Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2005 10:47 pm Post subject: Panda's Newbie Question #3!!! USB pen drives...
Hmm, I was planning on using a controller USB port and a pen-drive to softmod an XBOX but will I be unable to if the formatting is different? What steps can I take to softmod with this set up? Or do I have to buy an AR?
Oh, and how can I run a game from the XBOX hard drive? Is there an option on Evox or something?
Sorry, these questions are probably answered in one tutorial or another, but the list is a bit daunting and finding exactly what I want is sometimes a bit troublesome.
funkydopeloven Xbox-Hq Genius
Joined: Nov 30, 2004 Posts: 1942
Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2005 11:09 pm Post subject:
i think you make the adaptor cable and plug the usb drive into teh xbox and it will ask you to format it?? not sure i can't remember exactly but then you plug it into the pc and transfer the saves on.
to play a game off the hdd you first copy a game to the hdd (i use Dvd2Xbox), when its done copying, reset the Xbox, and then go to Games and select the game
And what's the news article about the X3 referring to? What does it do and do I need/want one? @@;
Andrewfrink V.I.P. Lifetime
Joined: Jul 25, 2004 Posts: 389 Location: Tucson, AZ
Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2005 3:11 pm Post subject:
From what I know you can only use certian pen drives, as the xbox formats them in those "blocks" using FATX format I believe. If you put a brand new pen drive in the xbox then it will auto format, but the xbox will only be able to read certian brands of pen drives. I found a list somewhere once, I'll look for it and post a link if I can find it again. But some will not work with xbox as they dont have the right number of blocks.
I found this....
Obtaining the USB flash memory drive
Although no assembly is required here, it is imperative that you obtain a 32MB USB flash memory drive that is fully compatible with the Xbox and with the Mega X-Key software.
Not all brands of 32MB USB flash drives are the same, just like not all 40GB hard drives are the same. They may vary in the number of cylinders, sectors, etc. that they report and may also vary in total number of bytes. Some may calculate each megabyte based on each kilobyte being 1024 bytes and some based on each kilobyte being 1000 bytes. Some might actually be 31MB, some 30.5MB, etc., etc.
The Xbox formats memory cards as FATX and divides it up into a bunch of 16K “blocks”. So, the total actual capacity of the USB flash memory drive should be evenly divisible by 16,384. If not, the drive will still appear to work but may yield strange results as you get closer to the end of the drive and may be unreliable. Additionally, the XBox uses different offsets based on the capacity of the memory drive.
On the PC, there is obviously no built-in support for the FATX file system in Windows, so it has been built into the Mega X-Key software. To do this, Mega X-Key uses low-level access to read and write to the drive. As such, it is imperative that the USB flash memory drive report all it’s information accurately, such as cylinders, sectors, etc. Most, but not all brands do.
We will continue to test different brands of USB flash memory drives and post the results of which do and do not work with Xbox and Mega X-Key software at www.xbox-saves.com. But for starters, we know that the FMI (Fujitsu) brand of 32MB USB flash memory drive, available at most CompUSA stores, works great, while the “Universal Smart Drive” model by K&C Technologies does not.
That helps explain it a little better but doesnt have a list (at least I cant find it on that site) but hopefully enough info you can get it working. _________________ Xbox v1.0
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funkydopeloven Xbox-Hq Genius
Joined: Nov 30, 2004 Posts: 1942
Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2005 6:12 pm Post subject:
never knew it was limited to only 32 MB thumb drives :/ good thing i found someone with a modded xbox to transfer the save to a memory card much easier that way
Andrewfrink V.I.P. Lifetime
Joined: Jul 25, 2004 Posts: 389 Location: Tucson, AZ
Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2005 6:53 am Post subject:
Sorry if that was misleading but it IS NOT limited to 32mb usb drives.....my friend has a 256mb that works....I just copied and pasted the article to point out the block thing that limits which usb drives will work and which ones wont.....sorry for the confusion _________________ Xbox v1.0
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funkydopeloven Xbox-Hq Genius
Joined: Nov 30, 2004 Posts: 1942
Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2005 7:08 am Post subject:
thanks for clarifying
JustAnOrdinaryPanda Xbox-HQ Experienced
Joined: Feb 24, 2005 Posts: 111
Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2005 10:38 am Post subject:
Cool, thanks for the article, so does that suggest that even if the sectors and such are wrong, it will only start to act strangely when filling up the end of the drive?
Do you know where can I find the Mega X-key software?w
Man, I feel like such a newb when I come to this forum....¬_¬;
Andrewfrink V.I.P. Lifetime
Joined: Jul 25, 2004 Posts: 389 Location: Tucson, AZ
Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2005 4:14 pm Post subject:
I dont think you even need that software.... I talked to my friend who got his working and as far as I can tell you just need to find a usb pen drive thats compatible (has the right number of blocks) and plug it in the xbox and it will auto-format. You then plug it in your PC and load up your save games on ther and put it back in the xbox and it should read it as a memory card with the M$ dash and any other BIOS and dash you should get another drive letter you can then use box explorer or FTP from your PC to transfer any files from the usb drive to the xbox HD. Hope that clarifies a little more....To get a compatible drive find how the drive calculates bytes then get the total number of bytes and if its divisible by 16384 you should be good to go. I have a USB drive but its not divisible by 16384 and I can confirm it doesnt work.....the xbox just says the memory card is corrupt. Hopefully someone else can confirm that a USB drive divisible by 16384 does work. _________________ Xbox v1.0
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BAD DEAL: LYCZ2004
Andrewfrink V.I.P. Lifetime
Joined: Jul 25, 2004 Posts: 389 Location: Tucson, AZ
Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2005 4:22 pm Post subject:
Ah yes and to run games off the HD you need a program like DVD2xbox that copies the games to the HD (or you can FTP them) the xbox then reads the games from the HD (C:, E:. or F:} instead of the dvd drive (D:} evox is set up to automatically look for games on the HD and once they are on the HD you should see them on the main menu under play games from HD usually (depends if you edit your menu) If you wanna play games from the HD I suggest upgrading you HD as the stock ones are around 8gb and games range from 1gb to 3gb so the stock HD fills up really quick, especially if you have movies, music, ect as well. _________________ Xbox v1.0
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JustAnOrdinaryPanda Xbox-HQ Experienced
Joined: Feb 24, 2005 Posts: 111
Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2005 9:57 pm Post subject:
Thanks a bunch Frinky, explained quite a lot. What format do the games need to be in? ISO? BIN&CUE?
"You then plug it in your PC and load up your save games on ther and put it back in the xbox and it should read it as a memory card with the M$ dash and any other BIOS and dash you should get another drive letter you can then use box explorer or FTP from your PC to transfer any files from the usb drive to the xbox HD"
I didn't understand a single word after "M$ dash"....=/
Andrewfrink V.I.P. Lifetime
Joined: Jul 25, 2004 Posts: 389 Location: Tucson, AZ
Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2005 6:25 am Post subject:
TO get games onto the HD use dvd2xbox its an xbox app, you put the game in the xbox, hit a few buttons and its on the HD then just reboot the xbox and it will show up in evox. As for the usb drive any dash will read savegames but evox will read it as a whole new drive where as the M$ dash just reads it as a memory card. If you plug the usb drive in with M$ dash you will see it as a memory card for whatever controller slot its in. If you plug it in with evox and you play a game it will read the savegames from there but you can also use it ase a removeable drive to transfer music, video ext Just use FTP with your PC (you can use box explorer but sometimes its hard to navigate) and drag and drop from the new drive letter to the HD. It will go much faster then FTP as the info is going from usb drive to the xbox HD, the FTP is just used to make it alot easier to do. Let me know if that answers all your questions, if not can you word your question in a format like 1, 2, 3, ect then I can number my answers as well and it should be easier for both of us. _________________ Xbox v1.0
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JustAnOrdinaryPanda Xbox-HQ Experienced
Joined: Feb 24, 2005 Posts: 111
Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2005 10:48 am Post subject:
Ok! Understanding more now!
1. What format does DVD2XBOX use? Or is it more or less unique? i.e. I have to burn games to disc and then rip them rather than being able to FTP them across?
2. Can you only FTP from PC to XBOX once the XBOX is modded?
Last questions, I swear!!!
funkydopeloven Xbox-Hq Genius
Joined: Nov 30, 2004 Posts: 1942
Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2005 11:12 am Post subject:
1, dvd2xbox copies all the files off the disc onto the harddrive. if you downlaod a game it will prolly come as an ISO which you can either burn or extract and ftp them to the xbox.
2. yes you have to have a modded xbox to ftp into it
JustAnOrdinaryPanda Xbox-HQ Experienced
Joined: Feb 24, 2005 Posts: 111
Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2005 11:18 am Post subject:
Hmm....I do have one more question....
How's the XBOX's writable disc support? DVD+/-R/RW?
Does it support all? Is it picky about make of disc? etc
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but then you plug it into the pc and transfer the saves on.
much easier that way
