Xbox Softmod

So you know that black box sitting in your room collecting dust that was once the life of the party? Yeah that old original black xbox of yours? Thats right…it can still be useful! How about we take it and let you run mods on it and maybe even your favorite linux distro? What would you say about that? Oh and did i mention its completely free to do? If you are still interested, which im sure you all are, follow along and we will turn that dust collector into an amazing media center with support for playing backed up games, any type of video format, mounting network drives without storing the files on the xbox’s harddrive and maybe even running a server on it inside linux. How about a couple of pictures of XBMC (formerly known as Xbox Media Center) to lure you into this 100%:

First things first, what tools do you need?

• A standard PC
• Torx screwdriver size 20
• Blank CD/DVD

Thats it? Yep, thats what makes this so special! Its basically free if you already have the screw drivers. So next up, you need to grab a copy of the Ndure installer. You can get this with a bit of looking on google without too much of a hitch. Before you use the Ndure program, note your Kernel and Dashboard versions by doing this:

Startup your xbox, go to Settings, and System Info. At the end you will see K: and D: at the bottom, write down the numbers as you will need this to setup the mod disc

Next up its time to create our CD with the modding software that we will use to install a new OS on the xbox. Download the Ndure installer and you should have four files: Ndure 3.0.exe , Ndure Installer 3.nfo, Ndure Installer 3.txt, and a Readme.pdf. If you can, look for a complete package that also has all of xboxhdm and the updated ndure script (easily found on your favorite torrent sites). If you didnt get the package make sure that you download a copy of xboxhdm and the updated ndure script. Run the Ndure installer and you will be greeted with a confusing list of options, heres a good breakdown for you from a tutorial on xbox-scene:

Basic Files – These are the basic files and are required for the softmod to function.

Retail Files – These are the files necessary so that you can have MS Dash access. Most people should leave this checkmarked, the only people who would not need this are people who do not have Xbox LIVE and have no need for the memory and music functions of the MS Dash. You don’t gain anything by leaving this box unmarked, so you might as well include it.

Shadow C – Recommended for all users, because it prevents your Xbox from dash updates overwriting the softmod.

NKPatcher Options

NKP .67 – Use this if you have a hard drive over 200 gb, this will create a G partition.

NKP RGB – Use this if you are going to use the Xbox primarily with VGA output on a computer monitor (Only works with Focus video encoders)

NKP Progressive – This forces 480p for anything that attempts to run in 480i.

Kernel Specific Fonts – These fonts are designed to work exclusively with a certain kernel version. It is recommended to use a kernel specific font, as it should prevent any problems and provide an incredible level of stability.

Default boot xonlinedashconsole – Enabling this option will set up the dualboot feature. When the Xbox is powered on by using the eject button, and the softmod detects an open disc tray, it will boot to the Xbox LIVE Online Dash. In this screen, you can manage all of your network settings, as well as manage Xbox LIVE accounts.

UDDAE – This is a “backdoor” rescue dash that is based off of the Easter Egg Exploit, the uberdash, and an audio exploit. The thing about UDDAE is it allows you to completely turn off your softmod, going to a retail, unmodded state. Now, once your softmod is deactivated, how are you going to activate it? In order to switch it back on, we need to change some files around on the Xbox, and we can’t mess with the files in an unmodded state. Basically, the problem lies in we need to have it modded in order to ‘turn on’ the mod. Which really makes no sense. This is where UDDAE comes to the rescue. Even with the softmod deactivated, we have a way to run homebrew code through a set of actions in the MS Dashboard. While this is a great feature for advanced users, it will not be used by the average user, but it doesn’t hurt anybody by installing it. If you are interested in this, you can read up on SCEEE HERE and UDDAE HERE.

Ndure Toolset – This is a set of tools designed by kingroach to help with your EEPROM backups and other maintenance. It is basically a simple menu that helps you to protect your softmod and keep it running smooth and provides you with the information needed to save your Xbox if anything goes wrong. Just another way kingroach looks out for his users and wants to make them feel safe. While I have never personally used this, I would recommend installing this.

Create XBOXHDM Installer – Obviously, we want this enabled, as this entire tutorial is for installing NDURE with XboxHDM.

Here are two screenshots, one of the ndure installer and one of an example configuration:

After you setup your configuration, hit next and you will be asked where to save the Ndure folder. You are going to want to save it to /xboxhdm/linux/ wherever you saved xboxhdm. Lets make sure everything installed right, so go to your xboxhdm folder, look inside the linux directory and see if there is an ndure folder located in it. If there is, great work, if not scroll up and follow the directions again.

What you want to do now is copy over the updated ndure script that you downloaded earlier and put it into the xboxhdm/linux/ndure folder which you can download here:

[notice type=download]ndure[/notice]

Replace the ndure script in that directory with this patched one to make sure you dont have any issues while installing the mod. This is important because if you don’t perform this step you will get an error installing the softmod. You drive will run out of harddrive space and cause you issues. This sucks because the only way you can fix it is too boot into xboxhdm and delete the files yourself then reinstall the mod. You’ve been warned not to forget this, so dont do forget!

Now if you head back up to the xboxhdm folder, you should see a file called ‘make-iso-win.bat’. Run this and it will create an ISO image called ‘linux.iso’ that you will boot your computer into for installing the mod onto the xbox. Take that ISO and burn it to a CD/DVD with your favorite image burning software. My favorite you ask? I’m definitely going to have to give a shout-out to ImgBurn here.

Now for the fun stuff, taking apart the xbox and hooking up the harddrive to your PC! Remember that computer you thought of when you were reading the required tools list? Yeah grab that, and open that sucker up! Make sure your PC’s power supply has a long enough IDE and power cable (molex conenctor from the power supply) that is going to be able reach your xbox’s IDE harddrive. Once you have both of them opened up take a power cable from your PC and replace the one attached to your xbox’s harddrive with that one, this ensures constant power to the xbox’s harddrive during the swap to your PC. Unplug the power on your xbox’s DVD drive to for your xbox to boot into an error screen that unlocks the harddrive’s protection. Here are a couple of pictures of different hardware versions of xboxes:

If you are wary about damage to your PC, unplug your harddrives, all we need is the CD drive and the IDE cable for hotswapping the xbox harddrive over to the PC while you are booted into the xboxhdm cd. Make sure your IDE cable is plugged into the primary channel so that Xboxhdm can detect the xbox drive after the swap.

So just to make sure things are going good, you have the xbox apart, DVD unpowered, harddrive powered by the PC power supply. Got all those? Sweet, lets get modding! Remember that CD/DVD you burned off earlier? Yeah that. Boot your PC into that disc and you will be greeted with a screen that looks like this:

Whats next is the actual harddrive hotswap. A ‘hotswap’ means to move a harddrive while it is powered on, this is safe because we are powering it with constant juice from your PC. Next step is to turn on your xbox (make sure the A/V cable is still plugged in to the TV) and make sure that you are getting Error 12 on the screen. This is one of the specific errors that unlocks the xbox harddrive. Now that we have gotten this far, its time to swap the harddrive to the computer. Leaving both the xbox and the PC on, unplug the IDE cable from the xbox and plug it into the primary channel on the PC. You have a total of 5 mins to complete this step between booting the PC and finishing the hotswap.

If you have any troubles with the next section, 95% of the time its because you did not hotswap while the drive was unlocked

Now that the drive is successfully plugged into your PC, press 1 to enter the console. Run the command xbrowser. Browse the the ndure folder and run the ndure script: *ndure. This will take you into the Ndure installer where the real magic happens. Choose option 4 to backup your C: drive to E:backup. The C: drive is where the xbox dashboard is located and the E: drive is for data/games/roms/backups. Once this completes its time to install Ndure, so choose option 1 from the menu this time and wait for it to complete (usually takes about 15 minutes). Once you receive the message saying “Done” you can turn off your xbox and PC and put the harddrive back into the xbox. Turn it back on again and you should be asked to set the time. Save it, restart the xbox (Back+Start+Left/Right Triggers) and you should be greeted with UnleashX Dashboard:

Now that you have UnleashX installed, network your xbox and start uploading software to it with your favorite FTP client. Username and password for FTP are both “xbox”. XBMC, emulators, Linux, play xbox games off the harddrive, this thing has a LOT of possibilities! What are doing still reading? Get out there and start fiddling!

Source and more information: http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=496263