Flashing a standard XBox without modchip

by JAA

Summary: I used the highway_007mech_flash_pack with 007:AUF and the Evox_M7 Bios.

(When I started writing this, I didn't realize how long it would get) :-)

My XBox: Mfg Date: 2003 09 xx SW Versions: K: 1.00.5101.01 D: 1.00.5659.03 Bios Chip is a Winbond W49F020 (256K)

Programs and files I used (I'm not going to list the sources here): - highway_007mech_flash_pack - Evox_M7 Bios - Action Replay - XBCD_digital_v43.cab - SlaYers_EvoX_Auto-Installer_v2.5_FINAL

First notes, I take no responsibility for your use of the steps I list in the file. These are what I did and they may ruin your XBox forever and turn it into a good doorstop. I have been in computers for 20 years and have created my own amplifiers, cross-overs, and pre-amps from scratch (etching circuit boards and all). Please do your research first and practice your soldering first.

If there is a website that has the instructions and help for a step, I have listed it at the end of that step.

I spent about 2 weeks of research and testing to figure out how to do this. This is by no means the only way, just the way I did it. I started from scratch and read everything I came across.

To summarize, I tried quite a few different save game hacks I had collected, I have MechAssault and James Bond 007: Agent Under Fire (007:AUF) so I could try both. Finally, I figured out that I could use the highway_007mech_flash_pack provided so generously by venturahighway (THANK YOU=).=

I had first tried the MechInstaller 1.0 save games, but either my method was bad, or MS updated the XBox/Dashboard software to delete the savegames automatically. (Can anyone confirm this?)

I tried the Evox flash method but kept getting a message that my flash chip was still write protected. I resoldered each of the connections on the motherboard multiple times and had rechecked with a meter. Finally I used the Eurasia flash option.

I dont know for sure which XBox hardware version I have. The unit is a factory rebursished unit purchased from the local Electronics Boutique store in February 2004 for $160 after rebate. I know it is a v1.3 or greater with a Conextant decoder chip.

Step By Step:

1. I used the TSOP solder method instead of a mod chip. I soldered the two points on top of the motherboard and the one on the bottom. Hint: Use flux== http://www.xbox-scene.com/articles/tsop-images.php

2. (Optional) I added two USB ports to one of my controllers. I screwed up the soldering on one of them, but the other works perfectly. Link: http://www.geocities.co.jp/Stylish/2048/xboxusb/ (I already had a Memorex 64Mb usb flash device which was listed as working with the XBox. I could have used a standard MS 8Mb memory card but I wanted the USB ports for a keyboard and mouse later. Also, I can back up all my current save games and the BIOS installer on one device. They take up about 36Mb)

3. Uncompress the highway_007mech_flash_pack.rar file. Delete the directory named 4d530017. This is used with MechAssault. I had to use 007:AUF which is the 4d51000d directory.

4. Create a directory called UDATA and copy the 4d51000d directory and all subdirectories into UDATA.

5. Copy the EvoxM7.bin file (or whichever BIOS you want to flash) to UDATA4541000d�00000000000 and rename the file bios.bin.

6. Zip up everything from the UDATA directory on down into one zip file. The name doesnt matter, I called mine Evox007bios.zip.

7. I created a USB adapter for the XBox controller to connect to my computer out of a $10 XBox controller extension cable from Best Buy and a USB cable I already had. http://www.freewebs.com/redcl0ud/xbox_wiring.html

6. I setup Action Replay to access the memory card on my controller using these instructions: http://xbox-linux.sourceforge.net/docs/howtoar.html (I understand that if you already have the Action Replay setup you can use their memory card but some of the posts I read showed mixed results.)

7. Fire up Action Replay and drag your zip file into the PC Database column. You should have new entry called Agent Under Fire with BOND:AUF under it. Now drag the BOND:AUF entry from the PC Database column to the Memory Card column. You will see a progress bar in the column title.

8. Connect your controller and memory card to the XBox and use the MS Dashboard to copy the save game from the memory card to the hard drive.

9. Start up the 007:AUF game and select the Load option. I found that if I had no other save games the flash program started automatically.

10. First thing, do a backup of the current bios by selecting: System Utils -> Backup

11. To flash your bios, select: System Utils -> Flash with Eurasia. Youll see the nice Linux Tux and see a mini Linux startup. On the screen you will see a short status message, the two I saw were Flashing failed, check flash.log for result or Flashing successful.

12. If the flashing failed, then you will have to copy the save game file back to the memory card, connect the controller to the computer, copy the save game file from the memory card to the computer / hard drive and unzip the zip file. __* The problems I ran into were: wrong file name (need bios.bin), wrong size for my bios chip (I first used a 1Mb bios image file), and bad solder connection.

13. When the flash is successful, the XBox will startup and look normal. At first I thought it really hadnt worked, but the next steps will confirm whether it worked or not.

14. Run SlaYers_EvoX_Auto-Installer_v2.5_FINAL.exe to uncompress it.

15. Burn the SlaYer's EvoX Auto-Installer v2.5FINAL.iso file to a CD-RW disc at the slowest speed your burner supports, on mine the only choice was 4x and it worked.

16. Put the SlaYer Evox Auto-Installer disc in the XBox and turn it on. This had failed originally, but after the flash, the disc booted up and gave me SlaYer's beatifully done utility CD.

17. I first just selected the install Evolution dashboard method. Later I installed all the utilities. At this point, you can load the Evox Dash, XBMP, a nice collection of utilities, reformat / prep your hard drive, etc.

18. This CD can either help you or allow you to totally trash your XBox, be carefull. If the flash worked, you can install a new hard drive and use the utilities to partition it and set it up from scratch. This allows you to not have to worry about messing up your stock hard drive so you can go back to the factory setup if you want. It took about 10-15 minutes to setup an old 15Gb drive I had.

Hope all this helps those who are starting out with XBox modding / upgrading like I was.

-JAA

_thank you jaa

Retrieved from "http://www.eurasia.nu/wiki/index.php/XboxFlashWithoutModchipJaa"

This page has been accessed 134 times. This page was last modified 17:20, 13 February 2010.