Softmodding Xbox

[Harrison]

I finally had time to try softmodding an original Xbox.

I've not really needed to do this for gaming as I own most of the good games ever released for the system, which amounts to about 50. But it is always fun to unlock a console so you can do more with it, such as emulation, and games that were never released in the region.

After some research it was obvious that the best softmod method was to use Krayzie's Ndure package, and I can say it is very well made and works perfectly. I now don't understand quite how so many people who in the past have managed to brick their Xbox's trying to softmod them. Maybe they were attempting to use an older unstable soft modding method. Who knows. All I know is that this method worked.

Here is a quick run through of the procedure.

Firstly you need some things:

1. 1 of the 3 games that can be used with the softmod save game exploits.
   
   • Splinter Cell
   • Mech Assault
   • 007
   
   
2. Xbox memory card with access from PC. Best to use is Action Replay (AR Max). Another method is to hack a USB pen drive to work with the Xbox, and tutorials on how to do this are fairly easy to find.
3. The Krayzie Ndure 1.1 package.
4. The Krayzie Ndure 1.1.1 update package.

I own both Mech Assault and Splinter Cell. Initially I tried Mech Assault but this didn't work as apparently you need a specific release of the game. I had the original first release so thought it might work, but it didn't. So I then tried Splinter Cell and that worked perfectly.

For the memory card I bought an Action Replay AR Max from ebay which comes with a PC software disc, 8MB Xbox memory card, and a cable to connect the memory card to the PC via USB.

For the softmod software it has to be downloaded from the underground Xbox hacking scene ftp called Xbins. This can be quite hard to find out how to access so I've attached the Xbins client program to this post. It is called Auto-Xbines 2008 by Ground Zero, and it is a standalone FTP client which is designed to connect only to the Xbins ftp server. Works perfectly and is also good if you are interested in getting hold of Wii and Xbox 360 hacks/exploits too.

Once you have all the files a very easy to follow tutorial on installing the softmod can be found at http://www.se7ensins.com here

It goes through every step clearly, and it is all very straight forward.

As I said, I used the Splinter Cell save game exploit. Just copied the save game files to the memory card on the PC, connected the memory card to the Xbox controller, booted it to the M$ dashboard and copied the game saves to the Xbox's HD. Then restarted the Xbox with Splinter Cell in the drive. Went to start a new game and selected Linux from the game save list, the system rebooted into the NDure softmod interface. Backed up the Xbox Eprom and copied the backup to the memory card. Then selected Basic install and followed the onscreen messages.

It all went smoothly and within a few minutes I was booting into the soft modded xbox with the EvolutionX (EvoX) dashboard. It then did a slightly longer automated task of backing up the Xbox's C drive. Then it was ready to run.

I've only so far downloaded a copy of Dino Crisis 3, but that ran perfectly for a DVD-R.

I still need to do the 1.1.1 update to the softmod. For this I need to connect to the Xbox via FTP from the PC and copy over an Extras directory. Will be trying that this evening and see how it goes.

Then some emulators I think.

So if you own an original Xbox and it is still original and not modded I highly recommend the softmod approach. Works perfectly.

No need for a hardware mod chip and the involved opening of the xbox and soldering the chip. Or any HDD hacks which involve hot swap drives, unlocking the HDDs and hacking the filestructure.

I might be tempted at a later date to swap te default 8GB HDD for a nice large one so that games can be stored and run from HDD, but for the moment I'm not that bothered as I can just load them from DVD-R, which is fine.

If anyone is interested in trying this out PM me and I can send you the files needed. I might even be able to lend you my AR Max memory card and copy of Splinter Cell. Or mod your Xbox for you.