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[shambles1980]

dont use chimp..

put the old hard disk in, ftp what you want to keep to your pc.
take the new hard disk and put it in the xbox. boot with hexen "heimdals xbox engineering disk"
hexen will boot. (remember to burn it to dvd-r at 4x or slower.

tell that to build a new hard disk if it dosent prompt you to do it then its in "tsop/chip tools "
and your drive is ready.

then you can would ftp the files from you moved to the pc to the new hard disk..

If you want to mess around and risk your hardware then use chimp. get the error 13.
then run hexen, tell that to do a clean install C drive after tsop flash.
OR "probably easier and better"  tell hexen to flash your tsop with a new bios..  
you can use a 256k bios if your using hexen, just be sure to use a 256k 1.0-15bios. (ind or m8+ probably best.
Unless your already using x2.

your issue with not booting a dvd is probably the adapter.
check for jumper settings on the adapter.

not all adapters are created equal. even the same one from the same company as others recommend can have diferent revisions "this is true for the deal extreme ones. i believe that the new versions have 2 transistors and dont work properly (no dvd detection/dvd drive wont work and so on)..
 
so this one would not work properly

but this one May work fine


But like i said try the jumpers on the adapter set it to master if you can.


P.S

if your really having issues.

then download Hexen for hard disk drive not dvd
build an xbox hdm disk with the folder "hexins" that you extracted from the hexen for hard disk drive on E

(see tutorials named xbohdm for dummies) and just hexins to the E folder before you build the iso.)

use that iso to build the new hard disk on your pc.
boot the xbox. and in E you have E:\hexinst
run the default.xbe and use that to configure your install properly.

Remember you dont want to make a disk for a softmod. so you will want stock files on C and then your dash files on E.
and probably a cfg file on C as well.

if you need help with the correct structure of it let me know, but you should be able to find it all from your current hard disk. (just ftp C and E from your already working disk)

[hangover]

There is also many that tried a WD hdd and found that they wont boot with any sata adapter where as Seagates tend to be fine, i use a 2tb seagate in mine and its had no issues in just over a year.

   The other adapters that work are these from ebay -

adapter