Trying to figure out where my games and emulators went. (UnleashX Version 0.38)

[Baron]

Well lol...  I think I repaired the trace good enough. So now, I have the Xbox put back together, but now I have the 1TB HDD that I was initially trying to use along with the modchip installed. When I start the Xbox, it shows EVOX in the upper left corner then goes to this error 16 screen. Is this just because the HDD isn't formatted? No dashboard? Idk. Am I out of the woods as far as microsoldering goes? That was a total pain in the ass. I didn't use a microscope and am surprised it even boots.   Video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AoPBEProojYnbWZkJtaYcIQwwoUsU4Oz/view?usp=drive_link

Edited December 24, 2023 by Baron

[HDShadow]

It is the classic clock setting error most feared by softmodders - it can't find a dashboard to set the time but you need a dashboard to set the time.

But with a chip, if you have a functional disc drive, you might be able to cold boot an installer disc. Failing that formatting/installing a dashboard on PC with FATXplorer should work.  

[Marty]

Are you putting a softmodded hard drive into the console and expecting it to work?

It's not clear if you've reinstalled a modchip.

[Baron]

21 minutes ago, Marty said:

Are you putting a softmodded hard drive into the console and expecting it to work?

It's not clear if you've reinstalled a modchip.

I don't think this HDD has a softmod no, and the OpenXenium modchip is installed.

[Baron]

2 hours ago, HDShadow said:

It is the classic clock setting error most feared by softmodders - it can't find a dashboard to set the time but you need a dashboard to set the time.

But with a chip, if you have a functional disc drive, you might be able to cold boot an installer disc. Failing that formatting/installing a dashboard on PC with FATXplorer should work.  

Is cold booting any different than just turning on the xbox with the installer disk in it?

[Bowlsnapper]

2 hours ago, Baron said:

Is cold booting any different than just turning on the xbox with the installer disk in it?

Just reformat C and set up C with an installer disc and you're done with it.

[Marty]

5 hours ago, Baron said:

I don't think this HDD has a softmod no, and the OpenXenium modchip is installed.

Just boot with an installer disc and setup the drive inside the console.

You can transfer files outside of the XBOX later if you choose with FATXplorer.

[Baron]

Alright so the OG installation disc 2021 actually boots woo!

Never been this far with it so that's exciting. When you guys say set up the drive or reformat C, are there instructions? The readme says to use XBPartitioner 1.3 first, then I can set up as larger HDD. I guess some kind of bug gets avoided by doing it this way. Is that necessary or can I just setup as larger HDD?

After the HDD is set up, how do I put games back on it? FTP? FATXplorer? Will an ISO work or does it need to be a different format?

What location do the games get put in? What location do emulators get put in? After the HDD is setup, I still need to install a dashboard, right?

Sorry for all the noob questions

 

[Baron]

Spoke too soon I guess. Now for whatever reason I can't get the installation disk to boot. Just gives me error 16 every time. I can however get the Xenium menu to boot by starting my Xbox with the eject button. Hmm..

I'm not doing anything different from last night when it worked. The disk is in the tray, and I power on the Xbox with the power button. That's all I had to do before.

 

*Oh, alright, had to launch "UnNamed-A" in the Xenium menu (OS)... now the installation disk loaded lol.

Edited December 25, 2023 by Baron

[Bowlsnapper]

9 hours ago, Baron said:

Spoke too soon I guess. Now for whatever reason I can't get the installation disk to boot. Just gives me error 16 every time. I can however get the Xenium menu to boot by starting my Xbox with the eject button. Hmm..

I'm not doing anything different from last night when it worked. The disk is in the tray, and I power on the Xbox with the power button. That's all I had to do before.

 

*Oh, alright, had to launch "UnNamed-A" in the Xenium menu (OS)... now the installation disk loaded lol.

If this HDD has no real data on it you will miss, format it all and you should be good with just formatting F to basically a gig. That should be done automatically with the installer script. Clean slate.

I like XBMC plain as my dash. It does it all and I love it.

[Marty]

36 minutes ago, Bowlsnapper said:

format it all and you should be good with just formatting F to basically a gig.

That's how I format all my <1TB drives.

[Baron]

Well I think I'm on the right track. I formatted as new larger HDD, set XBMC as my default dashboard and now when I start my Xbox without the installation disk it actually works. XBMC comes up. So now, where do I put my games? ISOs work? How do I put them there?

[Bowlsnapper]

1 hour ago, Baron said:

Well I think I'm on the right track. I formatted as new larger HDD, set XBMC as my default dashboard and now when I start my Xbox without the installation disk it actually works. XBMC comes up. So now, where do I put my games? ISOs work? How do I put them there?

I usually just put them in F:/Games/ in their own directory. You can add paths and directories to scan for executables in the XBMC menu root for each category: Applications, Music, Videos, etc. I think Cerbios does run ISOs natively, but I honestly don't know much about that topic and would defer to others for it. Again, I think UnleashX may add these things automatically when placed in certain directories like /Apps, /Games, etc. whereas XBMC will have to be pointed to them manually. 

The application DVD2XBOX rips games pretty efficiently and creates directories for them automatically in the F:/Games/ folder. You can do it manually in the XBMC file browser, but it's a bit more work with manually naming directories. Although, once this /Games/ directory has been added in the main menu, they will always show up when added since they are itemized when you go into the entry you created.

If this model doesn't really work for you and seems a bit too much to deal with, UnleashX may scan directories automatically for games and applications. I would actually, if your new to it, swap between dashboards with the installer disc and see what you prefer and what seems most intuitive to you. I like XBMC because I know how to navigate it easily and it's intuitive to me. I can also play videos and music and the file browser is awesome. But I should make clear that it is what works for me. You may be different. 

What do you guys all use for dashboards and why? What do you like about them? @FrostyMaGee @SS_Dave @KaosEngineer @Marty @Dtomcat18

[Marty]

11 hours ago, Bowlsnapper said:

What do you guys all use for dashboards and why? What do you like about them? @FrostyMaGee @SS_Dave @KaosEngineer @Marty @Dtomcat18

XBMC4Gamers.

The blingy-est. The built in homebrew downloader rocks.

[Bowlsnapper]

35 minutes ago, Marty said:

XBMC4Gamers.

The blingy-est. The built in homebrew downloader rocks.

Didn't know it had a homebrew downloader. Do you happen to know which dashboards, if any, automatically populate lists of executables based on their place in the drive?

[Marty]

3 minutes ago, Bowlsnapper said:

Do you happen to know which dashboards, if any, automatically populate lists of executables based on their place in the drive?

Not sure what you mean.

[Bowlsnapper]

48 minutes ago, Marty said:

Not sure what you mean.

With XBMC I have to point the dashboard to a certain root directory to enumerate executables or media files in: apps, games, music, etc. I do this by going into music, for example, and going to "add source" and pointing to the root directory that my music files are in (f:/music/) and from then on, anything I add will add itself to the list in XBMC every time I navigate to it, because every time I do, the folder gets searched for content.

Are there any dashboards that do this automatically based on directory alone? Like apps, games, etc? I think unleashx does. But on the flip side, you may not be able to add folders manually like you can in XBMC. 

Also, it's a media center! So I can play some Boston while I organize my UI or putz with settings and what have you.

[Marty]

27 minutes ago, Bowlsnapper said:

So I can play some Boston....

I hear my MakeMHZ walkin' away....

[FrostyMaGee]

1 hour ago, Bowlsnapper said:

With XBMC I have to point the dashboard to a certain root directory to enumerate executables or media files in: apps, games, music, etc. I do this by going into music, for example, and going to "add source" and pointing to the root directory that my music files are in (f:/music/) and from then on, anything I add will add itself to the list in XBMC every time I navigate to it, because every time I do, the folder gets searched for content.

Are there any dashboards that do this automatically based on directory alone? Like apps, games, etc? I think unleashx does. But on the flip side, you may not be able to add folders manually like you can in XBMC. 

Also, it's a media center! So I can play some Boston while I organize my UI or putz with settings and what have you.

I usually do xbmc4gamers or just some version of unleash if I don’t need the bells and whistles (like a test box or something of that nature). 
 

I hope you’re only listening to Boston’s first album cause that’s the only one that was great. Lol. Third Stage had Amanda but the rest of it sucked as did their second album.That’s just me though. They screwed with their sound by screwing with the lineup from the titular Boston album. Never was as good after that. 

[Baron]

On 12/26/2023 at 3:58 AM, Bowlsnapper said:

I usually just put them in F:/Games/ in their own directory. You can add paths and directories to scan for executables in the XBMC menu root for each category: Applications, Music, Videos, etc. I think Cerbios does run ISOs natively, but I honestly don't know much about that topic and would defer to others for it. Again, I think UnleashX may add these things automatically when placed in certain directories like /Apps, /Games, etc. whereas XBMC will have to be pointed to them manually. 

The application DVD2XBOX rips games pretty efficiently and creates directories for them automatically in the F:/Games/ folder. You can do it manually in the XBMC file browser, but it's a bit more work with manually naming directories. Although, once this /Games/ directory has been added in the main menu, they will always show up when added since they are itemized when you go into the entry you created.

If this model doesn't really work for you and seems a bit too much to deal with, UnleashX may scan directories automatically for games and applications. I would actually, if your new to it, swap between dashboards with the installer disc and see what you prefer and what seems most intuitive to you. I like XBMC because I know how to navigate it easily and it's intuitive to me. I can also play videos and music and the file browser is awesome. But I should make clear that it is what works for me. You may be different. 

What do you guys all use for dashboards and why? What do you like about them? @FrostyMaGee @SS_Dave @KaosEngineer @Marty @Dtomcat18

Hey just an update, I swapped from XBMC back over to UnleashX. It's just easier for me since that's the dashboard I used to use. I was finally able to load some ISOs on it and play them. Thanks for all the help, you and everyone else.

Edited December 30, 2023 by Baron

[Bowlsnapper]

57 minutes ago, Baron said:

Hey just an update, I swapped from XBMC back over to UnleashX. It's just easier for me since that's the dashboard I used to use. I was finally able to load some ISOs on it and play them. Thanks for all the help, you and everyone else.

Hell yeah. What did you do to load the ISOs? Does Unleash populate executables based on the folder they are in alone, making it more painless for you?

[Baron]

11 minutes ago, Bowlsnapper said:

Hell yeah. What did you do to load the ISOs? Does Unleash populate executables based on the folder they are in alone, making it more painless for you?

I'm sure my way is not the most efficient but it works. I downloaded an ISO, used extract-iso, then used Qwix101 to recreate the ISO and FTP it to my Xbox. It goes to F games and just plays perfectly and shows up under "Games" in UnleashX. So I guess, yes. It sounds like UnleashX populates executables based on the folder they are in because it involves zero adjustment on my part to play the game once the FTP is done.

I don't really understand what the difference is between the ISO I download versus the one Qwix101 creates, but obviously something. The size of Halo was almost cut in half. Either way just glad that I can finally have a working, modded Xbox again. What a journey

Edited December 30, 2023 by Baron

[HDShadow]

You're talking about the difference between a redump ISO and a XISO. What you're doing when you use ExtractISO or XDVD Mulleter is extracting the game files from the redump which is a bit by bit copy from the original game disc media.

When you have the game files you can either use Qwix or the C Xbox Tool to package them as disc burning, Xbox friendly XISO file or you can FTP the game (in a or to a named folder) direct to the Xbox instead.

With the right tools on the Xbox you can also instead FTP the XISO disc image file and get that to play directly too. Never been sure why people want that option but it is possible. 

Google for a fuller explanation.

[Bowlsnapper]

On 12/30/2023 at 4:08 AM, Baron said:

I'm sure my way is not the most efficient but it works. I downloaded an ISO, used extract-iso, then used Qwix101 to recreate the ISO and FTP it to my Xbox. It goes to F games and just plays perfectly and shows up under "Games" in UnleashX. So I guess, yes. It sounds like UnleashX populates executables based on the folder they are in because it involves zero adjustment on my part to play the game once the FTP is done.

I don't really understand what the difference is between the ISO I download versus the one Qwix101 creates, but obviously something. The size of Halo was almost cut in half. Either way just glad that I can finally have a working, modded Xbox again. What a journey

Basically there is a bunch of dummy data and a DVD partition on the bigger (real) ISOs. Buncha 0s taking up space

Oh: Kudos for the CRT. I use one too!

Edit @Baron I didn't see the UnleashX mention up top, thank you for answering that question. I thought that's how it was. You can add the path manually in XBMC and then they will ALWAYS show up after that. Only needs to be done once, thankfully.