Flashing All Makes Of 360 Drives With Laptop Using Pcmcia Sata Cardbus Options

[Magnum P.I.]

Hi.

I've been looking into the approach of flashing 360 drives from a laptop over the past few days, as I would much prefer to use this method in preference to having to move my pc from it's cabinet and open it up each time. There's also the obvious benefit of portability.

After extensive reading of tutorials, googling a hell of a lot, and reading comments from lots of people that it can't be done, i'm still convinced that it must be possible for all 4 makes of 360 drive to be flashed via pcmcia/usb etc. from a laptop, ie. TS-H943, GDR-3120, VAD6038 & DG-16D2S.

To back this up in part at least, I am pleased to say that I have successfully been able to update the firmware of the TS-H943 and the GDR-3120 from a laptop.

The TS-H943 was flashed from within Vista-32 Home Edition using a VIA VT6421A based PCMCIA Sata cardbus. DosFlash 32 v1.7 was used for the task. PortIO32 drivers and VIA 3249 drivers were both installed.

The process was actually quite simple -
* With the laptop turned off, connect the TS-H943 drive to the pcmcia sata port and insert the 0800 enable disc for approx. 20 secs.
* Eject the 0800 enable disc, leaving the drive tray open and turn on the laptop.
* Simply boot into Windows & launch DosFlash32 (Run as administrator)
* So long as you have the correct drivers installed, the TS-H943 should appear once the relevant port has been selected.
* From here you can choose to read or write the drive's firmware as you please.

The GDR-3120 was flashed from within Vista-32 Home Edition also, this time using a generic Sata to USB adapter, The X360USB also works a treat. As there are probably countless threads detailing this process I won't bother to go over it again here.

So that leaves me with the question of how to handle the flashing of the VAD6038 & DG-16D2S from a laptop, and i'm drawing a blank here. I could be wrong but it's my belief that these drives will need to be flashed from within a 16-bit dos environment. Unfortunately I have not been able to find any pcmcia dos drivers. If anybody has any constructive feedback to this topic I would be extremely grateful.

So please, I don't want to hear it can't be done unless you have hard evidence to suggest why not!!!

Cheers.

[Magnum P.I.]

[Update - Stock VAD6038 Read, Erased & Flashed from Laptop]

Thanks to Schtrom's excellent DosFlash32 I have just successfully read, erased and written the firmware of a previously unflashed VAD6038 drive, that was connected to the same VT6421A based pcmcia card on the system I mentioned in my previous post. From start to finish it took no more than 2 mins. The drivers installed were just the VIA 3249 drivers, I must have already uninstalled PortIO32 earlier.

So, that's 3 out of 4 drives flashed with a laptop so far and all remarkably easily. I shall persist with the DG-16D2S, in the meantime if anybody has any constructive advice I would very much welcome it.

Cheers.

[Vauxfan]

Its bloody hard trying to find a PCMCIA 6421.

Anyway i'd love to know a way with an expresscard as I dont have a PCMCIA laptop anymore.

Good work thou.

[Magnum P.I.]

Its bloody hard trying to find a PCMCIA 6421....

Isn't it just, lol.

I had to contact a few manufacturers and resellers to confirm what chipset was used, in the end I just took an educated guess on what I thought might work. Luckily enough the one I picked was spot on, cost me £10, not bad when a PCI version can often cost alot more.

Re. using an expresscard, i'm sure I read somewhere about it and it's pretty much the same as pcmcia in in practicality. As long as it has the VIA VT6421 chipset it should work just fine.

[Back2kcaB]

Mind sharing? What brand or where did you get it from

[Vauxfan]

Isn't it just, lol.

I had to contact a few manufacturers and resellers to confirm what chipset was used, in the end I just took an educated guess on what I thought might work. Luckily enough the one I picked was spot on, cost me £10, not bad when a PCI version can often cost alot more.

Re. using an expresscard, i'm sure I read somewhere about it and it's pretty much the same as pcmcia in in practicality. As long as it has the VIA VT6421 chipset it should work just fine.

Actually I'll eat my words as I just found 2

Ive never seen a 6421 in expresscard, on the via website it is just listed as a PCMCIA and PCI

[Magnum P.I.]

Mind sharing? What brand or where did you get it from

I don't mind sharing at all, but I haven't a clue on the brand. I got it from a friend on msn who lives in Hong Kong and asked him to find me a VIA card, electronics are alot cheaper & easier to come by out there. The one he sent me has no markings, model number, anything. Just a plain white sticker on one side saying 'VIA' and a blue sticker on the other with 'PCMCIA Cardbus' printed on it.

[batman5315]

http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=677936

[Magnum P.I.]

Hi Batman5315.

I see from your thread that you say you have successfully flashed a DG-16D2S using a laptop. Please could you explain the steps you took in doing so, including information on which hardware, software, drivers and methods were used to get the Lite-On drive recognised in JungleFlasher through the pcmcia connection. I have been finding that I can only get the drive detected in DosFlash32. Unfortunately not to the point where the F/W can be read, erased or written.

Thank you.

[OggyUK]

I used uniATA drivers for mine to dvdkey/erase/write a LiteOn fine.

[podger]

I get my PCMCIA via's in Maplin... Code A87FA... the only problem is they sell a Sil card that looks exactly the same under the same code... Bought 3 one day 2 were Via... sent one to my good friend Oggy and returned the Sil
There are no identifiable marks on the out side that says which one it is.... However the CD with the Sil says 3112 on it in small print.....

This post has been edited by podger: Mar 24 2009, 01:09 PM

[Magnum P.I.]

I used uniATA drivers for mine to dvdkey/erase/write a LiteOn fine.

Hi Oggy.

I had read about the uniATA project & tried visiting the site to get the drivers but it seems to be down. Please could you let me know where to get the drivers from or possibly email me them?

Thank you.

[lucho]

How does this work with the current version of Junglasher, if it wants the via drivers uninstalled? Does portio work with the card you guys bought?

I was reading the tutorial from layton, in which he provides via drivers that he modified to make the card work with Jungke flasher. So my question is, where does portio come into play with the Sata cards.

Thanks for the info.

Lucho

[Magnum P.I.]

How does this work with the current version of Junglasher, if it wants the via drivers uninstalled? Does portio work with the card you guys bought?

I was reading the tutorial from layton, in which he provides via drivers that he modified to make the card work with Jungke flasher. So my question is, where does portio come into play with the Sata cards.

Thanks for the info.

Lucho

I too read Layton's tutorial but I can't honestly say that it's helped me any. I d/l'ed his "h@cked" drivers and followed all his steps but it hasn't worked for me. JungleFlasher just freezes and only unfreezes once I disconnect the 360 drive.

[lucho]

I too read Layton's tutorial but I can't honestly say that it's helped me any. I d/l'ed his "h@cked" drivers and followed all his steps but it hasn't worked for me. JungleFlasher just freezes and only unfreezes once I disconnect the 360 drive.

Have you tried the new version of Jungleflasher with your card? Do you have portio installed along with your driver? I thought the app will not open unless via drivers are uninstalled. If so, are you sticking with an older version of Jungleflasher.

Thanks again for the quick response by the way.

Lucho