Iso-Burned Discs Won't Work On Modded Xbox

[ssj4yamcha]

Hello all... I've been researching this issue for over a week and can't find a solution so hoping you all can help.

I bought this modded xbox about 15 years ago with the games already backed up on HDD. I've added a bunch of pics of the screens.

1- why is the default xecuter2 (or is it evoX?) main menu screen so ugly and inefficient? it takes up to 3 clicks to actually get to games. Could you point me to tutorials on how to customize this?
2- when i looked up tutorials on how to ftp and finally figured it out, it looks like i have folders (partitions??) C, E, and F with files loaded. E only has ~4GB capacity, and F has about 60GB. But I'm reading that actually F and G should have large capacities. Should G be able to hold games or files? Currently G is empty.
3- I've made 6 coasters so far trying to burn ISOs to play from the Disc drive. Nothing seems to be working because the xbox doesn't recognize the discs at all. Normal xbox discs and DVD movies play perfectly. Burned ISO images on DVD-R do not work. Any ideas?? I'm using ImgBurn and extract-XISO at 4x speed with DVD-Rs.

[KaosEngineer]

You have to create XISO disc images - a special Xbox disc image format for the Xbox to recognize a disci image you'd burn to blank media (DVD-R), not a standard ISO9660 disc image that most windows ISO tools will create.

Qwix and C-Xbox Tool are two xbox-scene Windows apps that can be used to create XISO images from the game's file set.

[ssj4yamcha]

8 minutes ago, KaosEngineer said:

You have to create XISO disc images - a special Xbox disc image format for the Xbox to recognize a disci image you'd burn to blank media (DVD-R), not a standard ISO9660 disc image that most windows ISO tools will create.

Qwix and C-Xbox Tool are two xbox-scene Windows apps that can be used to create XISO images from the game's file set.

Thanks for the quick reply!

So Extract XISO v2.2 doesn't work?? There are a bunch of tutorials that pointed me to that application. I guess I could try Qwix.

[KaosEngineer]

I've never used Extract-XISO; however, creating an XISO with it from the game's file set should be doing the same thing as Qwix or C-Xbox Tool.

Burn the discs to a good DVD-R media. not cheap crappy one's. I've had good luck with Philips DVD-Rs but prefer to use Verbatim AZO DVD-R media, not their cheaper Life Series media sold in most stores.

4x speed.  Although I'm  not sure that the burning speed makes much difference on today's burners compared to those that were available in 2001-2004. 

[ssj4yamcha]

7 minutes ago, KaosEngineer said:

I've never used Extract-XISO; however, creating an XISO with it from the game's file set should be doing the same thing as Qwix or C-Xbox Tool.

Burn the discs to a good DVD-R media. not cheap crappy one's. I've had good luck with Philips DVD-Rs but prefer to use Verbatim AZO DVD-R media, not their cheaper Life Series media sold in most stores.

Just used Qwix and yea, that's another coaster. XBOX still won't read the disc. I'm using what I heard was recommended for compatibility with xbox dvd-drives: memorex 16x DVD-R, but forcing a burn at 4x write only. I use Extract XISO to create the files, and ImageBurn to burn it to DVD.

I still think the issue is with the modded xbox, not the discs... but yea, clearly I don't know.

[KaosEngineer]

Your Xbox's DVD drive may not be working correctly.  Not a problem with the discs you are burning but the device trying to read them.

[KaosEngineer]

In the past, I seem to recall being steered away from using blank Memorex media.   Try burning the XISO disc image to a higher quality of blank media.

 

Edit: I don't think any local retail stores will have media that I'd ever burn XISOs to.  However, the Philips media I'd been using before I switched to Verbatim AZO DVD-Rs were.

[ssj4yamcha]

Just now, KaosEngineer said:

Your Xbox's DVD drive may not be working correctly.  Not a problem with the discs you are burning but the device trying to read them.

Even though it reads regular xbox games and DVDs perfectly? That's why i assumed it wasn't the DVD player but rather a softmod/hardmod issue, or perhaps even maybe a setting.

[KaosEngineer]

In ImgBurn what does it show for the disc's Manufacturer ID?

The value displayed in this example is MKM 01RW6X01.  

Source of image: http://imgburn.com/index.php?act=screenshots

 

[HDShadow]

I think we may need to go back to the download source to find the problem.

When you download what type of file are you downloading? Presumably it is Zipped, 7Zipped or RARed but what type of file do you get when it is unpacked?

If it is just the Xbox game content files there is always the option of FTPing them instead. If its one of those redump downloads which seem to be all too common now it would explain the problem.

If its not that my initial thought was simply that the OP may be creating an XISO out of a double packed game folder.

BTW What disc drive type is being used?

Try this Soul Calibur Reloaded download as a test:-

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/11VWGgFY7om1blbtSMf5KXhGXJVZ8stJ9

Its only 795MB 7Zipped. Unpack it and you should get a Soul Calibur 2 Reloaded 1.8GB folder with the game files inside.

Create an XISO of that folder using Qwix or C Xbox Tool and burn that with ImgBurn "Write Image file to disc" on DVD-R at x4. If your Xbox doesn't boot that your disc drive is the most likely cause of the problem.

   

[ssj4yamcha]

couldn't post yesterday - I guess there's a limit to the number of posts per day?

So yea I got your download

• used winrar to unzip into 1 folder with 6 files
• used Extract-XISO to create an ISO of the folder
• used ImageBurn to write the ISO to a memorex DVD-R at 4x speed. 

The xbox couldn't read it. Immediately after I tried both a regular xbox game and it worked perfectly, and a DVD movie which also worked perfectly.

I did some more digging and found this site which helped me identify that I had a Philips DVD drive, and that Memorex DVD-R should work. So I'm back to thinking it's a software issue, not hardware. That said, I'll order Verbatim DVD-Rs just to 100% make sure it's not the DVD brand causing the issue. 

Any other advice??

Thanks for all your help so far.

[HDShadow]

Try again but using Qwix or C Xbox Tools to create the XISO.

If that doesn't work then your DVD RW could be the problem. I have come across this type of problem before and if it is not the Xbox disc drive on the way out then what's left? The thing you burned it with.

The Philips Xbox drives (both VAD6035/21) I have are the least media friendly in my experience despite what some compatibility tables say. But your one is reading original discs so that suggests it is still OK and it should be happy with DVD-R.

EDIT

Don't bother with a Qwix or C Xbox Tool test.

I've, literally in the last 15 minutes, made an XISO using Extract-XISO (newly installed from Xbox-HQ) and burned that on a Samsung DVD RW to a Maxell DVD-R (x4 ImgBurn).

I'm now looking at Soul Calibur 2 Reloaded playing from that disc on a SID/AID softmodded v1.4 Xbox using a Philips drive.

So likely only two things it could be now really: as suggest your DVD RW is not burning good discs (ageing laser?) or it is something to do with the BIOS being used. Do you know what that is? It would be an unlikely coincidence but there are versions of the X2 4982 BIOS which apparently don't support backups.

My money is on your Mashita DVD RW being the problem.

I would suggest you install an UnleashX dash as an app at least and if you prefer it to your clunkly old EvoX main dash and old apps like Boxplorer and PXHDD Loader considered replacing it with that. The integrated File Explorer is far more convenient and functional than Boxplorer. 

I'll test the disc tomorrow on another v1.4 I have with a Philips drive but that is a TSOP using the HeXEn Evox M8+ F&G BIOS.

[KaosEngineer]

From some very old posts (circa 2008) on forum.videohelp.com,

Quote

I gave up on finding the elusive RICOHJPN R02 / RICOHJPN R03 media coded discs, so I've been looking for another type of disc for long term storage / playback of backed up movies. I saw this disc as being "premium grade" on the website I found them on, so I decided to buy them. I was wondering if anyone out there that has had long term experience (at least 6 months of usage) can tell me if this disc is reliable. I recently bought a pack of 100 of them and have been backing up various flicks on them. I want to know if they're stored for a few months, then pulled out to use to make copies off of, or to view if they will give me freezing and skipping during playback, or worse yet, give the "no disc" message when played in the DVD player.

Quote

You've been had. CMC makes some of the worst media on the planet.
Take a look at http://www.nomorecoasters.com ( edit: <-- web site offline  )
Their DVD+R discs are apparently only "bad" as opposed to the "horribly bad" DVD-R discs they make.

One of my friends uses CMC made DVD-Rs and I can say hands down that those are the worst DVD discs I have ever seen. No, CMC made media is in no way reliable. Why didn't you ask BEFORE buying? A 100 pack? Yikes! I'd throw them in the trash. If you use them, you honestly need to be prepared for anything burned on them to have errors, be unplayable, be difficult to impossible to copy, etc.

Around here we recommend Verbatim and Taiyo Yuden because they are the only brands that are reliably good. Other brands that used to use first rate manufacturers like TDK and Sony (at least in terms of what both sell in the USA) have now outsourced their discs to less reliable companies and the quality has gone downhill.

Then as today, CMC MAG AM3 media are horrible.  Some packs may work for awhile and other's may be complete duds, not readable immediately after burning or 6 months to a year later.

[HDShadow]

I deliberately used Maxell DVD-R as they're the only disc media only packs you can get here in the UK from local shops. You can find over-priced Verbatim in a few places but that's it unless you go online.

I've just re-checked and the batch of Maxell DVD-Rs I'm using and used for that successful test burn, as  thought are exactly the same CMC MAD. AM3 as the OP used.

 

I will admit that I have had two very bad packs of Maxell DVD-R (x10) in the past: out of the 20 discs 4 gave me unreadable discs and I was burning identical ISOs for testing using identical equipment and settings so it could not have been anything but the discs. But since then all the packs I've bought they've been reliable and there's been no premature ageing problems yet.

I do prefer to use Maxell DVD-RW - the two year old batch I'm using are reported as RITEKW06 and I've re-used some of those discs multiple times now. Unfortunately only Hitachi, Samsung 605B and my Thomson disc drive fitted Xboxes like DVD-RW. The two Philips and two Samsung 605F drives I have reject them entirely.

My suspicion is still that ssj4yamcha Matshita DVD RW is the problem. I've trouble-shooted at least two cases in the past where after eliminating everything else as a possibility only the PC's DVD RW was left as the cause and indeed when replaced or another burner tried the trouble was resolved.

But I'm not rejecting the possibility of a bad batch of discs - if they've not been kept in suitable conditions since purchase or during shipping you could be as unlucky as I was with those two packs. If that failure percentage is typical and repeated you could have 20 bad discs in a 100 pack.

 

 

Edited April 29, 2020 by HDShadow

[ShinGoutetsu]

Best success rate on burned media for me back in the day was a combination of using imgburn, ritek dye based dvd-r (datawrite) and a pioneer dvr-108 ide model dvd-rw 

[ssj4yamcha]

Thanks for all the great feedback! Sorry I haven't replied in a while, was hunting for different stores to see who would sell Verbatim discs (not easy to find!)... picked up both +R and -R. DVD+R didn't work at all (assumed it wouldn't be did it for completion's sake, since there has been some discussion on some drives "preferring" +R over -R).

Verbatim DVD-R actually got the Xbox Philips drive thinking about it, recognized (for the first time) that there was actually a burned disc in there, but then prompted the "There is a problem with your disc. It may be damaged" error. So... progress?

So I'm reading 2 possible next steps - try a new dashboard or try a different DVD burner and see if that works...
I'll do a couple more burns on different burners first, that seems to be easiest. If that still doesn't work, I'll try a new dashboard. Like I said I bought this modded xbox >15 years ago, as-is, so no clue what the previous owner did or how to install a new dashboard. From what I'm gathering from tutorials though, don't I need the drive to read burned discs??

to be continued!!