Dead 1.6 with locked HDD issue

[MadMartigan]

So I got a soft modded console with Maxtor 40GB IDE drive, listed as working. Got it, plugged it in, browsed around for maybe 5 mins and then it just crashed. The board is now dead and the HDD is locked. Being locked I know my options are already limited. I basically just want to format it completely and rebuild it for use on another machine. Here’s where I run into the major issue. 

I first tried my OpenXenium Xbox to try and unlock the drive. No luck  it won’t let format or any of the options available. I just get an error saying it couldn’t complete it yada yada yada. I was however able to sign into the drive with FTP and it’s completely empty. 

Hexen won’t boot since I can only get as far an error 9 with a locked drive. 

PC does not recognize the drive at all when plugged in via IDE to USB adapter. FYI, It does have a power source running. 

Where can I go from here? I hate to throw away a 40GB drive if it’s salvageable. If it’s dead, then so be it. 

Edited October 31, 2021 by MadMartigan

[MadMartigan]

I’ve managed to get the motherboard working again.  It had a botched chip install.  Just removed it all, cleaned everything, and she fired right up. Still to an error 9 though. Guessing it’s the HDD that has died and I’ll just throw an Aladdin in it and make a new one. Any info on checking the HDD for a pulse would be appreciated. 

[KaosEngineer]

You can't access content on the hard drive to run any tests on it with a PC until it is unlocked.  You can try to use one of the Xbox modding scenes master passwords to unlock the hard drive.

There's one executable in XboxHDM23USB Beta 2 or 3 that's used to lock and unlock the Xbox hard drives - smartctl.exe - It's a patched version of smartmontools.org's smartctl application v6.2 with Xbox hard drive locking/unlocking operations. (Edit: You cannot directly use the latest build, v7.2, from smartmontools.org. It does not include the patches required to lock and unlock an Xbox hard drive.)

You can use this application from a Windows cmd.exe window to lock and unlock the Xbox hard drive. The rest of XboxHDM2.3USB's menu system for other operations is not needed.

Note: The following is copied from an old post I made and shows the commands used to unlock the hard drive if you have the eeprom.bin backup for the Xbox the hard drive was installed.  Command line changes will be shown in bold italics for the command lines to use when the xbox modding scene MASTER passwords are used if you don't have the Xbox's eeprom.bin backup file.

First, you need to determine which PHYSICALDRIVE<N> Windows assigned to the Xbox hard drive after being attached to the PC:

• wmic diskdrive get model, name

Its output will list all the hard drives attached to the computer, for example:

Model                               Name
SanDisk SDSSDH3 1T02 \\.\PHYSICALDRIVE0
Seagate ST310211A         \\.\PHYSICALDRIVE1                         <---my Xbox hard drive (/dev/sdb)

From the PHYSICALDRIVEN value, determine the device name to use with smartctl.exe:

• PHYSICALDRIVE0 = /dev/sda
• PHYSICALDRIVE1 = /dev/sdb
• PHYSCIALDRIVE2 = /dev/sdc
• etc.

Unlocking the Xbox Hard Drive

To unlock the hard drive, place a copy of the Xbox's eeprom.bin backup file in the directory where smartctl.exe is located. Next,  issue the following commands in the cmd.exe window (change the %1 to the single letter determined above):

• smartctl.exe -g security /dev/sd%1
• smartctl.exe -s security-eeprom-unlock,eeprom.bin /dev/sd%1
• smartctl.exe -s security-eeprom-disable,eeprom.bin /dev/sd%1

Without the eeprom.bin file replace the last two commands with the following:

• smartctl.exe -s security-unlock,"TEAMASSEMBLY" /dev/sd%1
• smartctl.exe -s security-disable,"TEAMASSEMBLY" /dev/sd%1   <--- only needed if you wish to remove the locking password.  This step can be skipped to simply unlock the hard drive.

Check the lock status with the following command:

• smartctl.exe -g security /dev/sd%1

If unlocked and security disabled, the output should look something like the following:

• ATA Security is: Disabled, not frozen [SEC2]

REMEMBER : Replace %1 with the single letter determined from translation of the wmic command's output.

If TEAMASSEMBLY did not  work to unlock the hard drive, repeat the 3 previous commands above using XBOXSCENE for the master password.

NOTE: Once unlocked, you will not be able to reinstall this hard drive back into the Xbox to use it until a modchip is installed.  The stock BIOS requires the hard drive to be locked. A modified Xbox BIOS loaded from the modchip does not require the hard drive to be locked.  

Skip the locking section below not needed once a modchip is installed and cannot be done until you read the data from the configuration EEPROM on the Xbox's motherboard.  There are several methods to do so that use additional hardware and software.  

Locking the Xbox Hard Drive

To lock the hard drive, place a copy of the Xbox's eeprom.bin backup file in the directory where smartctl.exe is located then issue the following commands:

• smartctl.exe -g security /dev/sd%1
• smartctl.exe -s security-eeprom-setpass,eeprom.bin /dev/sd%1

Again, remember to change the %1 of /dev/sd%1 to the single letter for the Xbox drive determined earlier.

The first line of each set of commands is not actually needed but is nice to see the current lock status of the hard drive before issuing the remaining command(s).

Edit: You can issue the first line again after issuing the commands to check the lock status of the hard drive after locking or unlocking it.

After locking the drive, it will show that the hard drive lock is enabled but the current state is unlocked. The lock state will not change until the hard drive is power cycled.

 

[MadMartigan]

20 hours ago, KaosEngineer said:

You can't access content on the hard drive to run any tests on it with a PC until it is unlocked.  You can try to use one of the Xbox modding scenes master passwords to unlock the hard drive.

There's one executable in XboxHDM23USB Beta 2 or 3 that's used to lock and unlock the Xbox hard drives - smartctl.exe - It's a patched version of smartmontools.org's smartctl application v6.2 with Xbox hard drive locking/unlocking operations. (Edit: You cannot directly use the latest build, v7.2, from smartmontools.org. It does not include the patches required to lock and unlock an Xbox hard drive.)

You can use this application from a Windows cmd.exe window to lock and unlock the Xbox hard drive. The rest of XboxHDM2.3USB's menu system for other operations is not needed.

Note: The following is copied from an old post I made and shows the commands used to unlock the hard drive if you have the eeprom.bin backup for the Xbox the hard drive was installed.  Command line changes will be shown in bold italics for the command lines to use when the xbox modding scene MASTER passwords are used if you don't have the Xbox's eeprom.bin backup file.

First, you need to determine which PHYSICALDRIVE<N> Windows assigned to the Xbox hard drive after being attached to the PC:

• wmic diskdrive get model, name

Its output will list all the hard drives attached to the computer, for example:

Model                               Name
SanDisk SDSSDH3 1T02 \\.\PHYSICALDRIVE0
Seagate ST310211A         \\.\PHYSICALDRIVE1                         <---my Xbox hard drive (/dev/sdb)

From the PHYSICALDRIVEN value, determine the device name to use with smartctl.exe:

• PHYSICALDRIVE0 = /dev/sda
• PHYSICALDRIVE1 = /dev/sdb
• PHYSCIALDRIVE2 = /dev/sdc
• etc.

To unlock the hard drive, place a copy of the Xbox's eeprom.bin backup file in the directory where smartctl.exe is located. Next,  issue the following commands in the cmd.exe window (change the %1 to the single drive letter determined above):

• smartctl.exe -g security /dev/sd%1
• smartctl.exe -s security-eeprom-unlock,eeprom.bin /dev/sd%1
• smartctl.exe -s security-eeprom-disable,eeprom.bin /dev/sd%1

Without the eeprom.bin file replace the last two commands with the following:

• smartctl.exe -s security-unlock,"TEAMASSEMBLY" /dev/sd%1
• smartctl.exe -s security-disable,"TEAMASSEMBLY" /dev/sd%1   <--- only needed if you wish to remove the locking password.  This step can be skipped to simply unlock the hard drive.

Check the lock status with the following command:

• smartctl.exe -g security /dev/sd%1

If unlocked and security disabled, the output should look something like the following:

• ATA Security is: Disabled, not frozen [SEC2]

REMEMBER : Replace %1 with the single letter determined from translation of the wmic command's output.

If TEAMASSEMBLY did not  work to unlock the hard drive, repeat the 3 previous commands above using XBOXSCENE for the master password.

NOTE: Once unlocked, you will not be able to reinstall this hard drive back into the Xbox to use it until a modchip is installed.  The stock BIOS requires the hard drive to be locked. A modified Xbox BIOS loaded from the modchip does not require the hard drive to be locked.  

Skip the locking section below not needed once a modchip is installed and cannot be done until you read the data from the configuration EEPROM on the Xbox's motherboard.  There are several methods to do so that use additional hardware and software.  

To lock the hard drive, place a copy of the Xbox's eeprom.bin backup file in the directory where smartctl.exe is located then issue the following commands:

• smartctl.exe -g security /dev/sd%1
• smartctl.exe -s security-eeprom-setpass,eeprom.bin /dev/sd%1

Again, remember to change the %1 of /dev/sd%1 to the single letter for the Xbox drive determined earlier.

The first line of each set of commands is not actually needed but is nice to see the current lock status of the hard drive before issuing the remaining command(s).

Edit: You can issue the first line again after issuing the commands to check the lock status of the hard drive after locking or unlocking it.

After locking the drive, it will show that the hard drive lock is enabled but the current state is unlocked. The lock state will not change until the hard drive is power cycled.

 

After attempting the fist command line, I get “smartctl.exe” is not recognized as a command. I’m not entirely sure if I’m supposed to type them all in together or one line at a time. 

[KaosEngineer]

2 hours ago, MadMartigan said:

After attempting the fist command line, I get “smartctl.exe” is not recognized as a command. I’m not entirely sure if I’m supposed to type them all in together or one line at a time. 

In the cmd.exe window, you have to cd to the subfolder where smartctl.exe is located to run it.  Or, copy it to one of the subfolders in your PC's PATH environment variable.

[MadMartigan]

Got it open it and ran the three command lines. It didn’t work for me. I didn’t think to screenshot the errors it gave. I’ll try it again tomorrow and post the errors. It did run all three processes though. I won’t have any more headers until Thursday. So if it doesn’t work by then I’ll just throw in an Aladdin chip and junk the drive. 

[KaosEngineer]

3 hours ago, MadMartigan said:

Got it open it and ran the three command lines. It didn’t work for me. I didn’t think to screenshot the errors it gave. I’ll try it again tomorrow and post the errors. It did run all three processes though. I won’t have any more headers until Thursday. So if it doesn’t work by then I’ll just throw in an Aladdin chip and junk the drive. 

How is the hard drive attached to your PC?  You cannot attach it via a simple USB-to-hard drive adapter without a power supply to power a 3.5" hard drive.  The USB port cannot provide enough power to operate a 3.5" drive only a 2.5" one.  

3.5" hard drives require both 5Vdc and 12Vdc to run.  2.5" drives operate from only 5Vdc and with less current draw than a 3.5" hard drive.

[MadMartigan]

USB to ide while Xbox powers it, as stated in the OP. 

[KaosEngineer]

10 hours ago, MadMartigan said:

USB to ide while Xbox powers it, as stated in the OP. 

Ok, missed that bit of info.

Which USB-to-IDE adapter?  What are its idVendor and idProduct values? (If you don't know them, you can use the standalone application usbview.exe to find them.)

 

VirusTotal website states: No security vendors flagged this URL as malicious

https://www.virustotal.com/gui/url/39df12123758a75a1c9fc9de299315136d53a65e15602c028d842d762dff1234

and that the file itself usbview.exe with SHA-256 hash = 5d6ac13598e825d92d872601cb46f0baa9e0f171e38fe14fe1248a1ff366c289  is not infected.

No security vendors flagged this file as malicious

https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/5d6ac13598e825d92d872601cb46f0baa9e0f171e38fe14fe1248a1ff366c289