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XIso - Playing Games From Xbox Hdd Using Iso Images.


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Is ripping ISO's with DVD2XBOX pointless then? I've followed this rabbit hole since I'm in a  similar boat.... (Version 0.7.8 btw.) But I had ripped my games to my HDD in "Copy Mode: Normal", which works flawlessly. For some dumb noob reason, I thought ISO's are somehow better, more original, I dunno... but after reading and catching up on this, then comparing ISO files to normal-mode copied games, they look the same.

Generally, one only wants an ISO to burn a hard copy right? Otherwise, just work with the files that DVD2XBOX makes when copying in normal-mode, and FTP what needs transferred. Is that the correct stance to take here?

I'm in this rabbit hole to begin with since I'm stretching my ROM-download knowledge past the easy NES, SNES, and SEGA stuff. As of yet though, I haven't been able to download anything that works. The couple I did were in .7z format which produced error messages when I tried opening with winrar. Leads me to think I found bad xbox roms. Just trying to expand my collection to what it used to be before the military life vanished them all :)

Edited by nerdbombing
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If they are .7z file, download 7-zip to extract their content.  If these archives are over 5GBs in size they are most likely Redump-style archival disc images of the entire original dual-layer game disc DVD.  The XDVDFS portion of those files can be extracted with XDVDMulleter Beta 10.2.  This is the set of files for the game.

XISO rips save space on hard drives formatted with larger cluster size 32KB or 64KB clusters and allow for those games that use long filenames to be played from the hard drive.

A cluster is the minimum amount of space a file will be allocated on the hard drive.  Thus, if the games has 100's of smaller than a cluster files, instead of only using the minimum space a DVD sector (2KB) it will use the cluster size (32KB or 64KB).  The wasted space adds up.

 

 

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@RoofTop So what's your end game here? With your PS2 you can play games straight from ISO you say? I can't say i follow you there since I have no PS2 knowledge, but for XBOX, as I'm finding out with you, is "Why bother" with ISOs at all? I'm just coming to my own realization that ISO's, in XBOX modding realm, isn't worth much; as it requires extra software and processes. I've used a softmod and TSOP setup so far, and I put DVD2XBOX on one (while the other comes with the SID511 pack). XBOX2DVD has done everything I've needed it to, and if for whatever reason I desire to have my copied games in ISO, I'll FTP them and then get additional software and process them. At least this way, they aren't cut up into parts due tot he 4gb limitations of internal hardware.

Even if all I wanted to do is copy games, I would rather setup a modded xbox to do the work, opposed to a PC doing it. I dunno, I'm still learning, and pluggin on your original post, so I figured I'd try to understand what you're after. it could really help me learn too:) lol, thanks

@KaosEngineer I'm fairly certain now, that I was just dealing with bad downloads/corrupted files. I found "Flatout" on Romuniverse, that worked. The other files I downloaded from there didn't work, but this one did, so I assume milage varies and there's some good and bad files there. I still didn't try 7zip, cause at the moment Winrar is comfortable (I am open to suggestions, what does 7zip offer over Winrar, etc?). Thanks for the explanation on Redump, I think I'm understanding that more now, so it's the same as the XDVDFS portion, but due to the way it's "packed", it comes out as a larger file size (in layman's)?

 

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1 hour ago, nerdbombing said:

 

@KaosEngineer I'm fairly certain now, that I was just dealing with bad downloads/corrupted files. I found "Flatout" on Romuniverse, that worked. The other files I downloaded from there didn't work, but this one did, so I assume milage varies and there's some good and bad files there. I still didn't try 7zip, cause at the moment Winrar is comfortable (I am open to suggestions, what does 7zip offer over Winrar, etc?). Thanks for the explanation on Redump, I think I'm understanding that more now, so it's the same as the XDVDFS portion, but due to the way it's "packed", it comes out as a larger file size (in layman's)?

 

An original Xbox game disc contains a standard DVD video disc section and a hidden Xbox XDVDFS portion along with a lot of filler and secuity sectors.  I believe a majority of the original game discs are dual-layer DVDs.  You can tell if they are single-layer or dual-layer by looking for the layer ID(s) printed around the center ring of the disc viewing it from the backside.  There will be one for L0 in the ID (single-layer) and possibly L1 if its a two-layer DVD.  I believe most all Xbox games are DVD-9 media (dual-layer) discs.  

You can find the layer IDs for Xbox game disks and media type at http://redump.org/discs/system/xbox/ too.

Update:

For example, I see 100 Bullets is listed as DVD-5 with only 1 layer ID: ZC1946-DVR-H47A.

Thus, single layer media may not have to have L0 in the layer ID but most dual-layer disc layer IDs that I've seen do have L0 and L1 in their IDs.

redump.org only provides information about properly dump media images.  They do not provide the disc images themselves.  Other's have made many such redump-certified (matching hash value) disc images available onine.

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  • 2 months later...
On 4/26/2020 at 9:56 PM, nerdbombing said:

@RoofTop So what's your end game here? With your PS2 you can play games straight from ISO you say? I can't say i follow you there since I have no PS2 knowledge, but for XBOX, as I'm finding out with you, is "Why bother" with ISOs at all? I'm just coming to my own realization that ISO's, in XBOX modding realm, isn't worth much; as it requires extra software and processes. I've used a softmod and TSOP setup so far, and I put DVD2XBOX on one (while the other comes with the SID511 pack). XBOX2DVD has done everything I've needed it to, and if for whatever reason I desire to have my copied games in ISO, I'll FTP them and then get additional software and process them. At least this way, they aren't cut up into parts due tot he 4gb limitations of internal hardware.

Even if all I wanted to do is copy games, I would rather setup a modded xbox to do the work, opposed to a PC doing it. I dunno, I'm still learning, and pluggin on your original post, so I figured I'd try to understand what you're after. it could really help me learn too:) lol, thanks

 

Yes why bother running games as iso ? -  I am only speaking of the few games that does not work !00% or over time will fail to work:

Toca Race Driver 3, Monster Garage, Harry Potter Prisoner of Azkaban, and a Tony Hawk game i forgot the name of.

When you run these in iso mode you are certain they will work. Just make sure you use iso images that are 1:1 backups of the original.

I have the above listed games on my xbox hdd as iso. And they work great.

 

 

 

 

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So I am trying to use this on a TSOP modded 1.0 xbox.

I am using the files from this post: 

and mounting the ISO works fine. However, when loading an ISO game, using the In-Game-Rest button combo will not return me back to my dashboard but only restart the game. I need to power the xbox off and back on to switch to a different game. Is there some way to fix this?

 

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  • 3 months later...
On 2/21/2019 at 9:36 PM, Rocky5 said:

Here you go, works on all bios since it’s patching a BFM bios.

unfortunately ind-bios5003 won’t work 100% and 5035 doesn’t work either, so we need to use M8Plus to get it working 100% (this goes for BFM or flashed) this package should be self explanatory.

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/14XYrIpqEhsREMEy5LM0u6lgqJV1T0XK5/view?usp=drivesdk

 

if you use XBMC4Gamers you can use the XISO to HDD script to parse and process your XISO files into folders and it will also populate the attach.xbe with the correct certificate information of the game so trainers and save managers work properly. 

 

Note: 

if you want it to load on each boot, just get your bios to run C:\Bios Virtual Drive Patcher\default.xbe on boot.

it uses my dashloader so any patch my softmod loads this loads also, you can create a dashloader.cfg file and put a custom path to a dashboard of your choice in there to boot that first and you can also populate the dashloader.rec file with a path to a recovery dashboard if you want to use the start+y feature of dashloader. (This is handy as a backdoor incase you arse up your dashboard and it loops)

Can anyone confirm that the attached ZIP actually contains the "Bios Virtual Disc Patcher", "Bios Virtual Disc Patcher Loader" and "reboot xbe" files?

I've downloaded it and all I see are "./C/Virtual Drive Loader" and "./E/Virtual Drive Loader" both of which contain the same set of files: "bios.bin", "boot.cfg", "dashloader.xbe", "default.xbe", and "patcher.xbe". I can't find any reference in the ZIP to either of the directory names mentioned in Rocky5's instructions.

I've tried placing "./C/Virtual Drive Loader" at the root of my C drive and "./E/Virtual Drive Loader" at E/Apps/. (For clarification this leaves me with "C/Virtual Drive Loader" and "E/Apps/Virtual Drive Loader" I'm not duplicating my drive letters or anything) When I reboot the XBOX the only new application I see is "PBL LOADER" and when I click it the console reboots and nothing appears to happen.

I would love to follow the 6 steps Rocky5 has listed, but it appears that my download doesn't contain the appropriate files, so I'm very confused as to how to proceed.

Edited by boblabla
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Thanks for the clarification Rocky5. I've done as you instructed and I appear to be able to patch the BIOS successfully.
I'm running Evox M8+ BIOS. When I run the Virtual Drive Loader\default.xbe my LED flashes, then I get the XBOX/Evox logo screen, and then it puts me back in my dashboard.
I've run your XISO to HDD script in XBMC4Gamers and it has done its job wonderfully and made my ISO games visible.
Unfortunately, when I go to start an ISO game (after running your default.xbe) I get the standard loading screen, then a brief flash of an UnleashX logo, then it puts me back in my dashboard.
Am I doing something wrong?

This is the log file from the BIOS Loader:

Phoenix Bios Loader - The Metoo Edition
Setting led: 31
Loading Rom: \Device\Harddisk0\Partition2\Virtual Drive Loader\bios.bin
Setting video
 * Blanking screen
Metoo BFM 2bl footer detected
Allocate 2bl mem
Copying 2bl
Patching kernel param string
Parameter string: " /SHADOW /HDBOOT"
Calculating 2bl entry point
Calling 2bl:
 * EntryPoint2BL 804035b0
 * PhysicalRomPos 02f01000

 

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6 hours ago, boblabla said:

Thanks for the clarification Rocky5. I've done as you instructed and I appear to be able to patch the BIOS successfully.
I'm running Evox M8+ BIOS. When I run the Virtual Drive Loader\default.xbe my LED flashes, then I get the XBOX/Evox logo screen, and then it puts me back in my dashboard.
I've run your XISO to HDD script in XBMC4Gamers and it has done its job wonderfully and made my ISO games visible.
Unfortunately, when I go to start an ISO game (after running your default.xbe) I get the standard loading screen, then a brief flash of an UnleashX logo, then it puts me back in my dashboard.
Am I doing something wrong?

This is the log file from the BIOS Loader:


Phoenix Bios Loader - The Metoo Edition
Setting led: 31
Loading Rom: \Device\Harddisk0\Partition2\Virtual Drive Loader\bios.bin
Setting video
 * Blanking screen
Metoo BFM 2bl footer detected
Allocate 2bl mem
Copying 2bl
Patching kernel param string
Parameter string: " /SHADOW /HDBOOT"
Calculating 2bl entry point
Calling 2bl:
 * EntryPoint2BL 804035b0
 * PhysicalRomPos 02f01000

 

Since you’re running the M8plus bios you can just run the patcher.xbe instead of the default.xbe.

 

and no, what you have done should load the game.

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4 hours ago, Rocky5 said:

Since you’re running the M8plus bios you can just run the patcher.xbe instead of the default.xbe.

 

and no, what you have done should load the game.

I appreciate your help Rocky5. I'm at a loss as to why this isn't working. I've tried running just patcher.xbe and then the game and I get the same result. I get the loading screen showing the game name, then a black screen, then a quick flash of the UnleashX logo screen (which I never see when booting the box), then a black screen again, and then back to UnleashX dash. I can load the same ISOs just fine from the DVD drive, at least to start, but unfortunately the drive seems to be failing because it will give me the dirty disc error at random points in the games and seems to be doing so more frequently lately. It shouldn't be an issue with the ISOs themselves as they seem to check out fine in Qwix and they burn to DVDR without issue. Is there a log file that I can check to investigate what might be happening on my system when I try to launch these ISOs?

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  • 1 month later...

I am having a hard time with this as well. Maybe I am reading the instructions wrong.

The "Virtual Drive Loader" folder is in my C root and E:\Apps.

And I have the evoxdash.xbe by @KaosEngineer uploaded to my C root, with my original evoxdash.xbe renamed to evox.xbe

I also have Tony Hawk's American Wasteland in G:\Games\Tony Hawk's American Wasteland (ISO) and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in F:\Games\Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azk (ISO), both of which were generated by XBMC4Gamers' XISO to HDD script.

I confirm PBL Loader appears in my Applications list, and it does flash the LED green before returning to XBMC4Gamers.

However, these two games still do not load

Please advice.

I am using a 1.1 Xbox with the XeniumICE modchip, the BIOS is IND-5003.

 

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On 12/23/2020 at 8:06 AM, RetroEmulationNation said:

I am having a hard time with this as well. Maybe I am reading the instructions wrong.

The "Virtual Drive Loader" folder is in my C root and E:\Apps.

And I have the evoxdash.xbe by @KaosEngineer uploaded to my C root, with my original evoxdash.xbe renamed to evox.xbe

I also have Tony Hawk's American Wasteland in G:\Games\Tony Hawk's American Wasteland (ISO) and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in F:\Games\Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azk (ISO), both of which were generated by XBMC4Gamers' XISO to HDD script.

I confirm PBL Loader appears in my Applications list, and it does flash the LED green before returning to XBMC4Gamers.

However, these two games still do not load

Please advice.

I am using a 1.1 Xbox with the XeniumICE modchip, the BIOS is IND-5003.

 

I struggled with the iso loading for a while but in the end i got the hang of it. 

I will go from memory here but i believe it work like this. 

Your using the PBL loader method so its a little different to the way i did it but the principle is the same.

You run the PBL Loader file, it attaches the iso and resets back to the dash. From this point the xbox believes that there is a disc inserted.

At this point you start your game by using the same method you would usually use to launch a real disc game from your dash. Do not go back to the iso file and click that again as that will not start the game. 

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Hello greetings, I wanted to know if this method works for me.
The console does not have a chip but if it has sofmod (virtual exploit) is it version 1.6 already with Unleash X and Xbmc4Gamers as the main dashboard, with Bios 246k Retail 5838.01 or is it necessary to have a chip? sorry I'm a newbie in this.


I want to play Tony Hawk's American Wasteland but the system won't let the full game pass with long filenames.

Edited by AhzeeKing
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  • 4 weeks later...

Cannot re-edit above post...

After testing both @KaosEngineerpatched evoxdash.xbe and @Rocky5Bios Virtual Disc Patcher Loader:

  • OGXbox and TruHexen installer instantly throw error 13. But Rocky's Xbox Softmodding Tool Extras Disc works just fine, and when using its file manager I can see the D:\ drive is populated by its content. Which mean that Xbox Softmodding Tool Extras Disc.iso is mounted on D:\. I think the attach.xbe is the one who responsible to mount an xiso into a drive, not the PBL. I wonder what's made the differences as I see all of the installer's XML hardcoded to D:\.
  • IGR does not work. RT+LT+BACK+BLACK just reload the xiso, not returned to dashboard.

Edit: After seeing Rocky's post above, as I'm using M8+ BIOS, I changed the loader from "C:\Bios Virtual Disc Patcher Loader\default.xbe" to "C:\Bios Virtual Disc Patcher Loader\patcher.xbe". And the IGR works as expected.

Edited by si_kabayan
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On 1/4/2021 at 9:04 AM, AhzeeKing said:

Hello greetings, I wanted to know if this method works for me.
The console does not have a chip but if it has sofmod (virtual exploit) is it version 1.6 already with Unleash X and Xbmc4Gamers as the main dashboard, with Bios 246k Retail 5838.01 or is it necessary to have a chip? sorry I'm a newbie in this.


I want to play Tony Hawk's American Wasteland but the system won't let the full game pass with long filenames.

if you are softmodding (at least I know it works with Rocky5's softmod), you can use the NKPatcher Drive Image Tools attacher app to mount and play an XISO (dot iso) file on the Xbox.  Place both the attacher app renamed to default.xbe and the games dot iso file in the same subfolder of the Games subdirectory (e.g., create a subfolder in one  of these: E:\games, F:\games or G:\games\).

NKPatcher Drive Image Utils v1.0.1:

driveimageutils-v1.0.1.zip

You will need to rename the internal XBE Title of the attacher app - default.xbe in the game's subfolder.  You can do so with UnleashX's File Manager see: https://imgur.com/a/8JuOa

You have to do this with each copy of the attacher app you copy to each game's subfolder that contains a disc image (XISO-format dot iso file).  Otherwise, the default name of the attacher app will appear in the replacement dashboard's menu. When more than one default.xbe with the same XBE Title is found, only 1 will appear in the dashboard's menu.

 

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On 1/30/2021 at 6:07 AM, si_kabayan said:

Can I mount the ISO in D:\ drive?

When the attacher app from NKPatcher's drive image utils is used.  It mounts the disc image to D:\.  To the Xbox, the mounted image acts as if a disc is loaded in and read from the DVD drive.

 

Edit: Oh I see V:, was not what you meant to say.  Mounting the disc image is to D:\. 

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49 minutes ago, KaosEngineer said:

When the attacher app from NKPatcher's drive image utils is used.  It mounts the disc image to D:\.  To the Xbox, the mounted image acts as if a disc is loaded in and read from the DVD drive.

 

Edit: Oh I see V:, was not what you meant to say.  Mounting the disc image is to D:\. 

Ya, the attacher seems like to mount the xiso on D:\. My thought of it mounted on V:\ is because I see V: drive appears in XBMC's file manager while using the loader. There is no additional drive appears in UnleashX's file manager.

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18 hours ago, si_kabayan said:

Ya, the attacher seems like to mount the xiso on D:\. My thought of it mounted on V:\ is because I see V: drive appears in XBMC's file manager while using the loader. There is no additional drive appears in UnleashX's file manager.

Can you download the xbmc.old.log and xbmc.log files and add them as attachments to a reply?

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16 hours ago, KaosEngineer said:

Can you download the xbmc.old.log and xbmc.log files and add them as attachments to a reply?

Sorry to bother you, but unfortunately cannot replicate it using both XMBC 33032 or 33026. Perhaps just glitch in the matrix.

 

Another question; is there PC utils to split large image (bigger than FATX limitation)? Similar to isoripper from driveimageutils.

Edited by si_kabayan
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19 hours ago, si_kabayan said:

Another question; is there PC utils to split large image (bigger than FATX limitation)? Similar to isoripper from driveimageutils.

Yes, check out XISO Split.exe @

https://github.com/Rocky5/Xbox-Softmodding-Tool/tree/master/Utilites/PC/XISO Split

 

Edit: Is the ISO file a redump-style Dual-layer archival disc image or an XISO-format disc image (also a dot iso - .iso - named file)?

Redump images are generally 6.2+ GBs in size and the files in the XDVDFS portion need to be extracted first using XDVDMulleter Beta 10.2.  After extracting the file set from the XDVDFS portion of the ReDump disc image, you can either upload the file set to a subfolder in the Games folder on the Xbox or create an XISO disc image from them with Qwix or C-Xbox Tool.

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20 hours ago, KaosEngineer said:

Doesn't work on Windows 10 LTSC. "Access violation at address 004619D4 in module 'XISO Split.exe'. Read of address 0000000C."

It's not redump iso, just a regular one. Was trying to archive GameBoy and S/NES roms into an xiso. The total size is approx 4.4 GB. I've tried to manually split the iso (by separatedly archive GB and NES), but the attacher only attach one iso.

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9 hours ago, si_kabayan said:

Doesn't work on Windows 10 LTSC. "Access violation at address 004619D4 in module 'XISO Split.exe'. Read of address 0000000C."

It's not redump iso, just a regular one. Was trying to archive GameBoy and S/NES roms into an xiso. The total size is approx 4.4 GB. I've tried to manually split the iso (by separatedly archive GB and NES), but the attacher only attach one iso.

Use any file splitting application; however, you need to make sure to split the file at a DVD sector boundary.  Sectors are 2048 bytes each on a DVD.  Each file after the split should be an exact multiple of 2048 bytes.

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