iPrep 8.8 - DosFlash finding 8 banks on Benq?

[j_nolesfan]

I'd be willing to send it to anyone who is skilled and has tools available beyond just interfacing via SATA (chip readers, probes, etc). All I ask for is the drive key in return and a promise to send it back if you can't.

[CoFree]

man after lookinmg over the thread
that flash chip size is wrong
i dont know what to tell you.

this drive will play orig games right now.
and
this drive cant in a console originally
is that right

[j_nolesfan]

man after lookinmg over the thread
that flash chip size is wrong
i dont know what to tell you.

this drive will play orig games right now.
and
this drive cant in a console originally
is that right

No, the chip is an SST that the DosFlash is finding. I know that much. The drive originally suffered the "open tray" issue where it would only open the tray, close with a disc, the laser would light up twice and the disc would spin once. Then, the console would say "open tray". I tried all of the fixes, rubber band, clean this, lube that, etc. So, I orderd a TS replacement drive and was planning on spoofing the TS as a Benq. The first time I ever got the card installed properly to display the correct port with a device attached via DosFlash, it showed the SST chip with the 512k memory. That's all if has ever shown. After many attempts, the drive will no longer eject when fully hooked up in the console. I get the red light hardware failure. However, I can still get the 512k chip to show in DosFlash. I read on another board something about a FirmGuard that has to be bypassed to read the firmware from any drive and that something might have happened in my case to keep me from bypassing firmguard. Other than that, I have no clue but as it stands right now, the drive is a brick to me unless there is a way to read from the firmware directly using some PC based or chip reader method.

Jeff

[CoFree]

i dont know any one that will read the firmware from the chip
sorry

[j_nolesfan]

I'm trying to figure out if maybe I missed a step somewhere. I keep seeing mention of unlocking the drive and I've seen mention of "FirmGuard". It still baffles me that I'm seeing the SST chip because I can't find an SST chip anywhere.

Jeff

[CoFree]

FirmGuard

that is just something you have to get around to flash a drive.

SST chip

is just a flash chip in the drive

[j_nolesfan]

I GOT IT!!! It's the damn drivers! Only version 5.30c will work! I had previously tried 5.80c and 5.20c as well as some legacy DOS drivers. For the first time ever, I got a glimpse of the Benq firmware. Now, my problem is that the Xbox goes into hardware failure mode before I can complete the firmware read. It's a race to even get to the point where I can see the drive on the port via DOSFlash. Would a connectivity kit bypass this issue?

Thanks,
Jeff

[HaGGardSmurf]

I GOT IT!!! It's the damn drivers! Only version 5.30c will work! I had previously tried 5.80c and 5.20c as well as some legacy DOS drivers. For the first time ever, I got a glimpse of the Benq firmware. Now, my problem is that the Xbox goes into hardware failure mode before I can complete the firmware read. It's a race to even get to the point where I can see the drive on the port via DOSFlash. Would a connectivity kit bypass this issue?

Thanks,
Jeff

If this is what your saying:
While flashing my xbox displays the RRoD, so I cannot continue with the flash would a CK3 bypass this?

Then the answer is:
Yes it would.

I have never ordered one online, but alot of the guys have, so they can let you know about good sites to buy from.

[j_nolesfan]

Ok, I got it. It seems to have been a combination of the driver version and the on/off/state of the drive. I saw the SST firmware a couple more times in my fight to get the firmware. I'm not sure if the previous error I was getting was hardware failure or an overheat. I find an overheat really odd since the system was warranteed for the RROD and hasn't had any temperature issues. Just in case, I aimed a fan straight into the mobo and didn't get the error again.

Now, I need to educate myself on how to extract the key from the firmware and spoof a TS drive. I was hoping to find a firmware/hex tool that was Windows based that would make the job easy. I'm sure it's there, just haven't looked very hard yet.

Jeff

[j_nolesfan]

I'm going to read up on some tutorials but to summarize my path that lies ahead:

My goal

to replace my bad Benq drive that has never been flashed/modded with a brand new TS drive. I suppose I'll want to use the new iExtreme 1.5 firmware so I can play a couple of backed up games.

With that in mind, I'm guessing I need to dump my TS drive's firmware and insert my Benq's key. Or, I need to just insert my Benq's key into the modded (1.5) firmware and flash the TS drive. I suppose it would be a good idea to dump the drive first just to be safe in case I want to put it back in its original state (warranty replacement, etc.).

As for the modded firmware. Is this a moving target? Is this a never ending battle between the Robinhood's of the world and big bad Micro$oft? Am I going to have to keep up to date and flash a new firmware version every time Micro$oft figures out a new way to detect the mod? If so, I may just keep the original firmware on the TS and try to fix the RROD problem on my other console for the backups/mods.

Thanks again,
Jeff

[sadalius]

Nah, you don't need a hex tool, you just need firmware toolbox or jungleflasher to extract your key from your firmware. Both of these programs are available in our downloads section for the 360. You can do all your spoofing and everything with those programs too.

EDIT:

as fpr updating, it''s not always a requirement. But yeah, it's pretty much a cat and mouse game between the modders and microsoft. I find it goes for a little while before having to update though.

[j_nolesfan]

Thanks for the info Sadalius. I guess it would be wise to avoid downloading any "security updates" or dashboard updates until checking too, right?

[j_nolesfan]

I'm hearing that spoofing a TS drive as a Benq can get me flagged? Is that likely? Possible?
Thanks,
Jeff

[CoFree]

spoofing a drive is fine as long as it is done right

[j_nolesfan]

I guess I need to read up. Any advice on what tools to use to spoof a TS as a Benq?