Hi guys,

Bit of a n00b here. I can flash the Hitachi drive ok with no worries, trying to do my mates Samsung drive and getting very confused - i have the 4.1 firmware from commadore's release but not sure how to go about it.

I've been reading the tutorials i got with the hitachi and the samsung side says about getting your SATA numbers using msinfo32 - but i cant find mine in there (i can find info via Device Manager however) if it helps ive got a Gigabyte DS3 Mobo.

Despite that im not sure how to go about the mod, ive seen this stuff on the autoflasher, the 0800disc? was wondering if anyone had a link to an easy step by step process.

Also how do you know which version fo the samsung drive you have do you need to open the 360 to see?

Sorry for the rubbish questions i know you guys get sick of n00bs like me

Ok..... The version will be located on the drive sticker. I have only done the ms25.

i know the ms28 is a little different.


I used Xtreme boot maker to create my start up disk....that program has a tool that can set up your sata settings without you doing much. Once you have the start up disk created then you need to extract your ORIG.Bin from your drive.

unplug all HDD and IDE driives....plug the xbox in via SATA cable........Then boot to start up disc.....turn the xbox on....then type Samread.....this will read the firmware and save it to the disc.

Now boot back to windows and save that ORIG.Bin in a couple different places

Now in order to create the modified Firmware, insert the ORIG.BIN into the folder with all the xtreme41 files that you got from the usual place. In that same folder there is a file called "make41" a and b

click which ever version you want and it will then create an x41a or x41b <----this is the firmware you will put on the samsung drive. Take that file and put it into your startup disc in the same folder as mtkflash

boot with the startup disc...wait till the promt...turn your 360 on with the sata cable attached

Type the mtkflash command.....I have it written down at home...it might be "MTKFLASH r /m x41a or MTKFLASH r /m x41b" but im not sure

that will flash the drive with the new FW




Correct me if Im wrong folks

So to confirm,

IUve got the Xtreme bootmaker.

Make a boot disc with this, plug the drive into the SATA port - unplug everything else make sure BIOS is in IDE mode.

use SAMREAD to get the orig.bin (this goes on the floppy automatically does it?)

Once got that go into Windows and place the orig.bin in with makex41a/b and run the bat - copy the newly create .biun file over to the disk in same place as mktflash.

Reboot, boot with floppy disk - SAMHACK etc...

And voila?

/edit

Just used the bootmaker, the firmware i selected was 4.1a - chose my SATA thing which it said was compatible got the number thing from it.

and created the disk (using c: as no floppy so will use the NTFSBOOTCD thing)

Is that correct thus far?

Should the xbox be on the whole time or?

You want Bios in sata mode.....just make sure its not in raid mode.

You want the bios to boot from floppy or usb

Save the Orig.bin file in multiple locations BEFORE you do anything with it!

You do not need to run samhack. Just use the MTKFLASH command

Thanks for helping me Tommy.

So now ive got the bootdisk create i do this

1. Restart make sure everything in SATA mode

2. boot using NTFSCD disc to run SAMREAD xxxxx xxxx (xx being consolse serial number?)

3. This creates a orig.bin

4. back this up all over the shop

5. bit confused about this step.....

6. i know then go back to DOS to run the mftflash command to flash.

7. Voila?

One thing is if i dont change my pc back to SATA/RAID windows will not boot at all can i change it back and forth inbetween steps ?

Yes you can change it back and forth....just unplug the xbox and plug in your HDD

you are confused about step 5? This is step 5 after you have the ORIG.bin saved


In Windows, copy orig.bin to same directory (same directory as xtrem40a.bin/Xtreme40b.bin and X360SAM.exe)
Double click "Make X40a.bin" or "Make X40b.bin" to create x40a.bin (Xtreme4.0A firmware with your key from orig.bin) or x40b.bin (Xtreme4.0B firmware with your key from orig.bin). Thanks to eXOBeX for X360SAM.EXE
Copy x40a.bin or x40b.bin to boot disk
Power off PC
Plug SATA cable from DVD drive to PC. Power cable drive still connected to Xbox 360
Power on Xbox 360
Power on PC
Boot with standard dos boot disk with included mtkflash utility
Run "mtkflash w /m x40a.bin" or "mtkflash w /m x40b.bin"



remember though......this is for the MS25

Right so other then needing to open the box, running SAMREAD will not brick it at all - im ok with things upto that step.

So if i do that now, once its done i can power off and unlug xbox and go back to windows?

Again thanks for your help man, i know what its like helping out stupid people like me lol

You should not be making a bootable CD. You wont be able to save the ORIG.Bin to it....just make a bootably floppy disc

The more I think about it.....You should only use MTKFLASH.

I used the samread prog thats why I was telling you to use it. Samread will be looking for certain files that are renamed now that version 41 came out.

instead of typing in samread at the command prompt..... just type MKTFLASH r /m orig.bin

this will not change anything on the sammy

Hi there.

I did sameread and it maade the orig.bin - i knew it wouldnt write to the CD but would to the HDD.

Im using a Bootable NFTS disk, so ive got the orig.bin file

However i will redo using MKTFlash now instead then, back in a mo

Hey mate just wanted to say thanks for all your help

Cheers, got it working

/EDIT

What is different with the MS28 ?

just curious...if you guys were using Xtreme Boot Maker....why would you not use samhack? it does the exact same thing as you were telling him to do by just typing those few letters...the whole process could have been this simple:

boot pc off floppy (cd in your case)...wait till booting ends, then turn on 360

type samread xxxxxxx xxxxx

wait until it says reboot...reboot pc with hard drive plugged in, backup your orig.bin everywhere

power off pc, unplug hard drive, and plug 360 drive back in to it

boot pc off floppy (cd in your case)...wait till booting ends, then turn on 360

type samhack xxxxxxx xxxxx

turn off pc...hook everything back up as normal



I know this process works, as I did it yesterday plus that's what it says to do in the readme

Ive done it both ways.



I felt much more comfortable using the "make41b" file method

fair enough...was just curious...by all means, I say do whatever makes u feel most comfortable...

It's just that I have read and know what samhack does, and since it does the same thing, i trust that more then me mistyping one of the MTKflash commands...

anyways, to each his own...glad you got it all working

The "make41" file is the same EXACT thing as running SAMREAD. You've already done it when you used SAMREAD. When you use the SAMREAD command, it has already made your hacked.bin in the folder where your orig.bin was made. So just restart the pc, boot back into DOS, and run SAMHACK (which is just mtkflash w /m hacked.bin anyways). Open up the .bat files in notepad, they are easy to understand and you'll see exactly what is going on.

wouldnt you need to change the Firmware name from xtreme41.bin to extreme.bin then?

so samhack can see it

Yes, Xtreme Boot Maker automatically renames it to that when it copies it over.