How to swap your old HDD into your new XBOX
Written by Sir Hendro

A couple of weeks ago i was wondering how you would put an awesome softmodded HDD from a dead XBOX into a new one. Well i recently upgraded my 500GB HDD to a 1TB version which means i had a 500GB HDD filled with games laying in the closet. Yesterday i got me a second XBOX and then the issue came, how do i put my old 500GB in this new XBOX?

So what needs to be done?
Each XBOX has a security code that is unique for every console. Your HDD is locked to a specific XBOX and needs to get an EEPROM update in order to work with your new XBOX. So basicly that we will do is unlock the HDD with XBOXHDM, update the EEPROM and lock it again.

I'm not sure if the old EEPROM file was necessary for unlocking the HDD but lets just assume it is for now. If you don't have the old EEPROM on your PC then just give it a shot with the EEPROM from your new XBOX.

Ok lets get started.

Things you need

Before we begin make sure you have the following:

- Softmod installer (savegame hack)
- The latest version of XBOXHDM
- Old PC with 2 IDE ports on the motherboard.
- PC and XBOX should be connected over a network.
- CD/DVD burner to make a XBOXHDM disc.

Quick guide
1. Get the EEPROM from your new XBOX.
2. Unlock the modded HDD with XBOXHDM disc containing old EEPROM.
3. Use new XBOXHDM disc with the new EEPROM on it to rebuild C partition only.
4. Lock the HDD again.
5. Put the updated HDD in your new XBOX and reinstall softmod.


Step by step tutorial

Step 1
Check if you have the old EEPROM somewhere on your PC. If not and your old XBOX still works then get it while you still can. It's located in E:\UDATA\ in a certain folder that belongs to your savegame hack. In this folder you will find a folder named backup. So let's just say E:\UDATA\??????\backup\
copy just the EEPROM.bin file.
Download the retail (stock) C:\ files from somewhere or copy it from the same backup folder. You will need both the retail files from the C:\ partition and the EEPROM for your XBOXHDM disc.

Step 2
I guess you guys know how to softmod an XBOX by now so i keep it short. Get the Mechinstaller savegame hack from one of the 3 games on your HDD with an USB stick and launch the game. Load the savegame and make a backup of the EEPROM and the dashboard files. Now install the softmod. Once completed login your modded XBOX and go to E:\UDATA\?????????\backup to copy your new EEPROM to your PC. If you don't have the retail (stock) C files yet then copy those too from the backup folder to the PC.

Step 3
Once you have downloaded XBOXHDM go to the linux folder and copy the stock C files into the corresponding folder and the EEPROM file in the EEPROM folder. Then launch makeisowin.bat so that the XBOXHDM iso will be build. Once done burn this disc and afterward mark it as OLD EEPROM. Make the same CD again but this time build it with the new EEPROM. So delete the old one from the EEPROM folder and put the new one in there. Burn this new ISO and mark the disc as NEW EEPROM.

Step 4
Take your old modded HDD and plug into the primary master of the first IDE channel in your old PC. Now boot the computer with the OLD EEPROM disc. If you coud not create an OLD EEPROM disc because you didn't have the EEPROM then try it with the NEW EEPROM disc. Once loaded choose option 3 for locking and unlocking tools. When it's ready write:

unlockhd -a

The HDD will now be unlocked. Then write 'reboot' to restart the PC and place the NEW EEPROM disc in the drive and boot it. Now choose option 1 for the drive utilities. Once done loading choose the second option saying 'rebuild C partition only'. This will temporary remove the softmod from your HDD and install a fresh MSDash on your HDD with the new EEPROM. When it''s done reboot once more and boot this disc again. This time you go for option 3 again saying 'locking / unlocking tools'. Once loaded write 'lockhd -a'. Your HDD will now be locked based on the new EEPROM data. Now shut dpwn the PC and disconnect the HDD.

Step 5
Take out the HDD from your new XBOX and plug in your old modded XBOX HDD. Turn the system on and it should boot to the retail microsoft dashboard. You probably still have the savegame hack in your savegame list. If not then put it back on there with an USB stick. Start the game for your savegame hack and load the savegame. Install the softmod like always, backup EEPROM -> backup MSDASH -> install softmod.

For me at this point magic happend. Normally it would continue the installation after the reboot but for me it loaded my old softmod which means your done!

If this didn't happen for you then just continue the installation and afterward replace the installed dashboard with one you like such as XBMC.

Well that's it. I hope this documentation is useful for you guys

Sir Hendro