HDShadow

UnleashX can be installed as an app very simply too. So you can keep the current primary dash then switch to UnleashX as required. I'm interested as to why the OP wants to this main dash swap. Most of my primary dashboards have been and are UnleashX for many reasons like its file manager. But a significant one is also because I've created/edited a whole load of skins for it over the years and spent a lot of time getting them as good as possible. It is an on going project I go back to regularly when I have spare time but don't fancy a game. BUT for any multi-media use XBMC is simply better. UnleashX's music player has a broken GUI so when I wanted to set up a Xbox for 'kitchen' use where music playing and the occasional DVD primarily, using XBMC as the main dash was a no brainer.

Random small scratches like those are clearly not concentric, as ^ has pointed out, can not be caused when the disc is spinning. If we rule out consistently poor handling by the OP then the only other cause that might produce random direction scratches is during the tray ejecting or closing/loading. Something in the tray? Grit or a raised plastic burr? How are the discs stored? In plastic sleeves or proper CD/DVD cases? Are the disc left on any surface prior loading into the tray? Are the carefully placed down into the centre of the tray or are they sometimes slid into it or the tray closed when they're not correctly positioned? I scratched my perfect condition Timesplitters FP disc accidentally just doing the latter once and whilst only the faintest, non-concentric scratch it is obviously just in the wrong place as it will not boot in any Xbox I own. I'd test a pristine, new, blank CD, just closing and immediately ejecting the tray a few times to see if that causes anything similar. I suppose it could still be the laser carriage if the tray is not going in level (unevenly worn runners?) or, more likely, is warped and the damage is occurring just before the disc is clamped and starts to spin up. But it seems very unlikely as the timing of the contact causing the scratches would have to occur for only a fraction of a second before the disc was spinning as the scratching would be concentric or partially concentric.

That rings a bell and certainly ^ would explain the problem.

I have distant memories of there being some problem with Thief Deadly Shadows PAL when installed to the HDD. Just had two ideas:- 1). try playing it in 4:3 format rather than WS. Using WS can cause some weird problems with a few games intended for 4:3 display. 2). Clear the E:\CACHE and the content of X, Y and Z drives, particularly if when you tested the PAL version you did it after playing the NTSC one. If either of those do not work:- Are we talking about from original PAL disc/installed from disc/installed from download? Is the Xbox NTSC or set to NTSC? If you swap the Xbox to PAL does the problem remain? If installed to the HDD by any method has the game been ACL (Action Control List) patched by DVD2Xbox?

I'd suggest you use XBPartitioner v1.3 and check that F:\ was properly formatted. If it has an ER(ror) against Extended Drive 6 (F) that's your problem. Unfortunately if either of the extended drives, F:\ (or G:\), is corrupted because of incorrect formatting that's it. You'll have to reformatted for both and that will wipe them entirely. Hope it is not this but I suspect it is.

That's what I have on two out of three of the chipped or TSOPed Xboxes I've done - it is a safety net. It means that if the chip fails and you can lock the HDD it will boot on the same Xbox as there is an E:\evoxdash.xbe (assuming that is your softmod of choice's primary dash's XBE). I have softmodded/locked retail HDDs for all my hardmodded Xboxes too. HeXEn's supplied BIOS are set up to use a secondary dash path that I think is the same as the softmod one E:\Dash\UnleashX.xbe it installs, probably for the same reason.

Maybe somebody else has said this but I'm too lazy today to check. I would have thought the problems could be explained by the OP not understanding that the HDD/SSD has to be locked to be able to use it with a softmod but not with a chip. My guess is that the SSD is unlocked and the HDD he mentioned earlier that does work is locked. It maybe as simple as that................................possibly.

Very few Xbox games will fit on a CD and a high percentage of Xbox fitted DVD drives don't support CD-R. The only universally compatible disc media is DVD-R, preferably burned using ImgBurn default settings. If that combination does not work then it is highly likely your DVD drive laser is on the way out. Also should mention that you can only play original MS Xbox game discs unless your Xbox is soft or hard modded. If it is modded then installing the game files direct to the HDD via FTP is the preferred option rather than burning them to disc. The DVD drive is the Xbox's weakness and bearing in mind Xboxes are 17 - 22 years old now using the DVD drive as little as possible is recommended practice too.

^ Rubbish. 80% of my Xboxes' HDDs are still IDE, mostly 120GB and 160GB but one 320GB. A lot of the 160GB are ones previously used in PVRs so not genuinely new either. I've not had an IDE HDD failure yet and some have been in fairly regular use for over 12 years. I even had a stock IDE HDD in one machine which was working perfectly for over 12 years (2003 - 2016) before I replaced it with a bigger one. SATA or IDE it depends how much use and abuse they have had not their age. I'd also point out that IDE HDDs (7200rpm) often boot faster than SATA ones because the bottleneck is the SATA > IDE adapter and that applies to both HDDs and SSDs. However from the description given I would replace the HDD although I'm not convinced the problem is entirely down to the HDD. It sounds as if a cache and/or temporary file issue could be the part of the problem. I'm wondering whether the trouble might be fixed by deleting the content of X, Y and Z drives and E:\CACHE before booting the games in question. To do that I think you have a clear CACHE option with HeXEn and maybe some other modding tools packages you can install. But the easiest way is with the UnleashX dash (using its File Explorer) which can be installed and run as an app if the OP is wedded to the EvoX dash.

Yes, I often do that myself, using the aforementioned Qwix or C Xbox Tool. I then use DVD2Xbox to rip it to the HDD. I've actually timed it and, depending on the size of the XISO file, I've burn a XISO to DVD and installed it to the HDD in almost the same time as it takes me to set up FTP. But that is only because I do not have my primary Xbox permanently networked. I have to swap ethernet cables and change the Xbox's normal Static IP, which I use to transfer between Xboxes, to DHCP and that all takes time. Only thing to be aware of are the Xbox DVD drive disc media compatibility issues: DVD-R is the only type proven to be universally compatible; DVD+R is often OK but when it comes to CD and DVD-RW types the compatibility does depend on the drive make and sometimes even the disc media manufacturer. In short: stick to DVD-R.

I doubt it is even RGB because the only connection type that uses RGB is SCART and that has a unique quirk when used with the UnleashX dash. It does allow you change the resolution settings (not the actual resolution) to 480p and/or 720p and/or 1080i and save it. However if you reload/restart it reverts the settings back to 480i. This is a potentially useful feature in some circumstances but my point here is that if was RGB the ED/HD resolution options would available but in the OP the screenshot shows them greyed out, typical when using an AV Composite cable.

To enable ED/HD settings whatever the, not mentioned before, HDMI adapter being used allows in regards to resolution options, it is acting exactly like a Component cable. It must use the same mode select method: grounding pins 18 and 19, as the Xbox's ED/HD output options are only available, as said, when using a Component connections (see below). The adapter is surely transcoding ie. converting analogue Component output to digital HDMI. At least that is how I've always thought they worked. If they don't how does it do that?

I suspect the cause of you not being allowed to change resolution options with the UnleashX dash is simply because you're using an SD (Standard Definition) type AV cable ie. AV Composite or SCART/SCART RGB or S-Video which only support 480i/576i (NTSC & PAL60/PAL50). You need to be using a Component cable to get any of the ED/HD screen display options ie. 480p, 720p and 1080i.

Personally I've never had any problem with .XMV when using XBMC v3.5.3, in fact it is usually .MP4 stuff which is at too high resolution for the Xbox to handle that causes me problems and I have to downscale. Getting that right sometimes takes specific conversion settings (VLC) depending on the original resolution. However I've found simply using SPPV's XMV Converter tool often fixes it in one go and even if the resulting .XMV conversion is 100+MB, far bigger than the original .MP4 file size, it plays on XBMC with no problems.

You were doing each ie. the adapter and the IDE cable swap, separately? That would explain the problem....................................I think. I'm pretty sure that every time I've used a SATA > IDE adapter fitted HDD for a Chimp swap it worked OK with the SATA > IDE adapter pre-attached to the HDD and plugging the IDE cable into that. I would have thought that, as you seem to be saying, plugging the adapter onto the IDE cable first them plugging that into the HDD, might be the cause of problems. The adapter when connected to the IDE cable is being powered up without an attached HDD. But if that method worked for you and what I would have thought was the more usual method did not then the proof is there and can not be argued with.

I sort of agree, not that the Startech is any better, but that ones like those you have can have issues ie. they seem not to have had the same quality control. When they're good they are just as reliable but there seem to be a higher percentage of bad ones out there and that's more likely the cause when you get problems like this and are doing everything else correctly.

Assuming you're doing or have done all the things suggested, in particular using an 80 wire IDE cable, you have not said what make/model the HDD is.

It may be just what is says: the device can not be locked. It is quite unusual to find a HDD that can not be locked but it happens. Other possibilities:- Did you set the the new HDD's jumper to Slave? If you're using a SATA > IDE adapter it must have that option, some don't. Some SATA > IDE adapters cause problems when they're hot-swapped Are you using an 80 wire IDE cable? Have you unplugged all attached USB flash drives/devices and removed memory cards from the controller? Is the controller an official MS Xbox one? Third party controllers are known to cause trouble. It is unlikely to be this but the recommendation is also to use an AV Composite connection when using Chimp.

Yes, worth point that out for others, but I was taking it as a given Naif understood that as he described the method in full in his previous post about the IGR issue. The DVD drive spinning up is unfortunately without a solution as it is a feature of the Thomson DVD drive which is what I suspect he is using. I have not noticed that with any other DVD drive but the Thomson is noisier than the others so it is more obtrusive. It is checking if there is a disc in the DVD drive and it seems to do that whenever you do almost anything including just closing the DVD drive tray, double checking there is no disc present. I too find it rather annoying.

Some Evox M8+ BIOS seem to have problems with the IGR. I have an Aladdin chip that came with a pre-installed EvoxM8+ BIOS and. if you checked it with the EVTool I mentioned earlier, it showed that IGR was enabled. Problem is it still didn't work, neither Back + Black or Start + Back did anything. Only when I reflashed it with a known good version, which I think SS_Dave provided or linked me too, did both IGR methods work including with XBMC.

Was that UnleashX installed as an app ie. in Applications perchance? I've just checked and the UnleashX dash provided in the HeXEn version (2020?) I have the main XBE is named "unleashx.xbe". Did you change that original HeXEn UnleashX dash you used XBE's name to "default.xbe"? If not and the dash you replaced it with came with that done already there is your explanation for the behaviour.

A DVD drive problem and the internet connection was just a coincidence.....OK. Good to hear you've fixed it. BTW the Thomson DVD has a bad rep, unfairly in my experience. It is the noisiest and most annoying in that it seems to check if there is a disc in the tray before doing almost anything. But reliability wise my Thomson is the oldest working DVD drive. It came in the first used Xbox (a v1.0) I bought around 2005 so it must have had years of use before then. It was my most used Xbox at one time yet is still working well having outlived two much younger Philips fitted ones. Whilst not as disc media friendly as some the Thomson is better or at least as good as most of the others and has never had eject/close issues unlike all my Samsung 605B and 605F models.

That's............................odd. I have no explanation for why connecting a network cable would resolve this problem. I've read about an internet connection causing boot problems but not the reverse. I'd be interested to know if anybody here has an explanation for that. I'd suggest you post some pics of your current C:\ and E drive content before doing anything. If the thing is booting properly then we need to work out and understand why it needs the network connection to boot. Everything could be set up correctly already and the problem is something else. I see SS_Dave has just replied; his suggestion that the particular HeXEn M8+ BIOS used might be connected to the problem sounds very plausible. But I'm not clear as to why connecting a network cable would 'fix' that. As I suggested earlier checking the Evox M8+ BIOS you installed using the EVTool on PC just to make sure what path(s) it is set up to use and anything else relevant that could confirm it is a BIOS issue. I'd be reluctant to advise this but it might be that the best course of action is to reflash the TSOP with a known good Evox M8+. That carries risks of course.

Try cold booting: putting the HeXEn or other installer disc in the tray, closing it then restarting the Xbox. Launched like that the disc should boot first ie. before the 'missing' dashboard, which is likely in the wrong location and causing the freezing problem. If it was booting before and the TSOP was OK the disc should still boot now as doing that is one of the primary features of a hardmod. With a chip the chip itself might come with dash install options but with a TSOP if you could not launch an installer disc you couldn't install a dash. Also remember that a HeXEn disc does take 20 - 30 secs to boot. If you still can't get it to boot - try cold booting an original Xbox game disc. If that does not work then there is something else going on ie. it is not just a wrong main dash location problem.

It is likely that E:\dash main dash location is the problem. With a TSOP it is a hardmod and the Evox M8+ BIOS is set up, usually, to look for C:\evoxdash.xbe and if it does not find it will try to launch C:\xboxdash.xbe, the original MS dash XBE. However it does depended on the source of the Evox M8+ BIOS as packages, like HeXEn, may customise the BIOS boot path(s)/order. To prevent these sorts of problems HeXEn, I thought, had a clean up option offered after TSOPing. The reason you need to do that is because it was a softmod before the TSOP. That means there is no C:\evoxdash.xbe and the C:\xboxdash.xbe is typically set up to launch either the now redundant Xbox Live or online dashboard updater. In both cases you'd get a blank screen, an error message or, I'd guess, what you're experiencing. However if disc media was booting OK before you should be able to cold boot HeXEn or other installer disc, install a dashboard in the correct location and clear out the unwanted files. But unless someone else here can tell you for sure I'd check the Evox M8+ BIOS file you used with the EVTool to be certain what main dash path/name should be used.