[How To] Softmod Your Xbox in 10 Mins. (If you are good that is)
Revisions:
3-8-08: Initial release
10-10-08: Added tutorial links below:
http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/578329
http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/536595#3246424
6-28-09: Added my Youtube video below:
In efforts to get more Xbox tutorials on here, I have decided to just copy and paste an excellent guide before. I take no credit for it, and I do want to say that it works because I have done it on my own Xbox. If you get stuck on the way, I can help you out definitely. – Versatile1
Source
Xbox modification has come a long way in the past couple years. With the introduction of the TSOP mod, potential modders no longer had to shell out money for a modchip; rather just bridge two points on the Xbox motherboard. Now one doesn’t even have to open up his Xbox. Welcome to the world of soft modding. Using code exploits in certain games, a user is able to load a phony gamesave that will boot into a Linux based operating system and allow a user to mod his Xbox… in under ten minutes.
Before I go on, soft modding voids your warranty. It is not illegal, but if something goes wrong, you can’t return your console to Microsoft and expect them to send you a new one.
WARNING! PLEASE READ – If you have successfully modded your Xbox, DO NOT attempt to connect to Xbox Live. If you do, Microsoft will ban your account. Modded Xboxes are not allowed on Live. Expect a complete FAQ (I’ve received lots of emails) to come out Monday, Sept 12th
You’re going to need the following things before we get started:
b. The original version of 007: Agent Under Fire or the Platinum Hits AUF with the Serial #: 1448517 (NOT 1448527)
c. Mech Assault with the Serial #: MS02301L on the inner ring of the game CD
First thing you need to do is acquire an All-in-One exploit package. Where do you get this? Launch your IRC client of choice, and type: /server irc.efnet.net
Once connected to EFNet, type /j #xbins and then type /msg xbins !list
You will receive a private message from Xbins who will give you the location and login to the FTP.
Once connected to the FTP, navigate to /XBOX/exploits/_Packages/Softmod Installer Deluxe/ and download the Softmod.Installer.Deluxe.v2.0.Xbox-Hq.rar file.
For this tutorial, we’ll be using the Splinter Cell exploit. All exploits are pretty much the same.
Extract the two .zip files (SID.Splinter.Cell.v2.0.Xbox-Hq.zip and SID.Splinter.Cell.v2.0.NTSC.Xbox-Hq.zip) from the RAR archive.
If you’re using Action Replay, drag both zip files to your memory card. Then copy both gamesaves from the memory card to your unmodded Xbox.
If you have access to a modified Xbox, you can extract both .zip files and FTP them over to the modified Xbox console, then using the MS Dash, copy both the Linux Installer and Splinter Cell gamesaves to the memory card, switch consoles and copy the gamesaves from the memory card to the unmodded Xbox.
There should be two gamesaves. One should be 4 blocks (a linker file), the other 489 (the installer file).
Start up Splinter Cell, select Start Game and press A.
If you have never played Splinter Cell before, there should only be one available gamesave: Linux. Select it and press A.
On the next screen, select Check Points (selecting Levels (in my experience) will cause the Xbox to freeze).
The screen should turn black and approximately 10 seconds later, you will be greeted with an UnleashX intro screen and then an UnleashX control panel.
Select the option, Create MS Backup, which will backup the entire contents of your C:\ to E:\backup\MS
Now select the option, Create Mod Backup, which will backup your EEPROM.
If you do not backup your c:\ and your EEPROM, recovering your console if something does go awry will be incredibly hard or impossible.
Once you have backed up both the C:\ and EEPROM, select Install Softmod. This will mod your system. DO NOT TURN OFF YOUR SYSTEM. Let the mod install, when it finishes you’ll notice that the installation prompt and status bar have disappeared.
Because of the limited capacities of standard Microsoft memory cards, only the Evolution X and Unleash X dashboards have been included in this package. I prefer Evolution X, so select Install Evox and let Evolution X install.
Once you have installed Evolution X, power off your Xbox and turn it back on. Make sure to eject your Splinter Cell game.
If everything went correctly, your Xbox should be successfully modded and you will be greeted with an Evolution X (or Unleash X) dashboard.
how do you assighn it a ip address tell me step by step plz
First of all, why does an 8 year old kid have a modded xbox? How do you know his xbox is even modded?
For FTP programs, there are tons of free ones. Look into getting filezilla or flashfxp.
To assign the xbox a manual IP address, go into the dashboard of that xbox (it will be unleash x or something else), then go to network settings, and give it a static ip address of 192.168.0.10 and subnet mask of 255.255.255.0.
After that is done, save the changes. Then on your own PC set your IP address to a static ip address like 192.168.0.11. From there, you can access the xbox by using a router, or cross over cable.
Trust me, you are getting over your head. Maybe in the new year I will write a short tutorial on xbox stuff.
hey versatile do you know any good wesbites that let you download original x-box games for free
Torrentz.com?
It will be hard, as the xbox 1 games are slowly fading away from the internet.
I had a friend with a modded box and it fried. Now years later I finally obtained one of my own unmodded box. The instructions to mod are very clear, but I have no computer and I want to save games to my system. I upgraded to a 500 gig hhd. Is there any way to put in a game in my modded system and copy it from there? Or Is there a program I can download to my box? Or do I have to go through a huge process to play games without accually puting in a game disk?
@nekxus: I think you need to start over from the very beginning, as this sounds like a very long story that I don’t have the details too.
You have an unmodded xbox. I understand that. You say you have no computer, but yet you just typed this comment on the blog to me, which OBVIOUSLY has to be done on a computer. You also say you upgraded to a 500gig hard drive, which is either for your PHANTOM computer, or for your unmodded XBOX, which also makes no sense because the XBOX has to be modded.
Or better yet, did you acquire the fried modded XBOX from your friend, but failed to tell your audience?
In the end, if you have a modded xbox, you can copy the xbox game to the hard drive and play that way, or copy the xbox game through the xbox via crossover cable (or router and ethernet cable) using a computer.
Or you can download an xbox iso, burn it, and it plays in your xbox. Take your pick.
Hello I have a modded xbox with 160gig hdd I bought used and I want to do another one with 500gig hdd. My question is can this be done without a memory card by running a link cable to transfer the files? THANKS
Yes, of course it can. I believe we have a guide on upgrading your xbox hard drive.
The gist of it is you make an image of the current modded box drive using the special xbox software, and then you put in the new hard drive into the pc, unlock it, transfer the image over, and then lock the hard drive.
However, I don’t remember if you still need to reinstall the OS or not.
Ok well I didn’t want to upgrade my harddrive I wanted to do a whole new xbox with a 500gig drive…..and I found someone to do this for me cause I don’t have a computer of my own to do any hotswapping or ftp’ing on. Now my problem is….after adding a bunch of games to the HD it shows about 200gig left and will not allow me to write anything else to it? I read somewhere that I need to format the g partition but it doesn’t do anything(and the g drive shows error:3) I also read somewhere that you have to formate the drives with 32kb cluster, but have no idea how to do this? I assume its something the guy that built it for me would have had to do during the initial set up? Anyway can ANYONE PLEASE HELP!
Thanks….
jala: That is correct. If you have a partition great than 300 gigs, then you need an extra partition, the G partition. Enable the G partition through the unleash or evox menu. The problem is the modder must be smart enough to use 32kb clustering when formatting the drive, or otherwise you won’t be able to use the extra 200 gigs and you will get errors.
There is a program (xbpartitioner) that you can use. The issue is you need a PC to ftp the program over to the xbox, and then you run the program and use it to basically reformat your hard drive and setup the partitions correctly. Search google for xbpartioner help, or tell your friend to do it for you.
Ok I found xbpartioner for a download, my question is do I run this from a computer and ftp or can I put it on the xbox somewhere and run it on that?
Jala: The program needs to be ftp into your xbox, into the APPS folder. You should have a XBpartitioner folder, and a default.dbe file I believe.
Versatile1, Thanks for all your help! I was able to install it in the apps folder and run it from there. I let it do an even split of the remaining space between the f and the g drive and everything seems to work ok now. The only catch is any games I put on the g drive don’t show up on the main dashboards game list, so in order to play them I have to launch them from the file manager menu, but it works!
Thanks again…..
@Jala: That is great news man. I’ve been told that if you make a partition larger than 320GB, you might encounter errors. Right now I am just using a 320 gig drive, so I have one large F partition. It pays off to figure out how to partition your hard drive in the beginning, so you don’t have to do it again.
Versatile1…Can you please help. I have a modded XBOX (Modded with Executer Chip years ago). I have recently purchased 2 XBOX’s from eBay and want to mod them for media centers. My problem is, when I copy the extracted SC files and move them to the modded XBOX and then to the Memory Card, they appear as corrupted files on the unmodded XBOX. I ahve tried every copy combination I can think of, can you please let me know if you think I am doing something incorrectly.
Thanks a million!!!
@Travagg: Congratulations on your journey with the xbox systems. I have one xbox setup exclusively for xbmc. I am loving it with a 320 GB hard drive. ;0
You extract the Splinter Cell files. How are you transferring the SC files from PC to memory card? Or are you ftping into the xbox, putting the SC files there, and then copy to memory card?
I used ARMAX special memory card to do my exploitation. Not sure how to do it if you don’t have the ARMAX tools.
Hi, Im new to the xbox mod thing. I was looking on the web how to mod an xbox and i found that you need an action replay kit. I also found that you can you make your own and i tried it. It works on the computer and everything i just cant figure out how to put the files i need from the computer onto the memory card. Is there any way you can help me with that?
Also, is there any way i can use a USB Flash Memory Card to transfer the files to the xbox instead of a xbox memory card?
Thanks for the help!!
How did you create your own AR max? Is it possible to FTP the save games to the XBOX?
The only this will work I think is it needs to be modded before hand. ;0
I have no idea how to transfer the save games without having the special AR max memory card. I suggest you go to the xbox section at the afterdawn.com and ask your questions there.
All i did was add a usb cable to the controller to use it as the action replay.
The problem i am having is FTP the files into the xbox.
I want to say that the xbox needs to be modded first to enable the ftp?
hey versatile i just decided to get my x-box chiped with akira
i was just wondering what are the benifits
and uhh is there a way i can make my hd bigger without buying a new one
i really need a bigger one my one right now is 8mb i think!!
ohh uhh btw what is xb partioner if it helps my with my hard drive can u please give me a link to the download
I think we need some xbox education here. The hard drive by default is 8 gigs. To increase the size of the xbox hard drive, you have to purchase a new hard drive. This is the only way. Think about it. How can you take a 8gig hard drive, and magically make it 500 GB without spending money?
That is like how do I take my Toyota corolla and turn it as big as a hummer without buying a hummer or spending money. Think logically!
XBpartitioner is a xbox homebrew program that lets you format the new hard drive into partitions. It is only useful when you are installing a new hard drive.
ok thnx but do you now were i can purchase a harddrive from
and uhh you know how to burn x-box game iso’s on cds?
Hard drive from newegg.com or your computer store. However, make sure you check this URL for compatible xbox hard drives:
http://xboxdrives.x-pec.com/?p=list
XBOX games are DVD discs, not cd-rs. Do not continue unless you have a modchip or AR Max to install the soft mod.
i do i had my x-box chipped i just wanna kno how to burn x-box iso’s
on discs
i’am downloading teenage mutant ninja turtles on utorrent
but after i have finished it i just wanna kno what cd i burn it on
and with what burning software
Burn it on dvd using nero.
u ont make any sense could you atleast tell me what type of dvd
dvd-r
dvd-rw
c’mon make some sense
DVD+R or DVD-R. Did you really think DVD+RW or DVD-RW would work in Xbox?
versatile can u please name a list of other burning software i can download also can you make it small downloads my internet for now is only 56k
Nero
PowerISO
Alcohol 52/120%
CDXPburner
Imgburn
MagicISO
Go to downloads and search for free cd/dvd burning software. Or just read this page:
http://www.thefreecountry.com/utilities/dvdcdburning.shtml
Don’t be a tool. Learn to use search engines.
hey versatile i have finished downloading TMNT but it was packed/compressed so i unpacked it but i just wanna know how to make it into a iso
Are we sure you are not extracting an iso in the first place?
huh i dont get what you mean
As I said, you downloaded TMNT. Are you sure it is not a .ISO file already?
im think its an iso but it sorta like compressed
Not good enough answer. Check the file extension and confirm.
Hey,,
I am about to softmod my xbox and I just wanted some pointers. (Well, honestly, I have never played xbox or 360 or PS3 or any consoles. ) That aside,
I scored me an original unmodded xbox with a remote, I am thinking about purchasing this action replay kit from here [ http://techloops.com/daacrex.html ]. It said that it has an 8mb of Powersave memory.
Now, Do I need a separate memory card for the xbox or the memory available in replay kit enough?
I am guessing this is what I need to do:
1) Obtain the two zip files from the ftp site.
2) Plug the replay kit to my computer, drop the 2 zip files into the kit.
3) Now plug the replay kit onto the xbox.
4) Put in the game cd
5) Load the “save game”
6) and follow the instructions you have provided there on.
Am I correct in understanding the process…or do I need to transfer the game save from the action replay kit “onto” the xbox “memory” first and then put the cd in and load the save game…..
If that were the case, is there an inbuilt memory for xbox or do I need to buy an external memory for the xbox aswell.
Like I said, I am xbox illiterate and I just wanted to play with it this weekend.
I congratulate you in your soon to be new purchase. I have 2 xboxes, and both of them modded to be HTPC media centers.
Sadly, I do not have enough xbox guides on here, but soon I will get to them.
In short, the action replay CD is meant for the PC only to install the drivers for the special 8mb memory card. Get the two zip files, and I think you have to extract the save game files on you PC, and then use the action replay to copy the save game files to the action replay memory card.
Now stick the memory card into the xbox, and copy those game files to the hard drive (at least that is what I did). Get a copy of original splinter cell (it was 3 bucks at my game store rofl), and load the exploited save game file. Install the soft mod as necessary.
Perfect. Thank you sir. I went ahead and bought the replay kit. I will hunt for the game tomorrow at either game stop or cdtradepost and get er done this weekend. Obviously, I will post the update.
Thanks again and have a wonderful day.
Lo Versatile, I already have a softmod xbox i did a year or so back with a 160 gig hd swap. What i realised is that i didnt set the time before i modded and also i think i used a NTSC version as that is the only res i can change from. For whatever reason I cant drop back to dashboard from XBMC screen, so i s there a way i can get into msdash to change those settings or a way to upgrade the current mod.
Thanks for your time
nedge
How about you turn on xbox with the DVD tray open, this will take you to MS screen, or better yet, leave the xbox off for 4 hours or more, and when you turn it on, it will ask you to set the time and date.
Hey Versatile, This is daspertd from before. I just created a new account.
Anyways, the xbox mod went smoothly. Installed XBMC on it and I now stream movies from my harddrive onto tv in the living room. I think I need to buy a bteer component cable. But its not that bad. I had it configured to the network and streaming in less than 15 mins. Pretty fool proof. I also stumbled upon this site when I was doing my read up… http://wiki.aideluxe.com/index.php?title=Main_Page
The installers dvd version was pretty handy, it had the softmod and a whole bunch of dashboards and plugins and scripts already configured. Since I had to “softmod” it couple of times, it was easy to have everything on a dvd. Ofcourse, more than half of those addins dont work but I need to mess with the scripts and plugins still. Tried to get hulu working but couldnt get it to work. Hopefully this week around I will spend some time on it.
I read up on installing linux os on xbox along with xbmc but I need to upgrade the hard drive. But I am pretty satisfied with it so far so unless I am really bored I prolly wont bother with the harddrive upgrade.
Random tidbit: I store my media files on an external 1TB drive. I was installing linux mint on my computer and like a dumbass formatted half of the external system ext and half ntfs instead of onboard drive. So XP only sees half of my TB but cool thing is mint sees both ntfs and ext. So, I had to stream movies from linux box which was interesting. I will post back if I come across any cool plugins or scripts which work for xbox.
Ciao.
Wow, thats the best educated comment ever in this xbox thread. *claps*
I suggest you get Aeon skin for the XBMC at http://www.aeoncentral.com
You won’t regret it!
Will Tom clancy stealth action platinum hits work?
No, it needs to be a specific version of the original splinter cell.
Are you sure? I was searching the web and found this forum;
Guy mentions he has used platinum several times.
Not sure :/
Wont let me post website, but guy says
Platinum Hits is perfectly fine for Splinter Cell, that’s what i’ve always used. I can’t vouch for Mechwarrior or that Bond game that’s also used for softmodding
Well, ok great then!
i modded my ps2 thanxs but now im on xbox and its more harder then i thought. i dont understand how to transfer two gamesaves from my PC to the memory card could you break it down some more with detail please. and i dont know what Action Replay is. the second step in your tutorial isnt hard i just need to find those games (my problem) in the third step i just want to be clear i have to download this (http://www.rarsoft.com)program first then launch it and type in /server irc.efnet.net to get the exploit package now i need to know since i dont have a friend with a already modded xbox and i have to use the action replay after i drag both zip files to your memory card. Then copy both gamesaves from the memory card to your unmodded Xbox. the steps after that i dont have to do but pictures with captions is showing me the rest of the way which i understand
man versatile i know this is alot to explain but i know u r the type that will respond back and i promise we wont have this same conversation again… p.s thanks man an keep the good work coming
Let’s start over from the beginning. This will be a long journey.
1) You have Action Replay? Well, you are going to need it. It looks like this:
http://www.buy.com/prod/xbox-action-replay/q/loc/108/50014917.html
Or you can try to make your own: http://www.llamma.com/xbox/Mods/access_xbox_memory_card.htm
It is a special 8MB card that has a USB adapter. You copy savegame files from PC to the memory card. Memory card goes into xbox controller, and you can transfer the save game files to the xbox hard drive.
2) From there, I am using splinter cell. Tell splinter cell to run the exploited save game file, and then the rest is self explanatory.
I will make my own xbox video soon, perhaps after this weekend as I want to do more xbox tutorials.
First of all thanks for the blog…. your blog contains Nice information, well presented….. Thumps Up dude… do visit mine and comment…
Post updated with youtube tutorial!
Love it, thanks!
I have followed this guide. Was tough getting it working but managed the art of hotswapping in the end. So now am using this XboxHDM v1.9 & Kingroach’s NDURE 3.0. Is my XBOX possible to connect to XBOX Live? If not, is there another BIOS which can connect to XBOX Live okay (except the original XBOX BIOS).
For the xbox 1, I am not aware of another bios to have XBOX Live. Why not learn about xbox connect? You can play online with those guys, its what I have done in the past.
hey dude..nice tut…i have some inquiries, er i have downloaded the files n all, i am not sure about buing the game now so that i can mod my xbox first be4 asking u, so i have an unmodded XBOX, i know hot to FTP it using my router and my computer so that i can transfer files. SO is it possible if i were to just transfer the files to my xbox using that FTP method n just buy the game and do watever i am suppose to so taht i can modify my xbox without buying the action replay thing? Thx..rly appreciate ur help!!!=D
how do i reset the xbox to the original state
You save the original dashboard, and go back to it. Why would you want to though? The softmod is better than original state.
thanks great tutorial. now,how do you save game stages on evox?
I got very far a particular game and saved it to HD. when i went to reload game it wasnt there =[
please help
No idea. I use ulaunchELF. The xbox game is supposed to save itself to the hard drive automatically, just like the true xbox.