Xbox:Hard Drive Upgrade

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Revision as of 12:00, 13 January 2023 by KaosEngineer (talk | contribs) (→‎Compatible IDE to SATA Adaptors: Startech adapter works on both hard and softmodded Xbox's not sure why it says TSOP flashed only not softmod.)
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The stock Xbox hard drive is extremely small with an 8GB or 10GB hard drive. While this is enough room for game saves, you will need to upgrade your hard drive with a larger IDE hard drive if you want to store more than a couple game backups on it. Each hard drive is locked using a hard drive key and is tied to your Xbox motherboard; therefore, you will need to figure out what the hard drive key is for your Xbox in order to lock a different hard drive to be usable by your console.

If you are using a modchip or have TSOP flashed your console, you can directly put any new hard drive in, regardless if it supports locking or not.

Video demonstrations of upgrading your HDD can be found on MrMario2011's channel:


Limitations

Most dashboards only will see 2TB of space. Anything over this may be usable, but only with a dashboard that can see the extra required partitions, such as XBMC.

You can use a SATA hard drive with an IDE to SATA adapter but it requires a 24 inch 80-wire IDE cable. The hard drive must support locking - which all SATA drives do - unless your console is modchipped or TSOP flashed. It's recommended to cover all exposed metal pins with electrical tape to prevent shorting when plugging the drive in, as this can kill hard drives.

For large drives, you will need to format each partition to have these cluster sizes or you will not be able to access all the space of a partition:

  • 16KB clusters for up to a 250GB partition
  • 32KB clusters for a 250GB-500GB partition
  • 64KB clusters for a 500GB-1TB partition

Replacing the Hard Drive

  • If you are using a modchip or have TSOP flashed your console, you can directly insert any new IDE hard drive or SATA hard drive using a SATA adapter and an 80-pin IDE cable. If you have an installer disc (Rocky's, Hexen, AID, Slayers) disc inserted, you can format the hard drive as need. Some installers or BIOSes will automatically detect the drive and will walk you through a wizard to set up your new hard drive.
  • If your hard drive is completely broken on an unmodified Xbox and you do not have an EEPROM backup (or a EEPROM reader to obtain a EEPROM backup), the only way to recover your Xbox is to install a modchip, which will bypass the hard drive lock requirement with a new hard drive, or use an EEPROM reader to get an EEPROM backup.
  • If your current hard drive is working on an unmodified Xbox, you will need to modify your console before being able to replace the hard drive. A hardmod will allow you to directly install a new drive, while using softmod will allow you to follow the process on this page to install a new lockable drive. Softmod options include the Game Save Exploit or Hotswapping, while hardmod options include installing a modchip or TSOP Flashing.
  • If your Xbox is softmodded, you can follow the below processes to obtain your hard drive key by using Auto Installer Deluxe and lock a new IDE hard drive using it. A SATA drive will also work using a SATA adapter and an 80-pin IDE cable. The new drive must support locking.

Method 1: Using a PC (XboxHDM)

You will need:

  • A PC with a PATA (IDE) port and DVD or CD burner
  • XboxHDM 1.9 (a Linux distro) extracted to your desktop. You can find more information about this utility here.

Note: If you have a Western Digital drive, you may be able to skip steps 1 and 2 and use the master password "WDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWD".

  1. Launch a utility such as Softmod Installer Deluxe (SID) or a disc such as Auto Installer Deluxe (AID) or Slayers. Select the EEPROM Backup option. Note the directory that it saves in; most likely it is E:\Backup\.
  2. Open an FTP session and copy the EEPROM.bin to "...\xboxhdm\linux\eeprom\". If you wish to keep all of your previous data, copy the entire C:\ and E:\ drive to your PC and put it in the "...\xboxhdm\linux\" folder and overwrite the files there.
  3. 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. Turn your PC off.
  4. 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.
  5. Plug your new hard drive into your PC. Start your PC and it should boot into XboxHDM.
  6. In XboxHDM:
    • Type "1" and press Enter to choose "Boot VGA console with xbox-drive utilities".
    • After it loads, type "xboxhd" and press Enter.
    • Type "1" and press Enter to choose "Build a new Xbox HD from scratch" and it will format the hard drive. If you had backed up your C:\ and E:\ drives earlier, type "yes" and press Enter to accept them. Type "yes" and press Enter when it asks you if you would like an F: drive.
  7. Restart your computer to go back to the XboxHDM main menu. Type "3" and press Enter to choose "Boot linux with locking/unlocking utilities". Type "lockhd -a" and press Enter. It will search for your EEPROM on the CD and will lock the drive. Turn off your PC and Xbox and plug the hard drive back into your Xbox. It should be able to boot properly now.

Method 2: Using the Xbox (Chimp)

Chimp is a homebrew software that can be used to upgrade the hard drive on your Xbox. Keep in mind that if you use a SATA adapter, it must have a master/slave jumper to do this.

  • You will need:
    • A softmodded Xbox (hardmod should not need Chimp)
    • A backup of your EEPROM
    • Chimp261812
    • Molex Power Splitter
    • Your new hard drive
    • A Torx screwdriver to open the Xbox
  1. Launch a utility such as Softmod Installer Deluxe (SID) or a disc such as Auto Installer Deluxe (AID) or Slayers. Select the EEPROM Backup option. Note the directory that it saves in; most likely it is E:\Backup\.
  2. Copy the Chimp folder to E:\Applications then shutdown the Xbox.
  3. Open Your Xbox.
  4. Set your secondary hard drive to slave. You can do this by moving the plastic jumper notch on the underside or backside of the drive to point to "SL" or "Slave".
  5. Plug the single side of the Molex splitter into the Xbox and connect both hard drives to either end of the cable.
    • (Optional) Loosen the IDE cable from the back of the DVD drive slightly to make it easier to take out.
  6. Turn on the Xbox and launch Chimp. When you see the prompt on-screen, unplug the DVD drive and plug your new hard drive into the same slot on the IDE cable.
    • Take note of the two hard drive models so that you can tell them apart.
    • If your Xbox powers off when launching Chimp, try using AV cables or a different set of component cables.
  7. Pick Option 1 (Scan For Physical IDE Devices), then option 2 (Clone From Master To Slave).
    • If you are cloning to a drive of the same size, choose Full Disk (Byte by Byte), otherwise choose Selective (Select Partitions).
    • If you have a 1TB or smaller drive, choose C E & F then F occupies all available space. Otherwise, choose C E F & G and F and G splits space evenly.
  8. The clone may take a while. When the cloning is complete it will ask if you want to lock the new hard drive. If the Xbox is softmodded you MUST lock the hard drive. If the Xbox is hardmodded it doesn't matter whether you lock the hard drive or not.
  9. When it is finished, power off the Xbox, remove the molex splitter, and attach only your new hard drive.

Compatible IDE to SATA Adaptors

The StarTech adapter is the most highly recommended adapter. It is also significantly smaller than most generic ones.

Brand Name Model Details Chipset Link Image Issues Comments Source
Digitus Digitus IDE to SATA adaptor DS-33151-1 Conforms to Serial ATA 1.0 specification, revision 2.2, Transfer rate 1.5Gb/s. LBA48 support Jmicron JM20330 link img Works When using on a softmodded box it tends to timeout at reboot (need to shutdown complete). On a tsop flashed box with iND-BiOS it works perfect (due to longer boot time?)
Delock Delock Converter SATA > IDE 61702 Compliant to Serial ATA 3 Gb/s.Supports PIO and DMA modes. Has LED interface. LBA48 support Marvell 88SA8052 link img Works Instant boot and has no issues with in game resets[1]. Has HDD led header so you can attach a standard PC HDD LED for monitoring disk activity. Transfer speed seems to be absolute max of ATA33, tested with a file copy between two partitions on a SSD reaching about 16.2 MB/s, since ATA33 is simplex the total data transfer is 32.4MB/s. Very fast boot times.[2]
OEM PATA/IDE To Serial ATA SATA Adapter Converter For HDD DVD NA LBA48 support JM20330 link img Works According to the Ebay reviews, this converter works for some and not for others. Requires 80 pin IDE cable
OEM DealExtreme SATA to IDE Converter Driver - Red REV?? RXB-639B IDE/SATA-D0F-B75K80041 link img Poor Works for some, although has a bad reputation. There are multiple versions - some works better than others.
OEM Parallel PATA to Serial SATA Hard Disk Converter RXD-629A7-7 Compliant with SATA 1.0a specification. Compatible with Ultra ATA 133. Sunplus SPIF223A na img Poor No jumper should be installed [1]. Some SATA drives may have issues with this controller [2]. Some users experience issues booting up after having powered off the Xbox for a long time - error 7[1]. Unreliable[3]
StarTech 2.5in and 3.5in 40 Pin Male IDE to SATA Adapter Converter IDE2SAT LBA48 Support Marvell 88SA8052 link img Works Adapter is compatible with both soft and hard modded consoles. />
OEM PATA IDE TO SATA Converter JP103-5
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 https://www.reddit.com/r/originalxbox/comments/a0z77m/currently_making_a_list_of_ide2sata_adaptors
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 https://www.xbmc4xbox.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=612
  3. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/originalxbox/comments/7z26oj/transfer_games_directly_to_an_original_xbox_hdd/
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