I want to upgrade my 80GB HD to a 250 or 300GB unit, but I know different BIOS's support different max. HD partition sizes...

I'm running X2 4977... What do I have to do (switch bioses, etc.) to be able to use 250-300GB without going to a multi-HD setup? And I'd prefer to have all of it on the F drive, but I guess its not the end of the world if I have a G drive too.

Help me out?

-Biggie!

i would patch x2 5035 with x2ool to have one big f drive. then flash that bios. then format with xbpartitioner in 32k clusters.

So... What exactly do I do to the X2_5035 that I just downloaded? I also downloaded X2ool and X2ConfigMaker 2.4.1.

Thanks,
-Biggie!

i found your post, and looks like we are in the same situation.

http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=518679

But i have an old x2lite without a jumper switch. Been years since i upgraded to 120G, and my memory..

anyways, as ive found out

We need to use x2_5035_vOld_512k.bin

i have a 300G drive, and as people says safer to have an f-g partition.

so use x2ool, load up x2_5035_vOld_512k.bin at the lba dropdown list selected partition 6 to 137G/partition 7 takes the rest.

Then use FlashX_v1.2-XECUTER, i used that last time to flash to 4981.06.

Anyways, i opened my old xbox and pulled of bios jumper and booted into the other bank. that one had the x2 bios the chip came with.

so i guess in FlashX_v1.2-XECUTER i select the newly patched x2_5035_vOld_512k.bin and flash banks 1+2.

Then theres the bit of formating f\g partition with xboxpartitioner reformat the partition with 32K clusters.

hmm, im too old to do all this

Ok, I'm still confused.

I've got an X2.3B Lite Plus (solderless) chip, currently flashed with the X2 4977 BIOS, which is a 256k BIOS. The old 5035 BIOS is a 512k... I seem to remember something about how with this chip, it has 2x512k memory banks... I've been using EvoX 3935, and it doesn't recognize the BIOS version with the 5035 flashed, but it recognizes the 4977.

I don't really care if I need to have the space split between F and G... And I may go to a multi-HD setup, and leave all my movies on the current 80GB drive... But for now, I think a 250 or 300 GB drive should cover all my games and all my videos.

Anyways, future thoughts aside, this is what I want to do:
I want a BIOS that is proven to be stable and reliable. I want to be able to use every byte of a 250+GB drive. If I buy a 300GB drive, and I split it into F and G partitions, am I still only going to be able to have 137GB per partition?

What's my best bet?

-Biggie!

I have a 320gig hd, and I have it all in the f drive. I tried doing the split, but xbmc didnt like me that day or something and it wouldnt recognize it. So I redid it into one large drive, and it works fine. Full already too. Guess I need to get a cheap computer to dump some movies on to convert them to save some space. But thats another topic.

Yeah, but you're using an X3CE, according to your sig...

I'd like to do the same with my HD, but I need to know which BIOS will support LBA48 mode or whatever its called.

I used xbtool to (i think) modify X2 4977 to enable LBA48 support. I downloaded both xbtool and x2ool, and xbtool won't recognize the 5035 BIOS, and x2ool has the LBA48 options greyed out when I open 4977 with it... What I did was enable LBA48 mode in the 4977 with xbtool, save it, and then open it up with x2ool... And now the LBA48 options aren't greyed out anymore. I also made it into a 512k bios.... Is that a mistake?

-Biggie!

Sounds like that will work, I also have the x2_5035 on my chip for playing purposes with lba mode on. X2ool does recognize 5035, and its easy to use with the separate config file. It goes in the root of e: and you can tweak settings without reflashing the chip. But it sounds like what you have done will work.

ok, ill list the steps ill do when my 320G arrive from storage.

tools:

X2ool_1.0.4 or x2cm_.net_setup.0.5.4 (x2 Config Maker .NET v0.5.4 for 'x2 5035 ONLY')

FlashX_v1.2-XECUTER

Bios: x2_5035_vOld_512k.bin

Software: Auto.Installer.Deluxe.v3.02.
You may want to extract the iso, and edit config.xml. And put in your static ip settings, i did and can ftp to xbox with the cd. (i use static ip on my internal network)

1: Open x2_5035_vOld_512k.bin in x2cm_.net_setup.0.5.4, in dropdown list select F up to 137 G takes rest.
save bios, then save Ini.

2: Burn FlashX_v1.2-XECUTER to a cdrw with x2_5035_vOld_512k.bin.
Folder structure:
http://img223.imageshack.us/my.php?image=19ih1.jpg

3: Burn Auto.Installer.Deluxe.v3.02 to cdrw\dvd

4: Put in 320GB disk, use FlashX_v1.2-XECUTER and flash bank 1+2

5: boot Auto.Installer.Deluxe, and use option like setup prepare larger HD.
After that finished ftp to xbox with help of the cd, and put x2config on F or E partition.

6: xbpartitioner,- 32 clusters on F\G partition

7: use auto cd to install programs, or ftp over programs manually





I guess thats it

Sounds good to me.

If I don't wanna burn a BIOS CD, does it work just as well to flash the chip with the bios file in the C/bios dir, and use EvoX's built-in flashing ability?

Oh, and what is the purpose of the .ini file? Does it have some part in the flashing? Or is it just so I can re-apply the same settings to another BIOS if I want?

Thanks,

-Biggie!

the ini file, as i understand is so that you can configure some settings without flashing a new bios.

i would use FlashX_v1.2-XECUTER, you can run that also from hd, and put bios in c\

Why FlashX_v1.2-XECUTER? so that you can flash only the first bank (1+2)

So if something goes wrong, you can boot from other bank.

i had to open the xbox and pull out a jumper to do this, then it booted to x2 4973 something, with 4981.06 bios on the other bank.

i feel just safer to only flash the 512 bios on 1 bank.

My understanding was that, with my chip, I can make a 1024k bios from 2 512k bioses, and it will flash the first 512k bios onto the first bank, and the second onto the second bank... if this is the case, then I think I'll use X2 Bios Manager to make a bios, with the first 512k filled with my modified 5035 BIOS, and the second 512k filled with X2 4977. The 4977 is a 256k BIOS, but X2BM will allow me to put it in there twice... Is that what I should be doing?

-Biggie!

if youre confident you wont screw it up, sure. it would be safer to use flash x to flash them one at a time.

Ohh, I understand what you're saying... So that I'm leaving one bank intact, incase the power goes out during the flash or something else goes wrong.

That's a good idea... I'll definitely do it that way... Bank 1, then when I confirm it working, I'll do bank 2 with the other BIOS... or maybe with the cromwell flashbios that comes on the chip.

-Biggie!

well, that was easy.

1.put in new 320G hd
2.in with Auto.Installer.Deluxe.v3.03 cd, unleashx detects new hd, and formats partition (F\G)
3 in with FlashX_v1.2-XECUTER x2_5035_vOld_512k patched to t F up to 137 G takes rest.
Flash banks 1+2
4.in with Auto.Installer.Deluxe.v3.03 cd, a config message appears then "rox my xbox"
Then with the static Auto.Installer.Deluxe.v3.03 cd, ftp to xbox and put the config.ini (made with x2cm_.net_setup.0.5.4 from the patched bios) into E drive.
5. use the xbpartitioner found in the auto installer, and format F G drive to 32 clusters.

Thats it, and takes 5 min.

Since im used to xselect at start, im trying the oneclick setup with xselect in the auto installer.