Help Updating FW on BenQ Drives

[NeoRio]

Hi my dear friends from the Forest, I've missed hanging out with you! Real life trials and tribulations have kept me away from enjoying the simpler things in life, like playing the Xbox 360 with my kids...updating my machines, learning the new trends and tweaks--to stay cutting edge and updated. Thankfully my kids enjoy the 360s several hours each day and so far I feel that my efforts early on to make sure these machines would hold up against a heavy load (Whisper Max Fans, DVD drive rubber pads, Stealth check all backups and try to only play the backups) has paid off so far with no scratched or damaged originals and no Live bans. And thankfully I have not had to run across a Lite-on, as my BenQs are still alive and kicking.

I've put off updating the FW on my 2 BenQ 360s for too long and I've resolved to finally do it today or tomorrow! I'm still running these drives on iXtreme 1.41. Thank you, CoFree for enlightening me about the new "Wave 3" games that are coming out (I know...I haven't faithfully been checking in with the forum lately...but I promise to do better!)

If somebody could point me to the right info or the latest tutorial on how to flash the BenQ drive with the most recent FW (I understand 1.51 is the right one to use for the new "Wave 3" games?), I'd appreciate it. I still have the tools I originally used to flash; the Xecuter Connectivity Kit V2, and a VIA VT6421A SATA controller. I used iPrep 101 V006 and instead of USB pen drive, I created a bootable CD and used that instead. Will these tools still work?--should I use another application/method for the flashing process?

Thank you so much for your help and unending devotion to keeping those of us who are less capable of figuring these things out on our own up to speed!

Kindest Regards,
NeoRio

[CoFree]

If somebody could point me to the right info or the latest tutorial on how to flash the BenQ drive

well you need to use iprep v8.8
update the def file so it will input the v1.51 firmware.
here is the iprep video
http://www.robinhoodsplayground.com/for ... 195&t=3557" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
get the def file here
http://www.robinhoodsplayground.com/for ... f=112&t=48" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

There is a new program that is out call jungle flasher
it will dump flash all the 360 dvd drive
but
a lot of people that have the via chipset have a hard time getting it to work
its so bad on many people we had to make a video on doing a recover when your lite-on would lock up

I still use iprep for all thing s but hit drive s
with them its jungle flasher.

you dont have a big deal there man
you have 2 benq dvd drives
get the iprep v8.8
update the def file in the resources folder in iprep
the dump,flash your drive like it had never been flashed before
as long as you know you have a good back up of your key(orig firmware) you can do it just like the video
and as long as firmtool gives you the green you can go right to the flash after the dump.
let us know if you have any more questions.

yea glad to see you back on man.

[ncaaplayer4]

Glad to see you back.

[NeoRio]

Thanks for the speedy answer (as always). I'm at Xbins, ready to d/l the iXtreme 1.51 FW, there are 2 showing; Benq_iXtreme_v1.51-Final.rar and Benq_iXtreme_v1.51.rar. I suppose it is the one that says "FINAL"?--the 2 options are both the same size, just thought I'd check.

Thanks

[CoFree]

final is fine
they are the same thing

[NeoRio]

So you'll never guess what happened to me. If you recall, I was going to flash my 2 BenQ drives a few weeks ago. Well, the motherboard on my desktop died that same day. I just got my new one and so I decided that tonight I'd make sure to get these drives flashed...(it's 3:15am right now!). I've spent that past several hours working on this and I just messed things up. For starters, I got a SanDisk Cruzer usb flash drive to do the flash with. Turns out that this SanDisk pen drive doesn't work with iPrep, or actually, seems like it does not work as a bootable drive. When iPrep tries to format it to be bootable, it gives an error message, but then proceeds to write all the files onto the flash drive. So I thought that maybe it worked...but no matter how hard I try, I can't boot from the pen drive. So, I go back to my NTFS for DOS bootable CD I made a couple years ago when I first flashed these drives. Though this bootable CD is only supposed to work with C partitions that are under 32GB, it seems to support my 50GB partition and allow me to get into DOS. So now I'm in DOS and I'm looking in the iPrep directory at all the files in there, but my screen doesn't look like the screen in CoFree's tutorial video...where it says "iPrep" at the top.

So anyways, I decide to try and turn the drive on and do the FW dump. Everything seems to be connected properly, but as soon as I turn the power on of the Connectivity Kit V2, the computer shuts off. I try this 2 more times, with the same result. On the 4th time, I decide to have the power on of the Connectivity Kit before even turning the computer on...so it won't shut down the computer. But this time, though the power stays on, I smell burning. I quickly unplug the power to the computer. Sure enough, the Connectivity Kit was plugged in upside-down to the BenQ drive. It's not like I was rushing when I connected it...as a matter of fact, I went very slow...but it is so easy to plug that thing in upside down! Anyways, good news is that that BenQ didn't get fried, seems like the Connectivity Kit took the hit and stopped it from burning anything else. I guess I'll need a new Connectivity Kit now. Which version should I get?--and from which store should I get it? (I remember waiting 3 weeks last time from ConsoleSource.)

Oh well. A bit of a bummer...but I guess that's what I get for taking soo long to update the firmware in the first place. (Should I try to power the DVD drives some other way?--or should I just order a new Connectivity Kit?)

Thanks

[technoe]

honestly I would use modchip.ca, their shipping is a little bit more than console source but you'll have it in a couple of days not weeks.

[CoFree]

have a look man
viewtopic.php?f=184&t=3091" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[NeoRio]

Good, thanks for the feedback.

Any comments on the version of the Connectivity Kit I should get? (Also, should I consider powering the BenQ from the computer or 360?--or just hold on for the new Connectivity Kit?)

Were there any comments on the USB pen drive? Are there some that just don't work as bootable drives?

[CoFree]

Any comments on the version of the Connectivity Kit I should get?

i would get the ck3 pro
It has support fro a rs 232 com cable 9 pin and a usb

Also, should I consider powering the BenQ from the computer or 360?--or just hold on for the new Connectivity Kit?)

well you can consider it,but then i would hold off and wait till you get your ck3

Are there some that just don't work as bootable drives?

that is 100% right
i have 1 out of around 15 usb flash drives that will not boot
all the rest boot fine
I dont know what that is about

[NeoRio]

OK, just ordered the new CK3. CoFree...if I use the NTFS4DOS bootable CD to do the flash...do you think I can enter the "dben..." dump and flash commands right from the DOS prompt once I'm in the iPrep root directory? On your video, after booting with the USB pen drive, it takes you to the iPrep screen, but when I boot from the CD, it doesn't take me to the iPrep screen, just leaves me in DOS and I navigate to the iPrep directory on the C drive.

Thanks

[CoFree]

if I use the NTFS4DOS bootable CD to do the flash

never messed with that man
so i cant give you any advice
sorry

[NeoRio]

Will the game backup procedure be the same once I have these BenQ's flashed with new FW?

Still use Xbox Backup Creator to do the rip as usual?

Is it just the stealth checking that should now be done with ABGX360? Do we use XBC, Kreon Checker, Schtrom & Mulleter at all when Stealth checking?

Thanks

[CoFree]

Will the game backup procedure be the same once I have these BenQ's flashed with new FW?

yes with xbc that is.

Still use Xbox Backup Creator to do the rip as usual?

yes

Is it just the stealth checking that should now be done with ABGX360?

right

but
i still use xbc to pull a copy of the ss out then check it with the kreon checker.If i get a bad ss the I redue it.
i still dont like the idea of play a game with a bad ss angle.

[NeoRio]

CoFree, I see you have a video tutorial for iPrep v9. I guess it's suggested to use v9 for flashing from this point on?

I just read and watched both of the tutorials on how to use ABGX360. Both tutorials are for version 0.9.4. Are there any tutorials for the newer 1.0.1?--there are several new options and check-boxes in the new version of the program. I'm a bit concerned also, because it seems as if ABGX360 is actually modifying the ISO as it checks it? At one point it reports; "Stealth files patched successfully!" Later it says "Game partition CRC matches the verified ini! AutoFix was successful!" Maybe that's normal...but it sounds like it did something to the ISO? After giving me the "Verification failed" message (I suppose because this game [Paintball 2009] is not in the database yet?)--it says "Starting AutoFix"....

CoFree, what programs do you use for Stealth checking now? Do you only use ABGX360 and Kreon Checker?

Thanks.