Need help with flashing ms25 with nF4 chipset

[porcu]

I am so confused now. I read and watched Textbooks tutorial, and kept looking back here for help, but I just can not flash my 360. Somebody please help.
Samsung ms25
DFI Lanparty UT nF4 Ultra-D

I have tried...
Extreme Boot Maker 0.5.3 rc3
iXtreme Definition update v2
xtreme53 and iXtreme1.2
with and without 5xDef
with and without MTK-NF4

and...
iPrep 101
iPrep 101 Definition Update v3
iXtreme1.2
with and without MTK-NF4

Would prefer to install iPrep.

I started with Textbooks pdf. and video, and they were great !. I saw the video once, and had my 360 open in a few minutes. I was so happy.
For some reason, I am having trouble seeing the 360 in DOS.
What I do is boot into DOS using NTFSDOS (it seems my MB does not support USB booting) once in, i never know which one is right. If I am in XBM or iPrep, my choices for controllers are:
Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller (not supported)
Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller (supported)
Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller (supported)
I have 6 more under "IDE controllers", but are noted as not supported:
3 "Primary IDE Channel, and 3 "Secondary IDE Channel"

My motherboard drivers were up to date when I first tried, but came back to this site for help, and noticed a post that n4f boards need to uninstall those nVidia SATA drivers, and force Windows to use it's default ones. That didn't work.
I read another post, saying that if someone is using nForce4 boards, they have to get a modified version of MTK. I tried with and without that, but nothing.
I read that I should plug the ms25 into SATA port #1... but I've also read that I should have my SATA DVD burner and SATA HD plugged into #1 and #2, so I can plug the 360 DVD into #3. I believe the thinking is SATA port 3 is actually #1 on the primary SATA controller.
I have tried so many different combinations, and i read this drive is supposed to be very easy to flash. I have tried 2 different SATA cables (both came with my MB). I just got a different one, so that still needs to be tested.
Back to the flashing business.
If I am in iPrep, and go "idump (insert serial here) I get a list of controllers. If I use the MTK-NF4, 2 more controllers show up at the beginning of this list... if my memory is right.
If my list shows 6 options, selecting 2, 3, 4, or 6 does nothing, but give some message about something being 0 instead of 70. If I select 1 or 5 (I think they are the same thing) the zero becomes a different number, but the power light on my 360 starts flashing. When that happens, am I supposed to turn everything off and start over ? I never read anything about flashing power light, and what to do if it happens.
Also tried plugging in the SATA cable before PC power, and also after in DOS.
If someone is telepathic, and can guide me... Please do !!!

 

[WaferJ]

Bondomatic

I have a ASUS MOBO with the Nforce4 chipset and can only get it to work with the MS25 if I disconnect ALL other drives from the SATA controller.

That's not really an awful lot of help to you because you need at least one hard drive connected to run the iprep from and to store the orig.bin when it's been read off the 360.

I am really surprised the your MOBO does not support USB booting. I've read that the BIOS on that series of boards has every conceivable setting catered for. It may be worth trying another brand of USB flash drive. If you can get the USB boot to work the firmware flash itself is a piece of cake.

One other thing to ensure is that you are using the SATA ports that are directly driven by the Nforce4 chipset. My MOBO has a SIL RAID capability which i had to disable in the BIOS before it would work.

Good luck....

 

[porcu]

I DID IT !!!

As an update to what I did differently.
I bought a Sandisk Cruzer Micro 2GB USB Flash Drive with U3.
Deleted the U3 files and partition. Turned it back into a normal storage device.
Formated it with iPrep 101, iXtreme1.2 firmware. Selected the second controller. (the first one shows up as not supported)
Went into BIOS, made sure my first boot device was a Removable Device.
Booted into DOS with my PC-DVD and HDD disconnected, but with the flash drive plugged in.
Connected a NEW SATA cable from the 360 to SATA port #1 on my motherboard, then turned the xbox on.
I don't remember the order, but somewhere in the DOS part, I was asked to chose 1/master or 2/slave (no 6 options to choose from this time). I chose 1.
Entered idump XXXXXXX XXXXX
I think this was where I was asked if I wanted to spook the ms28 firmware to my ms25. I said Yes.
Turned off xbox, then pc, then pulled SATA cable. (I might have turned off the PC before the xbox)
Back into DOS, plugged in SATA and turned on 360.
Entered iFlash XXXXXXX XXXXX
Turned off xbox, then pc, then pulled SATA cable.

I put the 360 back together and plugged it onto a TV, and it looks normal. I guess that's what is supposed to happen ?
The problem now is that with iXtreme1.2, I can not make back-ups of my games using my 360's DVD. I have no idea if it will play back-ups or not yet. *sigh*
Looking at ordering a Samsung SH-D163A in the next couple of days. I'm hoping that iPrep will be updated with the ability to make back-ups, before I order one.

Thank you for the tips and encouragement to try a different Flash drive and SATA cable.