Any last hope for this xbox?

[Tanner31593]

well, any last hope may be exagerating, i know i can fix it but i dont want to pay big bucks.

But anyway,

I got this xbox from a garage sale for $5USD.
The lady i bought it from was old and she had NO idea what she was talking about. She said it wasn't reading discs and it displayed an error message.

So i get it home and power it on, but i had no video cord, but based on listening to it it sounded like it was working great.
i got the video cord today, powered it on, and it told me to set the clock, but i couldnt because i did not have a controller.
THen, i turned it off for a while, then i turned it on again, and this time the dreaded horrible clicking noise coming from the hard drive, and an error message in multiple languages telling me to call cus. support.
So i know that the hard drive is bad.
My problem is that im pretty sure its locked....
however i dont know for sure.
Is there a way i can tell if it is modded? i have NO idea because this is my first xbox and i have no idea about them.
doing googling, i read that im pretty much SOL except for replacing the motherboard AND the hard drive, and im looking on ebay and theyre like $60, and im not sure i should be paying that much, im not much of a gamer, and i should be working on my education more than video gaming, but if there is a cheaper way, i would be so happy.

i really have no idea about xbox at all, looking at the hard drive, it is Western Digital and the model is like something with an 8 followed by some zeros i dontremember and i think its 8gb.
Is there a way i can unlock it without the key or whatever?
I can keep trying and see if maybe the hard drive will eventually boot or something, but i dont know.
Sorry if i dont have much info, im totally clueless when it comes to xbox.


Thanks,

Tanner

[lightshow]

Tanner


So you turn on the xbox. The xbox does not have a disc in it. The xbox wants you to change the clock.

I need you to invest maybe another $5 bucks and get or borrow a controller.

Change the clock.

Tell me if it boots to the dashboard (or another dashboard like unleashx ...etc.).


Then I want you to put a game in the xbox turn it on. Tell me if it goes back to the set the clock screen.


If it does, change the clock and tell me how long it takes for the xbox to try to read the game before it hits the big call customer support screen.


(since you've been reading up, you'll find some of the earlier softmods had problems with the clock killing the xbox and that's what we're going to initially find out by doing these couple of tests)

[colt45joe]

and an error message in multiple languages telling me to call cus. support.



is there a number around the top of the screen?

[Busyman™]

Rent a game

Tell if the Xbox logo is blue. If so, it's modded.

[lightshow]

The latest ndure uxe exploit turns the xbox logo yellow by default

[suprafreak6]

if no problems with the mod and its a legit xbox, harddrive is probably broken as is the dvd-rom...check if its been tampered with by flipping it upside down and seeing if there are holes in the stickers as in order to open it for a hardmod you must use a torx and make a hole in the sticker

[lightshow]

Hopefully, if he can get one game to boot (like splinter cell) then install a softmod, he'll get ftp access, be able to back up the eeprom, then use that to replace the old HD or dvd rom so that he has the lock unlock code.

[Tanner31593]

Okay,

Sorry if i didnt make this clear,
ok when i got the xbox, i turned it on and it wanted me to set the clock but i did not because i had no controller, so i turned it off.
The next time i turned it on, the hard drive started clicking and it went to the xbox logo and the customer support screen.

Every time i go to turn the xbox on again it starts clicking again.

Oh and i forgot to say that the xbox came with halo in it.

And before i got the video cord i would turn the xbox on and listen to the cd drive and it sounded like it was reading and everything, but i cant be sure because i was basing it on what i heard.
I put in the halo disc and it sounded like it was reading it and everything,
then i put a ps2 disc in knowing that the xbox wouldnt read it and i sort of compared the sounds lol.

Oh and there is NO number on the top of the screen.

The xbox logo is not blue,

and there was a slight creaking sound when you press on the top like it had been taken apart before but there was no holes in the stickers.

[muyoso]

This seems fairly easy. Go to xbox-scene, do about 20 mins of reading, invest maybe 50 dollars into the xbox to get a new hard drive and to mod it, and you are set with a fully working xbox which can be used as both a gaming device and an HTPC. It is beyond easy to do, and anyone with a third grade education can do it.

No matter what it is out of warranty, so just open it up and check it out.

[lightshow]

Go to xbox-scene, do about 20 mins of reading, invest maybe 50 dollars into the xbox to get a new hard drive and to mod it, and you are set with a fully working xbox which can be used as both a gaming device and an HTPC. It is beyond easy to do, and anyone with a third grade education can do it.You have no idea what his problem is don't you.

It just so seems that my neighbor has the exact same problem that this fellow does.

Turn on the xbox, listen to the hard drive (not the dvd rom) make clicking and grinding noises. The dvd rom is on the left and the hard drive is on the right.


For my neighbor there is a 30% success rate of the xbox booting the game/dashboard (in this case a softmodded unleash x dashboard).

What this means is that there is a 30% chance per turn on the xbox that the hard drive will be read far enough to ensure proper xbox startup checks to make it to the dashboard.


His hard drive, as well as this original posters is on its last leg and is unable at times to read the proper boot data on the hard drive.



So that brings us here. Your choices.

Known Status:

Xbox hard drive is either dead (and clicking, no making it to the process of booting a game or making it to the dashboard, softmodded or not) or about to be dead (in the case of my neighbor)

Known Solutions

Softmod the xbox to obtain ftp access
ftp to the pc a backup copy of the eeprom
find a new hard drive that supports hard drive locking
follow this tutorial to properly prepare the new hard drive to have proper contents/filesystem/and eeprom locking
http://www.x-scene.com/articles/no-modchip-hdd-swap.php


Difficulty = very hard, very time consuming.


Solution 2

Purchase a modchip for the xbox (I'd buy a solderless plug style chip since I don't want to f up my wires on accident)
http://www.kanection.co.uk/section.php/27/0
(use any site you want, just putting one out there)

With a mod chip installed in your xbox, you can replace the hard drive with ease and not do all the crap like create a new filesystem/fill the hard drive/lock the hard drive/connect it to a pc, etc.

Do a little reasearch with should be easily done when you select your preferred chip about how to put a new hard drive in.

This should be much much easier than the first solution. It also costs more money.






At the end of the day, you need to replace the xbox hard drive or you'll never be able to use the xbox again.

The more money you throw at it, the easier it is to fix it.

You can say screw it and buy a new xbox and just softmod that one, but hey you picked it up at a garage sale. Maybe you can have fun with a video camera and a sledge on the box.


Post back if you need help with one of the solutions.

[muyoso]

I know exactly what his problem is. He needs a new hard drive. Go down to the shop, buy one for 20 dollars, and then put it in. To replace the hard drive, he is going to have to mod his xbox, either through softmodding or putting in a modchip. All you did was write out what I told him to go look into. I am not going to go copy word for word what he needs to do from xbox-scene, he can do that himself.


All you did was say I dont know what his problem was, and then restate EXACTLY what I said but in more detail.

[lightshow]

Well pardon me for posting detail instead of saying go google it

[muyoso]

Haha, to each their own. I figure Ill point the person in the right direction, and if he really wants to fix his problem, he can take it on himself to find the answer.

[lightshow]

Yeah sorry to come off as a bastard. I was actually researching it for my friend so I figured I'd post what I found anyway.

[Tanner31593]

OK,
Sorry, i forgot all about this thread.

Well i guess i will buy a chip, but i have no idea about chips whatsoever, so i want a plug in one, however, i dont want to spend more than $70 on a chip since i could go on ebay and get a mobo and hard drive for that price.

Whats the cheapest plug in chip made that obviously works for the time being, it doesn't have to be fancy as i doubt ill be playing it as much as watching dvds.....

And thanks to lightshow.
and also muyoso,and to everyone else who replied.

Tanner.

[SingaBoiy]

You will need a new harddrive. Really your only options are:

Keep trying to get it to load then use an exploit to mod it (doesnt look like u'd have much success doing this)
Buy a modchip (a little pricey, must know how to solder)
Build your own eeprom reader (must be decent/pretty good solderer to do this)
Send it to someone with an eeprom reader that can get you your eeprom so you can build a new hd.