Can You Softmod, Install Dlc, and Then Un-Softmod?

[PlatypusEgg 2]

So, I'd like to be able to retain the original Xbox experience as faithfully as possible, but I also want to acquire some of the otherwise-unobtainable DLC for games like Halo 2 and Ninja Gaiden. Theoretically, would I be able to install a software mod, add the DLC for those games, and then uninstall it? For the record, I do have the actual discs for all of the games I want to play.

Edited October 4, 2020 by PlatypusEgg

[Arakula 11]

At least according to this here (for Ninja Gaiden), it doesn't look all too easy, but might work.

 

Edited October 4, 2020 by Arakula

[PlatypusEgg 2]

33 minutes ago, Arakula said:

At least according to this here (for Ninja Gaiden), it doesn't look all too easy, but might work.

 

Indeed, that's a good resource for the process, and there's certainly lots of those on the internet. But the question of whether or not the DLC requires the software mod after the installation remains elusive, despite my best research. And I don't want to start tinkering with my own hardware until I understand what processes are irreversible.

[Arakula 11]

As far as I can see, it should not rely on the softmod after all the magical incantations have been done.

[HDShadow 70]

My question is - why? "Retain the original Xbox experience" - if you were being true to that you wouldn't be installing  DLC you're not strictly entitled to now. Sure you have the original game discs but DLC content was only available if you were signed up for Xbox Live. A lot of users even then were not because they did not have broadband. They never had access to the DLC because they were not entitled to it. That's the authentic experience. 

Just softmod and forget about it. If you really just want to launch discs from the MS dash then you can even after a softmod. With UnleashX you can put a controller shortcut so you can boot first to the MS dash. An even better solution would be to install a dual boot softmod with MS dash launched from the eject/close button. It was practically invented at that time to allow modded Xboxes to be used on Xbox Live so actually is an authentic experience.

Another good reason to mod permanently is that with use eventually your disc drive is going to fail - what are you going to do then? If you want to keep it working long into the future you need to use it as little as possible. Permanent modding and playing your original games installed on the HDD is the only sensible solution.

[PlatypusEgg 2]

8 minutes ago, HDShadow said:

My question is - why? "Retain the original Xbox experience" - if you were being true to that you wouldn't be installing  DLC you're not strictly entitled to now. Sure you have the original game discs but DLC content was only available if you were signed up for Xbox Live. A lot of users even then were not because they did not have broadband. They never had access to the DLC because they were not entitled to it. That's the authentic experience. 

Just softmod and forget about it. If you really just want to launch discs from the MS dash then you can even after a softmod. With UnleashX you can put a controller shortcut so you can boot first to the MS dash. An even better solution would be to install a dual boot softmod with MS dash launched from the eject/close button. It was practically invented at that time to allow modded Xboxes to be used on Xbox Live so actually is an authentic experience.

Another good reason to mod permanently is that with use eventually your disc drive is going to fail - what are you going to do then? If you want to keep it working long into the future you need to use it as little as possible. Permanent modding and playing your original games installed on the HDD is the only sensible solution.

Call me a traditionalist. I like relying on hardware that was available AND the intended experience at the time when the games and DLC were coming out. That's why I own an NES, SNES, N64, GC, Wii U,  60GB PS3, OG Xbox, and 360. Otherwise, I'd just play everything on PC emulators, using various gamepads. Also, I paid for the DLC way back when, but that was on my old Xbox which I got rid of years ago. I only went back to retro gaming/collecting recently.

Incidentally, do you know the answer to my original question? You seem pretty knowledgeable

Edited October 4, 2020 by PlatypusEgg

[HDShadow 70]

Yes, you can remove the softmod afterwards. But because you now need to use an app (actually just a modified UnleashX dash) to install it you'll have to launch it and install everything for every game you own which has DLC you want to use.

I'm pretty sure you need to have played the games and therefore created UDATA and TDATA for each one already. I don't think the DLC installer creates those folders for you, it just adds the DLC to it - mostly it goes in the TDATA folders.

Once done then I can see no reason why you can not remove the softmod. The E:\ drive content, where the UDATA and TDATA folders are I think not wiped and repopulated so you should be OK. However that may depend on the softmod. 

If that happens I cannot see any easy way round it. You could install the DLC, FTP your entire UDATA and TDATA folders to PC then remove the softmod. I'm pretty sure that you couldn't reinstall UDATA and TDATA straight to the MS dash using a FATX formatted flash drive. Even if the separate UDATA and TDATA content could be correctly installed this way it would be a horribly slow process.

I suspect you wouldn't be allowed to anyway, you'd be blocked from copying the content by the MS dash. However with the installer dash running again you could get FTP access without re-softmodding and install the UDATA and TDATA folders directly.

This is all theory. I have no idea if it would work in practice.

 

Edited October 5, 2020 by HDShadow

[PlatypusEgg 2]

T

On 10/4/2020 at 6:52 PM, HDShadow said:

Yes, you can remove the softmod afterwards. But because you now need to use an app (actually just a modified UnleashX dash) to install it you'll have to launch it and install everything for every game you own which has DLC you want to use.

I'm pretty sure you need to have played the games and therefore created UDATA and TDATA for each one already. I don't think the DLC installer creates those folders for you, it just adds the DLC to it - mostly it goes in the TDATA folders.

Once done then I can see no reason why you can not remove the softmod. The E:\ drive content, where the UDATA and TDATA folders are I think not wiped and repopulated so you should be OK. However that may depend on the softmod. 

If that happens I cannot see any easy way round it. You could install the DLC, FTP your entire UDATA and TDATA folders to PC then remove the softmod. I'm pretty sure that you couldn't reinstall UDATA and TDATA straight to the MS dash using a FATX formatted flash drive. Even if the separate UDATA and TDATA content could be correctly installed this way it would be a horribly slow process.

I suspect you wouldn't be allowed to anyway, you'd be blocked from copying the content by the MS dash. However with the installer dash running again you could get FTP access without re-softmodding and install the UDATA and TDATA folders directly.

This is all theory. I have no idea if it would work in practice.

 

Thanks! This gives me a good lead to go off of.

[bulkchart32 17]

On 10/4/2020 at 1:33 PM, PlatypusEgg said:

So, I'd like to be able to retain the original Xbox experience as faithfully as possible, but I also want to acquire some of the otherwise-unobtainable DLC for games like Halo 2 and Ninja Gaiden. Theoretically, would I be able to install a software mod, add the DLC for those games, and then uninstall it? For the record, I do have the actual discs for all of the games I want to play.

this is something i have thought about but never actually tried. here's how u may be able to do it. get the sid 5.11 softmod tool. load a game and then load the save game exploit to bring up the soft mod menu. at this menu, u will be able to ftp and access a file manager. if u do not install the softmod then the xbox will not be softmoded after the reboot. anyway, while u are still on the the sid 5.11 install screen, ftp the dlc installer to your xbox. use the file manager to find the .xbe and launch it. install the dlc and then reboot your xbox. reload the soft mod save exploit and then use your ftp program to delete the installer from your xbox's hdd. restart the xbox and try your game to see if it worked. if that doesn't work, sid 5.11 does have an option to uninstall it's softmode if u do install it. so, u can go ahead and install the soft mod and then install your dlc. and then u can unsoftmod it. i don't remember if the option to unsoftmod is in the save exploit option or the install disk(comes with the sid 5.11 files). but i have tried it before and that softmod is very reversable. btw, the ninja gaiden dlc is very complicated to install. halo is easy.

[bulkchart32 17]

1 hour ago, bulkchart32 said:

this is something i have thought about but never actually tried. here's how u may be able to do it. get the sid 5.11 softmod tool. load a game and then load the save game exploit to bring up the soft mod menu. at this menu, u will be able to ftp and access a file manager. if u do not install the softmod then the xbox will not be softmoded after the reboot. anyway, while u are still on the the sid 5.11 install screen, ftp the dlc installer to your xbox. use the file manager to find the .xbe and launch it. install the dlc and then reboot your xbox. reload the soft mod save exploit and then use your ftp program to delete the installer from your xbox's hdd. restart the xbox and try your game to see if it worked. if that doesn't work, sid 5.11 does have an option to uninstall it's softmode if u do install it. so, u can go ahead and install the soft mod and then install your dlc. and then u can unsoftmod it. i don't remember if the option to unsoftmod is in the save exploit option or the install disk(comes with the sid 5.11 files). but i have tried it before and that softmod is very reversable. btw, the ninja gaiden dlc is very complicated to install. halo is easy.

update: i just tried this with halo 2 and it worked! u don't have to install the softmod, just load the save exploit so that u can access ftp and the file manager.

[GoTeamScotch 26]

As others have said, yes you can softmod (or simply gain FTP access via a gamesave exploit), install DLC, then remove the softmod. Softmodding in this case is just a means to gain access to the hard drive in order to copy DLC (or a DLC installer app) over to it. The softmod itself isn't needed afterwards and can be removed if desired.

While you're softmodded, I highly recommend backing up your EEPROM just in case your hard drive ever dies. Your hard drive is locked to your Xbox using a unique password. Backing up your eeprom allows you to keep a copy of this password for if your hard drive ever dies and you need to build a new hard drive for it (which is common in 20 year old Xboxes). Consider nulling your hard drive key too for added convenience.

P.s. I'm with HDShadow. Personally, I see modding as getting the full Xbox experience plus more. You're not missing out on anything... only adding to it. But it's your decision.

[bulkchart32 17]

3 hours ago, GoTeamScotch said:

As others have said, yes you can softmod (or simply gain FTP access via a gamesave exploit), install DLC, then remove the softmod. Softmodding in this case is just a means to gain access to the hard drive in order to copy DLC (or a DLC installer app) over to it. The softmod itself isn't needed afterwards and can be removed if desired.

While you're softmodded, I highly recommend backing up your EEPROM just in case your hard drive ever dies. Your hard drive is locked to your Xbox using a unique password. Backing up your eeprom allows you to keep a copy of this password for if your hard drive ever dies and you need to build a new hard drive for it (which is common in 20 year old Xboxes). Consider nulling your hard drive key too for added convenience.

P.s. I'm with HDShadow. Personally, I see modding as getting the full Xbox experience plus more. You're not missing out on anything... only adding to it. But it's your decision.

i kind of get what he is saying. i have 2 hard modded xbox's with all games installed on them but i often find myself playing games on a stock xbox. there's just something about the original experience and i can't explain what it is.

[bulkchart32 17]

On 10/4/2020 at 1:33 PM, PlatypusEgg said:

So, I'd like to be able to retain the original Xbox experience as faithfully as possible, but I also want to acquire some of the otherwise-unobtainable DLC for games like Halo 2 and Ninja Gaiden. Theoretically, would I be able to install a software mod, add the DLC for those games, and then uninstall it? For the record, I do have the actual discs for all of the games I want to play.

btw, i also want to get the hurricane packs for ninja gaiden to work. if u ever get them to work then please let me know because i could use your help on them.

[PlatypusEgg 2]

On 10/7/2020 at 7:14 PM, bulkchart32 said:

btw, i also want to get the hurricane packs for ninja gaiden to work. if u ever get them to work then please let me know because i could use your help on them.

Assuming you mean without permanent soft-modding, will do! Otherwise, I believe the procedure is pretty straightforward. Here's a fairly recent guide:
https://stinger-magazine.com/side-stories/how-to-play-ninja-gaidens-hurricane-packs/

And thanks so much for confirming this is possible, especially for Halo 2, which was the biggest deal for me!

Edited October 9, 2020 by PlatypusEgg

[bulkchart32 17]

26 minutes ago, PlatypusEgg said:

Assuming you mean without permanent soft-modding, will do! Otherwise, I believe the procedure is pretty straightforward. Here's a fairly recent guide:
https://stinger-magazine.com/side-stories/how-to-play-ninja-gaidens-hurricane-packs/

And thanks so much for confirming this is possible, especially for Halo 2, which was the biggest deal for me!

do u know where to download the dlc installers and how to ftp and all that stuff?

[PlatypusEgg 2]

 

21 hours ago, bulkchart32 said:

do u know where to download the dlc installers and how to ftp and all that stuff?

This thread seems like a pretty comprehensive collection, including Ninja Gaiden:
https://digiex.net/threads/xbox-offline-xbox-live-downloadable-content-dlc-installers.675/
 

If you don't mind me asking though, isn't this where you already got the Halo 2 DLC installation files to run your test. If not, where? Also, how did you transfer them to your Xbox to try it out? With Xplorer 360?

On 10/7/2020 at 2:13 PM, bulkchart32 said:

update: i just tried this with halo 2 and it worked! u don't have to install the softmod, just load the save exploit so that u can access ftp and the file manager.

 

Edited October 10, 2020 by PlatypusEgg

[bulkchart32 17]

23 minutes ago, PlatypusEgg said:

 

This thread seems like a pretty comprehensive collection, including Ninja Gaiden:
https://digiex.net/threads/xbox-offline-xbox-live-downloadable-content-dlc-installers.675/
 

If you don't mind me asking though, isn't this where you already got the Halo 2 DLC installation files to run your test. If not, where? Also, how did you transfer them to your Xbox to try it out? With Xplorer 360?

 

that is where i got all my installers. they work very well but that website is a little annoying since it will only let u download a certain amount at a time. and i used a ftp program called filezilla to ftp the installer to E drive and then i deleted the installer after i was finished. do u know how to ftp?

Edited October 10, 2020 by bulkchart32

[PlatypusEgg 2]

8 minutes ago, bulkchart32 said:

that is where i got all my installers. they work very well but that website is a little annoying since it will only let u download a certain amount at a time. and i used a ftp program called filezilla to ftp the installer to E drive and then i deleted the installer after i was finished. do u know how to ftp?

Okay, cool. And it sounds like you used a direct ethernet connection between your PC and Xbox, correct? I'm still pretty new to the OG Xbox scene, haha. And I am familiar with an FTP, but haven't actually done one since high school, and certainly not with a game console.

Edited October 10, 2020 by PlatypusEgg

[bulkchart32 17]

6 minutes ago, PlatypusEgg said:

Okay, cool. And it sounds like you installed them with an FTP via a direct ethernet connection between your PC and Xbox, correct? I'm still pretty new to the OG Xbox scene, haha.

i'm trying to find u a good tuttorial. hang on.

[bulkchart32 17]

21 minutes ago, PlatypusEgg said:

Okay, cool. And it sounds like you used a direct ethernet connection between your PC and Xbox, correct? I'm still pretty new to the OG Xbox scene, haha. And I am familiar with an FTP, but haven't actually done one since high school, and certainly not with a game console.

use this method to get sid 5.11 to work. however, after u initially load the save exploit, don't click anything that says install. that screen will give u access to ftp and a file manager which is all u need. when u reboot the xbox, it will be back to normal unless u reload the save exploit. i still looking for a good guide on ftp so hang on.

[bulkchart32 17]

36 minutes ago, PlatypusEgg said:

Okay, cool. And it sounds like you used a direct ethernet connection between your PC and Xbox, correct? I'm still pretty new to the OG Xbox scene, haha. And I am familiar with an FTP, but haven't actually done one since high school, and certainly not with a game console.

this is a pretty good guide about how to ftp. disregard what he says about how to get game since that doesn't apply to u(and some of it is actually incorrect). use this process to ftp the installer to your E drive. then use the file manager on your xbox to access the new folder. run the .xbe(same as a .exe on a pc) and follow the instructions it give to install the dlc. reboot your your xbox and test the game to verify if the dlc is working. next, load the save exploit again so that u can use the ftp program. on your pc, go back into the hdd of your xbox and select E drive. find the installer, right-click and delete it. after doing all that, restart your xbox and u should be finished. btw, when i use filezilla it always takes a few moments for the last 3 files to transfer. just wait till they finish. u can see the active transfers at the bottom of the filezilla window.

[PlatypusEgg 2]

41 minutes ago, bulkchart32 said:

this is a pretty good guide about how to ftp. disregard what he says about how to get game since that doesn't apply to u(and some of it is actually incorrect). use this process to ftp the installer to your E drive. then use the file manager on your xbox to access the new folder. run the .xbe(same as a .exe on a pc) and follow the instructions it give to install the dlc. reboot your your xbox and test the game to verify if the dlc is working. next, load the save exploit again so that u can use the ftp program. on your pc, go back into the hdd of your xbox and select E drive. find the installer, right-click and delete it. after doing all that, restart your xbox and u should be finished. btw, when i use filezilla it always takes a few moments for the last 3 files to transfer. just wait till they finish. u can see the active transfers at the bottom of the filezilla window.

Good stuff! Two questions though:

(1) Where in the E: Drive? Applications? I suppose it doesn't matter since you delete the installation files afterwards...

(2) Did you need to remove your Xbox's clock capacitor before doing any of this soft-modding? I've read that it can actually brick the motherboard if you don't.

Edited October 10, 2020 by PlatypusEgg

[bulkchart32 17]

1 hour ago, PlatypusEgg said:

Good stuff! Two questions though:

(1) Where in the E: Drive? Applications? I suppose it doesn't matter since you delete the installation files afterwards...

(2) Did you need to remove your Xbox's clock capacitor before doing any of this soft-modding? I've read that it can actually brick the motherboard if you don't.

(1) just drop it into the root E drive. in other words, don't put it in any kind of folder. just drag and drop it into the E drive itself.

(2) it depends on which version of the xbox u have. if u can give me the date code on the bottom of the xbox then i may be able to answer that question. there are v1.0, v1.1, v1.2, v1.3, v1.4, v1.5(this version is only thought to exist but has never been proven), and v1.6. all versions prior to the 1.6 do need to have it removed. v1.6 does not need it removed. if u give me the date code then i may be able to tell u. this needs to be taken care of regardless of whether u mod it or not. btw, your not soft modding your xbox. you're just loading the save exploit. when u restart the xbox, it will go back to being normal. just do select "install" anything when u bring up the save exploit menu.

[bulkchart32 17]

On 10/4/2020 at 1:33 PM, PlatypusEgg said:

So, I'd like to be able to retain the original Xbox experience as faithfully as possible, but I also want to acquire some of the otherwise-unobtainable DLC for games like Halo 2 and Ninja Gaiden. Theoretically, would I be able to install a software mod, add the DLC for those games, and then uninstall it? For the record, I do have the actual discs for all of the games I want to play.

did u get the dlc for ninja gaiden to work?

[PlatypusEgg 2]

On 10/25/2020 at 11:08 PM, bulkchart32 said:

did u get the dlc for ninja gaiden to work?

Sorry for the delayed reply. I only just got all of the supplies I need to run the installer, and it works as flawlessly as you explained for Halo 2! I don't actually own Ninja Gaiden yet though, since I'm still on the fence about playing it. Have you run into any roadblocks trying to install them yourself?