just got an original xbox

[cracker]

i have the Surrealxxx64 beta 5 i think, thats the latest one, i'm not sure how to run it yet until i get the xbox, but i've seen the vids on youtube and the major games run fine, i've got all the good games on real n64 carts, just the more expensive games like conkers bad fur day i want to play and donkey kong, smash bros 64 seems to have laggy audio though.

I'm gonna go test it here and might have to eat my words.

try the beta version, that is the latest one.

I see why I didn't have as much luck as you have seen others have. I was using the Surreal64 1.0 release... Not Surreal64XXX.

 

[Westside]

The original Xbox is basically a Pentium 3 with a Geforce 3 card on drugs. Geforce 3 runs 90% plus n64 games fine on PC. The problem is the software it self, we should not be facing any framerate or gamespeed issues as long as the software is good. However, there are much less people playing n64 on Xbox compared to n64 on PC.

 

[jalaneme]

i have the Surrealxxx64 beta 5 i think, thats the latest one, i'm not sure how to run it yet

try the beta version, that is the latest one.

I see why I didn't have as much luck as you have seen others have. I was using the Surreal64 1.0 release... Not Surreal64XXX.

yep lol 1.0 is the very early build i believe.

QUOTE(Westside @ Mar 20 2008, 07:22 PM)

However, there are much less people playing n64 on Xbox compared to n64 on PC.

i personally like to play emus on a console than to be sitting in front of the pc, more comfortable.

 

[jalaneme]

woot, i just brought myself a xbox crystal and 19 legit games for £70 with sofmod already installed lol can't wait to receive it

 

[cracker]

Congrats. First thing I would do is FTP in and make a backup of C and also transfer a save exploit to E:/UDATA in case your box ever gets messed up. (I've had to redo my one box a few times because of an Error 21 that mysteriously showed up.)

 

[AshuraZro]

Plus making an eeprom.bin. Makes installing a new hard drive with XboxHDM much easier.

 

[jalaneme]

Congrats. First thing I would do is FTP in and make a backup of C and also transfer a save exploit to E:/UDATA in case your box ever gets messed up. (I've had to redo my one box a few times because of an Error 21 that mysteriously showed up.)

ok, i will have a look at that when i get the xbox (maybe tomorrow) not sure what to setup though but if you have a website that has a step by step guide that will help... i was also thinking of upgrading the OS once it arrives but i am not sure what is installed on the xbox yet so i will have to wait and see.

 

[cracker]

Congrats. First thing I would do is FTP in and make a backup of C and also transfer a save exploit to E:/UDATA in case your box ever gets messed up. (I've had to redo my one box a few times because of an Error 21 that mysteriously showed up.)

ok, i will have a look at that when i get the xbox (maybe tomorrow) not sure what to setup though but if you have a website that has a step by step guide that will help... i was also thinking of upgrading the OS once it arrives but i am not sure what is installed on the xbox yet so i will have to wait and see.

There's so much info about Xbox modding that there isn't really an all in one guide. xbox-scene is the best source for most any info you seek. More than likely you will have the most up to date original Dashboard installed and hopefully XBMC. If you don't then it's not too hard to change to XBMC as long as you can FTP into your Xbox.

 

[jalaneme]

cheers i will have a look at xbox-scene then, hopefully it is up to date, but how can i tell what version it is and what is the latest version for unleash and evo?

 

[Chinman]

first thing to do is make a backup of your eeprom and then ftp it to your pc, if you mess it up you can always recover it. if you mess it up and dont have the eeprom, you will have to do something more dificult which is hotswapping with the data cable on your pc, videos of this are on youtube. i suggest you find an image of the ms dash, then using hdm, make a recovery disc. then when a new auto installer deluxe comes along that is significantly updated then you can do it. its currently on 4.20

i currently have 3 xboxes networked around my house, and i did 3 over xmas for each of my siblings, each with 250gb hard drives, 250gb is the most cost effective size any bigger is just being extravagant. also a good source for xbox stuff is computer exchange (your are in the UK right). i used to use my psp and 32mb card to do my softmod, later i got a xbox memory card for 50p from computer exchange which makes life a hell of a lot easier. they also do xbmc remotes for a fiver

i think you got quite a good deal as crystal xboxes go for about £40 max, if you ever do buy any more off ebay, try and get as few games as possible as they are pointless and only drive up the price, the most important thing is the controllers, try and get the s versions as they have about £15 value and the big chunky ones are only worth a fiver, most sellers wont know this. also beware of faulty drives and broken ethernet ports. i have encountered a couple, including one i bought off ebay, only cos me £20, so i used it for parts. hope this helps.

 

[Chinman]

also for me, xbmc is by far the best dashboard, but if you are a noob, stick to what it comes with, be it unleashx or evox, they all do the job. i say if it works then leave it and try not to update it until youre more familiar or you may run into major woes that you wont be able to fix yourself. take it from somethat has done this for a while now, save yourself a lot of headaches and make a backup of the eeprom. with this you can fix anything wrong with the HD

 

[cracker]

cheers i will have a look at xbox-scene then, hopefully it is up to date, but how can i tell what version it is and what is the latest version for unleash and evo?

I believe 5960 is the last official Dashboard. I'm not sure if any games require you to have it updated to that or not (and if the custom Dashboard replaces prevent the need for it).

Don't even bother with UnleashX or EvoX. XBMC is MUCH better. Not only does it allow you to play games, FTP, run homebrew but it also lets you watch movies, play music, watch streaming video a la Joost, etc.

 

[Agjsdfd]

cheers i will have a look at xbox-scene then, hopefully it is up to date, but how can i tell what version it is and what is the latest version for unleash and evo?

I believe 5960 is the last official Dashboard. I'm not sure if any games require you to have it updated to that or not (and if the custom Dashboard replaces prevent the need for it).

Don't even bother with UnleashX or EvoX. XBMC is MUCH better. Not only does it allow you to play games, FTP, run homebrew but it also lets you watch movies, play music, watch streaming video a la Joost, etc.

Agreed.
And you can do much more + XBMC has nice interface.

 

[jalaneme]

first thing to do is make a backup of your eeprom and then ftp it to your pc, if you mess it up you can always recover it. if you mess it up and dont have the eeprom, you will have to do something more dificult which is hotswapping with the data cable on your pc, videos of this are on youtube. i suggest you find an image of the ms dash, then using hdm, make a recovery disc. then when a new auto installer deluxe comes along that is significantly updated then you can do it. its currently on 4.20

i currently have 3 xboxes networked around my house, and i did 3 over xmas for each of my siblings, each with 250gb hard drives, 250gb is the most cost effective size any bigger is just being extravagant. also a good source for xbox stuff is computer exchange (your are in the UK right). i used to use my psp and 32mb card to do my softmod, later i got a xbox memory card for 50p from computer exchange which makes life a hell of a lot easier. they also do xbmc remotes for a fiver

i think you got quite a good deal as crystal xboxes go for about £40 max, if you ever do buy any more off ebay, try and get as few games as possible as they are pointless and only drive up the price, the most important thing is the controllers, try and get the s versions as they have about £15 value and the big chunky ones are only worth a fiver, most sellers wont know this. also beware of faulty drives and broken ethernet ports. i have encountered a couple, including one i bought off ebay, only cos me £20, so i used it for parts. hope this helps.

i'm really not sure how to "backup" a eprom i am really new at this if i don't know what i am doing i don't think it's a good idea to mess with it in the first place.

i saw another xbox crystal for about £35 with 3 games unmodded though so i would have to mod it myself, i went for the latter, that xbox i brought was the only one that had a soft mod installed and at a reasonable price, another modded xbox was going for £200 way over what i can afford, the xbox crystal only comes with a small controller there is no bigger version of the crystal design i know of anyway lol

the xbox i brought came with 19 games, most of those games i am going to trade in though as they are rubbish lol the only reason i brought this xbox was because it had a soft mod already installed, it's strange you say the official controller go for £15 as i saw fake controller go more than that it's ridiculous.

yes i know about computer exchange, i'm going to go down there with the games i don't want and either swap them for games i do want or get some accessories if they have any left.

the xbox also comes with 1 years xbox live i don't think i will be using the xbox online though, and i've read that if you use a modded console online you are instantly banned from the service anyway? and even if i do decide to go online out of curiosity, would i need to sign up for for a new user then? (unless i am banned straight away as soon as i go online) i was concerned about the drive being faulty too i am also not sure which brand the drive is yet, it never said in the listing.

also for me, xbmc is by far the best dashboard, but if you are a noob, stick to what it comes with, be it unleashx or evox, they all do the job. i say if it works then leave it and try not to update it until youre more familiar or you may run into major woes that you wont be able to fix yourself. take it from somethat has done this for a while now, save yourself a lot of headaches and make a backup of the eeprom. with this you can fix anything wrong with the HD

yes thats what i am planning to do, i think leaving it at it is the best idea atm until i really know what i am doing, and i thought xbmc is just a media center and that's it? thats what i read anyway.

QUOTE(cracker @ Mar 21 2008, 08:11 PM)

I believe 5960 is the last official Dashboard. I'm not sure if any games require you to have it updated to that or not (and if the custom Dashboard replaces prevent the need for it).

Don't even bother with UnleashX or EvoX. XBMC is MUCH better. Not only does it allow you to play games, FTP, run homebrew but it also lets you watch movies, play music, watch streaming video a la Joost, etc.

i'm not sure if i can make out what you are saying about the dashboard thing, like i said i've never owned a xbox before nor have i ever modded one so i'm completely new to this, the only guess is that that dashboard number is a version number i should look for when i boot up the xbox for the first time?

how easy would it be to install the xbmc anyway? would i need to replace it over the evo x and unleashed os instead? which one is best for running n64 roms? and xbox backups? i have little to no use for media video and music capabilities, my ps3 does that...

 

[Armadillo]

Eeprom you just tell what ever dash you are using to backup the eeprom and you'll get a eeprom.bin somewhere on the drive , then you just ftp in and grab and store it on your pc. If it's already been softmodded , you might already have a backup of the eeprom on there and you'll just have to grab it.

Xbox live you won't get banned unless have the mod active and connect to live. Switch the mod off and it's fine. Once you've been connected though , you can't change hdd , or ban. First time you go on live it pairs up the hdd and xbox , so change them once it's done that and ban. A lot of people also don't modify or change anything on c: and e: , but I'm not sure if that's actually necessary to not get banned.

Xbmc is both a dash and or a stand alone media centre , can use it as both. Official dashboard version is displayed on the original ms dash , in settings , then system info. Text scrolls then it will tell you dash number. Although I wouldn't really worry about , unless you were doing the softmod yourself , otherwise it really doesn't matter what version the ms dash is.

Installing xbmc is easy enough. Just download and extract it , then ftp it across. If you want it to replace your current dash , then you'll have to stick it on c: and possibly rename the default.xbe to the same as what the old dash xbe was named , depending on what the softmod is set to look for. If you don't want to play around with the dash , then just stick it in f:\apps as pretty much all the dashboards will look there for apps and autosort them. I'd be really surprised if the box doesn't already have some version of xbmc on , pretty much every one has that app on their modded boxes.

 

[jalaneme]

thanks Armadillo, that was explained simple enough lol

 

[Chinman]

eeprom is like a unique key that pairs a hard drive with the xbox, you cant just rip the hard drive out and put in a new one, as it needs to be locked with that eeprom. if you are gonna upgrade the hard drive, i recommend seagate barracudas (IDE of course), and i would say avoid maxtor at all cost, bought 3 at xmas, had to return all 3. samsung hitachi and WD are also good.

also in order to save an xbox hard drive in case you mess it up, you need to connect it to your pc, but you need to unlock it using the eeprom again, which is why i stress that its the most basic part of softmodding an xbox, you may never need the eeprom, but it is better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

5960 was the last ms dash update, if you were gonna softmod an xbox you would have to update to this first, u can check what dashboard you have by looking at the xbox settings. there are 2 ways to update: connect your xbox to the internet and try to connect to xbox live, it will do automatically, or if you have a newer xbox game with that update on it, that will do it to, i use rainbow six lockdown when i need to.

i can softmod an xbox in about 15 mins, alot of ebay sellers jack up the price by about £50 for inc a softmod, £50 is a lot for 15 mins work, but like i said, i think you got quite a good deal, it would be wise to keep a game that has the 5960 update for future use just in case, xbox games have hardly any value anyway. i would say trade them in at cex and get a remote, maybe a headset, memory card, copy of splinter cell, maybe some extra controllers, xbox composite cable

 

[Chinman]

btw you can play online without fear of banning by using xlinkai

 

[Chinman]

i will teach you how to install xbmc but be warned if you mess it up i wont take responsibilty. also i wouldnt try it unless you had a backup of your eeprom.

your xbox is softmodded, thats a good start. download auto installer deluxe (4.20 is the latest), you can get it from xbins. put the disc in the xbox and it should run like a game. format your retail HD (only do this if you want a clean install, otherwise just format C and E, this is where the softmod goes), prepare your HD, should only be E (possibly F too) if you have the original HD, create ms backup (softmod needs this to install), softmod one click install of single boot xbmc. let all processes finish and only shut off or eject the disc when told to or you will mess up your xbox, although not the end of the world, you will be in for one big headache. i.e. opening up your pc and xbox, and connecting stuff up, and need various tools, software and discs you probably wont have.

if none of this scares you, by all means install xbmc. it is well worth the risk in my opinion, it is by far the best dashboard in existence

 

[jalaneme]

eeprom is like a unique key that pairs a hard drive with the xbox, you cant just rip the hard drive out and put in a new one, as it needs to be locked with that eeprom. if you are gonna upgrade the hard drive, i recommend seagate barracudas (IDE of course), and i would say avoid maxtor at all cost, bought 3 at xmas, had to return all 3. samsung hitachi and WD are also good.

also in order to save an xbox hard drive in case you mess it up, you need to connect it to your pc, but you need to unlock it using the eeprom again, which is why i stress that its the most basic part of softmodding an xbox, you may never need the eeprom, but it is better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

5960 was the last ms dash update, if you were gonna softmod an xbox you would have to update to this first, u can check what dashboard you have by looking at the xbox settings. there are 2 ways to update: connect your xbox to the internet and try to connect to xbox live, it will do automatically, or if you have a newer xbox game with that update on it, that will do it to, i use rainbow six lockdown when i need to.

i can softmod an xbox in about 15 mins, alot of ebay sellers jack up the price by about £50 for inc a softmod, £50 is a lot for 15 mins work, but like i said, i think you got quite a good deal, it would be wise to keep a game that has the 5960 update for future use just in case, xbox games have hardly any value anyway. i would say trade them in at cex and get a remote, maybe a headset, memory card, copy of splinter cell, maybe some extra controllers, xbox composite cable

well there is a previous post that says if you change the hard drive and go online you will be instantly banned so if i attempt to upgrade the hard drive at a later date and use xbox live i will be instantly banned from the network, how much are xbox hard drives anyway, just curious?

i have no idea how to hook up and backup with all this eprom stuff, really when i read all this stuff it sounds complicated i just want to use the xbox for simple stuff i don't see why i should be altering a eprom anyway.

it seems you are talking about the official xbox dashboard, wouldn't installing official firmware onto a softmodded xbox cause problems? i really don't think that would be a good idea, can you block updates from microsoft? are there updates on the disc like there are on Wii games? rainbow six is one of the games that is included with the xbox but i am going to trade it in, i dont' like it.

like i said before on ebay i saw a modded xbox going for £200 it's ridiculous, i guess modders like to make a bit of cash for modding consoles and stuff, you just got to find the generous people who will mod your console for a more realistic price.

yeah i know xbox games have no trade in value at all, games like fifa have like 20p cash value lol but i will never play them so they are goign to be traded in anyway, i should get around £10-£14 trade in value for the games i am trading in, i already have a headset included with teh xbox, i won't be using the xbox for dvd vids so thats not needed, i'm just going to look around for decent cheap xbox games i think.

the xbox already comes with a composite cable i hate composite as i have a hdtv (it will look like crap) so i am going to be buying a component cable ASAP, they cost £15 on ebay though! will it be more cheaper in gamestaion do you think?

QUOTEif none of this scares you, by all means install xbmc. it is well worth the risk in my opinion, it is by far the best dashboard in existence

it does so i won't be doing it.