First things first.. i was going to turn this into a 2.6 install/flashing tutorial, but there are plenty of great install tutorials out there and regurgitating the same stuff over and over again gets a tad repetitive. For this tutorial, we will be sticking with what seems to be the biggest problem that people are having.. how to flash a proper bios.


For starters, you're going to need to gather a few programs.

1. EVTool ... used to modfiy the bios to your liking. Get the program here.
*note: depending on what bios you'll be using, you might need to grab the older version 1.0.8 (1.0.9 being current at the time this is being written) .. this will be explained later
2. X2BM v2.3 ... used to build the bios file. Get the program here.
3. Dummy File Creator ... used to fatten up the bios disc's size a bit. Get the program here.

Now that you've got the basic tools, you just need the bios files.

1. Hacked Bios ... unfortunately, we have a small issue here. Due to the fact that hacked bios files are illegal, i can't tell you where they are or how to get them. The best i can do is point you to another tutorial, but it should be pretty self-explanitory. Find that tutorial here.
*note: as for which bios to get, it depends on your version of xbox. If you own a v1.0-v1.5 you have tons of different options. I suggest looking around in the bios forum on this site which can be found here. However, if you own a v1.6 or v1.6b there is only one recommended bios for you to use. For v1.6 you need EvoX's M8_v1.6 bios. For v1.6b you need EvoX's M8plus_v1.6 bios.
2. Flashbios ... we want this on there in case you want to reflash later with a different bios without having to purchase a programmer. Get this one if you have a v1.6 box. Get this one if you have v1.0-1.5 or v1.6b.

Now that we've got those, let's get to making that bios!

The first thing you're gonna want to do is unpack your newly aquired bios files from their handy-dandy rar files. You don't need to unpack the whole thing, just the 256k file that you want to use. You should do this for both your hacked bios and your flashbios. Make sure, however, that you pay attention to where you unpacked them to. I created a bios folder on my pc just for this stuff and i recommend you do the same... keeping things tidy makes life a lot easier. Once you've got your unpacked files, it's time to get to work.

First, open up EVTool. (This is where version comes into play. If you're using M8_v1.6 you need to use the older 1.0.8 version. Everything else should be fine with 1.0.9. ) You should see something like this..



From this point, simply click the open button and find your hacked bios. Once it's opened up, you can adjust things like fan speed and logo colors. You also use this to edit the LBA48 options (for hdd's over 137gb). It should look something like this..



Once you get everything how you want it, just save it and exit.

The next thing we want to do is to setup the bios file that will be burned to your new chip. Here's where most people have issues. Due to the design of the 2.6 chip, she's really picky about how the bios needs to set up for her to work properly. While Flashbios can be used from either bank, the hacked bios MUST BE PLACED ON BANK 2 TO WORK. Sorry for yelling, but this can not be stressed enough. If you flash your hacked bios to bank 1 you will have problems.. i can almost guarentee it.

This is where X2BM v2.3 comes in.. it allows you to setup your bios with the right files in the right banks. So go ahead and open it up, should look like this ..



Notice the 4 boxes on the right? They represent the banks of the chip. Boxes 1 and 2 represent bank 1 (two 256k files = one 512k bank), and boxes 3 and 4 represent bank 2. Setting this thing up is super easy and should only take a few seconds. Right click on the first box and select open. Then find the Flashbios file you unpacked earlier and click OK. Do the same for the second box. For the third and fourth boxes, use the hacked bios you modifed with EVTool. Once that's done, it should look something like this ..



If so, click on the Save icon in the 'Image Options' section and name the file BIOS.BIN

Congratulations, you've just successfully created your working bios file!

Now you just need to get it onto your box.

This is where i now set you free. There are several different ways of getting your new bios onto your chip, and you need to choose the method that will work best for you.

1. If you purchased a programmer along with your chip, then follow the instructions it came with to flash it.

2. If your pre-installed Flashbios gives you the option to 'Flash via Http' , then follow the instructions for doing so which can be found here.
*note: i used this method to flash my brother's 2.6lite and i have to say it was the easiest thing i've ever done. I definately recommend it if the option is given.

3. Another option is to create a disc that the xbox can pull the BIOS.BIN from. This can be a little more complicated due to various issues with certain drives only liking certain types of media. Some like dvd-r's, some like cd-r's, and still others prefer cd-rw's. Your best bet is to do a search on the xbox-scene forums for media compatibility with your specific drive type.. something simple like 'media for samsung' or 'thompson media' should yield a few decent results.

If you are going to go this route, there's one more step you have to take. If you inserted a disc into your xbox with only the 1mb bios file on it, the xbox would be unable to read it. You need to put more info on the disc. This is where the Dummy File Creator program comes in. This program will generate a file of 'junk' just to fill up disc space so the xbox will be able to read it.

Go ahead and open it up. You should see a window that looks like this ..



Using this couldn't be any easier.. just select the size of the desired file and click 'Create'. Doesn't sound too tough now does it? For this project a 100mb file will do quite nicely. Go ahead and fill in the appropriate info and let her rip. When it's done (only takes a second or two) you should see this ..



When that's done, burn them (BIOS.BIN and the 100mb dummy file) onto your blank media using nero. There are other programs that work, but i've always used it with zero problems.

Once your disc is done, pop her in your xbox and flash away.. just make sure your bank switch is on bank 1 (it'll write to both banks from there) and your flash protect is disabled.

Once flashing is completed, make sure to turn flash protect back on and switch to bank 2 on the chip. Bank 1 will only be used if you want to flash another bios later.





All-righty, that's all I have for you for now.. Feel free to post any helpful additions you might have, as well as any comments you might have about the whole thing. You're also welcome to post questions here and I'll do my best to help you out.

Happy Modding!

First off, good guide , there are too many posts about this, especially the must flash to bank 2 issue.
Sorry to be picky but I did pick up on one thing which is confusing:



The switch makes no difference, the flashbios will ALWAYS flash from the beginning (bank 1 -> bank 2).
This was first made apparent to me as I have a v1.4 xbox which used to have a 2.6 in it and so i didn't have to use bank 2 for the X2 bios i was using. When ever I made a new bios (for colours mostly) I would switch to bank 2, boot flashbios and then flash a 512k image. Bank 1 would have changed and the switch was on bank 2 the whole time.

Thanks for this awesome and clear guide. I fried (i think) a 2.6 chip trying to mod flash it in a 1.6 box...I found your guide afterwards. I followed your exact steps and finally got a second chip working in my box. Thanks a lot! There are tons of guides but this one rocks. and actually works.
Jose

I wish i had this a couple days ago. Great tutorial

dont you have to make the BIOS.BIN file and the dummy file in to an xiso?

nope.. just slap the two files on a disc and you're done. (as long as you're using the right media that is)

will youre xbox detect the disk evenif youre in some shitty bios like the gentoox loader or will it just say please insert stardust disk

if you had just installed a x2.6lite/x2.6ce you wouldn't have the gentoox loader.. you'd have flashbios.

i have a v1.6 xbox and i followed this guide and for some reason it flashes the FlashBios to the first bank perfect but when i try to switch to bank 2 it frags. I used m8_16.bin and according to the version guides i have a 1.6 so that should be right. What do u suggest i do?

double and triple check your install.. then if all looks good try using m8plus_v1.6 instead.

if i try to flash m8plus_16 on bank 2 would i still beable to reflash with flashbios on the bank 1 if it happens to not work?

ok i tried to flash m8_16plus and still did the same thing. Bank 1 works bank 2 does not

Acutally it does make a difference on V1.6 & v1.6b the bios need to be on bank 2 in order for software to work properly you can have on bank 1 and it will boot up but Slayer and other program with not load properly just wanted to let anyone out there know since i was up all night trying to figure this thing out and finally got it to work.

Thanks! Your guide was perfect!

Hey i follow your guide and the bios flashed both banks with the m8plus_16 bios instead of one flash and the other m8plus_16 i really don't care nothing is wrong but can you tell me what i did wrong so next time it won't happen again thanks

Many thanks. Really good tutorial, it all went very well for me.

HI, Im new to this but have worked out to get bios for x2.6. But when i try to open it on evtool it says error kernel extraction faild.
any ideas . THANKS, JACK

more than likely you're just using the wrong version of evtool.. give it a quick read-thru again and double-check which version you need for your bios, i swear i put that in there..

and everyone else, glad i could be of some help!!

Yeah, use 1.0.8 if you're using M8_v1.6...if you're using any other it should work fine with 1.0.9.

Iv got evtool 1.0.9 and try to open bios 4981.06 and it still says kernel ectraction faild. i dont have a clue whats wrong

You're trying to open xecuter bios with Evox tool which is used for evox M8 bioses. Download Xb tool(bios editing too) and it should work for you. EVTool is for Evox M8 bioses, Xb Tool is for other bioses(like xecuter).
Or get evox M8 bios like in this guide(just be carefull to get the right one comparing to your xbox version...read the tutorial through precisely).
For downloading stuff you should get known with "the usual place": Click here

Damn, double post...please erase this one Admins. Thanks.

nic1, thats sorted it

i have a question, i have a 250gb harddrive. i have to partition 137Gb to partition 6 and the rest to 7 right? Also my bios tell me that my xbox is like 120F, is this normal? Should i increase my fans speed?any help would be great.

if your box is a 1.6 or 1.6b, then ignore the temp.. it doesn't work right.

as for your hdd, you can create a G: if you want to, but i personally prefer to leave it all on F: .. evtool/xbtool has the option to set it however you want

Excellent post. Definitely helped out a lot. One quick question though, I have a 1.6 and will be ordering a DuoX 2 Cromwell/Flashbios chip. Will the M8_v1.6 bios work properly with this chip? This is the only bios that will work with a 1.6 (as the tutorial stated). The only issue I see is making the M8_v1.6 bios the correct size for the 512 banks. Thanks ahead of time for any replies.

i see no reason why the m8_v1.6 bios wouldn't work on the duox chip.. all the chip does is store the bios for the xbox to use.

as for size, only use 2 banks of the bios manager... one bank 256k m8_v1.6, other bank 256k m8_v1.6.. since there are only 2 256k files, it'll combine to make 1 512k bios file. just make sure to leave the other two spots blank

good luck and keep me posted on how it's going

I need help with the tutorial....

I have a 1.6 xbox and Im installing a 2.6ce chip. I go to download the appropriate BIOS from the appropriate IRC source, and EVTool 1.0.9 won't read it. Where can I find 1.0.8 to try that out? Thanks!

Are you sure you have M8 Plus 1.6-this one is the best(works on 1.6 and 1.6b versions). If you have M8 1.6 you have to get 1.0.8 EVtool. Download M8 Plus 1.6 bios.

not true... i know of many people that have had issues running m8plus_16 on 1.6 boxes. i myself had two that ran buggy on that bios.

like i said earlier..
1.6 .... m8_v1.6
1.6b .. m8plus_v1.6

I am having trouble. I have a v1.6 xbox with an 2.6ce chip. I am trying to flash it via http. When i boot up to flash bios my controller doesn't work. If i turn the chip off and boot to the normal xbox bios the controller works. Any help would be appreciated.

1. is it an official m$ controller? i've heard on more than one occasion of people's 3rd party controllers not being recognized.. weird i know, but i know of no explanation

2. is it the only controller plugged in? got myself with that one once.. again, i don't know why but it happens from time to time

3. is it plugged into the 1st controller port?

I don't know. But it's working for me(using M8 Plus 1.6 on 1.6 version....No problems).

that's cool... i'm sure there are others using that bios/version combo with no problems as well. my recommendation is based on 100% success though...

when giving people advice/instructions on how to do something, it's better to give a fool-proof version and not a crap shoot. not a lot of 'newbs' want to take that chance when it comes to doing things for the first time. let them experiment once they are more familiar with the system and know how to fix it if something goes wrong

instead of putting flashbios on bank 1 and the m8 bios on bank 2, could i put some linux loader on bank 1 and m8 on bank 2? i want to be able to have linux and evox. i guess if i did that i wouldnt be able to put a new bios on ever again right? i dont want that to happen, so i guess what im asking is if flashbios isnt on one of the banks will i still be able to put a new bios on later?

sure you can... just get a program from "the usual places" called FlashX. works just great for the x2.6 chips. (wanna say it works for all x2 chips, but as i've not tried it i won't guarantee it.. maybe someone else here can)

store various bios files on the xbox (f:\bios\whateverbios.bin for example) and the program will flash it for you. pretty damn easy to use. when i had my 2.6 i would have different bios files made for different fan speeds (before i started using xbmc that is.. those were dark days ) and just flash a lower speed when watching a movie, or a higher speed when doing a lot of gaming.

i would only suggest that you get her up and running before you do it, just in case anything happens during the flashing process

thanks. actually the reason i asked that question is im trying to decide which chip to buy, the x2.6 or 3, since the 3 is nearly twice the price, i wanted to make sure i could still do what i wanted to with 2.6, and it seems i can, so far it seems like the only main difference is the 3 has 2mb for bioses instead of 1, but 1mb is enough for me b/c i only need 2 bioses. is there any other big differences that i have failed to notice? i know the x3 also has that chip that sticks on the front of your xbox with led indicators n stuff, but i dont really need that, as long as i have the switch to turn it off on the front, which 2.6 has.

the biggest difference right now is the bios itself. the x3 bios supports live config. so you can alter bios options (fan speed, flubber/text color, xbe boot order, etc.) from a menu in the chip itself. it also allows you to ftp to the box thru that. and then there's the ability to format a new hdd, back up your eeprom, etc...

actually, there's a hell of a lot of stuff to x3 live config..

and then there's the cool extras.. x3lcd, x3pro switch, x3 control panel



not that the 2.6 wasn't a good chip, it served it's purpose well for me. i just upgraded cuz i wanted the latest & greatest. on the plus side, they are currently working on a config live bios for x2 chips.. might just be a while till it's ready though

i think i'll go with the 2.6, im pretty sure it can do as much as i need to do.
one last question i have is when i turn the chip off it is automatically gonna load the default xbox bios and dashboard so i can get on live right?

sorry, i searched just to make sure im not askin a dumb questions...

I got a xbox 1.6, with a 2.6 chip.
i have it on bank 2 runnin all my software (avalaunch and stuff) and wanted to reflash the chip because i had to change a setting in the bios. how do i go about reflashing the chip. if i put it on bank 1 the blue screen comes up , is it safe to flash it from here, or should i make a boot disk and flash it on bank 2....any ideas? I have the bios i used so im just gonna adjust it (simple change of which xbe to boot from).

or should i use somthing like evox to flash the chip?

Thanks in advance...that was a good tutorial, exactly what i did....

read the post just a couple spots above yours.. there's a program called FlashX that will do it for you and you can run it as an app from any dashboard.

Just one more comment to add to the list...

1.6B with a 2.6CE.
For some reason flashing from a CDRW appeared to work but would not. Very strange, it worked perfectly the first and put M8Plus1.6 on the 1st bank (before i realized the quirk). Then, when i would try to reflash to anything different (tried 4xflashbios to clean it and the 'proper' flash+M8Plus1.6) but it never changed. The flash protect was set correctly and it showed the yellow and green bar as if everything was ok. No errors, no flash. It was always as if it was unflashed from the first, working one.

Next i decide to attempt to flash from the Hard Drive via EvoX (that i could install without issue with M8Plus1.6, it was simply the loading of games/programs that wouldn't work). This works perfectly, without issue.

Everything is now working and loading without issue. Thus, if you have trouble with a CDRW and can get into the xbox via ftp: use the hard-drive.

Just wanted to share my experience and maybe save someone a night of annoyance...

~Me

Reet Im trying to flash an Xbox 1.6 with the m8 16 bios by disc.....ive created the 512kb m8 file needed and ive stuck it on a disc with the dummy file. Ive flashed from bank 2 but its only flashing to bank 1(which ive read has problems), I still have cromwell 3.0.3 on bank 2 and the m8 bios on bank 1. Although it works. It doesnt seem to work properly.

How can I flash the m8 bios to Bank 2 by disc. Any help would be greatly appreiciated

d3fo

The BIOS has to be 1024k. Thats why its not flashing correctly for you. Try padding it so the first two 256k spots are flashbios (in case its needed later) and the second two spots are the M8Plus_16. Then it should work.

~31337

Ive bought a programmer and it should be with me within the next few days...and i'll give it a go thanks for the help and i'll reply with the results

many thanks
d3fo

Can I burn multiple bios.bin files on the same cd or dvd and can I burn them on a auto-installation cd like slayer-autoinstaller for instance. This way I could flash the bios for different modchips and then install all the apps and dashbords with the same cd or dvd ????



Since the auto-installer is bigger them 100mg I guess I wont have to burn the bios + the dummy file!!!!! ????


1 magical disk or possible or not ???????

Hey, I read this post and I'm looking for the evox m8_16 bios for my 1.6 xbox w/ xecuter 2.6ce. I went to the usual sources and got this:


"xbins will no longer host evolution-x files.

To anyone who reads this, you can personally thank jokko from team evolution-x for this situation.

Have a absolutly FABULOUS day!"

Anyone have any ideas where I can find the m8_16 bios?

try their channel on irc.. it's on efnet, and it's either #evolutionx or #evox (i think.. don't yell at me if it's not though)

I got an M8 BIOS off of #xboxemu on irc.zionet, so I'm not sure if it's some unofficial, and broken version of the evox bios, BUT, I can't get my chip to program via HTTP. It seems like it can take an awful long time for the web page to post the BIN update to the Xbox, don't know if it should take this long (several minutes sometimes, sometimes it does right away). I can flash, say a 256K bios file correctly, but this results in an Xbox that won't start right (it will restart itself over and over and finally boot with the circle flashing mult colors). I can reflash back to FlashBios.bin, but can't get the chip to take the 1MB bios.bin file.

Couple of questions:

1) It shouldn't matter where the bank selector chip is when you are flashing, correct? Being that this is an X2.6 CE, it always flashes starting with Bank 1. The selector switch just chooses the booting BIOS when you are firing the system up?

2) How long does it take to POST a 1 MB bios file via the HTTP interface? I waited 5 minutes, and nothing happened!

3) This is a fresh mod-chip install, so I guess it's possible I need to double check the solder points, but wouldn't I know if it was broken immediately? It boots fine with the mod-chip off, and boots to FLASHBIOS with the modchip on...all switches on the chip appear to perform their function, so I feel like I have a good install here.

4) Is it possible the M8 bios I downloaded is a "broken" version? X2 Bios Manager 2.3 showed the bios as "UNKNOWN" when I loaded it into a 256K bank...so the MD5 hash isn't checking out even though X2 Bios 2.3 says it supports the M8 bios!

5) Oh yeah, it's a version 1.6 XBOX!

Thanks for any help, a lot of this is just me "thinking outloud". I'm not at home to experiment right now!

I think I had a "broken" version of the M8 bios. I downloaded a version from #evolutionx on IRC, and this one flashed perfectly! Guess you got be careful with that BIOS, and get it from the right sources!