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[bourke]

Hi,

I have my backed-up 'eeprom.bin' and the latest copy the 'cromwell-2.40' BIOS file.

I can load this Cromwell BIOS (or any BIOS) onto my SmartXX LT chip with no problems.

Can anyone provide a link or instructions on what I need to do in order to restore my dead EEPROM?

[bourke]

Since no-one on this whole site has posted this info i had to work it out myself.

Here is how to restore an eeprom:



1. Boot to Cromwell (e.g. version 2.4 works on all versions 1.0 to 1.6b).
2. Copy ldots version of 'ltools' linux to a CD-RW (the version contained in any of his UDE2 exploits).
3. Run the CD-RW, it will boot linux (the screen will be garbled on 1.6+ but it still works fine)
4. Connect the Xbox to a computer (make sure you have your network card setup on the same subnet as the Xbox - 192.168.0.3).
5. Ping the Xbox (run 'ping 192.168.0.3' from a command prompt).  If this fails your network card is not setup correctly; recheck step 4.
6. FTP to the xbox ('192.168.0.3') and copy your 'eeprom.bin' file there anywhere.
7. Telnet to the Xbox (run 'telnet 192.168.0.3' from the command prompt).  the username is 'root' and the password is 'xbox'.
8. Run 'xtool -w eeprom.bin' and confirm to write your eeprom back to the chip.
9. Thank and worship ldots for being a complete legend!


cheers,
Bourkie

P.S. someone pin this somewhere!

This post has been edited by bourke: Mar 20 2005, 09:36 AM

[jesistehsux]

Or you could have done this:

1. Copy your eeprom.bin via ftp to your c drive.
2. Boot a bios with an embedded eeprom.
3. Run Config Magic or Eeprom Magic.
4. Load your eeprom to  recover or replace your system.

Though for what it's worth you took the best approach with cromwell since it is the most recommended method.

[bourke]

QUOTE(jesistehsux @ Mar 20 2005, 08:31 AM)

1. Copy your eeprom.bin via ftp to your c drive.
2. Boot a bios with an embedded eeprom.

I am fairly certain that BIOSes for 1.6 and (1.6b especially) cannot have an embedded EEPROM yet?

E.g. you cannot embed an EEPROM into the M8 plus BIOS - so you cannot run any non-linux software on a 1.6 (e.g. you cannot run any xbe executables like ConfigMagic).

That is why I had to do what I did.


Let me know when anyone has successfully works out how to embed an eeprom into the M8 plus (evtool cannot do it yet).

cheers,
Richard

[RickCA]

bourke: I'm trying to restore my eeprom, and I'm trying your method, but having some problems.

I was able to load the cromwell 2.4 bios onto my chip, and get to the blue screen.
Then i got a copy of itools, and put it onto a cd-rw.

When I place the disk in the drive and pick "cd-rom" from the menu to boot linux
it pops the disk out and says it didn't find the linuxboot.cfg file, which is on the cd.

I though maybe I'm burning the cd wrong
I use ISO cd with "mode 1" format, and "joliet" selected

If you got any clue what i'm doing wrong please let me know.

Thanks

[bourke]

There is a 'linux' directory inside the ltools save game; only copy the four files inside that.

I.e. the only files you should have on the CD are:

linuxboot.cfg
default.xbe (though you may not need this file; better safe than sorry)
initrd
vmlinuz
dummy50mb (any file greater than 50mb in size; makes the CD spin fast enough to be read!)



cheers,
Rich

[RickCA]

bourke: I tried to reflash eeprom using the above mothod, and things are messed up.

Ok everything went as it was suppost to.  I reflashed the eeprom, then after i loaded another bios onto my chip (X2), and it just flashed the red light.  

So, I put cromewell 2.4 back on, and this time it couldn't unlock the hard drive.  I ran the Itool cd and it started, but i couldn't ftp to the hard drive either.  

I tried putting the hard drive in a computer and fdisk, but fdisk gave me the error saying "can't read drive", but the start up floppy disk i used on my computer to boot DOS was able to make a virtual drive on the hard dive.

Is it possible to kill a hard drive by flashing an eeprom???

any help with this would be great, otherwise i messed up an xbox and a hard drive.

Thanks.

[bourke]

Are you certain that you flashed it with the original correct EEPROM (i.e. the one that was originally on your Xbox - the one you made sure to back up)?
The original EEPROM in your Xbox is like its own unique DNA code inside (e.g. the hard drive passwords) - you cannot use just any old EEPROM!


To recover you will need to install a new unlocked and formatted hard drive - any IDE hard drive will do.  Use XboxHDM to format the drive.

That should then let you copy to the hard drive again and flash the EEPROM.  After that you need to lock that new hard drive using the same EEPROM with XboxHDM.

There are many XboxHDM guides on this forum.



cheers,
Bourkie

This post has been edited by bourke: Mar 23 2005, 04:09 AM

[bourke]

Sorry, I forgot to say that if you flashed your Xbox with ANY valid EEPROM (by valid I mean it must support your Xbox version - Cromwell should detect whether it is right), then you are then able to boot with an Evolution-X M8 plus BIOS and from there access any unlocked hard drive.

So you only need to lock the drive if you plan to boot to the original (M$) BIOS again.  Above I said you had to lock it, when actually you do not need to do that - all that is required is that it be formatted before you boot to it (you can boot to CDRW/DVD without the hard drive needing to be formatted).  You can format the hard drive using other software (e.g. the Evolution-X dashboard); you do not have to use XboxHDM.


cheers,
Bourkie

P.S. many other threads cover how to format a new hard drive; this thread is primarily concerned with how to restore a corrupted v1.6 EEPROM :-)

This post has been edited by bourke: Mar 23 2005, 02:02 PM

[bourke]

RickCA:

1. I assume this is a verion 1.6 Xbox? (i.e. manufactured after 2004-03-18)

2. What BIOS did you try and load onto the X2? (for v1.6 only the Evolution-X 'M8 plus 1.6' will work - nothing else)

3. What does Cromwell 2.4 say about the EEPROM when it boots now? (Cromwell will say on the screen whether or not the EEPROM is corrupt).


cheers,
Bourkie

This post has been edited by bourke: Mar 23 2005, 02:09 PM

[RickCA]

bourke: First of all, thanks for helping me out here

Ok.  I Modded my friends xbox (version 1.4), everything went well, put in a mod chip (xbit 1.5), loaded on a bios (x2_4983.67_256k.bin), put in a hard drive (200 gig maxtor). Started the xbox with slayers boot cd and did a full install upgraded.  My friend had the xbox for three day and then he call me and said "it's not working"

The start up flubber screen was repeating and the dashboard wouldn't load.  
That was the problem.

I tried the hard drive and chip in my xbox and they both worked fine, so i had no clue what was wrong.  So, i posted a form here and someone told me it was my eeprom, and i should reflash.

But, it had no back-up.  So, i backed up my eeprom from my version 1.1 xbox, which i was told would work in a version 1.4 as well.

After, i couldn't get configmagic or embedding a eeprom to work I decided to try your method with Cromwell 2.4.

I didn't use you steps exactly, someone named Shan81 sent me a PM with more detailed steps and i followed them.  After doing the steps I was able to flash the eeprom, but i got the problem that i mentioned in my last post.

Now, when I boot to cromwell it can see my hdd but it says "Unable to read FATX sector ide error 04.

I am assuming that if i can fix the hard drive with XboxHDM I will still have the same original problem.  (looping start up screen).

If you got any ideas it would help.

Thanks

[catdog2]

Part of the harddrive password is stored in the eeprom, so since you are using a different eeprom to restore the looping xbox the harddrive password will be different.

ie different eeprom = different harddrive password

If the harddrive is the stock one that came with the xbox and you never unlocked/locked it then you now have no way to unlock it.  There is nothing you can do with it - it will not work in an xbox or PC.

If you locked it yourself (or upgraded it) using configmagic or evo-x, then you can use the PC program ATAPWD and unlock it using the master password "TEAMASSEMBLY".

Regarding the red flashing - this is the standard error when the eeprom hash fails.  This means the data now on the eeprom is either corrupt, or the wrong version.  Compatible versions are 1.0, 1.1-1.5, 1.6

[bourke]

QUOTE(RickCA @ Mar 23 2005, 11:18 PM)

The start up flubber screen was repeating and the dashboard wouldn't load. 
That was the problem.

I tried the hard drive and chip in my xbox and they both worked fine, so i had no clue what was wrong.  So, i posted a form here and someone told me it was my eeprom, and i should reflash.

But, it had no back-up.  So, i backed up my eeprom from my version 1.1 xbox, which i was told would work in a version 1.4 as well.

1. As someone alluded to, the flubber loop most probably indicated that either the hard drive has corrupted files on it (most likely) or that the hard rdive had been unlocked or that the EEPROM had an incorrect value in it.  The fact that the flubber still booted indicates that the EEPROM itself is not completely corrupted - the Xbox would not have booted at all (i.e. black screen + red light) if the EEPROM was dead.

2. As someone wrote - by overwriting the (probably perfectly ok) original EEPROM with your own has turned the hard drive into a paperweight.  You will need a new hard drive to do anything now.

QUOTE(RickCA @ Mar 23 2005, 11:18 PM)

After, i couldn't get configmagic or embedding a eeprom to work I decided to try your method with Cromwell 2.4.

I didn't use you steps exactly, someone named Shan81 sent me a PM with more detailed steps and i followed them.  After doing the steps I was able to flash the eeprom, but i got the problem that i mentioned in my last post.

1. You need to copy all of the files on your own Xbox's 'C' drive into a hard drive preparation program e.g. Evolution-X (easy to use) or XboxHDM.  Then you burn that onto CDRW or DVD(better - more reliable).

2. Boot using the Evolution-X M8 Plus BIOS to the disc you created (in step 1) - i.e. have the disc in the drive before turning the Xbox on.


There is no other way now.

Cheers,
Rich

P.S. this has taught me that you back up EVERYONE's EEPROM, regardless of what mod they have as no-one has any idea what damage they can do with ConfigMagic!

This post has been edited by bourke: Mar 24 2005, 07:12 AM

[RickCA]

The hard drive that i had in the xbox was not the original.  It was a upgraded one, and I used the slayers cd to install all of the files onto it.  I still have the original aswell.

Can the upgraded hard drive be unlocked using the PC program ATAPWD???

Also, isn't the "Evolution-X M8 Plus" bios only for xbox's version 1.6?
Should I be using this bios on a version 1.4?

Thanks for all the support.

[bourke]

QUOTE(RickCA @ Mar 24 2005, 01:37 PM)

The hard drive that i had in the xbox was not the original.  It was a upgraded one, and I used the slayers cd to install all of the files onto it.  I still have the original aswell.

Can the upgraded hard drive be unlocked using the PC program ATAPWD???

Depending on how you locked that upgraded hard drive, you may be able to unlock it (using the master pwd - probably 'TEAMASSEMBLY'.  The original drive however, is now definately a paperweight.

QUOTE(RickCA @ Mar 24 2005, 01:37 PM)

Also, isn't the "Evolution-X M8 Plus" bios only for xbox's version 1.6?
Should I be using this bios on a version 1.4?

No, 'Evolution-X M8 Plus' = versions 1.0 to 1.4/1.5 (I have yet to see a 1.5 in over 400 Xboxes!)
'Evolution-X M8 Plus 16' = version 1.6