Xbox:Hotswapping

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Exclamation-triangle-fill.svgThere is a small risk of shocking your Xbox or PC components resulting in permanent damage.


Exclamation-circle-fill.svgThis is an outdated method of softmodding a console. Other more reliable options are recommended instead.


Hotswapping is a process used to softmod your console and allow you to use homebrew software and game backups. The method behind it involves using the Xbox to unlock the hard drive, "hotswapping" it by plugging its IDE cable into your PC while it is running, and modifying the files on the hard drive. This page specifically details hotswapping to install a softmod on your Xbox.

Note: If you have a Western Digital drive, you may be able to skip the actual hotswapping process by unlocking the drive with the master password "WDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWD" in XboxHDM

Warnings

  • The ANSI standards do not support hotswapping IDE devices. There is a small risk of shocking your Xbox or PC components resulting in permanent damage. You can decrease this risk by wearing an anti-static wrist strap, and connecting a grounding strap between the metal chassis of your PC and the metal chassis of the Xbox or by using the PC power supply to power the Xbox hard drive. In the case that you cannot provide any of these options, touch something metal to ground yourself, and take off your socks if you are standing on carpet.
  • If you are using a cheap SATA adapter with exposed pins on the bottom that will touch the metal of the hard drive, you will need to cover the exposed pins with electrical tape to prevent it from shorting out.
  • Repeated attempts at hotswapping will result in a higher chance of damaging components. It is recommended to do it correctly once, and then back up your EEPROM to your PC so that in the event that you need to fix your hard drive, you can use XboxHDM to do it without hotswapping.


Required Materials

You will need:

Initial Setup

  1. Obtain your kernel and dashboard version by going to the dashboard, then Settings → System Information. The block of text will scroll down and reveal a value marked "K" for kernel, and "D" for dashboard. If your dashboard is 4034, you will need to update your dashboard by inserting a game containing a dashboard update. While this guide should work for all other dashboard versions, it is known that dashboard 5960 works perfectly. See this page for a list of games containing the 5960 dashboard update.
  2. Extract and launch "Ndure 3.0.exe" and the installer wizard will pop up. Select Next and you will see a list of options you can choose to install. The options are:
    • Basic Files (required) - Basic softmod files (required for softmod).
    • Retail Files (recommended) - Installs MS Dash files. This will allow you to boot into the MS Dash from your softmod dashboard.
    • Shadow C - Locks your C: drive so that it can not be modified unless purposely unlocked. This prevents your Xbox from dash updates overwriting the softmod.
    • NKPatcher Options
      • NKP .67 - For hard drives over 200GB. This will create a G partition.
      • NKP RGB - For if you are going to use the Xbox primarily with VGA output on a computer monitor (Only works on motherboards with Focus video chip, including 1.4 and 1.5 revision motherboards)
      • NKP Progressive - Forces any 480i content to run as 480p.
    • Kernel Specific Fonts (recommended) - Choosing the font specific to your kernel will provide a higher level of stability.
    • Default boot xonlinedashconsole - Enabling this option will set up the dual boot feature. When the Xbox is powered on by using the eject button, it will boot to the MS Dash, previously with Xbox Live enabled.
    • UDDAE - This is a backdoor which allows you to run a recovery dash (Uber Double Dash Audio Exploit) from the MS Dash in the event that you lose your softmod. It can be activated by renaming an Audio CD to "<<Eggsßox>>" from the MS Dash.
    • Ndure Toolset - Installs Ndure, which is a softmod maintenance menu.
    • Create XBOXHDM Installer (required)
  3. Select Next and save it to the "...\xboxhdm\linux\" folder on your desktop. Select Install. When it is finished and says "Completed", select Next and Finish.
  4. Extract and Move the Ndure Script file (named just "ndure" with no extension) into "...\xboxhdm\linux\ndure\", overwriting the file already there.
  5. In the xboxhdm folder, run "make-iso-win.bat" to generate an ISO called "linux.iso". Burn this to a CD or DVD by right clicking the ISO and selecting "Copy Image to CD" or by using software such as ImgBurn. This is your XboxHDM CD.

Performing the Hotswap

  1. Turn off your Xbox and take it apart to the point where the hard drive is exposed. You may also want to remove the hard drive from its caddy to make the hard drive transfer easier.
  2. Turn off your PC, open it up, and ensure that the end connector of your master IDE cable is vacant while still having your CD drive connected. If possible, it is recommended to plug a power connector from the PC power supply into the Xbox hard drive to help reduce the chance of electric shock on components, or connect a wire or anti-static strap between the metal Xbox chassis and the metal PC chassis.
  3. Boot into your PC's BIOS by starting the computer and repeatedly tapping F1, F2, or Del on your keyboard depending on your computer. If none of these options work, you may need to Google the BIOS button for your computer brand. From the BIOS, set the PC to boot to CD first in the boot order. Insert your XboxHDM CD and power your PC off.
    Note: As soon as XboxHDM is started, it will remain active for 5 minutes before automatically booting into Option 1. Ensure that you complete steps 4 and 5 within the five minute window.
  4. Power on your PC. It should boot into XboxHDM.
  5. Choose and perform a hotswap method from the list below. If you receive a screen indicating "Your Xbox requires service". Check the number in the top left of the screen. If it is 11, 12, 13, 16 or 21, then the hard drive was successfully unlocked. If it is 6 or 7, check the previous steps to ensure that your setup is correct or try a different unlock method in the troubleshooting section below. Methods which require your Xbox to be fully booted first will not have an indicator whether the drive is unlocked or not.
    There are multiple methods to unlock your Xbox hard drive. Choose one single option that you are most comfortable with:
    1. Burn an audio CD and rip it to your hard drive. Play music from your hard drive for a few seconds and pause it, then hotswap.
    2. Let the Xbox sit at the dashboard for a few minutes, then hotswap.
    3. Boot up a game and begin playing, then hotswap.
    4. Remove the DVD drive power cable (8 wires) before booting. This results in an error 12, which indicates the hard drive is unlocked.
    5. Hotswap the drive right after you see the Microsoft logo upon boot.
    6. Unplug the Xbox from your TV, then unplug the DVD drive's power cable and hotswap when the Eject button light turns red.
  6. Plug the PC IDE cable into your Xbox hard drive.
  7. Inside of XboxHDM, type "1" and press Enter. After the next screen loads, type "xbrowser" and press Enter. Scroll down to "*ndure" and press Enter. Finally, perform the following:
    • Select Option 4 to back up the Xbox C drive to E:\backup.
    • Select Option 1 to install ndure. It will progress through three parts, and take approximately 15 minutes or longer.
  8. After receiving the confirmation "Done, now exiting", turn off your computer, followed by your Xbox. Connect your Xbox hard drive back into your Xbox and power it on. It should boot into NDURE 3.0.

It is HIGHLY recommended to backup your C drive and EEPROM and use FTP to transfer it to your PC immediately, and preferably back it up on cloud storage in case something were to go wrong in the future.


Troubleshooting

If you are having issues with your PC not recognizing your Xbox hard drive after booting into XboxHDM, try plugging a separate hard drive into the vacant IDE cable when booting the PC, and replace it with the Xbox hard drive when performing the hotswap.

Alternate hard drive unlock methods:

  • Let the Xbox sit at the dash for some time
  • Play a music track off of an audio CD, pause it
  • Boot a game and start playing it
  • Hotswap immediately after you see the Xbox logo during the boot animation
  • Unplug the Xbox from your TV, unplug the DVD drive’s power cable and hotswap right when you get the red light

If XboxHDM locks up:

  • Disable Auto Detection for the Primairy Master HD (or setting IDE0/HDA to "NONE")
  • Disable S.M.A.R.T. monitoring
  • Unplug all USB devices
  • Make sure all networking cards have a connection; XboxHDM hangs with unplugged network cables
  • Remove any add-on cards if all the above doesn’t help

If XboxHDM reports your drive as being frozen, it is likely a BIOS issue (especially on Intel-based PCs). When booting up your PC, press the Pause/Break button on your keyboard, then boot up your Xbox and allow the hard drive to unlock and perform the hotswap, then press the Pause/Break button again to continue.

You get the message "Error, reboot" after it asks you a yes or no question

  • Try writing out "yes" or "no", not just using "y" and "n".
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