Zeroize Hdd Key With Configmagic For Easy Swapping Of Hdd Or Hdd Upgra Options

[ldotsfan]

One of xman954's posts gave me the idea. I have 2 xbox ver 1.1 softmodded with Kingroach Ndure and one chipped xbox 1.6. I want to be able to do hdd upgrades or swap hdd between the 3 xbox without messing with the eeproms. So I simply decided to zeroize the hdd key in the eeprom to 32 zeros on all 3 xbox. Here's the steps:

1. For softmods, disable virtual eeprom.
2. In ConfigMagic, press Start button and select unlock hdd.
3. Edit on the fly eeprom in ConfigMagic.
4. Zeroize hdd key to 32 zeros. 00000000000000000000000000000000
5. Select Update xbox eeprom option.
6. Load eeprom option in ConfigMagic.
7. Lock hdd option in ConfigMagic

This post has been edited by ldotsfan: Apr 29 2009, 02:59 PM

[Bomb Bloke]

Hmm. That's pretty clever... Would make life a heck of a lot easier for softmodders, come to think of it.

[Alex548]

I did similar back in the day with same version consoles in order to swap the hdd back & forth without hassles. That option wasn't available for people who used XBL on their xbox 1 though. It's a perfectly good option nowadays though since not many people are using their old console for XBL anymore.

Same with shadow partitions... a major part of it's use was to be able to use XBL on a softmod without being banned. Now it's nearly pointless to have a shadow partition so krayzie's UXE would be the way to go. . . unless you're the type of person who "accidentally" deletes their dashboard files.

[ldotsfan]

Hmm. That's pretty clever... Would make life a heck of a lot easier for softmodders, come to think of it.

Eliminates the need to do an eeprom backup to the PC and has the added side benefit of locking the hdd to a known master password - TEAMASSEMBLY.

[xman954]

Nice, i often wondered if MS had any checksum on the HDD key and if you changed it to a non MS key it would give you a eeprom error (now we know)

also if you don't like all zero's use all "1-9" or "A-F" as long as you remember it

liveinfo can create a eeprom.bin for use with xboxHDM to enable locking and unlocking with just the "unique HDD Key" all other fields zero

[ldotsfan]

Nice, i often wondered if MS had any checksum on the HDD key and if you changed it to a non MS key it would give you a eeprom error (now we know)

Actually there is a checksum on the eeprom contents, ConfigMagic/LiveInfo takes care of the re-calculations - I peeped at its source code once

[fithwum]

does this work without causing problems?

[ldotsfan]

I have done this procedure to my two 1.1 softmodded xbox and my chipped 1.6 using ConfigMagic Final, and they are all booting normally. I've also swapped the hdd successfully from one of the 1.1 to the 1.6.

But editing eeprom contents is always risky so I took the necessary precautions. I had backups of the unmodified eeproms on my PC (and elsewhere) and my eeprom reader (which was supposed to be a writer as well) handy as a hardware means of recovery in case things went wrong. If you have a modchip with 2 banks and one bank has a bios that works around eeprom errors, that will help to reduce the risk too.

I understand there is another version of the eeprom for xbox which is not covered by my scenario - if my memory is right:
a. 1.0-1.1
b. 1.2-1.5 (Not tested)
c. 1.6
Can somebody else confirm this - the different versions of eeprom?

I also couldn't find earlier references of somebody editing the hdd key to a non-MS value like all zeroes so there is risk in becoming a guinea pig but now you have my example to work from if you are keen and know the risks of bricking your xbox.

[Bomb Bloke]

That's the list for which TSOPs match between systems. The EEPROM list is a little different.

http://wiki-scene.com/EEPROM_(Xbox)#Compatibility

[fithwum]

thx for the info i might try this on the next xbox that i get

[legoman16497]

ok. just wanna check this b4 i brick my xbox. i have finally disables shadowc and virtual eeprom. now im ready to zeroize hy hd key. the stock hd alread works ok, butg it dying. imma zeroize that with the method above. for my replacement hd, do i load up my modding cd in pc, and manually lock the new, already built hd with an all 0's key as well then boot xbox?

[ldotsfan]

zeroize that with the method above. for my replacement hd, do i load up my modding cd in pc, and manually lock the new, already built hd with an all 0's key as well then boot xbox?

This method is meant for swapping of hdds between different xboxs. Your situation is different and basically just with the eeprom backup (now that virtual eeprom is off) and xboxhdm, locking the replacement hdd with the correct eeprom.bin will suffice.

[legoman16497]

Woo Hoo!!! My intended task may have been for a different task, but it worked! Thank you all so very much I now have a 40 gig hd installed in my xbox hopefully this will solve the occasional freeze that was occurring as well and now, it is cake to upgrade in the future. *stashes factory hd and all cds and disks in a fireproof safe*

[ldotsfan]

My intended task may have been for a different task, but it worked!

Glad that things worked out for you. So you used xboxhdm with ab eeprom file with a zeroized hdd key in the end?

[legoman16497]

after disabling shadowc and the virtual eeprom, i used the above method to modify the hd key. personally i used 12345678 repeated 4 times to make a 32 char key. i installed the eeprom as per above. then i backed up the eeprom, and put it on a floppy. i loaded up my mod boot disk for pc, and locked the replacement hd with the eeprom on floppy disk. installed new hd, works flawlessly.