Post by: ldotsfan on June 17, 2008, 09:21:00 AM
Softmod xbox owners usually resort to using xboxhdm on the PC for hdd upgrade but that requires IDE connection and some people may not want to open up their PC for hdd upgrade. Chimp26 can be used for hdd upgrades on the xbox but that works well for non-1.6 xbox.
I have a solution for a Ndure softmod xbox to 'cold-boot' to the unleashX boot disc - do a variant of hotswapping of the hdd IDE to the new hdd after booting up and relaunch the DVD's default .xbe through the unleashX menu to 'refresh' the hdd.
Package the boot disc with configmagic for locking the new hdd and also xbpartitioner for formatting F/G drives for large hdd and you have a boot disc for softmod xbox to do a hdd upgrade easily.
Any interest in this tool which I'll call LxHdm? If there's sufficient interest, I'll invest the time/effort to make the boot disc.
Post by: run088 on June 17, 2008, 04:36:00 PM
I'm sure this would be useful to some and a big help for anyone that does not have pc access or it could be something that would possibly make some repair work a little easier.
Post by: ldotsfan on June 18, 2008, 06:36:00 AM
QUOTE(run088 @ Jun 18 2008, 07:12 AM) 
Good Work!
I'm sure this would be useful to some and a big help for anyone that does not have pc access or it could be something that would possibly make some repair work a little easier.
Thanks for your feedback. Anybody else interested in this tool?
Post by: Movax on June 18, 2008, 06:40:00 AM
AID comes with all the apps you've mentioned and boots to unleashx- does it work?
Post by: ldotsfan on June 18, 2008, 08:40:00 AM
QUOTE(Movax @ Jun 18 2008, 09:16 PM)
You've tested this approach with success? Not that I'm doubting you, (your explanation makes sense) but it's strange that no one has mentioned this technique before. (Or if they have, I've missed it.)
AID comes with all the apps you've mentioned and boots to unleashx- does it work?
1. It's almost xbox doctrine that we shouldn't try a boot disc like Slayer's or AID on softmod xbox for fear that it will mess up the softmod.
2. I learned of the dvd relaunch trick from one of kingroach's posts but he used it for softmodding another xbox via hotswapping.
3. I learned of the UnleashX hdd preparation capability from AID actually but that was on a chipped xbox. I combined the idea with point 2 for hdd upgrade.
4. I've not actually tried it yet but i need to gauge the interest level first. No point doing something nobody wants to use - like my xboxhdm2 (usb edition), to date that thread only has 2 other posters other than myself.
Post by: Bomb Bloke on June 18, 2008, 09:18:00 AM
For example, XBMC/EvoX can launch XPort's emulators and get them to load a certain ROM right away. I don't know if UnleashX can do that, but say XBPartitioner/ConfigMagic could be made to accept such commands... Hey presto, you could make a drive prep disc that actually works correctly. Thanks to the cluster count limitations of FATX the current discs are somewhat prone to user error.
That said, I have no idea how the code for this works. I suspect it'd be easy enough to work it out but for the next month the amount of time I have for such projects is limited. Hence I've been hesitant to even mention the idea.
As it stands I have very little experience with the available boot discs. In fact I've never needed Slayers/AID/CASH, let used them (though I have on occasion glanced at their respective documentative notes).
CASH is a boot disc already aimed at soft modders, it might be worth checking to see if that's a suitable base to start from.
Some users have mentioned they temporarily install a chip in a new system, softmod it with AID, then remove the chip. Quite different to what's in mind here but I guess that means AID is at least to some extent softmod friendly.
Bonus points if you can get UnleashX to display a message on the TV saying "Hotswap NOW".
Post by: metalmaster06 on June 19, 2008, 12:11:00 AM
Post by: ldotsfan on June 19, 2008, 07:22:00 AM
QUOTE(metalmaster06 @ Jun 19 2008, 02:47 PM)
I'm definitely interested in the ability to setup some softmods right on the console. I don't have a PC so a bootdisc of sorts would be right up my alley. I'll keep an eye on this thread for sure
Thanks for the interest but due to the inherent limitations of softmods, this boot disc can't do much except what it is designed for - hard drive upgrades. I hope that part is clear.
QUOTE(Bomb Bloke @ Jun 18 2008, 11:54 PM)
As it stands I have very little experience with the available boot discs. In fact I've never needed Slayers/AID/CASH, let used them (though I have on occasion glanced at their respective documentative notes).
CASH is a boot disc already aimed at soft modders, it might be worth checking to see if that's a suitable base to start from.
Bonus points if you can get UnleashX to display a message on the TV saying "Hotswap NOW".
Slayer's, CASH, Frosty's all boot to EvoX. Though EvoX has hard drive preparation capability as well, I can't find it exposed as a scriptable menu option and it requires ftp access to invoke which is complicated for the average user. UnleashX on the other hand makes it available as a scriptable menu action and hence my interest.
If this works, the moment you boot up successfully to the dvd's dash is the moment you hotswap so I guess I will have to display hotswap now at the title
Post by: ldotsfan on June 20, 2008, 08:15:00 AM
QUOTE(theevilhacker63 @ Jun 20 2008, 07:30 AM)
right now with all the hotswapping and unlocking, relocking, formating and all this stuff it would be nice just to insert a disk, pop in a hdd hit a button and off you go.
Let's see the expectations right - there is no way to circumvent the softmod limitations so hotswapping and locking is still needed - only difference is we do it on the xbox from a boot disc so that eases the pain somehow. However the data from the source hdd will still need to be ftp out to elsewhere and ftp back once the new hdd has been formatted and softmodded correctly. Data like your media files, XBMC, games stored on hdd,gamesaves etc.
Development of the boot disc is actually complete but I need to dig out my old 10Gb hdd to test it out. In the end I didn't use configmagic - I use EvoX and unleashX combined on the same disc.
I also intend to respect the rules of the forum - ie the usual place.
Thanks for your interest though.
Post by: Bomb Bloke on June 20, 2008, 10:00:00 AM
QUOTE(ldotsfan @ Jun 20 2008, 01:58 AM)
Though EvoX has hard drive preparation capability as well, I can't find it exposed as a scriptable menu option and it requires ftp access to invoke which is complicated for the average user.
I may be misreading what you're saying here, but isn't this what you're after?
QUOTE("From EvoX.ini")
[Menu]
Section "Install Menu"
{
Item "Install New drive",@210
Item "Settings",@9
Item "Reboot",@5
}
[Action_10]
Info "Install New HDD by Xbox-Emu"
Warning "This will format all drives"
Warning "Make sure you have a backup of C & E"
Progress "Formatting drives"
ConfigSector "\backup\disk.bin"
Format c:
Format e:
Format f:
Format x:
Format y:
Format z:
[Action_11]
[Action_12]
Section "Install Menu"
{
Item "Install New drive",@210
Item "Settings",@9
Item "Reboot",@5
}
[Action_10]
Info "Install New HDD by Xbox-Emu"
Warning "This will format all drives"
Warning "Make sure you have a backup of C & E"
Progress "Formatting drives"
ConfigSector "\backup\disk.bin"
Format c:
Format e:
Format f:
Format x:
Format y:
Format z:
[Action_11]
[Action_12]
This extract is from one of the few boot discs I do use (at less then a megabyte in size I considered it well worth my time to download
).You slot in a new drive, stick in the boot disc, and tell it to format. No FTP access required though granted it's only useful "as is" if the box is chipped (or TSOP flashed, in my cases).
Don't ask me what "\backup\disk.bin" is, that's not included in the disc image...
Post by: ldotsfan on June 20, 2008, 10:29:00 PM
QUOTE(Bomb Bloke @ Jun 21 2008, 12:36 AM)
Don't ask me what "\backup\disk.bin" is, that's not included in the disc image...
I looked at that too but that file is from the evox eeprom backup function so it seemed to me it is specific to each xbox so I didn't pursue that path.
Anyway I'm sorry to report that the boot disc doesn't work. I tried a few approaches. All files are from DVD and menu items are hardcoded to D:\ paths. EvoX relaunch to unleashX after hotswap - hang. UnleashX relaunch to unleashX after hotswap - error 21.
Without hotswapping to another hdd, all the unleashX preparehd commands worked on their own, it will format the hdd and copy the files etc. But once hotswapping is done to another hdd, nothing worked.
I guess this is a dead end then - thanks everyone who has shown interest.
Post by: Movax on June 21, 2008, 07:05:00 AM
It probably has to do with the bios loading the configuration for the hard drive on boot - it doesn't get refreshed by relaunching an app.
Linux ignores all bios hardware interfaces and uses it's own drivers, allowing for hotswapping to work. The closest thing to getting this to work then, would be to make a linux based tool, something better than chimp.
Post by: Bomb Bloke on June 21, 2008, 07:22:00 AM
Post by: ldotsfan on June 21, 2008, 07:33:00 AM
QUOTE(Movax @ Jun 21 2008, 09:41 PM)
I have a feeling this might work if the hard drive was the same size/model - but then there's no point.
Linux ignores all bios hardware interfaces and uses it's own drivers, allowing for hotswapping to work. The closest thing to getting this to work then, would be to make a linux based tool, something better than chimp.
Unfortanately my experiments were with a pair of Seagate 10Gb stock xbox hdds.
Linux has some problems on xbox 1.6 hence that solution is not generic enough.
QUOTE(Bomb Bloke @ Jun 21 2008, 09:58 PM)
In that case, could you use nkpatcher to reload the BIOS without doing a reboot? Would that refresh this HDD info?
My softmod was nkpatcher based. I don't think there was a reboot for one of the scenarios I tried but that didn't work out too. The error 21 case was definitely a reboot as I saw a change of LED colors.
I tried this from the dvd:
1. PBL + Evox -> UnleashX , hang but no obvious reboot.
2. PBL + UnleashX -> UnleashX , this looked like a reboot.
3. UnleashX -> UnleashX , hang.
-> means after hotswapping.
Case 3 is nkpatcher based as nkpatcher was still in memory and as far as I can tell, no reboot.
Post by: ldotsfan on June 21, 2008, 07:59:00 AM
QUOTE(Movax @ Jun 21 2008, 09:41 PM)
Linux ignores all bios hardware interfaces and uses it's own drivers, allowing for hotswapping to work. The closest thing to getting this to work then, would be to make a linux based tool, something better than chimp.
@Movax: Your suggestion of Linux reminded me about xboxhdm and the technique of altering the boot timing for xboxhdm so that there is enough time to do hotswapping.
I could try to write a looping xbe with nasm with a given time interval for the hotswapping so that when this timer xbe loads from the dvd, you have some time to hotswap to the new hdd and when the dash eventually loads from this timer xbe, it only sees the new hdd and hopefully solves the earlier problems. Not sure if I'm making sense. Can somebody verify my logic?
Post by: Bomb Bloke on June 21, 2008, 08:43:00 AM
I'm not sure your suggestion will work based on what Movax said. If it's the BIOS that keeps track of the drive details, then it doesn't matter how long the XBE holds off on reading the drive because the BIOS has already taken a look.
Hence my idea re loading a new BFM BIOS from the disc.
Post by: ldotsfan on June 21, 2008, 08:55:00 AM
QUOTE(Bomb Bloke @ Jun 21 2008, 11:19 PM)
No, I mean, load a new BIOS (or the same BIOS) back into memory after doing the hotswap. That is, the console boots off it's softmod, the DVD starts, the user hotswaps and then loads a new BFM BIOS from the DVD once the switch has been made.
Your idea sounds more promising, I can't remembered if I tried it. I'll try it first since the timer xbe is more work anyway and I'm not good with nasm
Will report back with results, good or bad.
Post by: Movax on June 21, 2008, 09:14:00 AM
Post by: Bomb Bloke on June 21, 2008, 09:18:00 AM
I really dunno what will work and what won't.
Post by: ldotsfan on June 21, 2008, 07:29:00 PM
QUOTE(Movax @ Jun 21 2008, 11:50 PM)
Reloading a new BFM bios might work. Good luck.
Still blank screen after hotswapping and reloading the BFM bios.
Post by: Bomb Bloke on June 21, 2008, 10:42:00 PM
Post by: ldotsfan on June 22, 2008, 04:17:00 AM
QUOTE(Bomb Bloke @ Jun 22 2008, 01:18 PM)
Is the BFM BIOS set to boot a dash from the DVD?
I believe it was.
Post by: kingroach on June 22, 2008, 12:50:00 PM
Post by: ldotsfan on June 23, 2008, 08:25:00 AM
QUOTE(kingroach @ Jun 23 2008, 03:26 AM)
did you try booting normal unleshx with nkpatcher softmod first. Then swap the harddrives and then loading the BFM bios
Not yet. I'll try it during the weekend when I have more time.
Post by: ldotsfan on June 24, 2008, 07:23:00 AM
QUOTE(ldotsfan @ Jun 21 2008, 10:35 PM)
I could try to write a looping xbe with nasm with a given time interval for the hotswapping so that when this timer xbe loads from the dvd, you have some time to hotswap to the new hdd and when the dash eventually loads from this timer xbe, it only sees the new hdd and hopefully solves the earlier problems. Not sure if I'm making sense. Can somebody verify my logic?
I've finished coding the timer XBE. It's mostly code from xman954's eeprom reader except for these lines:
CODE
%define APP_PATH '\Device\CDrom0\'; < must end with \'
%define APP_NAME 'default.xbe'
; some other code
KeTickCount dd 0x8000009C
dd 0 ; end of table
; some other code
;-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
; This routine executes a timing loop
;-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
;#### Small Wait Loop (3 min or 180 seconds) ####
mov ebx,DWORD[KeTickCount]
mov ecx,DWORD[ebx]
add ecx,180000
.wait_loop:
cmp DWORD[ebx],ecx
jl .wait_loop
; some other code
;-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
; This routine executes the XBE specified by APP_PATH and APP_NAME.
;---------
; some other code
Now I need to burn the cdrw to try it.
Post by: ldotsfan on June 24, 2008, 09:19:00 AM
I also tried kingroach's suggestion to load plain unleashX from nkpatcher and after hotswapping, load bfm bios. Same results.
I give up since I believe I've exhausted all options.
Post by: Bomb Bloke on June 24, 2008, 08:43:00 PM
Post by: ldotsfan on June 25, 2008, 07:56:00 AM
QUOTE(Bomb Bloke @ Jun 25 2008, 11:19 AM)
Ah well, at least now we know. Thanks man.
Kingroach said that it worked when he hotswapped the hdd from another unmodded xbox over to the softmodded xbox to softmod it. So that means the unmodded xbox must have initialized the hdd somehow. I'm going to try issuing some ATA low-level commands in the timer XBE to do likewise but I need to figure out the how first. I'm also going to try booting the new hdd to an error 5 but power it from an external source and see if that starts the hdd into a ready state then reboot back to the old hdd and do the hotswapping later.
I'm quite stubborn as you can see
Post by: ldotsfan on June 27, 2008, 08:09:00 PM
QUOTE(ldotsfan @ Jun 25 2008, 10:32 PM)
I'm also going to try booting the new hdd to an error 5 but power it from an external source and see if that starts the hdd into a ready state then reboot back to the old hdd and do the hotswapping later.
Eureka - powering the new hdd with an external source throughout the process and letting it boot first to an error 5 worked! After error 5 appeared, I unplugged the IDE cable and powered off the xbox. Then I reconnected to the old hdd and let the boot disc boot. This time, after the hotswapping, I was able to get the dash to boot up from DVD and do the hdd preparation on the new hdd.
So the error 5 does get the new hdd to a ready state. I'll be working on doing it from code as well.
The need for an external power source limits potential usage of this but if the IDE initialization from the XBE code works, then maybe no need for external power.
We are closer to the goal of a boot disc for softmod xbox to do hdd upgrade now.
Post by: ldotsfan on June 27, 2008, 09:07:00 PM
QUOTE(ldotsfan @ Jun 28 2008, 10:45 AM)
Eureka - powering the new hdd with an external source throughout the process and letting it boot first to an error 5 worked! After error 5 appeared, I unplugged the IDE cable and powered off the xbox. Then I reconnected to the old hdd and let the boot disc boot. This time, after the hotswapping, I was able to get the dash to boot up from DVD and do the hdd preparation on the new hdd.
So the error 5 does get the new hdd to a ready state. I'll be working on doing it from code as well.
The need for an external power source limits potential usage of this but if the IDE initialization from the XBE code works, then maybe no need for external power.
We are closer to the goal of a boot disc for softmod xbox to do hdd upgrade now.
maybe not. after locking the new hdd with evox in the same session, I'm booting to an error 6. evox must be 'seeing' the old hdd and using that to lock the new hdd. I'll need to see if the master password can unlock the hdd.
Post by: ldotsfan on June 28, 2008, 07:21:00 AM
QUOTE(ldotsfan @ Jun 28 2008, 11:43 AM)
I'll need to see if the master password can unlock the hdd.
1. It's true when you lock your hdd with EvoX, it also sets the master password to TEAMASSEMBLY.
2. I was unable to use xboxhdm option 3 to recover as that expects a hexadecimal password.
3. Xboxhdm option 4 didn't work for me as somehow ATAPWD couldn't detect the hdd.
4. In the end I use MHDD to unlock the hdd with the master password successfully.
Back to my experiments:
1. I replaced EvoX with ConfigMagic and was successful in locking the new hdd.
2. The timer.xbe wasn't necessary as long as you let the new hdd boot up to an error 5 first to get it ready and then keep the power on.
3. The BFM bios xbe or vanilla unleashx.xbe also didn't seem to matter.
In other words, we have a working boot disc for softmods to do hdd upgrades - but it requires additional equipment (the hdd power source). I'll try to document all the steps in a separate thread now so that somebody else can check my work and verify it really works.
Post by: Bomb Bloke on June 29, 2008, 07:22:00 AM
Well done!
QUOTE(ldotsfan @ Jun 29 2008, 01:57 AM)
1. It's true when you lock your hdd with EvoX, it also sets the master password to TEAMASSEMBLY.
I gather that older versions don't use the password. I have no idea as to which will and which won't, let alone how many old versions are floating around with for eg. softmod installers.
Post by: ldotsfan on July 01, 2008, 08:49:00 AM
QUOTE(Bomb Bloke @ Jun 29 2008, 09:58 PM)
Awesome! So the problem wasn't the console expecting the old drive to be plugged in, it was the new drive not receiving any "wake up" messages since it wasn't present for the boot process. I didn't figure out what you meant when you first described what you were gonna test.
Well done!
Thanks..I finally figured out the code to do the 'wake up' call for the new hdd:
CODE
MOV DX, 1F7h;status register
LOOP1:
IN AL, DX;sets AL to status register (which is 8 bits)
;If the first bit of the status register (BUSY) isn't 0, the device is busy,
;so keep looping until it isn't.
AND AL, 10000000b
JNE LOOP1
MOV DX, 1F7h;status register again
LOOP2:
IN AL, DX;sets AL to status register again
;If the second bit of the status register (DRDY) isn't 1, the device isn't
;ready, so keep looping until it is.
AND AL, 01000000b
JE LOOP2
;----------------------------------------------------------------------------
MOV DX, 1F6h;device/head register
MOV AL, 0;0 selects device 0 (master). 10h would select device 1 (slave).
OUT DX, AL;selects master device
MOV DX, 1F7h;command register
MOV AL, 08h;"DEVICE RESET" command
OUT DX, AL;sends the command!
I'll have to wait for the weekend to actually try this. If it works, we can get rid of the external power source and then we have a complete boot disc
Post by: ldotsfan on July 04, 2008, 08:42:00 PM
QUOTE(ldotsfan @ Jul 1 2008, 11:25 PM)
I'll have to wait for the weekend to actually try this. If it works, we can get rid of the external power source and then we have a complete boot disc
Error 21 after hotswap and IDE reset XBE. So external power source for new hdd still needed
Post by: Bomb Bloke on July 04, 2008, 10:48:00 PM
Post by: ldotsfan on July 04, 2008, 11:01:00 PM
Post by: Bomb Bloke on July 04, 2008, 11:18:00 PM
