Lost my MS Dash, need to enable HD video

[Daver80]

Had a weird experience with my latest mod, an xbox 1.6 chipped with an Aladdin XT. First, the dvd drive has a terrible sticking problem I have been unable to fix so far. So, I swapped out dvd drive with another one from a parts xbox, oddly the new dvd drive will play official discs but seems not to read burned discs despite the modchip??? So, unable to boot Hexen I had to swap back to the original (sticky) drive in order to set up the new hdd. When I attempted to run my tried and true copy of Hexen 2017 the disc still refused to recognize at all for some reason (btw just wtf here, this disc has always worked on every other xbox I've modded - but now no), but a copy of Hexen 2018 did in fact boot right up. I went ahead with Hexen 2018 (although I prefer to use 2017 due to having some issue previously with 2018, I can't remember now just what..) and everything seemed to go okay... until I tried to set up hd video modes. I get this error, 'msdash.xbe does not exist' or something similar. Seems that does not get installed when you use Hexen 2018??? According to some thread this file IS included on Hexen 2017 which makes sense because I never had this issue before. Anyways, after all this I just got impatient and ftp'd a copy of msdash.xbe over from another previously modded xbox 1.6 running the same modchip and... now the machine errors out with hardware error 21 every time I try to run the ms dashboard. I feel like I'm starting to lose my mind, I actually already had a couple of other issues earlier on in this mod but got past them.

I saw another suggestion to just download msdash.xbe from the internet but when I googled to download it there were like four different versions or something and I really just don't want to mess around anymore.

Can anyone help? Thanks in advance if so...

[sweetdarkdestiny]

There is no " msdash.xbe " for a chip mod (Maybe a softmod - shortcut).  The original xbe is "xboxdash.xbe".

If you can put the in you pc and use FATXplorer 3.0 beta to copy the file from the HeXEn dvd "D:\StockFiles\c\  (damn it hurts to write that) to your C drive.

If you can still boot the disk use the UX File explorer to do so. After that you should be able to boot up your xbox again - if you have the right bios on your chip.

Btw. For normal the XBox should not care about the xboxdash.xbe with a chip because it would boot a dash from E:\Dash\XXXX or a shortcut from C:\evoxdash.xbe (Even hexen does that).

That msdash.xbe stuff sounds to me that there is a softmod on the HDD.

[Daver80]

Sorry, yeah you're right its 'xboxdash.xbe'. I have a 7 month old, memory isn't what it used to be lol. Also to be clear, I have no trouble booting the xbox. My problem is that in order to enable the hd video modes it seems you have to actually run the original ms dashboard to do that. At the moment the xbox boots fine to unleashx but, I want to get hd video going and don't seem able to do that without that 'xboxdash.xbe' (thanks for the correction btw, I hate to sound like a dummy). Your suggestion about FATXplorer might have some legs though, I just don't understand why the copy from my other chipped 1.6 errors out... this whole situation is just so strange...

Anyways, thanks for the suggestion, I guess I'll have to dl FATXplorer and give that a try if nothing else... unless there's another way to enable the hd video that I don't know about...

[SS_Dave]

I had a look at mine

It is the xboxdash.xbe on C drive but you can rename it it you want/need to

If you Xbox is chipped you can still load the XGXbox installer disk or you could FTP the file maybe.

 

 

Cheers

SS Dave

Soft modding is like masturbating, It gets the job done but it's nothing like the real thing.

[Daver80]

Thanks for the reply SS_Dave. Yeah, I know that's the file I need. Unfortunately the machine will only boot hexen 2018 and not 2017 as I am told that file exists on the 2017 hexen but not the 2018 one.

I have never used  nor heard of XGXbox installer, I did ftp a copy I have from a previously modded xbox 1.6 (my old crystal xbox that was modded with the hexen 2017 disc mind) and that did not work, threw a hardware error 21.

Also, nice quote about soft modding. I like that.

[KaosEngineer]

1 hour ago, Daver80 said:

Sorry, yeah you're right its 'xboxdash.xbe'. I have a 7 month old, memory isn't what it used to be lol. Also to be clear, I have no trouble booting the xbox. My problem is that in order to enable the hd video modes it seems you have to actually run the original ms dashboard to do that. At the moment the xbox boots fine to unleashx but, I want to get hd video going and don't seem able to do that without that 'xboxdash.xbe' (thanks for the correction btw, I hate to sound like a dummy). Your suggestion about FATXplorer might have some legs though, I just don't understand why the copy from my other chipped 1.6 errors out... this whole situation is just so strange...

Anyways, thanks for the suggestion, I guess I'll have to dl FATXplorer and give that a try if nothing else... unless there's another way to enable the hd video that I don't know about...

The stock dashboard consists of hundreds of files and folders on the C drive - 209 files in 20 folders and subfolders (totalling 171 MB or 180,218,830 bytes in size to be exact.

You can upload the entire set of files/folders for the latest version of the stock dashboard, 5960, to the root folder of the C drive using UnleashX's FTP server.

Clean_C_and_E_Files_for_Xbox.7z (There's nothing needed from the E folder extracted - two empty subfolders UDATA and TDATA which should already be on your Xbox's hard drive.)

xboxdash.xbe is but one of these files used to start the stock Xbox dashboard.

 

NOTE: Some old softmods (edit: and hardmod setups) used xboxdash.xbe as the replacement dashboard they boot.  xboxdash.xbe may actually be UnleashX's executable file and the original xboxdash.xbe renamed to msdash.xbe.    Before you upload the files for the stock dashboard, can you post a directory listing that shows names and file sizes of the files/folders on the C drive?

Edit: At a minimum, the top-level (root) directory of the C drive.

[Daver80]

Here is a list of the files on the C drive, there does not appear to be any folders. Does all this seem right to you? Let me know if I should go ahead and upload those files you linked to, and thanks a bunch:)

[SS_Dave]

It would be easier to start again.

When you burn a DVD for a Xbox use a brand name blank DVD-r (I use Verbatim DVD-r) and write the disk as slow as you burner will go.

You could also try the Slayer 2.7 2021 disk

 

Cheers

SS Dave

Soft modding is like masturbating, It gets the job done but it's nothing like the real thing.

[Daver80]

Hey SS Dave, thanks for the replies. Both of my hexen discs were burned at 1x and the 2017 disc has worked on every other xbox I've modded for the last few years. I could try to burn again but I have a pretty strong suspicion that nothing will change with another burn... seems like its something with this particular machine.. like its really weird also how when I swap the dvd drive then it will no longer run burned discs, wtf is up with that??

I guess I could try the slayer thing but I'd rather avoid dealing with something unfamiliar if possible, so far I've been able to get by with Hexen 2017 and 2018.

Kaos Engineer pointed me to some files and asked for that pic so I was hoping for a lead there...

[Daver80]

Just an update, I ftp'd those files Kaos Engineer linked to and that did the trick, the MS dash is back and HD video modes have been enabled and are now working perfectly!

Thanks a ton for the replies and assistance and special thanks for the link to those c and e drive files, super happy to put this one to bed:)

Edited March 11, 2021 by Daver80

[sweetdarkdestiny]

6 hours ago, Daver80 said:

Thanks for the reply SS_Dave. Yeah, I know that's the file I need. Unfortunately the machine will only boot hexen 2018 and not 2017 as I am told that file exists on the 2017 hexen but not the 2018 one.

On my HeXEn 2017 and 2018 they are on. https://imgur.com/a/HEojYvm

 

[HDShadow]

FYI the msdash.xbe is what AID and old SID versions renamed the MS dash XBE post softmod. Other softmods might have used it too. Newer SID versions now use xb1xdash.xbe for the renamed MS dash.

With SID/AID the MS dash is still considered an important feature to include both on C:\ and even more importantly in E:\Backups\MS. That is the folder used if the SUD/AID softmodded Xbox is to be returned to retail state. It is vital it is actually checked it works before doing that.

BTW generic MS dash files ie. stockfiles are usually 5960 dashboards and I've found they do not work with some softmods that were accidentally not updated before softmodding.  

The xboxdash.xbe, the original MS dash in retail state, is reused by many softmods for another purpose. I've never understood why but no doubt there was a good reason for this.

Point is that as this renaming and re-tasking does happen with softmods in particular you should never assume what a XBE does launch just from its name. You can very easily have two xboxdash.xbes on the same Xbox in different locations which do not do the same thing.

 

[KaosEngineer]

On 3/10/2021 at 4:20 PM, SS_Dave said:

It would be easier to start again.

When you burn a DVD for a Xbox use a brand name blank DVD-r (I use Verbatim DVD-r) and write the disk as slow as you burner will go.

You could also try the Slayer 2.7 2021 disk

 

Cheers

SS Dave

Soft modding is like masturbating, It gets the job done but it's nothing like the real thing.

NO!!!!

[KaosEngineer]

On 3/10/2021 at 4:04 PM, Daver80 said:

Here is a list of the files on the C drive, there does not appear to be any folders. Does all this seem right to you? Let me know if I should go ahead and upload those files you linked to, and thanks a bunch:)

Yes, extract and upload the C folder contents of the Clean C and E Files for Xbox.7z archive I linked in a previous post to your Xbox's C drive.

 

[Spartan195]

On 3/10/2021 at 9:32 PM, KaosEngineer said:

The stock dashboard consists of hundreds of files and folders on the C drive - 209 files in 20 folders and subfolders (totalling 171 MB or 180,218,830 bytes in size to be exact.

You can upload the entire set of files/folders for the latest version of the stock dashboard, 5960, to the root folder of the C drive using UnleashX's FTP server.

Clean_C_and_E_Files_for_Xbox.7z (There's nothing needed from the E folder extracted - two empty subfolders UDATA and TDATA which should already be on your Xbox's hard drive.)

xboxdash.xbe is but one of these files used to start the stock Xbox dashboard.

 

NOTE: Some old softmods (edit: and hardmod setups) used xboxdash.xbe as the replacement dashboard they boot.  xboxdash.xbe may actually be UnleashX's executable file and the original xboxdash.xbe renamed to msdash.xbe.    Before you upload the files for the stock dashboard, can you post a directory listing that shows names and file sizes of the files/folders on the C drive?

Edit: At a minimum, the top-level (root) directory of the C drive.

Hello, I'm just here to ask if there's any risk of copying those files into my long lasting modded xbox and loading the original ms dashboard. I just need it to copy music from cd's and create playlist.

[KaosEngineer]

5 hours ago, Spartan195 said:

Hello, I'm just here to ask if there's any risk of copying those files into my long lasting modded xbox and loading the original ms dashboard. I just need it to copy music from cd's and create playlist.

It should not be, but...let's start with a few questions first before you do:

How's it modded: soft or hard?  Can you connect to the Xbox with an FTP client?  If so, what files and folders are already present on the C drive?

 

 

[Spartan195]

On 7/5/2022 at 3:16 AM, KaosEngineer said:

It should not be, but...let's start with a few questions first before you do:

How's it modded: soft or hard?  Can you connect to the Xbox with an FTP client?  If so, what files and folders are already present on the C drive?

 

 

Sorry I didn't saw the notification. 

I had it softmoded, tried to copy the files and bricked it, service screeen. Then I bought the openxenium modchip and installed, copied the evoX kernel and Now I can boot it again. 

But I guess I messed up the retail files by copying the files in here because I got a lot of replace promps.

Now It works but the retail doesn't.
 
Attached the files in the HDD. I think I have some more folders from wrongly copying a game data there

[Spartan195]

On 7/5/2022 at 3:16 AM, KaosEngineer said:

It should not be, but...let's start with a few questions first before you do:

How's it modded: soft or hard?  Can you connect to the Xbox with an FTP client?  If so, what files and folders are already present on the C drive?

 

 

Ok I figured it out sorry for the spam

I had 4 files that were not "official" config, evodash, items and original.

I wiped all other files and data and just keep those 4, then copied all the data from the zip you shared and worked like a charm!

Thanks a lot for your help and sorry!

[HDShadow]

Glad it is sorted now but just FYI looking at the C:\ drive content:-

The evoxdash.xbe there was clearly a shortcut, I'd guess either to a XBMC folder on E:\ or in E:\XBMC\Apps or possibly another dash in a "Dash" folder somewhere.

The original.xbe would have been your original main dash (likely UnleashX or EvoX) before the dash was replaced by XBMC or whatever. 

As all this is on C:\ that suggest at some point it was hardmodded despite it actually being a softmod. That could indicate the dash install option used was not intended for a softmod use.

What appears to be two xboxdashdata files is clearly wrong and what that iconos file is: no idea.

BTW the config.xml, evoxdash.xbe, items.xml are all "official" files. It adds further evidence that the "original.xbe" was indeed your original dash renamed when the new "evoxdash.xbe" (the shortcut) replaced it. The original dash, UnleashX, generates it own default config.xml and item.xml and those were left over after the shortcut was introduced.   

[Spartan195]

18 hours ago, HDShadow said:

Glad it is sorted now but just FYI looking at the C:\ drive content:-

The evoxdash.xbe there was clearly a shortcut, I'd guess either to a XBMC folder on E:\ or in E:\XBMC\Apps or possibly another dash in a "Dash" folder somewhere.

The original.xbe would have been your original main dash (likely UnleashX or EvoX) before the dash was replaced by XBMC or whatever. 

As all this is on C:\ that suggest at some point it was hardmodded despite it actually being a softmod. That could indicate the dash install option used was not intended for a softmod use.

What appears to be two xboxdashdata files is clearly wrong and what that iconos file is: no idea.

BTW the config.xml, evoxdash.xbe, items.xml are all "official" files. It adds further evidence that the "original.xbe" was indeed your original dash renamed when the new "evoxdash.xbe" (the shortcut) replaced it. The original dash, UnleashX, generates it own default config.xml and item.xml and those were left over after the shortcut was introduced.   

I knew it! I got surprised because the lcp sockets were already welded and I was really surprised by this because I don't remember hardmodding it in any way. Long ago like 2010 my father brought my xbox to a friend to mod it, I had this xbox since 2006 brand new.  I always thought it was softmodded because I opened it so many times to clean it and there was no chip. After looking the connections welded and some were actually left really dirty I was thinking "this had to be hardmodded with a modchip and then removed" because most of the welding points were already filled with tin. 

Thanks for your reply, I really didn't know that was a thing!

TBH there's nothing like hardmodding, It's really easy to fix a mess or to load dashboards and apps without worrying about "briking it". Thanks again to ogxbox community for helping me out!