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[TIMxIRISH]

Hi there.

I'm a bit of a noob when it comes to softmods, mainly because I've always resisted them best I can. I'm sure many will agree with me-- flashed TSOPs and chips are just more reliable and flexible (emphasis on flexibility).

Anyway, subject in question is a 1.0 box with a SPDT switch wired to A19 on middle, VCC on top, ground on bottom (in other words, just like lordvader's two way split pictorial). Closed the box up after mounting my switch, hung it out to dry, then ftp'd evoxdash to E along with the subfolders that came with it. Placed x2 5035 vOLD in the bios folder, launched evox from unleashx (which i chose for my ndure install), hit flash bios and selected the correct file (i made sure).

System boots up with "X2 Config Live Loading...", flubber, then Xbox logo... And no matter how long I wait afterward, I get a black screen. x2config.ini has no major changes (i did hide MS logo, and that's it), and even if i use a fresh x2config.ini, I get no dice.

x2config and unleashx are in C, there is no x2config in E. I'm assuming it's pointless to put one in E anyway. Also, my second 512kb bank (a19 to ground) is stock and boots fine into the softmod. Fairly unimportant, but after I solve this issue I will be swapping stock bank(s) with the latest iND bios.

Any chance someone could explain what I did wrong?

Thanks in advance! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

This post has been edited by TIMxIRISH: Aug 31 2009, 08:28 AM

[Heimdall]

Where did you install your hacked dash, and did you edit x2config.ini to look in that location for the hacked dash?

Also, you have to put x2config.ini in E:\ - I've done a whole pile of testing recently, and X2.5035 doesn't seem to look in C:\ for it's config, in spite of the documentation saying that it should.

This post has been edited by Heimdall: Aug 31 2009, 10:18 AM

[lordvader129]

if the box was previously softmodded youll have to remove the softmod, since when it tries to patch the nonretail bios it just goes to the black screen

you should be able to boot with slayers or AID or similar and just rebuild the C drive

This post has been edited by lordvader129: Aug 31 2009, 04:19 PM

[TIMxIRISH]

QUOTE(lordvader129 @ Aug 31 2009, 08:19 AM)

if the box was previously softmodded youll have to remove the softmod, since when it tries to patch the nonretail bios it just goes to the black screen

you should be able to boot with slayers or AID or similar and just rebuild the C drive

Ah, interesting. In that case it makes complete sense. An edited bios will not have the same data in the same location. I never realized softmods patch the retail bios. I just assumed they loaded a BFM bios from where it lies and called it done... But maybe all BFM bioses do a little patching.  

Once I can get my hands on slayers, I'll give it a shot and report back.

@Heimdall: I'll keep that in mind in case I encounter problems with that as well.

Thanks guys!

[Heimdall]

You don't have to remove the softmod......

The retail BIOS is only patched when you run xboxdash.xbe, whereas your TSOP BIOS loads your hacked dash directly, so the softmod is never triggered. If you try to run xboxdash.xbe then you get the problem of nkpatcher trying to patch a memory location that doesn't contain retail code, and a blank screen. I run a few TSOP boxes with the softmod still in place, and they work fine.

Actually, I think I see what is happening. You haven't edited X2.5035, so the BIOS can't find your hacked dash because it doesn't know where to look. The BIOS then goes to its last dash entry, which in the default config is C:\xboxdash.xbe. Xboxdash.xbe runs, and because it is a softmodded box it then triggers the exploit and runs nkpatcher. Nkpatcher then tries to patch the BIOS in memory, which is X2.5035 rather than the stock MS BIOS, and so the Xbox hangs with a black screen.

The solution is to sort out x2config.ini to point to your hacked dash, as I said earlier...... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

This post has been edited by Heimdall: Aug 31 2009, 07:25 PM

[lordvader129]

QUOTE(TIMxIRISH @ Aug 31 2009, 11:07 AM)

Ah, interesting. In that case it makes complete sense. An edited bios will not have the same data in the same location. I never realized softmods patch the retail bios. I just assumed they loaded a BFM bios from where it lies and called it done... But maybe all BFM bioses do a little patching.  

well it does load a BFM bios, but it still needs to partch the retail bios so it can run unsigned code before nkpatcher can go

as heimdall pointed out we've essentially provided 2 solutions to the same problem, so choose the one thats best for you

[TIMxIRISH]

QUOTE(Heimdall @ Aug 31 2009, 11:21 AM)

You don't have to remove the softmod......

The retail BIOS is only patched when you run xboxdash.xbe, whereas your TSOP BIOS loads your hacked dash directly, so the softmod is never triggered. If you try to run xboxdash.xbe then you get the problem of nkpatcher trying to patch a memory location that doesn't contain retail code, and a blank screen. I run a few TSOP boxes with the softmod still in place, and they work fine.

Actually, I think I see what is happening. You haven't edited X2.5035, so the BIOS can't find your hacked dash because it doesn't know where to look. The BIOS then goes to its last dash entry, which in the default config is C:\xboxdash.xbe. Xboxdash.xbe runs, and because it is a softmodded box it then triggers the exploit and runs nkpatcher. Nkpatcher then tries to patch the BIOS in memory, which is X2.5035 rather than the stock MS BIOS, and so the Xbox hangs with a black screen.

The solution is to sort out x2config.ini to point to your hacked dash, as I said earlier......

Well I've been under the assumption that 5035 will run on default settings if no config file is present, correct? If I remember right, unleashx.xbe is third on the boot order with xboxdash.xbe as the fifth. Assuming all the previous is correct, I should have been fine.. But obviously there was a conflict somewhere. Perhaps it doesn't run with defaults with no congfig file present.

I'm going to bookmark this thread for future reference, as I thought about using a softmod over the TSOP on rare occasions.. But for most of my needs the TSOP delivers a little better. When I upgrade the HDD on this machine, I'll softmod the stock drive for that occasion and keep what you suggested in mind.

Thanks again to both of you. Aside from solving my problem, I've also gained a little more insight on how softmods work and are triggered. I rebuilt my drive with Slayer's and everything seems to be fine.

Now to play with new dashboards.. the usuals (evox, UX, UIX, ava) are leaving more to be desired. I wish UIX 2 was out (and hope someday it will still be released, complete or not), but for now I'll play with other MS dash based dashes.

[lordvader129]

QUOTE(TIMxIRISH @ Aug 31 2009, 02:04 PM)

Well I've been under the assumption that 5035 will run on default settings if no config file is present, correct? If I remember right, unleashx.xbe is third on the boot order with xboxdash.xbe as the fifth. Assuming all the previous is correct, I should have been fine.. But obviously there was a conflict somewhere. Perhaps it doesn't run with defaults with no congfig file present.

yeah it has a default set of configs, the issue may be that it only looks at the root of C:\ for its dash, and ndure loads it dash from E:\Dash\ so unless you specifically put a dash onto C:\ for the TSOP it will still default to xboxdash.xbe

but either way, good here you got it sorted