• Xbox 360 DVD Drive Database
  
• Results after Spring Update
  
• Error 66 (e66) Or E71 After Fall Update.
  
• Important Links (Where To Buy/ Download Stuff (Updated 1/1/2007)
  
• Textbooks Complete Firmware Tutorial Includes
  0078FK drives
  
• How To Replace By A Hitachi Drive, How To Flash & Spoof To A Different Model
  By Adamscybot, Tutorial by Lice_01
• How To Spoof/unspoof Hitachis Which Are Already Spoofed (including spoof for Benq)
• How To Replace By A Samsung Drive, Also How To Spoof, Flash, and correct E66 Errors
  • Advanced Firmware Tutorial: Using A Samsung With A Hitachi Motherboard, How to properly create your Samsung Xtreme firmware - curtesy of caster420
  For additions please contact a Head Mod or section Mod.

General:

1. First, plse make sure you review completely the information available in Where To Find Help, Info, Tools , PLEASE !!!READ!!! BEFORE ASKING QUESTIONS!
2. You will find an exceptional overview document for firmware flashing of your X360 and doing backups in the Textbook Tutorial. All you need to start is in that document.
3. Other tutorials on flashing samsung drives: In the post just below MS25/28 Flashing/Updating Tutorial and in Step By Step Tutorial On How To Flash Ms25&ms28 (I personally need to use the /sata in the mtkflash command)
4. If your drive is not detected or you cannot flash it, plse make sure you first review these:
   • For a Samsung ms28 you will need a Via chipset on your motherboard or a SATA PCIcard with a Via chipset.
     Note for both Samsung: You can generate you mtkflash files using iPrep 101 or Xtreme Boot Maker v0.5.3. You can look at the Quick Tutorial: Iprep 101 / Xtreme Boot Maker 5.3 & 3.6 to prepare your USB key and correct the firmware import error on latest Xtreme firmware.
   • Ensure that SATA is active in your BIOS and in Native/IDE mode (not Raid)
   • With a Pci 6421 card make sure you use the SATA port toward the front of the PC and a SATA cable in good condition (they break easily).
   • When a samsung the drive is already flashed with a firmware 4.0+ then you must first deactivate the Firmguard feature. The bad flash method (10 second trick) can be used on both ms25 and ms28, or for ms25 only you can use an Enable0800 CD/DVD.
   • Hitachi Drive requires to be placed in ModeB using the slax v2.1. You will know that the drive is in modeB when you must press twice on the eject button to open/close the DVD tray (and if it can be seen in windows).
   All request about the compatibility of your Motherboard/PCI card should be done in the Compatible motherboard/PCIcard thread in the Newbie Chat .
   Questions about difficulties to have your drive seen with Mtkflash (Samsung) or in windows (Hitachi), should first be posted in the Newbie Chat .
   
5. Do not request: Is the UPDATE to game X going to cause problems like my backup will stop playing, will I be banned by MS.... Should there be any important issue resulting from an update you will find it here at XS front page, in the pinned threads and discussed already (search plse).
   • E66 Error After Fall Update 2006: Can be resolved by making sure your firmware identifies the drive version as the one originally used on that x360. See the Hacking/Technical DVD-ROM Forum starting with the pinned topics.

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Updating your Samsung firmware to latest xtreme firmware
Tutorial on How To Flash/Update To Latest iXtreme firmware: Tutorial, iPrep or Xtreme Boot maker / Via card method, plse keep the questions in that thread.

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All discussions about stealth components and how to to do backups in order to have them included properly should be done in Xbox360 Backup Forum. You should first look at Tutorial On Making Backup With Xbc / Imgburn, (and about stealth verification) as your question may have already been answered.

WHAT NOT TO DISCUSS at XS
How to extract an image from a backup: NO image extraction from a backup. We do not care what the cute reason is, we heard them all and it is no.
How to merge additional stealth components in an existing image. Redo them from the originals.

**The lastest iXtreme Samsung FW will not allow you to rip (extract) games with any software (XBCreator, schtrom, IsoBuster...). You will need to reflash to 5.3 or acquire a Sh-D162C(ide)/SH-D163A(sata) for your PC in order to backup games.

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Will I be able to restore to the original firmware and how:

1. Hitachi Drive (up to V59): Yes, go in mode B (see tutorials) and use the RESTORE command of the latest recommended Hitachi firmware (see Releases, Tutorial And Guides, Xbox 360 DVD Firmware Hacks). If you have more questions you can ask in the thread of the last firmware release for your drive.
2. Hitachi Drive (V78/V79): Yes, go in mode B (see tutorials) and use the RESTORE command in FW toolbox 4.0 (see Releases, Tutorial And Guides, Xbox 360 DVD Firmware Hacks). If you have more questions you can ask in the thread of the last firmware release for your drive.
3. Samsung Drive: Yes, using your original firmware (orig.bin or whatever you called it) and flashing using steps 14 to 21 (Flashing your hacked.bin) in the post below. Obviously in this case the command would be mtkflash w /m /sata orig.bin.

Since problems are often the same, plse post further questions in the thread mentioned, or in Samsung / Hitachi, Restore To Original Firmware
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Do I need to restore to the original firmware before flashing a new version:

1. Hitachi Drive: It is highly recommended that you first restore then do the flash process from a drive with original firmware.
2. Samsung Drive: No need to return to the original firmware with the samsung drive, you can simply run the usual method (General 2. or 3.) above and the key will be transferred

Note: that if you have spoofed your drive, you should refer to that section for the best way to manage such an upgrade.
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I lost my key (original firmware):

First there are no excuses for not keeping one copy safe, (and printing one to protect against lost of your PC/HDisk). What you can do now will depend if you can still communicate with your drive to re-extract the key.

1. How to recover your X360 drive key: You will find in that thread how to get your key, if feasible.
2. For a drive where the key cannot be recovered, you have lost the associated X360 motherboard. Your options are to replace your motherboard (see Xbox360 BST and obviously depending on your technical skills ), or acquire a new x360 (maybe just a Core and reuse your X360 harddrive). The key cannot be recovered from the motherboard.

Posts on this subject should be kept in the thread mentioned above in the Newbie Chat .
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Changing your drive model /or motherboard (& Spoofing your drive) / correcting E66 Errors:

• Hitachi Drive: For the following situations
  1. Replacing a Hitachi drive
  2. Replacing a Hitachi drive with a different model of Hitachi
  3. Replacing a Samsung drive with a Hitachi
  4. Replacing your motherboard: New MB was using same Hitachi model
  5. Replacing your motherboard: New MB was using different Hitachi model or a Samsung
  6. Changing Drive ID to correct an E66 Error

You can look at How To Replace By A Hitachi Drive, How To Flash & Spoof To A Different Model. Obviously the section on spoofing is not required if your situation is 1 or 4.

• Samsung Drive:
  For the following situations
  1. Replacing a Samsung drive
  2. Replacing a Samsung drive with a different model of Samsung
  3. Replacing a Hitachi drive with a Samsung
  4. Replacing your motherboard: New MB was using same Samsung model
  5. Replacing your motherboard: New MB was using different Samsung model or a Hitachi
  6. Changing Drive ID to correct an E66 Error

You can look at How To Replace By A Samsung Drive, Also How To Spoof, Flash, and correct E66 Errors.Plse keep the questions on the these topics in the forums and threads recommended, if not they will be removed.

[/list]-----

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Can I flash my drive with my laptop

1. Hitachi drive (up to v59): Yes, some SATA/USB adapters (Like Team Xecuter USB adapter) will allow you to flash your drive.
2. Hitachi drive (v78/V79): Not possible with the current tools. Note that SATA/USB adapters do not function for the v78.
3. Samsung / Benq / Liteon: No. Note that there is one (or very few) Via6421 PCMCIA card on the market but there is no availability and no report if someone ever tested it on a X360 Drive.

Posts on this subject should be kept in the Newbie Chat .

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Chips Vs. Flashed Drives: "The Official Thread" is where this entire debate is done. Keep discussions to that thread (new one will be merged) in the Newbie Chat Forum.

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In order not to lose the info and have the same questions asked repeatedly plse keep all discussion about connectivity Kit in Connectivity Kit Questions, All Info/Question/Discussion Here

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Diagnostic of some X360 DVD-ROM problems
It is a very good idea before you flash your drive to test it with both an original game, original movie and a backup movie (if possible on DL Media). For the testing after the flash, having a game backup that you know is good is a big plus, so find a friend with a flashed console and bring your backup (and associated original) to confirm it is functional

New Behavior After The Flash

1. All are not working, with open tray message You probably have not reconnected the SATA cable.
2. Game original and backup are not working, but movies are playing fine Likely that the key was not transferred properly to the hacked firmware. Open both the Original FW and hacked firmware with FW toolbox and ensure the keys match.
   • No key in the hacked Fw, but there is one in the original: transfer the key using FW toolbox and flash the hacked firmware again (see general 3.) if you have a Samsung or using FW toolbox if you have a Hitachi (see How To Replace A Hitachi Drive, How To Flash & Spoof To A Different Model)
   • No key in the original and hacked Fw: Hopefully you have a copy of your key from a previous flash to use as you original as per instruction above, if not, you have lost your MB as well (see I lost my key & original firmware).
3. Game backup are not working, but game original and movies are playing fine
   • The large majority of these are due to non functional backup. Confirm your backup is functional on another X360 with a flashed FW, if not please refer to the Xbox360 Backup Forum.
   • In a few cases the backup is good but the drive will not read it, you can refer to the Xbox360 General / Hardware Chat and try the following
     1. Cleaning the lens of the laser
     2. Pot calibration (Xbox 360 Dvd Pot Calibration Tutorial)
     3. Replace the laser

Problems start later

1. FW does not degrade with time: As a first advice, unless you have a specific reason to flash, stop the flashing stampede or you will brick your drive. Good chances that your backup media degraded (just redo it from the original), or your original got damaged.
2. NO, UPDATES (GAME AND SYSTEM), do not corrupt your firmware: See General 6. above

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All info to the best of our knowledge at the time of preparing this post, if you should see something that must be corrected plse let us know.

rgds,soso

Yes, another method to Flash/update the firmware on a Samsung drive !!

The methods doing too many steps with one command are not my favorites because I feel you loose sight of what is happening. By using the mtkflash command yourself, and assuming you do it properly , you will increase IMHO your chances of success.

Here is a method that do not use the samread/samflash of Xtreme Boot maker 3.6 or the Xread/Xflash of Xtreme boot maker 5.3. It is very similar to the approach presented by myfranco in his very good thread Step By Step Tutorial On How To Flash Ms25&ms28.

Note: Same recommendations as in the Textbook Tutorial, you should disconnect all other Sata and IDE device while you extract the orig.bin and flash the hacked.bin. You will need a VIA Sata card/chipset if you have a samsung ms28 or one of the chipset in the compatibility list of Textbook tutorial if you have a ms25.

You will need to use a USB memory stick (or floppy, or ntfs4dos) with the appropriate mtkflash on it. You can look at the Quick Tutorial: Iprep 101 / Xtreme Boot Maker 5.3 & 3.6 to prepare your USB key and correct the firmware import error on latest Xtreme firmware.

Getting your orig.bin
1. Connect you PC sata cable to the X360 Drive (some have to do this after step 2)
2. start your x360 and pc to the dos prompt (using the USB key)
3. type mtkflash r /m /sata orig.bin
4. list of port will appear (if your mtkflash is correct)
5. Only if you have a ms28: power down your x360
6. select the port on your PC,
7. Only if you have a ms28: then count to 10 (try different count) and power your x360
8. the pc will read the firmware to the orig.bin file
   
   
   Making your hacked.bin (in Windows)
   Method 1 Requires Samtool 0.7 available in iXtreme 1.2 (a must if you require spoofing)
9. Extract from iXtremeXX.rar (XX is the version) to a directory under the root C:\iXtreme
10. Place a copy of the orig.bin in C:\iXtreme where orig.bin is the original fw of the drive that was first associated to that MB.
    • You replaced your drive, use your orig.bin of the first drive you had on that MB
    • You replaced your MB, use the orig.bin of the drive that was originally on that MB
11. In Windows Explorer you double click on Make iXtreme firmware.cmd and a DOS window will open telling you the key. You will also be requested if you want to spoof when the orig.bin is not associated to a ms28:
    • If you have a Hitachi, answer Y and Enter
    • If you have a Samsung ms25, we suggest you say N and Enter. It seems when a ms28 fw is used in a ms25 that it may make it less detectable if left as ms28. Note that this is to the best of the info available at this point. You can read this post and those leading to it.
12. Now you want to see the message saying " ***SUCCESS*** " and Drive Key copied (and Drive Version Spoofed when required)
    
13. Rename the resulting iX__.bin file to hacked.bin and copy it to your USB key.
    Also this PDF tutorial by Caster on how to use the Make iXtreme FW command.
    
    Flashing your hacked.bin
14. Connect you PC sata cable to the X360 Drive (some have to do this after step 15)
15. start your x360 and pc to the dos prompt (using the USB key)
16. type mtkflash w /m /sata hacked.bin
17. list of port will appear (if your mtkflash is correct)
18. Only if you have a ms28: power down your x360
19. select the port on your PC,
20. Only if you have a ms28: then count to 10 (try different count) and power your x360
21. the pc will flash the firmware to the drive (it will show the 4 banks being flashed)
    
    To verify that it was flashed, you can use the same steps with now mtkflash r /m /sata verify.bin, and compare verify.bin to hacked.bin using (Hex editor, or crc32 in a zip file or winrar...)
    

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Reflashing your original firmware

1. Connect you PC sata cable to the X360 Drive (some have to do this after step 2)
2. start your x360 and pc to the dos prompt (using the USB key)
3. type mtkflash w /m /sata orig.bin
4. list of port will appear (if your mtkflash is correct)
5. Only if you have a ms28: power down your x360
6. select the port on your PC,
7. Only if you have a ms28: then count to 10 (try different count) and power your x360
8. the pc will flash the firmware to the drive (it will show the 4 banks being flashed)

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Updating your firmware to Xtreme "Latest"

1. With your orig.bin simply follow the steps 9 to 21
2. Without your orig.bin, but if you have a firmware file containing your key you can use that file in step 10 instead of the orig.bin to extract the key.
3. IF you do not have a firmware with your key, plse first look at How to recover your X360 drive key.
4. Note that if your samsung is a replacement drive for another model or you have replaced your Motherboard, then you must you spoof with the proper drive ID in Making your hacked.bin
   -If your Samsung is a ms25 and is the original drive, we suggest you leave the drive ID as ms28 (unless you get an E66 error)
   -If you replaced your drive, select the drive ID that you had originally on that motherboard.
   -If you replaced your motherboard, you need to select the drive ID that was on the MB originally.

(post your comments/ questions in How To Update To Latest iXtreme Firmware: Tutorial, Xtreme Boot maker / Via card method)

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Making your hacked.bin: Method 2 (reboot to Windows)
Should be used only if you encounter a problem with Method 1 since placeholder of the firmware are not maintained whne using FWToolbox, does not make any difference for now but who knows if it may not be detected in the future.
9. Extract the the firmware you want (Xtrem10a.bin) to a directory and rename it to hacked.bin
10. Open orig.bin in FW toolbox 3.1B and do ctrl-c on the key (copy to clipboard)
11. Open hacked.bin in FW toolbox and do ctrl-v to insert the key in the field hit 'Replace Key'
12. Only if you need to spoof: Go in Tool / Spoof Firmware / select 'Model and version'/Hit 'Apply Spoof'
13. Close and reopen hacked.bin to make sure that it is identified with its proper ID (MS28 or spoofed as...) and that the key is present. Copy the hacked.bin to your USB key.
Note:
-Also this tutorial will also show you how to transfer your key with an Hex editor.