This is my first post, although I've been lurking for a while ...

My question is this: is it worth implementing a newer or different softmod on an xbox which has 1) already been successfully soft-modded, 2) already had the original HDD swapped out for one of higher capacity, 3) already does everything I want it to do?

Some background: I keep reading about Krayzie's Ndure being the best available softmod tool going ... I originally fudged a softmod using a combination of AID (v-4.x?) and a Mamedox (v-x.x?) installer. I say fudged because I wasn't entirely certain of what I was doing, but somehow emerged with a successfully dual-bootable softmodded xbox. I'm still not certain which of the methods I used was successful, and there's a nagging worry that i) there's a load of unnecessary crud floating about the xbox, ii) it may - for some reason - go belly-up at any point, and iii) I might be missing out on something

Would there be any distinct advantages from starting over with e.g. Krayzie's Ndure 1.1?

Would I be better to just leave well alone?

Or am I completely misunderstanding this, and the means of performing the exploit makes no difference at all?

Any advice would be appreciated, thanks.

Krayzie and SID (AID) aren't "the means of performing the exploit", they define the resulting softmod, and they are different in terms of the features they enable and the options they give you. In fact, Krayzie and (the later versions of) SID both use the same exploits (the gamesave exploit to get control of the Xbox in the first place when you install the softmod, and NDURE to give you control at every subsequent reboot). So, you are not misunderstanding this - how you do the softmod, and which installer package you use, and which options you select during installation, can have a huge impact on the stability and robustness of your softmod.

The short version is that Krayzie 1.1.1 is better for noobs because it gives you far fewer options and forces you to have shadow C and virtual eeprom protection (essential IMHO for a safe softmod that can't be bricked by a simple deletion of one file on the C partition). If you are worried that your softmod may be a bit flaky then replacing it is the best option. The easiest way is to grab HeXEn 0.99B11-22 (use Google, password is Heimdall01), burn to DVD-R, cold boot with it, and follow the instructions to update the softmod to Krayzie 1.1.1 or Kingroach NDURE 3.1 (HeXEn doesn't install SID at the moment).

Thanks for the clarification.

I located a copy of HeXEn, but I'll need to grab some DVD-R discs before proceeding. I'll post an update when I'm done.

Thanks again.

OK, so I got some DVD-R's, and burnt the iso at 4x using k3b on Debian testing ...

No luck with two discs.

I'm assuming that 'cold boot' means stick the DVD in the drive, power off, then power up again?

The hacked dash just starts as normal (powering up with the power button) and the MS dash says the disc is unrecognisable (powering up with the eject button).

I'm already thinking I might just leave well alone ....

You're doing the right thing, so it sounds as though there's a problem with burning the iso (I've never used linux for DVD burning, so can't really offer any advice), or your Xbox doesn't like the brand of DVD-R you're using, or it doesn't like any DVD-R. All I can suggest is that you try to find a friend with a Windows machine, and use DVD Decrypter 3.5.4.0 to burn the DVD-R.