Need help in the flashing/disk burning process

[Shamster]

Alright fellas, am clued up on the boxes but have decided (wisely or not!) to have a crack at flashing my xbox. I need advice, have a sata cable on the way but after that stumped. Probably need someone to pm me and take me step by step (if anyone is that patient) thru flashing and stealthing and burning disks. If your feeling brave, pm me. Cheers.

[blakey_8]

I PM'd you mate but you can't acess them until you have 5 posts.

[tommy2426]

Will also help out where i can, pm me when you need a tut or link to downloads

[Shamster]

Hi once more, found out the drive is a lite on. Got the box open, got a sata lead. I now need advice on:

All the programs needed? (and where to download)
All the equipment needed: e.g. I found out I need an executor probe I think?
Can I do this on vista?
Link to a tutorial that will work and give a numpty like me simple (I'm a numpty I know) step by step instructions what to do

Cheers

[blakey_8]

You will need the Connectivity Kit, Maximus Xtractor or homemade extractor and probe to read the key from this drive. You will also need a SATA cable and a compatible SATA chipset/card (VIA6421 is best) to modify your drive with the iXtreme 1.6 firmware. Here is a link for the best solderless solution I could find: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Connectivity-k...3A1%7C294%3A50. It includes a pre-made Conncetivity Kit and Probe which doesn't require any soldering.

If you wish, you can send the drive to me and I will mod it for you with the latest firmware which will allow you to play all backups including the new Wave 3 ones .

[tommy2426]

here is 1 solution that may help, its about 5 months, but not a lot has changed in that time apart from firmware, there are other solutions like jungleflasher and the modification usb stick from frosty, although if you have vista 64 im pretty sure jungleflasher is out



This tutorial will assume you already opened your 360/removed backplate from drive and are not a complete monkey. If you are however don't come crying to me when you break your 360 or want a Banana.

Breakdown.

1. Get kitted up to the tits. (Hardware and programs)
2. Retrieve your all important .bin files. (Reading your key)
3. Create your hacked firmware. (Latest iXtreme with you key inserted)
4. Flashing preparation.
5. Flash that mother. (The holy grail)
6. Be happy.
7. Be happy.
8. Possibly FAQ's.
9. You lot moaning because you can't follow a simple guide.

1. Let's get kitted up. (Like Arnie does in Commando...good film.)

Before you even start ripping your 360 to pieces you will need certain pieces of hardware and software. Here is what you will need.

A CK3 and a Probe.

This is the hardware you will need to read your important files from your drive. Go for the Lite if you have a serial port on your PC or if you don't have an ancient piece of junk like me then go for the Pro as it's all done over USB. Also i am aware you can build this hardware for cheaper than buying it but that's another story. I did build my probe though.

PortIO32 Drivers and CK3 Drivers.

Get them from the team Xecutor website. Don't use their crap guide though.

A VIA Sata card.

This is not a must have but it's what i used. It's great for flashing other drives too. I used the VT6421A. Your motherboard may already have onboard SATA and it should work.

USB Memory Stick.

I use an old 32MB one.

iXtreme 1.5 for LiteOn

The hacked firmware that only needs you drive key inserting to become ready to flash.

Windows 98 Boot files and HP USB Disk Format Utility.

To create a bootable USB stick to flash the drive.

DosFlash1.7.

You will use this to read your key and also to flash it. I am aware of the all in one program JungleFlasher but it's too early in its life to be reliable. It hated me and wouldn't do ANYTHING.

Firmtool.

Creates you hacked firmware file using the dummy.bin you got from your drive and a clean LiteOn iXtreme 1.5 .bin.

iPrep.

I use this to find out the ports used for my SATA card.

Once you have ordered your CK3 and Probe and downloaded the software you need, go watch Commando. Twice.

Download

All files are available from Xbins. I used the Auto Xbins program which is available here.

2. Reading your key.

Now you have your CK3 and Probe. You thanked the postman and rushed over to your pc. You're reading this. What do you want me to do? That's the end of this guide!

If you're still reading then congrats. You're not a monkey. Time to read that key. Make sure your VIA card is installed and also install the PORTIO32 drivers and the CK3 USB Drivers if you have the Pro like me.

Switch off PC and open that bad boy up. You need to connect the USB cable from the CK3 Pro to your PC, connect the SATA cable from the drive to the first port on the SATA card and connect the drive power cable you get with the CK3 between the drive and CK3. Lastly connect a spare molex plug from your pc to the molex plug on your CK3.

Switch your PC on and flick the power switch on the CK3 to the On position. Now hit the eject button on the CK3 so the drive opens. Now hit eject again but once the drive is half way to closed you need to flick the CK3 power switch so it's off. The drive tray should stop and be half open. Turn the CK3 back on and the drive tray should be left in the half open position.

Once Windows has loaded it should auto install the drivers for the CK3. Mine was set as COM Port 2. If you need to find yours. Right click on My Computer and open the device manager. Under ports it should have some Prolific USB blah blah blah and the correct COM Port next to it.

Now load up iPrep. There is a drop down menu and in the list should be your SATA card, in my case it says "VIA VT6421A RAID Controller". Select this or whatever your SATA card is. Now click on the little question mark. A box will pop up with a load of info. We're interested in the "DeviceIO" part. Mine has "BC00B400". You will need the first four so i wrote down mine, "BC00".

Now load up DosFlash32. Just reply "No" to anything it asks even if it is for free sex or bananas. On the Port menu select the correct port for your SATA card. Mine was "BC00". Under "Flashing Task" you need to select "LiteOn DVD Key". Next select your correct COM Port. Remember mine was 2. You should have written yours down from device manager. Now press "LiteOn DvdKey". Save the 4 different files somewhere safe. You need to keep these as long as you have your drive. A box will pop up but before you accept you need to get your probe ready and insert it into the tiny hole below R707, it's right next to a black chip. Now proceed. A box should pop up with your drive key in it. Congrats you have your key!

Caution: Your drive key should be random letters and numbers. If it is full of 0's (0000000000000000000) then you haven't got the disc tray in the correct half way position. If it is a load of C's (CCCCCCCCCCCCCCC) then you have either not got a good enough connection on R707 or you may need to power off the CK3. Remove the SATA cable, then put it back in and power back on the CK3.

Now as long as you're sure you drive key is valid it's time to Erase the firmware from your drive. If your dump is not valid then this will render your full Xbox useless. An expensive doorstop. If the dump is valid then all will be fine. In DosFlash32 still, change the "Flashing Task" to "LiteOn Erase". Then select the bottom button "LiteOn Erase". Your drive is now empty. It will no longer eject or respond.

The most important file right now is the dummy.bin. Back this up to a couple of different places. Email yourself it.

3. Firmtool time.

Copy the Firmtool folder to the root of your C:\ drive. Now in this folder copy and paste your dummy.bin from step 2. Rename it to "orig.bin". Now extract the iXtreme 1.5 for LiteOn file to somewhere you can find it. (Desktop?) Copy and paste the ix15-liteon.bin into the Firmtool folder too. Name this file "hacked.bin".

Open up a command prompt window and type...

"cd c:\Firmtool"

Now you need to type...

"firmtool orig.bin hacked.bin".

Firmtool will work its magic and you will see a screen with a load of info including your drive key. It should say "***SUCCESS***" and that your firmware is ready to be flashed. You can now flick the CK3 power switch to the "Off" position. Remove the SATA cable too.

4. Flashing preparation!

First you will need to pop in your USB drive and open up the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool. Select the correct drive letter for your USB device. It WILL format the drive you select so be careful. Under "Format Options" select "Create a DOS startup disk" and select "Using DOS system files located at". Browse to the directory where the Windows 98 boot files are located. Select this directory. Now you can press start and it will format your USB device to make it bootable.

Once done you will need to copy the files from the DosFlash16 directory to the root of your USB device. Also copy over the "hacked.bin" file from the Firmtool folder in your C drives root. The USB Device should now have 3 files in its root.

Dosflash.exe
Dosflash.typ
hacked.bin

You're now ready to flash your drive. Turn your PC off.

5. Flashing that mother!

Switch your PC back on and go into your BIOS settings. Make sure you're set to boot from USB device first and i also had to go into Hard Drives and move my USB device to the top of the list as it shows as a HDD. I can't give complete guidance on this part due to the BIOS being so different on each computer. Once set you need to save the changes and exit the BIOS screen.

Turn your computer back. Your PC should boot from the USB device and stick you at a screen with something like just... "C:\" on it. Plug in your SATA cable now and flick the CK3 power switch to the "On" position. Once it's on simply type "Dosflash".

If it asks anything about MTK Intro press "N" for no. It will bring up a list of devices. Yet again you need the port numbers from iPrep. Mine is "BC00" and i could see that this made it device 6. Now type in your device number. You will now be given a list of options. Select "W" to write the firmware. It will now ask for a file name.

At this point all you need to do is type "hacked.bin" and proceed. You will see that DosFlash will erase your drive again and then proceed to write the firmware. After it writes bank3 it should finish and give you a data checksum.

6. Be Happy!

CONGRATULATIONS

You have just flashed a hacked firmware containing your drive key that you extracted all on your own. Aren't you awesome? Well before we put this baby back together... test a backup first! I learnt this the hard way. (Thanks for pointing this out xINFERNOx) If the backup loads then you should pat yourself on the back. Then put your newly modded baby back together.

7. See section 6.

8. FAQ's

To be done...

9. Moan away!

This is just a first write up. I'm going to add some formatting and possibly some pictures too, just to help you along. Please bear in mind this is not a definitive end all guide. It's just my experiences and what i believe to be the easiest AND most reliable way to do this procedure.



this is not mine but from a very good source on a very rec ommended gamers site of which im a member, have fun and good luck
http://www.myavon.co.uk/tommylaw

[Shamster]

It appears that my mates consoles are lite ons but mine is a benq. I know these are easier so hopefully will be less drama. Anyone got a link to a noobs guide to flashing a benq? (All the you tube ones suck)

[mitford]

http://http://www.jungleflasher.net/...gleFlasher.pdf

Just click on bookmarks on the left the benq and follow the instructions, it;s all done in windows abd is easy

[Shamster]

Hi, that link no longer works, do you have an alternate source?

[mitford]

Welcome To Jungle Flasher

Then in the download section