Install Xebian Without Games HOWTO
From Xbox-Linux
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Install Xebian using Hotswap WITHOUT any games
I was recently given an old xbox with 1 controller and no games. My first desire was to put linux on it, so I came here. Now I realized I needed MechAssault or 007 or one of those games which I did not have. After reading a lot of articles I finally figured out how to install Xebiam without the gamefile hack, that is I did not need to have any games. Also, I used the HDD hotswap as I did not feel like soldering a USB cable anywhere or dealing with that.
I haven't tested this write-up on a stock xbox but I just did this last night so everything should be included here. Feel free to edit/update/correct/etc.
Needed Hardware
- Xbox
- Xbox Controller
- TV (xbox blinked orange/green and wouldn't allow hotswap without AV cables plugged into the TV)
- #20 Torx driver
- 1 DVD R (maybe CD-R if you're lucky)
- PC (Windows) with CD/DVD burner and IDE connector (usually co-dependent!)
- Network Cable and Switch to connect xbox to network.
Hardest part for me was the torx driver, which my neighbor had but you can find for cheap at a hardware store.
Needed Software
- Xplorer360 (here (http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/557450))
- Virgin 5960 Dash (here (http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/557450))
- NDure-3.0 installer (google dp-Ndure-3.0)
- MechAssault Save Files (from this site)
- Xebian ISO (from this site)
- Software to burn ISO (Nero etc)
- WinRar or similar (on Xplorer360 page)
You can follow this guide also on Linux! You need all of the software above except Xplorer360 and WinRar, plus "Xbox Hard Disk Maker & Recovery Tool" which you can find here : http://www.torrentreactor.net/view.php?id=537497
Procedure
Preparation
- Download the needed software and Unrar it to a familiar location.
- Gather the needed hardware
- IMPORTANT: Boot your Xbox 'stock' and on the dash go to settings--> system info. It will scroll some text and show you your Kernel and Dashboard revisions. (See here (http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=496263) for a better explanation and graphic - ignore all other parts of this page for now).
- WRITE DOWN the revisions you got from this last step.
Hotswap your Xbox HDD to your PC.
You can follow the "Hard Disk Hotswap HOWTO" on this site, I used a slightly different method. You can watch the details (only need to watch part I for the physical technique) here (http://youtube.com/watch?v=Zb5kt9zEP-g)
- Open your Xbox.
- Unplug the IDE cable and yellow power cable from the DVD drive.
- Turn on the xbox, watch the light on the front and be ready to disconnect the IDE cable from the Xbox HDD.
- When it starts alternating red/green, immediately disconnect the IDE cable from the xbox HDD.
- Plug your PC IDE cable into the xbox HDD.
- Confirm on TV that you get error 12 (top left corner).
- In Windows, go to device manager and click Action-->Scan for Hardware Changes
Your Xbox HDD should now be recognized by your PC, but will not show up as a drive due to the different file system. For this we need Xplorer360. If your Xbox HDD is receiving power from your xbox, DO NOT power off your xbox during this procedure.
Linux users:you need to hotswap in a different way, after you have prepared ndure files. So go to the next step first.
Run NDure
Before you run Ndure, create a new folder on your PC (we'll call it ndure3). In this folder, create a subfolder "C" and a subfolder "E". Extract the 5960 dashboard files to this "C" subfolder. In the "E" subfolder create a "UDATA" folder. Extract the mechassault savegames to this folder. You should now have a "ndure3/E/UDATA/4d530017/E8FF68C9193B" folder that has about 1.66MB of files in it (linuxboot.cfg should be there as a quick check).
Run the Ndure executable that you unrared. If you found the exact file mentioned above it is called "Ndure 3.0.exe". Take a look at this (http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=496263) page. It explains what to do and how to run the installer. PLEASE NOTE:
- Ignore any mention of xboxhdm, and DO NOT check the 'create xboxhdm installer' when running Ndure.
- You must select the ndure3 folder created above as the target for the installation. It will overwrite some of the 5960 files that you already put there, this is what we want.
Hotswap your Xbox HDD to your Linux PC and Copy files
(Windows users:skip this)
- Unzip xboxhdm.zip
- Copy the C and E directories that you made in ndure3 inside the linux directory ( so you have xboxhdm/linux/C and xboxhdm/linux/E )
- Burn the XboxHDM ISO ( you can make it running the sh file included in the package )
- Shut down the computer
- Open your Xbox
- Turn on the Xbox, wait for the dashboard to appear
- Unplug the Xbox HD IDE cable and plug in the Primary Master IDE cable from your PC
- Turn your pc on with the xboxhdm cd inserted, xboxhdm starts
- Type 1 if you want a VGA console or 2 if you want a textual one, then press Enter
- Type xbrowser, then Enter : it should present a Midnight Commander with two directory contents, /CD on the left, /PriMas on the right.
- Enter these commands: they will copy files on your Xbox HD without erasing your savegames
rm -rf /PriMas/C/* cp -R /CD/C/* /PriMas/C/ cp -R /CD/E/* /PriMas/E/
- Now you can shutdown the system with the poweroff command and the xbox as usually
(skip the next step)
Backup and Copy NDure files to Xbox
Having successfully hotswaped your Xbox HDD and having verified that it is recognized by Device Manager, proceed to view the files on the drive using Xplorer360. Run the program and select Drive -> Open -> Harddrive or Memcard.
This will populate the left tree with several partitions:
- Partition 3 is Drive "C"
- Partition 4 is Drive "E"
Backup the files from both partitions to your PC by right clicking on each file or folder and using the export command.
NOTE when you are backing up or copying files the interface is a little kludgey, you must copy entire folder or single files one at a time and you cannot rename folders on the Xbox HDD. Keep this in mind when backing up and copying, double check that you have all needed files.
Now, select all files in Partition 3 and delete them. I also did this for Partition 4. You can always restore if you have a backup on your PC.
Finally, copy all the folder and files (again you have to do this one at a time) from the ndure3/C folder to Partition 3. Copy all the files and folder from the ndure3/E folder to Partition 4.
The Xbox HDD is now ready. To be safe, go to Device Manager, find the Xbox HDD, right click and select "Uninstall" this way your PC will not keep looking for the drive when you disconnect it.
Reassemble Xbox and Boot Softmod!
- Power Off Xbox
- Remove PC IDE cable from Xbox HDD.
- On Xbox, reattach IDE and Power cables to DVD Drive, and reattach IDE cable to HDD
- Boot Xbox. If the drive opens, it may boot to your regular dashboard, try gently pressing your thumb against DVD tray to keep it in place / push it back in before the white microsoft letters appear on the tv.
- if you get Error 21, you did something wrong or I made a mistake writing this!
- Your Xbox should boot UnleashX at this point.
This next step may not be necessary, but can't hurt as a precaution. I couldn't get my xbox to recognize my Xebian CD without this step.
- In UnleashX go to the file browser and in the "E/UDATA/4d530017/E8FF68C9193B" that you checked for above, select "default.xbe". It should run a small linux installer and may give you an error like "cannot access tty" or something. Just reboot your Xbox and go to the next step.
Install Xebian
Burn the Xebian ISO to a DVD (or CD if you can get the drive to recognize it - us a slow speed for either method). Make sure you are booted into UnleashX, and insert the DVD. On the main UnleashX page it should recognize the DVD as "Boot Linux" or something like that. If it says "No Disk" or similar you still have a problem with your disk or your installation methods so far.
With the DVD recognized, go to "Launch DVD" on the main menu and Xebian should boot. You may be able to halt the live loader and install to HDD, I didn't and got a Live Xebian desktop.
Open the terminal (graphically, or you can SSH to 192.168.0.10 u/p is live/live), type SU <enter> it will prompt for password, Enter "xebian". Now type "./XBOXLinuxInstall" (or go to the root directory and type "XBOXLinuxInstall").
The Linux installer should run and you are all set!!
Note, I didn't change the IP Address when I was installing, which is annoying because I'm on DHCP 10.0.0.x not 192.168.0.x. You can put the xbox on DHCP by going to the terminal and typing "dhclient <enter>"
Run Xebian, UnleashX or MSDash
On my xbox, with the drivetray open, the xbox boots to the MSDash and I can (ostensibly) play games.
When I keep the tray closed on boot (push tray closed before white microsoft letters appear), it loads UnleashX.
When I want to load Linux, I use the file browser in UnleashX to go to E/Debian and run default.xbe
Probably a better way to run Xebian but I don't know/care.
