Hey guys I was wondering if you have a incompatible stick will the screen flash on the memory section?? I literally tried 2 different Usb sticks and 3 different SD cards via usb adapter. I bought the cable of Ebay which is the standard 3 port standard xbox male end and usb female end. If I connect a usb keyboard it doesnt flash but I have no way of checking to see if it actually works. Am I supposed to reformat the stick in the xbox format first or shouldnt the xbox do it for me? Should I just say screw it and hunt out one of the known good usb sticks for the softmod??

I just tried using a older 30 gig ipod and it actually reconized but it claimed to be damage and did not offer to reformat. Does that mean it might work if I format it correctly??

Have you tried to format it in the Xbox?

Not come across a screen flashing response myself but how USB memory sticks or similar devices behave when they don't work, or work unreliably, in my experience, is random. It may depend on the version Xbox being used, I've not had the inclination to test that out though. I suppose there might even be a specific BIOS feature that causes such a phenomenon if a faulty USB attachment is detected.

What I do know is that in testing five different virgin memory sticks only once has the Xbox I used, a v.1(0b), produced a, MS dash only(?) reformat option message. The reformatting worked but the device still didn't.

The others which haven't worked get the MS dash only(?) "damaged......" messsage or the equivalent flashed up message when using XBMC. You also get the "damaged..." message when a device that has been working but gets a "Copy Failed.." error, then goes missing from the dash and you try to reattach it without powering off first.

If you check your storage devices info in XBMC or it's File Manager that should show whether the stick has been reformatted to FATX. I don't know if any other dash File Manager confirms the FATX reformat but just because it has doesn't mean it will work.

Using UnleashX's Game Saves Manager won't show there's any memory device attached until you have something on it. Use UnleashX's File Explorer to see if it's there, usually it's either the L, J, or N drive depending which port you're using. If it's not or you see scrambled text alonside one drive that probably means it either hasn't been reformatted, failed during a copy or simply doesn't work.

IMHO it's best to use the MS dash to test these USB devices. The well designed graphics interface in Memory show you immediately what attachments are recognised and what aren't. If they go missing at any stage of the process you'll get instant visual confirmation and explanatory error message too.

I did I tried 5 different usb memory formats. And my xbox reacted the same way with all of them. The screen would flash repeatedly when I clicked on the Memory menu. Once I removed the usb stick it would be normal again. Is this how the xbox react when you attempt to use a incompatible stick???

Just installed and checked out XBMC 10.0.. so your saying I need to run the usb stick using XMBC on my pc first and format it there. And then attempt to use it on my xbox ??

What type of mod, if any, does your Xbox have ie. chip. softmod, TSOP?

Are you using the MS dash, if not what dash are you using?

Formatting it on the PC is of absolutely no use to you nomatter which application you use.

If the MS Dash memory screen flashes when you try to access the USB stick then yes, the stick is incompatible, and nothing you do will change that. You need to find an older USB stick (not an SD card), it has to be less than 4GB (preferably quite a bit smaller so you can be more certain that it's older technology that the Xbox will recognise), and with no on-board features e.g. no protected partitions, no U3 or similar software, etc.

Heimdall beat me to it. No what I meant is look at the stick(s) attached to your Xbox using XBMC's, if you have it as a main dash or app,, storage device info or it's file manager. If they've been reformatted they would show up as FATX, if not FAT16 or FAT32.

Meant to mention the 4GB limit too.

But I've never come across that flashing screen thing though. Is it Xbox/retail BIOS version specific? Maybe it's just that all the sticks I've tested have been, eventually, reformatable to FATX even when non-working.

BTW the list of working USB sticks you can find elsewhere is old and unreliable. You've certainly been very unlucky but by the sound of it none of the devices you've tested are compatible.

Sorry I couldn't provide any more help.

On the contrary you guys have already helped me out greatly. Now I can stop wasting my time with these Usb sticks lol. Theres a place called Gamexchange near me who happens to stock the old stuff (Nes,sega,ect). I actually got 007,mechassault, and splinter cell1 for under 10 bucks there .
Im gonna see if they have the action replay to save me some headaches of chasing a working Usb stick.

I've had the flashing screen with a couple of memory sticks.

AR is a complete pain to set up. I'd try borrowing a memory stick first - it can always be reformatted afterwards.

Yeah im asking around at work for anyone who has a OLDDDD mem stick and havent had too much luck.

Went there no AR which im not suprised. But hey wasnt there a tutorial to somehow combine a controller and usb cable and also throw a xbox mem stick in the mix????? They have a over abundance of old controller that I could sacrifice. In a nutshell im wondering if I could mod a xbox controller to have a USB port on it, connect to my PC and then pop in a old xbox mem stick. Would the xbox actually see the memory stick threw the controller if I install the right drivers???

If you use the forum search you should be able to find other threads about working USB sticks.

The one I last subscribed too "USB stick not recognised by AR" gives a little more detail but unlikely to help as the flash drive I mentioned there is one of the non-working ones.

However I have found two commonly available USB 2.0 working ones of the same brand/model but different sizes 1GB and 4GB. Different physical design too - black body and slide out connector rather than the non-working one's all silver 'skin'.

I should make clear this isn't a recommendation. Although the ones I bought worked please remember that it is a lottery even if you can get hold of seemingly identical ones. I've had that very frustration myself.

While I say they work I do still get regular 'Copy Failed' errors, usually with large files, copying to them from a Xbox HDD. But if you're just trying to get a game save exploit/installer onto a stick from a PC and then onto a Xbox HDD there wouldn't be any trouble at all.

Far from ideal I know but once on either flash drive everything I've ever copied back or to another Xbox from them has worked perfectly first time.

Hope you can find a working one and as Heimdall said USB v.1 and v.1.1 do seem to work more often. I've certainly never had any problem with my two but I know finding those now is very difficult.

Ebay Link

I may pick up another one myself. I have had one of these for years and have never had a problem with it. May get one just in case.

Krazie's Ndure 1.1.1 fits on my 8 meg card just fine.

That link didn't quite work for me but from what I can see of it looks like independent 8MB Xbox memory cards. Using those also requires a Xbox controller to USB adapter cable for this purpose wouldn't it?

If that is the idea and there's a softmod that will fit on an 8MB card why not get an used official one? Probably cheaper and there are certainly some of those still around, maybe new ones too.

Even with an installer/exploit package like Splinter Cell/SID, which is definitely more than 500 blocks/8MB, it's more hassle but isn't it possible to use two memory cards for each part or simply use one card twice? If they're technically compatible maybe one of those independent 16MB cards I think you can still get would resolve the problem entirely no matter what installer package was being used.

All softmod gamesaves will fit on a standard 8MB memory card.......

I believe I have an Xbox to USB adapter. I bought my first Xbox modded, so I was able to FTP the game save over. If you have access to a modded box, that is the easiest way to do it. I think you can take a controller and a USB cable and mate them to make your own. One thread I read said the wire colors matched up.

Krazie's Ndure fits on there with no problems. Mine is an official MS card. You may have problems with the others. There were some MS ones there for under $15 shipped. I can't tell you how many times I have used mine. It is definitely worth the money.

Id love to here which ones worked for you....???? Ill go out and buy whatever works right now from the best buy. But I cant afford to buy every one I see.

Heimdall

You say all softmod gamsaves fit on a 8MB/500 block official card. If you're being precise and you're just talking about the actual game save exploit yes of course. But if you include the installer, which I was doing, surely that isn't correct, at least not for the Splinter Cell exploit/installer packages I've used.

My original SID3.1 is 654(650)/10(3) - total 664 blocks. The more recent SID5 fills a total of 546 blocks.

bword

The two old flash drives that work are:-

1). 32MB USB v.1 apparently unbranded given away as a corporate freebie by the company somebody on another forum works for and gave me for the price of postage/packing. Not much help to you.

2). 128MB Hitachi, probably USB v.1, my brother bought it years ago. Left unused and found in the back of an office drawer. Useful lock on it too so can't be accidentally reformatted - all my eeprom backups are on that . Not much help either.

The following were all bought new in sealed retail packs from reliable online sources and appear to be genuine OEM examples.

3). 1GB Sandisk Cruzer Micro USB v.2.0 Flash Drive - made in China. There are several different versions but my one, as I said, is black with a white slider lock for the connector and includes a small key ring.. It says it has U3 Smart and the numbering/lettering on the body is SDCZ6-1024.

It works but with the write-to issue mentioned.

4). 4GB Sandisk Cruzer USB v 2.0 Flash Drive - made in China. Very similar to the IGB but a slightly more rectangular design. No U3 mentioned on body or packaging but does say some capacity not available for storage. Numbering/lettering SDCZ36-004G.

Works identically to the 1GB. My most recently purchase so should still be available.

The non-working one:-

2GB Sandisk Cruzer Micro Skin USB v.2.0 Flash Drive - made in China. Silver finish with clear plastic protective 'skin'. SDCZ4-2048-E11. Neither packaging or drive itself state anything about U3 being included but there definitely was retail stuff on there.

This simply doesn't work in either of my v.1.6 Xboxes but, at some stage was reformatted to FATX. After my brother deleted everything on it and reformatted it back to FAT32 prior to another attempt it did work for a short time with my v.1(0b) Xbox.

I put half a dozen game saves on it and was recognised on my MS dash, UnleashX and XBMC. However after one 'Copy Failed' error I couldnt get it to be recognised again or received error messages, so I gave up.

This flash drive was recommended to me prior to purchase by somebody else who's own version, seemingly identical, does work perfectly. Only difference we could find is his was from a batch manufactured at a different time and in a different factory.

That's how much of lottery it can be and why I said I'm not going to recommend you look for the working ones I've described. Buy at your own risk.

horaaaayyyyy I got one that works its a buddys old 1 gig kingston. Now that the guessing game is over I guess I gotta work on the actual soft mod. And getting emulators on it which is the main reason I'm doing this.

This seems like the best old USB flash drive thread to post this.

A few months ago I was given two 'identical' 250MB unbranded USB v.1.1 sticks. I found that they worked with the Xbox so I kept one intended exclusively for Xbox to Xbox transfers. The other I attached to my newly acquired laptop for PC to/from Xbox transfers.

I hadn't used the latter until a few weeks ago and as I reported here on another thread I found that even though still apparently FATX formatted my Xboxes 'decided' they didn't like it any more. It displayed the same flashing screen problem described by others earlier in this thread.

I assumed the problem was a quirk with this particular stick only.

However today I decided to transfer my eeproms (from all my Xboxes) and a whole load of other Xbox stuff I wanted to backup. I'd had trouble with a 4GB Sandisk Cruzer and Xplorer360 when I tried doing this before so I used the other 250MB stick this time.

All went well but because of the small size I had to do the file transfers in three batches, deleting stuff as I went. First and second transfers to the laptop went perfectly but when I came to reconnect it to the Xbox for the third time the UnleashX File Explorer suddenly reported it was "Not Formatted". I retried several times using different ports, rebooting, shutting down but all attempts had the same result.

I disconnected, launched XBMC, which recognises FAT32 formatted sticks, and re-attached it. Ominously File Manager flagged up it could not be mounted.

So I decided to reformat it to FAT32 and then use the MS Dash to reformat it back to FATX. That's when things went wrong and the stick started behaving just like the other one - screen flashing, very bad slowdown and stick not recognised by any dash. Worse even when definitely in FAT32 format XBMC refuses to mount it. Both flash drives still work fine on the laptop BTW.

Nothing I could think of has been able to restore either to their original working state with the Xbox (I've tried it on three different versions). Clearly something must have happened to both these sticks during the transfer process to the laptop when using Xplorer360 but what and why? Each time they were detached from the laptop it was done in the correct manner.

Having two previously Xbox compatible flash drives behave like this is quite unusual. I've searched for reports of anything similar and it yielded no results.

just to let people know. if you need a 4gb stick that definitely works with original Xbox.
I use it for XBMC.
I tried quite a few that did not work like sandisk cruzer, pny attache and old type play.com sticks all 4gb.

but these new play.com ones work with original xbox !



don't know what make these are underneath. or if you can get them in US.

That's a weird coincidence.

The first time somebody recommended me a "definitely works with Xbox" USB flash drive it was a 2GB one supplied by Play. I bought an apparently identical one from Amazon (UK) and that simply didn't work. As I reported at the time we discovered the only apparently significant difference between them was the location of the factory where they were manufactured.

So if anyone is going to buy the 4GB one rubarb says works it would be a good idea to get it soon to ensure it's from the same batch.

That would be this one ? (the older type one)



Which doesn't work on my Xbox. The only difference I can see apart from looks, is this one says Ready Boost Enabled.

I bought 3 of the new type and they all worked straight away in XBMC (they come formated as FAT32. the ones that don't work just pop up a message in XBMC saying Not recognised.

EDIT:
Just thought I'd clarify that I haven't used this stick to do the save exploit thing, only used for XBMC to watch videos. So It's not for sure that they work for the Hacking
But it's only a fiver to try it out.
If someone does get it to work it would be nice to know.

So you've only tested it using XBMC whilst still FAT32 and not FATX formatted.

That means there could still be problems - to transfer the hacked game saves to a retail Xbox using Xplorer360 or AR it needs to be FATX as, obviously, you can't use FAT32 friendly XBMC at that stage.

Only trying it out will confirm whether it does work in FATX..

TBH this whole finding a working USB drive thing has stopped being fun for me. Even though I've found 6 flash drives that work(ed) for Xbox to Xbox only the 4 smallest capacity USB v.1.1 ones have work(ed) perfectly even for this limited purpose.

I've now lost all Xbox compatibility for 2 of those, apparently as a result of merely using them witlh a PC/Xplorer360, I just don't want to risk losing the use of 3 of the others as they have important backup stuff on them and 2 of those are very small size anyway. I'm keeping them FATX for XBox to Xbox stuff exclusively.

So out of 6 working sticks I'm left with only one I can use which, so far, seems OK for all purposes. However it has a frustrating habit of giving regular "Error - Failed Copy" faults when transferring anything above about 150MB onto it from the Xbox. As I reported in another thread I've also had some newly copied Xbox files just disappear on opening it in Xplorer360.

Thankfully now most of the traffic is likely to be from laptop to Xbox but that unreliability is still an unwanted concern.

I really think if you find one that works, even just once to transfer the exploit game saves to your Xbox, be grateful. But once done make it a priority to set-up a FTP system with your PC/other Xboxes ASAP as it is should be much less trouble in the long run.

I went ahead and ordered one of those 4GB flash drives today, I needed one anyway as my laptop only has a small capacity HDD so I use a lot of external storage to archive stuff.

I'll report back here after I've given it a thorough Xbox related workout.

Not used that retailer for years but they now appear to have a barkingly mad export order system. If I've understood it correctly when the item price is shown in GB £ it can only be delivered to UK addresses. If shown in Euros it can only be delivered to EU addresses outside the UK, apparently. Which means, in this case, these flash drives are not available to anyone outside the UK.

Received the 4GB flash drive I ordered and been testing it over weekend.

To skip to the bottom line: no it doesn't work at least not with the v.1.1 and v.1.2 Xboxes I was experimenting with. Therefore it can not be used for the softmod game save installer/exploit transfers to a retail Xbox.

It displays yet another unique set of flash drive responses when used with a Xbox but in essence I found it totally unusuable/unreliable when formatted to FATX. Whether it even formats properly to FATX is questionable.

However unlike some flash drives I've used it is, as far as I can tell, 100% reliable with the Xbox when formatted to FAT32. This means it can be used for copying/moving stuff to a modded machine from a PC with the proviso you must mount the drive whilst using XBMC. Unfortunately with the flash drive in FAT32 format you cannot transfer anything to it from a Xbox which, of course, limits its usefulness.

i still havent found a sd card that wont work..
but im begining to think its the sd card reader not the sd cards, because i have seen others say sd cards dont work for them.

I think you're right, the microSD reader that came with my R4 for DS works as a memory card with every microSD card ive put into it..from 64mb to 2GB, and of course thats with all xboxes ive used it on.

Cant say what brand reader it is, its just in a very generic housing.