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[-PK-]

Fussy Via Card Guide v2.0

This is a follow up for people having trouble with their via card's when using existing guides such as Textbook's or Geebee's Hitachi Samsung Merged v41

This guide is not for anyone who can already get their card to appear in mtkflash.

This guide is only for those that are having problems with:
- DOS drastically slowing down when turning on the 360.
- DOS freezing when running mtkflash or any batch files.
- MS28 Drive not being recognised with via card in mtkflash.


I came up with this method over 3 days of testing, reluctant to do soldering tricks on other people's drives.  What works for me may not work for you!


What you need:

PC:
 - XBM or hex editor to edit your mtkflash (not covered in this guide).

USB / Floppy:
 - mtkflash.exe (edited for your via chipset, I used XBM)
 - mtkflash.typ
 - Samtool.exe (v0.5)
 - extreme firmware (I named it xtreme.bin)

TV:
 - hook up your 360 AV cable (audio or video is required for timing).



What to do:

1)  Disconnect any IDE/SATA devices that you can (using my own method with ide devices still connected, mtkflash did read the wrong firmware!).  Also, make sure your 360 is grounded to your pc chasis.

2) Power on the 360.  Power on your PC.  When prompted press <g> to continue.  Boot into DOS using your USB/Floppy (you may need to press F8 for your boot menu while powering on your PC).

3) Type in: mtkflash r /m /sata orig.bin and press enter.  It should say no devices connected (if you have other devices connected just press esc).  Power off the 360.

Note: By doing this once, dos should no longer freeze or slow down when you turn on the 360 (it will still lock up about 10% of the time when you turn on the 360 for the first time in step 4).


4)  Now type in: mtkflash r /m /sata orig.bin, but do not press enter this time.

Turn on the 360, wait 2 seconds, press enter, it will say no devices connected.  Quickly type mtkflash r /m /sata orig.bin in again and when you hear the final sound during the Xbox logo, wait 2-3 seconds and press enter (it should work anytime shortly after the sound and before the dash loads).

It should now say XTREME Pri Master (or whatever you hexedited the name of your card to be).  If it didn't work do the entire step 4 again until it does, try timing it slightly before or after the previous attempt if it isn't working.

Note: The second run of mtkflash on 360 boot is the key to getting the drive to show up with fussy via cards!


5) Once Xtreme Pri Master is listed, turn off the 360.  Press the number next to Xtreme Pri Master and wait 10 seconds.  Turn the 360 back on and it should start to read.  When the operation is finished turn off your 360 and pc.



Now to flash the drive!

6) Power on the 360.  Power on your PC.  When prompted press <g> to continue.  Boot into DOS using your USB/Floppy (you may need to press F8 for your boot menu while powering on your PC).

7) Type in: mtkflash w /m /sata xtreme.bin and press enter.  It should say no devices connected (if you have other devices connected just press esc).  Power off the 360.

Type in: samtool.exe orig.bin xtreme.bin and press enter.  It should display your key and drive version.  If your drive versions do not match it will ask you to copy your drive version over to the xtreme fw, you should say yes (unless your replacing your bricked hitachi drive with a new samsung drive).


9)  Now type in: mtkflash w /m /sata xtreme.bin, but do not press enter this time.

Turn on the 360, wait 2 seconds, press enter, it will say no devices connected.  Quickly type  mtkflash w /m /sata xtreme.bin in again and when you hear the final sound during the Xbox logo, wait 2-3 seconds and press enter (it should work anytime shortly after the sound and before the dash loads).

It should now say XTREME Pri Master (or whatever you hexedited the name of your card to be).  If it didn't work do the entire step 9 again until it does, try timing it slightly before or after the previous attempt if it isn't working.

Note: The second run of mtkflash on 360 boot is the key to getting the drive to show up with fussy via cards!


10) Once Xtreme Pri Master is listed, turn off the 360.  Press the number next to Xtreme Pri Master and wait 10 seconds.  Turn the 360 back on and it should start to flash the drive.



Final Thoughts:

Hope this helps those of you having problems with the VIA card!  If you are still having trouble getting your via card to show up with mtkflash, try the secondary port.  On my Rosewill VT6421A card, port D showed up as Pri Master and C didn't show up at all !!

Please let me know if this method works or doesnt work for you (and list which of the three situations you were experiencing).

 -pk-

This post has been edited by -PK-: Feb 5 2007, 02:02 AM

[-PK-]

QUOTE(-PK- @ Feb 5 2007, 01:32 AM)

... If your drive versions do not match it will ask you to copy your drive version over to the xtreme fw, you should say yes (unless your replacing your bricked hitachi drive with a new samsung drive).

I was assuming most people would choose the proper version of xtreme fw when I wrote that, but I just realised that wouldn't be the case if you get prompted for the version match, so instead you should always hit yes if asked!  (This helps prevent E66 with drive swapping)


This post has been edited by -PK-: Feb 5 2007, 07:33 AM

[mianus]

nm

This post has been edited by mianus: Feb 5 2007, 08:44 AM

[naota]

What should I do if dos freezes every time when the xbox is restarted?

[-PK-]

Steps 1-3 should make it not freeze, in step 3 try running the mtkflash a few times in a row before turning off the 360.  Are you using the internal sata port, if there's two try the other internal port.

Is your mtkflash edited for your chipset, or did you download a pre-patched mtkflash?  The prepatch only works for 6421L.
Are you using a via 6421 or an onboard via chipset?
Are you using a USB, Floppy, or a boot cd?
Out of curiosity, what motherboard do you have?

If that's not working try using a different pci slot.  You can also try unplugging the sata cable and plugging it into the other internal port imbetween step 3 & 4 (when your 360 is turned off), this is how I first came up with this method.


Also on my Rosewill RC212 6421A: external port B would lock up my pc 100% of the time, internal port C doesn't get detected, external port A & internal port D work fine (jumper setting to choose which port gets activated).

This post has been edited by -PK-: Feb 5 2007, 09:03 PM

[naota]

Is your mtkflash edited for your chipset, or did you download a pre-patched mtkflash? both (mtkvia&patch through xtreme)
Are you using a via 6421 or an onboard via chipset? 6421 pci (in multiple slots)
Are you using a USB, Floppy, or a boot cd? usb
Out of curiosity, what motherboard do you have? an nforce2, asus a7n8x deluxe

I tried step 3 many times. It still freezes dos. A far as I know, I did everything by the book.

[-PK-]

What does Xtreme Boot Maker show for your Device ID and Port I/O.

[naota]

QUOTE(-PK- @ Feb 5 2007, 08:45 PM)

What does Xtreme Boot Maker show for your Device ID and Port I/O.

Doublechecked it, it's the same I get in msinfo. Tricky, isn't it?

[-PK-]

QUOTE

You can also try unplugging the sata cable and plugging it into the other internal port imbetween step 3 & 4 (when your 360 is turned off)

Try that.  And is your motherboard bios up to date?  Have you tried another sata cable?

If it comes down to it you may have to find another pc to flash it with.  You would just use your current usb stick and pci card (no changes needed).


This post has been edited by -PK-: Feb 5 2007, 09:58 PM

[naota]

Well, I tried 3 sata cables, including that little one from the 360 (it was quite hard to do). But hey, maybe I have one more shot using the internal sata connector on the card. The truth is, until now I didn't notice it's there. If that's not going to work, someone is going to make really good money flashing it for me... I'll report back tomorrow. Thanks for helping me, thumbs up for you.

[mianus]

did you try this way?

boot to your usb (360 sata cable unplugged)
turn on 360 (sata still unplugged)
type mtkflash r /m orig.bin (don't hit enter yet)
plug 360 sata in
hit enter
turn off 360
now you should see xtreme primary (or whatever you named it in mtkflash)
select it
count 10 seconds
turn 360 back on and it should go

worked the same for flash just change the command lines.

i was getting stack overflow errors but it would still complete the read and flash first.

[-PK-]

QUOTE(naota @ Feb 5 2007, 09:42 PM)

But hey, maybe I have one more shot using the internal sata connector on the card. The truth is, until now I didn't notice it's there.

As mianus said, it will most likely work without this guide at all.  Almost all cards do not work on the external ports, mine is the only one that I've seen that actually works; and this is because the port is enabled by 4 jumpers that sends the pins to either the internal or external port.  Without a 100% hardware-sided circuitry jump, you're looking at different Port I/O's for mtkflash so it wont work.

I would still follow my guide since it's the only one up-to-date (with samtool).  Just skip steps 2 & 3 and 6 & 7, unless dos is still freezing on you.

Atleast for future reference we covered every possible thing to check if this guide doesn't work

[naota]

Ok, first of all: VICTORY!

The following should be stickied:
So, all you idiots out there (including me), if you haven't did it already, you should learn to read and see with those round things stuffed in your head (aka eyes). The sata card does have another connector and the only difference is that while the outer sucks, the other works like charm. Mtkflash sees it, the 10 secs waiting does the job and the world is all pink. That's it. Again, thanks for all your help.  

[Onepex]

Cool guide.
Can't seem to find Samtool.exe though.
Is it the same as X360SAM.exe?

[-PK-]

QUOTE(Onepex @ Feb 6 2007, 06:57 PM)

Cool guide.
Can't seem to find Samtool.exe though.
Is it the same as X360SAM.exe?

http://x-projects.or...m...3&Itemid=37


Congrats naota.