Xbox software mod problems - Please help !!

[Hysteria]

Hello,

Sorry I am at a loose end here as to what I should do to solve my problems

A friedn persuaded me it would be a good idea to get a software mod for my xbox, he could do all the work and he wouldnt need to open it etc. Once this was completed he informed me that I wouldnt be able to remove the power cable from the xbox as it would cause problems to the way the new `mod` run.

Anyways after my dad felt it necessary to spring clean the livingroom the xbox was sadly disconnected. I turned it on - it reset a few times, but after a short while loaded onto the menu. No problem (I thought to myself) if thats all that happens then I dont mind it being disconnected.

Anyways each time I took the power cable out of the xbox the amount of resetting or `loading` times for the menu grew and grew (dont get me wrong , I have only removed the cable say 3-4 times).

Now its rediculous and I spent 2 whole days of resetting and rebooting with no luck. I just cant get the xbox to load into the menu.

Heres what happens :-

Turn power on,
Lots of resetting (2-3 mins worth - perhaps more)

eventually get to the next screen (the booting part)

"Starting USB" im faced with. This used to stay there only a very short while, but now happily sits on the screen 10-15 mins or longer before it moves on.

eventually moves onto :

"press A now to enter selection menu!" (now when this used to worh without a problem I never had to press anything - it was all automated, although I briefly saw this screen, it was `briefly` before it loaded the menu.

Now sometimes when I press A and hold it, it moves on. Once or twice I have had it load the menu at this stage (bare in mind I have been at this stage now over 100-200 times lol..no joke - so a very small proportion)

then comes up a series of errors :

"loading font
loading font jpg
Hemres_Format New : 24 (sp? on the hemres???)
Valloc failed ! (sp? on the Valloc lol?)
unable to load font
application died in an unhappy manor press A to reboot"

At this stage - again like the first time it promts me to press A. When I do press A it VERY rarely reboots. Only a handful of times of what feels like hundreds of attempts.

Then I have to manual power off and start again.

I used to get somewhere with presistently trying again, however after spending 2 near full days (inbetween movies and playing REZ that is ^_^) I have given up hope and I think its clear something bad is wrong here.

Please forum guys im sure someone here has experienced something like this !

Your the only people who can help me !

Many thanks,

Hysty ^_^

[PeterUK]

Looks like your friend used an old exploit method that, as your friend stated, screws your box up when disconnected AKA the 'Clock Loop'. The newest main exploit 'UXE' gets around this so he really should have used that instead.

Unfortunately, I think, there's no way to recover your drive unless he made a backup of your Eeprom/ C drive when he did the exploit (which he really should have) or you know someone with a chipped box. If he has then you can get you box back; if not then I think you've had it.

Best to head on over to the X B Scene forums and have a search through the soft mod forums for clock loop solving. If you can get it fixed then use UXE as it's 100% safe from the clock loop problem...

Oh and find out exactly how and what your friend used to softmod your box as that should make it easier to find a possible fix without yanking your drive out of the box and connecting it to the PC/ another chipped Xbox.

[Pistol]

Doesn't sound like clock loop to me?

When you get "starting USB", that's PBL kicking in (the bit of software on your HD that starts the whole naughty process for you). The "press A to enter selection menu" bit is confusing you - you shouldn't press A. It's only because something's wrong with that you're seeing that at all, usually (as you said) it would flash past. So pressing A will only send you off on a different problem.

I've never heard of anything like this before... what happens if you boot with an original game in the drive? The way the Xbox works, if it detects a game in the drive, it boots off that, so even a screwed softmodded box should be able to boot original games (unless something's gone catastrophically wrong). If it can't boot originals then there may be someting else wrong with the Xbox.

I reckon you have two options:

1. Trust your friend to sort it out (he ought to know what he did to it in the first place). The fact that he used an outdated mod (and may not have made a backup of your HD) isn't a good sign, it might be an idea just to get him to undo whatever he did and learn how to do a proper job yourself.

2. Try and sort it out yourself... but make darn sure you know what you're doing first!! You don't want to risk making things worse.


As PeterUK said, UXE is the latest/most reliable mod. The most recent reliable easy-to-use installer would likely be Ltools - lots of numpties on X-S make their own versions, but they are often full of holes and based off other installers anyway. Ltools is pretty straightforward, well documented, and safe.

[PeterUK]

Yeah I was guessing it's the clock loop as it only started to happen once the Box was unplugged'.

I've never heard of anything like this before... what happens if you boot with an original game in the drive? The way the Xbox works, if it detects a game in the drive, it boots off that, so even a screwed softmodded box should be able to boot original games (unless something's gone catastrophically wrong). If it can't boot originals then there may be someting else wrong with the Xbox.

Yeah if it still boots originals and the guy that modded it used a gamesave to access the HD then it should be pretty straightforward to fix the C drive if that's what's borked.

Get on the phone and find out what your mate did to softmod and with what then it should be a little clearer as to what can be done...

[Hysteria]

Thank you ever so much for your help.

Yes he did tell me if I can change the clock time it will solve this - however I cant get into msdashboard to change it !

I did try an original game when this problem happened the first time and it booted, however I have tried 2-3 other original games over last couple of days and its not booting them.



Ill forward your comments to him and hopefully he will be able to solve them for me.

If he doesnt know about UXE can you give me a url to forward onto him?

Many thanks !

Hyst ^_^

[Pistol]

Actually I may have been a bit hasty saying it wasn't the clock loop - thinking about it, it could still be.

What dashboard are you using? (The program that comes up when it was working OK). Most dashes allow you to set the time in their settings menu somewhere.

Clock loops can last for hours, and there are various things you can do to try and kick the Xbox out of the loop. Try leaving it for a looooong time (maybe hours even!) to see if it eventually boots. Or, try plugging a network cable in. There are more hints hidden away over at X-S if you can find the clock loop thread.

The important thing is to set the clock as soon as you successfully boot! If you manage that, and all goes back to normal, do not unplug the box again until your mate has updated your mod to UXE! (Then slap him with a wet kipper for getting you into this mess in the first place )

[PeterUK]

As Pistol said, have a look through this search and especially this thread to see if any of the hints are of help.

I did try an original game when this problem happened the first time and it booted, however I have tried 2-3 other original games over last couple of days and its not booting them.

What happens when you switch the box on with the game in the drive? Does it just not load up?

If he doesnt know about UXE can you give me a url to forward onto him?

I'd recommend you get him to restore your box to the original state (assuming he has the backup or knows how to do it with Slayers), give it back and you mod it manually with UXE and not with an auto-installer. It's piss easy to do as long as you can follow step-by-step instructions and have a basic understanding of computer usage. There's a great tutorial on XBS that I always use....

[Hysteria]

It says pheonix bios loader v1.4 http:\\forums.maxconsole.com

at the `starting usb`

The thing is, a moment ago I left it for an hour or so and it got to a certain point and gave a different error message this time and said `press a to reboot` but it hung on that screen for 45 mins and didnt do anything so I pressed the power button in.

Im sure it wouldnt have gone further if i left it or was i wrong?

What should I have done? (ill leave it on overnight tonight if that helps it)

Also do I just need a standard RJ45 network cable to connect my xbox to my modem/router? Will it explain in the guide what leads and programs I require? Im not a noob when it comes to pcs, but I am when it comes to modding etc. I have never done it.

Thanks,

Hyst

[nips]

Yeah, just a cross-over/RJ45 cable to connect it up. I haven't read the other reponses or problems, but I use FlashFXP to transfer info.

[Hysteria]

Oh my god lol !

You wouldnt beleive it. 3 days I have been rebooting and trying to get this to work. I tried one mehtod provided on the forum link (many thanks PeterUK vbmenu_register("postmenu_457969", true); ) and it worked INSTANTLY !! First attempt !!

Stuck in audio cd
Unplugged controllers

voila ! booted first time without any problems

Thank you so much guys ! All of you are so helpful !!

Many many many many thanks !

Hysty wubs you all ^_^;; vbmenu_register("postmenu_457969", true);

[PeterUK]

Sorted!

K; you know the next thing to do?

Update to UXE!!! Seeing as the box has already been altered I believe you can just use a package called UXE Complete and just delete all the files off of C and upload everything from that package. Me; I would just revert back to a stock C drive using Slayers or the backup your mate hopefully took and update to UXE using a tutorial I'm just about to PM you.

[Pistol]

Glad to hear it got sorted out :thumbs:

Softmods are great, but you really need to do it yourself - if something goes wrong you need to know how to fix it!

Get UXE on there and you'll be sorted. No more annoying clock loops then :thumbs: