Inertia Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 How it works: x360 HDD's contain information on sector 16 about the HDD: the HDD serial number, the model, the firmware version and the size in sectors is stored here. The x360 asks the HDD to identify itself, by sending an 'IDENTIFY DEVICE' ATA to the HDD. It will compare the returned information to the info that is stored on sector 16. This information on sector 16 is signed and thus can not be changed. This tool will mod the FW from the WD HDD to comply with the information on sector 16, so that the 'identify' information will match the information on sector 16 and your x360 will accept the HDD as valid. How to use: Get yourself a Western Digital SATA BEVS HDD. Copy sectors 16 - 22 (7 sectors) from a valid x360 HDD to the Western Digital. Then, boot to dos (not a dos box from windows) and run this application. Make sure that you have ONLY this Western Digital drive connected to your sata controller, have the other devices disconnected. Then follow the instructions on screen. Keep in mind that you have to start the utility from a writable path if you want to create an 'undo' file (it will save it to the path you've started the tool from). Make sure that you have FIRST copied the sectors 16-22 onto the drive, BEFORE using this tool ! The tool will need that info on sector 16, otherwise it doesn't know how to mod your FW. After the tool has flashed your drive, turn off your computer, wait a few seconds, restart your computer and re-run the tool. The tool will tell you then whether the whole thing was succesful. http://digg.com/gaming_news/TheSpecialist_..._HDD_on_Xbox360 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skiver Veteran Posted January 26, 2007 Veteran Share Posted January 26, 2007 i dont see much point in this, it still doesnt give you anymore then 20GB of storage because the signature on the disk says that the disk is 20GB or am i missing something here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inertia Posted January 26, 2007 Author Share Posted January 26, 2007 i dont see much point in this, it still doesnt give you anymore then 20GB of storage because the signature on the disk says that the disk is 20GB or am i missing something here? 20gb hard drives from MS are very expensive compared to OEM ones, also when MS bring out 100gb+ hard drives this will most likley still be the case, the point of this mod is that it saves money. also you can ue multiple cheap hard drives now if you want to, for example you could use your original one for saving game progress and episodic content etc, a cheap oem one for video downloads and a cheap oem one for demo downloads. its feasable because its relativley cheap. The main benefit will be when they bring out 100gb+ hdds though, we can all just buy a laptop drive cheaper than MS will charge and use that in the case out 20gb drive came in.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilsbury Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 You still need the housing for the drive though? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inertia Posted January 26, 2007 Author Share Posted January 26, 2007 well it ssata, so it roudnt be hard top make an adapter cable, im sure cheap ones will flood onto the market soon, now this is possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skiver Veteran Posted January 26, 2007 Veteran Share Posted January 26, 2007 TBH, i dont think i've ever seen a 20GB SATA drive, so say i got a 40GB one, im wasting 20GB? say a 40GB drive is ?30, a caddy by the looks of things are ?15 thats ?45 so im saving ?20 and wasting 20GB i mean its a good idea and i hate to be so negative about it, but money saved + time taken = not worth it in my books tbh i cant even imagine why anyone would need to have all this data, i mean play a demo... if you like it, buy it, and delete it, if you dont then delete it... same with videos once you have watched em a few times is their any need to keep them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magik Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 Also, it's important to note that this only works with Western Digital Scorpio BEVS series hard drives. TBH, i dont think i've ever seen a 20GB SATA drive, so say i got a 40GB one, im wasting 20GB? say a 40GB drive is ?30, a caddy by the looks of things are ?15 thats ?45 so im saving ?20 and wasting 20GBi mean its a good idea and i hate to be so negative about it, but money saved + time taken = not worth it in my books tbh i cant even imagine why anyone would need to have all this data, i mean play a demo... if you like it, buy it, and delete it, if you dont then delete it... same with videos once you have watched em a few times is their any need to keep them This will be much more useful with Microsoft releases the larger capacity HDD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Lyle Global Moderator Posted January 27, 2007 Global Moderator Share Posted January 27, 2007 https://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?show...30260&st=40 i wouldn't attempt this. i called out someone to post proof, and all i got was "ill post later" and that later never came. if you want to keep your hard drive in working condition, i suggest you don't touch it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magik Posted January 27, 2007 Share Posted January 27, 2007 https://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?show...30260&st=40i wouldn't attempt this. i called out someone to post proof, and all i got was "ill post later" and that later never came. if you want to keep your hard drive in working condition, i suggest you don't touch it No, this is a completely different mod. It does not add any extra storage, you are still limited to the 20GB size of current HDD. This is legit and I'm sure it works as long as you follow everything outlined. It's basically just a HDD firmware hack (much like the current DVD firmware hack that does work). The methodology was developed by TheSpecialist who also was the one responsible for the DVD firmware hack. Of course, YMMV, but this does work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDQuiksilver Posted January 27, 2007 Share Posted January 27, 2007 Seems like more work than it should be. Got to give it to "the other guys" for getting this part right. :yes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skiver Veteran Posted January 29, 2007 Veteran Share Posted January 29, 2007 Also, it's important to note that this only works with Western Digital Scorpio BEVS series hard drives.This will be much more useful with Microsoft releases the larger capacity HDD. ok so i did a quick google search and the cheapest i could find this drive is ? 43.67 inc delivery so add a caddy in for ?15 i didnt check to see if this retailer sold caddies this price was from a different site but say they did thats still ?58.67... it isnt really worth it atm and have MS officially stated they are gonna bring a bigger HD out? im not saying they havent i just havent seen it anywhere Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToneKnee Posted January 29, 2007 Share Posted January 29, 2007 ok so i did a quick google search and the cheapest i could find this drive is ? 43.67 inc delivery so add a caddy in for ?15 i didnt check to see if this retailer sold caddies this price was from a different site but say they did thats still ?58.67... it isnt really worth it atmand have MS officially stated they are gonna bring a bigger HD out? im not saying they havent i just havent seen it anywhere It will happen, people just need to demand for it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magik Posted January 29, 2007 Share Posted January 29, 2007 Yea, it will happen eventually. When it does, then this mod is useful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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