The XBOX was originally designed to only allow playing of DVD’s if you had the included dongle or remote. This was most likely a simple move to secure additional income for Microsoft, and can be easily circumvented if you have a modchip installed. Considering the many advantages with a modchip, there really is no disadvantage to having a modchip installed!
In this guide I will show you several different ways of playing DVD’s and how to acquire the necessary software.

As stated before, this guide requires an XBOX with a modchip installed!

If you’d like to play DVD’s on your XBOX, without having to buy the remote or dongle, you have several different options. I will outline them below and elaborate on which is the best to use.

XBOX Media Center’s built-in DVD player

If you’re using XBOX Media Center (XBMC) as your dashboard or just as a program, you will have found that it includes a DVD-player – just like you’d expect. It works flawlessly and enables you to view smooth and clear video. Also, if your TV or display supports it (and if you have the correct video and audio cables), XBMC allows you to output digital audio in either AC-3, Dolby Digital or DTS quality.

DVD-X

Dongle-Free DVD-X Region-Free is a small, simple, extensible and basic DVD-player that does exactly what it says it does.

Play all region DVD movies without the expensive dongle/remote. ALL controls can be accessed via your XBOX game controller. Sub Menu system features identical to stand alone DVD player.

It supports digital audio, similar to XBMC, and it has its controls documented inside the program. This makes using and understanding the program a lot easier. Installing DVD-X is easiest done by burning and running the Auto-Installer Deluxe DVD as the DVD-X software is included.

Which program you choose to use is up to you. If you’re already using XBMC on a regular basis, there is no reason to switch to DVD-X as it lacks all the extra features of a media-center.

The XBOX is just like a computer, it’s built by the same parts as a computer – what differs is only a small number of things (such as the BIOS). An XBOX hard-drive is exactly like a regular PC hard-drive, in fact it’s alike enough to be put inside a PC and used. What I am going to go through in this guide, however, is how to explore the hard-drive’s contents, how to view all the files and directories on the drive. By going through what’s on the drive you will learn more about how the applications work and what an XBOX really is made up of.

This requires an XBOX with a modchip installed! However, much of the folder structure of a retail XBOX is the same as that of a modchipped XBOX.

XCommander (XBOX-HQ.com)

What in a PC is simply opening Explorer, is in an XBOX simply opening one file-manager of choice. You have a lot to choose from, I’ve outlined the most common below.

XCommander

The XCommander software is the default file-manager on many dashboard-packages. It doesn’t sport fancy graphics or intuitive buttons, but it does what it’s supposed to. The main window is split in two to enable copying between two places. The controls take some time to learn, as with most managers out there. XCommander is capable of connecting to network shares as well as other sources. Also, it can copy games from the DVD-drive to the hard-drive. I have already covered the topic of copying games to the hard-drive, however with another piece of software.

boXplorer (XBOX-HQ.com)

boXplorer

As I haven’t used this program myself, I will briefly just tell you what it’s about. It’s just like XCommander, a file-manager with the standard features. However, what boXplorer also can do is to play .xbe files (executables) and .wmv files, which together with its more intuitive interface makes it the better choice when compared with XCommander, in my opinion. The controls take some time to learn, as mentioned before, but they are mostly the same as in XCommander.

XBOX Media Center

In a previous article I briefly introduced XBOX Media Center (XBMC) and went through how to install it. Among the file-managers out there, the XBMC file-manager is my favorite. It shares the same sleek graphics as XBMC itself and has a clear and intuitive user interface.

XBMC

If you want to quickly and easily make sure your XBOX time is synchronized, this is the right guide for you! The steps needed require a chipped XBOX, and considering the many advantages of an XBOX modchip it should be something you already have or consider getting :) ! You also need a working internet-connection.

Terminology

Before you start, I will go through some basic terminology that I will use. A time server, NTP server or SNTP server is a server (usually running Linux) that is in some way or another connected to an accurate source of time. It is usually reachable simply by an IP-address or a hostname, and you have around 2000 servers to choose between as an end-user. An NTP server can either be stratum-1, stratum-2 or stratum-3 (the latter being very rare). This is an indication of how far away the server is from the most accurate measurement of time (called stratum-0). A stratum-0 server can be a GPS receiver or some other type of signal receiver – it is not accessible from the internet but instead is connected directly to a computer which acts as a stratum-1 server. A stratum-2 server is then a server that queries a stratum-1 server – a stratum-3 server queries a stratum-2 server, et cetera.
The NTP pool is a collection of people who voluntarily share their NTP servers in a big pool (currently consisting of roughly 1800 servers). These servers are perhaps not as accurate as professional NTP servers such as the NIST servers, however they are good enough for the regular user! NIST, the National Institute of Technology and Standards, is an US agency that makes measurements and sets standards for various things (such as time).

Choosing an NTP server

Choosing an NTP server is really not a big issue. Either you choose to go with pool.ntp.org or with one of the NIST servers. I suggest the pool, as this promotes a “reliable easy to use NTP service for millions of clients without putting a strain on the big popular time-servers“. There’s virtually no difference, time-wise, between the various servers, as they all in the end are connected to stratum-0 instances.

Right, now let’s dig into our settings…

I will be showing you how to enter the correct settings in the Evolution-X dashboard and the XBOX Media Center software. In both cases it involves accessing the settings-menu – therefore it seems reasonable to assume that it will work on most, if not all, dashboards.
In XBMC (XBOX Media Center), go to Settings and press Appearance. On the left-hand side, go to Region and input your chosen NTP server in the Time server host dialog. Also, make sure Enable Internet time synchronization is checked!
In Evolution-X, go to System Utilities and select Settings (depending on your menu-structure) and scroll down to Clock. Enter the IP to your chosen NTP server as Evolution-X does not support hostnames!

The IP in the picture is the IP-address to time-a.nist.gov. I chose this as I couldn’t find the IP-address pool.ntp.org resolved to.

Final remarks

Now, after either rebooting the XBOX or just waiting a couple of seconds, your dashboard should have picked up the correct, synchronized and new time. Doesn’t it feel nice :) ? Usually you only need to set your time in one dashboard and it will write the time to the BIOS – thus all dashboards and applications will use the synchronized time.
I hope this helped you!

Have you ever needed to play NTSC games on your European XBOX? Or the other way around? There is a way to do this, and it involves very little hassle. What you will need, to start with, is an XBOX with a modchip installed. There are so many advantages with a modchip, why not get one now? You will also need a certain program, called “Enigmah Videomode Switchdisc”. Let’s get started!

You will first need to find out whether you have the videomode switchdisc installed. Go to your Programs, Applications, Apps or whatever the name of your application-menu is and browse through what you have installed. If you see an Enigmah-X PAL-NTSC Video Selector or just Enigmah Videomode Switchdisc you’re good to go and can skip to the last section. Otherwise, you must obtain this software first.

Downloading XBOX applications is usually a pretty pesky business – you won’t find them publicly listed anywhere as having them up for download is by many considered to be illegal. There are several ways of acquiring it, you could get it from Xbins FTP, XBOX-HQ or perhaps even from MegaGames. But, I’ll take the risk of uploading it myself – click here for Thy Old XBOX’s uploaded Enigmah-X PAL-NTSC Video Selector! Extract the contents of this .rar-file to anywhere you’d like and copy it to your XBOX using FTP. Put it preferably in E:\Apps to keep your applications and overall folder structure organized!

If anyone objects to my uploading of this, please notify me and I will remove the file. Thank you.

Doing the magic

Open your newly installed program and you will be greeted by the following screen. Now, all you have to do is to either press A to send your video in PAL format or B to send it in NTSC format! After selecting the appropriate format, simply restart your XBOX and you’re good to go!

In this post I will outline the main reasons for getting a chipped XBOX. These are just my personal opinions and reasons, if you have any other topics to add do feel free to comment on them!

A modchip is simply a replacement for the original Microsoft BIOS used in the XBOX. The BIOS is the code that first runs when booting a computer or XBOX, and it runs a number of checks on hardware among other things. Once these tasks are completed, it proceeds to load the operating system (the dashboard). Installing a modchip is essentially replacing the BIOS with an altered version, making a lot of things possible, as we shall see below.

Hardware-related

• The ability to successfully change the hard-drive is only made possible if one is able to boot from a custom DVD
• Native HD-resolutions inside some applications are only available through using a modchip

Network-related

• Accessing Windows networks and shares is only made possible through the use of a modchip
• The process of copying files between a computer and an XBOX through FTP is only possible with a modchip
• Alternatives to XBOX Live are made available through a modchip (although the original XBOX Live still works)

Software-related

• Running unsigned code (such as backed up or copied games) is made possible through a modchip
• Using packages such as the Auto-Installer Deluxe enables the installation of a host of different tools and applications
• Running Linux on your XBOX is possible with a modchip (although it also is possible without)

The bottom-line is that there really are not disadvantages to installing and using a modchip. As chip-installations are fairly cheap today, you can very easily send your XBOX to a company and get it chipped without having to pay a lot.
The possibilities are endless with a modchip, go get your XBOX chipped now :) !

If you want to be able to play your XBOX games without ever having to insert a DVD again, the best way is to simply copy the game to your hard drive and open it from there. This guide will show you how.

This requires an XBOX with a modchip installed!

The program we will be using in this guide is the Dvd2XboX, an easy-to-use and modern way of copying contents of discs to a hard drive. This program is included in the Auto-Installer Deluxe installation, but you can also download the program separately and simply copy it to your XBOX using FTP. If you’re planning to copy a lot of games to your hard drive, you might want to consider switching your XBOX hard drive to something bigger!

Copying the DVD

After having somehow acquired the Dvd2XboX program and opened it, you should be looking at the main menu. Insert the DVD you would like to copy and press Copy DVD/CD to Harddisk. In the next window you are allowed to choose to which path you would like to save the content. I recommend not copying it to the C: drive, as it has too little space, but instead copying it to E:\Games or F:\Games. Make sure you’re copying it to an empty folder, or else it might get mixed with other content and you might lose data.

Press START and let the program do its magic – it should, at the most, take around 20 minutes. The wonderful bit about Dvd2XboX is its versatility. It can be configured to run an FTP-server, it can rip MP3′s, it has a built in file manager, it can copy DVD’s directly to other networked computer, and a lot more. Have a look around the Settings, chances are you’ll find something you did not know the program could do!

You’ve downloaded a cheat-savegame, or perhaps just a friend’s savegame, and you’re wondering where to copy it to? I will try to describe the process in this article.

First of all, you need to make sure your XBOX is turned on and that you have FTP access to it. You also need to make sure that the savegame is inside a folder with a special name (examples of these are 4156005e, 45410010 and 080275da). This name corresponds to what game the savegame is made for, therefore do not rename or touch this folder at all!

Connect to your XBOX using your favorite FTP client and copy the entire folder into E:\UDATA\. If there already exists a folder with the same name, make sure you delete it (or rename it) so that no files are overwritten! The UDATA folder is the savegame folder for all your games – so make sure you don’t delete or rename any other folders in here. After copying the savegame, open the game as usual and load the newest saved game! It’s that easy.

Auto-Installer Deluxe (AID) is an ingenious piece of software designed as an all-in-one maintenance and installation tool for your XBOX. What follows is an extract of the features it contains and what it can do for you:

• Format your new Hard-Drive
• Format your existing Hard-Drive for a new installation
• Back up and Restore Save-Games, Partitions etc
• Install the latest version of the MS XBOX Dashboard
• Install / Uninstall Homebrew Dashboards (Evox, Avalaunch, etc)
• Install / Uninstall Homebrew Applications (XBMC, etc)
• Install / Uninstall Homebrew Emulators (MAME, etc)
• Install Auto-Installer Deluxe to your Hard-Drive

This is just a fraction of all it can do – it simply is marvelous to use. As AID itself is fairly self-explanatory this guide will only cover the steps needed to acquire the needed files and how to burn them.

What you want to do first of all is to download the AID image, i.e. the copy of the AID DVD. This is done by going on the AID homepage and going to Downloads. Under Auto-Installer Deluxe Downloads you are presented with the choice of a direct download (through MediaFire) or a torrent-download (through Auto-Installer Deluxe’s tracker). I recommend the tracker as it usually gives you the better speeds – the choice is yours’. If using the tracker, choose the Auto-Installer Deluxe v4.50 Final torrent and download it (you will need a torrent-client to do this).

Extracting and burning

After downloading, you will be presented with a lot of xbhqaid4-files. Open one of these in WinRAR and extract all content to any place you designate. The most “important” file you’ll end up with is the Auto-Installer.Deluxe.v4.50.FINAL.iso – this is the image (copy of DVD) you will need to burn. The other files and folders are just add-on packages with which you can enhance your current image file. Open your favorite burning-application, insert an empty DVD and burn away! Make sure you’re not burning the image as a file, but as an image. This is important, because if you don’t do this correctly you will end up with a DVD with one file on it – the image. And that’s not the point ;) .

Now, when you’d like the use AID on your XBOX, simply insert the DVD and restart – the XBOX will boot from AID and you will see the menu appear! Good luck!