Do you necessarily need the dvd drive and correct hdd to install a modchip to a board and have it boot up and work?

sorry for the self bump, i should mention that the reason why i am asking about this is because i have a few boards that had the hdd reformatted and i would keep getting an error code upon booting.

Unless you have flashed BIOS to the mod chip you need the DVD and harddrive. You can modify the BIOS to boot without a DVD dive though. Idk about removing the harddrive though.

I'm not sure that's entirely true as described. There's no reason why FlashBIOS would check for the hard drive or the DVD, and so long as you used the network to flash a hacked BIOS that bypassed the DVD check you should be fine. However, you would then need a hard drive to build a working Xbox, and unless you installed an X3 / Smartxx chip you would need a DVD drive to allow you to boot an installation disc and build your new hard drive. So, the short answer is you would need a DVD drive to complete the installation, and a hard drive to install the dashboard onto.

On second thoughts, that's also not entirely true. You could do the whole thing without a DVD drive, by flashing a DVD check bypass BIOS, then using xboxhdm to build the new hard drive.

Well i have plenty of dvd drives and i have a 500gb that i want to install. Also i would be using the Duo x gs that i ordered from litspliff. ( I hope it is there when I get home from work lol)

Does every Duo come with flashbios? Aside from all that, the easiest way to get the system up and running is with a DVD drive and Hard Drive. Plain and simple.

HDD's have all been formatted so it is almost impossible to get them back and running without a pre chipped box and i believe the white duo x's have flashbios on one bank.

Okay So i got the chip installed and all that good stuff and my question is how do i get a new HDD in there? would i have to build one With Xbox HDM or could i just use the chip and flash a bios that doesn't check for the HDD

Sorry for all the self bumps but whatever

Should i just flash a bios on there and then boot AID and then build a new hdd?

Flash the BIOS.

Install the new drive, boot with HeXEn or AID, build the new disk. HeXEn forces you to use XBPartitioner 1.1 so you don't forget.

Okay so one last question: will i get error codes when i try to boot after i flash the new bios? I am flashing the x2 5035. or will it just boot all fine and load AID (i made this before this thread ) then i will build the new drive?

And thanks for the help Heimdall you have helped me before and you are like a damn encyclopedia, its freaking awesome

A quick update, i flashed the x2 bios and it gives me a hdd error and when i connect hdd that is empty it looks for the xecuter 2 config which isnt there because the hdd is empty

okay so i went to dinner and came back and tried to connect a sata drive with an adapter and when i try to boot it frags plus the previous posts problem



http://www.dealextreme.com/p/sata-to-ide-h...pter-card-12537
that is the adapter

any ideas anyone?

Did you put a AID, hexen or slayers disc in and try booting to the disc, format hd, build hd, apps etc....? Try the hd you had in previous and remove the sata adapter one, see if the disc boots up so you can rebuild the hd.

If you try the sata adapter set adapter as Cable select pins 1-3 on this card with the included jumper. Maybe that will help the hd be recognized.

It stays at the "x2 config" screen but i guess i could try burning aid to a higher quality media

I know with my aids disc it takes a while to boot up. Seem like its stuck but does boot after several minutes. If Aids doesnt work...

Can you get a copy of slayers 2.7? Use a dvd-r or cd-r

Okay i put in the original HDD and it booted and i am installing xbmc as i type this, so i guess the last issue would be the 500 gb HDD and i have yet to set it to cable select on the adapter jumper

Okay so no matter what jumper settings i put the adapter on it still frags. should i try with a regular ide cable?

(update)
i just tried it using a single ide cable and it just gives me an error code, so does this mean i have to go the hdm way?

Its probably the sata adapter. Connect the IDE ribbon to the adapter and the SATA hard drive/power to the adapter.
Maybe the adapter is bad. Look into getting another one. Ask litspliff on here. I think he sells them too.

[ quote name='turfster' date='May 19 2011, 05:33 PM' post='4799694']
Its probably the sata adapter. Connect the IDE ribbon to the adapter and the SATA hard drive/power to the adapter.
Maybe the adapter is bad. Look into getting another one. Ask litspliff on here. I think he sells them too.
[/quote]


i dont sell the SATA adapters anymore because manufacturers stopped making them to spec. they still work with high-end drives, but if it says "green", "low power", "power saving", or 5900rpm, most SATA board will give error 5,6,or7 sporadically or every time. as far as i can tell, the hd is not ready after POST, and the adapter doesnt tell the IDE controller to wait for the drive. this wasnt always the case, and im not sure if drive firmware has changed, or ifthe SATA board have changed. ive tried 3 brands of HDs and 3 adapter manufacturers. end result, ive got a pile of sata adapters that only work on PC reliably.

this situation has gotten me out of the game. just no money to be made on large SATA drive installs IMO, but i suppose thats a topic for a different thread...

well, i guess i should mention that when i plug only the hdd in it gives me errors 12 and 13 (that is unformatted) and i believe it is a 7200 rpm drive but i am not sure as it came from an external hdd

error 13 is good. that just means you need to format and install a dashboard.
error 12 is bad. this means your DVD drive is not initializing.

12 can be caused by IDE jumper as well. make sure you have the adapter's jumper set to master, or cable select. be warned some adapters don't have jumper pins, but the compatible ones usually have the points which can be soldered in the absence of pins.

use a slayers disc and run option "restore retail HD to factory".
this will format C, and E, and install M$ dashboard.
that will clear the error 13.

once you have a dashboard, pop in XB partitioner and reformat your F drive with the appropriate cluster size.

after that, pop your slayers disc back in and use ftp to put your custom dashboard in place.

the error twelve makes sense because the dvd drive isnt connected when i boot soley with the adapter because it will frag if both are connected. and that janky adapter wont go into cable select no matter what jumper settings i put it on

whats the model of HD?
pictures of adapter and HD label.
try and get a close up of the jump points on the board so i can read the white PCB lettering. if i remember right, cable select usually means the jumper is removed, but master should work as well.


i can send you one of my SATA adapters for real cheap.
i've got 12 of them...i can't guarantee it will work though.
might be better than what you've got.


EDIT:

moving this thread to the hardware section and using a different title may get more eyes on this.

Ill check the model when I get home in a few hours and I think that would be a good idea as well.

not trying to be a stickler, but someone with a similar problem will be able to find your thread that way