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Installing new dash via FTP?


nopepon
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Hi guys! I'll get right into it:
 

The question: Is there a way to properly/completely install dashboards via FTP (rather than via DVD-R)?

(The secondary question: Is there a special dash/tool/step I'm missing to re-unlock the ability to rip games to the hard drive?)

The chip: Xecuter 3CE

The build: X3 Build 1959


The context:

(Bear with me because it's been a long time since I originally setup this system, so I'm relearning a lot as I go.)

I've had a v1.4 xbox hard modded for well over a decade that I would pull out occasionally. Unfortunately, I suspected the drive started going bad due to massive load times and freezing issues, and after a failed data recovery specialist attempt, I need to rebuild the drive from scratch. The up-side is that my Xecuter seems to still be going strong, and with the fresh drive I can boot into X3CL and FTP to the drive. I used the Disk Tools to reformat the drive and can see all the partitions in WinSCP.

I recently downloaded the EvoX dash (build 3935) and transferred the .xbe file to my C drive. This let me "Reboot To Dash" successfully, but the dashboard did not have any options to copy/play games (which is the ultimate goal -- to restore my Halo 2 mods to their former glory), and the dashboard seemed to wreck my ability to FTP into the drive. (WinSCP couldn't get the directory listing, so nothing would show up. I finally got back into it by basically reformatting the drive a couple times using a temporary third drive to get me back into X3CL...but anyway...) As well, I also notice that there are many other files in my EvoX download (skins, trainers, etc.) that I am completely ignoring by copying just the .xbe file over.

All over the internet (and this forum), I see recommendations to burn a custom ISO to a DVD-R and install from that, but I'd like to know if it's possible to complete this process properly via FTP.

 

I'm sure there's more info I could be providing here, so please let me know if I left anything out. Any and all input is appreciated!

Thank you!

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Quick update on this already: I did manage to find an UnleashX (0_39_0528A) download. Copying just the .xbe file to my C drive did manage to install a number of other things with it + the ability to copy games. So things are moving a bit!

My original question still stands, however. Are there things I'm missing? Does the EvoX just not come with the ability to rip discs?

Let's say I want to install dvd2xbox: Can I move over just the .xbe file and adjust my boot priority in X3CL?

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7 hours ago, nopepon said:

Let's say I want to install dvd2xbox: Can I move over just the .xbe file and adjust my boot priority in X3CL?

Install it as an Application to run from UnleashX's Applications menu.  (Upload its file set to [E, F or G]:\Apps\DVD2Xbox\)

Most complex applications include more than just their default.xbe file.

DVD2Xbox-v0.7.8-234_ACL Top-level Directory Listing:

464983064_DVD2XboxDirectoryListing.PNG.96373b25568a1fe0736f2973a344efb8.PNG

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10 hours ago, nopepon said:

All over the internet (and this forum), I see recommendations to burn a custom ISO to a DVD-R and install from that, but I'd like to know if it's possible to complete this process properly via FTP.

Yes, you do not have to use an Installer disc with the X3 BIOS's X3CL to install applications, dashboards, etc.

You can upload them with an FTP client to the Xbox's hard drive.

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10 hours ago, nopepon said:

I recently downloaded the EvoX dash (build 3935) and transferred the .xbe file to my C drive. This let me "Reboot To Dash" successfully, but the dashboard did not have any options to copy/play games (which is the ultimate goal -- to restore my Halo 2 mods to their former glory), and the dashboard seemed to wreck my ability to FTP into the drive. (WinSCP couldn't get the directory listing, so nothing would show up. I finally got back into it by basically reformatting the drive a couple times using a temporary third drive to get me back into X3CL...but anyway...) As well, I also notice that there are many other files in my EvoX download (skins, trainers, etc.) that I am completely ignoring by copying just the .xbe file over.

There are various network settings that can be adjusted for replacement dashboards.  The main two IP settings are Static or DHCP.

  1. Static manually assigns the IP address, subnet mask, default gateway and DNS server IP addresses to values set by the user.
  2. DHCP automagically assigns the addresses from a DHCP server on your home network that your Xbox is connected to.

If you did not upload an evox.ini file (or even if you did and it was set to use Static address assigment), the Xbox and PC may be on different subnets, even though connected to the same physical network, making it impossible for them to communicate with each other.

Example

192.168.0.1 with the subnet mask of 255.255.255.0 and 192.168.1.1 with the same subnet mask are prohibited from communicating with each other even when connected to the same physical network. 

They are logically on different subnetworks:

192.168.0.0/24 and 192.168.1.0/24.

 

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Wow, @KaosEngineer, fantastic stuff and very prompt too. Sidenote: Maybe I've just been off in my own world, but don't you miss the early internet when you spent tons of time on specific forums for your hobbies? This is already feeling like a great return to that :)
 

10 hours ago, KaosEngineer said:

You definitely need to update the X3's BIOS.  There have been many updates since Build 1959 to the latest Build 3294.

This may be a separate thread question, but I found another one of your posts where you linked to this guy: http://the-eye.eu/public/xbins/XBOX/Console Based Applications/bios/Xecuter/Xecuter3/X3_3294.rar. Is this still the best download?

Looking through the changelog, I see a myriad of changes since my current build. Are you aware of any gotchas I need to worry about given this huge jump in build state? Or any particular process I need to follow to ensure I don't accidentally brick something?

 

10 hours ago, KaosEngineer said:

Evoxdash has no built-in File Manager / Explorer or ability to RIP files from an Xbox DVD disc.

Got it -- makes sense!

 

10 hours ago, KaosEngineer said:

Install it as an Application to run from UnleashX's Applications menu.  (Upload its file set to [E, F or G]:\Apps\DVD2Xbox\)

Most complex applications include more than just their default.xbe file.

DVD2Xbox-v0.7.8-234_ACL Top-level Directory Listing:

464983064_DVD2XboxDirectoryListing.PNG.96373b25568a1fe0736f2973a344efb8.PNG

So this got me to where DVD2Xbox shows up under my applications folder as an executable item, but then it only opens to a blank screen. Here's a picture of filepath and directory as I currently have it. Any chance this is a "Rights" issue, or something simpler?

image.thumb.png.3a72e9ecafe23d281cbc2adb4fb63d3b.png

 

10 hours ago, KaosEngineer said:

There are various network settings that can be adjusted for replacement dashboards.  The main two IP settings are Static or DHCP.

  1. Static manually assigns the IP address, subnet mask, default gateway and DNS server IP addresses to values set by the user.
  2. DHCP automagically assigns the addresses from a DHCP server on your home network that your Xbox is connected to.

If you did not upload an evox.ini file (or even if you did and it was set to use Static address assigment), the Xbox and PC may be on different subnets, even though connected to the same physical network, making it impossible for them to communicate with each other.

Example

192.168.0.1 with the subnet mask of 255.255.255.0 and 192.168.1.1 with the same subnet mask are prohibited from communicating with each other even when connected to the same physical network. 

They are logically on different subnetworks:

192.168.0.0/24 and 192.168.1.0/24.

 

My networking professors would retroactively fail me for missing this sort of issue. Your explanation makes complete sense. Thank you VERY much for all your input above!

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2 hours ago, nopepon said:

This may be a separate thread question, but I found another one of your posts where you linked to this guy: http://the-eye.eu/public/xbins/XBOX/Console Based Applications/bios/Xecuter/Xecuter3/X3_3294.rar. Is this still the best download?

Yes, that's the last release that Team Xecuter released through the xbins FTP server.

The xbins FTP server is still online.  You can download the same file from there too.

Join the #xbins channel on an EFnet IRC server.  Request the login credentials to the FTP server which are sent to you in a private message then with an FTP client, login to the provided FTP server name/IP address using the username and password you receive.

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2 hours ago, nopepon said:

Looking through the changelog, I see a myriad of changes since my current build. Are you aware of any gotchas I need to worry about given this huge jump in build state? Or any particular process I need to follow to ensure I don't accidentally brick something?

Don't set a password in the X3 BIOS configuration to restrict access to the console.

How big is your current hard drive?  The LBA48 settings if 1959 supported LBA48 need to be the same for the new BIOS as they were on the old version.

After flashing a new BIOS to the X3 modchip, boot into the X3 Config Live menu (X3CL) - press and hold the white button until it appears.  In the main menu, select Reset to Defaults, reboot then make any settings changes you care to make.

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2 hours ago, nopepon said:

So this got me to where DVD2Xbox shows up under my applications folder as an executable item, but then it only opens to a blank screen. Here's a picture of filepath and directory as I currently have it. Any chance this is a "Rights" issue, or something simpler?

It should not get stuck on a blank screen. Look in the logs subfolder for a logfile.  It may have debugging information saved in it to help determine why the blank screen occurs.

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22 hours ago, KaosEngineer said:

Don't set a password in the X3 BIOS configuration to restrict access to the console.

How big is your current hard drive?  The LBA48 settings if 1959 supported LBA48 need to be the same for the new BIOS as they were on the old version.

After flashing a new BIOS to the X3 modchip, boot into the X3 Config Live menu (X3CL) - press and hold the white button until it appears.  In the main menu, select Reset to Defaults, reboot then make any settings changes you care to make.

My latest drive is 250GB IDE (upgraded from 80GB IDE). When I formatted the drive, I set the LBA48 setting to "F Drive upo 136Gb - G Drive gets the rest". I'm not sure I understand the connection yet about how this setting corresponds to my future BIOS upgrade. As well, it sounds like -- no matter what -- once I upgrade the BIOS, I need to Reset to Defaults, reboot, then remake settings changes (like IP, boot screen color changes, etc.).

 

22 hours ago, KaosEngineer said:

It should not get stuck on a blank screen. Look in the logs subfolder for a logfile.  It may have debugging information saved in it to help determine why the blank screen occurs.

Unfortunately the "logs" directory is empty :/

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It's so much easier to set up a new Hard Drive for a Xbox using a installation DVD.

In my view using the mod-chip to format a drive bigger then 120gb is a pain in the backside

When you formatted the HDD did you use Xbpartitioner?

Edit: Also have you got "Use saved Partition table =" enabled or disabled

 

Cheers

SS Dave


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

 

Edited by SS_Dave
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17 hours ago, SS_Dave said:

It's so much easier to set up a new Hard Drive for a Xbox using a installation DVD.

In my view using the mod-chip to format a drive bigger then 120gb is a pain in the backside

When you formatted the HDD did you use Xbpartitioner?

Edit: Also have you got "Use saved Partition table =" enabled or disabled

 

Dave: To format my new drive, I used the Disk Tools in X3CL. It took maybe 15 seconds in total and seemed pleasant enough. Is there something subtle here I've missed that suggests this was not a good way to format?

At the time of the formatting, I had "Use Saved Partition Table" disabled...Did I do bad? :D

Re installation DVD: This is how I did it back in the day because my networking skills/hardware were not robust enough to reliably FTP. And, of course, DVD-R's were plentiful! These days, I FTPing is so much easier, and do I really need more disks lying around? :P

(Btw, I have to say: From my lurking around the forum this last week or so, I've definitely come across your posts, and I can tell because of how much of an impression your signature left on me! haha)

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Whether or not to use the X3 Config Live's hard drive formatting option depends on how big the hard drive is.

I believe the X3 BIOS only supports formatting the extended partitions 6 and 7 with a maximum size of 256GBs each.  You need to enable the Use Saved Partition Table option and format them with XBPartitioner v1.3 if either one or both of them need to be larger than that size to use the entire hard drive's free space.  Even then, the maximum supported hard drive size is 2.2TBs. But most use a 2TB drive which after formatting has two extended partitions each 927.78GBs in size.

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15 hours ago, nopepon said:

Dave: To format my new drive, I used the Disk Tools in X3CL. It took maybe 15 seconds in total and seemed pleasant enough. Is there something subtle here I've missed that suggests this was not a good way to format?

At the time of the formatting, I had "Use Saved Partition Table" disabled...Did I do bad? :D

Re installation DVD: This is how I did it back in the day because my networking skills/hardware were not robust enough to reliably FTP. And, of course, DVD-R's were plentiful! These days, I FTPing is so much easier, and do I really need more disks lying around? :P

(Btw, I have to say: From my lurking around the forum this last week or so, I've definitely come across your posts, and I can tell because of how much of an impression your signature left on me! haha)

I tested a 2tb and let the X3 chip format it the way it wanted, I got a F drive of 120gb and a G drive of 1730gb. Then checking with Xbpartioner G drive was in ER

Using the X3 chip to format C, E is fine but in my view you are better of using Xbpartioner for formatting F  and G drives

By setting the "Use Saves Partition Table" to enabled the chip is happy to see a drive bigger than 120gb as it get the partition table from the HDD and not from the X3 chip and then you can also have all the remaining space of your 250gb as F drive.

 

About the only thing I FTP is XBMC4Gamers and backups of games if it's only 2 or 3 games other wise any more than that I use Fatxplorer with the drive connected to the PC, for 2tb drives I use a stand alone HDD cloning dock as that will copy the whole fully loaded HDD in just under 4 hours.

 

 

Cheers

SS Dave


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

 

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12 hours ago, SS_Dave said:

I tested a 2tb and let the X3 chip format it the way it wanted, I got a F drive of 120gb and a G drive of 1730gb. Then checking with Xbpartioner G drive was in ER

For the G drive/partition 7, what cluster size did XBPartitioner v1.3 show was being used?  

It is displayed in the bottom box of the main screen when the partition is highlighted/selected.

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Xbpartitioner also showed it as 1730gb but with a error.

 

The 1st 2tb I setup in my X3 chipped Xbox had me pulling my hair out.

That's what happens when you use mid 2000's software made to format a 200gb drive to format a 2015 2tb hard drive.

 

Cheers

SS Dave


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

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