XBox Error Codes (Circa 2017)

[T2Steve]

stolen mostly from the Afterdawn forums with some updates based on more modern knowledge. feel free to comment with other updates and I'll edit the original posted here. - original can be found at http://forums.afterdawn.com/threads/xbox-error-codes-explained-go-here-first.373255/

 

2 - bootldr - Eeprom check failed

When you see this error most of the times you have flashed something wrong. Or you dropped solder on your eeprom chips.

4 - bootldr - Ram check failed

Your Xbox ram chips are wasted.
Maybe you dropped a little solder on it (try to remove it CAREFULLY!). Note, if they are fried, removing solder won't fix them). Maybe you were static when you touched the ram chips. They are kind off sensitive. If they are, they are fried, sell your xbox for spare parts.

5 - kernel - HDD not locked (The retail xbox bioses require the hd to be locked, this includes soft mods)

When you upgrade your hard disk drive for one that is larger, you most of the times use a new hard drive that you bought in the shop. Now, when you put this hdd in your xbox and you try to boot up with your chip off. It gives you error 5. Why you ask? Well i will try to explain it simple.

The original (also called "Retail") hard drive is locked by MS. Why did they lock the harddrive?

Well if it wasn't it wouldve been more than easy (in the start of xbox hacking) for hackers to change content on it. Thats why MS locks it. It is just a security measure. This locking proces uses information (the EEPROM) that's on the motherboard. The "Lock" on a xbox hard drive contains information that is based on the harddrive itself and the motherboard it came with.

One thing that makes this clear: You can not change a retail harddrive with another one from a non-modded xbox without the EEPROM. With every xbox there was only ONE i repeat ONE compatible harddisk drive. Editted EPROMS can change that.

If you don't mod your xbox (tsop or modchips) changing the hard drive or replacing a dead one becomes more complicated. You need to extract the EEPROM from the motherboard, or install a mod chip to bypass the lock restriction. With an extracted EEPROM you can use utilities such as xboxhdm to create a new hard drive and lock it to the xbox.

So when does the error occur? The only time this error should occur is when you boot up your xbox in original mode AND you have a harddisk in your xbox that is not yet locked. So now you ask what do i have to do to make your xbox work again?

Well the answer is pretty easy. extract the EEPROM, or instal a mod chip. those are your two options.

6 - kernel - Cannot unlock HDD

If you understand the above, you should be able to understand what this means. It means you are trying to boot up the xbox with an harddisk that is locked in combination with ANOTHER motherboard than you are using it with right now.

What can i do about it, you ask? Well place the harddisk back in the xbox where it came from. After that, either extract the EEPROM and use xboxhdm to lock it, or boot in a modded state and then use dashboard tools to lock/unlock the drive.

7 - kernel - HDD timeout

Most of the times, the IDE cable is not properly connected when you see this error. Please reattach the ide cable. Not only to the harddisk drive but also to the dvd drive. Also try to reconnect the ide cable to the motherboard.Also if you are using a SATA hard drive, this could be caused by using a non 80 pin IDE cable, or not having the drive connected properly.

***** updated June 11, 2018 **** leaking capacitors on a 1.6b xbox also caused an error 7. The hard drive made some odd dragging sounds and it was initially believed to be a failing hard drive. There were two 6.3 3300 capacitors near the CPU that were peaked and were leaking. This apparently caused intermittent issues, probably alleviating when the caps were drained of power and returning when they charged up. Replacing the faulty capacitors resolved this issue entirely.

8 - kernel - No HDD found

Please make sure your xbox hdd is attached properly. Most of the times the Ide cable came loose, or isn't seated properly in the IDE port of your harddisk. ALso make sure the power supply cables are intact and working.

Make sure the ide cable is also connected properly to the rest of the hardware (dvd and motherboard).

9 - kernel - HDD parameters (PIO/DMA/or size {debug}, certain size minimum is required for debug)

Not very common error, please try another harddisk.

10 - kernel - DVD timeout

Actually its almost the same as error 6/7/8. But also make sure the yellow cables are properly connected to the motherboard and the dvd drive.

1. Make sure ide cables are connected good.
2. Make sure the yellow cables are good and properly connected.
3. Still no succes? Try another dvd drive of which you are sure it is working.

11 - kernel - No DVD Found

Same as #10 So read up please!

12 - kernel - DVD parameters (PIO/DMA)

Same as #10, only not very common.

13 - kernel - Dashboard launch fail(due to missing/bad key, or anything else that would prevent it from running) and the dashboard didn't specify why it failed.

The error it gives is because of the incompatibility between the (older) dashboard (4920) that older slayer cd installs and the new dashboard/kernel versions found in some new xbox's and found in xbox's that have been connected to xbox live (when you go on xbox-live, it'll upgrade your dashboard file to i believe it is now 5659.03. This dasboard is incompatible with the dash that (old) slayer cd installs (for example 2.5 or lower) for you. This error also frequently occurs when using a 40 wire IDE cable (e.g.: the one that came with the xbox) while using a SATA Hard drive with an adaptor. There are also reports that the 80 pin wire occasionally goes "bad" if it has been used for years, possibly causing signal degradation. 

(In detail, in the eeprom chip there is a kernel which is incompatible with the dashboard (4920) that slayer installs.)

So what do you do to fix it? You can use the dashupdate found on most new xbox games! Be sure to 1st unplug your ethernet cable before you do so!!!

Besides that, just use a good installation disc and all is fine. Use HEXEN.

14 - dashboard - Error loading dashboard (dashboard generic error)

Same thing as above (error 13). This time it is also a little mistake from you on changing names or having played around with files on the xbox harddisk. Error 14 is most often because you changed boot orders or names of startup files on the harddisk. It can also happen when you are rebuilding your xbox harddisk with a slayer cd and the power was cut.

16 - dashboard - Clock cannot be set

Basically it comes down to this. Error 16 has to do with not finding the menu setting with which you can set the clock of the hdd. This happens to a lot of people that erase their hdd (original/upgraded) or MS dashboard files and after that they don't immediatly install the hdd but leave the xbox without power longer than 5 hours.

It's all about the hdd can't find the menu with which it can set the clock. This is mostly because the xbox hdd is empty (you removed dashboard or fux0red it via ftp). The problem arises when xbox searches for menu to set clock with, can't find it and voila: error 16. Well read on please!

So you have an error 16 huh? Don't worry "nothing" is broken!

You have an xbox hdd that is locked. And normally you can boot in original and modded mode. Retail or upgraded doesn't matter. You start playing around with xboxdash.xbe etc. using ftp programs. While doing this you "accidently" remove your MS dashboard and also your alternate dashboard (Evox, etc.) so there is no dash anymore on the xbox hdd.

You end the ftp session and after that you shut off your xbox. Normally when you would start up again it gives you an error 13/14 ( no dashboard found). No worries with a slayer Evox cd (and a hardmod), all is ok. BUT this is only WITHIN 3 hours or so.

This is because the internal clock of the xbox will only be kept alive by the capacitors for only 3 or 4 hours. So when you leave your xbox unplugged from electricity for over 5 hours after you have played with the .xbe's AND you have removed your (ms and evo-x) dash from your xbox than you are fux0red. Why do you ask?

Why can't I boot from disc?

Its as follows Xbox starts booting==> (almost 1st thing a xbox does is) searches for internal clock==> doesnt find internal clock because there hasn't been any electricity on the xbox for 5 hours so battery that kept clock alive is empty and clock is gone==> searches for the proper dashboard menu to set clock with ==> doesnt find msdashboard or evo-x dashboard menu becuz you have removed it from the hdd for whatever reasons you had==> xbox gives error 16: cannot set clock.

So what do you do about it? Two options!

1. Install a mod chip that has a BIOS on it that allows you to configure a new hard drive. All of the modern/final bioses will do this, and will let you boot directly from DVD even if the hard drive is not setup correctly. This will let you put clean files on C


2. This is the more easy and newbie friendly strategy
- Get/borrow a modded xbox
- Disconnect the DVD from the problem xbox
- Boot the problem xbox, the DVD error will come up, but the hard drive will now be unlocked.
- Boot the modded xbox, get it to the dashboard, put in the Hexen disk
- Disconnect the IDE hard drive from the modded xbox’s IDE chain
- Connect the IDE hard drive from the problem xbox to the modded xbox
- Launch Hexen
- Re-install the C: from Hexen.

If you get an error 13 after this, please read up on the error 13 explanation!

20 - kernel - The dashboard was attempted to load and failed

It was a cold boot, and the dashboard didn't specify why it failed, but it
(for some reason) needed to be noted that the dvd passed the challenge/response authentication

21 - anywhere 

This error says that the machine was booted to display a error, basically someone told the machine to reboot (or launch a xbe) with this flag, and the error code just means its been rebooted by the flag

This occurs frequently when the xbox is unable to boot due to dashboard changes being made (ie Gcue true blue hasnt been resigned, parts of the stock dash are missing - incomplete FTP backups copied to a new HDD for example).

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