HDShadow

Confirmed what I thought. There are some opportunist scammers out there particularly on Ebay who offer the 'lab grade' stuff at cheap-ish prices and then do not deliver (literally). I fell victim to one supposed UK based seller with a good six year history and the item stated as being in the UK. But it turned out both were located in China and two weeks after ordering the guy suddenly disappeared as an Ebay seller. But got my money back very quickly thanks to Ebay/Paypal - quite impressed with that. But browsing yesterday I came upon other reports of isopropyl alcohol buyers being ripped off.

I'm 99% sure I've not seen any Farscape UX skin and I have a big collection of stuff like that. It certainly is not included in any of the skin packs I've found in recent years and I'm doubtful you'll find it now. There is a YT video from 2015 you can easily find about someone else looking for a Farscape skin back then. It does not seem they had any joy - only few comments and none useful. Sorry. It wouldn't be that difficult recreating the skin as there are plenty of image and video resources out there.

Would like some advice. US people here and on other Xbox forums seem to recommend isopropyl alcohol for all sorts of purposes particularly cleaning the MB and other related purposes. What I would like to know is what is best as there are usually two grades available:- Rubbing Alcohol typically 70% isopropyl alcohol. This is what people on the Xbox forums usually mention. Lab grade isoproyl Alcohol typically 99.9% isopropyl alcohol. Thing is rubbing alcohol is said in some sources not always to contain isopropyl alcohol but even when it does also contains water and other substances to discourage consumption. That's very much like methylated spirits, more commonly used in the UK for the same sorts of purposes. However my research indicates that only lab grade ie. pure isopropyl alcohol is recommended for cleaning PCBs mainly because it doesn't contain water and those denaturing agents. Because it is purer it evaporates faster and is actually less good as an antiseptic because of that. Knowledgeable opinions/recommendation?

My point was UnleashX navigates/scrolls much faster than Evox by default but definitely slows down the more there is on the HDD whatever the resolution used. You will only see that in direct comparison. Evox may slow down more too, I've never tested that.

Both HDDs need separate power when cloning either through a Y-Splitter or external source ie. another Xbox or PC/PSU molex connector.

If you have a multi-meter I'd test the 'faulty' molex connector to see what the output was on each connector socket. https://www.lifewire.com/molex-4-pin-peripheral-power-connector-pinout-2624582 I've never tested them myself but I'd assume they are standard molex outputs: yellow = 12v, black both = ground and red = 5v. Should either or both the 12v or 5v be low that's the problem. It could be a loose connection at either end caused by stretching the wires. I've known cheap molex cable have bent pins(M) or spread sockets(F) or even work loose inside the plug shell itself so it doesn't make good contact with the receiving device. Those are the things I'd be looking for.

It is naturally very slow compared to UnleashX or XBMC but UnleashX also gets slower the more you have on the Xbox. I was reminded of this recently when using a machine that I softmodded but otherwise is practically retail state in terms of hardware, content and using a SD (480i) connection. The UnleashX dash navigation is positively zippy - dialogue boxes almost snap into place rather than gracefully animated down the screen as they do on on my main gaming Xbox with a two thirds full 320 HDD SATA and displaying at 480p. With XBMC it depends on the skin - one of the things done to the Xbox-Classic skin, which was updated 5 or more years ago to work better with the v3.0 series XBMCs, was to tweak the navigation speed. No idea how it was done but it significantly improved that and even made using 1080i an 'acceptable' experience for some purposes. If you're using Evox at 480p or 720p increasing navigation slowness is to be expected.

Are you sure that the skin or system info you're looking at is not USED apace rather than free space? Some UnleashX dash skins use C:\E:\F:\G:\_Total rather than Free on the 'home page' source display. If not that I think you may just need to relaunch Chimp 261812 and reformat the extended partition or partitions ie. in this case all to the F:\ drive again but, obviously, this time using the Master HDD options. Check the Chimp 261812 partition table first though. Chimp 261812 can sometimes be a bit weird with HDDs original formatted with other tools like HeXEn, SID, AID, UnleashX and Evox because they do not use partition tables. I'm guessing here: perhaps if you cloned byte by byte and the original HDD was formatted by one of those tools it might transfer to the new clone HDD. Probably complete BS but I can't think of an obvious reason why the most up to date version of Chimp 261812 would have left the F:\drive missing 100+GB. If Chimp 261812 doesn't resolve the problem try XBPartitioner v1.3 instead. Less friendly GUI but it works.

You can install HexIns (found in HeXEn > Stockfiles) to the HDD by FTP. It must be located: E:\HexIns not in Apps. I did that myself with my first and so far only TSOP because the Xbox I was using, bought specifically for the purpose, came with a dodgy DVD drive. It actually failed completely shortly afterwards. Worked perfectly for a Winbond flash on a v1.4 - walks you through it. Unless you're desperate for a configuration file to mess around with you cannot do better than one of the EvoX M8+ 137 versions. If your DVD drive is not working there are a couple of EvoxM8+ BIOS included in TruHeXEn 2019 marked as "nodvd" which might be a good option if your DVD drive is borked. I'd assume they're 256K but that does need to be confirmed. Unfortunately, I've just checked, and TruHeXEn 2019 does not include HexIns. That is found in HeXen 2017 and, I think, the 2018 update.

Have you tried KaosEngineer's HeXEn 2018 links in post #12?

Getting to that team-xecuter.com web site has always caused me problems. Two different versions of Firefox, one of them fully up to date with all the bells and whistles reports it as a wrongly configured, insecure web site. Waterfox, again, fully up to date likewise. Only way I've found to get to it is by using a proxy server or VPN and then any browser can be used.

Xbox game saves are stored in E:\UDATA and E:\TDATA. TDATA is usually more used used for DLC but Xbox games still create folders in both even if the TDATA folders are empty. So you do need to know where the games saves original came from or they won't work. For instance Dead Or Alive 3 stores character/costume files in TDATA but alongside those it stores game save data too, probably character/costume unlocks. Generally though if the folder you have for each specific game contains a TitleMeta.xbx file which maybe accompanied by a TitleImage.xbx and SaveImage.xbx it is a UDATA one. It may also contain a folder or folders which are often the save game data for specific profiles; it'll have a SaveMeta.xbx inside at the very least. I'd suggest you do not FTP them direct into place. Put them in a temporary folder on the Xbox. All the game save folders have their own unique ID, usually, but that's all you have to go on so unless each game save you have was identified before backing it up. If you do not you may be able to identify the game from the TitleImage or SaveImage XBX if you use the UnleashX dash. It displays XBX image files natively. XBMC does not. Game saves from emulators or homebrew games save where they like unfortunately. Sometimes it is in their own folders but others may create a Save folder on E:\ ie. E:\SAVES which may be used for several different games. It is probably possible to redirect the save location in some cases if they have configuration files.

I'm not the one to ask about using XBHDM USB- never used it myself but with the eeprom.bin (the important one in this case) in theory you will be able to unlock it and that should mean you can use it on any other chipped or TSOPed Xbox. Whether is is going to be as easy as that I cannot make any guarantees.

With SID/AID you have Virtual C+Eeeprom or Virtual C + Eeprom HD boot options apart from the standard single boot ones. As said on another forum there should be a method or tool available to unmount the virtual C drive. The AID manual refers to, presumably a menu option or an option on the AID disc, for unmounting the Virtual C drive. I have never seen or used that so I can not tell you where it is or how you use it.

I once had a IDE cable that was so tightly fitted when I tried to pull it out of the HDD the actual pins in the cable extracted from the cable itself leaving the connector in the HDD and the cable ruined. Point is, it could just be the IDE cable, so if you're certain its all plugged in correctly, no pins are bent or, worse, broken then the obvious thing to try is a replacement IDE cable. Just make sure each connector is plugged in the correct way round because not all IDE cable orientate the connectors in the same way.

If the old HDD is unlocked it should boot correctly on any other chipped (or TSOPed) Xbox. If the HDD was locked then you've a problem because you need the eeprom from the dead Xbox to unlock it. So unless you have a backup of that on PC the only solution as it is would be to use an eeprom reader on the dead Xbox. The MB will have to to be powered from an external source. If you know how the HDD was locked ie. you used ConfigMagic or Chimp there's a possibility it might have a master password which could be used to unlock it with XBHDM USB. But otherwise you'll need the actual eeprom and use that same program too.

Everything looks as it should do as far as Chimp is concerned. The virtual partitions I think you mean X, Y and Z are permanently reserved, matching drive partition space for cache game content. Many games write to one or more when you first boot them and the content will stay their until over-written. So don't be surprised if your file manager shows reduced free space for any of them. Do not mess around with X, Y or Z, because if you do something stupid, as I once did when one was reporting incorrect cluster size with an old version of Chimp, and reformatted it you'll lose the whole of the F:\drive content and G:\ drive too, if used, and have to reformat the extended partitions again. I don't know the Slayers Dash so why it is still reporting F:\ as just 129GB I do not know. Try installing an UnleashX dash as an app and see what that reports. Just create an UnleashX named folder in Apps and copy in a default dash XBE from any UnleashX source. Name it "default.xbe" and on reboot you should see it in your Apps lists as UnleashX Dashboard Launcher or something similar. When booted the default skin should show, by default, the F:\ drive free space. If not check that the F:\ drive is enabled in the system settings. If you're still not getting the free space reported correctly then the BIOS is the likely culprit. There's actually another thread here about a very similar matter with X2.4981 and HeXEn so await KaosEngineer's response before doing anything as regards re-flashing the BIOS. If it turns out HeXEn's X2 BIOS versions do not support LB48 it'll be very surprising but would explain both problems.

Which version XBPartitioner? For larger than 137GiB HDD you must use XBPartitioner v1.3. HeXen 2017 includes X2.4981.67 which is the only 256K X2 BIOS you should use. X2.4981.06 which is also included for some reason apparently is known to brick Xboxes so should be totally ignored. The 2019 HeXEn release contains some other modified X2 BIOS (force 480p) but essentially you still have the one choice if looking for a 256K X2 BIOS. What is odd is that X2.4981 is shown in the BIOS features tables as having various versions some with LB48 support some not. I cannot think why HeXEn would include a BIOS version which didn't but you can't assume that so await KaosEngineer's test results. Unless you're set on a X2 BIOS for some reason instead why not ditch it and go for HeXEn's Evox M8+ 137+ (F&G)? There is one for the v1.6 Xbox too. I've been using Evox M8+ with a v1.6 since 2006 and I recently did a TSOP using HeXEn to flash the BIOS with that same ^ one and its working perfectly with a larger HDD.

What LB48 issue? According to the BIOS features table you can find Xecuter 2 v4983 although old has LB48 support. Find and install either Chimp 261812 or XBPartitioner v1.3 (must be this version). I'd use XBPartitioner v1.3 in this case - launch it and see what it says for the Extended Partitions 6. That is the F:\ drive. With a 320GB HDD it should be showing 256+GiB (typically around 290GB) but I'd suspect from the problem you're talking about it is under 137GiB. You're wondering where the rest of the space has gone, blaming it on the BIOS LB48 support or lack of that. What you're actually experiencing is likely a a simple extended partitioning issue. Be aware that anything already on the F:\ drive will be erased by re-partitioning. You can use XBPartitioner v1.3 menu tools to format the extended partition(s) correctly and your missing HDD space should appear. Personally I use Chimp 261812 > Master drive options > Format extended partitions for this purpose as it has a safer and more user friendly GUI. With a HDD that size a G:\ partition is pointless so use the allocate all free space to F:\ option whichever tool you use. Check the F:\ partition you've created is using the correct cluster size just to be certain: it should show as 32KB for any partition between 256GiB and 5012GiB. With Chimp 261812 that information is found in the Master drive options > Partition Information. With XBP you should see a "32" alongside Extended Partition 6.

Explain more about what you actually did because whatever it was you cannot have "reflashed the console with the original eeprom". The HDD may have been locked with one eeprom and you somehow locked it with another but you'll have to explain how you did that too. It may just be a language issue but none of it makes sense.

I'm glad some people are being honest about this because when I redid the thermal paste with the same Arctic Silver 4 I used on my two PC builds (very successfully) I found zero effect on reported temperatures (XBMC the only temperatures I trust) idling on the dash, after heavy use or in general. The biggest differences I've found are with Xbox versions: v1.6 always report notably higher temperatures than v1.0 - 1.4. The v1.0 - v1.4 also display greater differences between the reported MB, CPU and GPU temperatures too. I first did a test removal of the GPU heatsink on my spare, broken v1.6 MB too. Glad I did because it was stuck so solidly when I eventually managed to detach it the process had damaged the surface of the GPU. I was very reluctant to try it on a working Xbox but I did it and it was easier, probably because I'd taken the advice to use the Xbox first to warm it up. But the point is if the replacement of the thermal paste is mostly ineffective, as it appears to be, you're actually risking bricking your Xbox for nothing.

Getting a IDE HDD > USB external housing to work with Xplorer360 is possible but it is very unreliable. This was a long time ago now and I've not tried it since. I was using Windows XP 32bit on an old laptop which itself had an IDE 2.5" drive. To start with the HDD has to be unlocked but the problem I've found is that if you do that, as I did with a backup softmodded Xbox HDD, unlocked using Chimp 261812 or ConfigMagic, whether set to slave, master or cable select Xplorer360 still reported that no FATX drive message. That's never made an sense to me; its a FATX formatted volume connected by USB just like a flash drive but Xplorer360 simply does not see it. I almost gave up trying but I thought I'd risk hotswapping instead. So I re-locked it and installed it on a Xbox as master. First I tried the error 11 trick said to work: booting disconnecting the DVD drive, rebooting to error 11 and then hot-swapping to the external HDD IDE enclosure. Total failure every time. Then I tried hot-swapping at various points in the boot and on about the 12th attempt (swapping just as the Microsoft logo appears I think) when I launched Xplorer360 it found the HDD and displayed the contents. With an IDE/SATA adapter involved, later Windows versions and Xplorer360 I'm not sure if it is worth even attempting to get it to work now. Using XboxHDM23USB as KaosEngineer recommends is the far more likely solution to work.

Looks like it could be yet another of those combined Video(Yellow)/Component (Green) input issues. Never seen a dual jack plug like that before: 3.5mm audio and RCA/Phono presumably.

Can you avoid having that, for me annoying, Shadow C protection? I've used his softmod before as a test bed but TBH couldn't get on with it. I fiddle, a lot, with settings and edit the config.xml regularly and I just found the whole thing too much hassle for my taste. Great protection for noobs and those whose Xboxes are used by others but not for me. XBMC4Kids likewise. Question is why was the SID max time value set so low - if you're going to put a time check in like that why not just set it to 12.12.9999?

Does it cold boot original Xbox game discs? Can you hear them spinning up? If its not cold booting them then something is very wrong. It seems unlikely but are you sure it is a v1.1? If you were using an older version of UnleashX ie. pre-584 they all report v1.6 Xboxes v1.1.(Ob).