could i put the hdd from the second xbox into the first and read the eeprom key ? from the drive
sorry for not responding sooner. I've been active a lot at XB Scene lately and haven't been on modretro in a while.
ok, for starters the reason you are getting a service error with your new hard drive is likely one of two things, either it doesn't have the base files for a stock xbox, or the new hard drive was never locked to the xbox. I am hazarding a guess and going with #2 on this. Take a look when you boot up and see what the error number is, and google that error number. If it is related to hard drive time out or hard drive locked or incorrect hard drive for device - pretty much any hard drive error - it's because the drive is not locked with the proper key. Config Magic is a utility that you can use that will lock your hard drive to your xbox. Do that. it should set a master password on the drive (which is handy) and lock it to the EEPROM so you can boot it up in normal mode without issue.
Now if you are missing the stock C files in the xbox, well that would also give you problems, but let's cross that bridge when we get there.
Ok to de-mystify the partitions here is a simple break down:
C - self explanatory, root partition for all stock files. on some hard mods the modded dash is here too. Best not to tinker too much with it
D - DVD drive. self explanatory.
E - originally intended to be a music storage partition. Didn't hold save game data, held other data. Conveniently located so that you can put stuff there and boot from it, or just store stuff.
F/G - Bigger hard drives hit the max that E had to offer for storage space, so a new partition was added, the F partition. Due to storage limits at the time, no drive could be more than 127 GB in size, so G was added shortly after that. Most dashes will have an option to "allow" F/G. Some automatically accept it if they are there. knowing what dash you are using would help clarify this. ***** please note that these limitations were removed later. it is possible with the two versions of partition managers for the xbox to set the size of both F and G to 1 TB each. You may want to re-size your partitions if they aren't large enough.
X/Y/Z - storage for save files, updates, and patches. mostly ignored, unless you want to insert or remove specific updates/patches or save files. I just ignore them.
because of the size restrictions on C and E, they usually only host the dash files, and maybe emulators of the older systems. F/G are used to house the big collections of original xbox games.
in re: modding the 2nd xbox, first before doing this CHECK YOUR XBOX VERSIONS to make sure each are the same e.g.: each are 1.6 or 1.0-1.5 etc etc. This method works, but only if they are the same version. if they aren't, there are other modding options that are just as easy (actually easier).
Ok so here's how this works, presuming that they are the same version, you will need a copy of Hexen to complete this process. it's an xbox installer and has a bunch of good utilities. it takes a few secs to boot up, and you don't want it to auto launch, so get to the root menu for your modded xbox so you have the option to launch the DVD. wait there. With the non-modded xbox, boot it up without a disk, copy an audio track to the hard drive (unless you already have audio files on it) and then start to play a track from it. wait about 3 seconds and then pause the track. Your hard drive has not been unlocked so that it can be read, but it is not actively being read because it has been paused. Disconnect the IDE cable from that hard drive but leave the Power cable plugged in. Disconnect the IDE from your modded xbox, and plug it into your non modded HDD. on the modded box, launch the DVD. it will now boot the DVD drive (takes about a minute, stay calm) and it will show that it is reading the xbox hard drive that is plugged in. go through the options to soft mod the xbox. it will do a bunch of stuff and then tell you that it needs to reboot to continue. hit ok. power off the modded box, disconnect the IDE cable, power off the non modded box, reconnect the IDE cable. boot the non modded xbox. it will now complete the soft mod, and prompt you to reboot again. after that it should be soft modded and good to go. if it is a 1.0-1.5 you should bridge the TSOP points and use the hexen disk to flash it so that it is hard modded. if it's a 1.6 then you should leave it alone and keep it softmodded. back up your eeprom once completed. PLEASE NOTE that when you use the hexen disk and it backs up your eeprom it is backing up the MODDED box eeprom, not your non modded box, so that eeprom it backs up is kind of pointless. back up the proper one to prevent headaches in the future.
Please note as well that if the xbox is a different version (1.0-1.5) this may or may not work without a hitch. if it is a 1.0-1.5 and you are modding a 1.6, it is pretty likely that it will temporarily brick your xbox.
if this is too involved a process, you can get a usb cable and splinter cell and mod it via game save exploit. or you can install a pin header in the new box, put your aladdin chip into it and boot it from that, mod everything you want, and then do a soft mod on it as well.
decisions decisions.
. all the partitions confuse me ( does not take much) i have a partition with all my games on and another which is the rest of my hdd but when i put things in there i cannot access them my whole system is just in a bit of a mess i have an aladin modchip how unlikely is it i will brick my console if i try starting a fresh .. also i have a second xbox i want to softmod is there a easy way using my hardmodded xbox to softmod the second one
