Important Links, Where to buy or download stuff (UPD 30 Jan 07) Options

[Textbook]

I thought it might be a good idea to start a thread to help people find out where to buy necessary stuff like SATA cards, Drives, Blank Media, etc. Links to pre-hex-edited MTKFlashes would help a lot of people as well. I'm hoping this is alright, I think it will help a lot of people. Please DO NOT post links that are against XS rules. That means NO links to SS files, PFI, DMI, or other game files. NO links to firmwares or firmware patchers. Please make sure that your link is working, contains the correct information, and is in-stock. Please also list where the site is located in and where they ship to. The reason I wanted to start this thread is because this stuff can be really hard to find sometimes. With that in mind, I would ask that you leave out connectivity kits or modchips, because these are easy to find. I have editing access for my posts because of tutorials that I have had to maintain in the past. I will edit this top first post accordingly. I check the forums everyday, so I can check out any new links and add them to this top post.

VIA VT 6421L PCI SATA Card
This card is the best PCI SATA card for flashing the Samsung drive. It can also be used to "bad-flash" an MS28 without soldering.

Newegg (nonRAID version, only $10) US *Best choice*
iwin2win (nonRAID version) US
iwin2win (RAID version) US
Newegg (RAID version) US
Chief Value US
Acortech US
WeGotDeals US
Ebay Store UK
Ebay UK
Monoprice.com do a search for 2664 which is the product ID for the VIA VT 6421L PCI SATA Card.
I know it doesnt show up in the product title as the card but looking at the picture of the chip http://images.monoprice.com/productlargeimages/26644.jpg reveals the VT6421L smile.gif



VIA VT 6421A PCI SATA Card
This card is similar to the 6421L. The only difference is MTKFlash also needs the port I/O's hexedited as well.
Card Found At http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16816132009
Shiny Hardware.co.uk

Note: You may notice the difference in price of cards above. The reason why is because these cards come in two flavors, a non-raid version and a radi version. The non-raid version will normally be a couple bucks cheaper and will work just fine. You can check if it's a raid card if there is an "R" in the title or just by checking the description. Both cards will work just fine for flashing the Samsung.

Kreon Drives
The drives that can be flashed with the Kreon firmware are the SH-D162C and TS-H352C. These are particularly difficult to find.

SH-D162C
Vesalia German, but ships International
Froogle UK Search - Take Your Pick UK
Misco UK
Dabs (Beige and Black) UK
Pixmania UK

TS-H352C

Hard to find

Pioneer 111D
This is the best recorder for burning Xbox 360 backups. This is really only needed for the Hitachi drives that aren't running the mediapatch firmware. Hopefully GaryOPA's next firmware will not require a specific burner.

Newegg (Beige) US
Newegg (Black) US
ACNT (Beige) US
ACNT (Black) US
Shop4Tech (Black) *Use Coupon Code: Pricewatch* US
ewiz (Beige) US
PCIMicro (Beige) US
PCIMicro (Black) US

Verbatim Media
Verbatim is the best brand of double layer media for the Xbox 360.

Micro Center (on backorder?) US
Newegg (10 pk.) US
Newegg (20 pk.) US
YesMicro US
SAM's Club US
SVPUK
Supermedia Store

Pre-Hex-Edited MTKFlash Files
Some people would rather try using a pre-edited MTKFlash instead of manually hexediting themselves.

VIA 1
VIA 2 - by Geremia
VIA Mini-EPIA-SP by Exobex
Intel 82801GB / GR / GH ICH7
nforce2 chipset By:Slawterr (Note that it still says nforce3 when you run the program and the menu pops up.)

Programs
Commonly requested programs

X360SAM 0.4 - Dos based key copier for Samsung drives.
Xbox Backup Creator v2.3
Maximus - 360 FIRMWARE TOOLBOX for Windows Ver 1.0

Please reply to this post for any corrections or additions. Thanks.

This post has been edited by Chancer: Jan 30 2007, 08:51 AM

[caster420]

To add to Textbook's great list, here are some additional programs:

Xbox Backup Creator v2

X360SAM 0.2 - DOS-based key copier for Samsung drives

Maximus 1.1 Hitachi Firmware Stealth-Maker - ALL VERSIONS

Maximus - 360 FIRMWARE TOOLBOX for Windows Ver 1.0

Hope this helps.


Caster.

This post has been edited by caster420: Sep 11 2006, 01:50 PM

[ORange-9mm]

textbook: Thanks for all the links & keep up the good work. A few of your guides/posts/tuts have helped me successfully since 2003.. ..quality info..

I have bought from directron in the past & had no issues. The only catch is that the TS-H352C directron product description lists TS-H352 (no mention of C). j/c if there are other models of this drive. I don't want to get stuck w/ a drive the will not support Kreon's Alternative FW v0.8


No matter where you live, if you find the SH-D162C or TS-H352C for sale, post the link (also be sure to list where the site ships & price if available).


Here are the discs I use for xbox 360 backups.
Verbatim 8.5GB 2.4X - 8X DVD+R DL 20 Pack Slim Case Dual Layer Disc - Retail ($33.99 At time of writing)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16817130013

http://www.pricetrackr.com/i/N82E16817130013/

I am not affiliated w/ pricetrackr in any way, I just think any service that keeps track of newegg prices is great. Just wish I had found pricetrackr a week earlier, when the shipping was free & a $10 rebate was being offered on the verbatim DVD+R DL 20 pack. I submitted these discs on the Sept. 6th, when I found pricetrackr on digg. The price has not changed since then.

[Chancer]

Keep this legal. No comment posts.
Only add extra links please.
Pinned

[PedrosPad]

Please reply to this post for any corrections or additions. Thanks.

not very helpful for me im in the UK ebay is abit general

Here in the UK I used a Newlink 2-Port Serial-ATA PCI Card (1-Int / 1-Ext) available from UK online retailer SVP. The card has one internal and one external SATA port making it very easy to connect to external devices.

This SATA card contains the ALI M5283 chip set, which is capable of flashing the XBOX 360 Samsung drive to Xtreme Firmware. I understand that flashing Hitachi's makes less demands of the SATA chip set so it should work for them also. I did have to hex MTKFlash to make it work with it. I've uploaded my ALI M5283 hexed MTKFlash to here if it helps others.



Update: I justed searched X-S for "ALI M5283" and found a few posts from people who struggled with this chip set. All I can say is this card worked fine for me.

PS. Mrcon, I sourced mine cheaply from UK eBay BTW

Textbook, ace thread m8 .

This post has been edited by PedrosPad: Sep 12 2006, 01:55 PM

[Trevlar]

I ordered a sh-d162c from this site http://www.vesalia.de/ on 9/4 and recieved yesterday.Awesome oem black bezel for just under 30.00 shipped to California. Site is in Germany.Never heard of them before saw the price took a chance and it paid off.They sent me a confirmation email with a tracking number but could never figure out how they were sending it. The packing suprised me but it made it and it works great.Thanks Kreon.

[pronoia]

Just seen a post where someone was coughing up way too much for verbatims.

Ive always found SVP.co.uk (aka blankdiscshop.co.uk) to be the cheapest for media. £16 for 10 verbatim +R DLs

[esdubu]

Samsung SH-D162 @ scan

Cheapest i've seen these drives anywhere, with the added bonus i only live 20 mins drive from scan!!

Picked up two the other day.

[pds910]

about the sh-d162c Anyone out there know of a US distributor or anyone around selling these in the USA? the one shop listed has gone out of business.

it's very tough to find these in the USA at a decent price, let alone if even in stock at any online store. You are either stuck paying $50+ on ebay, or there are a few people selling them on here. Cheapest one I found on here was $58+shipping...

I just ordered from Vesalia (in the first post). It was $38 something American shipped from Germany to the US. Really, you aren't gonna find much of a better deal then that/ Plus they also accept paypal!

http://www.vesalia.com/e_sh-d162c.htm?froogle=us

That's the link. Scroll down to the bottom and the ones with the green cart next to them are in stock. I ordered a black oem one (without the software) and it has a 3 year warranty! It says 21.48 next to it, but when I checked out it was only like 14.05 euros...then 14 something for shipping, plus a dollar something paypal fee...No biggie, still just $38 American.

If you read a post in this topic, someone from the US ordered from them and got it no problem. Hope this helps...

[pds910]

Be careful with Vesalia, I just went to the site to check it out and see how much it would be and I put my name and address and it ran through as an order, I didn't even want to order it, just checking $$$$. I guess I will be getting the samsung in the mail....... I hope it don't take too long.

it goes through as an order, but you didnt enter any payment info or anything yet...I got an email the next day with a paypal link to pay them...so if you really didn't want to get it, just dont pay...if you don't pay within a certain period of time, I bet they just cancel the order...

everything was quick and easy...if I remember correctly from an earlier post in this topic, the guy who originally ordered from them got it in 8 days...

[Chancer]

This is turning into a discussion thread.
If you have a link PM me with it and I will collate them and add them to this every week.
All I need is a description of the item or software and a link to it.
Subject of PM Link for Textbooks thread.