Disclaimer: This article is wicked old. I wrote it years ago, but I am keeping it online as an FYI more than anything else.

Introduction: Let's not waste any more of your time trying to figure out how to mod your XBox. The problem is that newbies are bombarded with conflicting information from different sources all saying something different. This guide will take you in the straight line I wish I had. Let's not make this any more complicated than it needs to be. It is very straight forward, really. This isn't the ONLY way to mod your XBox, this is simply the way I modded mine. I have cut out the fluff. You can read about all that stuff here and here. Again, this isn't the be-all end-all guide, it's only a simplified version designed to get you from a generic XBox to a Modified one.

Part 1: Stuff to Buy

1. XBox
You can buy one for under $100 remanufactured. Since you are about to disassemble it and void any warranty you may have had, now is not the time to worry about remanufactured merchandise. Besides, I bought mine and haven't had any problems for over 6 years. We still have it plugged into our TV as an XBMC Multimedia Center.

2 X-ecuter 2 Lite
You will need to buy a mod chip, and this one is not only the best available, but it also one of the least expensive and easiest to install. You can find an active list of sellers here. There is a pro version, but you do not need it. There are other models available, but can't vouch for them. Since this one still works, whats the difference right? After all, it's the most widely used mod chip.

3. CD-RW's
You should pick up a pack of these for about $8. You see, the XBox has trouble reading normal CD-R's. You need CD-RW's in UDF format (normal CD-RW format). You will need one later on for the new Dashboard. After it's all working, you can plug the xbox into the ethernet network and copy the games onto the hard drive that way.

4. DVD-RW (optional)
All games now come on DVD's so if you want to make complete backups, you will need to buy a DVD burner for your PC. The burner will be about $30 and then each disk will run about $.10 each, if not more. This is a very affordable option. I still prefer to save the game in RAR format and put multiple games one one DVD. If I ever need a backup, it can be retrieved.

5. 80+ gig Hard Drive (optional)
This is the method that I prefer. I bought a 100 GB Western Digital and replaced the incredibly small 8 GB that comes with the XBox. I have heard that the newer models are now being sold with 20 gig drives, but at an average of 2 gigs per game, that space will be eaten up quickly. With 100 GB available, I have plenty of space for my games, which load directly from the console, no need to mess around with loose disks anymore. Besides, the games load MUCH faster. The standard XBox will support 120GB drives out of the box. There are now ways to get larger drives in there.

Part 2: Open the case

Let's open the case and install the hardware. You may hear from message boards that this is easy. You may see videos of how easy it is. Depending on your skill level and luck factor, it may not be. My experience with installing the mod chip was less than pleasurable. However, newer plug and play models are available. Since I do not have one, I cannot vouch for them.

This is an X2 Lite. This will let you play homemade games, DVD's and all kinds of stuff. It has been banned from XBox live. I don't care, but if you do, don't mod.

This is a shot of all the screws on the bottom of the box. There are 6 total. 4 are under the feet, and 2 under the stickers. You can either poke a hole through the sticker, or you can use a hairdryer and melt the glue underneath. This will let you peal the sticker right up.

Once inside, you can see the DVD-R on the left and your small hard drive on the right. There is only 1 IDE cable, 2 ports. I am told you can put in 2 hard drives, but if you are a gaming nut, you can also put in an external hard drive switcher and flip between them.

Underneath that is the motherboard. If you follow this method, you will need to unplug all the wires and unscrew the board from the chasis.

Here is a closeup of where your colored wires will go. Notice mine is pre-soldered. This is on older motherboards which have Bios V1.0. The new ones have empty holes and Bios v1.1.

I pre-soldered all the wires. This way you can just heat solder on solder, making it easier.

Here is a shot of the wires attached. This is the easy part.

The official instructions can be found here. For the sake of posterity and ease of this article, I have included following image from that article.

This is the D0 point. It is evil. Of course, by buddy got it to work in 7-8 tries. Good for him. Didn't work at all for me. Depending on your skill factor, your success may vary. The word I have to pass along to you is "Flux". If you don't know what it is, look it up. It's used for soldering.

This is called the Alternate D0. I don't have any idea where this image came from. If someone knows, I will give credit. Anyway, see that red arrow? Solder that gray wire there. The blue dotted line shows that you can stick the black wire through the hole and not wrap around the motherboard like I did.

You can either do the top of the board, or the bottom. The top is darn near impossible. This is my opinion, and I am sticking to it. If you are reading this tutorial to learn, you may want to listen to my advise.

Here is a closeup of that D0 wire. I taped it down because I don't want any oopsies and have that joint come loose. Last thing I care to do is monkey with this again. I would just like to point out that this picture is a poor example, it just happens to be the only shot I took. It looks like the solder is touching a second point, when in fact, it isn't.

At this point, you will want to test the board out before putting the whole thing back together again. If it works, put it back together. If not, odds are that D0 isn't right. De-solder it, and try again. Do NOT yank that wire. There are too many people who ripped the trace right out (a trace are the lines on the motherboard).

If you still need more information about X2 installation, read here.

Part 3: Now What?

You have to make some decisions here on how you want to use your system. I recommend skipping to Part 4 and have it all done automatically for you. Alternatively, you will need to download the newest copy of Evolution X, MediaXmenu, or Avalaunch, your new Dashboard that will load instead of Microsoft's. You can burn this to a CD-RW and either copy it to the hard drive, or load it right from the CD-RW it's burned on. This is needed if you want to do any of the fun stuff, like copy games, play unlocked DVD's and stuff like that. I will not go into any detail about that stuff because I find it all more hassle than it's worth to get it all setup by hand. You can read about this stuff elsewhere. My suggestion is doing it the easy way I describe next.

Part 4: Format Existing Hard Drive / New Hard Drive

I am going to zip through this part, because it really is as easy as it sounds. Remove the original hard drive and put in your new one. No need to format it or anything like that. If you will continue using the old hard drive, that's fine too. Go Download SlaYer's EvoX Auto-Installer v.2.5, XDisk, or Bloody Mary's UnleashX Installer and burn it to a CD-RW. This can be found either by doing a Google search, IRC, or in newsgroups. Alternatively, I sell a compilation DVD you may purchase here that has everything you could possibly want already included.

Now, put in the SlaYer CD-RW and start up your Xbox. It will ask all kinds of questions about your XBox, mainly about v1 or v1.1 Bios, and what hard drive you are installing to... it's pretty straight forward. It will then format the Hard Drive, install some utilities, and ask you to reboot. Remove the disk and reboot to a fully modded Xbox. Keep in mind that some of the utilities that it installs may not be the most recent versions. My advise is to get used to things first, then upgrade later when you are comfortable with things.

Part 5 (a): Copy Games from DVD to XBox Hard Drive

1. Put in a game to your XBox. The Xbox has to already be started, otherwise it will load from the DVD.

2. Use a program like Boxplorer to copy directly from the DVD to your Hard Drive (works well with any games released before March 2003. After this date, various levels of copy protection were used. Some were easy and only needed an XBE Cracker. Other games like Matrix went nuts on the protection. Your mileage may vary.)

Part 5 (b): Copy Games from DVD to DVD

1a. If you do not have a router, you may connect your XBox directly to your PC with a cross-over cat5 cable and a PCI Ethernet card. This is slightly different from a normal cat5 ethernet cable, so make sure it says cross-over. You may now connect your 2 machines. You must also make sure they both have the same IP address of 192.168.1.x. it doesn't matter what the last digit is, but the first 3 must be the same. Newer versions of EvoX change it to 192.168.0.x so make sure both machines are the same first 3 with different 4th digits. (Tech guys may be saying "Hey..." yeah, i know, but let's not cause more trouble for the newbie, ok?)

1b. Connect your Xbox to your router using an ethernet cable. Once plugged in, your router will give it an IP address. This will most likely change unless you specify an IP address on the XBox itself. You should then go to the System Settings page to get your current IP Address, and make it a static (permanent) address in this window as well. I have also found that on my old setup, I could not connect unless I was on this page. I think it was just me, it's fixed now and I can just turn on the Xbox and connect no problem.

3b. Use a program like Flash FXP to connect to the XBox. I recommend Flash FXP because you need one that can view hidden folders. Another one that works is Ace FTP, which is freeware. CuteFTP will not work.

4. Get your IP Address for the XBox and enter that, as well as XBox for name and password.

5. Once connected, you have free reign over your Xbox. Go to the drive that has your DVD drive (D I think) and you can copy the files over to your PC.

6. Once you have all the files into a folder on your PC, use xISO to compress these loose files back into a format that the XBOX can read.

7. Burn the ISO to a DVD using Nero, PrimoDVD or Record Now Max... any ISO burning program will do.

Part 5 (c): Copy Games to Hard Drive

The directions are the same as 1 - 5 in the last section.

6. Copy the loose files back to the XBox hard drive. They will go into Drive F: inside of the folder labeled HDDLoader. You should make a new folder inside of there for each new game you add. This is assuming you are using HDDLoader to automatically see all available games. Again, this is assuming you setup using Slayers Autoinstaller or have setup something similar.

Part 5 (c): Copy ISO Games to Hard Drive

Let's say you have an ISO, but want to copy that game to the hard drive. You will need to extract it first. Open xISO and drag and drop the "game.iso" file onto it.

You can then extract the files to your PC's hard drive. Following the instructions above to copy the loose files onto the XBox hard drive.

Conclusion:

Basically, that's it. I encourage you to read through all the other tutorials linked from this article to get a better understanding of how to do this stuff. I just wanted to give a streamlined all encompassing version. Once I got it to do what I wanted it to, I stopped learning all the different ways of doing this stuff.

Advanced

Disclaimer: Everything in this section was written either by me, or blatantly ripped from the internet. I did this to collect various pieces of information in one place for you. Rather than rewriting something that has already been written, I give it to you in it's mostly unedited version. I have no idea where any of this information came from, nor do I know if it is even correct.

Copy Protection:

Every XBE has a media flag, which determines which media on which it can be run. At retail,
Microsoft signs all Xbox games to run from an Xbox game disc only. Current mod chips (those
subsequent to the Enigmah Beta) only have the capability of circumventing the 1st implemen-
tation of this media check. Now that the 2nd implementation has arrived, no mod chips as of
the date of this writing are able to circumvent this media check.

Bypassing the media check is simple. You can run this patch to automate the process. It will
work on both XBE and ISO files. I used a program called XBE Media ID Patcher.

If you prefer to patch the game manually, load the XBE or ISO file in your favorite hexeditor
and search for:

00 74 4B E8 CA FD FF FF 85 C0 7D 06 33 C0 50 50 EB 44 F6 05

When located, change it to:

00 74 4B E8 CA FD FF FF 85 C0 EB 06 33 C0 50 50 EB 44 F6 05

The Game STILL Won't Load!

There seems to be another thing stopping some games from working right. This is the IGR (In Game Reset) which is built into Evolution X. If you open up your FTP program, and look open your C: drive, you can copy over a file called Evox.ini to your PC. Now, open this file and change all the lines that say "IGR = Yes" to "IGR = No" and resave the file. Now copy it back to your XBox and reboot. Don't forget to backup your Evox.ini as well. This will fix a whole bunch of games that otherwise load to a black screen and crash.

In Game Reset

Even though I just told you to turn it off, it still works just fine (yeah!). Push Start - Back - Left Trigger - Right Trigger all at once, and the Xbox will reboot.

Rename the Default Title Names for XBE's

Go get this file. You can rename via FTP from within this program. Works like a charm.

PAL Games on NTSC

Both the European and American versions seem to load and play the same regardless of where they originated from.

What is a .GI file?

.GI stands for Global Image. Its like an .ISO, but only Prassi PrimoDvd and Stomp RecordNow MAX support it.

To burn .GI files follow these steps:

1. (Download Prassi PrimoDvd 2.0 or Stomp RecordNow MAX 4.5 and install it into your computer.)
2. (Click on the program and a small menu should pop up.)
3. Click on "Full Applacation"
4. (Now you should be at another menu.)
5. Then press on the 3erd icon if you start from the LEFT.
5. Now press "...." to browse your hard-drive for a GI file.
6. After you have selected the .GI file click "Open"
7. Now Double click on the burner you want to use. (on the left side)
EXAMPLE: On The Left Hand Side Of Your Screen It Shoud Say Something Like "Host: 0 ID:1". Double Click On One Of Those. THE ONE THAT IS YOUR BURNER.
8. Now after you have done all this click on the Red or Green circle and it will start Burning.

Delete Games from Hard Drive

How can you delete games off the hd if you dont have a pc? Boxplorer is what you need.

Where can I get CD Covers?

http://www.cdcovers.cc/
http://www.xboxcw.co.uk/
http://www.coverx.org/
http://www.xboxcw.co.uk

How do I play DivX Movies?

XBMP and YAMP both work well and will play DivX Movies on your Xbox. Just remember that the Xbox won't read normal CD-R's, only CD-RW Disks. More information on XBMP later in this article.

How do I use CD-RW Disks?

You have to do a Full format at the slowest speed, like 2x. Quick and 4x don't work in all cases (Personally, I have burned at 10x without any problems). Memorex,Verbatim,and TDK work fine.

Where can I find pre-made disk images?

Best place is Newsgroups. A detailed description of the who/what/where can be found here. The software I highly recommend is GrabIt.

XBMP, Relax, and Streaming Music, Pictures, and Movies

I am going to explin this in the simplest, most basic terms to get you up and running. If you can't figure the rest out yourself, you shouldn't be doing this stuff in the first place.

1. Download and install Relax somewhere on your computer. What Relax will do, is share out specified folders on your computer to the XBox. This is great if you want to play music or watch DivX movies or something like that without having to copy it to your XBox's Hard Drive first.

2. Run the program named relax_ns.exe to start the program. If you want to learn about more tricks this program can do, read the documentation.

3. In the right pane, navigate to a folder you want to share out. Drag the folder you want to share over to the word "Shares" in the left pane. This will add it to the list of available folders for the XBox.

4. Highlight the folder and the options will appear. You can give the folder a name, change some settings, and even restrict the folder to be shared with only one machine, the XBox. This is good if you have multiple machines on a network, or you want to do facier stuff like share over the internet with your friends.

5. Save your settings, and as long as this program is running, it will broadcast out to the XBox.

6. Now, back to XBMP. Copy "config.xml" back to your PC and edit the file. You will need to make changes to IP addresses, folders, and stuff like that. It is broken up into different headings and you will need to make the same basic changes over and over for Music, Pictures and Videos.

7. In this section, change "address" to be the XBox ip address, and change the gateway to be that of your router. If you don't have a router, and you are using a direct cross-over cable, I would say leave it alone. Although, I have not tried this without a router. Nameserver is your ISP's DNS server. You don't need this unless you are sharing over the internet. Make sure the rest of the folders are properly going to the right place.

8. Here is the Music section. Remember, the changes must be repeated for the Pictures and Videos sections as well. For what we are doing here, ignore the XBMSP and SMB sections. In the XNS section, change the URL to the folder your shared with the Relax program along with the IP Address of your PC (open a DOS window and type "ipconfig" if you don't know your address). Also, make sure the cache size is 256 for all sections.

9. Copy the saved "config.xml" file back to the XBox and reboot it. Next time you launch XBMP, it should all work. In this example, I went to "My Videos", then selcted "Network (XNS)" and viola, there is the folder I setup. Now I can pick anything in the list, and just start watching.

Manually Add Games to Hard Drive

There are several ways this can be done. If the game is on your hard drive or DVD-ROM, then your first step is to download xISO. This is an awesome tool that can read Xbox ISO images from your hard drive or CD-ROM/DVD-ROM drive. Anyway, extract the zip and then run the program. There are two ways to load the ISO. If the game is in your Xbox DVD-ROM, then all you have to do it open your FTP client, transfer the files from the Xbox to your HDD, and then go to step 3.

1. If the ISO image is on your hard drive, click the "Read XISO" button. Then find the ISO image and open it. If the ISO image is in your CD-ROM drive, use the pull-down menu to select the correct drive and then click the "Read XDVD" button.

2. Now, click the "Extract All" button to extract the contents onto your hard drive.

3. Once you have done this, get your Xbox onto the network and find a folder on the Xbox HDD that has enough space for your game to fit. If you are using a the Xbox HDD that came with it, you will notice that the F partition has 0 bytes free; this is where all the extra space goes if you install a new HDD. Please note that you CANNOT put ANY files on X, Y or Z as they are only for cache and the Xbox deletes the contents on boot up.

4. Create a folder and name it with the name of the game (it can be anything, this is NOT what shows up in the EvolutionX dashboard).

5. Upload the game to the Xbox HDD into the folder you have just created.

6. Now go to the menu.ini file (open it with notepad) that came with the EvolutionX ISO rar file. You'll see that it is fully customizable. You can create a shortcut anywhere, but I suggest you put it in the section "Games" for obvious reasons.

7. The syntax of the menu is as follows (this method is the longer way to do it, if you want a shorter and more automated way, look at the last paragraph in this numbered list:

Item "name","location"

You'll want to keep the quotes. Whatever you input for name is what appears in the EvolutionX dashboard. The location should direct to the default.xbe, which is ALWAYS in the root folder (xbe files are the equivalent of exe files for the PC) of every game, on the Xbox HDD. For example, if I had a game I wanted to call Hunter: The Reckoning and I extracted it to E:\Games\Hunter\ on my Xbox HDD, the line would look like this:

Item "Hunter: The Reckoning","E:\Games\Hunter\default.xbe"

The tabs shouldn't matter; it is just to make it look nice. For an example of a working menu.ini (mine), click here.

Alternatively, you can use AutoAddItem. This neat little thing will look in the directory you point it to and it will automatically add things inside the folder. Coincidentally, the only downside to this is that you don't get to pick the name of the line, but of course, that is the whole purpose of this method since it does it automatically.

9. Reboot your Xbox and your game should work

Replacing the DVD Player

Here is a tutorial on how to hook up a normal PC DVD-ROM drive to your Xbox. Why would you want to do this, you ask? Well, it is FAR more efficient than the Xbox DVD-ROM because it will read all media it normally reads, and faster! Although it may look a little ugly, I highly suggest this method for those that are not looking to replace their hard drive and instead burn all their games to CD's/DVD's.

As for which DVD-ROM drives work, I haven't heard any that don't, so any one should work. When I did this, I used a Toshiba SD-M1502. I have heard that Toshiba drives work the best but it could just be speculation.

For this tutorial you will need:
" a Torx 20 screwdriver
" a Y 5.25 power splitter (like one that you would use in your PC)
" a PC DVD-ROM
" any original game (demo discs work, also)
" a modchip installed

1. First you will need to open your Xbox up. Use a hair dryer on all the pads and then use it on the sticker with the barcode and the then the one with the warranty. There are 6 large screws. Use a Torx 20 to unscrew them.

2. Now that you have unscrewed the case just give it a tug and it should come off.

3. Now you should see the IDE cable in the HDD and Xbox DVD-ROM and also the power cable for the HDD. Now, take off power cable for the HDD and put it into one of the part of the power splitter that is not split into 2. Put one end back into the HDD and the other into your PC DVD-ROM.

4. Now set your PC DVD-ROM's jumper to slave mode (differs with each one).

5. Take the IDE cable out of the Xbox DVD-ROM and put it into your Xbox DVD-ROM.
Now, to play burnt games you will need to put an original in the Xbox DVD-ROM and then just put the burnt game in the PC DVD-ROM. Picture here.

To play originals you will need to disconnect the IDE cable from your PC DVD-ROM and connect it back to your Xbox DVD-ROM. Then just boot it as you normally would. Also, it is possible to do this method AND have the case closed. I haven't tried this, but download this if you want to.

Replacing the Hard Drive

Here is a tutorial on how to hook up a install a new HDD (for more space) on your Xbox. It shouldn't matter what HDD you use.
" EvolutionX 2.2, 2.3, Xecuter or equivalent BIOS (Enigmahs, Pandoras, Xtenders and Messiah-X's will NOT work, final or beta)
" a Torx 10 screwdriver
" a Torx 15 screwdriver (this works better than a Torx 10 for the 2 screws on each side of the HDD case, but a Torx 10 WILL work)
" a Torx 20 screwdriver
" a HDD (5400 RPM is recommended as you are guaranteed no overheating issues; a 7200 RPM will work, but you will gain no performance boost and you risk overheating your Xbox)
" basic knowledge of how to install a HDD on a PC
" Ziki's HDD Preparer 1.3

NOTE: For pictures on how to open your Xbox, go here, which has plenty of them.
1. First, you will need to backup the files on the HDD currently in your Xbox. To do this, set the appropriate network settings, and simply transfer the C (system files) and E (music and saved games) partitions someone onto your PC HDD.
2. Now, you will need to hook up the HDD you are planning to put in your Xbox to your PC.
3. Boot up your PC.
4. Run Ziki's HDD Preparer 1.3. Note that this program has only been tested to work on 2K/XP/98se and it does not work on NT. Select the appropriate drive. Tick "Zeroing" and "Only 1st 4096 sectors of partitions". Click Prepare. It should finish finish in under a second, depending on how big your drive is.
[1]
5. Shut down your PC.
6. Take out the HDD.
7. Set the jumper to cable select if it's there (IBM). If not, try master (Western Digital).
8. Now, open your Xbox up. Use a hair dryer on all the pads and then use it on the sticker with the barcode and the then the one with the warranty. There are 6 large screws. Use a Torx 20 to unscrew them.
9. Now that you have unscrewed the case just give it a tug and it should come off.
10. Now you should see the IDE cable in the HDD and Xbox DVD-ROM and also the power cable for the HDD. Now, take both the IDE and power cable off from the HDD.
11. On the right side of the Xbox, you will see that there are clips holding the cord of the power cable down. Untangle these.
12. Now, mount your new HDD on top of the Xbox HDD and plug the power cord and IDE cable into it.
13. Turn on your Xbox and boot off the Evolution X CD.
14. Set the appropriate network settings.
15. Reboot your Xbox.
16. Now go to hard disk.
17. Go back to your PC and connect via FTP.
18. You will need to format all the partitions via raw commands. To send a raw command in FlashFXP, hti Ctrl + R. Copy and paste the following:

Formatpath \Device\Harddisk0\Partition1

In the status window, you should receive a FormatKey. Highlight it to copy it and then type:

Formatdrive key

You will need to do this for every partition. Simply replace the "1" with "2" at the end of the Formatpath command and repeat all the way up to 6. When you are done, your F drive should have blown up.
[1] [2] [3] [4]
19. Now, re-upload the C and E partitions to your Xbox.

NOTE: If any of the previous steps did not work, make sure you plugged everything in correctly and try all different jumper combinations that are pictured on your drive. If you still can't get it working, start over and try again. If they do not work again, you might have zero the entire drive. This will take approximately the same amount of time it would to format the drive so you may have to leave it overnight.
Now all you have to do is take out the Xbox HDD and put in your new one. To take it out, do the following steps (and obviously to put it back in, do it in reverse).
1. Now, in the middle of your Xbox you will see a single brown screw that is holding the casing for the HDD down. Use a Torx 10 to unscrew this.
2. Take out the power cable and untangle it under the clips on the right side of the case.
3. Now take the case for the HDD out.
4. On each side of the case there are 2 screws; unscrew these with a Torx 15 OR if you don't have a Torx 15, use a Torx 10.
5. Now put in your new HDD.
Replacing the Hard Drive version 2
Here is a 2nd Version of how to do it.
The stock MS harddrive varies from around 8GB to 10GB, depending on the number on the harddrive. Most XBOX games average around 1 to 2GBs in size, so the stock drive allows you to save only about 4 - 6 games. lets change that!

-Overview/Requirements-
You need to have a mod chip installed onto your xbox, flashed with a bios that alllows for a HD swap (evolution X and EvoX bioses do, not sure about others, i personally use EvoX D6 Eject Fix Bios)

1. In the evolution X dashboard, go to system utils > Backup. this will back up important info into the C:\Backup\ folder on your xbox (make sure that it does backup, some earlier versions of evolution x dashboard didn't backup the files right, evolution x dashboard v 1.8.3285 works beautifully, there should be five files in there)

2. Backup both your C and E drives of the xbox harddrive (you'll want this to copy back onto the new harddrive and to have just in case)

3. Make a new folder for the evolution x dashboard hd install cd we need to make.
You can use the evox.ini file from the xbox (the one we backed up earlier). You'll need to change a few things in it:
-leave everything else above this part alone, but go down to the [MENU] part.
Replace what is there with this:

[Menu]
Section "Install Menu"
{
Item "Install New Drive",@210
Item "Settings",@9
Item "Reboot",@5
}

[Action_10]

Info "Install HDD"
Warning "This will format all drives"
Warning "Make sure you have a backup of C & E"
Progress "Formatting Drives"

ConfigSector "\backup\disk.bin"
Format c:
Format e:
Format f:
Format x:
format y:
format z:

[Action_11]

[Action_12]

-then save it to the new folder, also copy over your evolution x dashboard file and rename it to default.xbe and also copy the folder "Backup" from the C:\Backup of the xbox.
so you have these files in the new folder:

evox.ini
default.xbe
\backup\bios.bin
\backup\disk.bin
\backup\eeprom.bin
\backup\hddinfo.txt
\backup\hddkey.bin

and then make an xbox image file (i use xISO) and burn it to a blank cd-rw (one that you know works in your xbox).

4. Disassemble your xbox and replace the Harddrive (make sure the jumpers on the harddrive are set to Primary or Master.
I am not sure about what harddrives work or not.. but i would assume any IDE ata/100 5400RPM or better, the max size you can replace is about 130GB, i guess the xbox doesn't recognize anything above that or something...
Now hook up the harddrive like any harddrive and reassemble your xbox.
(keep your old xbox harddrive, just in case something goes awry)

5. Boot up your xbox with the cd we just created in step 3. It will load the evoluation x dashboard, go the the Install HD and follow the steps and wait for it to finish.

6. then just reinstall your c and e drives and make sure your evox.ini file or settings has USE F Drive? to a Y for YES. Your F Drive on the new hd will be the biggest and where you'll want to save games, music or apps..
(Original was found here http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/11162)

How can I tell which version I have?

Without a disk in the drive, turn it on. Go to the settings option in the XBOX menu and select information. You will see lots of legal text. Simply allow script to scroll to the bottom and if it says "4034" then you have Version 1.1 and if it says nothing, you are Version 1.

Making Backups

materials needed:
--HARDWARE--
-XBOX [duh! :-)]
-a mod chip ( i like the matrix, solder less!! and you can flash the bios)
-an ethernet card/NIC
-a router or a twisted network cable
-a dvd burner

--SOFTWARE--
-FlashFXP (to ftp into your xbox)
-xISO (to create XBOX iso files, a bit buggy but there are other programs that do the same)
-Nero Burn (to burn the XBOX iso files to a blank dvds)
-Evolution X Dashboard (for the xbox)
-Evox D6 Bios (flashed on the matrix mod chip)

Step 1. flash the mod chip with the Evox D6 Bios (or which ever version of the evox bios you have or use). Install the mod chip. Then install the Evolution X Dashboard onto the xbox harddrive (see other xbox forums or sites on the specifics on how you do this)

Step 2. After you get evolution x dashboard installed, hook up the network cable in the back of the xbox and into the network card in your computer (xbox game backing up requires you to take an outside in approach).
setup the network settings so you can FTP into your xbox (assign an IP address)

Step 3. Insert the game we want to rip, into your XBOX and open up Flash FXP and connect to the IP address you assigned your xbox.. The user name is : xbox, the password is: xbox (defaults). Once you are connected, it will bring up a list of folders (c:, d:, e:, f:, x:, etc). The main ones we want to worry about are teh C: and the D:. The C: is the main xbox drive, and the D: is the XBOX DVD Drive (this is the one we need to worry about).

Step 4.
Go the d: folder and copy the folder to your harddrive.

Step 5. After you copy it to your harddrive (your pc's), you'll need to use xISO to make an XBOX .iso file.

Step 6. Burn teh xbox iso file to a blank DVD.

Step 7. Play the burned game and enjoy! ( i use dvd+rw's on the first, test burn to be sure i don't waste dvds on games that didn't rip right) (originally found here)

Installing Evolution X

Here is a quick tutorial on how to set up Evolution X on your Xbox. A modchip is required for Evolution X to boot. Without a modchip, the Xbox will not boot any unsigned code. However, every modchip on the market right now alters the Xbox so that it will.

1. Download the Evolution X beta ISO.

2. Open it in WinRAR 3, and then extract all the files.

3. Burn the the file named "EvolutionX V1.8.458.iso" the same way you would burn a normal Xbox game. Personally, I like to use Nero. In Nero, you would go to File > Burn Image and then locate the file.

4. Connect your Xbox to your PC. This can be done using a normal ethernet cable and connecting it from the Xbox to a LAN hub/router OR you can use a crossover cable and connect it directly to a network card in your PC. Either way will work the same.

5. Boot the Evolution X CD in your Xbox.

6. Select Network.

7. This is the confusing part. In the third line where it says "Static IP", enter a local IP that is within range of your network. Here is how to find out what your local IP address and what your default gateway is.

o Windows 95/98/ME
" Start > Run > winipcfg
o Windows XP
" Start > Run > command > ipconfig
o Windows XP
" Start > Run > cmd > ipconfig

Now look at Local Area Connection and the IP address listed. Use the same numbers for the first three sets but for the last one, add one to it and put that in on the Xbox. Make sure that the number you entered is NOT the local IP of another computer on the network, or at least one that's one! If it is, then keeping adding one to the last number until it isn't. For example, my local IP is 192.168.0.1. Normally I would put in 192.168.0.2 onto my Xbox, but since that is the IP to my brother's computer, I put in 192.168.0.3. Now, look at the Subnet Mask listed under Local Area Connection and that is what you should put in for your default gateway. Since I am using Windows XP, I only have screenshots for that particular OS.

8. Press Back on your controller.

9. Reboot (on your Xbox, NOT PC).

10. Go to Network.

11. Now, the IP listed on the first line should be the same as the one you entered. If it isn't try other IP's that winipcfg/ipconfig gave you.

12. Go back to your PC and start your FTP client program. It is important that your Xbox is still on and running EvolutionX (but it doesn't have to be at the network section). This means you won't be able to transfer files while you are playing a game. Also, turn passive mode off.

13. Connect to the local IP you previously entered on your Xbox on port 21 using an anonymous login.

14. Now, you should see six partitions on the Xbox. Now go into the C:\ folder.

15. Transfer xboxdash.xbe to your HDD. This is to make sure if you mess anything up, you still have the backup dashboard.

16. Now go into the D:\ drive, which is the Xbox's DVD-ROM. Download default.xbe onto your HDD.

17. Go back into C:\ on the Xbox and upload default.xbe, and then rename it to xboxdash.xbe.

18. Reboot your Xbox.

Evolution X Configuration

Overview: Evolutions X Dashboard allows you to do many things with your xbox/mod chip. You can use it to add a new harddrive or to just backup games. It also allows you to install programs such as DVDX2 (a dvd movie player) or XBOX Media Player (lets you play mp3s, avi, .jpg and many more).

Software/Programs:

-xISO version 1.10 - use to create xbox image files, xbox discs are not readable in normal pc dvd drives.

-Evolution X Dashboard v1.8.3285 - needed to ftp into xbox and take advantage of the mod chip

-Neroburn - use to burn the xISO .iso image files to a CD-RW

-FlashFXP - use to FTP into your XBOX

Step 1. Introduction and Quick Info
Once you have downloaded the evolution x dashboard version 1.8.3285 or later, open up the folder where you saved the files. Here's what files you should have (the default.xbe might be named xboxdash.xbe or evoxdash.xbe, rename it to default.xbe).

The main thing is to have at least the evox.ini file and the default.xbe (it might have been xboxdahs.xbe until we renamed it) file.

Step 2. Editing the evox.ini file so you can Network/FTP into your XBOX.
Open up the evox.ini file.
Go to the section that says:
_______________
[Network]
SetupNetwork = Yes
StaticIP = No
Ip = 192.168.0.3
Subnetmask = 255.255.255.0
Defaultgateway = 192.168.0.1
DNS1 = 0.0.0.0
DNS2 = 0.0.0.0
___________

Make sure you have a YES next to SetupNetwork and also make sure that you enable FTP (see below)
_________
[FTP]
Enable = Yes
Password = xbox
IGR = Yes
________

If you want to, you can put yes next to StaticIP; if you do, be sure to set the IP below. We'll later need this IP to FTP into the XBOX. Save it. Next thing we'll need to do is to create an xbox image file of this folder and then burn it to a blank cd-rw.
I'll explain more about the evox.ini file later on, after we get the dashboard installed onto your xbox.
Next we need to create an xbox image file of this folder containing the evox.ini, default.xbe, BIOS folder, Skin folder (xbox uses a different type of file structure than most dvds) and then burn that .iso file to a blank cd-rw.
Click the Link below to learn how to:
Create xISO image with xISO and burn them with Nero
Here is an example evox.ini file that works, it is in text format:
my basic evox.ini file i use to make a boot cd-rw
Here is what the evolution x dashboard will look like (from the above evox.ini file) when you boot the cd -rw we will be making (make sure you have the skin evox2 in the skins directory!)

Step 3. Booting your XBOX with the Evolution X Dashboard CD-RW we made.
Just power on your xbox like normal. After you turn it on, open up the drive and put in the cd-rw boot cd we made. Then Power off your xbox and turn it on with the cd-rw in it. It should load up to the evolution x dashboard. You can tell right away if your bios worked or not if the xbox logo says 'matrix inside' at the bottom. The dashboard will look like the screenshot to the upper right.
Lets check to see if the network is available or not. Go to System Utils and you'll get a new screen (see right pane) Then go into Settings:
I use a router to connect to my xbox, so you'll see the DHCP as type. My network works fine. If you go down further, you'll see this:
Make sure that it says Enable YES for FTP.
This is important. Now off to FTPing into the XBOX and installing the dashboard on your XBOX harddrive to replace the Microsoft Dashboard.

PrimoDVD is recomended but you need a DVD-RW/CD-RW drive compatible with Veritas (ex-Prassi) PrimoDVD. Most companies will deliver PrimoDVD with your DVD-RW/CD-RW driver. You can check the official webpage of Veritas PrimoDVD here

If you don't have a DVD-RW/CD-RW burner compatible with PrimoDVD , you can try Padus discjuggler 4 or the latest version of Nero.

Start PrimoDVD
Select "Go To Full Application"

Under Drive highlight the DVD-RW/CD-RW drive you want to use to burn your iso.
Then press on the 3th icon if you start from the left.

Now press on the "..." to browse your HD. (select iso file).

Make sure to select "Other images ..." under "Files of type".
Standard PrimoDVD will only look for .gi files.

Select the .iso file and press "Open"

Press on the icon indicated below and make sure the settings are :
Recording Type : Disc at Once (DAO) , Closed
Mode and blocking : CD Mode1 (Blocking 2048) - DVD

Double click on the burner you want to use. (on the left side)
Under "Jobs" one job should be listed. Press "F6" to start burning.

Wait ... it can take some time if image is big.
When it's done try to boot it in your Xbox.
Note : it's 100% normal you can't read the disc in your PC drive. (due the UDF format).