How To Format OG Xbox HDD on PC (Non-Hot Swap)

If you are not able to or prefer to upgrade your HDD on PC rather than hot swap methods for your soft modded HDD for original xbox, then this is the video for you. You will need an adapter that can lock your hdd. Below is the Adapters i use.
IDE to USB SATA (Lockable HDD adapter)
www.ebay.com/i...
Unitek HDD Adapter (To Power The HDD)
www.amazon.com...
Now in some cases you can find an all in one adapter that will lock, in my personal experience this unitek one DOES read HDDs but does not allow FATxplorer to lock it. So that's what the one above does.
Instructions:
1. Plug the first one into the hdd using the pins.
2. Next plug the power part using the Unitek adapter into the 4 pin molex part.
3. Make sure the first (small one) adapter is plugged into your pc via USB.
4. Then just make sure the Unitek is plugged into an outlet for power and once both are plugged into the hdd flip the power switch on.
Discord Links
Pacific Muscle
/ discord
Halo 2 (Insignia)
/ discord
or if you want, add me on Discord and i will get back to you.
adio_j

[@soraaoixxthebluesky]

Great this video came right after I’ve bought all the necessary items for hot swapping method 💀

[@Mzajac14]

Thanks for this, this is a far superior method to hot swapping. You've earned a link and a subscription!

[@Adio-j]

@@Mzajac14thanks I try

[@OCDRex11]

Ok, finally, a video about how to do this with FATXplorer, thank you! So, what format were the games in? Are they ISO or XISO, or? I only have ISO's. Will those work? Serious, well done!

[@Adio-j]

so my games are all in XBE format but you can convert ISOs to XBE. For more info on this just dm me on discord and i'll help you out. My discord info is on my KZbin profile info

[@Adio-j]

Also, yes ISOs run on xbox but you need it modded for that and a program called "Extras Disc Attacher" Look it up on google then go to the one that is offered on Github.

[@jerryvillalobos9454]

What about the people that extracted the eeprom from a stock xbox with a non working hard drive? Will this still work? Or is there another way to replace the hard drive without being softmoded or tsop?

[@Adio-j]

@@jerryvillalobos9454 This will absolutely work for that. Yea so just follow the video and then when it comes to the lock part at the end use the key from your eeprom file using the "load from eeprom" button and you're golden, then you can mod it after. FATxplorer Beta formats all the files and structure you need of a stock Xbox hdd.

[@pattic2436]

Very helpful Looked everywhere for a video on this and couldn't find it.Till you showed up

[@Adio-j]

Thx

[@Adio-j]

On the part when you copy the games over 21:13 on the video i made i mistake lol, in the F partition make a folder called "Games" then copy the game into it.

[@MADV00D00]

no problem hell a good video. you may be able 2 edit the vid so it doesn't confuse others. this this vid may blow up since no one else has a good one on the subject

[@MADV00D00]

hell I'll probably watch it a dozen times B 4 I get around to doing it

[@Herotruth]

Ah, this is the solution.

[@MADV00D00]

sweet man thank you so much for the tutorial 👍

[@Adio-j]

yes sirrrrr

[@kipper2k]

for copying games i can get a max of 100MB/s (bytes). To get this xfer speed i place my xbox drive on a SATA output on my computer and i put my source xbox games HDD on a USB 3.0 adapter... VERY! awesome :)

[@Adio-j]

@@kipper2k That's another nice thing about this method, it allows a faster process for transferring games. It's so much faster than hot swapping and then FTPing the games to your Xbox if it's a big library of games.

[@BL4CKandBLUE]

Did everything and my Xbox does the regular start up and freezes shorty after the words Microsoft come on

[@Spider_Jay]

appreciate the vid

[@Ninja_m86]

Thank you very very much appreciated 👍🏾👍🏾💯💯💯

[@Ed-yj1ux]

Very nice and straight forward, good work. Is it similar to do the same with a hardmodded console? I don’t have a softmodded console unfortunately, and also I don’t have my real c, and e partitions backed up since my hard drive messed up, I have a new ide hard drive on its way though

[@SamuraiSam]

I really appreciate the video dude, thanks! I did all the stops, and in the end the Xbox gives me the error message when I try to boot it up with the new drive attached. But I think I know what the problem is. I tried using my simple SATA-to-USB cable to hook it up to my computer rather than buy the Unitek HDD Adapter, and I'm guessing that means the program can't actually lock the drive. Am I right?

[@Adio-j]

@@SamuraiSam yea you need both that I have in my description the Unitek does not allow locking unfortunately I just use it to power on the hdd

[@Ninja_m86]

Your are Legend!

[@Eclectic133]

You are the best!!!!! I was going to lose my mind with the chimp hot swap option. Went through multiple adapters and hard drives. This is the proper way to do it!. I wish I found this video sooner. Respect 🫡

[@BansheeTK]

Nice Video

[@Adio-j]

thx

[@Destroymaster100]

okay, so you need the USB adapter to plug the HDD to the pc for FATX to detect it? can i not just plug it in with a SATA cable to the motherboard? I see here that your computers hard drive shows up on FATX but for me not even my PC hard drive shows up. your video is very appreciated. good stuff. i spent all day looking specifically how to even format on fatxplorer lol. tomorrow ill connect my HDD by sata to motherboard. idk if that will be detected by Fatxplorer though.

[@Adio-j]

You need this specific usb adapter so that fatx will allow you to lock it afterwards. You need the other adapter to power it. With that method you’re talking about, that will simply not work.

[@Destroymaster100]

@@Adio-j ah okay. thanks man. much appreciated. thanks for linking the items i need also. ill be purchasing them and hopefully get this working soon.

[@tshimsnkikas6732]

Hdd backup file please put link in description

[@michaelpease6211]

I’m assuming this could be done on a laptop?

[@Adio-j]

@@michaelpease6211 yes sir, all you need is FatXplorer and the proper adapters and you're good to go. :D

[@michaelpease6211]

I see this on Amazon SATA to USB 3.0 Adapter Cable for 2.5 inch Hard Drive HDD/SSD Data Transfer, External Hard Drive Converter Support UASP (Black) This looks like it powers the HDD and connects it to the PC/laptop. Is this a good workaround for the power source of the HDD? I never used an internal HDD like this. I’m debating if I want to go this route. I liked your video. What’s hurting me on the hot swap isn’t having a OG Xbox controller. Chimp wont start with my logitech controller. It just blinks

[@theolympiccity32]

Is there a way to do this without access to the original HDD? It's died on me mid swap :( Doing everything in this video only to get error 16 on the new HDD. Is there a way to get an install of C from somewhere that isnt the original HDD?

[@Adio-j]

@@theolympiccity32 sorry to hear, did you back up your E and C Folders or your EEPROM ?

[@theolympiccity32]

@@Adio-j have backed up the EEPROM

[@joemendez8536]

I know when you clone drives on xbox, you need to change jumper to slave and master. Does any of this matter before I try to make a hard drive. also I have a hard drive already full of games and nulled to all 1's but I need all the games off that one to make a clone. is it safe to insert that drive and transfer F and I believe G, lock it and put it back. just afraid of ruining it to mod a 2nd xbox. awesome video ive looking for this for a long time and nothing anywhere.

[@Adio-j]

@@joemendez8536 leave it on master if you're going to use this method. Yes it is safe to do so as long as you back it up on the eeprom. Any hdd is safe as long as you know the key and eeprom. Also, Ty for the compliment. More content to come!

[@joemendez8536]

@Adio-j your awesome thanks a lot for for the really fast response.

[@Adio-j]

@@joemendez8536 You can also always message me on discord! For even faster responses!

[@joemendez8536]

Glad to report it's working took me about an hour. Just need to fill it up will all the games. Thanks again

[@Adio-j]

@@joemendez8536 Excellent! glad to hear

[@josuedr4528]

Is it ok if i buy a usb sata adapter instead of a ide to sata? I think the hdd i plan to buy is sata already

[@Herotruth]

I FTP into my Xbox and copied all the folder over to my PC, but Filezilla said not everything was copied over. Does that matter, or should I back up a different way?

[@Herotruth]

Ok, I was able to use "NKPatcher Settings" and FTP into the xbox and copy over the partitions, but 12K files did not transfer over

[@Adio-j]

@@Herotruth make sure that your file zilla is set to binary for transfers under the settings under FTP

[@Herotruth]

@@Adio-j Thanks. And for those who are having the same problem. Settings is the tabs along with File and Edit. It's under "Transfer" tab, then Transfer Type, then Binary

[@Herotruth]

@@Adio-j Looks like most things came through, but for some reason XBMC4Gamers had a few files that did not come through. In case replacing the drive works, but XBMC4Gamers is my default, how do I make on of the other Dashboard my default? Where do I place the xbe file of a different dashboard?

[@Herotruth]

@@Adio-j Update: I was saving my back up in my server when it failed. Placed it in a Drive on my PC and it transfer worked.

[@DeadByApril1995]

Could this work on a HDD that’s throwing an error 16 code? Like to reset the HDD that’s already in it? Or is this strictly done to format new ones? I’m trying to find other troubleshooting things cause I’ve seen so much for 16 codes so I’m trying to find the best route.

[@Adio-j]

@@DeadByApril1995 It could, I will say this tho, in most cases that I have seen, error 16s can also be thrown out from bad dvd drives. Try swapping your dvd drive and then if you still get the error, reach out to me and I'll help you further I have one method that could work.

[@DeadByApril1995]

@@Adio-j that is incredible I really appreciate that! I’ve also seen people say that. I will get to it in about a day or two and I will get back to you. Thank you!

[@Adio-j]

@@DeadByApril1995 Sure thing man! Happy to help! Reach out anytime

[@frenchfrithefish5982]

​​@@Adio-jI'm getting the same error and my DVD drive is fine I am stupid and did not update my cables so I assume that's the issue

[@Adio-j]

@@frenchfrithefish5982 Oh, yes you definitely need the proper cables

[@Al_sajd]

Is this working with the chip hardmod ? Or just the softmod

[@Adio-j]

@@Al_sajd You can use this method for hard mod with chip, however I am not entirely sure if this is the exact way for hard mod. The method I demonstrate here is for soft mod.

[@OCDRex11]

Ok, one other issue came up. I was able to "clone" my drive with your method. When the XBox boots it only gets to the loading screen and then it is just gray. I didn't copy the Shadow drive to the new harddrive and I am wondering if it is missing that to boot? Seems like it would need that for the softmod/skins, etc? Thoughts?

[@Adio-j]

You just need the E and the real C , however this is all based off of if you already modded your drive with rocky 5 beforehand. So this should all be working. Did you lock the hdd?

[@OCDRex11]

@@Adio-j I did Rocky 5 softmod, yes. I confirmed the drive locked too. I added XBMCGamers skin before I did the clone as I wanted to make sure everything was ready. I noticed that after adding that, the drive had a lot more data in the Shadow C drive. That is why I thought I might need to copy that over? I have been searching all over and cannot find an answer, lol. Was thinking maybe just starting over and trying again.

[@Adio-j]

@@OCDRex11 yes start over and do it exactly as I did then get to your dashboard skins after all is done via ftp is what I would say is best

[@OCDRex11]

@@Adio-j Going to try it now. Will report back. Thanks for all your responses. I know I could track you down on Discord but I am not on there and never have been.

[@Adio-j]

@@OCDRex11 you'll want to be on discord when you get on insignia. Especially pgr2, we have a community dedicated to it. It's a lot easier than communication through here.

[@timnicolas1987]

Tried this method because hotswapping kept making my xbox shut down, then my computer when I powered it from that. I did everything according to the video. Now I am getting a 07 and 09 code when I plug it in. I am wondering if my ide/sata adapter is no good. My hdd is on the compatibility list.

[@Adio-j]

Yea so this would be a Hard drive time out. This is when your hdd can't be found. I had the same problem once, my xbox kept throwin 09 and 07s at me, it turned out it was not my adapter but my SATA Ribbon cable. I had damaged it back before i knew how to fold them properly. Got a new one, and was perfectly fine.

[@timnicolas1987]

@@Adio-j I will try that next. The cable works with the original hdd. I have a startech adapter coming tomorrow. I went through the compatibility list and checked all the fatxplorer users. At least one person reported it being the cheap adapter. They said it worked fine with startech.

[@Adio-j]

@@timnicolas1987 I use star tech adapter it is the best one I highly recommend it to all ppl

[@timnicolas1987]

@@Adio-j installing the star tech got rid of the errors. It boots into a blank screen now after the xbox logo.

[@timnicolas1987]

@@Adio-j I forgot to mention that it is a 1.6.

[@djseuss]

where is the link of hdd backup?

[@Adio-j]

@@djseuss ?

[@twomanygames2000]

are you using a sata drive?

[@Adio-j]

@@twomanygames2000 So in this demonstration I was using an ide hdd, however this method works for both ide and sata drives as explained later on and in the sequel video part 2.

[@twomanygames2000]

@@Adio-j thank you i upgraded my hard drive but i can get my xiso to run or display

[@Adio-j]

@@twomanygames2000 That's because all games on the Xbox need to be in xbe format in order to run.