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[mick101]

Hi all;

I have the following.

K: 5101
D: 4920

I have managed to use the Mech Assault game save hack and gained FTP access to the Xbox.

It does contain  an update.xbe file.

Now, I am confused as to what to do next. I am running WindowsXP and don't know much about Linux (compiling, extracting and so on).

Thanks in advance for any help.

Cheers,

Mick101

[mick101]

Hi Again;

I forgot to also ask the following:

- Will I be able to play Xbox Live with my original games?
- Will I be able to recover from any mistakes? (What are the necessary backups procedures asides from backing up the C and E Drives?)
Can the mods be undone?

Cheers,

Mick101

[John Hoek]

 Is there a posibility to make a hack for regioncodes?  

With the UDE2 trick; the xbox need to be in NTSC mode.
That means that PAL and NTSC-J Xboxes need to be changed.
So far, so good.  

But this means in practice that say in Europe (PAL) some plain games don't work anymore!  (The game Riddick-PAL version for instance).  You'll need the NTSC counterpart also....    

Most games don't give region problems like this, but there are some nasty ones!  

To solve this; there are two (2) options (i'll think   )
- Patch the problemmaking PAL (or NTSC-J) Games - default.exe  to NTSC version.
>> Solution:
-only suitable for backups
-No solution for real retail games.... because of the eprom that's
 flashed to NTSC; those PAL games are NOT working anymore.
- every gameversion must be tested and modded if needed. difficult
  and time consuming task to find everytime the correct
   patchprograms; and also they only work on backups.
   
         
- Patch the BIOS loader to hack the epromcontents. When a program calls for
 certain epromsettings; it instead transfers back the original settings; PAL for  
 instance (instead of the flashed NTSC).
>> Solution:  
- No problems with PAL games anymore (backups)
- originals can be also played from the chosen dashboard / BFM bios.
- no xbox live then for those few original PAL games; but most
  xbox users don't want to play live.  (Xlink/Xbconnect could also
  be an option)


When i see the two solutions; I'll confinced that the second is the best and most user-friendly. It this possible to make it real?  

[John Hoek]

[PedrosPad]

QUOTE (John Hoek @ Sep 14 2004, 10:23 AM)

so that after loading the NTSC version of update.exe; the XBOX is changed to a real patched PAL state; before it launches and dashboard or something. Most problems are solved then i think....

Leaving the EEPROM alone and changing what the Kernel reports as EEPROM contents may have legs, as you suggested , but patching the EEPROM back to PAL retail state between UDE2, and launching Dashboard would mean that the UDE2 won't work next reboot.

[John Hoek]

That's just no safe option I agree.


But set the hacked bios to PAL back (patching) and also set it the right PAL settings to the videocontroller, then 1) some PAL games still work again i think (so a part of the full solution is done)  and 2)  PAL TV sets wich can't handle NTSC signals, don't suffer from this quick bootup; switching between NTSC and back to PAL....  


But then there is still the problem; How can we fool programs that read the eprom contents? Is there any solution for that to make, so that those programs get the 'wrong' (no not really wrong; but what we wanted to tell) info..


When i have a good mind to remember; that's a year ago... I softmodded my 1.1 xbox with phoenix loader 1.0; with 4977 executer bios.   MS dashboard and EVOX dash gave me in the infoscreen 4977 back; instead of the original bios....  So basicly, this is the same problem wich we should solve (or is it already solved by patching the bios) with above trick? Am i right?

[PedrosPad]

QUOTE (John Hoek @ Sep 14 2004, 01:32 PM)

How can we fool programs that read the eprom contents? Is there any solution for that to make, so that those programs get the 'wrong' (no not really wrong; but what we wanted to tell) info..

I'm guessing that there will be a collection of function calls (e.g. GetRegion(), GetVideo(), etc. - or maybe a single call that returns a structure) whose return value will be based on the EEPROM contents.  (I think it's very unlikely that the Games themselves directly access or interpret the EEPROM data.)  These functions will need to be identified and patched.

I expect the result of this work would be a UDE2, PAL specific, BFM M8 BIOS with the low level Kernel functions hardcoded to return PAL values (even through the EEPROM is actually set to USA).

Note: This still won't let you boot PAL originals (those that check the region code), but at least they'd work when "Launch DVD" is chosen from the Evox menu (once the modified BFM BIOS is in RAM).

PS. If I recall, Evox's INI file already allows you to specify a video mode to each menu item, and it sets the video controller accordingly. - This needs testing, as it may already do exactly what you need already.

[John Hoek]

Quote:
PS. If I recall, Evox's INI file already allow you to specify a video mode to each menu item, and it sets the video controller accordingly. - This needs testing, as it may already do exactly what you need already.
unquote:

This doesn't solve programs that asked for specific eprominfo. Only this way they van manage on which system (NTSC, PAL etc.) they are started.

[PedrosPad]

QUOTE (John Hoek @ Sep 14 2004, 01:53 PM)

This doesn't solve programs that asked for specific eprominfo. Only this way they van manage on which system (NTSC, PAL etc.) they are started.

I doubt the game is checking EEPROM info - as such - simply the XBOX's region, video standard, etc.  (as reported by API calls).  Depends on what Evox does when you force 'the video standard' - it may already patch a copy of the EEPROM data in RAM.  (I doubt it'll be that easy, but worth checking out before getting prematurely complicated.)

[John Hoek]

somebody who can make a statement / test of this EVOX behavior with PAL games? Only the latest version of EVOX V3935 is capable to select different regions for games etc.... But does this help for retail PAL games on NTSC computers also?

Altough, patching a bios to return PAL settings/valuas is more noob-proof i'll think....

[PedrosPad]

QUOTE (John Hoek @ Sep 14 2004, 03:19 PM)

somebody who can make a statement / test of this EVOX behavior with PAL games?

Apart from John's Riddick game - anyone know any more games that exhibit this behaviour - an in-game region check?

(It's worth identifying how much of an issue this is! - It its limited, patching the games maybe more economical - time wise)

[John Hoek]

I had also problems with DOAX - Extreme volleyball.  I managed to get a not-so-legal-NTSC version , but then it didn't work on my PAL Xbox.  I did need a plain PAL version to get it to work.

[PedrosPad]

QUOTE (John Hoek @ Sep 14 2004, 03:50 PM)

I had also problems with DOAX - Extreme volleyball.  I managed to get a not-so-legal-NTSC version , but then it didn't work on my PAL Xbox.  I did need a plain PAL version to get it to work.

You could use this to test if forcing the region with Evox is enough.

DOABV is the one original PAL game I own.  I'll see if the PAL version also does an in-game region check - in which case, I can use it for testing fixes.

[PedrosPad]

QUOTE (John Hoek @ Sep 14 2004, 03:19 PM)

Only the latest version of EVOX V3935 is capable to select different regions for games etc.... But does this help for retail PAL games on NTSC computers also?

From memory, I think the Evox INI file format will need to be something like

CODE

menuItem "Launch PAL DVD", "d:\default.xbe", PALREGION menuItem "Launch US DVD",  "d:\default.xbe", NTSCREGION

[Angerwound]

This seems like a very interesting idea guys. Keep up the great work.