Geek Speak.

PLEASE NOTE

This tutorial is provided for informational purposes only and is pretty out-dated. You're really better off using my bootable CD and building your Xbox hard drive with that. This method does work, but there are really easier ways now. So use this tutorial at your own risk!

Step By Step Guide For A SoftMod EvoX Install and Hard Drive upgrade
By Nate Rice

Part 2 (Phoenix BIOS Loader and Dashboards)
v1.01 (07/13/04) - Minor changes reflecting the new downloads section.
v1.00 (06/24/04) - Original Release

In this tutorial we will be installing the Pheonix BIOS Loader. The Pheonix BIOS Loader will allow us to run lots of third party applications that we wouldn't normally be able to run. We also won't have to use XBEdump to sign all of our XBE's. So, after this step pretty much any third party application that we download we should be able to run, by either copying it to the hard drive or writing it to a CD or DVD.

In this tutorial we will also assume that you have completed Part 1 or Part 1a. We will also assume that you are familiar with the concepts that we established in Part 1. Some of these concepts include signing XBEs and unpacking compressed archives. We will do our best to hyperlink to the respective FAQ answers from within the tutorial, so it is your responsibility to follow those links if you have any questions.

We will not be going into network or computer configuration as it is out of the scope of this document. For the sake of this tutorial, we will assume that you know how to configure your router/switch/hub/computer.

As always, perform this modification at your OWN RISK. We have done our best to ensure that the information in this tutorial is accurate, but we can not guarantee that it is. We will not take any responsibility for any damage to your Xbox, your computer, or yourself by performing this modification.

1) Requirements

Hardware:

• Xbox from Part 1 or Part1a
• Xbox Power Cable, Video Cable, and One Controller
• Computer Running Windows XP (must have a network interface/card installed)
• Crossover network cable or 2 network cables and a hub/switch/router

Software:

• (Xbox) Phoenix BIOS Loader (Complete)
• (Xbox) Xbox 4920 Dashboard
• (PC) FlashFXP (or another FTP client)

If you meet all these requirements you are ready for step 2! Obtain ALL of these requirements before you move on to step 2. Trust me on this. You will save yourself a TON of time by simply meeting all these requirements before you start!

2) Pheonix BIOS Loader Archive Preparation

Note: The Phoenix BIOS Loader (Loader) is an Xbox application that enables you override the factory Xbox BIOS with a modified (hacked) BIOS. The Loader does not overwrite the factory BIOS. It simply loads a BIOS into the Xbox memory. This process is 100% reversible.

There are a few different versions of the Loader out. For simplicity, and the sake of this tutorial, our references to the Loader will assume that you will be using version 1.3.5 of the Loader.

We will be looking for an archive that has two parts. This archive will contain the Loader application itself and the hacked BIOS that we will be using to replace the factory Xbox BIOS.

2.1) First, lets look at the BIOS. The BIOS will consist of 2 parts. A boot.cfg file, and a xboxrom.bin file. Lets take a look at the boot.cfg file and make sure it is in order. Open the file in a text editor. We should see something like this:

RC4Key 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00
EEPROMKey1_0 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00
EEPROMKey1_1 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00

The RC4Key and the BIOS come as a pair and must be matching. So find an archive with a complete boot.cfg AND the xboxrom.bin. Don't try to mix and match because it won't work.

Note: Redistributing the RC4 keys is illegal. So, unfortunately, we can't post them on our website. The keys should NOT be all 0x00's. The last two digits of each 0x00 should be numbers/letters (Example 0xD3). If all you have are 0x00's you need to find another archive because the one you have will not work.

2.2) Now we need to sign the default.xbe from the Loader archive with xbedump.exe so that we are able to execute it. If you are unclear on how to sign your XBE, please refer to Part 1.

3) Preparing the Xbox for FTP file transfers

WARNING: DO NOT TURN OFF YOUR XBOX UNTIL YOU ARE TOLD TO DO SO!

3.1) Turn on your Xbox. Once you are at the Evolution X main screen select System Utils>Settings. At the top you will see your Network settings. If you are going to use static ip addressing change the settings to match your PC network settings. MAKE NOTE OF THE SETTINGS! If you are going to use DHCP you may need to set the computer up first. Once the Xbox is setup the way you want it turn it off for now.

Note: Evolution X has a built in FTP server. We will be utilizing this FTP function to upload our replacement BIOS and the Loader application.

4) FTP Into the Xbox and Transfer Loader and BIOS

4.1) Connect your Xbox to your PC via the network cable(s).

4.2) Install FlashFXP, the default settings are fine. Turn on your Xbox and check at the network settings. Open FlashFXP and click on the little lightning bolt (top center). Select Quick Connect. In the server or URL box type in the IP address of your Xbox. Both the user name and password of the Xbox are "xbox". If you connected successfully, you should see a list of partitions. If you can't connect, go back and check all of the settings on both the Xbox and the computer. DON'T UPLOAD THE PHOENIX BIOS LOADER YET! WE NEED A DASH FIRST!

5) Copying EvoX to the E Partition

Note: All dashboards have an .xbe file. This file is much like an .exe and actually XBE actually stands for (X)(B)ox (E)xecutable. It is the executable than starts the program. The bios that comes with the Phoenix BIOS Loader will be looking for evoxdash.xbe on the E partition. So ANY dashboard you choose must have the .xbe file changed to evoxdash.xbe! And it MUST be in the E Partition!

5.1) Browse to your C partition on the Xbox from within FlashFXP. Right click on the default.xbe file and chose "Copy". Browse to the E partition. Once we are viewing the contents of the E partition, right click again and chose paste. Repeat this process with the evox.ini file.

5.2) Make sure you are viewing the E partition and rename the file default.xbe to evoxdash.xbe.

5.3) Create two folders in the E partition call the first one "apps" and the second one "games".

6) Uploading the Phoenix BIOS Loader

6.1) Navigate to the unzipped Phoenix BIOS Loader folder on your computer (left side in FlashFXP)

6.2) Connect to your Xbox if you are not already connected. Navigate to the C partition on your Xbox (right side of FlashFXP).

6.3) Upload ALL of the files from the Phoenix BIOS Loader archive to the C partition of your Xbox. (NOT INTO A NEW FOLDER). You can do this by dragging and dropping accordingly. You will overwrite the default.xbe that is already there.

7) Reboot and Enjoy

If all went successfully you should be looking at evox again. Except that now we will be running with our modified bios. Our new BIOS will allow us to do some pretty neat things. Amongst them, our next tutorial: Upgrading the Xbox Hard Drive.