Chip Flashed, Need help with Dash

[QuakeTen]

Hello-

So my 2.6CE is flashed and working. I flashed the chip via http and it was very simply. I can boot to the xbox dash and I see the team xecuter logo. I have also verified that I can play my backed up games in the console.

Now, I need some help loading a dashboard. In the past I used evo-x. I took one of my backed up games on DVD-RW (I used it since I know the disc works in my console), erased it, and tried to create a disc in Nero 5.0 to load the evo-x dashboard. I tried several times to no avail. The system just hangs on the boot screen. I used a dummy file and the evox.ini file and also default.xbe (renamed to default.xbe from evo-x download). I created and burned the iso in nero without sucess and I also created the iso in Craxtion4 and burned with nero and it didn't work.

I just read about AIM v3.1 and figured I'd give that a shot and also maybe use XBMC as my dash (I read that it is better than evo-x). However, it appears that the torrent download for the file is going to take more than 1-day (I'm on a fat connection with more than 11mb/sec coming down).

Can anyone help me get'er going?

Thanks,
T.Wells

 

[Big_Whoopin]

AID is a good bundle and should get you running. The ISO created wtih Craxtion should have worked too, not sure what went wrong here. Have you tried first doing a *full* erase of the disc (not sure if you did full or quick) and burning the created ISO at a slow speed? This sometimes helps and if you haven't tried yet is worth a shot. Should still be quicker than the AID download...

XBMC has stepped up and really become a full dash replacement, a big difference from what it was when it forked off of XBMP. Typically I will use that as my primary dash and install UnleashX as a backup. I like UX's menuing system and the built in text editor is a plus. XBMC is THE flagship mod app as far as I'm concerned and should be the primary dash. Just my opinion, to each his own.

-Whoopin'

 

[QuakeTen]

Yeah, I've gotta find another alternative for a download or keep trying new media and different burn methods. My download had moved from slow to stopped.

Thanks.

 

[AlphaTech]

Most probably its the media you're using. Try using a blank DVDR... NOT a DVD-RW. If its not the media, then it has been my experience that the philips or samsung dvd drives that Micro$oft uses in the XBOX really dont like DVDR/RW media. I always install cheapie Thomson drives as it seems those little suckers will read just about any DVDR I put in.

Regards,
AlphaTech

 

[Big_Whoopin]

Torrent is the distro method for AID, if you look it up on xbins the offical torrent is what I believe you are pointed to. You could try doing a search for a different torrent or maybe an FTP site, but it has been my practice and recommendation to only download what is either supplied or pointed to by xbins.

Have any friends that could pull down the torrent as well? The way it works the both (or all) of you should wind out pulling down different pieces from the seeds and then you would wind out sharing those pieces with each other. One of the nice ways that torrents function... to an extent when there are more people downloading it winds out going faster.

-Whoopin'

 

[Big_Whoopin]

Most probably its the media you're using.

While this can be a problem he is using known good media, a disc that has worked in the past. (1st post) Unless the drive in the box has changed it should still be compatible. Still, if other media is immediately available it could be worth a shot.

-Whoopin'

 

[AlphaTech]

a disc that has worked in the past. (1st post)

There could be dozens of reasons why a 'known' disc no longer works. I have literally thousands of burned cds and dvds in my collection that I've been hording now for almost 10 years. Every once and awhile I'll come across a CD or DVD that will have a pinhole in the silver side of the media. This perhaps could be the reason why his DVD-RW no longer works. So again, most probably its the media that's being used.

As for SlaYer's EvoX Auto-Installer Version 2.7 (aka AID v2.7) the quickest and easiest way I've found to get these files is from Usenet Newsgroups. Currently SlaYer's EvoX Auto-Installer Version 2.7 is in the alt.binaries.games.xbox newsgroups. If you're in the US, most American ISP's provide free access to newsgroups. Take a look in the binaries, I'm sure you'll be very surprised at what you'd find.

 

[DJBOOBY]

auto installer deluxe is far more a better install dvd then slayer this is why it so big to down load i have both never used slayer anymore as AID3.10 dose the lot

 

[QuakeTen]

Most probably its the media you're using. Try using a blank DVDR... NOT a DVD-RW. If its not the media, then it has been my experience that the philips or samsung dvd drives that Micro$oft uses in the XBOX really dont like DVDR/RW media. I always install cheapie Thomson drives as it seems those little suckers will read just about any DVDR I put in.

Regards,
AlphaTech

I already have a Thompson drive installed. It came stock with my box.

I see you are in Gainesville ... Go Gators!

I am from the US and happen to also be a Gator myself. I near Big Whoopin here in SE PA.

-T.Wells

 

[QuakeTen]

auto installer deluxe is far more a better install dvd then slayer this is why it so big to down load i have both never used slayer anymore as AID3.10 dose the lot

How big is the file?

 

[Big_Whoopin]

300MB I think? Don't recall, but I'm pretty sure it will fit on a CD as well as DVD. Should be able to find info at http://www.aideluxe.com/.

-Whoopin'

 

[DJBOOBY]

the full download is about 1.3 G this comes with (i think this was last time i downloaded it)
AID3.10 iso
tools for pc as well as a update program to update AID3.10 if needed no need to download full AID3 again just the update
readme files
flash movies guides
guides on whats on AID3

 

[Big_Whoopin]

DJ, the way you're always suggesting AID to people I figured you'd know.

-Whoopin'

 

[QuakeTen]

Making Progress

Well, AID is downloaded and burned on DVD-R. It will boot just fine. Thanks!

I am having a problem installing XBMC as my dash though. I've tried the one-click install and also installing it as the dash on it's own.

I go ahead and format the entire hdd so that I have one big fat F: drive (total drive is 300gig). Everytime I install XMBC as my dash, I get the error that guisetting.xml is empty. I noticed that the document is empty when I connect via FTP and I also noticed that the C: drive is full. It is easy to see the problem as the file (guisetting.xml) is not only blank inside but also 0 kb in size.

I did install once with the one click evo-x as my dash and everything worked fine. Yes, I do re-format the drive within AID each time before I go ahead with a new dashboard attempt.

Any help here with AID making XBMC my boot dashboard?

Thanks!

 

[DJBOOBY]

format and use f and g (dont use f on its own)
then install ms dash then XBMC as dash

 

[Big_Whoopin]

You can use one big F partition on a 300GB drive, but you'll need to change the format cluster size to 32K else you risk corrupting data as the drive fills up. The tool to do this is included on AID, XBPartitioner. If you're not sure how to do this you may be better off just going with the F and G drives. Since you are starting fresh format each time you can play around with it and not risk losing anything.

I'm not sure how XBMC gets installed by AID, but you probably want to put it on E, F or G. Not including games I believe it is easily the largest single homebrew app for the Xbox. Depending on what else you are having AID put on C this could explain why it is filling up. There should be a Windows app available at Xbox Scene (possibly elsewhere as well) for creating shortcut XBE files. For some reason XBMC needs to "boot" off of the C drive but it can actually be resident on another drive, it simply needs something to redirect to it. This ability to put XBMC on E, F or G gives you plenty of space.

-Whoopin'

 

[QuakeTen]

Free Space on C:

I think my problem is that after formating C:, I only have 499.xx mb of free space. I think that my retail HD had around 5 or 6 gig of space. Could this be my problem?

I tried installing M$ dash, then installing XBMC to no avail.

Thanks.

 

[Big_Whoopin]

The C, E, X, Y and Z partitions are always the same size, any modification to the size of these (from what I understand) and your Xbox will not work. The partition sizes that get set up for these drives is what *needs* to be set up. I don't recall offhand what the drive sizes should be, what you say remains on C is about right.

-Whoopin'