Original Xbox Softmod HDD Upgrade Issues

[Vbruno305]

I have 3 Original XBoxs. All of which I was able to softmod. The first one flawless, added a SATA HDD using an adapter(after reading that a 80 wire IDE cable was needed). They way I did was:

 

1 - Copy Splinter Cell game same to hdd

2 - Copy SID 5.12 game save to hdd

3 - Launch Splinter Cell

4 - Create Backups

5 - Load the dash

6 - FTP to my PC

7 - Copy CHIMP 2.6.8 to hdd

8 - Copy C, E, X, Y, Z drives to PC

9 - Run Xboxhdmv1.9, putting files where they need to be

10 - Run the linux.iso, option 1

11 - Run Xboxhd

12 - Generate Eeprom (opt. 6)

13 - Create Dos Floppy w/Locking tools (opt. 7)

14 - Build New Xbox HD (option 1)

15 - Start Xbox (original Softmodded hdd)

16 - Attach new hdd as slave removing the DVD

17 - Run Chimp

18 - Lock Slave Drive from eeprom.bin

19 - Reboot with new drive as master..Works like a champ

 

Now for #2 and #3 same steps followed but with both of these I could not get chimp to run, was able to lock the disks with xboxhdm but the xboxes would not unlock them. (ERROR 06) And yes I used the eeprom.bin files from the appropriate xboxs. I went through the same process each time. I am able to unlock the drives using xboxhdm. Also, tried 4 different versions of CHIMP no different. Any advise, besides buy a modchip?

 

[Mark Wolfe]

I've just started doing TSOP mods and using SATA drives after a long history of soft mods only (see my threads in the Atariage marketplace forum)

 

it is important to do things in a certain order and use updated tools and procedures

 

There are a gazillion how-to guides spanning the last 15 years but around 2014 some new guides were written and some apps were updated

 

They updated the Xbox partitioner to 1.3 which was a long time coming, the Hexen tools DVD was updated so look for the "shambles version" dated 2014

 

I am not sure what your specific problem is given how you describe things, you say you have three xboxes and you upgraded one but can't upgrade the other two? Is that right ?

 

Answer these questions for me and maybe I can help you figure this out:

 

1. What revision mother boards do your Xbox consoles have ? (1.6 mobos can be tricky)

 

2. Do they all boot from their original stock hard drive without issues ?

 

3. Have you removed the clock capacitor on all your boards ? (1.6 boards don't have one)

 

4. Have you checked ALL capacitors to make sure none are bulging or leaking ?

 

5. Do you have a molex power splitter and know how to do the HD hot-swap ?

 

 

The method you're listing with the floppy disk is outdated and over complicated

 

Furthermore there is no way to extract an eeprom from a locked hard drive by itself unless you are running it in the Xbox it goes to, so I'm a little confused by your explanation but I'm guessing I'm just not reading your comments correctly.

 

I have an extra eeprom kit if you want to buy it for cost. ($20) It's a simple serial cable you attach to the Xbox mobo to extract the eeprom.bin file using your PC and free software. There are YouTube tutorials and all sorts of documentation . It is such an easier way to get the eeprom even on a V1.6 mobo

 

I also found a solderless way to do a TSOP mod on 1.0 & 1.1 Xbox consoles... it has totally changed how I do things because im

Not so steady with a soldering iron on small solder points.

I've just started doing TSOP mods and using SATA drives after a long history of soft mods only (see my threads in the Atariage marketplace forum)

 

it is important to do things in a certain order and use updated tools and procedures

 

There are a gazillion how-to guides spanning the last 15 years but around 2014 some new guides were written and some apps were updated

 

They updated the Xbox partitioner to 1.3 which was a long time coming, the Hexen tools DVD was updated so look for the "shambles version" dated 2014

 

I am not sure what your specific problem is given how you describe things, you say you have three xboxes and you upgraded one but can't upgrade the other two? Is that right ?

 

Answer these questions for me and maybe I can help you figure this out:

 

1. What revision mother boards do your Xbox consoles have ? (1.6 mobos can be tricky)

 

2. Do they all boot from their original stock hard drive without issues ?

 

3. Have you removed the clock capacitor on all your boards ? (1.6 boards don't have one)

 

4. Have you checked ALL capacitors to make sure none are bulging or leaking ?

 

5. Do you have a molex power splitter and know how to do the HD hot-swap ?

 

 

The method you're listing with the floppy disk is outdated and over complicated

 

Furthermore there is no way to extract an eeprom from a locked hard drive by itself unless you are running it in the Xbox it goes to, so I'm a little confused by your exaination but I'm guessing I'm just not reading your comments correctly.

 

I have an extra eeprom kit if you want to buy it for cost. ($20) It's a simple serial cable you attach to the Xbox mobo to extract the eeprom.bin file using your PC and free software. There are YouTube tutorials and all sorts of documentation . It is such an easier way to get the eeprom even on a V1.6 mobo

 

I also found a solderless way to do a TSOP mod on 1.0 & 1.1 Xbox consoles... it has totally changed how I do things because im

Not so steady with a soldering iron on small solder points.

Edited December 5, 2016 by Mark Wolfe

[Flojomojo]

I have nothing to add except to say thanks for posting this ... so many of the xbox console mod sites are dead or inactive, it's good to have it here on this vibrant forum.

[Mark Wolfe]

Sure, no problem

 

I was horrified as soon as I saw that Xbox-scene was no longer around (unless you use the wayback machine on archive.org)

 

A lot of sites are still valid. Theisozone, the site that hosts the coinops project and a couple others

 

I recently learned some new tricks that are SO easy and uncomplicated that it makes me shake my head at all the hoops I used to have to jump through

 

Emulators for the original Xbox are still being updated so that shows how viable a platform it still is

 

No other console comes close because the original Xbox is the closest to a PC as you can get

 

There are more powerful systems you can mod to run emulators . Older systems like Wii have great emulation support, followed by dreamcast... but none of the newer systems are easy to work with nor is the userbase as large so I think we will have Xbox emulation until maybe the Raspberry Pi can run the same emulators as well as Xbox ... RPi 3 is almost there and only $35 but it's still not quite right. Maybe the RPi 4 will be or maybe if coinops migrated to the Pi then we can finally put away our original xboxes

Edited December 5, 2016 by Mark Wolfe

[Vbruno305]

None are 1.6. I accidently wiped the original hard drive to one of these. My problem is i have not been successful using xboxhdmv1.9 to lock the drives so the will boot. They lock fine but not with a password that the xboxes can open. While chimp2.6.8 locks and unlocks perfectly bur again neither of these will run chimp properly. One of them will boot chimp with no video making it useless and the other will boot chimp with fatx missing from the selections. I have made paperweights out of 5 hdds using xboxhdm to lock them.

[Mark Wolfe]

The way I would do it is use a working Xbox with the CHIMP app loaded on it with a molex power splitter

 

Take the lid off the Xbox and unscrew the inner screws

That hold the HD and DVD caddy down. Put a piece of cardboard or non conductive material over the DVD drive and put the Xbox HD you want to lock on top

 

You boot the Xbox with Ethernet cable attached to your router with both hard drives being powered at once with a molex splitter and when it boots to the soft mod dashboard take the IDE cable out of the DVD drive and put it in the unlocked drive provided it is formatted for Xbox and has all the necessary files and is partitioned correctly

 

Then start CHIMP (shows up as LAPARTX in the apps folder)

 

CHIMP will go through some code and then it will tell you the IP address and the username is root / password is xbox

 

FTP the eeprom.bin that is for the Xbox you need the HD for, to the "temp/ " directory and then select "lock slave drive" option in CHIMP then select "lock to temp/eeprom.bin"

 

Clkick OK as many times as you need to and it's done

 

The drive will now work on the Xbox you need it for provided you set it up right

 

Double check that it locked by selecting the "slave drive security status" and it will show that it is locked or not

 

If it says NO then the drive you're using is not lockable

 

I've run into a lot of drives that won't lock even though they say they will . Best way around that is to do a TSOP mod because they don't need a locked HD

Edited December 5, 2016 by Mark Wolfe

[Mark Wolfe]

Oh yeah, forgot to mention that CHIMP needs to be installed in the APPS folder in partition E and the config file must be in the root of the E partition

 

Also you can't see CHIMP on some xboxes if it is using component cables, it's best to use normal A/V not hidef

 

So, try CHIMP again with regular A/V and make sure the "linuxboot.cfg" is placed outside the Apps folder in the root directory of the E partition and the folder containing the CHIMP app is placed inside a directory called "Apps"

 

I've noticed that most websites don't even mention that but I figured it out on my own years ago after watching chimp boot up and seeing that the boot process was hindered by these problems

 

I would also leave how to do a TSOP mod, most motherboards only need two spots soldered and I found a way to do it without solder,

 

Download the 2014 "shambles" Hexen disk from theisozone

 

That really has all the updates tools you'll ever need on it

 

YouTube has fear tutorials done in 2014 that show how to do a TSOP very simply and how to quickly identify your mobo

 

I would also not try to use a SATA drive until you get a basic IDE stock HD working on your Xbox. I just reuse old Microsoft stock drives by unlocking it using the same directions as my previous post, but selecting the "unlock slave drive" option .

Edited December 5, 2016 by Mark Wolfe

[Mark Wolfe]

If you want, PM me and I'll email you my address. You can ship me one of the xboxes and a few hard drives and I'll do the TSOP mod on it and set up the drives to work on it

 

I would need to see photos of the two motherboards first tho so I can see which bios chips are on board

 

My rates are very reasonable

Edited December 5, 2016 by Mark Wolfe

[Vbruno305]

I am going to try a few of your suggesions..especially the TSOP flash., I am actually about to make a eeprom reader I found on saturday here http://www.instructables.com/id/XBox-EEPROM-ReaderWriter/ I bout the diodes and resister yesterday so I can extract the info from the board.

[Mark Wolfe]

That's definitely the way to go man. Combined with a soft mod, it's the equivalent to a mod chip and much easier to do provided you don't have a v1.6 mobo

 

Anyone else reading this, I have an extra eeprom reader with software I'd be willing to sell like the ones on eBay for $20 shipped . I wound up with two of them and I only need one. PM for details.

[Vbruno305]

Ok Bad new for me....the XBOX that I deleted the hdd accidentally is a ver 1.6 by the chart http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=367210&seqNum=2on Table 3.4...my video chip is an Xcalibur...so I guess the only thing I can do with this one is put ion a mod chip and build a new hdd...

[Mark Wolfe]

No worries there

 

You can easily get the eeprom and build a new HDD

 

I emailed you. I'll sell you my spare eeprom reader for $20 shipped. It comes with all The disks, software and easy to read instructions

 

You can't TSOP that Xbox. But you can build a new drive and soft mod it

[Mark Wolfe]

Just checking in

 

You can ship me your stubborn motherboards to either retrieve the eeprom.bin (I have an eeprom reader tool) or if any of them are not v1.6x, I can TSOP them for you so you no longer need a locked HDD

 

Price would be $10 + shipping

You can send me two boards for that pice, wrap the bare motherboards in bubble wrap and put them in a long medium Flat Rate Priority Mail box or if you are on the east coast you can use a Regional Rate type "B" box which I think is like $9

[Mark Wolfe]

Oops forgot you were in philly

Gimmmie those boards when we connect for the DVD drives and I'll do them for you

 

My schedule is cleared up although I have to stay close to home because my cat is sick

 

I'll go ahead and find you two suitable DVD drives tonight