Softmodding an original box help please

[padz007uk]

Hello ladies and gents I've got 2 old original xboxs I picked up at a carboot sale cheapish

They both have errors, code 07 and the other is 06 i am just wondering as I've been looking online about modding them but most guides are sketchy at best or sliced into lots of different forums and posts that get really confusing.

All I'm wondering is can I mod them to get them to work again or shall I just bin them both now and wash my hands of it all

[deadlegion]

7: kernel, HDD timeout.
6: kernel, Cannot unlock HDD.

I would check to see if they've been opened and had modchips installed. If at least one has then just find another IDE HDD somewhere (maybe an old PC) and swap that in, then grab Slayers install disc to format and setup your new HDD.

If the consoles are still virgin (retail) then I'm not sure what you can do besides checking the HDD cables to see if they've become loose, or swapping in different ones to see if that fixes the issue(s) Maybe Zorlon will see this thread and post some input.

Final note:
If you're going to bin them I strongly suggest you at least pull the optical drives out and keep them. Maybe one or both of them still work and they are handy to keep as spares.
Also keep any controllers/memory cards etc.

[padz007uk]

They both have been opened but not sure if they are modded or not as I'm a complete novice at the mod game what would I be looking for exactly sorry any ideas bud? An i do have a spare crystal xbox but she still plays disks and ssx3 if I bricked or broke that itd kill me lol I really want a modded xbox but the thought of breaking a good console is to much risk that's why I went an got the 2 spares but didn't realise they was buggered at the time I've got a modded wii a chipped ps1 and a dreamcast that plays copys I just need the xbox modded then I've got the ultimate cheap ass console collection thanks for the reply anyways dude ill get them both open see what I can do and ill be back shortly to let y'all know cheers

[deadlegion]

Well worse case scenario they are just retail, HDDs are dead and pretty much useless...but maybe I'm wrong about that?
Been a very long time since I did a softmod (as I prefer modchips myself) and I've only ever had to deal with a dead HDD on a chipped console.

So if that's the case then pull the DVD drives and keep them as spares.

But if they're chipped then most chips you can just swap in another HDD, use a Slayers install disc (that you burn yourself) to format and setup the HDD.
I think there is even at least one chip that has HDD format function built into it, so you only need Slayers to setup after that.

[Ragnar]

Been a very long time since I did a softmod (as I prefer modchips myself) and I've only ever had to deal with a dead HDD on a chipped console.

I literally just went through the softmod process myself. From what understood, a virgin system with a dead HD and no eeprom backup equals a brick. You have no means to add a replacement HD, outside of manually reading the eeprom somehow. Chipping the broken system in hopes of salvaging it sounds easier to me, but quite pointless.

So yeah, the systems are just spare parts.

[deadlegion]

If he's lucky one might be chipped. You'd be surprised how many people (well here anyway) pay to get a console chipped, then it sorta "dies" years later (like the laser wears out or in this case the HDD dies) and they've been told it will cost money to fix. I mean with a chipped PSX you can salvage a working laser from a virgin console (as long as it's compatible) and with Xbox most chips you just throw in another HDD like from an old desktop.

[padz007uk]

I'm off to town in an hour or so to go pickup some cd-r disks am gona give it a blast see what happens, an if worse comes to worse I saw a post that said about using xboxhdm even if you don't have the eeprom. it says do everything as normal but when it asks if you want f partition you just remove the drive an slap it back in you xbox an it works, apparently lol an I'm not 100% sure on everything I need either as in programs an such as I'm a newb but i'll be trying

[Ragnar]

gona give it a blast see what happens

Well you can't break anything any worse, so why not

[Jackhammer]

I literally just went through the softmod process myself. From what understood, a virgin system with a dead HD and no eeprom backup equals a brick. You have no means to add a replacement HD, outside of manually reading the eeprom somehow. Chipping the broken system in hopes of salvaging it sounds easier to me, but quite pointless.

So yeah, the systems are just spare parts.

You can use XBHDM and a PC with an IDE connection, then you hotswap. I think I have a cd with a modded dash. I'll have to dig through some of my old replies to similar threads.

[padz007uk]

Awesome thanks bud I'm gona get on it today for sure

[Ragnar]

You can use XBHDM and a PC with an IDE connection, then you hotswap. I think I have a cd with a modded dash. I'll have to dig through some of my old replies to similar threads.

K, I'm full of misinformation

One thing thing I should mention for a new Xbox buyer in 2016. There's a issue with the clock capacitors leaking:
http://myoriginalxbox.weebly.com/capacitor-removal.html
http://dannygalaga.com/xbox.html

1.6's don't have the issue, and your Crystal should be a 1.6. It's worth looking at your others though.

[deadlegion]

I guess I should open up that spare virgin console I have at some stage, pretty sure it's an old version My main chipped console is 1.6.

[padz007uk]

Right I done the xboxhdm CD it failed when I selected 1 it went to a black screen. an when I select 2 it boots but says kernal panic and stops, so this morning ended up ordering an eeprom reader/writer on eBay for 8pounds think I might try a new hdd if that's possible with this bit of kit

[Ragnar]

Right I done the xboxhdm CD it failed when I selected 1 it went to a black screen. an when I select 2 it boots but says kernal panic and stops

I saw a kernal panic error when using xboxhdm, I thought it was hilarious. After going though possible reasons for my random failures, I found the old IDE motherboard I'd grabbed wasn't doing everything the way Linux/xboxhdm/whatever was wanting. I had a dozen other options, but motherboard #2 did everything perfectly.
I got almost nothing but black screen when using a current LCD monitor. I dug out an old CRT and everything worked perfectly.

[padz007uk]

Ahh not good bud I'm using a 50inch plasma monitor, its my tv but its the only monitor I have in my house I guess ill wait a week or so for this eeprom reader an ill let you know if I can do anything lol