Original XBOX Softmod Tutorial

 

Xbox-Tutorial-TitleHello everyone. I  decided to make a tutorial on Softmodding an Original XBOX not the XBOX 360. I’ve seen quite a few tutorials online but a lot of them are either missing information and steps or are talking about files that are different versions or simply aren’t there. Well first things first what you will need for this.

Needed tools:

  • An Original XBOX. I tried this mod without one and I wasn’t quite as successful.
  • A PC to transfer the files.
  • A USB flash drive around 2GB or lower seems to work best.
  • A USB port for the XBOX. This website has a great tutorial for making your own which I used to make mine. Note; they used an XBOX memory card and I just used the innards of the controller, both of which work with that tutorial.
  • Xplorer360, this is for transferring files to the flash drive after the XBOX formats it.
  • A copy of either Splinter Cell, Mech Assault, or 007: Agent Under Fire. You only need one but it needs to be the original versions and not platinum hits.
  • The softmod and Moddified Save file to load.

Controller USB port

USB Flash DriveThe very first thing you will need to do is to plug the flash drive that you are using into the XBOX. Doing this will format the flash drive to FatX format which is what the XBOX uses. You wont need to do anything to format as the XBOX will do it as soon as the flash drive is inserted. There will be no prompt unless it can’t read the flash drive. Then go into the Memory to see if it shows up as a memory card.

Memory ManagerOnce that is done plug the flash drive into your computer and be greeted by this friendly message.

XBOX Mod Tutorial 0.5

Click “Cancel” or you will have to reformat it through the XBOX.

Open up Xplorer360 and select Drive then Open and then Hardrive or Memory Card…

XBOX Mod Tutorial 1

If all is well you will see this.

XBOX Mod Tutorial 2

If not you will receive an error. Try adjusting the flash drive or make sure its inserted correctly or even try having the XBOX reformat it.

Next you will need to Softmod and modified save file. Inside that download will be a bunch of zip files you will need to SID511.Installer and save file for the game you will be using I used 007: Agent Under Fire so I used SID511.Loader.007AUF. The soft mod as well as the modified save file will have a UDATA folder inside. This folder holds another folder that is a bunch of numbers and letters. Take the random letter and number folder of each UDATA folder and drag it to Xplorer360 one by one.

XBOX Mod Tutorial 3

You can now take the flash drive and stick it back into your XBOX. Go to the Memory option again and copy the save files to the hard drive.

Copy Files 1

Copy Files 2Now pop in the game you chose.

  • If you used 007: Agent under Fire from the main menu choose “Load Mission”.

007AUF 1

If done right the screen should go black and then you will see the Soft Mod menu load up.

Softmod Menu 1

Now this is optional but I recommend going into the Backup option and backing up everything.

Backup 1

The first one will take you to another screen just select backup eeprom then go back to the main menu. From there return to the back up menu and select MS Backup. This will ask you a question saying something about erasing the previous backup. That will only happen if the backup contains a softmod which it doesn’t. Select the 3rd option no weird questions here just allow it to Backup. That’s it for the Backup part.  This is only if something goes wrong you can just reload all the data back to your hard drive like nothing happened.

Now to install that Softmod. Choose the second option “Install Single Boot Softmod” to start.

Softmod Install 1

The dual boot allows you to put multiple OS on the hard drive you can change this later if you want but for now lets just stick with the one.

The next screen is a little confusing I assume the HD option is for HD TV’s but I wasn’t adventurous to find out. I’m also using a CRT for mine so no big deal. Just stick with standard unless your curious enough to try the HD one.

Softmod Install 2

The next screen is your choice. You have the option of what softmod menu you want. I chose UnleashX and am quite happy with it. I can’t recommend the other since I wont be able to help you with that one.

Softmod Install 3

Now you’ve come to this question and you’re probably thinking “What was the point of backing up my drive if its just going to wipe everything?”. No worries this wont erase your backups or even your save files. The XBOX hard drive is broken into partitions. The C drive refers to the partition that the OS is on. The backup and save files are on the E partition.

Softmod Install 4

The next 2 screens will be easier. First it will tell you its performing a scan tell it “OK”. The last one will ask you again if you want to install the Softmod. tell it yes and it will finally install.

When its done it will ask to shut down. Tell it yes and your system will turn off.

Softmod Install 5

Turn your XBOX back on and you will be greeted with a new system menu. (assuming you took the disk out.) Look around and get antiquated with the new menu as you now have a lot more options.

Softmod Install 6

That’s it you have successfully softmodded your XBOX. Stick around you may want a bigger hard drive and I plan to make a tutorial on that.

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2 Comments

  1. David
    October 12, 2018    

    Couldn’t you just FTP the necessary files across to the console instead of using a USB drive?

    • October 12, 2018    

      I suppose that could work. We didn’t try. I believe there’s multiple ways to mod the system and alternatives to the steps. We found one that worked but the instructions weren’t clear so this article was really an effort to have proper documentation on this specific method.

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