Xbox Media Center Installation FAQ

General Questions

What's the one thing I should NOT do when installing this mod?
DO NOT DELETE YOUR C-DRIVE
DO NOT DELETE THE Mech Assault GAME SAVE
DO NOT DELETE THE Backup Directory to free up space on E Drive

Do I have to have a special kernel version or dashboard?
Not anymore! The new installers work on all kernels and all dashboards.

Does this mod work on PAL systems?
Yes. The mod works on all regions.

Can I install XBMC while running Unleash-X or another dashboard
Yes. FTP the entire XBMC in folder to \E\Apps\ and then you can invoke XBMC from the EvoX dashboard under the applications menu.

Can I still play games with this mod?
Yes. Original games, and backups/burned.

What version of XBMC should I use?
There are a lot of different flavours of XBMC available. The differences come in their skins/appearance, what plugins they come with, and how they're setup. Your best bet is to just go to a your favourite torrent site and download the XBMC build that has the most downloaders.

I can't find a link to download XBMC off the official site!
That's because there isn't one. The only thing on that site is the source code. You can ONLY get XBMC off of bitTorrent or Xbins/XBMC FTP site.

Do I have to use Mech Assault?
No, the mod works with James Bond: Agent Under Fire and Splinter Cell. The basic steps remain the same for all the games.

Can I do this with the Xbox 360?
No.

What is an autoinstaller?
Autoinstallers are DVDs or CDs that you stick into your Xbox when it's already modded that does all the installation and setup of all the programs for you. So you don't need to mess around with FTPing, knowing the proper folders, etc etc.

Does this mod work on new Xboxes?
This mod works on ALL original Xbox consoles, regardless of when they were made, or what version of the kernel or dashboard they have.

Can I use another game other than Mech Assault, Splinter Cell or Bond?
No.

Are there other ways to mod the Xbox?
Yes. You can install one of a plethora of modchip devices. You can do some really crazy things when you start hacking the hardware, as the Xbox is essentially a normal computer. People have upgraded the processor and RAM to allow high-def playback, others include LCD and LED lights so you can control the box without a TV.

For softmod there's the hotswap method, here's a guide on how.

Action Replay Question

Do I have to use Action Replay?
No, there are various USB mods and other game save transferring devices that can be used. Any way you get the MechAssault game save onto your Xbox will work.

Can I use a USB Thumbdrive to perform the mod?
Yes and No. Some USB Thumbdrives are not compatible, see this list. Here's how.

Where can I find the Action Replay program?
From the Codejunkies website here . It has been removed, but still can be found here.

Problems with installation

The Mech Assault Save won't run!
If you've done all the steps correctly then it's possible your memory card is broken. This is actually somewhat common, and you can either purchase a new memory card, or use a USB thumbdrive.

XBMC isn't showing up as the dashboard when I boot up the Xbox!

Make sure that you are copying the XBMC to the correct location. There is a file called "default.xbe" in both XBMC and at the /E/Dashboard/ location. This XBMC version should overwrite the MXM version.

Also make sure the files are located in the proper folder. For example, you might end up with all of your XBMC files located at /E/Dashboard/XBMC/ when they should be at the root /E/Dashboard/.

Another problem is that if you downloaded XBMC of their official site, you downloaded the source code, not the actual program. Copying the source code to your Xbox does not work. You need a compiled version, which is ONLY on bitTorrent or Xbins/XBMC FTP server. How to use Xbins can be found here.

I installed the mod, it doesn't work at all, but I can still play original games, what should I do?!
Put in Mech Assault, and run that game. Then load the "Run Linux" game save. Once you're there restore your C-Drive and dashboard. That should bring things back to the way they were. If that doesn't fix it, then you probably deleted some vital files from your hard drive, or never backed up the C-Drive and dashboard in the first place. In that case you're going to have to do a hard drive swap and fixup the Xbox hard drive from your PC and load on the proper files.

Xbox and Home Networking

After installing the mod I can't connect to my Xbox help!
Change DHCP to true and try again, but when you connect first you have to find what IP address your Xbox has, because it's probably not 192.168.0.3

Why does it take so long to FTP to my Xbox?
Make sure you have passive mode unchecked in your FTP program.

How do I share media from my PC?
Follow this guide on windows file sharing.

XMBC is installed but it can't detect my network!
Setup a bookmark to the folder. Follow this guide.

Can I hook my Xbox to my network through a wireless adapter?
Yes, but you have to use an ethernet bridge. You can't use a normal USB wireless adapter.

Softmod and Xbox Live

Will I get banned from Live?
Long answer no with a but, short answer yes, with an if.

You can play on Live with a modded Xbox, but you have to be extremely careful not to trigger one of Microsoft's bans. As soon as you've gone on Live, Microsoft records two numbers, your EEPROM id and your Hard drive serial number. If any of those change afterwards, they'll know you've modded your Xbox and ban you good. Therefore, if you're planning on upgrading your hard drive, then don't go on Live until after you've performed the mod. If you've already gone on Live before doing the mod, then you have to get a new EEPROM id to go along with your new hard drive.

The other thing that will get you banned, and fast, is accessing Live with the softmod activated. There's only one way to boot the console with the mod deactivated. Turn on the console with the original legit Xbox game already inside the closed drive with the little power button. The original, legit game has to be inside the Xbox while the console is off. You can then access Live like normal. Running a game, original or backup from a softmod dashboard and connecting to Live will get you banned.

I've been banned, now what?
Easy answer: buy a new Xbox, you can get one for less than $100 used now.
Otherwise you have to replace your Xbox's EEPROM serial. It's a pretty complicated process and you have to get a vanilla EEPROM drive to replace yours with. People sell them for about $10 on eBay or www.xbox-scene.com forums.

After the mod

Can I install a larger hard drive with this mod?
Yes - After the mod is installed you can install a larger hard drive. Take care though, that when you go on Live Microsoft stores the Xbox's serial number and HDD serial number. So if you go on Live again after switching the hard drive, they'll notice the difference and ban you good.

Here's a guide on how to install a new HDD. It's pretty advanced though so make sure you can do it without fritzing your drive. Personally, I see no need for a larger hard drive since I just stream all my media.

How do I run emulators and other programs other than XBMC?

If you're with a default hard drive, then all programs, emulators, etc you'll be transferring over will go to the E drive, with games being transferred to the F-drive. Now, you can put the program anywhere in the E drive (obviously make sure you maintain the directory structure) and with XBMC just go to "My Files" and you can run the program that way. If you want the programs to show up under Emulators, Games, etc in the My Programs section, then you have to put the programs in the proper place.

All of these directories can be viewed in the XboxMediaCenter.xml file. I'll list them out here and I believe these are the defaults, so you can change them if you want to (in the .xml file).

Games - F:\Games\,F:\HDDLoader\

Emulators - E:\Emulators\

Programs - E:\Apps\,C:\xboxdash.xbe

When you transfer over a program or something they should have their own directory. So say you're putting on MameoX then you should put it like E:\Emulators\MameoX\ with the .xbe and all other files in the MameoX directory.

Can I run movies and games off of the Xbox Hard drive?
Yes, but the Xbox harddrive is only 8GB, and you can only save about 4GB worth of data to the harddrive, so it's not THAT useful. Some people do a mod to the Xbox to swap in a larger harddrive, up to 320GBs.

Where can I download emulators, Xbox games, and homebrew applications?
We don't provide links to game backups. But you should be able to find everything at any major torrent site. Note: Pirating games is annoying. If everybody pirated games then devs wouldn't have money to make the games we love, so don't be stupid.

Can I clone the hard drive?
Sure, here's how.

Can I watch movies from a burned DVD or CD?
^Yes.

Does XBMC handle High-Definition?
In theory yes, but the Xbox isn't powerful enough to process HD video.

What are some useful websites?
Xbox Media Center official homepage
Xbox-Scene

Tech-Info

EEPROM / EPROM - Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory or Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory. An EPROM is a form of protected read only memory, only rewritable or erasable if a special command or voltage is applied.

Hard Drive Lock / EPROM Keys - The EPROM of an xbox contains a special key in hexadecimal format that is used to lock and unlock the hard drive inside the xbox. The hard drive of an xbox is normally locked and cannot be used or accessed without this key.
If you do not know this key then you cannot replace or upgrade an xbox hard drive so it is very importaint that you backup the EPROM and keep a copy of this key safe in case of a hard drive failure! NOTE: Hardware mods (Modchips) and software exploits can read and copy this key, as well as lock and unlock the hard drive for repair or upgrade.
If you do not know this key and you loose the hard drive in your xbox you will have to be able to read the EPROM and decompile it to extract the key (This is not a simple task!). Again, it cannot be stressed enough how important it is to backup this information!

IDE LOCK Standard - The IDE locking or security standard has been around for a long time, although it is not implemented outside of government level security platforms as a general rule (and even then only rarely). Bascily the IDE Lock is a code sent to the hard drive at startup that tells it you know the key, and are able to access the information on the drive. The drive will ignore and not respond to any AT type command it sees without this key unlocking it. The key maybe accessed by reading the EPROM located on the hard drive controller board, or you may 'flash' the controller EPROM and erase it.

Wireless Controllers - not all wireless controllers are equal, some of these controllers (the Gamestop wireless S type controller for example) will not work with dash modifications to the xbox.

Processor and RAM upgrades. These forms of upgrades are possible, but not something taken lightly. If you are able to do these types of upgrades you more than likely would not be reading this type of FAQ. To put it mildly, you must be able to solder under a microscope in order to do this type of upgrade (Get a 360, much less work).

XBOX Bootup Procedures (basic). On bootup the xbox first preforms a self test on its own EPROM to ensure it has not been tampered with (debated). It then sends an AT command to the hard drive to ensure it is locked. It then sends the unlock command and an AT command to see if it unlocked. It then sends the lock command to the hard drive. It then loads the dashboard located at C:\. Any of these may produce one of many errors in the bootup procedure. (Some of the bootup procedures, such as DVD response etc. were skipped as they do nothing to help basic troublshooting of MODS).
If you get an Error Code then see this list to define the problem. NOTE: Error 21 has been further defined as a 'catch all' error, IE: some other undefined error not covered under the other codes.

Hard Drive Format. The format of an xbox hard drive is non-standard using a FATX specification that will not read in computers, if unlocked. A detailed look at how this works is better covered by an article at Xbox-Linux, here.