Shadowbooting
Development kernels have an undocumented, internal feature called "shadow booting" which allows them to enter an alternate boot chain during the boot process. By placing a specially crafted file titled 'xboxromw2d.bin' (or xboxromtw2d.bin for a Test Kit) on the root of the system's hard disk, on bootup the system will start, read this file, then reboot again, finally completing the boot sequence having loaded from the bootloaders from the file on disk. Effectively, shadowbooting allows you to run a NAND image without actually flashing the NAND.[1]
This is especially useful on a zero-fuse console, as you can flash XDKBuild to it, then shadowboot into other images. This preserves the fuses, while allowing you to use it as a devkit (with XDKBuild) or as a retail console (by shadowbooting into a retail kernel). Furthermore, there are no version restrictions placed on shadowbooted images, so you are free to shadowboot into any dashboard version.
 | Ensure that you have a transfer cable on hand in case the shadowboot file does not properly boot, as you will be unable to boot with the hard drive plugged in. |
Pre-made Images
Retail
None yet!
Development
- Proto for 16MB, Big Block, and XDKs - Created by Byrom
- Proto for XDKs - Created by Diamond and Byrom - This maybe should be deleted if it's already covered by the collection
- Proto for zero-fuse consoles running XDKBuild - Created by Diamond and Byrom
Pre-made Images for Test Kits
None yet!