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[BennyBou]

Hi, I have an old xbox lying around. I would like to turn it into a NAS. I would like to install a 2 terabyte SATA HDD (with sata to IDE converter). Would the drive be readable from any distro?

Also, which distro is best suited for this type of use? I would like to have a samba share, an FTP server and that it be accessible via SSH and VNC for config. I think Gentoox with a native install is a great candidate. Is there a way to get rid of the standard Xbox partition scheme to just have one Linux partition (with swap) with my 2 TB HDD? I already have another Xbox to play so this one would only be for the NAS.

thank you!

[run088]

any version of linux with ext3 will have no problem with the 2tb drive.

I got 2 hooked up just as your asking. One runs xdsl the other runs xebian. The 2tb that runs on xdsl also has another 40gig hdd installed in the xbox and runs good.

I hooked up 2 2tb hdds in one xbox this way and it worked but it locked up every so often so I try to stick with an ide and a sata per xbox. I say this to say I know 4tb's in an xbox is doable because I have done it

Might also want to check out the xdsl remake thread. It has the ability to be able to read fatx partitions that big. I have tested on a 2tb that has an f of around 1tb and a g around 1tb and it worked. This way you can still have the mobility of the xbox with xbmc to travel with and view your media or run as a nas for your system at home. xdsl remake will also let you make and boot if you want partitions outside f and g. Meaning hda57 and hda58 respectively.

[BennyBou]

Hi, thanks for the answer. I'll be checking X-DSL as gentoox is giving me only problems when I try to install samba or webmin (or anything for that matters).

Is there a way to install X-DSL purely natively? I don't want to keep any FatX partitions. The xbox I want to use will never be used for running Xbox software. All I would like is a swap partition and an ext3 partition on my HDD.

I see that X-DSL is based on Knoppix which is based on Debian. To install services like samba, webmin and transmission I would only have to use apt-get like on other based debian linux distro? Is that right?

Thanks!

[run088]

yes and yes.

Apt-get but I would recommend changing repos to sarge and install its synaptic with apt-get. It will be easier than apt-get and is similar to what you find in current ubuntu.

Xdsl can be installed 3 different ways and it is located as an option in the start menu. Loopback, frugal, or native install. The choice is yours. In a native install it acts like a debian distro.

Its instructions can be found on the xdsl wiki. Just google xdsl you will find it. It will tell you all about the distro

If you get apt-get enabled which is in the menu as an upgrade. Open file manager as root navigate to /etc/apt/ and open the file called "sources list" in a text editor. Then comment each line out by starting each line with a "#". This way those repos will be ignored. Then add the sarge repos underneath them this way when you apt-get it will call to the sarge repos.

Look for a thread in this forum by "Heavy Engineer" or something. The thread is called "Best linux distro" or something. The thread is 2 pages and the repos are listed by somebody on the 2 page I think. You will see me as a poster somewhere in the thread. I didn't list the repos someone else did. I got other post I posted in but I always remember this one when I need to look and see what the repos are.

If you can't find them let me know.

You do understand that with idotsfan's patch you can keep the fatx and f and g partitions and make a native install after f & g and if you do that you can still use that media on xbmc if you wanted to. Not that you will alot but this way you have the option.

You could either split the tsop and flip a switch to jump back and forth to linux or xbox if xbox version is 1.0-1.1

Or use xromwell and launch linux by an xbe file.

Or get a mod chip

Cheap route is tsop or xromwell.xbe
Linux will run the same and mount the fatx just like it would fat32.

I highly recommend going this route to have the mobility if needed. XBMC is just to good to abandon.

[BennyBou]

Thanks again for all the answers! I downloaded the latest modified X-DSL (being 0.71.2). Created a bootable DVD but I can't install it natively. The HDD dows not contains any fatx partitions (probably what's screwing up native install).

I already have another Xbox with XBMC installed on it. That xbox will only be used as a NAS. My NAS Xbox has a Duox2 modchip flashed with cromwell 2.40 and gentoox loader 6.07. I see no point in wasting more than 5GB of HDD space to keep the Xbox functionnality when I have another machine just for that.

I would really be happy if there was a way to install X-DSL natively on my HDD without any fatx partitions. I would like to have only a swap partition and an ext3 partition. The ext3 partition would take the whole 2TB (minus the 256M swap) and that would be perfect to store all my files so that all my computers (and xbox with XBMC can access them!

Thanks again for the help and answers. It is really appreciated!!!

[run088]

I have had your problem before. Just install xebian or xubuntu first and then install xdsl over top of it. I think there is a problem on the install script with drives this big. I had the same problem with my other 2 2tb xbox machines.

[BennyBou]

I'll try that tonight! Thanks!

[BennyBou]

Still a no go... I've installed Xebian in native and then booted with the X-DSL 0.71.2 DVD-R I made. Launched xbox-nativeinstall script from my computer via SSH and still it ask me to create new partitions ans tells me to reboot my Xbox.

Just to point out also, for now I don't have a 2TB drive. I had an old 20GB drive lying around I use to test my setup. Once I'm satisfied with the results I'll buy that 2TB drive!

[BennyBou]

Resorted to using Xebian 1.1.4 for now.

I found the repository address you told me.

#deb http://archive.debia...debian-archive/  sarge main contrib non-free
#deb http://mirror.linux.org.au/debian oldstable main contrib non-free
#deb http://mirrors.usc.e...ibutions/debian oldstable main contrib non-free

deb http://mirror.aarnet.edu.au/debian  oldstable main contrib non-free
deb-src http://mirror.aarnet.edu.au/debian oldstable main contrib non-free

For now I am only using the two last ones. I know there far from me but I just don't care. I have DSL speed and I have plenty of time to let it download...