16th April 2014, 11:24 PM
So, the Xbox is probably one of the easiest modern consoles to mod and put homebrew OS stuff on. I've read about the several methods to softmod and knew it was easy, but hadn't actually gotten around to modding my Xbox since I certainly don't need it for emulation (that's what actual old consoles are for), and I've never really looked into what else it could be for (no way could it handle modern media streaming either, HD video? yeah right, I'd think). But I'm interested in getting some import games, so I need a softmod since I don't want to buy a second console unless there's no other good choice (as with the PS2, where it's that, a mod chip I could never install myself, or the irritation of a slide-card and disc swapping every time).
So, the first major method is the hot-swap-the-HDD-into-a-PC method, which sounds like it would work but... hot-swapping IDE cables? I don't want to do that unless I have no other choice. Second there's the one where you get files onto your Xbox, usually through buying a cable to connect Xbox stuff to a PC, or maybe through manipulating a flash drive. That seemed easy, but I don't want to have to buy a cable if I don't have to (and buying memory cards with the files on them already is ludicrously overpriced). So the IDE-swap method sounded like the only choice...
But first, I decided to try and see if my Gamemon coverter, a GC/PS2/Xbox-to-PC converter I got for a few bucks used at a local store a while back (but apparently were sold in stores in the US for a while, so they're not too hard to find), would actually work with Xbox memory units, since I have one. I didn't expect this to work, since the thing has no options and ... questionable ... button layouts that you can't change [on the Xbox controller, for example, A is button 1, X is button 2, Y is button 3, and B is button 4. No other settings are possible. Annoying!]. But I plugged in my Xbox memory unit to the controller, and... the system detected something! It wasn't sure what, though; no drivers for it. But it actually could tell that SOMETHING was plugged in. Well, that was interesting.
Now, I looked at one of the guides I'd found, one for the memory card file-based softmod method about modding a USB memory stick to fool the PC Xbox Action Replay software into thinking it's an Xbox memory unit, and transferring the files that way. Link: http://www.mrdictionary.net/_xbox/guide_php.php I essentially followed this guide to get the Action Replay to recognize my Xbox Memory Unit plugged into my Xbox (superior larger original style) controller plugged into my Gamemon. The guide tells you to use this USB software to view two necessary IDs on the USB stick; instead I got those two numbers off of the unrecognized Memory Unit. The first one was the same as the default (for Xbox Memory Units attached to Action Replay's own memory unit-to-PC cable), but the other ID was different, which is why the default AR drivers couldn't recognize the memory unit in the Gamemon-attached controller. With that driver modified as in the guide, though, the system recognizes the Memory Unit, and it cost me nothing since I had the Gamemon already! Pretty awesome.
The Action Replay software DOES seem fairly flaky -- I couldn't format the card (which did have files on it) through the AR software because that failed, and had to plug and unplug the card frequently to see if file transfers I was making actually stuck (not all did). The last issue was that after one failed attempt to put the large (~5.6MB) homebrew-installer zip file on the card it wouldn't let me copy it again. I solved that problem by plugging the card back into my actual Xbox, and deleting the problematic file there (no issue there). Then I copied the file again, and this time it copied correctly, they copied over to the Xbox fine, and with my copy of MechAssault I can softmod it with no trouble or added costs. Pretty nice, I think. :)
Of course attaching the thing to my computer via a LAN to install more homebrew stuff would be an additional step, but hopefully just this basic one will get me able to run import games. I might do the network thing another time, but being able to play other-region discs is what I really want.
So, the first major method is the hot-swap-the-HDD-into-a-PC method, which sounds like it would work but... hot-swapping IDE cables? I don't want to do that unless I have no other choice. Second there's the one where you get files onto your Xbox, usually through buying a cable to connect Xbox stuff to a PC, or maybe through manipulating a flash drive. That seemed easy, but I don't want to have to buy a cable if I don't have to (and buying memory cards with the files on them already is ludicrously overpriced). So the IDE-swap method sounded like the only choice...
But first, I decided to try and see if my Gamemon coverter, a GC/PS2/Xbox-to-PC converter I got for a few bucks used at a local store a while back (but apparently were sold in stores in the US for a while, so they're not too hard to find), would actually work with Xbox memory units, since I have one. I didn't expect this to work, since the thing has no options and ... questionable ... button layouts that you can't change [on the Xbox controller, for example, A is button 1, X is button 2, Y is button 3, and B is button 4. No other settings are possible. Annoying!]. But I plugged in my Xbox memory unit to the controller, and... the system detected something! It wasn't sure what, though; no drivers for it. But it actually could tell that SOMETHING was plugged in. Well, that was interesting.
Now, I looked at one of the guides I'd found, one for the memory card file-based softmod method about modding a USB memory stick to fool the PC Xbox Action Replay software into thinking it's an Xbox memory unit, and transferring the files that way. Link: http://www.mrdictionary.net/_xbox/guide_php.php I essentially followed this guide to get the Action Replay to recognize my Xbox Memory Unit plugged into my Xbox (superior larger original style) controller plugged into my Gamemon. The guide tells you to use this USB software to view two necessary IDs on the USB stick; instead I got those two numbers off of the unrecognized Memory Unit. The first one was the same as the default (for Xbox Memory Units attached to Action Replay's own memory unit-to-PC cable), but the other ID was different, which is why the default AR drivers couldn't recognize the memory unit in the Gamemon-attached controller. With that driver modified as in the guide, though, the system recognizes the Memory Unit, and it cost me nothing since I had the Gamemon already! Pretty awesome.
The Action Replay software DOES seem fairly flaky -- I couldn't format the card (which did have files on it) through the AR software because that failed, and had to plug and unplug the card frequently to see if file transfers I was making actually stuck (not all did). The last issue was that after one failed attempt to put the large (~5.6MB) homebrew-installer zip file on the card it wouldn't let me copy it again. I solved that problem by plugging the card back into my actual Xbox, and deleting the problematic file there (no issue there). Then I copied the file again, and this time it copied correctly, they copied over to the Xbox fine, and with my copy of MechAssault I can softmod it with no trouble or added costs. Pretty nice, I think. :)
Of course attaching the thing to my computer via a LAN to install more homebrew stuff would be an additional step, but hopefully just this basic one will get me able to run import games. I might do the network thing another time, but being able to play other-region discs is what I really want.