HDShadow

Indeed a very viable solution but they are relatively expensive. A powerline networking starter kit, like TP-Link, is typically £30/$40 whereas a <4GB flash drive plus USB Xbox adapter could be under £5/$6.50. Poweline adapters can also be susceptible to electrical interference and complete signal loss if certain other electrical devices are drawing a lot of power from a house's main ring circuit.

BIOS issue is the most likely particularly as Noomi has confirmed it was happening before the HDD replacement.. IGR problems were a big thing back in the day and tools like EVTool v1.0.9 used for editing Evox BIOS include a Quick or Most Compatible IGR option, that it does have such an option choice suggest it can still be an issue. Most of the recent Xbox BIOS do include IGR support as standard; older BIOS and some others might not so knowing what the BIOS is on the chip is important.

I think that picture is just for reference and the OP has not managed to fix the Xbox and get it working. There is always the possibility the HDD was unlocked but if it was a softmod then that is unlikely. So basically all he has is totally broken Xbox that won't power on at all and its HDD. If the HDD is locked to the Xbox, and all the evidence is that is the case, the only way to get the eeprom off the Xbox is by using an eeprom reader. As the Xbox is dead you will also need an external power source to be able to get a reading. Google or whatever and you'll find plenty of tutorials on using the reader although a lot of them do assume the Xbox can be powered up. But the information on the required external power source and where to use it can be found with a little more research. Once done and the eeprom.bin extracted, using a PC or another Xbox, there are several options which can be used to unlock the HDD and get at its content.

I use a <4GB SanDisk flash drive very regularly with Xplorer360 to get stuff to/from the Xbox. This week it has been the OGX skin, Rocky5's v584 UnleashX patch, a config.xml, eeprom backup and a couple of zipped alternative dashboards. If I was set up for FTPing permanently it would be unnecessary but even then I have another Xbox I use regularly which can't be easily networked because of its location and I'd still use the flash drive to get stuff to it. The mouse and keyboard, yes: really not worth effort. You still need a controller for certain important functions and just finding out where and what keys function correctly on a Xbox attached USB keyboard means it can be a very awkward and slow process so you end up swapping between one and the other. Far from ideal.

That is the sort of reason why I prefer to use Chimp 261812 for partitioning. I always have XBPartitioner v1.3 available for quick confirmation the correct cluster size for the extended partition(s) has been used but you can not beat Chimp 261812 for its simple, noob friendly GUI when partitioning a larger HDD.

If you can get that Hitachi DVD drive to work you'd have. IMHO, the best disc drive there is for the Xbox. I'm surprised it is mechanically stuffed because that, in my experience, its great strength in comparison to any of the others. It must have been really abused. Is it completely dead or does it try to open the tray and just fail? If it is only the tray which is stuck, unlike the Samsung drives where that is almost guaranteed with age, I've never had to fix a Hitachi one so I'm not even certain if it uses a drive belt or whether it can use the same size replacement as the Samsungs (22mm). It could be broken gear teeth in which case you'd need, at the very least, a donor Hitachi drive to fix it.

Not sure what USB version and TBH it is pretty much irrelevant. USB2.0 flash drives, other memory and USB devices like keyboards are all backwards with USB1 and USB1.1. However the Xbox is very picky particularly with flash drives and whether they're USB 2.0 or earlier does not seem to make any difference as regards compatibility. I think XBMC can even write to (only) some, compatible, FAT32 formatted flash drives There is always the FATX <4GB USB attached storage limit to consider too. Far easier (and more sense) to use a Xbox controller port to USB(F) cable. They''re still being sold on Ebay and I think even Amazon had them last time I bought one. Some modders add a USB port to the side or front casing and others have modded official memory cards into USB ports. I would have thought adding a USB port would be the better idea than butchering a controller port. As for reading/writing from the file manager to a USB flash drive or other memory device yes, but with caveats. It sees them like they're memory cards and transferring stuff from them generally works perfectly so is very useful for transferring small size items to the Xbox from PC. Xplorer360 or similar required for that of course. The problem is when writing to them from the Xbox. Sometimes they'll just error and go completely missing from the file manager. It usually happens and repeats on a particular file and you'll retry multiple times (shutdown and restarting or reboot and port swap are usually needed) and then, no explanation, it'll just copy. Very frustrating.

I admit I was only going by the screenshot. I'll install it later and if I've been too hard I'll happily rescind the necessary comments. Not sure how the screenshot was taken but unless it was from a 4:3 TV and the screen display compressed I do understand how those overlapping information Source entries could have occurred. I've edited a lot of UX skins and there can be particular problems with that sort of thing if you're using Fahrenheit instead of Centigrade or the Date/Time free space is not wide enough to contain the 24hr clock and 8 figure dates, IP address, Xbox nickname and of course all the drive info entries too.

Agrees^ Not seen that UX skin and I have probably 500+ archived. Can it still be found?

Love to say I agree but, with respect, it looks unfinished and unpolished. I do not want to step on anyone's toes here but these are meant as honest criticisms (BTW in most cases easily fixed):- 1.The free memory display overlapping the dash version. 2.Date display overlapping the main menu. 3.Chip ID overlapping the main menu. 4.CPU/MB Temp and C:\ free space not well aligned. 5.Preview area neither 4:3 or WS. 6.Main menu items not all same upper/lower case and whilst very readable bland default font choice. 7.All that space on the right unused and at the bottom too; better place for Temp. display. 8. 4:3 skin design format may not adapt attractively to WS which most users are going to be using. 9. There will be resolution display issues too in 720p and 1080i as the skin.xml info menu items do not include any X/Y scaling. Functional and usable undoubtedly but is anyone here really going to use this in preference to, for instance, any of the ones in KaosEngineers' Top 10 UX skins? Rocky5 also drew up a similar list of good quality, well finished UX skins a few years ago and his XB Softmodding Tool skin, which is basically a UX one, is none too shabby either. If it or something like this is going to offered as a OGXbox Forum recommended UX skin I would think one based on the Forums own colour scheme and design would be something worth working on.

https://www.ogxbox.com/forums/index.php?/topic/60-auto-installer-installer-v453-full-lite/&do=findComment&comment=3895

Thanks too. Been looking for a recent AID4.53 full download as the only copy I have of it is on disc. No idea where the original is now and I've been using the more easily found Lite version which is missing things like the full Addon Packs set you only found with the full version. Have to mention that the two part download linked to has been incorrectly packed. The 1.66GB file 7Zip file marked as "01" ie. part 1 "001" is OK but the second 300MB part saves as a standard Zip file: "Archive-240a", not a 7Zip. The actual part 2 "002" 7Zip file is inside the Zip file and has to be extract first. Then with both the 7Zip files "001" and "002" together they will correctly extract as intended to one AID v4.53 folder. I hate MEGA though - took me ages to find out where the damned thing downloads anything. Apparently by default unless you're using a dedicated browser extension it actually downloads to your memory and then on completion creates a temporary folder at: C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\Temp\Archive-ID NUMBER.zip\. You're supposed to be able to copy or move it from there to wherever you want. But when I use the my browser addon file manager's GUI to select the location instead it opens in 7Zip's file manager instead and I have to use its Copy To option to get it to my designated Downloads folder. As it is a copy the original file is still taking up space in that AppData location. The way to do it if you're using a separate file manager seem to be to choose your browsers default location, typically: C:\USERNAME\Downloads and then it will move the file there directly. No idea what happens if you've set the default to always "Ask". Stupid system that should at least be explained on their web site but AFAIK does not, at least nowhere obvious.

I was going to ask that too. Not all installers UDATA 21585554 > 000000000000 folders contain a BIOS folder. SID5.11 doesn't and I've just had a quick search through some other softmodding packages and I can't find any that do. I'd assume you create that yourself and either the flashing tool would use it by default or you can point it at that location. But that does need clarification. HeXen, AID, SID, Rocky5 XSMT downloads are your best source for BIOS files. EvoX dashes also come with a BIOS folder but most of those are old and not recommended. There are some Xbox BIOS collections downloads you can also find, maybe some here too. HeXEn, particularly the updated versions, have the biggest selection. HeXEn, AID etc usually come as an ISO for burning to disc so if you just want the BIOS files you can extract them on PC using Qwix or C-Xbox Tool.

So it is another v584 issue - interesting. I install it as an app but my main UnleashX dash has always been by preference for other reasons v572, just as kaos-engr suggested. Only problem is, unlike v584, it does not identify v1.4 - 1.6 correctly it reports them as v1.1(0b) or not at all. First thing is to get hold of either that patched Rocky5 UX v584 XBE or a copy of UX v572. That is still easily found - AID4.53 discs/downloads bizarrely install both v584 and v572 depending on which options you select. It also, although I can not say for sure with updated versions, uses the v572 version itself. Like many installers SID/AID uses a modified UX dash and therefore its menu.xbe is often v572. Point is that unless you have a Xbox compatible flash drive how are you going to get it to your Xbox. AID comes as an ISO and is meant to be burned to disc so as long as your disc drive is OK and you use DVD-R media. it is the ideal source. NB. you do not run the disc you're just using its files as a a source for the UX XBE. Just open the UX File Manager and go to the D:\drive and look through Files, Dashboards or that menu.xbe mentioned for UX XBEs. The next thing to say is that the v572 or v584 patched XBE is all you need, nothing else. Transfer it to your Xbox HDD and put it in a temporary folder which can be anywhere. Create that folder using the UX File Manager of course. Rename the UX XBE file to "default.xbe". Test it in the File Manager by clicking on the XBE and it should launch a UX dash. Go to System > Settings > System and see what version it is. Assuming it is confirmed a v572 or you're using the patched v584 that's the first part done so reboot to your main dash. The next part is where the danger may lie: you have to identify your UnleashX dash location. The rest assumes you've relaunched the existing UX dash and are using its file manager not XBMC4Gamers. There is a problem here and that is because you have a XBMC4Gamers main dash. That means your UX dash is installed somewhere else separate from that. I do not know the XBMC4Gamers' folder locations and if it is like Rocky5's XBST set up a lot of stuff, even though a softmod, is on the C:\drive and therefore likely Shadow C protected. However if the UnleashX dash is being run from a folder: typically E:\Applications, Apps or Appz - yay! Assuming the latter, that it is in E:\Applications or whatever, then there is no need to even touch the existing UX folder there. Simply rename your temporary folder to UnleashX v572 and copy that in full to E:\Applications. It now contains the "default.xbe" and a default config.xml and item.xml generated when you tested it. To get it to appear correctly as another app you have to rename the XBE. That is not the same as renaming the file as you did before, it is the embedded XBE name you need to change. Highlight (not launch) the "default.xbe" and press the WHITE controller button to bring up the context menu. Scroll down until you come to the specific menu option "Rename XBE" and chose that. A virtual keyboard will appear with the current XBE name - that will most likely be UnleashX Dashboard Launcher or something other than default.xbe. Rename it to the same as your containing folder eg. "UnleashX v572" save and exit. That should be it. Next time you reboot the Xbox you will have UnleashX v572 listed as an application you can select when FTPing. I recommend doing a similar thing with the patched v584 if you're using that instead - but rename the folder and XBE appropriately or something like UnleashX FTP. Up to you.

Somebody must recognise this set up and whats going on. The Xbox is obviously working OK so the content can't just be those folders. nodnal9 what does it show in the UnleashX file manager? Can you find those dated folders there and access the content? Screenshots of you C:\drive, E:\drive files and wherever those folders are located might help?

Depends on your interest - pure gaming, particularly original Xbox games then UnleashX is your baby. It is also comparatively easy to customise and skin. XBMC and its ilk is by far the most sophisticated dash but you can't customise it as easily. However for multi-media use it is way out ahead of any 'multi-media' features of UnleashX. The choice solution is quite simple - install both. One as an app the other as your main dash, trial them for what you want to do with the Xbox and decide which best suits your needs.

In my experience UnleashX stalls on particular files and disconnects/re-connects multiple times whilst FTPing whatever settings you use on the Xbox or with FileZilla. It tends to start off very fast and is great for smallish FTP tasks, a couple of hundred MBs, but with games and things like XBMC, Emus, ROM sets etc which have a lot of small files those disconnects increase particularly if you've set more than 2 Users. The problem file will eventually be marked as a Failed To Transfer and the dam with break and it'll go back up to top speed again until it hits the next one. Using the XBMC dash is better in this respect and it does disconnect less often and reconnect quicker but it is noticeably slower overall. Avalaunch is sometimes claimed to be the fastest dash for FTPing but with UnleashX speed boost I've not noticed any obvious advantage in any respect.

Depending on what main dash you're using too. UnleashX has some unspecified upper limit for total icon file size (100MB? Possibly) ie. if you have too many large icon files for Apps, Games, Emus etc the Xbox will boot slower and may not display all the main menu icons. Also something worth mentioning is that in my experience SATA HDDs (must use 80 wire IDE cables) boot slower than IDE ones. I've not used a lot of SATA HDDs but even with a new basic install ie. just the main dash and nothing else I've found the 320GB WD HDDs I use still boot slower than a well filled 160GB IDE HDD. It was one of the first things I noticed when I used a SATA HDD in a Xbox for the first time. My guess is that the SATA adapter is a bottleneck.

So the theory is that whilst nodnal9 was trying to FTP something was running on the Xbox already rather than idling on the main dash as it should be. Never thought of that as a possibility. If you have an UnleashX dash installed as an app then I'd try using that whilst FTPing rather than whatever it was doing when you grabbed those screenshots.

I think most users do not go in for a TSOP right from the start. Its something you think about trying later and inevitably that means post-softmodding. But I'd be interested to see a tutorial on TSOPing just using the game save exploit/installer as well. What I still do not understand is this fixation about having to use HeXEn, HeXIns, TruHeXEn Slayers, AID or whatever to do the whole job. They all can be used like that but once the thing is flashed bung in a new HDD and set it up from new with your preferred chipped/TSOP dash installer. Nobody has to use the same tool that they flashed the BIOS with to install a dash. HeXen does the flash reliably, as safely as possible and with an unarguably good GUI, use it for that and then forget about it if you're not keen on some of the dashboard features it installs. I'm not either so I stick with AID4.53 Lite for a basic UnleashX dash install on a blank HDD but after that I customise it myself. All part of the fun.

Have you checked the TV actually supports 720p via Component? Look in the manual or find the TV manual/specs online. TV support for some resolutions through anything but HDMI can be peculiar.

I've seen nothing like that when connecting to any Xbox via FileZilla - usually what comes up are the list of Xbox drives/letter ID ie. C, E, F, G, .....X, Y, Z. Typically like this:- There's something weird though because you'd expect with a first time connection to get that list of Xbox directories in the Remote site pane and the same under Filename in a pane below that. Why that is not there and what those dated folders are......................no idea. Hope somebody recognises them. A X-DSL (Damn Small Linux) set up perhaps? Never seen one so a pure guess. How was it modded (softmod, chip, TSOP?) What main dash does it use? If it has a file manager can you access those same files? I'm wondering if it might just be a very old dashboard installation of some type. Could the Xbox have had another password added to protect files/folders? What happens if you click on the folder at the very top? Usually that should take you back to previous or parent directory.

Yes but it is still FTPing using the UnleashX's built in File Manager FTP client. Essentially it works just like the File Manager does normally except the right hand pane is another Xbox. Connect the two Xboxes using a cross-over cable and make sure they're both set to Static addresses and have different IPs ie. primary Xbox set to the default 192.168.0.2 and the other 192.168.0.3. Turn both on and use the UnleashX dash which can be either as your main dash or installed as an app. Go to the UX File Manager and use the White button context menu. Scroll down to the use FTP option and enable that. In the right hand pane you'll need to set up a new connection so name it and put in the details ie. the IP address of the other Xbox and save. Use it and it should connect and show all the other Xbox's drive folders. You can browse through either Xbox's content just shift between the two panes using the left and right triggers. The FTP transfer menu is again found using the White button and works very much like using the UX File Manager to copy between two locations on the same Xbox. Once you click Transfer it will start immediately. Positives:- It works better than any other method, at least any practical one. The Xbox FTPClient application you can find is a poor alternative with a lousy GUI and hideous control system. The speed of transfer is reasonable but do not expect it to be PC fast. Disconnects are not unknown but in my experience far less than when FTPing to a Xbox from PC. If you're used to the UnleashX File Manager's GUI, which IMHO is as good as it gets, you'll take to it like a duck to water. Negatives:- The progress bar is all but useless. The UnleashX File Manager has a few quirks - it does not like anything it recognises as a text file but has no recognised extensions. It is fine with .txt, .nfo, .xml, .cfg and maybe some others but anything else without an extension and the transfer will stop with an error. Unfortunately a lot of XBMC installs with Python script stuff and some plugins do contain such files typically the README and CHANGE (Changelog). Emulator content also may include similar problem text files too. My theory is that these files are OK if you used a XBMC main dash when FTPing from a PC because that has a built in file parser but you're now running on UnleashX dash/File Manager rules. So despite it being a transfer from one Xbox to another you do get this annoying little problem. It is easily fixed by checking in the provided error log and if it is a text file issue, finding it and giving the file an UX friendly extension. It should transfer then no trouble. However possibly having to do that multiple times and then restart the transfer again gets tiresome very quickly. Hope this helps.

What about the NTSC/PAL console/game region matter? Have checked that too? Probably done this but make sure the two exploit/installer saves are from a fresh source and not copied in from another Xbox.

What game exploit/installer is being used? Any chance you accidentally used the Splinter Cell PAL ones when it is NTSC? Logical follow on from that: are you sure the console is NTSC? It could have been softmodded previously and swapped to PAL for some reason and returned to retail state region changed. With SD cables the NTSC and PAL MS dashes can appear similar at first glance. There can be some weird things happen if the Xbox has been previously softmodded and you use the same exploitable game with different exploit/installers files. It is possibly caused by leftovers in TDATA although there's never been any real testing to prove/disprove that theory. The solution suggested is to use another exploitable game instead. Any possibility you can try that?