Topic: Hacking The Ms Xboxdash (news & How To's) (Read 2402 times)

HoRnEyDvL · « **on:** July 03, 2003, 04:20:00 AM »

Well since The laste topic Hacking Xboxdash.xbe (and Relating Files) Got abit crouded with different types of post i have decided to start a new thread. In here Please post Info, Code, Pics, Tutorials and anything else that might help the community hack the M$ xboxdash in a much easier way. Anything form of code is appreiciated from Any xip xap file.
Some rules are
1. Specifie where this code was from E.G Default.xip - Default.xap or mainmenu5.xip - Default.Xap

2.If you post a completely modified xap file for people to use What ever lines u have added or modified please use a different colour Eg red for added / modified code making it easier for other people to see what you are doing.

3. Specify what version of dash you were using / modified eg pal dash 4034 so we can get a end product / utility thats compatible with a different variety of dashboards.

Happy posting hope to see some code soon Please any Mods make this a sticky / pin it up

Thnx HoRnEyDvL

rec_ · « **Reply #1 on:** July 03, 2003, 05:07:00 AM »

OK. Here´s my first list of files and links. hopefully needed.

Pixit 0.6 ( XIP Archive Manipulator )
http://www.download-...loads/pixit.zip

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DDS Photoshop Plugin Only v5.53 (open dds files in photoshop)
http://developer.nvi...176/ATT/dds.8bi

Install dds.8bi plug in to:

C:Program FilesAdobePhotoshop 7.0Plug-InsFile Formats

You may need

msvcp70.dll
msvcr70.dll

If so install them to you system or system32 folder depending on your OS.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UltraEdit32 (editor)
ftp://ultraedit.com/uedit32.zip

rec_ · « **Reply #2 on:** July 03, 2003, 05:08:00 AM »

and the pixit tutorial once more (not written by me)

TUTORIAL

Tutorial for Pixit 0.6
By Noneya

Pixit is a tool used to modify .xip files used by the xbox dashboard and to resign xboxdash.xbe to view the modified files.

This is going to be a quick but indephth tutorial cause I dont have much time.

What is pixit.exe?
==================

pixit is a program to manipulate files stored in the Xbox XIP archive file. You
can display the file content, extract the files, re-assemble an archive. You
can also add new files but for now it is not recommended.

Ok, whatever, what is it used for?
==================================

If you are asking your self the above question, pixit is probably *not* for you.
So, just close this readme.txt, delete the zip you have downloaded and go along
with your regular, everyday business.

How do I use it?
================

---
PIXIT XIP Archive Manipulator Version 0.6
Copyright © Voltaic 2003. All rights reserved.

Usage: pixit.exe <command> [filename]

Where command is one of the following:

-create[=default.csv] Create a new XIP archive file (def. default.csv).

-display[=csv] Display information about an XIP/XBE
file (def. default.xip).

-extract[=path] Extract files from an XIP archive file to specified
folder.

-resign[=xips.csv] Resign XIP section held in XBE file (def. ".*.XIP").

Note: You can use display to dump information about an XIP archive file or the
XIPS section stored in the provided XBE file.
---

As seen above, you have three options at your disposal. Create, Display and Extract.

Create: Create a new XIP archive file. By default, it'll create a file
called default.xip and using the file default.csv to build it.

Display: Display information about an XIP archive file. By default, it'll try
to display the content of default.xip.

Extract: Extract files from an XIP file. By default it'll use the file default.xip and
dump all files into a directory called default.xip.d.

Resign: Resign the XBE file making use of the XIP archive files. By default, it'll re-sign
xboxdash.xbe.

The steps to take when you want to modify a XIP file are:

1) Make a folder called XIP on your Desktop, even if you have resently made one with all of the XIP files in it.
2) Copy the contents of the folder xboxdashdata.XXXXXXXX from your xbox, in root of C:, to the folder that you just created on your desktop
3) Copy xboxdash.xbe from root of C: to the folder on your desktop, XIP.
4) Now copy the program Pixit0.6 to that folder.
5) Open a DOS prompt and go to the folder XIP.
6) Type "pixit -extract" ( just what is in the apostrophes) then press enter (this will, by default extract the contents of default.xip)
7) Now in the folder, there will now be a folder named default.xip.d, go into that folder and open default.xap with Notepad.

Go to find or CTRL+F and search for Skycolor, once found edit it to say Skycolor 0 0 0.5, then save and close Notepad.
9) Now go back to the command prompt as before, go into the folder XIP and do the command "pixit.exe -display=csv > default.csv" NO "".
10) Minimize the DOS prompt and go into the folder XIP and open default.csv in Notepad and delete everything that is in it and copy and paste this in there:

# *** Anything before this line is garbage when using this CSV file ***
#File,Size,Offset,Type,DW,Ord,W
default.xip.ddefault.xap,0x0000EF78,0x00000000,0x00000000,0x00000000,0x0005,0x0039
default.xip.ddvd.xap,0x00007272,0x0000EF78,0x00000000,0x00000000,0x0000,0x0000
default.xip.dmemory3.xap,0x0000DE27,0x000161EA,0x00000000,0x00000000,0x0001,0x000C
default.xip.dmusic2.xap,0x00011A58,0x00024011,0x00000000,0x00000000,0x0006,0x0046
default.xip.dsettings3.xap,0x0001B728,0x00035A69,0x00000000,0x00000000,0x0007,0x0052
default.xip.dcellwall.xbx,0x00016000,0x00051191,0x00000002,0x00000000,0x0008,0x005F
default.xip.ddvdstop.xbx,0x00040800,0x00067191,0x00000002,0x00000000,0x000D,0x00AB
default.xip.ddvdstopw.xbx,0x00040800,0x000A7991,0x00000002,0x00000000,0x0002,0x0014
default.xip.dGameHilite_01.xbx,0x00004800,0x000E8191,0x00000002,0x00000000,0x0003,0x0020
default.xip.dxboxlogo.xbx,0x00040800,0x000EC991,0x00000002,0x00000000,0x0004,0x002B
default.xip.dxboxlogo128.xbx,0x00002800,0x0012D191,0x00000002,0x00000000,0x0009,0x0071
default.xip.dxboxlogo64.xbx,0x00001000,0x0012F991,0x00000002,0x00000000,0x000A,0x007E
default.xip.dxboxlogow.xbx,0x00040800,0x00130991,0x00000002,0x00000000,0x000B,0x008E
default.xip.dInner_cell-FACES.xm,0x000008A0,0x00000000,0x00000004,0x00000000,0x000C,0x009D
default.xip.d~0.ib,0x000033C0,0x00171191,0x00000005,0x00000000,0x000E,0x00BF
default.xip.d~0.vb,0x000072B0,0x00174551,0x00000006,0x00000000,0x000F,0x00C5

then save and close notepad.

11) Now go back to the command prompt as before, go into the folder XIP and do the command "pixit.exe -display=csv xboxdash.xbe > xips.csv"
12) Minimize the DOS prompt and go into the folder XIP and open xips.csv in Notepad and delete everything that is in it and copy and paste this in there:

# *** Anything before this line is garbage when using this CSV file ***
#File(s) (you can add new files to the following list)
default.xip
dvd.xip
Keyboard.xip
JKeyboard.xip
mainmenu5.xip
Memory_Files2.xip
Memory2.xip
Message.xip
music_copy3.xip
Music_PlayEdit2.xip
music2.xip
Settings_Clock.xip
settings_language.xip
settings_list.xip
settings_panel.xip
settings_parental.xip
settings_timezone.xip
settings_video.xip
settings3.xip

then save and close notepad.

13) Now open back-up the DOS command prompt and put the command "pixit.exe -create" then press enter. (this will re-archive all the .xap files from default.xip)
14) Now you need to sign the xbosdash.xbe, at the command prompt, in the folder XIP, and type "pixit -resign"
15) Then ftp to your xbox and transfer xboxdash.xbe in your C: and default.xip in your C:xboxdashdata.XXXXXXXX.
16) Launch xboxdash.xbe from Evox or your dashboard and pray.

If it dosn't work you did something wrong or your dashboard version is not yet supported. And make sure your xbox is modded and the files are not Read-Only protected.

Now you can move on to different things. But each change you make you have to resign the xboxdash.xbe.

AND everychang you make to a XIP file you will need to re compile it

pixit -create (for default.xip)

or if it is another like mainmenu5.xip pixit -create mainmenu5.xip

Gcue · « **Reply #3 on:** July 03, 2003, 09:52:00 AM »

Ive created a kwik tutorial on adding menu items and submenus based on the code that was in the patch. It was too large to put in here so i made a txt file for you to look at.

Tutorial

Its kinda long but pretty much copy and paste.
Let me know what you think about it.

XBOX War3z · « **Reply #4 on:** July 03, 2003, 10:04:00 AM »

QUOTE (Gcue @ Jul 3 2003, 06:52 PM)

Ive created a kwik tutorial on adding menu items and submenus based on the code that was in the patch. It was too large to put in here so i made a txt file for you to look at.

Tutorial

Its kinda long but pretty much copy and paste.
Let me know what you think about it.

ok about the pixit GUI, since people are really using it

you can also jsut double click on the files in the right box to open them with notepad

any new ideas for the program?
*automake xips.csv if not found
*check xips.csv to see if all xips files are there (in the folder) before resigning
*....

XBOX War3z · « **Reply #5 on:** July 03, 2003, 11:46:00 AM »

oops sorry Voltaic, I'm updating the program and the readme is in the new file but it isn't uploaded yet

sorry again
will do it now, *runs upstairs to go edit the zip, and reupload*

[EDIT] updated, still download from http://www.download-...loads/pixit.zip (with readme.txt)

Flex · « **Reply #6 on:** July 04, 2003, 02:04:00 AM »

Just a quick note on the post by rec for the Tutorial for Pixit 0.6 By Noneya. It seems that the xbox-scene's forums can really mess up backslashes, and so you'll probably notice that they are missing in the bit where you have to paste it in to default.csv. You should be able to spot where they are.

Otherwise, good tutorial!

dfunked · « **Reply #7 on:** July 05, 2003, 06:00:00 AM »

i've got a little further in getting the dashboard to run from the E drive... will post tomorrow though time to sleep.

[UPDATE]

i didn't end up sleeping because i think i got the damn thing to work from the E drive just fine! i can't exactly prove it to you in pictures, but here's what i did step by step.

1. made a copy of the 'xboxdashdata.1012a700', 'xodash' and 'fonts' folders onto the root of my E partition.
2. copied all the files (unmodified still) into the corresponding directories on my E partition.
3. used a simple hex editor and opened up the unmodified 'xboxdash.xbe'. i used the replace function to replace every instance of 'partition2' to become 'partition1' (7 instances if i can remember correctly). saved file.
4. copied all the unmodified xips and xaps to my pc and used 'dash_patch.exe' (can't remember the guy who made it but props to him and voltaic) making sure to use the new xboxdash.xbe i just edited.
5. the patch edited default.xip and mainmenu5.xip so i resigned the xboxdash.xbe
6. uploaded changed files to the E partition
7. added a menu item to evox to test
8. renamed the audio folder to video, ran E:xboxdash.xbe and managed to hear no audio (great news!)
9. just to test some more, i changed the menu button of "LAUNCHER" to "PARTITION E TEST" and rebuilt the xip, just to see if rebuilding and resigning would affect the dash in any way...
10. worked as planned

used my multibios TSOP to test with the original 4034 bios, and hey presto it's the original, unmodified dashboard

i'd suggest keeping away from teh xbox live button because it then tries to update the dashboard, but fails anyway, but takes you back to C:\xboxdash.xbe because xonlinedash.xbe tells it so. not really a big deal because hopefully we'll be able to remove that menu button in teh future

ok now i must sleep. hope that helps someone.

Dunny · « **Reply #8 on:** July 05, 2003, 06:16:00 AM »

Does anyone know if its possible to run a menu from a new xap file by doing something like the below? we add a new xip file and the new menu xap file could be extracted from this??

CODE

DEF theSettingsInline Inline
{
archive "extramenu.xip"
url "extramenu/default.xap"

function onLoad()
{
theSettingsInline.children[0].theSettingsMenu.GoTo();
}
}

function GoToSettings()
{
bBackToDVDPlayer = false;

if (theSettingsInline.visible)
theSettingsInline.children[0].theSettingsMenu.GoTo();
else
theSettingsInline.visible = true;
}

Ive tried it a few different ways but no luck.

or is there a util available that lets you add xap files into existing xip archives?

Shadow_Mx · « **Reply #9 on:** July 05, 2003, 06:32:00 AM »

QUOTE

i'd suggest keeping away from teh xbox live button because it then tries to update the dashboard, but fails anyway, but takes you back to C:xboxdash.xbe because xonlinedash.xbe tells it so. not really a big deal because hopefully we'll be able to remove that menu button in teh future

That online button can be removed, its a simple change in the Xap files

CODE

else if (nCurMainMenuItem == 2) // Xbox Live Button
{
theGamesMenuIn.Play(); // TODO: Get final sound

// Reboot to the Xbox Live Dash
g_nRec = 3;
theXOnlineLevel.GoTo();

in here u would change the action for the XONLINE button.

Dunny · « **Reply #10 on:** July 05, 2003, 08:09:00 AM »

its easier to change

CODE

function OnBDown()
{
launch("xboxdash.xbe", "\Device\Harddisk0\Partition2");
}

to,

CODE

function OnBDown()
{
    PlaySoundB();
    {
    theMainMenu.GoTo(); // RETURN TO MAIN MENU
    }
}

in the tutorial to return to the main menu without reloading the dash.

HoRnEyDvL · « **Reply #11 on:** July 05, 2003, 08:41:00 AM »

if you havent noticed but that code doesnot work when u go back it just freezes the dash.

Dunny · « **Reply #12 on:** July 05, 2003, 08:43:00 AM »

at the stage Im at its working for me...

CODE

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
DEF theSubMenu Level
{
archive "MainMenu5.xip"
unloadable false

children
[
Inline
{
url "MainMenu5/default.xap"

function onLoad()
{
UpdateSubMenu();
g_theSubMenuLoaded = true;
}
}
]

shell Transform
{
scale 150 150 150
translation 0 -20 80
children
[
Waver
{
rpm 0.75
children
[
Shape
{
appearance Appearance
{
material MaxMaterial
{
name "InnerWall_01"
}
texture ImageTexture
{
alpha true
url "cellwall.bmp"
}
}
geometry Mesh { url "Inner_cell-FACES.xm" }
}
Shape
{
appearance Appearance
{
material MaxMaterial
{
name "InnerWall_02"
}
}
geometry Sphere
{
radius 1
}
}
]
}
]
}

control DEF joy Joystick
{
function OnBDown()
{
    PlaySoundB();
    {
    theMainMenu.GoTo(); // RETURN TO MAIN MENU
    }
}
   }

function OnActivate()
{
EnableAmbientAudio();
if( g_theSubMenuLoaded )
{
UpdateSubMenu();
}
}
}
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

just goes to a submenu with the background but it does let you return to the mainmenu

Gcue · « **Reply #13 on:** July 05, 2003, 01:29:00 PM »

I just added the fix to the tutorial editing some stuff out that was making it not work like the UpdateSubMenu command.

I put a thanks to you in there Dunny for figuring this out.

Glad to see someone figured this out.

Tutorial

Shadow_Mx · « **Reply #14 on:** July 05, 2003, 06:32:00 PM »

CODE

else if (nCurMainMenuItem == 4) //
{
launch("xboxdash.xbe", "DeviceHarddisk0Partition2"); // Change this to the location of the xbe you are launching
}

Shouldn't that be updated to use the other way around instead of reloading the xboxdash.xbe?

Like this (not tested but dont see why not)

CODE

else if (nCurMainMenuItem == 4) //
{
    PlaySoundB();
    {
theGamesMenuOut.Play();
theMainMenu.GoTo();
    }
}

Shadow

Author Topic: Hacking The Ms Xboxdash (news & How To's) (Read 2402 times)