Very Weird"Game wont launch"Problem

[SakisTheDrifter]

Hello People. I have a problem with one of my xboxes and i cant find any solution to this,so i would like some assistance. My problem is that one of my xboxes(v1.6 modchiped)wont launch forza. After i launch it,it freezes at black screen and i cant even use the in-game reset combo to reset the console,so to do that i have to press the eject button. It used to play fine some years ago,but after a save corrupt,it stopped launching. I tried deleting saves,reinstalling the game,signing and tranfering saves from my other xboxes,swapping the hard disc with one from another xbox that can launch the game and nothing will make it launch. Why would this happen? My other xboxes(v.1.1,1.2,1.4 tsops)launch the game fine!!!

[KaosEngineer]

Which BIOS are you using?

[SS_Dave]

On 6/5/2021 at 2:27 AM, SakisTheDrifter said:

My problem is that one of my xboxes(v1.6 modchiped)wont launch forza.

I am guessing it will have to be a EvoxM8 as it's 1.6

 

Is the Xbox set to the same region Pal/NTSC as the others?

 

Cheers

SS Dave

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

 

[SakisTheDrifter]

11 hours ago, KaosEngineer said:

Which BIOS are you using?

The problematic xbox is evox m8+1.6,the others are all ind 5004

[SakisTheDrifter]

10 hours ago, SS_Dave said:

I am guessing it will have to be a EvoxM8 as it's 1.6

 

Is the Xbox set to the same region Pal/NTSC as the others?

 

Cheers

SS Dave

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

 

Yea,all settings on all consoles are excactly the same!!!

[SS_Dave]

On 6/5/2021 at 2:27 AM, SakisTheDrifter said:

Hello People. I have a problem with one of my xboxes and i cant find any solution to this,so i would like some assistance. My problem is that one of my xboxes(v1.6 modchiped)wont launch forza. After i launch it,it freezes at black screen and i cant even use the in-game reset combo to reset the console,so to do that i have to press the eject button. It used to play fine some years ago,but after a save corrupt,it stopped launching. I tried deleting saves,reinstalling the game,signing and tranfering saves from my other xboxes,swapping the hard disc with one from another xbox that can launch the game and nothing will make it launch. Why would this happen? My other xboxes(v.1.1,1.2,1.4 tsops)launch the game fine!!!

What dash is the 1.6 using?

I have a 1.6 with a X3 chip and using the Evolution X dash and Froza does the the same as yours then I tested a different 1.6 with a Aladdin chip booting to xbmc4gamers and the game loads fine..

I have even used the same bios file on both the X3 chip and this time I used a DuoX2 with the exception of changing the default dash to load.

The main differences are the X3 Xbox was built over 3 years ago and has a evo dash and the other was built 2 weeks ago and has xbmc4gamers as the dash

Both Xbox's use HD component video (480, 720) with the DuoX2 having a internal wii2hdmi.

I tested launching Froza from file explorer on the X3 box and the screen went blank for 30 seconds then back to the main menu

 

Cheers

SS Dave

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

[SakisTheDrifter]

7 minutes ago, SS_Dave said:

What dash is the 1.6 using?

I have a 1.6 with a X3 chip and using the Evolution X dash and Froza does the the same as yours then I tested a different 1.6 with a Aladdin chip booting to xbmc4gamers and the game loads fine..

I have even used the same bios file on both the X3 chip and this time I used a DuoX2 with the exception of changing the default dash to load.

The main differences are the X3 Xbox was built over 3 years ago and has a evo dash and the other was built 2 weeks ago and has xbmc4gamers as the dash

Both Xbox's use HD component video (480, 720) with the DuoX2 having a internal wii2hdmi.

I tested launching Froza from file explorer on the X3 box and the screen went blank for 30 seconds then back to the main menu

 

Cheers

SS Dave

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

All the xboxes are using the UnleashX dashboard. I also tried launching it from XBMC but same thing happens. I started thinking it may be a bios issue(since the only xbox that doesnt launch it,is the evox one). What do you think?

[SS_Dave]

The same copy of Evox bios on a different 1.6 and on a 1.4 works here but not on the one with the X3 modchip flashed with the evox bios

So 3 different Xbox's all with the same EvoxM8 plus.67  BIOS and only 2 work.

 

later on I will try reloading the game on the non-working Xbox just to see what happens

 

Cheers

SS Dave

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

[SakisTheDrifter]

2 minutes ago, SS_Dave said:

The same copy of Evox bios on a different 1.6 and on a 1.4 works here but not on the one with the X3 modchip flashed with the evox bios

So 3 different Xbox's all with the same EvoxM8 plus.67  BIOS and only 2 work.

 

later on I will try reloading the game on the non-working Xbox just to see what happens

 

Cheers

SS Dave

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

I Have started thinking of the bios,because i just remember that the evox in the 1.6 is edited with a tool called evox tool or something,so i am thinking that maybe the program didnt save the new bios properly and messed up something in the file(rare,but can happen),so what i am gonna try when i get home,is flash a fully stock evox m8+1.6 to the chip and see if this will solve the issue. Try your method too and tell me what happens

[SS_Dave]

I will do

 

Cheers

SS Dave

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

[HDShadow]

I've just tried my original Forza Motorsport PAL disc on a PAL region changed to NTSC v1.6 with Xecuter 2.6CE with the unknown Evox M8+ 1.6 BIOS that was pre-installed before purchase. Both banks appear to use the same BIOS but one with logos removed.

UnleashX main dash (v572) no problems from disc at all. Plays in 480p no problem either. It does work the disc hard though so it is a game I'd suggest is always played as HDD installed.

Currently doing that now with DVD2Xbox so I can test it from the HDD too. Removed the three updater XBEs included first.

Thoughts: when you deleted the original Forza saves did you check the TDATA folder (4d53006e both PAL and NTSC) had been removed too? I noticed that is where the Leaderboards are saved and probably other stuff too like any DLC* there might be for it. The game also used X or Y or Z for a lot of stuff as well (300MB+).

EDIT

Just tried the HDD install and it worked perfectly as installed and after removing the three updater XBEs included too. Also works after installing the DLC 440 block Update and 480p/WS displays as it should and no specfic ACL patching apparently required either. Launches from UnleashX (v572 and v584), EvoX (B3935) and XBMC v3.5.3.

I have at least one other v1.6, softmodded, so I'll test it on that later if this matter is not resolved in the meantime.

* there is a Forza update but no other official DLC.  Plenty of user game save DLC though.

The official update is installed in E:\TDATA\4d53006e\Su and it looks like a replacement default.xbe  and a downloader.xbe. I've removed the latter then tested again and everything still works as it is supposed to.

BTW if you're want a good Preview FMV the game itself includes videos in its Forza Motorsport\media\FrontEnd folder. They're always far better than the ropy gameplay recordings Prevew packs often include.

You'll find they are in the, oft used with Xbox video content, .bik format (Bink Video) which are usually easily converted to XMV for any UnleashX skin use which has Previews enabled.  Usually the "Attract" videos are the ones to go for but in this case they're just the MS Studios branding FMV. However the "Intro" video there is ideal.

Edited June 6, 2021 by HDShadow

[SakisTheDrifter]

2 hours ago, HDShadow said:

I've just tried my original Forza Motorsport PAL disc on a PAL region changed to NTSC v1.6 with Xecuter 2.6CE with the unknown Evox M8+ 1.6 BIOS that was pre-installed before purchase. Both banks appear to use the same BIOS but one with logos removed.

UnleashX main dash (v572) no problems from disc at all. Plays in 480p no problem either. It does work the disc hard though so it is a game I'd suggest is always played as HDD installed.

Currently doing that now with DVD2Xbox so I can test it from the HDD too. Removed the three updater XBEs included first.

Thoughts: when you deleted the original Forza saves did you check the TDATA folder (4d53006e both PAL and NTSC) had been removed too? I noticed that is where the Leaderboards are saved and probably other stuff too like any DLC* there might be for it. The game also used X or Y or Z for a lot of stuff as well (300MB+).

EDIT

Just tried the HDD install and it worked perfectly as installed and after removing the three updater XBEs included too. Also works after installing the DLC 440 block Update and 480p/WS displays as it should and no specfic ACL patching apparently required either. Launches from UnleashX (v572 and v584), EvoX (B3935) and XBMC v3.5.3.

I have at least one other v1.6, softmodded, so I'll test it on that later if this matter is not resolved in the meantime.

* there is a Forza update but no other official DLC.  Plenty of user game save DLC though.

The official update is installed in E:\TDATA\4d53006e\Su and it looks like a replacement default.xbe  and a downloader.xbe. I've removed the latter then tested again and everything still works as it is supposed to.

BTW if you're want a good Preview FMV the game itself includes videos in its Forza Motorsport\media\FrontEnd folder. They're always far better than the ropy gameplay recordings Prevew packs often include.

You'll find they are in the, oft used with Xbox video content, .bik format (Bink Video) which are usually easily converted to XMV for any UnleashX skin use which has Previews enabled.  Usually the "Attract" videos are the ones to go for but in this case they're just the MS Studios branding FMV. However the "Intro" video there is ideal.

I dont know if it is HDD related,because i even tried taking the HDD from one xbox that runs the game fine and installed it on the 1.6 xbox,but still it doesnt launch it. I will try flashing the stock bios to see if this solves the problem

[MrMajst3r]

If you have a problem with running Forza, try this trick: go to original MS dashboard (green one), open settings, language and change language to another one. Then reboot console. After reboot go to original MS dashboard again and change language back to your preffered. Try to run Forza. 

[SakisTheDrifter]

1 hour ago, MrMajst3r said:

If you have a problem with running Forza, try this trick: go to original MS dashboard (green one), open settings, language and change language to another one. Then reboot console. After reboot go to original MS dashboard again and change language back to your preffered. Try to run Forza. 

Ow my God!!!! This actually worked!!!! I went to MS dash as you said,i changed language to German,rebooted the console and launched forza... Same thing. I then went again to MS dash,switched back to english,rebooted the console and launched forza. Launched as normal...... What the heck man? How would you guess that? Thank you so much!!!!!

[SS_Dave]

1 hour ago, MrMajst3r said:

If you have a problem with running Forza, try this trick: go to original MS dashboard (green one), open settings, language and change language to another one. Then reboot console. After reboot go to original MS dashboard again and change language back to your preffered. Try to run Forza. 

That is really strange but it fixed it.

I had even tried setting SD mode, set audio to analog ( I use Dolby Digital) and even copied a fresh copy from the a HDD that worked in other Xbox's

I even test loaded the game after changing the language to a different language and the game loaded fine just the text was not English. .

I wonder if there is other games that are fixed the same way.

 

Cheers

SS Dave

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

[SakisTheDrifter]

32 minutes ago, SS_Dave said:

That is really strange but it fixed it.

I had even tried setting SD mode, set audio to analog ( I use Dolby Digital) and even copied a fresh copy from the a HDD that worked in other Xbox's

I even test loaded the game after changing the language to a different language and the game loaded fine just the text was not English. .

I wonder if there is other games that are fixed the same way.

 

Cheers

SS Dave

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

We learn something new every day i guess

[SS_Dave]

3 minutes ago, SakisTheDrifter said:

We learn something new every day i guess

Yep

I wonder if it's just a 1.6 problem or if the other versions can have the same problem.

 

 

Cheers

SS Dave

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

[HDShadow]

Great solution worth remembering - who would have even thought to try that? But why does it work and what triggers the problem in the first place?

That reminds me of a 'trick' you could do with PAL PS2 Gran Turismo 3 or possibly 4. If you stuck at the game you could 'complete' it 100% but if you swapped the language to German you'd find the UK Vauxhaull Motors vehicles all became Opel (the German parent company). If you used those you could complete the game to 101%+ and it would actually show that in the player stats progress.   

[MrMajst3r]

9 hours ago, SakisTheDrifter said:

Ow my God!!!! This actually worked!!!! I went to MS dash as you said,i changed language to German,rebooted the console and launched forza... Same thing. I then went again to MS dash,switched back to english,rebooted the console and launched forza. Launched as normal...... What the heck man? How would you guess that? Thank you so much!!!!!

Don't know the background why it is working. Just found this trick somewhere and noted  Glad that it helps you.  

[DudeOG]

On 6/7/2021 at 3:48 AM, MrMajst3r said:

Don't know the background why it is working. Just found this trick somewhere and noted  Glad that it helps you.  

Hii!!, I have the same problem, only I access ms dashboard and change the settings as you say, but the changes are not saved, I really want to play forza, my console is a 1.6v with softmod unleashx, I haven't been able to play this game for years I have already tried all the ways, please help.

[KaosEngineer]

On 2/4/2022 at 8:35 PM, DudeOG said:

Hii!!, I have the same problem, only I access ms dashboard and change the settings as you say, but the changes are not saved, I really want to play forza, my console is a 1.6v with softmod unleashx, I haven't been able to play this game for years I have already tried all the ways, please help.

Your softmod must be using a virtual EEPROM.  Any changes to the configuration EEPROM are only being saved to the in-memory copy of the chip, not to the actual chip on the motherboard.

To disable the virtual EEPROM, create an empty file named eeprom_off.bin then upload it to the folder E:\NKP11. If this folder is not present, create it then reboot. 

Now, change the language setting in the stock MS dashboard.  The change should remain intact after power cycling the console.

 

Edit: For some softmods, the eeprom_off.bin file is to be in the root folder of the E drive, E:\, not the E:\NKP11 subfolder.  Also, if you create the empty text file on Windows, make sure that the filename is simply eeprom_off.bin, not eeprom_off.bin.txt. By default, Windows hides the extension of known file types.

 

Edit 2: After making the language setting change, rename the eeprom_off.bin file to something different (e.g., eeprom_off.bin.NO) so it no longer disables the virtual EEPROM.

[DudeOG]

On 2/6/2022 at 11:21 PM, KaosEngineer said:

Your softmod must be using a virtual EEPROM.  Any changes to the configuration EEPROM are only being saved to the in-memory copy of the chip, not to the actual chip on the motherboard.

To disable the virtual EEPROM, create an empty file named eeprom_off.bin then upload it to the folder E:\NKP11. If this folder is not present, create it then reboot. 

Now, change the language setting in the stock MS dashboard.  The change should remain intact after power cycling the console.

 

Edit: For some softmods, the eeprom_off.bin file is to be in the root folder of the E drive, E:\, not the E:\NKP11 subfolder.  Also, if you create the empty text file on Windows, make sure that the filename is simply eeprom_off.bin, not eeprom_off.bin.txt. By default, Windows hides the extension of known file types.

 

Edit 2: After making the language setting change, rename the eeprom_off.bin file to something different (e.g., eeprom_off.bin.NO) so it no longer disables the virtual EEPROM.

Hey friend, you are a genius, I followed your steps and it worked!!!!!, I am very grateful to you, the game works perfectly, I have this console since 2005 and today I can finally relive all those good ones moments, thank you brother you are the best.

One last question, it really doesn't matter too much anymore, but the only thing that can't be changed is the date.

Sorry for the bad english, I'm using a translator.

[KaosEngineer]

1 hour ago, DudeOG said:

One last question, it really doesn't matter too much anymore, but the only thing that can't be changed is the date.

You should be able to change the date and time in the stock MS dashboard - Settings > Date/Time.

Or, in the Settings of the replacement dashboard that the softmod starts.

[HDShadow]

The original Forza is a great game but flawed; I've been playing it for the first time a lot over the last year. The criticism I have of it is that on the hardest race challenges the AI cheats like no other race sim game I've played and general balance of the gameplay difficulty is off.

You simply cannot win some races against the AI using an 'inferior' spec car. Even if you tweak whatever you're driving in the garage 90% of the time it is still impossible unless you have a matching vehicle. Often you don't get that car until you've completed another race series to Gold.

I played Forza 2 on the XB360, one of the first games I played on the XB360, and as remember it the AI was not like this. They must have done some work on that.

In Forza the rubber banding is obvious, the primary AI vehicle is always stupidly over powerful, drives on rails and the other AIs seem dedicated to taking you out at every opportunity. The damage to the AI vehicles (you see and hear them smashing into the crash barriers) never seems to affect their handling or speed but a couple of hits to your vehicle and it become undriveable.