Tsop Flash Help (ind 5003, Or X2 5035), TSOP issues, maybe a weird ftp problem? Options

[HiTMaN-239]

Hi Guys,

I am a long time forum reader, and a a fairly recent forum poster. I just want to start by thanking you all for such a great community, and the wealth of information and help available. I am hoping I can give back someday. But today, I ask for more help

I Recently dove into TSOPing. XBOX was a 1.0 stock drive softmodded (frosty's vga softmod). I sodlered the two points, and loaded latest evox with IND 5003 bios in the bios folder. Flashed it, and all went good. No problems.

Loaded slayer disc 2.7, formated drive (basically all is empty). I wanted xbmc as my dash, so I threw it on C: drive, and put the ind-cfg file in the C: and pointed the first dash to the xbmc xbe. Booted with a IND bios error "can't load dashboard". So I went back into C:, and went with the evox dashbaord. and it loaded. Except for some bizarre reason, it didn't read my evox.ini file properly. I got the dumbed down evox version. When I ftp and checked the ini file, I found it to be empty. Replaced it, rebooted, and same thing, it gets emptied again, and I get the dumbed down evox version.

Also, I tried to put the evox dash on e: and boot from there, so I updated the ind cfg file pointing to partition1 (E: drive), and I got the error "can not load dashboard". So it doesn't seem to read the cfg file. (in fact when I go in and look at the file, it is 0 bytes if I try to get it again through ftp). Also noted that without the cfg file at all, I also get the "no dashboard error"

After experimenting some more, I have come with the following conclusions:

1. An ind bios 5003 (a virgin one, not an injected one) NEEDS the ind-bios.cfg file to load the dashboard, and will give an error if it is not there in C: drive (can somebody confirm this?)

2. I think what is happening is that, for some reason my files are not ftping correctly, so I end up with a corrupt ing-bios.cfg, and then the bios uses the default dash location which is evoxdash.xbe in C: drive.

3. With evoxdash.xbe and its ini and skin files in c: and a ind-bios.cfg also in C:. IND bios loads the evox dash, but the evox that gets loaded is the dumbed down version you would get as if the ini file didn't exist or got corrupt. This further implies that I am not ftping text type files correctly (i.e. ini and cfg files). Additionally, if I try to run xbmc as an application, I get errors relating to .xml files (xml files are text type files, so they are not copying properly as well)

If anybody has any idea what is going on, please help me out. This is very frustrating. And just for the record, I have tried a different harddrive, with the same exact issues. I tried windows explorer ftp as well as filezilla. Same issues. I have also tried other bioses, M8 and X2 4xxx, they don't have cfg files like ind, but they had the same evox.ini issue.

I have also tried X2 5035, but it would just stop at the X2 logo screen. My guess it tries to load it x2config.ini file, but it can't because it is corrupt (because of my weird ftp problem), and stops there, it probably doesn't have a default that it can fall back to like ind, so just ends up hanging there.

For your referecne, I have no problem booting any rescue discs, frosty's, slayer 2.7, and a latest evox all work, so I can do stuff.

YOU ARE MY LAST HOPE! before I give up on tsoping for good.....

Thanks in advance.

[xboxmods2977]

This has got me puzzled pretty good. Weird problem you have here. It is almost as if, somehow your "Virtual C" from your previous softmod is still being loaded but I wouldn't think so.

I would try turning off any firewalls you may have running while ftp'ing to the xbox.

You could also try using a jump/key drive to transfer an ini file to the xbox HD to see if it becomes corrupted that way.

Another idea you can try is alternating the dashboard that is running when you ftp into the xbox, like ftp with evox running as the dash, zap a file over, and if corrupt, boot to unleashX and try again, Just to rattle off a few things off the top of my head that I would try in your spot.

For the most part, your problem doesn't sound TSOP related. It may just be coincidence that it is happening on your first (or latest) attempt.

Hope this helps, and be sure to let us know if you get the problem figured out.

[HiTMaN-239]

This has got me puzzled pretty good. Weird problem you have here. It is almost as if, somehow your "Virtual C" from your previous softmod is still being loaded but I wouldn't think so.

I would try turning off any firewalls you may have running while ftp'ing to the xbox.

You could also try using a jump/key drive to transfer an ini file to the xbox HD to see if it becomes corrupted that way.

Another idea you can try is alternating the dashboard that is running when you ftp into the xbox, like ftp with evox running as the dash, zap a file over, and if corrupt, boot to unleashX and try again, Just to rattle off a few things off the top of my head that I would try in your spot.

For the most part, your problem doesn't sound TSOP related. It may just be coincidence that it is happening on your first (or latest) attempt.

Hope this helps, and be sure to let us know if you get the problem figured out.

Problem solved. Or rather a work around. Ofcourse I figured it out right after I posted my topic, but thats okay, maybe someone can find this solution useful.

I am not sure what causes this, but it seems like its an evox issue not liking my particular xbox. I don't see how it could possibly have anything to do with the virtual c, as the drives were formatted many times, and I also put a "never been in an xbox" drive and rebuilt it with the same issues, heck I threw in a 1TB sata for fun, also with the same issue.... But, you were pointing me to the right track with your UnleashX suggestion I think (this forum rox)... Anyways, the solution:

So, right after I posted my topic, I came across this thread here: link. He had a similar problem with skin.ini file corrupting/emptying on him and solved it by using xbmc ftp instead of the evox ftp.

At first I thought, well, I have tried ftp Evox dashboard, ftp from Slayer, and ftp from Frosty's rescue disc. Then I realized, that all of those are still just Evox flavours. So I figured, I could install xbmc from slayer, and then run it as an application. But I thought to myself, well, I know how to install it, but how do I run it when I can't add items to my evox appication launch because of my ftping ini corrupting/emptying/clearing problem?

Then I remebered, frosty's rescue disc has a File manager on it that can launch SIMPLE xbe. I figured I will see if it can launch xbmc after I install it from slayer. So, in goes the frosty cd, under rescue applications, I choose the file manager and I pick xbmc, and it starts loading, but then hangs with no video. I expected that, because xbmc never liked being launched in that fashion (I think its because it has all these dependencies on other files and not just an xbe and ini file).

So, back to square one. But oh wait, that file manager on frosty has ftp capability! (I think it is just dvd2xbox actually). So I ftp in, I place my ing-bios.cfg file, and my evox.ini and evox xbe also in c. I clean all the other partitions. Restart, and bingo. FULL Evox dash loads up.

I go back into frosty's with the file manager, clear all drives, I put xbmc on my c:, edit ind cfg file to point to the xbmc xbe (default.xbe), reboot without frosty's. And I am greeted by xbmc! (being a softmodder for for the last 4 years, seeing my xbmc dashboard booting from my c: drive with nothing else in there but cfg file brought tears to my eyes)

What a nasty way to enter into the realm of tsoping! I hope my future endeavours are a bit smoother.

Well if you have any alternate work arounds, I would like to see them, or any other suggestions, at least something good can come of this adventure for future modders to see.

Thanks, and cheers

[GISJason]

Good work around is don't install EvoX, and yeah you may want to use that Slayers Disc to install / restore C:/ with the M$ dash files as some appz & games may rely on these dashboard files.

Issues your having in no way has to do with the TSOP flashed Bioses. ind5003 & X2 can boot fine without config files setup on the xbox for them. Sometimes using 3rd party config editors for these bioses can mess it up but not to the point where it's not gonna work / or hose the box..So just be sure your using the right editor or whatever app you use to make your ind & X2 .config files....I'd just format the HDD and start all over again and nicely prep the HDD.Then finally start customizin' the BIOS the way I want it and Since your on a v1.0 Xbox TSOP in that box is a nice sized one, I'd go with X2 5032 right away and then use their X2Config Editor app and make a nice config for it to stick on E:\ then you'll have a sweet box in no time!

TSOP Flashing is fun you'll start to like it better than your softmods ;-)


Have fun!