flashing bios with new hd installed

[toofastcomet]

obtained regular unmodded xbox with bad hd(could not retrieve files from it). installed new 120gb hd, installed xecuter 2.6ce with Xapt3r 1.6. The flashbios 3.01 screen comes up saying BootIdeReadData data not ready... i belive its because hd isn't formatted. So i unplug hd ribbon and reboot, i can get to the selection screen and select load bios from disc, enter the disk and immediately it says again BootIdeReadData data not ready...

I understood it was easiest to install a new hd with an existing mod chip...but now it seems you can't install a mod chip w/o a working hd. wtf? It would seem i can't boot to a cd w/o completing the flash first also... any thoughts?

 

[Martin C]

Try changing the HDD setting from master to cable select (or vice versa)..

Martin

 

[Lonefighter]

how do you change from master to cable select ive been told check my jumpers to coz i have same problem error 7 :S

HELP !

 

[Martin C]

how do you change from master to cable select ive been told check my jumpers to coz i have same problem error 7 :S

HELP !

Check the HDD itself. It should have a little plastic jumper at the end where ther IDE and power cables connect. On the HDD itself should be a label indicating the different positions.

Martin

 

[toofastcomet]

tried every combination i could come up with, i really think its a matter of the mod chip trying to activate the hard drive before flashing. I formatted it ntfs in winxp, did the hdprepare zeroing it, also with hex editor changed the falues at 0x600 like a tutorial says. no dice. After the fact i learn that xbox only reads FATX. I've searched for an app to let winxp format fatx but found nothing. Gotta get a way for xbox to read the hd...

 

[Martin C]

tried every combination i could come up with, i really think its a matter of the mod chip trying to activate the hard drive before flashing. I formatted it ntfs in winxp, did the hdprepare zeroing it, also with hex editor changed the falues at 0x600 like a tutorial says. no dice. After the fact i learn that xbox only reads FATX. I've searched for an app to let winxp format fatx but found nothing. Gotta get a way for xbox to read the hd...

I'll say this once - FlashBIOS doesn't check the HDD. If you are looking to flash the BIOS, then why not use the nework flash method. It's altogether possible that the problem is also with the Xbox and not just your old HDD.

Martin

 

[toofastcomet]

Thanks Martin, flashing worked through network, i used the x2_5035. I dl'd slayers evox auto installer 2.6 and burned the iso to a memorex cd-rw (also tried dvd-r), confirmed windows couldn't see any files on it. i boot with it and get the "xecuter2 config live loading...." mostly it will frag on that screen, rarely it will continue and do the default X loading screen and then give error 13. Once it went straight to error 7. these errors i see are in green and are not the default xbox error screens. Says at top "oops something is wrong" and at bottom "*check web sites for complete descriptions". Seems odd to me im not getting consistent results. oh, yeh i'm familiar with the error code meanings. Ive attempted the boot many many times. Any thoughts?

 

[toofastcomet]

ive decided when i set the cd drive outside the case still plugged in, it consistently gives me error 13...i believe half the problem was bad alternate v5 connection(it sticks up and drive was pushing on it. still wont boot to disk though

 

[toofastcomet]

im wondering if this xbox is shot. This is what happens...
ive got both hdd and cdrom outside the case resting still plugged in, it frags on the "xecuter2 config live loading"
i put them back inside the case and it still frags on the loading...
if i move them back outside the case now it will load to the error 13 and let me do it a few times...before it frags again on the loading
oddly ive reproduced this scenario multiple times.

when it will pass the loading screen, I put the cd-rw in there and made note of it's direction, when it gets to error 13 i pop it out and notice it hasn't even spun...
?

 

[Martin C]

im wondering if this xbox is shot. This is what happens...
ive got both hdd and cdrom outside the case resting still plugged in, it frags on the "xecuter2 config live loading"
i put them back inside the case and it still frags on the loading...
if i move them back outside the case now it will load to the error 13 and let me do it a few times...before it frags again on the loading
oddly ive reproduced this scenario multiple times.

when it will pass the loading screen, I put the cd-rw in there and made note of it's direction, when it gets to error 13 i pop it out and notice it hasn't even spun...
?

This is definitely pointing to a fault somewhere from the HDD side of things. Either the IDE interface has failed on the motherboard or the IDE or power cable has a fault. If you've definitely checked the HDD in a PC, you know for sure it's not the problem!

Get a multimeter and ensure the HDD is getting both voltages via the Molex connector (white 4-wire plug). Is it spinning up? have you tried another IDE cable?

Martin

 

[toofastcomet]

Looks like this xbox i bought was a chop job and was filled with bad parts. Finally realilzed problem was dvd-rom, the eye was locked up moving back and forth from lack of use and case had a dent in it keeping the top spinner piece from spinning with the cd. got that fixed and it all acts right now, well except for the errror 13. So now im wondering, i flashed the bios w/o it recognizing the dvd-rom and/or the hd. I need to re-flash? if so i need to burn the flashbios 3.0.1 to cd and boot to it? Nice to finally have some forward progress.

 

[Martin C]

The BIOS should recognise everything connected regardless of what *was* connected when flashed. Otherwise you would have to reflash if you changed the HDD..

If you're only getting Error 13 now, then it's a problem with the DVD ROM reading the media. There may still be an issue with the drive unit or the laser itself.

It's a shame this is a 2.6 and not an X3 as X3CL would have allowed you to setup a new HDD and install software via FTP without the need for anything on DVD.

Martin

 

[toofastcomet]

the reason i asked is im sure i noticed the flashbios did not accurately display the type off dvd-rom and hdd when i first began this and flashed it, but now if i swap banks and go to the other, it does display them both correctly.

Really appreciate all the help Martin. Thanks

 

[toofastcomet]

Well to finish off the story, i hooked my pc dvd-rom to it and successfully booted to evox, did all the formatting steps and copied all the goodies to my hdd and locked it. Boots like a charm now! Turns out the xbox dvd-rom wont read a darn thing(probably from the aparent BRICK that caused the crater in its case), nothin $30 can't fix from ebay(i hear samsung is the way to go). And I was sure to fix the system time as I hear GTA and other auto save games wont like it. Thanks alot Martin, stickin with it finally payed off.

Final note: Buyer beware, if your lookin for a cheap xbox to mod from ebay, especially ones that say it only has a bad hdd, be sure the box hasn't been opened and filled with bad parts. Learn from the nonsense i had to put up with throughout this thread.