hi this is my first adventure into the land of xbox mods

a friend has recently given me 3 xbox 1 systems

the first is a stock 1.6 , Kernel is 5838 dash 5960

the second is a stock 1.0 Kernel 4034 dash is 5960

the third one someone has already tried to softmod and bricked it i think

its a 1.4 i cant boot it to find out the kernel or dash ( starts with flubber screen then goes black , start it with eject get error 21 )

ive never done a softmod before but i am an it engineer and i have read a lot of this forum before commenting

here is what i want to achive

i want if possible to get at least 1 of these boxes working as an xbmc

if i can get 2 working as xbmc that would be fantastic

i cant do the exploits via the games as i dont have any games at all

i know i could go the modchip route , but i got these xbox's for nothing and if i can make them usefull without having to pay any money that would be the ideal goal , im not fused for backing up games or any of the other stuff , i just want to use them as media players on my network

so if im correct the only route for me to take is the softmod route , and the hotswapping


what is the absolute minimum im will have to do to get these xbox's running xbmc

ive been on a downloading spree after reading a lot of other posts

i have ndure 3.1

i have xboxhdm 3 , 2.2 & 1.9

i have the latest xbmc build for xbox SpYdEr2314-XBMC-Slack3r-Pack-(06-07-2011)-r30898

i have Xplorer 360 beta 6

i have so far managed to hotswap both drives from the 2 working systems and backed them up using xplorer

i did try this with the error 21 xbox too but it said it could not find a fatx partition


what i need to know is this

can i just copy the xbmc files to the drive finish the hotswap and restart the xbox to a xbmc dash

or do i need to make an ndure set of files and add them to an xboxhdm iso or usb bootable image and do it that way then add xbmc later via ftp

also i read all over ppl saying save the eeprom.bin , i understand this is used to lock and unlock the drives but how do i save this from these unmoded systems , do i have to hotswap in the softmod then save it using some app



i know this is a long post , but i wanted to give you as many details and outline as many grey areas as i could , i would like to get this right first time hehe


thank you all in advance for any help you can give me

Im a bit confuzed about how the briked system is modded but error 21 is a dashboard error i think.
Does it boot original games at all ?
You may be able to boot an original game that will update the dashboard unless its protected with a shaddow drive.
it sounds like the drive is locked with the corect password though (unless its not a soft mod)
so its possible if it is soft modded you could hotswap the oringinal dashboard files back to the c and e drive and whilst your there you could look and see if the eeprom.bin file is in the default backup direcory already.

I would initaly try and boot from hexen utility disk in the vague hope that it will boot (i doubt it will due to the dashboard error)
So i would then try the xbox live capable game and see if it will update the corrupted dash.

Hang around though other people on here may have better ideas for you


-=EDIT=-
I was drinking my coffee and thought that it is also possible that your hard disk is dead. Then you would need a eeprom reader to get the eep rom data to make a new hard disk.

Use xboxhdm, Kingroach NDURE and the stock MS Dash files plus hotswap to softmod the two working Xboxes. The link in my signature (softmod with hotswap) tells you which options to use, and in what order.

Grab the latest XBMC from xbmc4xbox.org. To make it your default dash replace your dashboard file (at E:\Dash\default.xbe) with the XBMC shortcut and its config file.

Alternatively you can use HeXEn to do the dash switching for you - see this post for details of how.

I'll have a think about the error 21 Xbox, but if you can't hotswap the drive then I suspect that shambles1980 is correct, and the drive is effectively dead so you'll need an eeprom reader and you'll have to softmod and lock a new disk using the eeprom - see the relevant links in my signature for details.

Thank you both for your quick replys

@ shambles1980

yeah i have no details on what mod was attempted on the bricked one , it only error 21's if i hit the eject button to boot from , as i dont own a single xbox game i cant try and boot it from that , im leaning towards the drive being damaged in someway


@Heimdall

so just to clarify before i get started

i run ndure 3 , select the options as shown in your guide and select the right kernal type

paste the c and e files that makes into the /xboxhdm/linux/ndure/

and the ndure script from your guide to the same folder

then create the iso

thats hdm 1.9 iso made

then i can use hdm 2.2 ( or should i use the latest version 3 ? ) and the iso from 1.9 to make a bootable usb drive

then test that the usb boots


then do the hotswap trick , boot to usb hdm

follow the guide again to prep the c & e drive

and i should be done , then i can ftp over any other dash or apps that i want or use the hexen disc


just want to double check i have that all correct in my head before i start


thank you again to you both for your quick replys

That sounds like the default dashboard files are missing if it only errrors out when you boot with the eject button..
What happens when you boot in a diferent way?

I guess its possible that the box is modded with a chip and can accept unlocked drives but the drive was never properly formatted to the xbox format.


if you just hook up the drive to your pc (not hotswap) and then look in your admin tools> diskmanager is the drive formated in there? If it is can you asign it a drive letter and see the file contents
(dont repartition it or format it excetera though)

Im going from the assumption that its chipped and the perosn just installed a new hard disk as Fat format and added the files via windows not knowing that xboxes are fatx. or that the drive is just dead.. (but above is a way to find out)
This is all just summerizing because you mentioned it only errors when you use eject implying that it only seraches for the MS dashboard when you use that button which should only happen when modified, and gien the hard disk is either broken or unformated that leaves only a mod chip as an option..

no the bricked box is not chiped , it has what looks like a stock hdd in it


just phoned my m8 who gave me these xboxs , he said it was his little brother that had tried to softmod it with the hotswap method and some how he bricked it , thats as much info as he could give me

the fairly sure the drive is locking and unlocking during the hotswap , becuase if i dont get the timing right the bios takes forever to go thru

i personally think that his little bro has screwed the format of the drive whilst hotswaping them

is there a way to reformat the drive when its in this state

power on with normal power switch = flubber then black screen , no errors screen
power on with eject buttong = flubber then error 21

not so sure about the partitioning unless you have the eeprom files. Heimdall may know more about that..

it sounds like you should be able to hotswap in to xplorer360 to get the default files back on there though, because i really dont see how it can know not to try and load the default ms dash without the hdd working or having moded files on there..
Try burning a hexen disk and booting the xbox with that. If it works you should be able to use the one click softmod installer to install ndure.

or continue to try to get xplorer360 to work with the drive and get the default dash files back on the C and E partitions to start the mod again

"i had to edit because i was writing xbox360 not xplorer360. dunno why i did that"

i have tried to boot it with several rescure discs to no avail

i dont have the original files from that xbox but if i could get xplorer360 to see the drive could i restore the stock image from one of the backups i made of the other 2 xboxs

also something else came to mind i have a chiped xbox crystal hardmod , could i hot swap the drive from the iffy xbox into this chiped xbox and run the disc prep the drive , then pop it back in the bricked box

You should wait for Heimdall to respond to these questions I just softmod Im not to well informed on the modchips. I would imagine that the hard disk is locked so the modchip wont be able to unlock the drive though.

yeah i think you are right there i will wait , in the mean time i will crack on with doing one of the other boxes

thank you for your help

i may well be on the way to rescuing the bricked box

after several hotswap attempts i finaly got it to show in xboxhdmaker

when try to install it as a fresh xbox i get this

" Building an xbox Hd from scratch is a two step
Procedure. First the partition table is built.
Then the partitions are formatted.
We will now search /dev/hda for an xbox partition table...

No xbox-partition tabe found on /dev/hda

Drive is not locked but locking enabled
Dont Reboot until you have build a working xbox hdd
Since Rebooting will relock the drive
Press any key to abort the operation.... "


it is just sat at this point , im not sure if its trying to rectify anything or not ,no hard drive activity i can tell off


what should i do next with this , any idea's

You missed the bit where you put the stock dash files in the appropriate places before you build the iso.

Xboxhdm 3 is still experimental, so if your PC only has one IDE port on the motherboard then you should use xboxhdm 2.2.

Which xboxhdm option did you select?

yup i did use 2.2 and all went fine , i have the 1 of the non bricked ones softmoded now

im leaving the other working one for now and concentrating on the bricked one i like a challange



with the bricked one all starts well in xboxhddmaker

it comes up and tells me that st310014a is the primary master which is dev/hda


then when i try to do option 1 it says

" Building an xbox Hd from scratch is a two step
Procedure. First the partition table is built.
Then the partitions are formatted.
We will now search /dev/hda for an xbox partition table...

No xbox-partition tabe found on /dev/hda

Drive is not locked but locking enabled
Dont Reboot until you have build a working xbox hdd
Since Rebooting will relock the drive
Press any key to abort the operation.... "


i tried to wipe the fatx partition and do it again , but still same error

as this machine wont boot to dash i unpluged the dvd drive to force an error 12 , to make sure the drive was unlocked before i hotswaped

so im at a bit of a loss atm

are there any linux commands i can send to reformat / repartition the drive

i think that says you need to abort because there are no partition tables on the xboxhdm disk you made..

however..
If you can get the disk detected there is a possibility that you could get the eeprom from it "if it was ever backed up"
if you can get the eeprom you can just use xboxhdm to start from scratch with it. But get the eeprom 1st...

when using xbohdm remember you need to populate the c and E folders with C and E drive from your xbox,,
This can be a already softmoded xbox or a default xbox. but if its a default xbox its usual to add the files for a mod to the folders..

What i dont get is how you have unlocked the drive with xboxhdm without a eeprom file?
i am some what confuzed..
if it is unlocked thanxs to the xbox and hotswapping then you really should try to use xplorer360 in windows to search for the eeprom file, or softmod the disk properly using the same method.
it sounds like the disk isnt always functioning correctly so your main priority HAS to be getting the eeprom.bin from it,
I would not partition or format anything untill i had the eeprom.bin

i dont know for a fact that formating and re writing the partition table when the drive is hotswapped will leave it perminantly unlocked..
But it seems to me that it will be unlocked when the process ends and you wont have the eeprom to lock it..

i havent unlocked it with xboxhdm , i unlocked it using the error 12 hotswap method

Will the bricked Xbox boot a game? If so, grab a post 2004 Live-enabled game (Halo 2 or later), load it, and start to sign in to live. You don't need a network connection. If you are lucky the first thing the game will do is restore the dash.

Hotswapping always carries a risk of bricking a disk, so now that you have one Xbox modded grab an exploitable game (Splinter Cell is probably best because all copies of the game including the Platinum Hits version are exploitable) and an Xbox memory card. FTP the Krayzie 1.1.1 gamesave onto your modded Xbox (or take the copy from the HeXEn disc) and copy the numbered folder to the root of the memory card. Copy it onto the unmodded Xbox, run the game, load the gamesave, mod the Xbox.

i dont have any games at all

i think it may be well past the point where i can restore the dash , ive already attempted to wipe the fatx partition and had a go at building a new xbox from scratch

keeps telling me the xbox partition not found on dev/hda

i think if i had some tool for partitioning the xbox drive either in linux or windows i might stand a chance of getting it running again

So, go and buy or borrow a game...... although if you've wiped the partitions you may well be right, and you probably need to start thinking about a chip or an eeprom reader.

i will leave the eeprom reader as last resort

gonna give this ago


>> HDprepar
Ziki wrote this little windows program to prepare a hard drive for xbox. It writes zeros and partition info on the hd. So, you don't need to use Winhex anymore. (to make new HD ready for Evox HDswap (only for first release of evox))
>>Download<< || >>Latest version: v1.3<<


currently running , will let you know how it goes


thanks again for all your help

blow me down it only bloody worked govner

used the hdprepar tool in windows

rebooted to xbox hd maker

option 1 , now installing and building C


tip top

yep fixed it

the bricked xbox is now fully working and sat at an unleashX dashboard

today is a good day hehehe

one more box to go , might save that one till tomorrow


thanks again to you both for your help

Lol it worked??

Well Back up the eeprom and ftp it to your pc..
if the hard disk is to blame then you definatly want that eeprom file.

yup just done that