Turning off Xbox modchip

[moonwhistle]

I would like to try and connect my Xbox to live, thing is it's modded and has no obvious on / off switch.

It's got Xecutor 3, I can get the exact modchip number and dashboard if that helps?

It's got a little chip thing attached to the front of the console with several dipswitches on it. I'm guessing some combination of these may turn off the chip. Can get a photo if necessary.

Any ideas?

Thank you.

[smouty]

Google +executer 3 +disable =

Mod Disable - Quick Press of Power or Eject (External LED will indicate RED LED)

[Shinebi]

Correction, long press.

Make sure your hard drive is locked, otherwise it will not be recognised an thus not boot.
Also, have an original .xbe for the dashboard or it will again not boot (used to experience this when fiddling with other regionfree verions for use with the DVD-remote. This was before I used XBMC though, so I'd guess nobody will use this method anymore.)

Another way is to install a actual switch between the D0 point from the chip to the mobo.

[moonwhistle]

Correction, long press.

Make sure your hard drive is locked, otherwise it will not be recognised an thus not boot.
Also, have an original .xbe for the dashboard or it will again not boot (used to experience this when fiddling with other regionfree verions for use with the DVD-remote. This was before I used XBMC though, so I'd guess nobody will use this method anymore.)

Another way is to install a actual switch between the D0 point from the chip to the mobo.

Ok, the long press seems to work but it won't boot to dashboard as you predicted. What do mean by locking the hard drive and what is .xbe?

Sorry I'm pretty clueless on such matters.

Thanks for your help.

[fallenangle]

If the mod chip (I have the 2.6E) had been fitted professionally it should have just been a question of turning off the chip using the switch marked on my one as "chip on/off" on the switch array attached to the front of the XBox.

The other switches on my one are for turning off the LEDs and the two others are for flash protection of the BIOS or something like that. No idea what it means either so I don't touch 'em. I wouldn't know how to protect my HDD or what xbe. is either

I'd guess it is now a bit late to advise you not to do anything until you were certain you knew what you were doing.

[smouty]

You could download a Slayers install CD which would rebuild your hard drive files to a retail standard and then lock the HD and reinstall all the other homebrew stuff you have in stealth mode i.e F:\ drive.
I think there are menu options to achieve this and it was how my Xbox was setup when I used live, still is come to think of it.

[Digfox]

The only think I'd add is the HD needs to be locked in inorder to boot to the normal MS dash. I could never be bothered locking my drve and I just get a service message if I try and boot with the mod chip off.

[smouty]

I've never seen one personally but the chip you have has a very good set of inbuilt functions. It's called X3 Config LIVE! apparently and among other things allows you to lock/unlock your drive from within the chip menu.
Perhaps you should read up on it.

[fallenangle]

The problem is that none of these things come with a manual actually telling you what these chips can do and what to do if there happens to be a problem. You're left to scour the web and even when you do find something it's rarely in language the layman can understand. Everybody seems to assume when you buy these things you have the pre-knowledge how to use them or where to get the info.

I remember when I was a complete noob and first bought PS-X Change and couldn't get it to work. Even though the parts were supplied the basic instructions didn't think to mention that it was vital to fix the lid catch on the PS so you could exchange the discs without it resetting.

It also didn't cover how to deal with multi-disc games, something I had to work out for myself. Only months later did I find the hot-swap technique mentioned in passing on another gaming forum.

So much of the mod world seems like that - often very puzzling for the uninitiated.

[smouty]

That's the nature in dealing with illegal or legally 'grey area' technology - No one's going to write a book about it. If the mods were made to bypass regional protection codes only it wouldn't be so bad albeit still technically legally dubious.
When I first got my Xbox and modded it, there was a very steep learning curve. The forums on xbox-scene were invaluable

[moonwhistle]

I've never seen one personally but the chip you have has a very good set of inbuilt functions. It's called X3 Config LIVE! apparently and among other things allows you to lock/unlock your drive from within the chip menu.
Perhaps you should read up on it.

I found the menu that lets you lock the hard drive, it's done by booting the xbox with one of the dip switches moved. I've not tried yet but is that all in i need to do in theory? Ie lock the HD then boot with the chip turned off? If it boots to the Xbox dashboard am i then safe to try live?

Thanks again for all the tips.

[moonwhistle]

Last question, I've now got the thing booted straight to xbox dashboard by locking the hard drive and having the chip turned off.

Is it now safe to go on xbox live without getting banned or whatever?

Thing is the non domestic game saves and Xbox media centre are still showing up in the memory / game save section, will they be detected online?

Thanks.

[moonwhistle]

Anyone?

[randombs]

There was speculation in the past about just what MS is doing to your xbox when you're on Live, including scanning for certain files and whatnot. Naturally, the main cause of banning is leaving the chip on and going on Live, but apparently other things such as upgrading the hard drive have caused it, too, and some have claimed the presence of evox or another dashboard on the C or E drives got them banned, too.

As the only 100% certain cause was leaving the chip on, I was super paranoid when going on Live (I even formatted the whole hard drive before playing Halo 2 online due to the mass bannings that happened when it came out), but it's paid off as my xbox is still, to this day, completely unbanned (and that included two hard drive upgrades from the original to 120gb, to more recently 250gb).

I was worried about savegames but I've also got xbmc saves, random emulator saves and saves for different region games (including non-region-free games). The main things I can point to regarding keeping safe online are:

1) make sure the chip is actually off! I think the X3 has the 'on' mode, 'off' mode and also a 'debug' or similar mode.

2) if you use another dashboard like xbmc or evox or whatever, put it on the F drive (assuming you have one) as that drive is completely hidden when the chip is off. I don't have an X3 so can't comment as to how you'd configure it to boot the dash from the F drive. My chip (X2) uses a little file put on the F drive that has all its settings and I just edit that when needed

3) Don't download the leaked French Halo 2! Loads of people got banned, apparently for having the French savegame on their xboxes which proved they'd downloaded it. Naturally, this is pointless advice nowadays, but if it was true, it'd lend more weight to the file-scanning theories.

Regarding point 1, I remember reading on xbox-scene that an X3 user was playing his xbox with his chip turned off, and after he went online, the chip light on the front panel changed from 'off' to 'debug'. I can't find the story now, so don't know what became of it. It could've been a dodgy chip installation, for all we know. The fact that there didn't seem to be any more reports of this made me less worried.

Also, if you were to go on live with the chip on, chances are you won't be able to, as the chips started blocking live access as a safety feature. This isn't to be relied upon, but it's for peace of mind in case you ever forgot one day.