Question on the Process of Flashing your 360 drive

[RogueDog22]

Hey great site from what I've seen so far guys...

The question I have for you guys is to just double check that I have the procedure right as to how to correctly flash your xbox 360 drive (obviously depending on the drive you have in your 360) so that you can play back up copies of your already purchased 360 games. Now I had done some research over the past few hours on numerous sites with loads of written and video tutorials so I believe I have it mostly correct.

Here it is:
1--> First you must open up your 360 and determine the type of DVD drive you have in it.
2--> Depending on your drive you must find the correct firmware that is suitable for that drive.
3--> From here you need a certain program that can take your firmware and make it bootable? (this is where I'm kind of confused)
4--> Here you need to have a flash/thumb drive that can be used to boot from.
(I know there's some details missing from here to my next step and thats where I'll need some help)
5--> You then proceed to "dump" (I believe that's what its called) the firmware into the DVD drive through a SATA cable connected somewhere on your computer

That's all I've come to so far. My questions in regards to this process would have to be the following:

Since I don't currently have my 360 with me I can't ask which firmware I need but I would like to know what program I can use to make it "bootable" (if that's even correct) or if the program pertains to the firmware I need.

Do you "dumb" the firmware into the DVD drive or do you clear the drive of its old firmware first?

My last question pertains to after completing this process. When I make back-up copies of my games is there a way I can play them online without any trouble or will I be banned. I've seen different stories supporting either side as to whether you will be banned or not and I was wondering if someone could clarify what would actually happen. If it is indeed possible to play online then how would I go about doing that?


Thanks for all the help in advanced guys and I look forward to learning more about this subject.

[Jman 31]

I'll answer a couple of your questions.

1. You are really wasting your time trying to track down the programs and firmware you need for your 360 until you have you drive in front of you and can tell us which one you have. There are different programs and firmware for each drive.

2. The firmware you will be flashing is the dvd drives to make it read something other than an original game.

3. As far as playing a backup on line, I wouldn't. The most recent wave of bannings was attributed (no guarantee) to bad game copies (probably downloaded which is piracy). Always dump your game from an original disk!Then you will know its got all the proper stealth files on it. And then still you are playing Russian Roulette by going on line with a back-up.

4. Once you know your dvd type, look in the tutorials section of this forum. There's a good chance that there will be a walk through for your drive. We will hlp any way we can.

[RogueDog22]

Alright, sounds good. Unfortunately I won't be able to see the drive until tomorrow! Thanks for the input though its greatly appreciated. And of course I'm going to check out the tutorials, you guys have some great ones here that wouldn't make me think twice of going anywhere else.

[Jman 31]

Cool man. Let us know if we can help. Definitely don't get in a hurry, and ask before you guess!

Jman

[sadalius]

Here are the software tools that I have in my arsenal.

1. Dosflash16 for samsungs and Benq's
2. 360 Firmware toolbox for hitachi's and for checking the validity of my dumps.
3. Slax for getting hitachi's into mode b (exception would be hitachi 79's)
4. The appropriate firmware package for the drive that I'm dealing with. This is for Sammy's and Benq's. Firmware toolbox has the firmware for all hitachi's.