I am waiting for my VIA 6421A to arrive then I will be ready to flash my
360's, I think I have either a 25 or M28, just need to ask some questions if I may.

1. Do I need to back up my existing DVD Drive Firmware?, if so does it mention this in the flashing guides?

2. What is the risking of bricking a DVD Drive and can they be reflashed back to normal?

3. I don't understand about the serial number thing, when reading/flashing do I have to use the serial from the 360 the drive is from?

4. Can the original firmware be flashed back if needed?

5. One Of my 360's has the RROD, can it be flashed while in this condition?

6. Which is the best Hacked firmware to use, and what method of flashing is the safest for newbies?

I am reading the guides and watching the video's, just need a little advice.

Thanks in advance.

1. Yes. If you flash your DVD-ROM drive with iPrep or Xtreme Boot Maker a backup of the original is automatically saved to your USB boot drive. Keep a copy of the original firmware handy in case you ever need to flash the drive back to stock. Here is what you need to flash: Robin Hoods Playground • View topic - Textbooks Hacking the 360 for noobs 2008

Textbook's guide is simple and extremely thorough, it covers every aspect of flashing the 360. Read it and you shouldn't have any issues.

2. There is no set risk factor, if you attempt to flash the drive with hacked firmware, there is always a chance of bricking it. If you follow all the guides like Textbook's 360 flash guide, the risk is low, but bricking it is always possible. There are no guarantees in firmware flashing. The best way is to research, use a compatible SATA chipset, read all the warnings in the guides, and use care. It's best to use an external power supply to power the 360 DVD-ROM like a connectivity rather than the 360 itself. The 360 has a floating ground which means there is a possibility of the 360 and PC getting fried while flashing. It's best to use a croc clip to attach your PC to your 360 if you use the 360 to power the DVD-ROM drive instead of a connectivity kit. To avoid a bad flash, you can boot into Windows after dumping your original firmware with iPrep. Then launch Maximus Firmware Toolbox and load the backup of the original firmware created by iPrep. If the firmware key is random hexadecimal (A-F and 0-9) then it's okay. If it is all 0's or 7's or any single character then you have a bad dump and will need to dump the original firmware again. After you confirm the dump is good, boot back into dos and run the fsam command.

3. You can use any 12 digit number with a space, 1234567_12345 is fine. It doesn't have to be your actual serial number. Just remember to use a space instead of a _

4. Yes your DVD-ROM drive can be flashed back to stock. You just have perform a drive restore, the process is very similar to flashing. It is not necessary with a Samsung drive unless you get a bad flash. Here's a guide in case you need to restore the drive back to stock because of a bad flash. Robin Hoods Playground • View topic - Bad 360 Benq or 360 Samsung flash do this RESTORE

5. Not likely. Unless the issue is something with the DVD-ROM drive itself. See if you can get the 360 to give you an error code. You may have to reset it numerous times before getting an error code. Here is a list of 360 error codes. Error 102 and 110 are the most common ones for the RRoD. The X-clamp fix and heat gun method have a fairly high chance of resurrecting a dead 360, though it's not guaranteed. Get an error code and check the list of possible fixes.

Xbox 360 Error Code

6. iXtreme is the best firmware if you plan on playing on Xbox Live. It is designed to cover any differences in backup games from originals that will keep Microsoft from spotting burned games on Live. If you don't ever have any intention of playing on XBL, you may want to flash one of the Xtreme 5.3x firmwares, they have a couple more features for Samsung drives than the iXtreme firmware like single layer Xbox 1 backups.

The iPrep method is pretty safe and very user friendly. It's probably the best method for someone new to flashing. Once you get over the shock of booting into dos, there really isn't that much to it.

__________________

Thank you so much Lord Sesshomaru, your advice is much appreciated.

I have ordered an X-clamp kit that includes thermal paste and a VIA 6421A PCI card. I will check the error code later, hopefully it is a overheating issue that can be fixed.

My aim is to get the spare 360 fixed and flash that one before I opened my working one.

I will let you know how I get on.

Thanks again for your help.

I have opened the faulty 360 and it has a M28 drive so I am thinking I need to use badflash method with my VIA 6421A card?

I think I will go with the latest iXtreme1.4 fw, do I have to use Iprep with this fw?

I watched a M28 badflash video, the guy uses command "samread" to dump fw and "samhack" to flash. How come the sam thing isn't mentioned in the Textbook’s Xbox 360 Firmware Tutorial? It also says to use iPrep, I am not sure which way to go now.


Many thanks

The command is dsam and fsam nowadays, then just type your serial or any 12 digit number. Here's an iPrep guide for Samsung drives: Robin Hoods Playground • View topic - Video:: Flashing the 360 Samsung Drives iprep101 v006

I don't think flashing the firmware is going to fix your RRoD console unless the issue is a bad flash from a previous flash attempt. Otherwise your best bet is to see what the error codes say.

__________________

Update:

I have fixed the RROD by using a clamp kit, tried a game and all working

So I decided to try and flash iXtreme

The only issue if have now is the old PC I am using doesn't allow me to boot from usb, so I created a boot floppy with Iprep, this created without any issues but when the PC boots to the Iprep (via Floppy) disclaimer screen is doesn't allow me to enter Yes or No, I am using a wirless keyboard via a USB port, It's strange because the keyboard works when I go in to the BIOS etc. Do you think the Iprep is hanging at this point or do I need to try and get hold of a normal keyboard.

Is the floppy method more risky when flashing? I know it will take longer to read/write.

Thanks again

I would try a keyboard that boots from a PS/2 port. Floppy's are not nearly as reliable as USB sticks. Do you have an OEM PC? F12 is the set up function on some OEM PC's, you may want to try tapping that at boot up. I recommend you flash it from a PC that allows booting from a USB stick, or you can try the NTFS4DOS method. It uses a boot disc for NTFS (Windows) file systems you burn to CD. Here's a video for flashing Samsung's with the NTFS 4 dos method, just ignore the part using the blaster and use a connectivity kit or the 360 to power the drive:

YouTube - Tutorial: Flash a Samsung MS28 drive using Blaster360

Just about anything is safer than a floppy. It should be a last resort only.

__________________

Thanks for the advice about the floppy Disk's, and keyboard. I will pop the VIA card in my new PC and use a USB stick. Hopefully my Merc Gaming keyboard with ps2 adapter will work.

Yeah I mean worse case scenario you could just get a keyboard, they go for under $10 on newegg.

__________________

Another problem, when I try to boot off the USB stick created by Iprep the PC says NTLDR missing. Do you know what might be the problem?