Modifying that Old Xbox

[rdrake]

Introduction

Softmodding is a form of modding your Xbox that is virtually risk free. There are software exploits in the Xbox that can cause problems and do not work with all versions however the following method is known to work on all versions and not known to have any repercussions.

We will be using SID, the Software Installer Deluxe available from http://www.xbox-hq.com. This package contains the SID installer and the required gamesaves, as well as a handy guide.

This guide is written taking into account those who are able to find an Action Replay for the Xbox, and those who are not.

Softmods are particularly great for quite a few reasons, a few being that; you do not have to open up your Xbox thereby voiding your warranty, they are fully reversible (at least this one is), and they are usually relatively safe.

Just a few words of warning though; this guide was written by me and I happen to be human so there may be mistakes, you could potentially void your warranty by doing this (I'm no legal expert, so I don't know for sure and I'm really too lazy to check), and you do this at your own risk (therefore, I am not at fault if you screw this up.

Big thanks go to Betaflye who taught me practically everything I know, and to the countless hordes of people who work to make fun projects like this a reality. This guide is a mash of information from all these sources.

Disclaimer: The following shows how to modify your Xbox to allow for installation and execution of unsigned code. This could potentially lead to users making use of pirated material on their Xboxes. I, nor compsci.ca, condone piracy in any form. By reading this guide, you agree not to use it to commit piracy.

[rdrake]

Part 1: Creating a Custom Cable

If you are able to find an action replay or a similar device, you may skip over to part 3. If you are like me and could not find an action replay, read below for instructions on how to create your own.

Note: The following section requires a bit of soldering skills. This can be accomplished without soldering, but I highly recommend you can at least solder beforehand.

Required tools and supplies:

• Old Xbox controller (an old one that doesn't work is best)
  
• Female USB connector
  
• Wire snippers (if the wire strippers have a wire snipper too then you really don't need this)
  
• Wire strippers
  
• Soldering iron
  

The first step would be to snip the wire of the old Xbox controller. I recommend you do this on the bottom part if this is still a working controller or the top part if it is not. Doing so will let you use the controller after replacing the bottom part if you wish.

Afterwards, snip the wire on the cable with the female USB connector. I would suggest you leave as much cable as you can on the female side, so you can create a longer cable.

Strip approximately 2 cm off of each end of the wires and expose the wires fully. You must remove both the rubber outside coating and the two other layers in order to expose the wires fully. On the Xbox cord, there are 5 wires. It is safe to snip the yellow wire off, as it is not necessary. Afterwards, strip about 1 cm off each of these wires which you have exposed. Be careful to only remove the rubber casing and not the wire inside.



Start heating up your soldering iron if applicable. Now, you must combine like with like. Twist the wires together whose colours match. Optionally you may solder these wires together after twisting together. I highly recommend you do this as it makes for a stronger cable, but it is not necessary.

You may be wondering what device you can use as a memory card. The answer is pretty much anything that can act as a USB mass storage device. This includes flash drives, cameras, mp3 players, and more.






Excellent, your shiny new cable should be fully functional. Unplug the soldering iron and boot up the Xbox with nothing in its disc tray. When it boots, select the Memory tab on the dashboard. Plug your cable into the Xbox and the device you wish to use as a memory card into the cable. The Xbox should recognize it as a memory card. Select this new device and it will ask you to format. Be sure nothing of importance is on the card and select OK. Your mock memory card is now ready.

Tips

• Make sure the smaller cables do not touch anything but their matching colours.
  
• Be gentle when handling this cable, it's not like it was professionally made, so it could easily come apart.
  
• Yard sales, flea markets, and second-hand stores can all be good sources for old controllers to hack apart for this.
  

[rdrake]

Part 2: Configuring Your Mock Memory Card

You will need to download and install the Action Replay from here. Unzip and install to the default location. You now have the software required in order to put gamesaves on our memory card.

Next we need a free utility from Microsoft called USB View, which is available as a download from here. Once downloaded, unzip and open it up. Be sure you have your memory card plugged in. Look to the tree view on the left. Left-click on the device that is acting as your memory card, the view on the right should then change. Make a note of the last 4 digits of the iVendor and iProduct fields.



Navigate to where you installed the AR software (default is C:\Program Files\Datel\Action Replay XBOX) and go into the Drivers folder. In there you will find a file named xbreader.inf. Open up this file and look for the [ _Devices ] section. Add an entry such as the one that follows, replacing xxxx with the iVendor and yyyy with the iProduct.

code:

%S_DeviceDesc1%=_Install1, USB\VID_xxxx&PID_yyyy

Save this file and exit.




Now we configure the device as an AR device, not what it is intended to be recognized as. Right click on My Computer[b] and go to [b]Properties. Click on the Hardware tab then the Device Manager button. Right-click on the device and select Update Driver"¦. In this order, select; No, not this time, Next, Install from a list or specific location (Advanced), Next, Don't search. I will choose the driver to install, Next, Have Disk"¦. Click on Browse"¦ and locate the file xbreeder.inf which you just edited, click Open. Finally, click OK then Next. Your device should finally be recognized as an Action Replay device.










Tips

• If you run into trouble with this configuration method, uninstall the device in question using the device manager.
  
• Not all devices work for this, some like to rebuild their usual internal file structure when unplugged from the USB port. In order to prevent this, it might help to remove the batteries if using a device like a camera or mp3 player.
  
• If your device still refuses to work, try another one.
  

[rdrake]

Part 3: Saving the Saves

You will need at least two files put onto your memory card. Firstly, you need the SID installer. Lastly, you need one of the three available gamesaves. The SID installer is named SID45.NK.Launcher.zip, while the gamesave's name varies depending on the game you are using and the location your Xbox came from. Typically this will be NTSC (in North America, at least).

Open up the Action Replay software. It should detect your mock memory card as one of its own.



Now, use explorer to drag and drop the two required files on the memory card. It should take about 30 seconds at most for this process.



Once it is done, you should now see two folders each containing one file.



Shutdown Action Replay and remove the device. Plug it back into your Xbox and copy the two files to the hard drive. The required files are now on the HDD of the Xbox, congrats.



Tips

• If the device is not detected by action replay, try uninstalling the reinstalling the device as described above.
  
• The files required for the above steps can be obtained from the SID installer, which you can find in the usual places.
  
• If the saves shown on the memory card are listed as Unknown Title and to used the homebrew cable method, then please try another device.
  

[rdrake]

Part 4: Performing the Exploit

Alrighty, so our gamesaves are on the HDD of the Xbox and we have a copy of either MechAssault (original only), 007: AUF (original only), or Splinter cell (any) ready to go. Now it's time for the magic of buffer overflows to take their course.

Load up the game in question, then go to Load Game. Next, we want to load the gamesave entitled LINUX_profile. After this is done, the SID installer will load after the screen flashes black for a few seconds.





Note: Do not delete the gamesaves used in the exploit off the HDD. Keeping them allows you to boot into SID again if need be to restore your HDD.

Note: In the case of Splinter Cell, it is required that you go to Load Checkpoints after all of the above steps are performed. After this the SID installer will load.

The following pictures depict this process being done in Splinter Cell, as it is the only one of the three games I own.

Tips

• Should you get an error saying it is not a valid gamesave, chances are you have the wrong version of the game in question. Try using an original copy if possible. If all else fails, rent a copy of the original game or find a trader store.
  
• If the SID installer does not load, try formatting the memory card and trying to load the saves again.
  

[rdrake]

Part 5: Installing SID

In the interest of not having many angry Xbox turned paperweight owners sending constant death threats, the developers of SID decided to make it mandatory for you to perform backups of certain important files in case of emergency.

First, you must select Backup your EEPROM. This is probably the single most important file on your hard drive, for reasons explained later. All we need to know for now is that this file must be backed up. SID will launch EvoX (a replacement dashboard) for you to backup this file. Place it somewhere safe like the E:\ drive and exit.



Next, you should make a backup of your original Microsoft Xbox dashboard by selecting Make MS Backup. This copies the original files again to E:\Backup\MS and allows for easy restoration.



Finally it will let us install SID. Select the Install SID option and the process will begin. I personally recommend you use the single boot option but you may choose any of the three that you wish. Just follow the simple instructions on screen and you will be ok. When it comes to the dashboard, you may choose any you like. I personally like UnleashX, but your tastes may differ.




Note: It may seem like it has frozen on the file shadow.img. Please keep in mind that it has not frozen and leave it be for about a minute in order to finish copying.



Now that SID is installed we have the option to reboot the Xbox. Take the game out of the drive and you will be welcomed with the dashboard. Once again congrats, you have successfully installed a new dashboard on your Xbox.

Tips

• Keep the Xbox on for this entire process. Do not shut it off.
  
• SID is one of the many methods we can use to install a new dashboard, it is used here because it is simple and effective.