Print

[SpamBot]

The following is the tutorial I used a year ago to softmod my Xbox and the tutorial was deleted from the filefront site when it was changed.  I managed to save X-Kahn's tutorial on my PC and I wanted to post it here for others who may need it.

Soft Mod Tutorial
by X-Kahn August 4th, 2008

Is Soft Modding my XBox legal? Yes you own it , you bought it. A Software Modification might void your warranty or get you banned from XBox Live but no cops are going to bust down your door for modification.  If that was the case then people who remodel their house or customize their cars are in real trouble. It only becomes illegal if you were to resell the Xbox and not remove the modifications.

Why this tutorial was written: My son has an old XBox and roughly 70 or 80 games. A few months ago his Halo 2 DVD was lagging real bad on the start up of most multi-player games. The cause of most games hanging or freezing up is scratches on the disk and a the slow input from the DVD ROM to RAM.  Think of it as if you were reading a book and all of the sudden your eyesight started to fail. You would begin to read slower.

Since he doesn't play on XBox Live I decided a soft mod would be the best solution.  Once that was done I replaced his HDD with a 300GB Maxtor.  But the road getting from point A to B was extremely rough. At one point the new drive became LOCKED and I had to pay $25 to have it unlocked. This could end up costing more if you are not carefull so please be advised.
 
I work on computers (Hardware/Software/Manuals) for a living, and even I make mistakes, some have cost me dearly, my name is not X-Kahn for nothing. One mistake can take out your XBox or PC making it a very expensive paper weight. Don't just read one tutorial, read as many as you can so you can fully grasp what you are about to do. This is not a project for the faint of heart or thin of wallet.  So you have been warned. However, as of the date on this tutorial my son has loaded 90% of his game library on to the HDD.

ITEMS NEEDED

Xbox Related Materials

1 XBox
1 XBox Memory Card
1 Controller
1 of 3 Game Titles
       "Splinter Cell" (the one I used purchased for $10)
       "Mech Assault"
       "007: Agent Under Fire"
New Lockable HDD (I used a Maxtor 300GB purchased from Staples $59)

PC Related Materials

PC with DVD Burner
Any software able to burn an iso image (I used DVD Decrypter)
SID 4.0 - (Links below)
Auto Intaller Deluxe 4.30 (I found mine using The Pirate Bay uTorrent)
Update ANSI Telnet Software (Links below)
Action Replay Software
1 USB Pig tail from controller (it will be ruined)
1 USB Pig tail from PC (it will be ruined)
Crossover cable or converted one (I will discuss how to make one)

Now if my shopping list hasn't scared you off, let's begin to soft mod the XBox.

Part One - The Soft Mod

Section A - PC Hardware

        1. USB Pigtails
            A. Cut the XBox Pig tail and expose the wires.
            B. Connect the following colors: Black, Red, White, Green (Yellow is not used)
            C. Tape the wires to insulate the connections.

   2. Making a Crossover Cable Using Straight Through Cable
            A. In middle of the cable Strip (DO NOT CUT) about 3 to 4 inches off the outside insulator to expose the wires.
            B. Cut and bare the following colors: Orange, Green, Green/White, Orange/White
            C. Attach Green to Orange and Green/White to Orange/White on each side of the cable.
            D. Tape the wires to insulate the connections.

Section B - PC Software

        1. Extract from sid.4.0.nknave.edition.XS Filter - Links to Xbox Warez and Torrents **.zip the two .zip files and place on your desktop.
            A. SID4.NK.Launcher.zip
            B. SID4.NK.Loader.SplinterCell.NTSC.zip (North America)
            C. SID4.NK.Loader.SplinterCell.PAL.zip  (Europe)

   2. Install Action Replay Software to your PC.
            A. Run Action Replay
            B. Insert modified XBox modified pigtail into PC
            C. Connect Xbox Controller with Memory Card.
            D. Install any USB drivers needed to identify the Memory Card.

Using Action Replay, drag both zip files to your memory card. Attach the controller to the XBox and copy both gamesaves from the memory card to your unmodded Xbox using the MS Dash.

At this point, start up Splinter Cell, select Start Game and press A. There should be one gamesave titled Linux. Select it and press A twice. If it hangs loading for several minutes you might need the alternate PAL version. The screen should turn black and afew seconds later, you will be greeted with an SID 4 intro screen and control panel.

This is a VERY IMPORTANT STEP!

Now that SID has loaded, go to 'CREATE MS BACKUP'. This is incase you want to unmod your Xbox for any reason/technical/resale reason. Go to 'CREATE EEPROM BACKUP'.  After you click that, a new menu will come up. In that menu, click 'CREATE EEPROM BACKUP'. When it is done, click 'BACK TO MAIN MENU'.

Scroll down to 'Install Softmod'. Click Dual Boot for NTSC or PAL (see above on which game version you used) Click Knaves Ndure, Open tray = Retail. Choose either the Installation for EvolutionX or UnleashX. (I used UnleashX) Three messages will pop up. After reading and understanding each, Press A. On the 3rd message, you will get this message: "All requirements pass. Continue Install?" Click Yes.

After the installation is complete, you will get this message: "Soft Mod successfully installed..." just press OK. Now a new message pops up: "The installer will now boot to patching system after it is completed, please turn off Xbox and power back on without game disc to finish install." Click YES.

Press eject and take out your disc and then close the tray. Turn it off. Turn it back on. When it boots up, UnleashX will appear with a "Soft Mod Successful" message. It says that it needs 1 more step to finish the install. PRESS A.

After it is finished installing everything, your Xbox will automatically reboot and your UnleashX dashboard should appear.

Whew! You have just successfully soft modded your Xbox!


Part Two - The New Larger HDD

WARNING: Opening your XBox will void your warranty!
Open your XBox and PC have the XBox setup very near the PC. You will need to share power and cables with each other.

Xbox Settings

On your Unleashed X Dashboard access the System and go to Network Settings

Set IP to 192.168.0.5
Under HTTP (NOT FTP)
Set Proxy = YES
Set Port = 23

PC Settings

(Assuming XP)
Start-> Control Panel-> Network and Internet Connections-> Network Connections
Right Click "Local Area Connection" and choose Properties
Scroll down to TCP/IP and click Properties Button
Use the following IP: 192.168.0.5 Mask: 255.255.255.0
Click Ok and Close.
INSTALL A TELNET PROGRAM!! The XP program is crap and will be garbled. (See my links)

Power off the PC and XBox

Set the jumpers on the New HDD to SLAVE. Run a spare power cable to the New HDD from the PC (the Xbox has just the one) or you can optionally look for a Y-Connector and split the power from the Xbox HDD. Remove the gray data ribbon from the XBox DVD and reinsert it with only the slightest pressure. Install the crossover cable from PC to XBox.

Turn on the PC and XBox. Using AIDeluxe 4.30 DVD Disk install and run Chimpanzee Linux (aka Chimp)
If you have a version 1.6 XBox the screen will go all wavy at first and turn solid green (you can turn off the TV).

Remove the gray data ribbon from the XBox DVD and insert it to the New HDD.

Moving to the PC run the Telnet Console and type: open 192.168.0.3 [ENTER]
Login with username: root Password: xbox (password will not show)

From the Chimp Menu on the PC use the arrow key to navigate.

1. Press 1, enter - It will scan for IDE devices, when its done you will see the hda and hdb and you can use the arrows to scroll the display.  Choose Exit, by pressing enter and you will be taken back to the Main Menu.

2. Press 2, enter - it will scan again press enter, after scan press enter.  Then it will warn you - Choose yes will wipe out and reformat this disk press left arrow, then enter.

3. HD cloning from /dev/hda to /dev/hdb menus, press 1 (full disk), then Enter

4. This step is up to the user preference. HD cloning from /dev/hda to /dev/hdb menus, press 1 (blind) or press 2 (display progress every 100MB), then Enter. I chose option 2.

5. The next menu C-drive and E-drive listed, you can select both drives by using SPACE BAR once both have X in the box in front press enter.

6. It will count records out every 100MB. When that is all done, at Main Menu Press 3 to lock slave, press enter. Xbox Hd Locking tools Menu, press 1 (Motherboard), press Enter. Password Generated from Motherboard, choose yes to lock then Enter.  It will Say Done. Just Press enter to go back to the Main Menu..

7. Turn off the XBox, set jumper on the new HDD to MASTER and swap the old HDD with the new HDD. Replace the gray data ribbon to the XBox DVD. Pior to closing the case make certian the new HDD functions as the old HDD did and don't forget to tidy up the mess you made doing all this.

Remember knowledge is power, but wisdom is the key.
X-Kahn

Reference Links

DVD Decrypter - Home page

ANSI Telnet Software - Download Page

Sid 4.0 - Download Page

Please note: His last link to Sid 4.0 was old and void so I posted a new link in his name on File Front. I don't know what happened to X-Kahn or who he is but I thank him for making such a clear tutorial.

[Heimdall]

Hmmm. Thanks, but this looks like an old tutorial.

SID 4 isn't a good softmod - it isn't even the latest SID, and wasn't when the tutorial was written in 2008! Krayzie 1.1.1 is newer, more stable, and better supported. Tutorial here.

The tutorial makes assumptions about the core colours in the USB cable that aren't always true. See here, for example.
The tutorial tells you to give the PC and the Xbox the same IP address when using Chimp. Fortunately, Chimp ignores the IP address settings on the Xbox, and always uses 192.168.0.3, otherwise the tutorial wouldn't work...

Also, you've included links to copyright software built with the MS XDK.

[SpamBot]

Thank you Captian Obvious.  Nothing seems to escape your attention, like the fact that I clearly said I followed this tutorial a year ago and used it to successfully mod my Xbox.  Since that time I have replaced the X Unleashed with the XBMC but nothing else has changed.  

Should the moderator see fit to remove this, so be it.  I only posted this in hope that others having problems could use any information form it and as tribute to the person known as X-Kahn.  Imo Krayzie's tutorial is just about the soft mod and is not much different and X-Khan's goes on the explain the HDD replacement.  

I never stated this tutorial is better than any other tutorial.  It just happens to be the one I followed and worked perfectly for me.  If you have any other obvious statements or written your own tutorial by all means continue.  

As for the link to copyrighted software built with the MS XDK, you must be referring to the SID 4.0 and if the moderator desires to remove the link to that, so be it.  There are tons of links all over the internet to SID 4.0 and SID 4.5 if having a link to copyrighted material hosted on a completely separate server constitutes a crime we are all guilty by association.  I await the internet police to come get me.

[Heimdall]

QUOTE(SpamBot @ Aug 25 2009, 05:23 PM)

Thank you Captian Obvious.  Nothing seems to escape your attention, like the fact that I clearly said I followed this tutorial a year ago and used it to successfully mod my Xbox.

You need to relax a little - I wasn't attacking you personally. You seem to have have missed my point - when you used that tutorial in 2008 it was recommending you use a softmod that was already very old in 2008. SID 4 was released in December 2005, SID 4.5 in February 2006, SID 5 in April 2007, while Krayzie (which is more stable and newbie friendly than any of the SID installers) was released in August 2005 with a minor update in April 2006. Hence the tutorial is recommending a softmod that was 3 years old, and not the best available, at the time it was written. I was simply trying to ensure that a noob reading this didn't make the mistake of thinking that because it was posted in 2009, that made it current in any sense, and pointing them at an existing tutorial for a far more stable softmod.

QUOTE(SpamBot @ Aug 25 2009, 05:23 PM)

Should the moderator see fit to remove this, so be it.  I only posted this in hope that others having problems could use any information form it and as tribute to the person known as X-Kahn.  Imo Krayzie's tutorial is just about the soft mod and is not much different and X-Khan's goes on the explain the HDD replacement.

I'm not suggesting that it should be removed, and you're also missing the point here. It isn't about which tutorial is best, it's the fact that you are recommending that users should mod their Xboxes with SID 4. I never said that the Krayzie tutorial was subjectively better or worse, I said that Krayzie's softmod was better than any version of SID - which is generally accepted fact on Xbox-Scene. Just have a look at the number of posts that recommend users ditch SID and convert to Krayzie, and look at how little real, detailed support there is here for SID.....

You are right, the tutorial I linked to doesn't cover softmod disk upgrades. However, while X-Khan's disk upgrade tutorial is good, it is incomplete, and partially incorrect (the points I raised about USB cable colours, and about the incorrect IP address). I was simply correcting the errors and omissions, and providing a link to more complete data. I wasn't claiming to be better, or more clever, again I was just making sure that any newb reading your post had access to a complete and corrected version.

QUOTE(SpamBot @ Aug 25 2009, 05:23 PM)

As for the link to copyrighted software built with the MS XDK, you must be referring to the SID 4.0 and if the moderator desires to remove the link to that, so be it.  There are tons of links all over the internet to SID 4.0 and SID 4.5 if having a link to copyrighted material hosted on a completely separate server constitutes a crime we are all guilty by association.  I await the internet police to come get me.

Try reading the rules, especially the part headed "Things that will get you banned". Things being available on the internet doesn't mean that you can link to them from Xbox-scene - if they are copyright then it is against the rules. There's no point in arguing with me, just PM a moderator if you think that policy is wrong.

[run088]

Heimdall is right there are much easier ways to do this with better packages.

There is no need to act that way to him because he rightfully corrected you.

Everybody appreciates the fact that you took the time to write the tut for the scene and on behalf of the scene I thank you for that and hope your work continues here but the corrections have to be pointed out to the end user. Weather its my post or Heimdall's or anybody elses.

By the way Heimdall was looking out for you when he told you about the links. That kind of posting will get you banned quick. If you don't believe me keep creating them and see how long it takes for the mods to ban you.




"Captian Obvious"   I love the new nickname