Ok...here is the story. Im once again growing the HDD in my current xbox. Every time I have done this in the past it was using 2 xbox's and flashfxp on my computer. For some reason or another that just takes too long or crashes at random. So I was wondering if there was a way to CLONE a drive...as if you were doin to upgrade to a larger drive in a PC. Im figuring some cloning software and a PC to do this job. Or is there a way to do it using a xbox and putting both drives in it,,,,,if thats even possible.

But the thing about just doing a disk CLONE....is that now the F: partition would be larger. They make tons of software to do this for a PC...(acronis and such) but can this be done with xbox hdd(s)

Thanks

In my experience, the best way to do it is avalaunch dash running on both xboxes (one as server, one as client) wired with a router/switch or crossover. No PC. Avalaunch caches everything (it has to get the info on all files being copied - can take a few minutes) and is fast.

You could try XboxHDM or a Linux with FATx module loaded, but I wouldn't trust it..FATx drivers have some bugs.

I don't think any disk cloning tools work properly with xbox drives.

Thanks...I will give that a try, I still have ava installed previously when I was using their isobuilder util...which if I recall did work really well. Im sure it would not hurt for me to get the latest release of AVALaunch though. I was hoping to have a good reliable PC solution, but if one doesnt really exist...oh well.

I know its possible to clone an xbox disc using Norton Ghost with a modifier, I think its -ir at the dos prompt.

This causes Ghost to copy bit by bit, ignoring partion tables.

The only problem I'd see is you'd have to format the rest of the new drive, using xbpartioner or something similar, which would probably wipe your F:\ & G:\ drives clean during the reformat.

yeah thats the problem...I found a couple of solutions for bit/bit cloning... but its the fact that F: grows.... there is the issue. I was just hoping for a easier solution, When doing full partition transfers with XBMC always seems to crash for me (freeze). And then doing it manually with flashfxp and xbmc as ftp servers, ....it does OK...but for some reason after HOURS of transferring, one of the xboxs would shutdown...and both have autoshutdown off. I wish I knew what is causing XBMC to crash just doing the media sharing from box to box. Cause so far that is the easiest to do on the fly. When Im just doin a few files...it works PERFECT. But when I start trying to grab everything in the partition, thats when it gives me issues. And it does it erratically.

I had trouble using XBMC to copy too. Thats why I use avalauch. After the initial scan of qeued files it transfers everything at full speed (boost mode), even thousands of small files (like emulator screenshots). Much faster than normal FTP transfers. I've never had it screw up except on files that use some strange characters (like %).

well I tried to use AVA....I had problems with it claiming files couldnt be moved...they I had to delete the files from queue one at a time.....AGGRIVATING!!!

and when I would select entire folders,,,,it would not transfer them.

That's odd, I use it quite often for doing hard drive setups and sometimes copy over100gb with it at once. Thousands of files and folders.
What steps are you using to connect? I just pick a window and switch to remote and wait for the other ava xbox to show up.
I'll check the version I use and let you know. It shouldn't have to 'move' anything, it should just copy..

EDIT: Well my version is Alpha v0.49.3 with default skin (if that matters)
I go to file manager, press start, switch to remote. The other xbox should eventually show up on it's own.
You can press X to queue files/folders. You are using ava on both xboxes?