Hack the 360: The Tutorial

Backing Up, Modifying & Flashing the Samsung Drive
&
How to Create Game Backups
&
Bad Flash Recovery

For Toshiba-Samsung and Hitachi-LG

Written by: Geebee & contributors

This post will be updated as I update the tutorial...

Changelog:
* Updated to cover Xtreme v3 Samsung and Xtreme v2.1 Hitachi (v40)
* doc format … guide is now 'open source' (v40)
* Major changes….garyopas XTRM-HITACHI-ALL-V1_2 method is now the only way to flash the Hitachi (v37)
* Added: Now recommends Samsung Autoflasher & garyopa’s Hitachi pack, both with no need to inject your key (v36)
* Changed: crossed wires now recommends using a 1k resistor (MUCH safer) (v35)
* Added: f900 tutorial (v34)
* Added: v36 support (v33)
* Added: news section (v33)
* Fixed: Merged both tutorials (Hitachi and Samsung) (v33)
* Added: v59 stuff (v32-Hit)
* Removed: Hitachi, clevermod crap & password (v32-Sam and v32-Hit)
* Changed : watermark (v32-Sam and v32-Hit)
* Added: v46 info (v31)
* Changed: General typos (v31)
* Added: A huge watermark and pwd protect to prevent stealing (v30)
* Added: hdtv soft boot trick to boot backups (v29)
* Added: pic of which screws to undo (v28)
* EDITED: Thankyou list… corrected for scene people who deserve thanks only (v28)
* Added: HD Method to get backups to boot (v27)
* Added: Crossed Wires Pictures and expanded tutorial (v26)
* Added: Xecuter connectivity kit tutorial (v25)
* Update: IMPORTANT: This may give you an error message when flashing. Repeat the xtreme.bat file run until it is successful. DO NOT power off the drive until successful. (thanks Arakon) (v23)
* Added: fix if Hitachi cannot be seen in windows when in modeb (v22)
* This is just Hitachi…no samsung stuff (v20)
* Added the perfect way to open the 360 without damaging the case (v18)
* Added bookmarks (v17)
* Added hotswap method for getting Hitachi recognised in Windows (v17)
* General corrections (v17)
* v15: now covers how to make an SS with a Hitachi drive... (v15)
* added diagram for "crossed wires" connection and rewrite of method. (v13)
* added the crossed wires method of getting a Hitachi into modeB. (v12)
* updated for Helldocs SS Merger v1.4 (v11)
* Now in-cludes Sniperkillas Amendments: No need to remove DVD case for wxRipper; how to stop bad rips in wxRipper; reliable key editing with hexwotrkshop and more
* Few more bits added and now in PDF



Download Tutorial (v40 Toshiba-Samsung and Hitachi-LG guides): here(doc)

Another update of this guide by Mksoftware & geebee ... v12

What's new?
* added the crossed wires method of getting a Hitachi into modeB

Here's v13 of this guide by Mksoftware & geebee:
http://dwl.xbox-scene.com/tutorial/xbox360...tutorialv13.pdf

ADDED: diagram for "crossed wires" connection and rewrite of method

great tutorial, hopefully i didn't offen you in any of my other posts but it would help to add how to burn using dvd decryptor, much better than clonedvd

Well, following the tutorial was pretty easy, but I found that I only needed a 7 and 10 torx!

v15 is up!
http://dwl.xbox-scene.com/tutorial/xbox360...tutorialv15.pdf

props go to Geebee & Mksoftware.

ignore the new section on SS creation on the Hitachi...its not working quite right!


apologies

May I ask what's wrong with it, I was about to try it, but if you say it's not working correct, I shouldn't bother trying

no its a level above my skills...memdump doesnt replace the 0800 xtreme firmware exactly so it will NOT work until the firmware hack is out


sorry

Can someone explain this section in more detail "Extracting the Security Sectors:" I under most of the other stuff but this section loses me. What direction and order are these numbers supposed to be filled in???

Nice job

There do not seem to be any warnings like the one above in the tutorial, is this "earthing" no longer deemed necessary?

actually it probably is necessary

i will add it now

I found I only needed a T10 screwdriver. I went out and bought a T8, but it was never needed.

thanks, i used it today to flash my drive.

I already disassembled the xbox with another tut, but i used this to flash the drive. I ran into some minor PC specific problems but I solved them by searching the forum

v17 is posted ...
http://dwl.xbox-scene.com/tutorial/xbox360...tutorialv17.pdf

For those who have done this, how long did the whole process take?
I'm thinking of trying this out but it seems like it would take quite some time (hours?) just to do it.

to do the flash is minutes if you have done it before.

This tut covers backing up games too. And the Hitachi stuff. And a bitsetting tutorial. And bad flash recovery. And how to hex edit mtkflash.

Just pick out the bits you need lol.

Another update v18!

http://dwl.xbox-scene.com/tutorial/xbox360...tutorialv18.pdf

another one already geebee, you make these quicker then chineese make babies

geebee released v20 that includes just Hitachi-LG stuff for the new HLG FW hack released earlier today:
http://dwl.xbox-scene.com/tutorial/xbox360...tutorialv20.pdf

V20 for both DVD drives is up

http://ss.softmodfiles.net/geebee/

New updates will be here from geebee until he gets live access to the x-s dir.

Hi

Great guide BTW. The guide makes no mention of the Ali M5283 PCI card. Can anyone tell me if this works as I'm having trouble finding a SATA card in the UK for a reasonable price which I can use for my 360 and I can get one of these for about £10.

Thanks In Advance

Junpit

more updates from geebee .. v23 now (Hitachi stuff only)

http://dwl.xbox-scene.com/tutorial/xbox360...orialv23Hit.doc

i done everything i know corretly , and windows wouldnot come up to afull boot , soo i done as (V23) suggested open the dvdrom tray , now i cant get the thing to stay closed , when i put anything in it , it will attempt to load then eject it , windows does recognize the drive and the media i insert but ejects it , any ideas?

BIG ups to Geebee and mksoftware for keeping on top of the latest developments and taking their time to document it all for the common folk!

and

Hehe mine did exacly the same as yours but i flashed it and its said it was done i tried a game but i dont think maxell dvd+r dl worked so good

Another update from Geebee ...
http://dwl.xbox-scene.com/tutorial/xbox360...orialv25Hit.pdf

v25-Hitachi:
* Added: Xecuter connectivity kit tutorial

Yay!

I'm famous

That's my hand in the pics that show the xbox 360 being opened

Hello I need some help, I have flashed the xbox360 firmware with no problems ripped all the games I had and flashed it with the firmware needed for playing the games (xtreme.bin). But now I am getting an error when trying to play the game, it says "To play this disc. put it in an xbox360 console" the only thing I couldn't do was set the booktype to dvd-rom when burning, because my pioneer dvr-110d doesn't support bitsetting according dvdinfo pro. I'm thinking that that's the problem, but I would really apppreviate some feedback. Thank you

@ geebee

many thanx for your great tutorial.

regards
kingkahn

Geebee released v26 of his Hitachi-LG FW install guide!
http://dwl.xbox-scene.com/tutorial/xbox360...orialv26Hit.pdf

v26-Hitachi:
Added: Crossed Wires Pictures and expanded tutorial

Hi there i followed v 26 tutorial TO THE LETTER with the crossed wires now my dvd drive flashes the centre light all the time and wont let me eject it I can see the dvd drive in the bios screen of the pc while it is like that . It would appear that my drive is dead but the bios screen shows it as there and the xbox will go to the dashboard (my box is japanese if that makes a difference) there must be power getting to the drive as the bios screen can see the drive.


Is this what people mean by an xbox shaped brick or is there hope for mine yet??

And why can I see the drive in the bios screen but not in windoze or the linux cd
however last night I did make the hitachi the bootable drive on my system??? but I did lose all my other drives at the time

also If my drive is dead theres a company in america selling toshiba and hitachi drives for the 360 (thought each one was specific to its motherboard) if my drive is dead can I buy one of those and put it in???

Geebee released v27 of his Hitachi-LG FW install guide!
http://dwl.xbox-scene.com/tutorial/xbox360...orialv27Hit.pdf

v27-Hitachi:
* Added: HD Method to get backups to boot

Has anyone been successful in getting the Security Sector files working for the Hitachi drives? Extracting the SS files is correct, but trimming it is not. In the guide it shows you how to trim up to the begining of the file, but the rest of the method is incorrect. All is needed is the correct offsets for the rest of the file to trim down which is broken up throughout the file. I just wanted to know if anyone has done this yet, so I won't waste my time trying.

Someone with a Samsung and hitachi should get the SS using the samsung and the SS using the hitachi and that method, and search how we need to trim it correct...
Since SS extraction can't be done with the hitachi (as for now) it's not much use of applying the FW yet... (if you don't have a samsung too)

just a quick question when you say quote:
Slax CD :
100% (if your sata chipset is compatible) 0% (If chipset isn’t compatible)
does that mean the other methods will work if your sata chipset isnt compatible?

yes...modeb is completely independent of sata...you dont NEED a pc to put it into modeb.

Slax is good IF your pc supports it AND you dont want to stick wires in your 360.
Con. Kit is good IF SLax doesnt work AND you dont mind paying megabucks
X'ed wries is good IF slax doesnt work AND you dont want to spend anything AND you dont mind sticking wires in your 360

really weird stuff going on here.

I used the crossed wires method.

Backed up the original firmware with memdump for safe keeping.

Flashed with C4E's v1.0 last night. Flashed failed. So I re-ran. Drive froze up and wouldnt respond to bat file commands.

rebooted computer, not 360. Computer wouldnt boot with it connected even with tray ejected.

So, decided to reboot both 360.

After putting in mode b again with crossed wires, it booted to windows.

Windows recognized fine. I Attempted to restore with original firmware with C4E's. Finally, after 2 failed attempts, it completes successfuly.

The 360 now works again. Boots to dash OK with no rd lights.

SO I take my chances again and try geebee's v1.1

Says it completes successfully with DONE after each. And no failures whatsoever (took screenshots), but the 360 is flashing 3 red lights again. After trying to restore for the 2nd time, it says successful. But xbox is still broke. Ive repeated the restore 10 times, and even tho it completes, the xbox is still not booting correctly. This is using the same orig.bin that fixed it b4. I have it backed up to a thumb drive so there is no doubt.

Any ideas?

Thanks for reading. Can u c im not a noob?

First off.. Great Tutorial.. if i can understand it anyone can hehe

Bit im still wating on my Dvd-DL so cant start burning just yet.

But about the Bitsetting for burning the games i have the Pioneer 109 and when i try using DVDInfoPro it says Pioneer not supporting.

Will i have a problem burning the games without doing the bitsetting thing?

Thx alot to all who maked this possible

You'll be fine mate pioneer 109 has the right bitsetting from stock

OH SH!T

just went back through the tutorial again and looking at it the image shows the DVD DRIVE connectors not the cable ends!!!! so methinks I like a real tw@ have joined open/close to 12v god I hope im wrong but I think not
Anyone know a way to recover from this? Or am I looking at replacing the drive??

thanks if i do this ill try slax first and if that doesnt work ill get a friend to do it

hi i cant seem to get my dvd key. the 360 is all ready in mode b. in the guide it says not to turn off the 360, would it be ok for me to turn it off and try to get the key later?
thanks

I noticed in the current guide the list of supported SATA cards was removed but it says hot swapping and crossing the wires works 100%. I know someone else inquired about this but the response was not clear so does that mean even if your sata (bios) can't detect the drive, if you cross the wires to force modeb or hot swap with a sata cd/dvd rom drive you will be able to access and flash the drive in windows?

The reason I am asking is that my onboard stat (promise on an asus mb) does not detect the drive - thus neither slax or windows will. I tried hotswapping with a sata hdd but windows locks up when I power on the 360.

So before I go abd buy a pci sata card that should work I just wanted to confirm:

If your sata (bios) will not detect the hitachi drive you can still get it work with with crossing the wires and/or hotswapping?

Additionally, if you cross the wires, then should the sata (bios) pick up the drive?

Last, if you hotswap, does the drive go into modeb automatically or is modeb only required to get windows to actually recgonize the drive but you can still flash outside of modeb with the hotswapping?

why are you trying to get your key?

as in your guide it says to make a back up of your firmware. ive done that, but i thought i should still be lable to view it with kdx? i just want to make sure that in case the upgrade goes wrong i no what my key is.

ok still cant view the key so is it safe to turn off the 360?

hi there does anybody know if the ASUS P5GD! PRO motherboard with the crossed wire method works

thanks newcomer

Can you use a SS.BIN from a samsung drive to burn our backups for the hitachi-lg drive ? (as long as the region of the SS.BIN is the same the users region, one for a PAL xbox and a NTSC xbox)

Or is there no difference in PAL SS.BIN and NTSC SS.BIN files ? (Security Sectors)

Or how do you extract the secuirty sectors from your hitachi drive ?

Thanks!

is a pioneer a09 a good burner in combination with verbatim 2.4x dl ? I've read somewhere they auto terminate the discs as DVD-ROM, is this true ? (also with clone cd ?)