buy a pre-mod, you may want to check out the BST section on these forums. I'm sure someone in the UK here has an Xbox for sale for a decent price.

Now if you want to mod the Xbox your self and have limited soldering skills you may have two options:

Softmod- No soldering required, more effort required to upgrade hard drive

TSOP flash- Small point needs soldered but is really like having a modchip (easy hard drive upgrades)

Now if your soldering skills are as bad as you claim, you may need to stick with a softmod or get a friend to do the TSOP for you. You don't want to risk damage to the motherboard.

[samool2]

Thank you for the quick reply, ah, I have an Xbox, but the HDD is fried and is non-responsive to everything I try, so I have been told the only easy way to fix that is to get a modchip and install a new HDD.


Is there a solderless modchip? Like an adapter?

[Bomb Bloke]

There are solderless modchips, but what you gain in ease you lose in reliability.

If the HDD is truly fried, and there's no EEPROM backup available for this system, then you'll either need to build an EEPROM reader or, yeah, install a modchip.

What symptoms is the console showing with the current drive installed? Sometimes it can be a motherboard/PSU fault, or even just a few corrupted files.

[samool2]

There are solderless modchips, but what you gain in ease you lose in reliability.

If the HDD is truly fried, and there's no EEPROM backup available for this system, then you'll either need to build an EEPROM reader or, yeah, install a modchip.

What symptoms is the console showing with the current drive installed? Sometimes it can be a motherboard/PSU fault, or even just a few corrupted files.

I can boot it up fine but when I put a disc in it says it requires service, now, I'm not sure whether this is the DVD drive or not, because it reads it fine, it just cannot boot it. Also, when I go in memory, it reads 0 blocks free out of 0 blocks or something similar.

[Bomb Bloke]

Ah, sounds like the HDD is physically ok: But if it states there are 0 blocks available for storage, there might be a little bit of corruption. Hard to say about the DVD drive while that corruption is in effect.

Does the memory manager report any save games or audio tracks on the drive? If so, try deleting 'em all, see if it starts reporting free blocks again.

[samool2]

Ah, sounds like the HDD is physically ok: But if it states there are 0 blocks available for storage, there might be a little bit of corruption. Hard to say about the DVD drive while that corruption is in effect.

Does the memory manager report any save games or audio tracks on the drive? If so, try deleting 'em all, see if it starts reporting free blocks again.

No, no saves or tracks.

I may need to make something clear, I have attempted a hotswap with this, so what I think may of happened is I probably unlocked the harddrive and failed to lock it again.

I do hope it isn't the dvd drive, but I see no reason why it should be.


Thanks again for the help.

[Bomb Bloke]

It's not possible to permanently unlock the drive via a hotswap. Can't be done.

Still, it's not a good idea to try hotswapping too often, or you'll fry the HDD for real.

So, yeah, modchip or EEPROM reader. Take your pick. The reader is handy in that you can use it to easily mod / fix more then one console with it.

[samool2]

It's not possible to permanently unlock the drive via a hotswap. Can't be done.

Still, it's not a good idea to try hotswapping too often, or you'll fry the HDD for real.

So, yeah, modchip or EEPROM reader. Take your pick. The reader is handy in that you can use it to easily mod / fix more then one console with it.

Yep, hard drive is cocked, I put in an audio cd, it read it fine, so would that mean the drive is okay?


What modchip would you recommend?

EDIT: And does any one know of a stockist in the UK, or someone who ships? Thanks.

This post has been edited by samool2: Jun 24 2009, 11:23 AM

[MasterGouken]

Try the original xbox b/s/t section of the forums. I believe there is someone who sells Duox2's, i dont know if he ships to the UK though.

Link: http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=666376

[Bomb Bloke]

Yep, hard drive is cocked, I put in an audio cd, it read it fine, so would that mean the drive is okay?

Discs with "computer data" on the (eg game discs) have to be read "perfectly". If just a few bits of information can't be read off it, the system can't boot them.

For this reason, such discs have extra "redundant" data on them used in cases where the drive isn't quite sure what it's reading. But if the laser can't read the disc because it's too weak, then odds are it can't read the redundancy data either and the whole thing fails.

Audio discs lack this redundancy data - if there's an error on the disc, or the laser is too weak to read certain parts, the system just attempts to play it anyway. So long as the drive can determine where each track starts and ends, it should be able to play an audio disc.

That said, I would expect that the HDD corruption is what's causing the games to fail. My point is it's just not a "sure thing".

[samool2]

Discs with "computer data" on the (eg game discs) have to be read "perfectly". If just a few bits of information can't be read off it, the system can't boot them.

For this reason, such discs have extra "redundant" data on them used in cases where the drive isn't quite sure what it's reading. But if the laser can't read the disc because it's too weak, then odds are it can't read the redundancy data either and the whole thing fails.

Audio discs lack this redundancy data - if there's an error on the disc, or the laser is too weak to read certain parts, the system just attempts to play it anyway. So long as the drive can determine where each track starts and ends, it should be able to play an audio disc.

That said, I would expect that the HDD corruption is what's causing the games to fail. My point is it's just not a "sure thing".

Well I'm not sure what to do with the HDD, I have it plugged into my PC right now and it detects it, but I cannot access it, so perhaps it's still locked !


However, would that mean it is still possible to hotswap?

[Bomb Bloke]

Yes, in theory you should be able to use this guide to install a softmod, which would allow you to fix the drive corruption.

The green-screen MS dash (where you play music, view save data, change console settings etc) is a program stored on the HDD. If the drive becomes trashed/unlocked, that won't load any more: Instead, the console will boot to a screen telling you to send it in for service (regardless of whether there's a disc in the drive or not).

http://wiki-scene.com/Error_Codes_(Xbox)

[samool2]

Yes, in theory you should be able to use this guide to install a softmod, which would allow you to fix the drive corruption.

The green-screen MS dash (where you play music, view save data, change console settings etc) is a program stored on the HDD. If the drive becomes trashed/unlocked, that won't load any more: Instead, the console will boot to a screen telling you to send it in for service (regardless of whether there's a disc in the drive or not).

http://wiki-scene.com/Error_Codes_(Xbox)

Well I have just been trying using XBOXHDM 1.9 the ISO booted one, and when I come to hotswapping the dvd drive in my pc shuts off, and I can do nothing further.


I'm not sure why it does it though.

[samool2]

Well, thanks, your information helped me.