My original XBOX is having troubles reading the 55 games on the HD.

[Shadow989]

Great, well I have found some on Amazon for an extremely cheap price like $20 or so! I just want to know is it supposed to be that cheap? Anyway, thanks for responding!

[deadlegion]

Great, well I have found some on Amazon for an extremely cheap price like $20 or so! I just want to know is it supposed to be that cheap? Anyway, thanks for responding!

Dunno
I haven't bought one in a while, but I have a heap of them salvaged from old computers.

[Ichijoe]

Sounds like what recently happened to my old 120GB HDD. Sadly these things just aren't immortal.
The sad part is you can't really get a'hold of any P-ATA (IDE) Drives these days as everything is now S-ATA.

In that instance, a possible solution might be to get a P-ATA to S-ATA Conveter like THIS: http://uppit.com/80wofsyexuqs
And, install a potentially larger HDD then the max 750GB that P-ATA allows.

Possible reasons for corruptness

HDD has not been formatted correctly so less space is readable to what has been used (Not sure this effects mod chip users)
HDD is full so the last few games have only been able to copy some of the file but not all of the games data files
Save count has reached it's limit so no more saves can be created
File/Folder depth has reached it's limit
HDD copy of game has not been correctly fixed to run from HDD
Data has become corrupt when it was originally copied


I only have 2 xbox's a 1.6 and a 1.2 or 1.3 (it detects as a 1.2/1.3 so not 100% sure) anyway both are PAL and both read CD-R & DVD+R just fine, they both struggle with DVD-R and RW's (all media types) though, make what you want with that as it is only with 2 xbox's it may be that version 1.0 has a drive that is pre DVD+R, but I wouldn't know one way or the other there, RW read issues is not an unusual thing though for consoles.

RW's do read though, but seems to be at a slower rate and with a higher chance of read errors, I found the same with DVD-R's, the better ones, more with the 1.2/1.3 DVD drive less problems with the 1.6 but still issues with the 1.6 drive that I now use in the 1.2/1.3, then again I find RW discs are not that reliable for very long anyway in general

Sounds like my XBOX it to is a 1.3 Pal (German) Version.
Basically I think the 1.2 & 1.3 versions are fundamentally the same version. But Only the 1.2 Version has the additional Fan on the GPU. The 1.3 (The One I have...), just has a larger Aluminum Heat Sink Block on it without any Fan at all.

[Shadow989]

@Ichijoe, OK, thankyou. So I found some on Ebay for like $5. It looks like a chip or something with a GPIO output. I am wondering is this what it is? If so what will this do to my XBOX? Will it read all the games again? Thanks

@deadlegion, And they still work? How long have you had them for?

[deadlegion]

@deadlegion, And they still work? How long have you had them for?

Please don't double post, use Edit Post.

Many of my old IDE drives still work, but I did have a 320GB drive die on me recently. It had a hard life though (running 24/7 for years on end).

If you want to keep your console for some time, and maybe you have/want an old PS2 phat it's a good idea to put aside some of these drives whenever you come across them for free.

[Shadow989]

Ok, I do have a PS2 phat and a slim. So can I take the hard drive from there or no? And sorry for the double post as I am new.

[Zorlon]

@Ichijoe, OK, thankyou. So I found some on Ebay for like $5. It looks like a chip or something with a GPIO output. I am wondering is this what it is? If so what will this do to my XBOX? Will it read all the games again? Thanks

Nope it will just let you use a SATA HDD drive that go to higher storage than older IDE drives that only go up to 750GB of storage but SATA drives go into the TB range of storage

I have also had some older HDD's still running just fine, but at the same time I have had a few die on me in a short life time, I even had an original 20MB HDD for years and was still working ok, trust me they stopped making those decades ago.

HDD's can break too easy but on the same note can last years & years, part luck & part care.

For a HDD to become corrupt in an XBOX though that is very unusual and normally if there is an actual hardware issue you get stuck on a black screen with green text post boot saying it needs servicing with a number displayed in the top corner that indicates the issue, there is more chance that the games that are not working is more due to corrupt or missing files, due to storage limitations, or they need to be cracked to work from HDD storage.

What games are you having problems with and what are the problems you are having with them?



Yes you could use the IDE HDD from your fatty PS2 if you really wanted

P.S. How big is the current XBOX HDD and how big is the PS2 HDD (talking about the storage size)

[Shadow989]

Well I can't list all of them because there is obviously too many games that I am having problems with. But some are FABLE, NINJA GAIDEN, GTA3, Mortal Kombat: Deception and heaps of others. The problems that I am having with them are that they get stuck at the loading screen and when that happens the XBOX HDD changes tone and stops. I found this quite weird because they all worked when I bought the console and months after that it still worked, but one day it just stopped reading my games except for "The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind GOTY" which is good because me and my sister play it alot. Other than that, I hope this helps you!

[deadlegion]

Yeah if it's sounding weird then it's probably on it's way out. That 320GB I mentioned was still sorta working for a few months; it was making a lot of noise, freezing and that sort of thing...then I isolated a heap of bad sectors and it was still noisy but working, and then it finally just stopped working altogether. Completely dead.

[Ichijoe]

One other thing you might want to try first is to backup what ever you can to a temp HDD. Then reformat the HDD say under Windows, and possibly run a chkdsk /f over it. YOU'LL WILL NEED TO UNLOCK THE HDD FIRST, and understand that this will nuke the Drive. But, if the corruption is because you have too much stuff on there breaking the cluster size or, whatever this may be a way to fix it. Its something I plan to do with my old 120GB HDD soon enough.

I managed to replace it about a Week ago with another 250GB P-ATA HDD that I found inside the hulk of a trashed Beige Box. Along with a Mainboard some RAM, and a 3.20GHz Celeron-D (Socket 775). I checked the Disk out under Windows 7 using CHKDSK, and it came back trumps. So far everything's been supper again. I don't suffer all the crashing that I used to from XBMC anymore for instance.

About that S-ATA to P-ATA (i.e. IDE) Converter. You need to do a bit of Homework on that one. As AFAIK not all of these will work on the XBOX, so your Mileage will vary. The only reason to bring it up is 'cause you can often find S-ATA Drives in better capacities, and prices then P-ATA Drives. Since nobody is making P-ATA Drives anymore.

[Zorlon]

Well I can't list all of them because there is obviously too many games that I am having problems with. But some are FABLE, NINJA GAIDEN, GTA3, Mortal Kombat: Deception and heaps of others. The problems that I am having with them are that they get stuck at the loading screen and when that happens the XBOX HDD changes tone and stops. I found this quite weird because they all worked when I bought the console and months after that it still worked, but one day it just stopped reading my games except for "The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind GOTY" which is good because me and my sister play it alot. Other than that, I hope this helps you!

Ichijoe has given good advice.

I just wanted to check it wasn't something to do with games that needed extra fixes or games that had just been badly put on the HDD but this is not the case if they worked fine before but not now.

Yet to play Morrowind and I own it myself, but I have a lot of games like that now

[Shadow989]

@Ichijoe, So with the temporary HDD how would I plug it into my computer? Do I have to FTP stuff or whatever because:
1.) I don't have Ethernet
2.) I don't have a crossover cable and
3.) I have nothing to do with old internet only WIFI.

So how do I back it up and when I unlock my harddrive will my console be stuffed? Because then I won't be able to use it

@deadlegion, I have a 320GB HDD too, which is the one that I am having problems with! Maybe it's all 320GB HDD's?

THANKYOU EVERYBODY FOR HELPING ME, I APPRECIATE IT!

[deadlegion]

@deadlegion, I have a 320GB HDD too, which is the one that I am having problems with! Maybe it's all 320GB HDD's?

That was just an example I gave, it would be a coincidence that yours is the same size.
That 320GB drive of mine that died was a Western Digital and it would have been running constantly for way more than 5 years...I can't recall exactly how long but it was a long time (ok it wasn't running sometimes like if the power was out or I went away for a weekend and that sort of thing). I kept reusing it in various desktops until it finally died.

[Ichijoe]

@Ichijoe, So with the temporary HDD how would I plug it into my computer? Do I have to FTP stuff or whatever because:
1.) I don't have Ethernet
2.) I don't have a crossover cable and
3.) I have nothing to do with old internet only WIFI.

So how do I back it up and when I unlock my harddrive will my console be stuffed? Because then I won't be able to use it

@deadlegion, I have a 320GB HDD too, which is the one that I am having problems with! Maybe it's all 320GB HDD's?

THANKYOU EVERYBODY FOR HELPING ME, I APPRECIATE IT!

I'm fairly sure you have an Ethernet. On your PC / DSL Modem / Router. What you may not have is a pair of CAT5 Cables to run from your PC to your Router, back to your XBOX. In which case I don't know quite what to say, other then CAT5 is fairly cheap these days. Back in the day ca. ~2004 I too bought a Netgear Gaming Bridge thingy that allowed my XBOX, now my HTPC, to connect up to my Network. But the only problem with that is that its way WAY slower then with a Cable.

As to how to back it all up... Well without a FTP Connection its going to be a bit rough. The "Idea" was to boot into something like Avalauch, and use a combination of QWIX and Filezilla to backup what you could. Before using ConfigMagic to unlock the Drive. Assuming that your either Chipped, or TSOP flashed. Unlocking the Drive shouldn't pose a problem for you. Errors 5 & 6 should only show up on retail boxes. The HDD in the XBOX has been formatted in something that MicroSoft calles FATX, and its NOT readable under Windows.

If you want to have a goof trying to access the Drive under Windows (After you used ConfigMagic that is!). You could try downloading, and using any number of Tools designed for that task :HERE

Its worth noting that these "Tools" probably require XP or lower to run. So if your on Windows 7 make sure you run it in XP Compatibility Mode. Otherwise figure out how to reinstall XP again.

But, if what you said about the Drive making "Clicking" noises is true then its a bad sign that the Drive is likely on its way out.
In which case you'll need to end-up replacing the Drive anyway. So if only at the least of it.. I'd look into getting a pair of 5~10m's of CAT5 Cable if I were you. And connect both your PC, and your XBOX up though the Router. It'll eventually make your task of rebuilding your XBOX much MUCH simpler.

[Zorlon]

@deadlegion, I have a 320GB HDD too, which is the one that I am having problems with! Maybe it's all 320GB HDD's?

There are no commonly known issues with 320GB sized HDD's

What Computers do you have? you probably don't have anything that can read your Xbox drive anyway

You can clone a HDD drive directly via the XBOX anyway though

though be aware if the games have corrupt file those files are not magically going to be fixed when you copy them over