Faulty XboxDashboard -> XBox will not boot

by | May 25, 2003 | Xbox

I wanted XBox MediaPlayer to replace the MS dashboard already installed. Tried the EvolutinX Dashboard aka EvoX but I would prefer the MediaPlayer to start directly since I think I will use it most. So I justed moved the default.xbe and the config.xml to the C: drive an rebooted. NEVER DO THAT! The Xbox did not boot any more…

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So how to solve that? I read on Xbox-scene that one could simply burn EvoX to a cd and boot from it. Didn’t work…

So I spent some time to figure out how to solve it and here is how I did. The article that helped me most to get on the right track was DoA3 model hack. It guided me to t00gg’s HD Driver(download from here, here or here). This tool allows you to replace files on the Xbox HD while it is connected to your PC(Win2k/XP only).

To make it work you have to do the hotswap trick to unlock the HD. The easiest way I found out was to:

1. open your PC while it is still up and running, find a free IDE connector and HD power plug.

2. Connect the power to the Xbox HD but let it still be connected to the Xbox IDE cable.

3. Boot the Xbox.

4. When the Xbox fails to boot unplug the IDE cable and plug in the PC IDE cable.

5. Go to the Device Manager(Control Panel -> System -> Hardware Tab) and check if you find the HD under Disk drives. If not select ‘Scan for hardware changes’ in hte Action menu. It should no appear.

6. Start t00gg’s Driver and if it finds the drive it was unlocked.

So when I got this far it was not so much of a problem but to be on the safe side I started to make a backup of the whole HD with t00gg’s Driver. Then I extracted the MS xboxdashboard that I had made an backup copy on the Xbox HD before I installed the Mediaplayer(If you have no backup you are screwed!) Then I overwrote the existing faulty xboxdash.xbe(the MediaPlayer one) with the proper MS one. Closed down Driver and disconnected the HD from the PC and connected it to the Xbox and rebooted. Now fully functional again!