HDShadow

Whatever the problem is I don't think it is a regional one. By default XBMC is set to Auto so as long as the skin being used has not been mucked around whatever regional setting and resolution XBMC should be displaying it correctly. I was hoping you were using RGB SCART and NTSC rather than a SCART AV Composite adapter because some TVs (predominantly EU ones) don't support RGB with NTSC. I had a 20" Grundig 4:3 CRT which had that problem. A TV resolution support issue doesn't really fit in with the other evidence anyway. The TV does have Component inputs and if you can get hold of a Xbox Component cable and swap the Xbox to NTSC you'll get far better picture quality than the present AV Composite via SCART arrangement. But that's just a side comment, it doesn't help with the XBMC problem. Lets hope the XBMC logs tell us something.

Damn! I was so hoping that was it. Thinks: what on earth is preventing XBMC from launching? Running out of ideas. Let's go back to basics:- What region is the Xbox set too ie. NTSC or PAL? What AV cable type are you using for the Xbox - AV Composite, SCART, RGB SCART, Component? If Component/NTSC: what resolution ?

If it is this I won't be surprised: don't launch it with either of those ancient old crocks of file managers. Just use the built in UnleashX dash file manager (File Explorer as it is usually listed). It should be in the main menu somewhere but that may depend on the softmod. If the XCalibur softmod has omitted it for some reason then: shame on the creator(s). Sorry about this pic - not my own, but it shows the default UnleashX dash skin and menu which is the important thing.

I think bypassing the shortcut and the existing installation of XBMC entirely as a further test is the way to go. You need to install another fresh copy of XBMC4Xbox using a different source for the download too. Your F:\ drive is now working, yes? If so I'd create an "Apps" folder on that (F:\Apps) and put the fresh copy of XBMC in there. Reboot and try to launch it from its "default.xbe" using UnleashX's filer manager. It will be using the default XBMC settings so there is no reason I can think of for it not to work. If it doesn't then there must be something preventing it, something specifically to do with the XCalibur softmod. This returns us full circle to the need to have advice from somebody who actually knows that softmod. EDIT I've just downloaded and installed the XBMC v3.5.3 copy found at Digiex (Google). Make sure you "Download XBMC4Xbox v3.5.3" not one of the other download options that might pop up there. Just unpack the XBMC4XBOX-3_5_3 (65MB) zip directly on PC and you should have a single level "XBMC" folder (109MB). FTP or transfer by other means that to F:\Apps and test it as described. It is using the blue themed Confluence skin by default which a lot of people seem to like and it launches perfectly on the SID/AID softmodded Xbox I use for testing stuff like this. Hopefully it will work as easily for you as that and if it does then we can think about getting it installed as a main dash.

R3/L3 are the two joystick buttons - you click down on the joysticks at the same time during XBMC's boot and it should reset everything to default. I've only needed to do it once myself years ago (a skin issue) but I think you get a dialogue box which asks whether you wish to proceed before it actually does it.

How can i do that ? The method is in the hyper-link Error Recovery Mode. I'd try launching XBMC from its default.xbe using the UnleashX file manager and use the method described: holding down L3 and R3 during boot. As warned it will delete all your previous settings whatever they are.

There's a possibility with XBMC not launching that it is a skin or user data problem. Did you delete the existing XBMC installation (in fact I'd suggest renaming it to XBMCOrg in preference to deleting it) before copying in the new installation.? If you used the Copy option it should overwrite/replace existing files but it would not delete some UserData and other files which [b]may[/b] be what are preventing it launching. Normally leaving the UseData files untouched is desirable as the most common reason for copying in a new version of XBMC is to update an existing installation. But if that installation is faulty in some way then the new installation will likely experience the same problem. An alternative solution would be to try XBMC Error Recovery Mode but doing that will reset to default all your previous user settings which is why I suggested renaming the existing installation instead before copying in a fresh XBMC one. BTW this forum is far more active than the XBMC4Xbox one and whilst you might be lucky and get a solution from a genuine XBMC guru whose knowledge on the such matters is the size of a planet chances are the only person there who'd actually reply would be me under a different name. KaosEngineer here is pretty much as good as it gets on all Xbox matters so you're getting some of the best trouble shooting advice already.

Have tried launching the new XBMC install direct from its "default.xbe" using the UnleashX file manager? If it does not boot then I'd be surprised and a bit flummoxed as to what the problem might be. As long as your XBMC install is in a single level folder in E:\Apps and has a default.xbe it should work (E:\Apps\XBMC\default.xbe). So check the name of the folder is just "XBMC" and make sure that when you unpacked the no doubt .rar, .zip or .7zip download you didn't accidentally put it inside another XBMC folder. But if it does work OK you know the problem is with the shortcut. What I'm not sure is if that "default.cfg" configuration file in the XBMC Multidash folder is there for informational purposes or whether XSelect has its own shortcut system that requires that separate .cfg. As said I do not know XSelect. The more commonly encountered Xbox XBE Shortcut Maker does not need a .cfg. XBMC used to come with a ready made shortcut to E:\Apps\XBMC\default.xbe so XSelect must be doing it differently. In short you need probably need advice from somebody who know your XCalibur softmod and XSelect.

I was going to post that it could be using XSelect but apart from what it is for and what it does I have no practical experience with it. AID (Auto Installer Deluxe) has a XSelect install option "Install XSelect + UnleashX Dashboard" which is probably very similar but I've never used it as I'm happy enough launching alternate dashboards or using the UnleashX controller/remote shortcuts feature instead. As I thought might be the case XBMC is/was being launched by a shortcut in the Multidash folder rather than a full copy of XBMC located there. If you do not have a working copy of XBMC in Apps ie. E:\Apps\XBMC\default.xbe it is not going to launch when you use the XSelect menu Slot#3 (X) button option. It looks like to me as if you should be selecting the QuickPick Dash menu option to be launching the other alternate dashboards. The E:\dashboard\altdash folder content looks like that is indeed where your alt dash: EvoX is located. That's the full dash, not a shortcut. From the previous E:\ drive content pics that would suggest the E:\Dashboard folder contains your current primary dash UnleashX launched from the "default.xbe" there alongside the "skins" folder and config.xml, item.xml and french.xml. If you really want XBMC back as your primary dash the important thing to do first is to make sure you have working copy of that, and preferably the last version XBMC v3.5.3, in E:\Apps. You can launch that using UnleashX's file manager by clicking on its "default.xbe" in the E:\Apps\XBMC folder. If it is not working then you need to get a fresh copy.

It looks to me as if this XCalibur softmod is using dual boot to give the user a dashboard selection option. How is the 'alt' dash enabled? My guess is by using the Eject/Close button rather than the Power button which is how SID/AID sets up dual boot but limits it to the MS or Installer dash as options. Here its more interesting, it looks as if you can choose, at set up, which dash from the Multidash folder is launched as the 'alt' dash. It seems over complicated the way it has been done though: there's that Multidash folder with a default.xbe but there's also an "altdash" folder inside the E:\dashboard folder. So where the actual 'alt' dash being used is located and how it is being launched, as KE said, needs to be understood before making any changes to replace either main or 'alt' dash. You do appear to have XBMC in the Multidash folder. Again it would help if we could see what's in E:\altdash and, just to confirm its not some elaborate shortcut set up, see what's in the E:\Multidash\XBMC too.

Looking at the drive content C:\ looks normal for a softmod so nothing to worry about there. The F:\ drive formatting issue is a completely separate one from the dashboard problems described .....................unless the XBMC dash referred to was on F:\. The E:\ drive is a bit messy but it is impossible to tell where your primary dash is located: its probably in E:\Dashboard but what that E:\Multidash folder is doing I don't know. Never seen that and could mean some sort of custom set up may have been used. Its certainly not a Rocky5 or SID/AID softmod and it doesn't look like the HeXEn softmods I've seen but I'm no expert on HeXEn so I'd edge towards that as being the most likely original softmod. It still not clear to me what dash actually boots when you turn on the Xbox (using the Power button not the Eject/Close one) - UnleashX or XBMC and you've mentioned EvoX too. Again some pics of the "Dashboard" and "Multidash" folders' content might help as would a screen shot of the default dashboard or video of the Xbox booting. BTW it does look as if you used ConfigMagic for the locking/unlocking mentioned - those "EEPROM......." backup files spewed onto the E:\ drive like that are typical of ConfigMagic.

There's something more going on than could have been caused just by unlocking/relocking the HDD. I've unlocked/re-locked softmods many times with ConfigMagic and although it is risky the process should not result in a corrupted HDD. How did you actually do that unlocking/re-locking? If the softmodded Xbox was rebooted or shut down it would not boot, you'd get error 5. So the relocking must have been done on PC or using another Xbox but with what locking tools? It sounds like you may have inadvertently installed a new dashboard which has over-written some of your previous one's files. But something I'm not understanding is how you're getting to a secondary dash (EvoX) to launch it if your main dash was XBMC and is not now working? I'd suggest you check the formatting of the extended drive(s) (F:\ and G:\ if used) using the app XBPartitioner v1.3 to see if there is a formatting ER (ERror) flag for either. If there is an error that would likely explain the F:\ drive problem. But to correct it you will lose everything that was on the extended partition(s). After that: if you have FTP access or a file manager available some shots of the the C:\ and E:\ drive content might help.

There are no UnleashX skins which really match the original MS design. There are those with original elements like the Xbox orb, fog and cell background (TrueMSdash and various others) but in all honesty they are just superficially similar no more. The original MS dash main menu graphics are quite complex and the animated rotating selection with glowing orb can not be mimicked in UnleashX. You can rotate the text menu selector highligher box but that's about it. The MS dash lacks things I like such as a preview pane and whilst I have UnleashX skins I've edited which 'refer' to the MS dash this is often only the cell background. One of my likely now never to be completed skin projects was to create a family of "Xboxy" skins which pay homage to the original for EvoX and UnleashX by matching the style Blackbolt's XBMC Xbox-Classic skin, IMHO the most authentically "Xboxy" skin for XBMC. I actually used Blackbolt's original "blackbolt_consolev4" EvoX skin as the basis for the UnleashX skin. Thanks to an old tool Rocky5 made to convert EvoX skins for UnleashX dash use it saved a lot of time that would have had been required to create/edit a new UX skin.xml. But thanks to another tool he updated I been able to get at the graphics content of Xbox-Classic's textures.xpr. I've even recreated higher resolution versions of some that content using the originals for reference. But so far I've not added those elements to either the EvoX or Unleash skins. Original "blackbolt_consolev4" EvoX skin. The primary UnleashX overlay of the same skin base cleaned up and edited But I still had to do a lot of work on it and the original EvoX skin before I was even half-way happy. I redid the EvoX loading screen almost completely too. The main flaw with the original EvoX skin is the black 'fog' area is uneven in tone and it took time evening that out to look the same but better. There are inherent problems with the design too - with no room to add G:\ drive or C:\ drive info for that matter. The DVD info box could be converted to accommodate that but then where do you move the DVD info? I consider that an important feature of any skin. In short it is all very much still work in progress and even at this half finished stage I have, literally, a hundred versions so far and in various alternative colours too.

Did you remember to lock the new HDD after the cloning using the Chimp Slave Menu option to do that? Just like forgetting to reset the jumper setting to Master, forgetting to lock the new clone HDD is a very common oversight.

Sounds like a language settings issue rather than a console region one. There may be other ways but hopefully with UnleashX you will have a main menu MS dashboard option that works. If you do then going into the settings and changing the language support should fix the problem.

Its a feature of the MS dash Music/CD player, not a trick. What I don't remember is there being any information in the instructions that came with the Xbox about making the abstract animations full screen. So it may be something that can be considered hidden by omission, perhaps. Whatever the case the method of enabling full screen is not intuitive and with most of the controllers I've used it is unreliable requiring a very quick (Y) and then (X) input. The DVD Remote controller, which MS probably intended you to be using for such purposes, makes it much easier: you just press the INFO button and press it again to reduce it back.

Glad it is sorted now but just FYI looking at the C:\ drive content:- The evoxdash.xbe there was clearly a shortcut, I'd guess either to a XBMC folder on E:\ or in E:\XBMC\Apps or possibly another dash in a "Dash" folder somewhere. The original.xbe would have been your original main dash (likely UnleashX or EvoX) before the dash was replaced by XBMC or whatever. As all this is on C:\ that suggest at some point it was hardmodded despite it actually being a softmod. That could indicate the dash install option used was not intended for a softmod use. What appears to be two xboxdashdata files is clearly wrong and what that iconos file is: no idea. BTW the config.xml, evoxdash.xbe, items.xml are all "official" files. It adds further evidence that the "original.xbe" was indeed your original dash renamed when the new "evoxdash.xbe" (the shortcut) replaced it. The original dash, UnleashX, generates it own default config.xml and item.xml and those were left over after the shortcut was introduced.

I'm not entirely with you on the TSOP hate. I've TSOPed two Xboxes including a v1.4 Winbond without any problems but I understand your pain. I almost gave up on an Aladdin chip install too when the LPC soldering didn't go well. But the fact is: I've never had a problem with a softmod and so, the main negative: it requires a locked HDD, has been utterly irrelevant. If you have the eeprom backup and/or a locked backup HDD you're pretty much covered if there is any trouble. It sounds to me that in your case there is an intermittent DVD drive issue, something unrelated, just coincidental to the TSOP but if that is correct the only way to resolve it is likely by TSOPing or chipping so you can use a no DVD check BIOS.

It is an old thread but that ^ is not really safe practice, particularly if you don't know whether you're dealing with a softmod or hardmod. I've used it for similar reasons and others ie. revert a particular UnleashX version back to the one I prefer. But there comes a point when if anything goes wrong, a mistake with the shortcut, the renaming or accidental reboot or shutdown that you will get yourself into trouble, especially with a softmod. The ideal solution is always to work with a backup HDD. But failing that you need to make sure you have an eeprom backup on your PC in case things go wrong but also test the shortcut actually works before installing it for real. For general informational purposes: with XBMC to keep it neat and tidy as it has multiples files and folders, it is/was common practice when swapping a main dashboard to XBMC to leave it in E:\Apps, if it was already there, and use a shortcut: indeed E:\evoxdash.xbe to launch it. Because that was the typical purpose for using The Xbox Shortcut Maker tool it actually comes with that as a legacy default path (e:\apps\Xbox Media Center\default.xbe) although as you can see it uses "Xbox Media Center" rather than the now preferred "XBMC" AID/SID (Auto Installer Deluxe/Softmod Installer Deluxe) install XBMC as a main dash in similar fashion using a shortcut E:\evoxdash.xbe too but in their case they install the XBMC folder directly on E:\ in a folder ie. E:\XBMC. However I have read about XBMC installations where the user has spewed everything in the XBMC folder onto the E:\ drive and then renames the default.xbe to evoxdash.xbe. I'm sure it works but it is just not a very tidy way of doing it.

Is there any difference between the two IGR methods? 1). Hold L/R triggers and press Black and Back. 2). Hold L/R triggers and press Start and Back. My only experience of something like this was when I first fitted an Aladdin XT Plus 2 type chip. If you read the blurb that may come with it and go to any retail site selling 'Aladdin' chips they say the pre-flashed Evox M8+ 'universal' BIOS ie. 1.0 - 1.6 compatible, supports IGR. If you also check the BIOS with the EVTool it shows the IGR option ticked but when I tried to use it I got nothing. No reboot, not a dicky bird - it simply was not working. So I reluctantly reflashed the BIOS with a non - v1.6 Evox M8+ BIOS from a reliable source and 'magically' IGR started working perfectly. My, also reluctant, suggestion is to try doing the same - at the very least it will rule the BIOS out as the cause of this double reset problem.

The question is also why the discrepancy between hardmod and softmod behaviour with those games? Have you checked that the region settings are not different on the hardmod because I can not think of any reason for that distinct behavioural difference just due to it being hardmodded.

Interesting idea - does not really help with the bottom line problem having had two genuine, official 8MB Xbox memory cards go bad so either they're not recognised by the Xbox itself or do not function correctly. But as a means of getting the games saves off the cards I suppose there is a vague possibility FTPing might work. But can you trust the data from a malfunctioning device? As I probably said earlier I have multiple backups of most saves, I learned the importance of doing that on the original PS almost 25 years ago. I always save to two memory cards or different external location and it has proved very sensible practice over the years. Games, which unfortunately include a significant number of original Xbox ones, which prevent you backing up your saves to two devices I've never trusted.

The question is whether it is hard or softmodded? Is there any difference in what happens at boot if you use the Eject/Close button rather than the smaller Power button. Can you cold boot an installer disc (DVD-R/ImgBurn) or still have FTP access? If softmodded any idea using what tools? With Xbox4Gamers it might have been done using Rocky5's XBSMT which might give you some other recovery options. Even if not done with that if the original softmod game saves are still present (check your game saves to see) and you have a copy of the exploitable game used that will give you FTP and/or file manager access which should help getting this fixed. From the description about how the problem occurred I'd guess at it not being a protected softmod as it would have been difficult for fiddle paws to have broken it like this. The protection would have had to have been turned off first before messing with the file/folder contents via the file manager afterwards. For that reason and other evidence ie. the MS dash is still booting, I'm hoping it may be a chipped machine, in which case there are more fix options. But if it was an unprotected softmod: to still have the MS dash booting OK the softmod is likely gone.

That error message, in any XBMC variant, is typical of any error with XBMC but it does tend to be because the skin being used is incompatible, corrupt or missing. Not knowing XBMC Emustation I would have assumed it used its own particular skin. Isn't it basically a unique XBMC skin? EDIT I just had a quick rummage around a downloaded copy of XBMC_Emustation. It doesn't use a "skin" folder but apparently a default (and carbon?) skin theme: "emustation" > "themes" > "simple". Why you're getting this error message, unless you messed with that theme folder or deleted it I'm not sure what might provoke it. However the way you'd solve the problem with XBMC4Xbox ie. vanilla XBMC is to trigger a reset of the XBMC UserData > guisettings.xml folder:- https://www.xbmc4xbox.org.uk/wiki/Settings This is just for informational purposes. Whether it is appropriate in this case I do not know so I'm certainly not suggesting you try it. As said, my experience is with vanilla XBMC4Xbox not Emustation and, should the themes folder have been deleted, it will not work even though there is a backup folder containing "simple" and other important XMLs. However if you can still gain FTP access repopulating that "themes" folder with a good copy of the default XBMC Emustation "simple" theme folder it might be one solution. But with FTP access it would probably be just as easy to remove XBMC Emustation completely and replace it with an UnleashX main dash. But you would have to know what you're doing because there is a high degree of risk involved with a softmod. You could lose FTP access entirely.

Quickest will be the retail drive simply because it has less on it. The reasons your Xbox take so long to get to the main dashboard 'home' screen is because of the amount of stuff you have on it. Particularly with UnleashX there is an unrecorded total icon image file size limit which, if exceeded will mean some dash icons will never load and slow the boot time down considerably. Other content limits do the same at least in that it affects the boot time. There's also the use of SATA HDDs or more particularly the SATA>IDE adapters that seem to create a bottle neck. My boot times for my first Xbox SATA HDD a 320GB WD 3.5" HDD even before I'd put much on it were noticeably slower than the 160GB WD IDE 3.5" HDD it replaced which was pretty full . The reason I'd upgraded. Also I'm wondering about the SATA HDD types themselves might be affecting the speed when used in the Xbox. There's a little appreciated fact that only the ITB Seagate Barracuda is CMR (Conventional Magnetic Recording). All others are SMR (Shingled Magnetic Recording) including the 2TB ones. https://www.minitool.com/backup-tips/cmr-vs-smr.html In effect CMR ones are faster than SMR. Whether that affects their Xbox use I have no idea but it is a possibility so I thought it worth throwing into the mix. BTW the info on that link page about all Seagates Barracudas being SMR is wrong. https://www.seagate.com/gb/en/internal-hard-drives/cmr-smr-list/