Got my system softmodded - now what?

[drfsupercenter]

OK, so I've heard that XBMC was the best thing to put on softmodded Xboxes.

But I'm confused - is XBMC just an "app" that you have to run from EvoX or UnleashX? Or is there a version that acts as a dashboard replacement too?

What are your guys' recommendations on what to install? Currently I have UnleashX dualbooted with the MS dash, and XBMC as an app.

 

[DinohScene]

Keep it this way.

UnleashX is far better for games etc.
XBMC is pretty much purely for media purposes.

 

[drfsupercenter]

So there is no such thing as replacing the dash with XBMC?

Can I make UnleashX automatically boot XBMC when I insert DVDs, CDs, etc? That would be a bit more convenient. Are there other custom dashboards besides EvoX and UnleashX?

 

[pyromaniac123]

So there is no such thing as replacing the dash with XBMC?

Can I make UnleashX automatically boot XBMC when I insert DVDs, CDs, etc? That would be a bit more convenient. Are there other custom dashboards besides EvoX and UnleashX?

You can use xbmc installer deluxe to install xbmc as dash, problem is locating a copy to download.

 

[DinohScene]

There is a wide variety of dashboards.

Personally, UnleashX is the best in terms of games and customization.
XBMC is the best if you want to use your Xbox as a media center.

You can set your xbox to autoboot XBMC if you press start on your controller for example.
That way you can also go back to UnleashX if you screw something up in XMBC.

Go into setting and then quicklaunch.
There you can select the default.xbe of XBMC and assign it to what ever key you want.

 

[FAST6191]

Yeah you can replace with XBMC - strictly speaking none are better than any other when it comes to games as far as compatibility goes and you can always run another dash in software form if you want to do that for some reason. UnleashX (or anything that is not XBMC or xbox linux) is usually a bit faster to load (near instant instead of 10 seconds- if you have a modern console you will be used to waiting longer there), homebrew wise is a little less clunky and simpler to operate (not that XBMC is hard) so if you were going strict gameplay I would probably consider sidelining XBMC. Autoboot XBMC in case of media- not really.

There is xbox linux in various forms which you should be able to autoboot, Anod-X and Avalaunch all of which should be in that autoinstaller deluxe program that people have probably suggested you get.

 

[drfsupercenter]

I used Softmod Installer Deluxe 5 and Splinter Cell to do it.

So... can XBMC play game backups too or just media? I ultimately want to use my Xbox for both purposes - playing games off the hard drive and watching DVDs etc.

Currently figuring out the Chimp software so I can clone the HDD to a 500GB one... hopefully that won't limit my ability to use other dashboards/softmods.

 

[DinohScene]

Personally I should keep UnleashX as your main dash and XBMC as the extension dash.
I'd go for assigning Start for example to boot XBMC at bootup of the console.

As for your HDD, nope.
It won't affect anything other then give you a nice increase.
The C and E partitions will have the same size as original drives.
F G and H partitions will have 167 ish GB.

 

[drfsupercenter]

What do you mean by "extension dash"? Right now I have it installed as a dual-boot, so I can launch the Microsoft dash if I want to (just one of those things I figure is nice to have, as long as it doesn't hurt anything)

I can keep it as an app if that's basically what I need to do, it's not a huge deal, really. If extension dash you mean the secondary one (where I have the MS dash right now), then I'd prefer to keep the MS dash where it is.

As far as the F/G/H thing, I knew it would make an F and possibly G partition... is there some sort of size limit, which is why it needs new letters? I know C is the system stuff and E is where save data and apps are stored... can you effectively use F, G and H as the same thing? Or would you just use that to install the games to and have the dash read them from there?

 

[DinohScene]

It's vital to keep the MS dash.
If you delete it then you'll bork up the Xbox ;p

What I meant with the "extension dash" is that you'd hold a button at boot, that it would boot up instead of UnleashX ;]


I'd personally leave E untouched and use it for savegames/DLC/Music etc.
F G H and such are 167GB partitions (max that the Xbox can adress) which are visable in both UnleashX and XBMC.
On those partitions you can plonk down your games and homebrew respectively.

 

[FAST6191]

Dual boot is completely pointless as of several years ago when MS dropped support for xbox live on the original xboxes. You have to force it to boot it (I guess you set it to boot if the drive is open on boot*) but as it only costs you a couple of hundred megs then you can leave it.
Edit- ah I see your confusion. For softmods it is important to keep enough components of the dash to launch the softmod in the first place, as you probably did the shadow c and virtual eeprom install method this is all taken care of.

*I find this annoying if I am going to chuck a burned DVD with videos on it into the thing and want to open it with my toe but that is a different matter.

Extension dash is a different concept to dual boot and is basically just a way to keep it sidelined a bit and launch it more as an application or if you are holding certain keys on boot. I am going to have to disagree with DinohScene on this matter and say go with XBMC as the main/primary dash and have whatever others waiting in the wings if you want those for some reason- there is no real disadvantage to XBMC and possibly aside from a few things with xbox linux it is the only thing still being updated (though now under the umbrella of xbmc4xbox).

Size limits... kind of but it does not really matter as the dashes will autoparse things and you can just select from a list in the end. You can install games to any drive that will fit it save for the X, Y and Z drives (those are what the xbox uses for temp storage and why you have a 8 or 10 gig stock drive but less than 5 to play with).

 

[drfsupercenter]

Hmm, OK I see.

As far as dualbooting - at least with UnleashX, there's an option right there on the main screen that says "Microsoft Dash" and it'll boot it just by pressing that option.

I know it won't use Xbox LIVE anymore, but it's nice to be able to have, especially for save file management - the custom dashes just aren't as good with that IMHO.

So... XBMC can play game backups as well as just music/videos?

 

[FAST6191]

XBMC can play backups just as well, the only problems you might have had would be if you had a bunch of legacy multigame discs but you will be hard pressed to get one in any form and you will have to go very much out of your way to make one.

As for saves... having sat here and watched countless people have to fumble with the save management as part of the softmod (and to be fair getting it to copy both files is quite counter intuitive) I am endlessly thankful for FTP but hey

 

[drfsupercenter]

Yeah, it's easy enough to just use the MS dashboard to copy saves. The only annoying thing is that the UnleashX stuff shows up as a save, but hey, I suppose that's required for it to work.

So would I need to remove the softmod then re-install XBMC or can I just tell XBMC to reformat the drive and overwrite UnleashX? The SID files only have EvoX and UnleashX included.

 

[FAST6191]

Once you are modded and you have FTP (which is everything once you have modded it) you can do whatever you like with no need to format things. By the way basically everything in xbox hacking revolves around FTP- USB is clunky as anything and discs get quite annoying though there are few installers.

http://www.xbmc4xbox.org.uk/wiki/Installing_XBMC has what goes.