Noob Needs Help Hdd Upgrade!

[DaveB]

I hope this is the correct forum, apologies if not! I'm totally new to xbox modding and have watched videos and read as much as possible, but I've managed to screw up anyway unfortunately. I bought a hardmodded xbox with Xenium chip but stock hdd and so I used Hexen 2018 to install a 320Gb. I followed instructions, used Xb partitioner so that drive f used the rest of the available space etc. Once done and xbox rebooted, I'm only getting 123Gb available space on drive f! I was advised on another forum to redo it from scratch with Slayer's instead. Again once completed, it went back to only 123Gb available. I tried running xb partitioner again, go an error message 'LB48 not found' (I didn't get this error message the first time). I've tried re-doing it from scratch with Hexen 2018 again, same result even when I tried another hhd that's 250Gb, still only getting 123Gb. Any way to fix this, or should I give up and accept only getting 123Gb to use as at least it's still working now but if I mess about with it I may end up bricking it? (I softmodded my daughters xbox last week, that's working no probs. I'm awaiting a 500Gb hdd in the post, that I was planning to use Chimp to clone to and install, but now I'm anxious that I may have the same prob with that one as well!)

 

Edited March 28, 2019 by DaveB

[TEK Nemesis]

Your modchip BIOS may be imposing a limitation on the partition.  Are you able to determine what BIOS is on the modchip?  You may need to do more research on what type of chip you have and how to flash it with a different BIOS that supports LBA48.  You are at the right place, my friend as there are plenty of people here who could help.  Maybe even take a photo of your modchip or if there is an extra panel with DIP switches, take a picture of that and post what you find.  Also, ensure that you are using XBpartitioner version 1.3 *only*.

[DaveB]

I used xb partitioner 1.3. When I have time to open up the xbox, I'll try toget a pic of the modchip. It's a xenium Ice I believe ( definitely a Xenium). The website given on the bootup screen doesn't exist anymore apparently,, and Google hasn't gleaned anything helpful. 

[DaveB]

The console is a 2002 version, I'm guessing the chip is pretty old too. I know zilch about flashing bios etc, I dunno if either Slayer's or Hexen 2018 flashes the bios or not. ( The LBA48 error didn't happen until after I used Slayer's for my second attempt).

[nikeymikey]

Deffo need to take a picture of the chip then we can tell you how to flash the bios.

[TEK Nemesis]

7 hours ago, DaveB said:

I bought a hardmodded xbox with Xenium chip

I missed the chip reference in the original msg.  OK, I see it's a Xenium chip.  I'd recommend that you use Hexen 2019.  There's an option which discusses Modchip tools (or hard modded tools) and inside you will see an option to flash the BIOS.  Select that option and flash with "x2.5035.137.(Force480p)" or "x2.5035.137iND-BiOS.5004.67".  Look for 137 or 67 in the name.  Don't select a BIOS for the 1.6 version of XBox.

[DaveB]

I wasn't aware there was a newer version of Hexen, I'll have to go hunting for it. Ok a quick search later, is it TruHexen 2019 you're referring to? 

 

Edited March 28, 2019 by DaveB

[TEK Nemesis]

I'm sure that version 2018 would be fine too.  If you already have that version, I wouldn't bother searching for the 2019 version.

[DaveB]

Could it be that I screwed up by NOT doing a step I should have? I didn't use any flashing options (it wasn't shown being done in the tutorial vids I watched, and I was, and still am, of messing about with the bios cos I don't have much of a clue what I'm doing! In my defence, I only just took up xbox modding last week. My only previous modding experience was Ps2 flip lid/swap magic, which is pretty much idiot-proof. Xbox modding isn't, as I have clearly demonstrated!)

Edited March 29, 2019 by DaveB

[DaveB]

Sorry, another stupid question - if I use the flash option on Hexen as suggested, should that fix the prob and allow me to use xb partitioner 1.3 to allow me use of the whole hdd, or do I need to use the flash option , then use Hexen to format the hdd from scratch again?

 

Edited March 29, 2019 by DaveB

[DaveB]

I loaded up Hexen disc, chose 'Tsop flashed/chipped xbox tools'. I chose 'modchip/tsop flash (not winbond)' option. Got to a screen with xbox version options (at the top right of the screen it said 'Bios: EvoX M7 Eject Fix'). I chose the 'Flash 256k v1-1.5' option. Then I got 'ind-bios.5004 (f and g)', 'ind-bios 5003 (f and g)', 'ind-bios 5003 (f only)', 'Evox M8+ (f and g)', 'Evox M8 (f only)', 'X2.4981 (f and g)', and 'X2.4981 (f only)' options. There wasn't a 'x2.5035.137(force 480p)' option, or 'x2.5035.137iND-Bios.504.67' option. Maybe the options are different on the Hexen 2019 disc than the 2018 version? Which, if any, of these options are what I need to pick? Should I have chosen  'flash 512kb bios'? Or am I stuck with the xbox as it is? Man, I suck at this!

Edited March 29, 2019 by DaveB

[TEK Nemesis]

ind-bios.5004 (f and g)

[TEK Nemesis]

1 hour ago, DaveB said:

if I use the flash option on Hexen as suggested, should that fix the prob and allow me to use xb partitioner 1.3 to allow me use of the whole hdd, or do I need to use the flash option , then use Hexen to format the hdd from scratch again?

Once you flash with the correct flash that enables the larger HDD, go into XBpartioner 1.3, click the A button until you see F getting all the space.  Then click start button.  You won't use a G right now but you'll have flashed your chip with a BIOS that can use it in the future.  You shouldn't need to format anything but the F partition as Hexen or the other installer already did that for you.

[DaveB]

I tried that option, but I just get an error message ' error flash type unknown' and then it goes back to the menu. I guess the modchip is the problem then? Should I just quit while I'm ahead? 

 

Edited March 29, 2019 by DaveB

[KaosEngineer]

You need to know which modchip (Update: forgot you said it was a Xenium modchip in the OP) or TSOP chip your console has on the motherboard.  It may be Winbond or Sharp that requires a different menu option and/or soldering to enable flashing.

Update: Power on the console with the Eject button to get into the Xenium OS menu and reflash it from there.  Looking for the Xenium OS manual that I'll attach here once I find it.

 

Xenium-OS_V20_User_Manual.pdf

[TEK Nemesis]

Looks like a really nice modchip.

[DaveB]

Thanks for finding the manual for me. But  when I power it up with the eject button, it  just boots up the normal Microsoft dashboard (with the chip's blue led inside the xbox still on and still runs backups etc) so I dunno how to get into the chip menu. I've tried holding the eject button while it boots, and I've tried holding the power button while it boots. No menu!

Edited March 29, 2019 by DaveB

[TEK Nemesis]

How do you know that it is a Xenium modchip?

[DaveB]

When I turn the console on, there is a brief splash screen saying 'Xenium. Also, the chip inside the console has 'Xenium' printed on it'.

[DaveB]

Aha, after much trawling of the internet, I found an installation guide that says to hold the white controller button during boot to access the Xenium menu - success! Now I can bring up the menu screen, all I need to do now is figure out what the hell I'm doing in there so I don't kill the chip and/or console... The menu says ' Xenium-OS v1.0'. I've managed to find a pdf for 'Xenium-os v 1.1' (Google led me to a post by chipntsc in the modchips forum on this site!), hopefully that's not too different. A hell of a lot to take in there though! Not a clue where to start!

Edited March 29, 2019 by DaveB

[KaosEngineer]

Ah ha, XeniumOS v1.0 must have a different method to start up the XeniumOS than the 2.x versions.

The 2.0 manual says to use Eject button. I'll have to try holding the white button on a used v1.6 console I bought that has a Xenium SP I.C.E. modchip installed.

I'd first update to the latest version of the XeniumOS.

Download XeniumOS v2.3.1 Update from HDD or DVD (disc) with the ISO version.

If I'm not mistaken; however, READ the MANUAL for how to UPDATE the XeniumOS, you have to open the case and flip a switch on the Xenium modchip to flash the XeniumOS (recovery mode).  Once the XeniumOS is updated, flip the switch back for normal operating mode.

[KaosEngineer]

3 hours ago, DaveB said:

Aha, after much trawling of the internet, I found an installation guide that says to hold the white controller button during boot to access the Xenium menu - success! Now I can bring up the menu screen, all I need to do now is figure out what the hell I'm doing in there so I don't kill the chip and/or console... The menu says ' Xenium-OS v1.0'. I've managed to find a pdf for 'Xenium-os v 1.1' (Google led me to a post by chipntsc in the modchips forum on this site!), hopefully that's not too different. A hell of a lot to take in there though! Not a clue where to start!

You'll add other BIOS's to the Xenium in the Load menu.

Easiest to upload the BIOS dot bin files you want flashed to the chip to the xbox's HDD.  Create a C:\BIOS folder and store them there.  You can then select the source of the BIOS files you want to add/flash to the modchip.  Follow the onscreen instructions to browse to the file on the HDD and load/flash it. After flashing the BIOS or BIOSes to the modchip, you can either let the chip load into the Xenium OS and select the one to use or set a default BIOS to boot.

Without a default set, on bootup, the XeniumOS will load and you then select the modified Xbox BIOS to use.

[Ging3rguy]

You need to load your chosen bios to your hdd, then when in the xenium flash menu navigate to the bios file on your hdd.

[KaosEngineer]

Update to my previous statement on upgrading the XeniumOS.

Did a bit more reading and the XeniumOS v1.1 update readme.nfo documentation states:

Quote

=========================
 UPGRADE PROCEDURE NOTES
=========================

Should you be performing the Xenium-OS Update by placing the recovery.bin file on your console's E:\ and entering Recovery Mode, we strongly suggest that the recovery.bin file is either renamed or deleted, to prevent the Upgrade process from being performed unintentionally and your Xenium-OS settings being reset.

So download the XeniumOS 2.3.1 HDD archive, extract and upload the recovery.bin file to the root of the E drive.  Select the recovery mode menu item to update the OS as stated in the XeniumOS v1.1 User Manual.

Quote

Recovery Mode – You can repair or upgrade your Xenium-OS by selecting this menu item.

 

[DaveB]

Cheers everybody, tomorrow I'll read through the manual and read the replies a few times and try to wrap my head around how to do this properly, and hopefully not screw up an otherwise working nicely for 17 years old v1.1 xbox!