Help needed upgrading hdd in hardmodded xbox!

Ok, I installed a 320Gb hdd in my chipped xbox. I used Hexen to set it all up. Worked fine, but drive f was only reading as 250Gb. I used xb partioner, still the same. So I used Slayer's disc to re-format and install from scratch. That works fine only I'm only getting 120B on f drive. Xb partitioner won't run cos it says the bios doesn't support it( I didn't get that error message before I used Slayer's, has my modchip bios gotten screwed up, and if so, how can I fix it?). I followed the instructions carefully, what is going on?!!

I'm in no way an expert on chipped Xbox's BIOS, so I can not say what has gone wrong now.

You needed to use a BIOS of the correct size for your chip that supports LBA48 ie. 137+GB HDDs. It also matters what Xbox version you're using too. A v1.6 needs specific BIOS or you'll get problems. HeXEn should have been the tool used to flash the BIOS correctly but looking at my copy I see it only includes 256K EvoxM8+ versions. Whether these can be flashed to 512K banks and work correctly I have no idea.

What my Xecuter 2.6 chipped Xbox uses I do not know for sure because I had it professionally chipped and did not think to ask for the information. I've been told 512K Evox M8Plusv16.fc.137 is almost definitely the BIOS it is using from my description and just from the fact it is a v1.6.

I later realised it has another, different BIOS on the other bank and AFAIK for it to work with a v1.6 and support 137+GB HDDs which it does it must(?) be 512K x2.5035.v16+.137. As far as I've tested it behaves identically. What the differences are between the BIOS versions available I've never seen any post or accompanying readme that explains their features, which you should use, why and how. The most you get is change log with the assumption you know what you're doing.

What I do know is that I've had no problems with the WD 320GB HDD I use in it now since I formatted it correctly using Chimp261812. Initially I'd made the mistake of using the older Chimp2618 which works fine with HDDs up to 249GB, the 16KB cluster size limit. When I eventually transferred more than 250GB to it the HDD corrupted immediately and I lost a huge amount of stuff on the F:\drive.

I had to start from scratch again using the right partitioning tools this time.

This thread I found seems relevant to your problem. I hope it is OK to post this link:-

https://www.reddit.com/r/originalxbo...a48_not_found/

JCRocky5's comments there about this sort of issue and his suggestions are likely very reliable.

Your original post reads to me as if there was actually nothing wrong except that the F:\drive had not been correctly formatted. As it is over 250GB it must be set up to use 32KB clusters not the default 16KB used for C:\, E:\, X;\, Y:\ and Z:\.

I would not have used the now ancient Slayers disc to re-format or anything else. I do not know what partitioning formatting tool it uses or what your version HeXEn uses for that job either.

The only recommended tools now are either XBPartitioner v1.3 or Chimp261812. Both guarantee correct cluster size for F (and G if used) depending on their size. Chimp has the much more noob friendly GUI thanks to Rocky5's work on it.

Also remember that an HDD sold as 320GB is actually 320,000,000,000Bytes. Its real size (using true base 1024) is therefore just over 298GiB. With the C:\, E:\, X;\, Y:\ and Z:\ drives using <10GiB your F:\ drive will therefore be a maximum of about 288GiB.

Thanx for your reply. I managed to fix the problem, it wasn't incorrect formatting or anything I did wrong. The Xenium chip OS was only v1.0. The bios also didn't support LBA48. It seems that the Slayer disc screwed up the bios, as my F partition was restricted to 123Gb only after using Slayer's disc. I know a 320Gb hdd is actually 298Gb, but 298-10gb should have left me with 280+gb for F partitition, still dunno why it was coming up as 250gb.( incidentally, it's a v1.1 xbox). I updated the xenium os to 2.3.1 and flashed a new bios,and re-formatted with Hexen 2018. Worked like a charm, problem solved! :)

Glad to hear that.

I've always been very wary of Slayers. Too many softmodders have tried to use it not reading the clear warning that it is intended just for chipped machines (TOSPs?). But even for chips, as in this case, it is an old tool and HeXEn, later versions of AID or SPPV's Babylon updates to the latter have been considered preferable for years.