V29

Hack the 360: The

Tutorial
Backing Up, Modifying & Flashing the
Hitachi/LG Drive

Written by: geebee

([email protected] for any changes)

BEFORE YOU START, READ

Start Your Reading Here

http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?s=cdbaa5713c3134aa66aa2493c814c259&showtopic=513412

Then if you want more background read here

www.kev.nu

Now read this tutorial, twice. If you don’t understand any terms, think twice about
doing this.

This tutorial will explain every step in backing up your original firmware, creating
a working hacked firmware for your Hitachi v47 DVD-Drive and flashing it back to
the DVD-Drive. It will also explain how to burn successful game back-ups.

It is really important to keep in mind that the complete process can be risky if
you don’t know what you are doing.

AFAIK You CANNOT make SS files with the Hitachi…stay tuned for more info.
 WARNINGS
IF YOU WANT TO KEEP YOUR WARANTY DO NOT TRY THIS.
OPENING THE CASE INVALIDATES THE WARRANTY.

Don’t ask for illegal files. ANYWHERE. Especially not on public forums.
Read all the forum rules. Do not talk about .ISO images you have
downloaded.

We are not responsible for any misreading or damage done to your

Microsoft Xbox 360 in any way.

Please do not attempt to try this if you don’t understand any of the steps
below. Normal to Average PC experience is required in order to
successfully complete the installation.

Do not stick your fingers into live electrical parts. Do not stick any other
parts of your anatomy in either.

Lasers BLIND! Do not look into them if you need to hotswap disks when
using WxRipper (to follow)
Overview:

Firmware Tasks:

Disassemble Xbox360
Connect Xbox360 Drive to PC
Boot to Windows
Backup Xbox360 Drive firmware
Backup Xbox360 Drive firmware to 2 other places for safety
Flash Xbox360 Drive with xtreme’s hacked firmware
Rebuild Xbox360 (unless you want to make some backups now)
Test Xbox360

WARNING: If you are going to connect your 360 and PC together in *any* way, then
you *must* provide the 360 with a path to true earth ground. This is because the 360 has
a floating ground and horrible things happen if all connected systems do not agree on the
reference voltage. I used a couple of croc clips from the chassis of the 360 to the chassis
of my PC to achieve this.
Tools:
1) Xbox 360 with Hitachi Drive

2) Commodore4Eva/ firmware

3) Torx t10 screwdriver head

4) A PC with a suitable SATA chipset:

I have taken out the list; it was based on the Samsung and a lot more work for
Hitachi.

SATA NOTES:

Make sure your SATA ports are set to NATIVE/IDE mode NOT RAID

WARNING: If you are going to connect your 360 and PC together in *any* way, then
you *must* provide the 360 with a path to true earth ground. This is because the 360 has
a floating ground and horrible things happen if all connected systems do not agree on the
reference voltage. I used a couple of croc clips from the chassis of the 360 to the chassis
of my PC to achieve this.
Xbox 360 Disassembly:

To disassemble your Xbox 360 to get the DVD Drive out, follow these
instructions but you do NOT need to remove the black heatsink screws. All you
need to remove is the six silver long screws circled in RED:

Anandtech Xbox 360 Stripping Guide

Keep the power connecter plugged in your Xbox 360.

Opening the 360 (the perfect way)

Take the tub your spindle of discs came and cut a bit from the side of it and put it over
the console as shown. Mark out where the holes are...
... then make it into a key like this. the tabs need to be about 1cm long.

Do the same for the other side and you'll get two xbox 360 case opening keys that look
like these...
Step 2
Open the front of the console as normal and put a bit of newspaper or something inside
the case to hold the front open a bit, then insert the key, push with a bit of force and you
should hear it click and the case will open....

... repeat for the other side and you're done!

Thanks to Hydra!
Xbox 360 Connection:

Unplug the SATA cable from the back of the Xbox360 Drive. Connect a SATA
cable from your PC SATA connection to the back of the Xbox360 Drive. Connect
the video cable to the back of the Xbox360. If you do not do this, the Xbox360
will power off at an inappropriate moment (like when flashing). You need to
disable RAID for that SATA connection in your PC bios. Set it to IDE instead.

Connecting the Hitachi/LG Drive to your PC:

To get it recognised in Windows we need to get the drive into modeb (pronounced “mode
bee”).

To do this we will use Probutus’s excellent Slax Live CD or the crossed wires method or
the HotSwap method (thanks stonersmurf) or xecuters Connectivity Kit:

Geebees Method Rating:

Slax CD :
100% (if your sata chipset is compatible) 0% (If chipset isn’t compatible)

Crossed Wires:
100% ALWAYS WORKS. If it doesn’t fore you , you are doing it wrong.

HotSwap:
100% but you need a 360 Samsung drive or SATA DVD-ROM

Xecuter Connectivity Kit:

100% but expensive ;-)

http://rapidshare.de/files/18684918/live-cd.iso.html
Note: you cannot use ANY other Slax iso. This one is specially adapted.

and Memdump:

http://www.kev.nu/360/dvdshort.html#2 and click on memdump_win.zip or find it in

c4e’s firmware release.

Connect the Xbox360 Drive up to your PC as above to a suitable SATA port. Set your
bios to boot from CD first and boot the Slax CD. When it boots you will see a lot of text.
If you look close you will see it say the drive is in modeb (with thanks to Kev). When
you get to the “login:” prompt reset your PC (with the reset button) but leave the
Xbox360 on!

Remove the CD and boot into Windows. If it sticks at booting into windows…press eject
on the Hitachi drive tray!

Crossed Wires Method to get to modeB:

Stick 2 pieces of thin wire in the back of the white connector without cutting or opening
anything, in the pin 9 and GND (0) position. These wires jam in next to the black ones
that are in the same hole. It is easier to lift the small white tab and pull out the existing
wire, then hold the new wire against that one and slide the connector back in.

Lift tab and pull out existing wire:

Hold new wire against the existing one:

Now push both back into the slot:

A bit of tape to hold them in place:

Connect a SATA cable from the 360 drive to your PC

With the 360 turned OFF, hold the 2 wires connected together with your fingers.

Push the 360 power button and as soon as the green light comes on disconnect the wires
as quickly as possible. KEEP THOSE WIRES TOGETHER TOO LONG AND YOU
COULD GET AN XBOX-SHAPED BRICK!

The little green light in the centre (not the ring of light) will flash fast and you will hear
the drive start to spin. THOSE ARE THE INDICATORS YOU ARE IN MODEB.

Turn on your pc and windows will recognize it. If XP freezes at boot, eject the 360 drive
and it should carry on booting. To get out of Modeb, just restart the 360.

What you can do simply is lift the tab of white plastic and slide the connectors for 0 and 9
out of the block. Then put your two wires alongside them and slide them back in. This
takes less than a minute. Solder a £1 switch from Halfords on and off you go...

HotSwap Method:

This is possible if you have a SATA dvd-drive/IDE dvd-drive with a SATA adaptor or a
360 with a Samsung drive and one with a Hitachi drive. Boot into Windows and after
your SATA drive (dvd-rom or Samsung dvd-rom drive) is detected (ie has a drive letter)
just swap the SATA cable to your Hitachi DVD-ROM. When you use memdump,
remember that the drive letter will still show as the old drive, in My Computer it would
still show as whatever drive you used to HotSwap. Don’t let it confuse you!
Connectivity Kit Method:

If you're using the Xecuter kit, nothing should be plugged into your Xbox360, only the
DVD drive from it. No clips/grounding necessary. Remove the DVD drive from the
console and put the console somewhere safe.

1. Turn your PC off

2. Plug the Hitachi drive in (power via xecuter kit and SATA into your SATA card or
onboard port)
3. Make sure the debug button is down and eject button is up
4. Turn the PC on (should see red light on power adaptor)
5. Boot into Windows
6. Check Explorer to see if the drive has been assigned a letter. If not, right click My
Computer, click Manage, goto Disk Management under Storage, right click the drive and
assign it a letter e.g E:

You should leave the debug switch down (red LED on power adaptor). It does no harm to
the drive. You do not need to press it quickly or anything.

Whichever method you use, carry on from here:

If you get it into mode b and windows cannot see it…go to Device Manager and see if it
is in there under “DVD/CD ROM Drives”. If it is, right click on it and select
“Properties”. Then select the “Volumes” tab and click “Populate”. Now go to My
Computer and it should be visible.

Backing up the Hitachi/LG Drive (just backing up

without using c4es firmware):

Check what drive letter the Xbox360s Drive is on.

Open a cmd window (start Æ run. type “CMD” then hit “ok”) and change to the directory
you created.
Enter the following command:

Replace the “e” with the drive letter of your Xbox360 drive.

C:\Memdump> memdump_win e 12200 8 8000 firmware.bin

The firmware should then be dumped to the file c:\memdump\firmware.bin

Open your firmware in KDX1.5 to find your firmware version. You need v47 to
continue.

Flashing the v47 firmware Hitachi Drive (with c4e’s

firmware):

IMPORTANT: This may give you an error message

when flashing. Repeat the xtreme.bat file run until it is
successful. DO NOT power off the drive until successful.
(thanks Arakon)

Open a dos prompt (start->run->cmd).

Change directory to where you put C4E’s Hitachi hack files.

Type “xtreme.bat e” where “e” is your Hitachis drive letter.

Reflashing the v47 Hitachi Drive with Original

firmware:
Open a dos prompt (start->run->cmd).

Change directory to where you put C4E’s Hitachi hack files.

Type “restore.bat e” where “e” is your Hitachis drive letter.
What to Try if Backups Don’t Boot:
Thanks to Penfolduk

1.Insert a backup that you know was burned correctly in your 360 and power off.
2.Power on,wait for fanfare/ring of light to finish.
3.Flick the HDTV switch on the video cable and the soft reset this causes will allow the
backup to boot.

If you don’t have an HD video cable with the switch, but have a hard drive:

1.Remove hard drive.

2.Insert a backup that you know was burned correctly in your 360 and power off.
3.Power on,wait for fanfare/ring of light to finish.
4.Slap the hard drive back on-game now boots

Booktype / Bitsetting:

From Xtreme's readme:

Run build360.bat (Xbox 360 game) or build.bat (xbox 1 game)

Ensure your burner will set the booktype of DVD+R DL to DVDRom
Burn with CloneCd and choose the image.dvd file

When the booktype field (bitsetting) is changed to DVD-ROM then DVD players are
fooled and will think the user has put in a DVD-ROM disc instead of a DVD+R disc and
will read it accordingly. This results in an increased chance that the player is able to read
the disc and that’s why the ability to change the booktype field (bitsetting) is essential to
a lot of users. Certainly owners of a DVD player that requires this field to be set to DVD-
ROM, in order to work properly, will prefer a DVD recorder that supports setting the
booktype field. - Quote from CDFreaks.com

REMEMBER you must have a bitsetting capable DVD+R DL drive. If you do not you
may be able to upgrade its firmware (wow a legit firmware flash!) See here for a LOT of
drive firmwares: http://tdb.rpc1.org/

To set the booktype in DVDInfoPro:

Start DVDInfoPro
Click on the “+RW” icon on the top row
Select DVD-ROM
Press button marked "Change +RDL Mode"
Press Close
Now whenever a DVD+R DL is burned it will be bitset to read like a DVD-ROM.
BE AWARE: If you start Nero or similar that can also change the bitsetting, make sure
Nero is set to "unmodified" or "current recorder setting", found in Recorder-> Choose
Recorder then select the drive and click on "Options"

Burning Your Backup:

You need the latest version of CloneCD for this. Once you have checked your
booktype/bitsetting open CloneCD and select “Write from Image File” (second icon from
left). Press “Browse” and select your IMAGE.DVD file.

Select the correct drive you wish to burn with and press “Next”
Set the write speed to 2.4x and press “OK”

Wait until it completes. If writing the lead-out takes a while, be patient and go make a
drink. Don’t smoke though, its bad for you.

Thanks to:

Kev/SeventhSon, Commodore4Eva, Xbox-scene.com,

xboxhacker.net, Probutus, Bluecop, MacDennis, TheSpecialist, Gael360, Helldoc and
everyone else who did the hard work. The boys did good. Thanks to kev for the $50 for putting his name
in a flash font.