Ok i modded my xbox years ago using a removable mod chip. It also has a 120gb hard drive in it. It works but its doesnt like long trips and then i have to take the whole thing apart and do the reseating procedure.
What steps do i need to change the hard mod to a soft mod? Since the hd has been swapped and a new dash board is installed, i cant take out the chip and do it the standard soft mod way.
I'm not 100% sure about this but if you have an AID disk then all you should have to do is
1) make sure to format your c: and e: drives then
2) make sure that the ms dash is installed then
3) make sure your eeprom is on the hdd
After that you should be able to remove the chip and it would boot up like a normal xbox only with a larger hdd.
I would imagine after that you should be able to softmod it using one of the many guides around here.
If it doesn't work then reinstall, you did say it was removable right?, the modchip and go from there.
If i were you i would solder the points on the chip straight to the board or glue the adaptor in place. If you don't want to do that then you have quite a bit of work ahead of you.
(This guide assumes you know the basics, if you don't know how to do something then search afterdawn)
So, first of all do you still have your original hard drive? If you do you can do it this way. If not then disreguard most my post and get to work building your eeprom reader. http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/357863 -after you build the eeprom reader scroll down till you see *****
You will need:
-Memory card
-Original game (Splinter Cell, Mech Assault, or 007 Agent Under Fire)
-Xbox connected to a network
go to http://www.aidtracker.com and download the Sid 5.01 torrent. When it's done you should have your 3 game save files (splinter cell, mech assault, bond auf) plus an installer file, unzip those files and throw them in E:/udata. Then load your ms dash and transfer the save for the installer and the game save you're going to use to your memory card. When that's done turn off your xbox and disconnect the mod chip. Unplug your 120 gig drive but keep it in the tray, just plug in your stock hdd so it works and then boot the xbox.
The xbox should come on and load the ms dash. Transfer the saves from your memory card back over to your xbox (stock drive). When this is done you can put the game in and load your game save. When you load the game save it should have an option to backup the eeprom, just choose a location and you're set (example E:). Ftp to the xbox and pull the eeprom.bin file from your box and throw it to your desktop.
If it's a bunch of 0's then you have a fake eeprom and will have to make a eeprom reader(link above). If you have a fake eeprom from the eeprom reader then you should seek professional help (just stop now).
If your eeprom is valid it will say the version and will give a bunch of numbers and the serial number of your xbox and all that.
Now comes the easy part get a blank cd and download these files:
Extract xbox hdm to the desktop
Open up xbox hdm and browse to the linux folder
put the contents of my C into the C folder
put your eeprom.bin file in the eeprom folder
back out to xbox hdm folder
double click on make-iso-win.bat - this creates linux.iso
Disconnect every hard drive from your computer and plug in the hard drive you want to use as the master.
Boot the cd and select option 1. Then when xboxhdm loads select option 2 we are going to replace your C partition. Confirm you want to replace your C partition by typing yes.
When it is done replacing your C partition restart the computer and boot the cd again, choose option 3.
Type "lockhd" then press ENTER
Type "lockhd -a" then press ENTER
confirm you want to lock the hard drive.
When it says the hard drive has been locked you can turn off your computer and put everything back together.
Put the new hard drive in the xbox and it will boot to avalauch and you will have a soft modded xbox.
Everything should be on your xbox still including all the games, emulators and other things from the other partitions. If you have any problems let me know.
Ya looks like its a no go on getting the the soft mod going. I also thought about just flashing the on board eprom. For now i looked deep into the internet to find the switches to the matrix mod chip and flashed it to the latest version while it was in the xbox. I reseated it and then siliconed it in place. I hope it works.
No i dont have the orginal hard drive.
Its a xbox version 1.0
I tryed reading the bios by removing the mod chip after boot. All the backup program does is reads it from memory, so it just dumps the mod chip bios, not the orginal.
The last thing i could try would be to solder the 2 spots on the mobo to enable bios flashing, and then boot with the mod chip, remove the modchip, and them try to flash the onboard eprom.
On the eprom flashing note, why are there 2 sets of guides for soldering jumpers? On guide has solder a ball on top, and a ball on the bottom. The other guide has solder a ball on top, and a 1" jumper on the bottom. It would be really easy for me to just solder a 1206 jumper on top, and on the bottom at my work. That would be alot easier then doing the jumper.
Do not flash the onboard chip. You're making this far more complicated than it needs to be. Obviously you can solder so if i were you i'd go the eeprom reader way and spend the 8 dollars it takes to get the parts for the reader.
Let me lay it out for you.
Your mod chiped xbox boots a bios that doesn't require the hard drive to be locked. A stock xbox bios has a locking key called the eeprom. Obviously you know about this by now.
All you need to switch to softmod is:
- read the eeprom that's on your board
- replace the files in C so it will boot a modded dashboard - lock your drive with your eeprom
The only hard part is getting your eeprom, and usually if you have a eeprom reader made it only takes one try to get a good read.
The other two steps take a couple mins but it's already laid out for you.
So really you're balancing on the 10 mins (if that) to make an eeprom reader and the few mins it takes to replace files and lock the hard drive OR taking the chance on screwing up the stock xbox bios because you were too lazy to make an eeprom reader?
