Multiboot Gone Wrong? Options

[Rocker1]

Ok well I tried to get UDDAE working to boot the Xbox dash on tray open.

It has never worked for me on the default install of Ndure3.1 retail.
I could get to Xbox dash through the menu so I know the files are there right? but every time I tried the tray open boot I got error 21.
I tried copying the Ndure C files with virtual C disabled, including enie.xtf before xbox.xtf... well upon reboot it goes to a blank screen and I cant access ftp or boot disks it would seem, what happened?

So now I've installed Nure 3.1 again with option 2 via xboxhdm and it is still refusing to load anything after the Xbox flubber animation, just a blank black screen... what's caused this? Ive changed to NTSC and enabled HD modes those are the only system settings I can think of thats different since I first installed it but thats a guess.

Any help here?

This post has been edited by Rocker1: Nov 26 2008, 09:53 PM

[obcd]

I could get to Xbox dash through the menu so I know the files are there right? but every time I tried the tray open boot I got error 21.

Wrong. If you launch the M$dash from your other dash, you will use the files on your shadowc.
If you launch the M$dash with a dual or triple boot, you will need the files on the real C partition.

What colors do you see on your eject button when you get the black screen?
Have you tried to boot the xbox with a game disk in the drive?
Have you tried a rescue disk like Slayers? It can sometimes give you ftp access.
(Don't mess with it's options as it is made for chipped xboxes.)

When your xbox looses it's clock settings, it will launch the M$dash to correct it.
If that can't run, you sometimes get a black screen as well.

UDDAE has nothing to do with a dual boot.
It is the audio exploit trick to return to modded mode in case you disabled your softmod.
Just look for the EggsBox to see how it works. (The B is a beta symbol..)

Are you sure you selected the right kernel version for the softmod? Did all files transfer correctly to the xbox C partition? The ndure softmod likes to fill up the C partition completely so that an attempt to update the dashboard fails. (In case you boot with a game disk in the drive so that the shadowc is not active.)

regards.

[Rocker1]

Wrong. If you launch the M$dash from your other dash, you will use the files on your shadowc.
If you launch the M$dash with a dual or triple boot, you will need the files on the real C partition.

Ah ok well my bad, I did see that blank audio track actually. So that doesn't affect the dual boot, well the option has still never worked for me.

On the black screen the eject button is green, no error screen ect its like either something is stopping the boot up(was guessing at incorrect region, or video settings but Ive changed my mind now that doesnt sound likely) or it doesnt know what to load.

I did try and load Slayers but it wont stop hanging on the black screen.

I will try a game disk but I dont think that will help.

I thought Ndure 3.1 disables the clock check by default? How can I correct this if its the problem?

Are you sure you selected the right kernel version for the softmod? Did all files transfer correctly to the xbox C partition? The ndure softmod likes to fill up the C partition completely so that an attempt to update the dashboard fails. (In case you boot with a game disk in the drive so that the shadowc is not active.)

Yes its deffinately the right kernal, Im pretty sure all the files transfered properly via ftp and in the right order for the 2 files that I mentioned. I replaced them instead of deleting then transferring... would you have recommended delete and transfer instead of replace?

At the moment I have unlocked the drive with my eeprom.bin and Im transfering E:/Apps(with Xplore360... it works I assume its safe to use but its taking forever Im still sat waiting after an hour nearly while it copies them over) with all my other dashboards, emulator files and settings over to my PC incase I have to do a restore if all else fails(I can transfer them to my second Xbox too which Im planning to give as a present to someone).

[Rocker1]

Ok this is very strange now ...

I was able to restore my C:\ drive fine enough I did a rebuild of C:\ and restored backup.

MS dashboard loaded, great I thought... now I can just install ndure again and back to where it was before I tried enabling multi-boot. Installed it... black screen again, this is so frustrating now, I thought maybe because Id used option 2 to replace C that was the cause of not being able to enable multi-boot. So I did option 1 and it went through the install, it did have an error of ".../shadowC/filler1.img - no such file or directory" but I didnt think that would be a problem... no dice black screen again. Went and rebuilt and restored c and installed with option 2(this time without UDDAE)... no dice again black screen.

Where could the problem be? It doesnt appear to be a C:/ problem to me since I rebuilt and restored, it must be elsewhere IMO but I dont want to go deleting anything on E:/ without knowing its not my game saves.

[obcd]

Ernie.xtf and xbox.xtf are tricky files. They just make the nkpatcher run which is located in the C:\bios folder as far as I remember. Some xboxes require to place a number of dummy fonts between the Ernie.xtf and xbox.xtf usually called s.xtf, s1.xtf, s2.xtf. Maybe this is needed in your case.

Once things start going wrong, it is sometimes difficult to revert to a working situation.
In that case, starting over again from scratch can be a good idea.

Just select the dual boot options in kingroach ndure. Make sure you have the unmoddd M$dash files in your xboxhdm c folder. It won't even harm to reformat the C partition and place the original dash files back on it, so that you are sure you start with a clean environment.

UDDAE is just a way to revert from unmodded to modded.
It requires a number of actions before it kicks in. Just install it with the rest, and forget about it for the moment.

When the softmod becomes operational (the nkpatcher), it will make the eject button change it's color (default to Orange if I remember well). If that doesn't happen, the nkpatcher isn't started which is a problem on your C partition. You can have issues with the nkpatcher being unable to load a dashboard, but it will search for a default.xbe on the dvd drive as well, so in that case you can solve the problem with a disk.

What model is your xbox?

regards.

[Rocker1]

My Xbox is a 1.6... the softmod was working fine before I tried to replace the files on C:\ to try and get the dual boot going.

I deleted C:/ reformatted and reinstalled... black screen again, which led me to beleive the problem could be in the settings on E:/ perhaps TDATA for instance, I tried removing E:/ntds before the install too for a totally clean install... didnt work either.

Some xboxes require to place a number of dummy fonts between the Ernie.xtf and xbox.xtf usually called s.xtf, s1.xtf, s2.xtf. Maybe this is needed in your case.

It's possible but wouldnt they have been needed on the first install?

Im going to have to try the video settings, Ive tried everything else almost... the only thing is I cant change back from NTSC without the softmod if thats the problem.

[Rocker1]

I've just tried an original Xbox disk and thats loading, I'm not sure if that means anything.

[Rocker1]

Ok so I tried disabling the HD modes and aspect ratio but no luck.

Where can I find these dummy fonts? E\ndts\files\E\db1\5838? there is a file named ST.DB on there, do I try copying that over 3 times?

[Rocker1]

Ok that didnt work either... good news is I managed to get it loading again, for whatever reason, even after Id reformated C:/ with XboxHD, Ndures installer must have still been getting the order wrong(maybe the directory was set to descending order or another attribute). When I first ftp'd the files over to replace I'm fairly sure I did enie.xtf and Xbox.xtf in the right order but maybe my FTP client messed up the order I qued them in... either by stalling on one of the threads(Im not sure how exactly it works but alot of file transfering programs have multiple threads going at once which could have been the cause) or re-arranging the order by another attribute than name.

So the only option when you face the same problem Ive had is to delete and replace the whole C:/ directory manually(either from the ndure directory on the disk or if you still have the directory you made the ISO for the disk on your PC), if you have the eeprom.bin the quickest and easiest way for me was to unlock the drive in xboxhdm1.9 and then do it through windows via Xplorer360. To be extra sure, I did all the the folders(and the 2 .xbe's) in alphabetical order and left out Xodash, then created a new folder renamed it to Xodash and then copied the contents from ndures Xodash one by one in alphabetical order.

After all this though... the blasted dual boot still wont work , red and green flashing error code: 21 as before. It really has been more trouble than its worth, has anyone else got it working on a 1.6 xbox?

This post has been edited by Rocker1: Nov 27 2008, 06:18 PM

[Rocker1]

Found the problem... but it cost me my E drive since it lost the partition table when I tried placing the original dash and patching over it with Ndure(if you use Xplore360 for this beware it will cause an error if C:\ is overflowed), Id skip the shadow C folder completly in future and try it from Xbrowser which will stop once its run out of space and allow you to delete). I did back up my game saves(U&T Data) but I will have to install the Emulators again.

It seems Shadowc.img is too large... it gets to 91% before C:\ is full, does it have to be that size specifically?

I disabled virtual C and now I can dual boot, is it a case of either or here? Or can I get virtual C working too?

[obcd]

The shadowc is basically just the shadowc.img file in the shadowc folder of your real C.
You can ftp a file to that location with a size that still fits on the real C.
After you enabled the shadowc, you will need to format that shadowc before you can use it as a partition.
In that partition, you will need to put the unmodded M$dash files. That's the M$dash that is started from within your other dash. If your shadowc folder contains some filler files, you can safely remove those.
They are just dummy files with the purpose to fill your real C. (As I already explained.)
It is perfect possible to have a dual boot with the shadowc enabled.

Be carefull when you format the shadowc. Make sure you don't format the real c accidently.
Also make sure you don't ftp the stock M$dash files to your real C, or you can start over again.

regards.

[Rocker1]

Problem solved one of kingroach's posts made me realise xbox.xtf and C:\xbox book.xtf dont need to be in the root of C:\ since they are already in C:\fonts with them deleted there was enough space for the shadowc.img.

So it looks like it's a fully funtioning retail install now... I realise Ive answered my own questions mostly here but it may be helpful for others too and a reminder for myself when I try the same on my second xbox lol.

obcd ah thanks I see what you mean its empty... I was about to try and copy over the backup files of my stock dashboard, I take it theres an option to format the virtual C: in from the Ndure toolset?

This post has been edited by Rocker1: Nov 27 2008, 09:57 PM

[Rocker1]

I've found it, of course its not the Ndure toolset(silly thing to forget) or that would be my real C... unleashx> system> format menu> passord ="Xbox"

Done, not sure it was necessary since it was Ndure's img file but better to be safe than sorry I thought.

I've just copied my backed up C drive over, I think thats the correct proceedure.

By the way the default directory for the backup folder Ndure creates is E:/backup, correct? I had to do this manually, just making sure I have that right incase I need it in the future.

This post has been edited by Rocker1: Nov 27 2008, 10:32 PM

[Rocker1]

One last thing, I assume UDDAE is installed but Ive tried using it from the dash, I ended up having to enter <<Eggsβox>> twice before the UnleashX dash loaded(which could have been a system reboot for all I know), is this the normal proceedure?, ie you have to take the same steps each time?(I was expecting a one button press lol... oh well still a neat feature if it works but Im not risking trying it out, had enough of all this installing ).

Ok I think I can finally close the Xbox up now, thanks for your help obcd.

This post has been edited by Rocker1: Nov 27 2008, 11:01 PM

[obcd]

Yes, entering <<EggsBox>> twice is the normal procedure.
It is a so called Easter Egg in the dashboard that normally shows the credentials of all the people that helped designing the xbox system.
That Module is replaced by an older dashboard that is audio exploitable.

You can pretty much return your xbox to stock conditions, and mod it again with that exploit.
I don't really see the use in that, unless your parents are not suposed to know you modded your xbox

It looks like you had to learn softmodding the hard way... It will surely go better the next time.

regards.