Hacking Transferring original Xbox saves between 360s

LanHikariDS

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So, I'm planning on getting a new Xbox 360 (Slim) and giving my old 360 (Fat) to a friend, but I would obviously like to get all of my saves off of the old hard drive. For most of them, this isn't and issue, and a lot of my saves are already on Cloud. However, I tend to play original Xbox games on the 360 when I can, mostly because of the improved resolution. However, Microsoft provides no way of copying Original Xbox saves from 360 hard drives (Yet somehow you're allowed to copy saves to a 360 hard drive?), and Horizon doesn't show original Xbox saves when I plug my hard drive in. Is there any other software to get my game saves? I just beat all Race series in Burnout 3 with all golds and would hate to start over. Neither 360 is/will be modded.

EDIT: I just learned about Microsoft's hard drive transfer cable that does do it, but if anyone else has different suggestions, I'd love to hear them
 
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DinohScene

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You can gut the caddy and connect it to a standard SATA-USB bridge.
Load up USB XTAF or Party buffalo driver or w/e (make sure you use the appropriate one for your HDD size if needed)
Then just copy the TDATA and UDATA folders off off the HDD, save them on your desktop.

To copy them back, reverse the process, copy the TDATA and UDATA to the new harddrive.
 

LanHikariDS

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Are there anyways of modifying the console signatures and reading the current signature of a file? For some stupid reason, Burnout 3 save files are copy protected, and while they still copy when using a 360 transfer cable, they're displayed as corrupted in-game. I tried a light bit of file swapping between new and old files to try get the file to work, but the save file itself contains the console signature somewhere, so I'd need an editor for it, as swapping SaveMetas did nothing...
 

LanHikariDS

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That could work, but not with my file alone. I'd need to make a new file on both my new console, and my old one before I get rid of it, then run a comparison on those, as my old file would also have differences for what I've done, compared to two new files with no accomplishments
 

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Hi LanHikariDS ...

I always like to try and help out if and when I can! but there may be problems with just what help I can offer you ...

I did quite an amount of work on the old XBox, such as running Linux and providing Multi-Media Systems using it, using the usual disk based exploit road in, and I also built my own XB-PC Saves Interface, and although I still have all the original XBox stuff, I have never used it, or even looked at it - or even seen it - in many many years, and the same can be said in the case of my original 360 which also goes back some considerable time ago, and memory certainly fades in favour of new and other things! ...

I have never looked at, tried or even thought about running original XBox games on a 360, so have no ides whether or not this is done as is, or through some sort of emulation, as you give no clue in your posts of just how these are being run! so I have no idea whether or not the particular saves you refer too adhere to the standard 360 STFS save strategy!

The STFS Save strategy used in the 360 was quite a complex affair as can be seen if you read my STFS primer in the post 'Information request about secruity on xbox 360' (I think it was about the 8th entry in that post). There was never any need for this type of complexity in saving users game content and is one of the reasons I chose never ever to go down the Microsoft route ever again! It may also be advantageous to read the STFS/XTAF entries on the no-adverts hobby site at: https://mjo.co.uk/ under the navigator entry: XBox 360/PS4/Gaming, which clearly shows the Meta construct entries, and that saves from any user ID to any console ID can be reconfigured and/or rehashed/resigned.

If the third para is true, and you can enlighten me as to your saves - and providing your requirements are few! - I may be able to resign these for you, but, can make no promises! I would need the original working save (from your original XB360) and any working save from your new XB360 so that the various new IDs can be extracted and ported over to the original save!

Regards ...
 
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LanHikariDS

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@DinohScene I don't think any cheat devices work on a virgin 360, least not for original Xbox games

@Peluki The Xbox 360 uses emulation for original Xbox games, and I'm assuming that 360 uses the same save system that the original Xbox did for those games, as the "Xbox1" section of my hard drive looks alot like the "Emudisk" folder in CXBXR, and saves match that structure. I'll provide my Burnout 3 saves, as they are currently the most pressing issue, but I would like to learn how you did this, as I would like to do some further work with this down the line, like getting Halo 2's Blastacular Pack on my 360 and my original Xbox
 

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Peluki

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Hi ... again ... LanHikariDS ...

I have downloaded the attached archive, and can immediately see that unfortunately the third para isn't true, and that the saves appear to follow the original Xbox format, and not the standard STFS 360 Save strategy. I see from your comments that the Xbox 360 uses emulation for original Xbox games which also appears to include using the original save format (as I remember it!). The work I undertook for the Original Xbox - which was extremely short lived - never included transferring saves between different Xboxes, and also as stated in my post, I never looked at, or would have ever considered running original XBox games on a 360. Had this been any Original XBox 360 User Game Save - or following the 360 Save Format - I could have resigned this to any 360 console for you without any problem, as it is I think you will struggle to find someone after all this time that will be able to help you! although I'm sure there will still be some die-hard retro developers out there, your problem unfortunately! is finding one ... Good Luck! ...

PS. I will - as time permits - try to look into this further for you, unfortunately one of our elderly family is extremely ill, and currently time is somewhat limited ...
 

LanHikariDS

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Damn, man, I'm sorry to hear that. I'm going to poke around see what I can do in the meantime, as I'm trying to get this last save before Sunday, as I'm giving my old 360 to a friend. I'll see if I can hex edit it, as Dinoh suggested

EDIT: Daaaaamn... Just when I thought I had it, I found the hex key that XSaveSig reports, and swapped it out with a hex editor, but it still says it's unusable...
 
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Peluki

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Just a thought regarding your comments! I think hex editing the file even with the correct information will not help you! as if you look at a 360 container (CON) file, and follow the info that I set out in the STFS primer you will see that - in simple terms! - the container data (which also includes the actual game save data, which incidently is usually also checksum/encryption protected as well!) is split into blocks, and each block is checksum calculated with an SHA1 hash which is stored in a table, an overall hash is then calculated based on this information, which also includes the header block hash which also takes into account other data including the user id, and console id etc! After all this! the data is then Signed (Requiring a Key Vault), a failure on any one of these checks will result in a corrupt file, and if the original xbox save follows a similar strategy, it will unfortunately not just be a simple matter of hex editing ... you need someone that is au fait with the original xbox save protocol, especially with respect to device transfer! - I have your files, and as promised I will look further into this for you as time allows, I have also contacted a couple of friends to see if they can shed any light on the situation ...
 

LanHikariDS

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I found a program that's of slight use, called XSaveSig, that allows you to sign original Xbox saves via your console's hard drive key and a script written up for the game in question, and it shows the encryption key that's on the save file you've loaded into it, as well as the one that's about to be put onto the save file, but it doesn't let you edit either of them, but it might help in figuring out the base key, as the scripts it uses for individual games are in a simple .ini file, but I've no idea what to do with the information it gives...
 

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I found a program that's of slight use, called XSaveSig, that allows you to sign original Xbox saves via your console's hard drive key and a script written up for the game in question, and it shows the encryption key that's on the save file you've loaded into it, as well as the one that's about to be put onto the save file, but it doesn't let you edit either of them, but it might help in figuring out the base key, as the scripts it uses for individual games are in a simple .ini file, but I've no idea what to do with the information it gives...

Hi again ...

With respect to your post - mine also. Firstly, as promised I contacted 3 friends who I thought may possibly shed some light on your situation, like me, 2 said it was too long ago to remember, the third says he could possibly help but is unfortunately working abroad at the moment and will be out of the country for the next eight months.

Referring to you last posting regarding XSaveSig, I thought I would take a look. I noticed there was several downloads of various sizes, and so downloaded the one from xbins (I had forgotten all about this outfit after all these years but was indeed a member) the download from them also included the XBox Game Save Re-signer that appears to give you the ability to read, check and adjust the signature, might be worth a try ... I also notice the C Source is also included with the writers e-mail address that might also be worth a try ...

Regards ...
 

LanHikariDS

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I sent an email to the creator of the program almost a month ago, and have yet to hear anything back.

It's a shame that everyone seems to have dropped out of Xbox modding and forgotten it all, there's still some things that can be done/improved. Like, if we can do this, anyone on an unmodded Xbox 360 could get Original Xbox saves if they have a HDD transfer cable, and a game they can pull HDD codes from, like Halo 2 Multiplayer Map Pack.
 
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Hi LanHikariDS ...

I note your comments regarding your email to the programs creator, and am not surprised by the lack of interest shown! In an endevour to help further, I did a search and came across - see the picture - This image was on one of the disks and shows what I think were the game disks that could be used to exploit the XBox, an 8MB MU, and the XB/PC interface I made, I must admit I had forgotten all about these, but looking at the date on the files it was 15 years ago ... hmmmm ... Unfortunately over Christmas we had a bereavement and I'm sure you will understand there are much more important matters to attend too, so gaming and computing are unfortunately on the 'back burner' for the moment and will be so for some time to come. As soon as I get time I will look into this, there is also a device called Action Replay, and all the software, and according to the wite-up allows the use of any XBox game save to be shared between other users on other machines - or so it says - To be honest I have just come to update the Arduino sketch to update my PS4 WEMOS and struggled to get to grips with that after 12 months ... so after 15 years there is not much chance of remembering any of that - will be in touch when I have had time to look into it all ...

Kind regards and Fair Fortune be yours ...
 

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LanHikariDS

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I'm aware of the exploits like Hacks Under Fire, but remember, this is all happening on Xbox 360, so Action Replay is out of the question, and the other exploits may not work, either.
 

Peluki

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I'm aware of the exploits like Hacks Under Fire, but remember, this is all happening on Xbox 360, so Action Replay is out of the question, and the other exploits may not work, either.

LanHikariDS

This will be my last visit and post on the forum, and had only continued on here basically to try and help you, after all, apart from a few die hard retro developers and users, most of this stuff is already 'Old Hat' and in the main 'Dead and Gone' The Machines have been discontinued, many of which now cost just a few pounds and disks not much more than pence, and most of the games comparitively speaking are certainly dated! But, before I left, and for no other real reason! - as I didn't appear to see anyone else here queing up to help you - I had decided just like in the 2007 Film 'The Bucket List' I was going to try and 'Help a complete stranger just for the good' and probably due to the age of all this stuff, already knew it was probably going to take a little time and effort on my part, after all, as I had previously said going back 9 years for the 360 and probably around 15 years for the original Xbox, is certainly some considerable time to remember what I was doing then! or even to remember what an original XBox save format looked like, as it certainly was nothing like that of the 360 that you posted, and since those times have possibly written many dozens of applications and utilities. I had in fact spent quite a number of hours - I won't ever do it again, especially for someone who doesn't appear to be the slightest grateful! - going through my entire archive to hopefully find something that could possibly help, and came across the picture and document described in my post, which resulted in finding one of my original XBoxes complete with the bulk of my original XBox Game collection, including the games and items shown in the picture - I just don't throw anything away! - all of which had been packed away for many many years and forgotten about.

I had gone through some of the files on the 2 disks, with a view to trying to find something that could possibly help, and felt probably the best way forward would be to play the same game on the original XBox - if it still worked! - and compare a save with the one you posted from the 360, or probably try a cross transfer possibly using the AR (which by the way and FYI was in fact also available for the 360! - and had both! - and would also say that I never suggested or intimated that XBox exploits would work or be required!). In any event, this actually turned out to be totally unnecessary, as my colleague had been recalled back to the UK, and this weekend had in fact contacted me to say that he had found a solution and if I would care to go over to see him before he had to return overseas again he would discuss it with me!

Your one liner to my intermediate response I found both insulting and ungrateful in suggesting that I was either too stupid, had forgotten or failed to understand the original purpose of your initial request was about this being for an Xbox save on a 360, and am only sorry that I have wasted any time and effort on this exercise, and on someone who appears to come across as totally ungrateful. In view of this have certainly have no intention of wasting any further time or effort on it! and will therefore leave it at that and 'call it a day' and will consider it a lesson learned for the future!

Treating a well-wisher or an experienced engineer and programmer a little less like a fool, and with a little more consideration might just garner a little more success and respect in the future! ...
 

LanHikariDS

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Excuse me? I'm not sure how I sound ungrateful, I don't at all mean to come off as such, as I really am grateful that you're trying as you can to help me despite your difficult personal situation. Of all the people I've tried getting in touch with and all the looking around I've done, you're the only one that's even tried to get back to me, let alone tried working towards a goal, how could I not be grateful?

I didn't mean to insinuate that you were "too stupid" or forgot my original request, but you'd mentioned being unfamiliar with the 360, and I don't know what you do/don't know about it. You mentioned using a feature present in the original Xbox's Action Replay to transfer my save through there, but the Xbox 360 is incredibly picky about running original Xbox games, only playing specific games from the original Xbox's library, I simply didn't see how an unlicensed original Xbox disc would be usable on 360 when not even all official Xbox games play on the 360. Moreover, I didn't know that Action Replay was on 360, and had feature parity with the original Xbox disc, you never made mention of it in your post. Moreover, I'm not sure if running the Action Replay 360 disc would get one banned on Xbox live.

If you'll continue helping, that would be wonderful, and is appreciated, even if I don't make it seem like so.
If not, I apologize for coming off incorrectly, and wish you the best with your future endeavors, and especially wish the best of luck to your aforementioned family member.
 

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I know this is an old thread, but I did figure this out by doing something similar. I wanted to take my OG XBox saves from a 360 back to an original XBox, because I didn't like some of the oddball things the 360 was doing with emulation. I had a ton of games that had way too much progress to let go.

1. Go to the Eaton Works FatXplorer website and download the latest Beta release. Unzip the file to the directory of your choice.
2. Connect the 360 HDD to a PC with the Hard Drive Transfer Cable
3. Run FatXplorer Beta executable as an administrator and click on "Devices" in the upper left corner. This did not work for me until I ran as administrator. It seems to only give access to all the folders when you are an admin.
4. Click the Icon for your HDD.
1688514824344.png

5. A new window will open. In the "Mount Options" menu, load the device. You will then see all the drive partitions.
6. Click the "Content Partition" and then the mount button. Mine defaults to "X" for the drive letter. Just make sure it is an unused letter and you will be fine.
1688515353810.png

7. A new file view window will open up with the newly mounted partition.
8. Follow this path on the mounted partition.
1688515485832.png

9. These are your game saves. Copy them to a folder on your desktop.
10. Close the file view window and click on devices again in FatXplorer.
11. Again click the icon for your HDD.
1688515722326.png

12. Click "Unmount" in the new window.
1688515758720.png

13. If Windows is still seeing the USB drive, be sure to eject it before removing.
14a. If you are moving to another 360, follow the above steps with the other hard drive, but at step 8, copy the saves from your desktop to the path on the target drive.
14b. If you are moving to an original Xbox, there may be multiple methods, but I will tell you mine. Mine is softmodded via the "How To Softmod An Original Xbox! - Rocky5 USB Method" YouTube tutorial by Archades Games and then I use Filezilla to transfer over the saves. Be sure to follow the YouTube tutorial by Blaine Locklair on how to set up Filezilla or your transfers may fail. Your OG saves should be under /E/UDATA. Just drag the saves from your desktop to the directory in Filezilla and you are all set.
1688516369396.png


Sorry about the lack of links. As a new user, I am limited in what I am allowed to post without getting flagged for spam.
 

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