Topic: Softmod And Vga (Read 347 times)

ldotsfan · « **Reply #15 on:** July 05, 2008, 08:53:00 PM »

1. Krayzie's uses Nkpatcher11_UO2 which is a slightly older version. I'm not sure how to activate the VGA feature for this version.
2. You have to ftp a copy of unleashX to the apps folder of EvoX so that it can be launched from the menu. Or if your EvoX already has a file manager function through DVD2Xbox or some other app with file manager function.
3. The easiest way now is the x2config.ini editing on Frosty's disc.

ldotsfan · « **Reply #16 on:** July 06, 2008, 05:23:00 AM »

QUOTE(Red_Breast @ Jul 6 2008, 01:12 PM)

So even though I have U02 instead of U04 you think I should try Frosty's BFM first? From what I can tell I'll be booting into green screen and then picking it as an app., PBL The Metoo Edition.

I downloaded and ftp'ed DVD2Xbox but I couldn't work out how it reveals my dashboard locations. I can go through my Xbox hard drive but I can do that with Smart FTP (PC). One thing to come out of it is I now know how to copy Xbox games to it's hard drive.

1. I was referring to the boot disc version of Frosty's but the BFM bios will do as well.
2. DVD2xbox has a file manager function and selecting a particular xbe will allow you to launch it. If you select the suspect xbe and launch it and see your dash relaunched, that's your dash xbe.

obcd · « **Reply #17 on:** July 07, 2008, 03:14:00 AM »

Have you checked the PBL cfg file to see if everything needed is in it? Sometimes, they leave out some stuff for copyright issues. You could also try to turn the debug log file on by setting the debug = True in that cfg file. The log file might show you where things go wrong.

regards.

Red_Breast · « **Reply #18 on:** July 08, 2008, 09:04:00 AM »

The PBL I used is in Frosty's BFM package. Here are the contents.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Frosty's BFM package. (contains 2 folders and the readme.)

(2 folders)
PBL - The Metoo Edition - 2 files. "boot.cfg" and "default.xbe"
VGA BFM BIOS Files - contains a number of folders names after various modchips.
For softmods you can only use "Xecuter X2 5035" so I deleted the other folders.

(folder)
Xecuter X2 5035 - 1 file and 1 folder. File is "xboxrom.bin". Folder is "PLACE ON E DRIVE"

(folder)
PLACE ON E DRIVE - contains the "x2config.ini"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The "xboxrom.bin" from the X2 5035 folder has to be copied to the PBL - The Metoo Edition folder. The
"boot.cfg" file that already resides in that folder I copied and pasted. This is the complete file.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Romfile xboxrom.bin

RC4Key 0x57 0x42 0x29 0x0C 0x30 0x1E 0xD3 0x01 0xB3 0xE5 0x5D 0x28 0x50 0x31 0xE1 0xCE

EEPROMKey1_0 0x2A 0x3B 0xAD 0x2C 0xB1 0x94 0x4F 0x93 0xAA 0xCD 0xCD 0x7E 0x0A 0xC2 0xEE 0x5A

EEPROMKey1_1 0x1D 0xF3 0x5C 0x83 0x8E 0xC9 0xB6 0xFC 0xBD 0xF6 0x61 0xAB 0x4F 0x06 0x33 0xE4

EEPROMKey1_6 0x2B 0x84 0x57 0xBE 0x9B 0x1E 0x65 0xC6 0xCD 0x9D 0x2B 0xCE 0xC1 0xA2 0x09 0x61
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm not told to touch anything in that file.
I'm trying to understand what's happening when I turn my Xbox on. From what I understand:

1.) The MS retail BIOS starts. Untouched as it comes at retail.
2.) Nkpatcher comes along and patches the MS BIOS.
3.) I'm at my splash menu EvolutionX.

From there when I go to Apps and select Phoenix Bios Loader what does it do? Does it patch MS BIOS further or load a completely new BIOS? The X2 5035 "xboxrom.bin" file/BIOS.

I feel as though I'm working backwards here although I appreciate a lot of it is. A lot of this stuff comes out of reverse engineering I believe. But I get the impression this could of gone easier with another game save exploit/installer. From what I understand my Krayzie's uses 11_U02. The latest is U04. I downloaded the U04 version recently. Looking through it I don't know if I could update. Maybe I don't need to but could just execute U04. Looking through it's folder it seems like I have to do a lot of editing to make a runtime and config file.

I've been thinking of trying to uninstall the whole lot and start again. With Frosty's Dual-Boot VGA package.
I can go between Frozen cable and SCART cable OK. Going to SCART means I can launch SCell Linux checkpoint and select "Remove softmod".
The Dual package's readme has this:
"NOTE: If you currently have another type of softmod installed, you can use 'Frosty's XBOX Rescue Disc' to gain access to the REAL 'C' drive, which is required to install new softmods."

Am I right in understanding that this is only if you want to keep your softmod. As I'm removing this shouldn't affect me should it?
For this next part I might come unstuck. Another readme note.
"NOTE: This softmod is intended ONLY for v1.0-v1.5 NTSC XBOX consoles. If you have a PAL XBOX console, you will need to use a NTSC/PAL switching utility to change your PAL XBOX to an NTSC version before you can use this softmod. (Enigmah PAL-NTSC Switcher can do this)"

Like I've said before I have Enigmah as an app. From what I can tell I need to use it as an .iso. So I take it the Enigmah .iso actually works on totally unmodified Xboxen? Can't see any way around this. I might have a working CD writer. My optical drive is a Samsung. From what I've read elsewhere my best bet is CD-RW. Stay away from CD-R. What's the best Xbox burning app. for PC?
It appears getting the Xbox into HD mode is taken care of by the Dual package.

One last bit from the readme.
"NOTE: This is a softmod, not a BIOS. This softmod requires a RETAIL XBOX BIOS to run, it will NOT run with any hacked BIOSes or Modchips."

Using "remove softmod" I should be back to a retail MS BIOS right?

Wow another long post. I've wrote shorter essays during my education.

ldotsfan · « **Reply #19 on:** July 08, 2008, 09:15:00 AM »

QUOTE(Red_Breast @ Jul 8 2008, 11:40 PM)

1.) The MS retail BIOS starts. Untouched as it comes at retail.
2.) Nkpatcher comes along and patches the MS BIOS.
3.) I'm at my splash menu EvolutionX.

From there when I go to Apps and select Phoenix Bios Loader what does it do? Does it patch MS BIOS further or load a completely new BIOS? The X2 5035 "xboxrom.bin" file/BIOS.

Load the X2 5035 BFM bios through PBL.

QUOTE(Red_Breast @ Jul 8 2008, 11:40 PM)

From what I understand my Krayzie's uses 11_U02. The latest is U04. I downloaded the U04 version recently. Looking through it I don't know if I could update. Maybe I don't need to but could just execute U04. Looking through it's folder it seems like I have to do a lot of editing to make a runtime and config file.

Many posts ago in the same thread, I gave the link for the steps to replace bios.xbe which is on the real C.

QUOTE(Red_Breast @ Jul 8 2008, 11:40 PM)

I've been thinking of trying to uninstall the whole lot and start again. With Frosty's Dual-Boot VGA package.
I can go between Frozen cable and SCART cable OK. Going to SCART means I can launch SCell Linux checkpoint and select "Remove softmod".

From what I've read elsewhere my best bet is CD-RW. Stay away from CD-R. What's the best Xbox burning app. for PC?
It appears getting the Xbox into HD mode is taken care of by the Dual package.

I use ImgBurn to burn the xiso. I don't recommend Frosty's Dual-Boot VGA softmod as it's based on an older font exploit and there's other problems there. Ndure is recommended and it's just a matter of understanding enough to enable the vga feature via nkpatcher.

However I'm a big fan of Frosty's xbox rescue disc - as a means to expose the real C and generally used for softmod upgrades among other things.

Red_Breast · « **Reply #20 on:** July 09, 2008, 01:42:00 PM »

"Load the X2 5035 BFM bios through PBL."

How is it able to load this BIOS? Is it because nkpatcher has already done something to the retail MSbios or can PBL just load X2 5035 on top of an untouched MSbios?

"Many posts ago in the same thread, I gave the link for the steps to replace bios.xbe which is on the real C."

I take it you mean in the thread and not the links in your sig? I can only find the link about the PAL guy wanting to disable virtual eeprom.
http://forums.xbox-s...p;#entry4280211
Don't take it the wrong way this might be the link you mean. I just can't see the relation to bios.xbe myself.

As for the Dual-boot I'm not sure I could do it anyway. From what I understand the stuff on the C partition is put there by MS. A softmod copies it all to E partition. I believe this is the shadow C. From what I can gather it locks it © somehow. Which is why you need the rescue disc to access it. Right or wrong?
So if I "remove softmod" and manage to get an Enigmah disc made for NTSC mode I would then, according to the dual readme, need to gain access to the Xbox HD with a game save so that I have FTP access. I don't understand how you get HD access with a game save. Isn't the game save only one of 2 parts of my/all softmod packages. The game save and linux installer. The game save just crashes the game right?

So where am I at? What should be working isn't. A Krayzie's Installer that uses nkpatcher11_U04 would/should/might be the answer. I don't know if it's possible to just update 2 to 4.

Like I said before I feel as though I'm working backwards. When I read the readmes in some of the different software packages I get the feeling it's assumed you know what you're doing, at least with some of them. Maybe I just need to play around with it all for a few months. Get my head around it all and my problem will be as clear as daylight. It certainly isn't at present. I feel as though my head is going to explode. One thing I do have on my side these days is time.

ldotsfan · « **Reply #21 on:** July 10, 2008, 07:38:00 AM »

QUOTE(Red_Breast @ Jul 10 2008, 04:18 AM)

"Many posts ago in the same thread, I gave the link for the steps to replace bios.xbe which is on the real C."

I take it you mean in the thread and not the links in your sig? I can only find the link about the PAL guy wanting to disable virtual eeprom.
http://forums.xbox-s...p;#entry4280211
Don't take it the wrong way this might be the link you mean. I just can't see the relation to bios.xbe myself.

Yes, that's the post I was referring to. Krayzie's Ndure folder structure is different from Kingroach and so in effect you are replacing the whole softmod when you want to change the bios.xbe from Krayzie's to Kingroach's safely.

Like what obcd said, this is dangerous if you are not sure how the softmod works. Make sure you have eeprom backup to PC before you attempt it. His post is quite detailed on the inner workings of softmods so please read up first and ask questions to ensure you understand.

obcd · « **Reply #22 on:** July 11, 2008, 02:45:00 AM »

I like that attitude that you want to get it running.

I bought my first defective xbox a bit more than a year ago, just to take a look at the electronics. It had 2 broken pcb tracks, a totally messed up LPC header that had badly sodered steel nails in it's holes, glued together with super glue on the back of the PCB. As a bonus, the harddisk was unlocked.

So, I got from a Frag to just again a Frag (only one track repaired) to orange green flashing (time to buy an AV pack and a controller) to error 5...

At that time, my modchip came in. In it's setup screen, it only worked with an original xbox controller.. So, useless at that moment.

Finally build the eeprom reader to discover that the case serial didn't match the mobo's one, and that the eeprom.bin on the harddisk also belonged to another xbox.

Guess I have learned it the hard way... If the result comes out, it is worth the efford.

Btw, 41 isn't old. Maybe you learn slower, but you have a whole background of valubale information stored in your gray Mass... You are just as old as you feel you are..

As with most of these things, there are many ways to do it wrong, only a couple that will work.

Btw, I learned my Dutch when I was 2. Finished learning it at 23.

regards.

Red_Breast · « **Reply #23 on:** July 11, 2008, 07:24:00 AM »

obcd,

Are you Dutch? When I gave that example it was because I thought it was the best way to explain about learning is easier the younger you are. I've never looked at your profile. I am now and even though there is no information about country it has your age. You're older than me.

I haven't spoke any Dutch now for about 13 years. So I was trying to think of the most basic question and I can't even think of the right way to say it.
Do you come from the Netherlands?
Kom je van uit Nederland?
Is that right?

I lived in A'dam West from 1986-1991 and 1993-1995. In 1986 I was 18 and started backpacking around Europe. I met a girl in A'dam and ended up staying there. Last month when I started looking into this I noticed that XBMC had a Devcon in Amsterdam. From my understanding it was a closed event.

Back to all this VGA stuff and I'm thinking about using the "remove softmod" option in Krayzie's Installer and maybe trying Kingroach's softmod. I think Idotsfan said something about it. From what I've understood so far I shouldn't even need Frosty's BFM. The 360mods tutorial that Frosty has linked to elsewhere says you can just enable VGA in the Extras menu. There is nothing to do with VGA in the menu. I was going to link to the 360mods tutorial but I'm getting a "This site has been suspended" page.

obcd · « **Reply #24 on:** July 11, 2008, 04:35:00 PM »

Ik kom uit België.

Before you think about removing the softmod, make sure you have a backup of your xbox eeprom on your pc.

You might even consider starting over again with a completely fresh lockable harddisk. If things don't work, you still have your current working disk to put back in your xbox.

Just take a look at the Kingroach ndure package. Start it up and study the options you have. You should have an enable VGA option in it.

regards.

ldotsfan · « **Reply #25 on:** July 11, 2008, 08:50:00 PM »

QUOTE(obcd @ Jul 12 2008, 07:11 AM)

Just take a look at the Kingroach ndure package. Start it up and study the options you have. You should have an enable VGA option in it.

It's known as RGB in nkpatcher terms. In e:\ndts\default.xbe, nkpatcher settings, there's a bunch of those settings. I reproduce a small segment of the config.xml from Kingroach's Ndure's Ndure toolset to show how it's done.

CODE

This shows that the particular copy of bios.xbe at e:\ndts\files\C\bios\bs06 is configured for F takes all for LBA48 and RGB (VGA) support. And it is copied to c:\bios\bios.xbe.

But please take the necessary precautions like what obcd says.

ldotsfan · « **Reply #26 on:** July 14, 2008, 08:37:00 AM »

QUOTE(Red_Breast @ Jul 14 2008, 07:46 AM)

Is there something which say instead of using a SCell gamesave followed by a Linux installer is there a SCell save which will just give me ftp so I could ftp the files over?

After running the eeprom backup and before selecting the softmod installation step, you should have ftp access via the SC gamesave

ldotsfan · « **Reply #27 on:** July 15, 2008, 07:17:00 AM »

QUOTE(Red_Breast @ Jul 15 2008, 10:31 AM)

From the PC Ndure app I make C and E folders on my PC hard drive. Apparently I use these to patch the C and E on my Xbox hard drive. The only way I see this possible is to reinstall Krayzie's, then ftp Krayzie's C and E on the Xbox hard drive to a folder on my PC and then patch them with the C and E folders I made with the PC Ndure app and then ftp the whole lot back to my Xbox hard drive. If you managed to keep up with all that well done. All the time I'm thinking "this can't be right". Which is why I almost done it but didn't. Why not just make a straight Xbox installer?

You can use krayzie's gamesave to gain ftp access. After which, you can just combine the existing contents of C and E drives with those from kingroach's ndure C and E folders via ftp. Just make sure ernie.xtf is copied before xbox.xtf in xodash folder. No need to transfer the whole lot to PC just to combine them.
Kingroach's was designed for hotswapping installation - not gamesave style.

obcd · « **Reply #28 on:** July 17, 2008, 02:12:00 PM »

Hotswapping is a way to get acces to your harddisk without knowing the password. You connect the harddisk to your pc after the xbox has unlocked it.

If you have a backup of your xbox eeprom.bin, you can unlock the harddisk with it on your pc.
There is no need to hotswap anymore.

So, you can connect your xbox harddisk to your pc with the power disconnected.

regards.

Red_Breast · « **Reply #29 on:** July 26, 2008, 02:21:00 PM »

No chaps I didn't get it working.

I've managed to locate a second hand Component to RGB/VGA adaptor. You can see a new one here:-

http://www.js-techno...1398c121d325eb6
This is a pop-up. Better to open in a new window instead of a new tab I find.

If the component source is progressive it outputs via D-sub, RGBHV, 31.3khz horizontal scan.
If it's interlaced it outputs via SCART, RGB composite sync, 15.6 horizontal scan.
Should work great connected to my TV with it's SCART and D-sub inputs. My TV:-

http://www.europeant...mfw92-6110.html
http://www.areadvd.d...glenaro92.shtml

One downside. Highest resolution is 576p. No problem with the TV. Might of been nice on PC monitor for the few things with 720p. Aren't they just upscaled anyway though?
I haven't done much recently with the Xbox, no time, however it is back at non modded state. Almost.
When I uninstalled I forgot the NTSC switch so it's still in NTSC mode. PAL games play on it though. But one question. As it is now is my Xbox eeprom in NTSC mode?
It was only £20. I was thinking of selling the Frozen cable however I feel determined to get VGA working. Maybe I should just wait and see if Krayzie makes it easy for me and releases an NDure using nkpatcher 11_04 instead of 11_02.
One other question guys. I played a little Halo on Xbox earlier. It's a 50Hz only game on PAL. I wanted to see if it felt "quicker" in NTSC mode but couldn't tell. Isn't that what would happen making it about 17% faster?

Author Topic: Softmod And Vga (Read 347 times)