Green Xbox debug kit

Excuse my ignorance about these little green machines, but I'm more of a debug PS2 person...

Anyhoo, was just wondering if it is possible for an Xbox debug kit to play retail games. I know as standard they don't, but is there a way you can get them to?

Also, what are the major advantages of a debug kit over a regular retail Xbox.

Thanks.

 

'Yes' they will run Retail signed games providing you run a suitable BFM BIOS on B:

...Major advantage, well they can run everything 'properly' being the crucial advantage.

 

Is that easy to do? Just a simple tweak in the BIOS and then save your changes....?

 

It's easy to do.

...You just need a .BIN known as Hack_Dev_Kit (from the usual places), Then 'NN' into E: place the B: .DXT file into the DXT folder then reboot and place the .BIN in the root of B:

...Jobs a good 'un

Enjoy.

 

Thank you very much for your help - it's appreciated.

I'm off to get a debug kit!

(I assume you just put in the game, close the tray and hey presto - right?)

 

Plus, most debug kits have 128mb of ram stock

 

Yep, once you have the hacked BFM .BIN installed you can treat your genuine Debug Kit as if it was a retail kit, i.e 'yes' you can put in a game, close the tray and hey presto.

...Glad to have helped, any problems lmk.

 

Well almost.

You close the tray, the retail game shows up in the launcher, you click on it and then hey presto.

Of course it is worth noting that Live games WILL NOT connect to Live when played in a debug kit as the debug will not be seen as a retail Xbox.

-hl718

 

yes, since the eeprom data is blank on debug and dev kits. you need that eeprom data to connect to live since it contains the info needed to be recognized by the servers as a valid xbox. the debug kit does have a working eeprom chip so with the proper software, you can flash it with a valid eeprom dump from a retail xbox.

the hardware itself is basically the same as a retail xbox except for the extra ram. in theory, you can get a modchip, install it in the debug kit and flash it with a 100% unmodified retail bios with the correct kernel and it SHOULD be like a retail console. i've heard there are differences in the retail and dev/debug MCPX chips. if the RC4 key used to decrypt the bios is not the same, it won't work unless you repack the bios with the proper key.

maybe oldengineer can shed some light on the MCPX differences.

 

The EEPROM data in a Debug Kit is most assuredly NOT blank. Whoever told you that doesn't know much about the hardware. Not to mention that Live does not validate on the EEPROM alone.

And yes, the MCPX chips are different between the retail and debug units, 3 and 2 respectively.

-hl718

 

that's interesting. exactly what is contained in the eeprom then? same format as retail but blanked online key and hdkey?

i'll have a look for myself sometime this week when i get my dev kit.

 

Just to confuse things further...

I have a genuine 'unhacked, MS specifically built for the purpose' Debug Kit that does connect to Live!, in fact that's it's whole purpose in life, just to connect to Live!

...Of course it does run on a unique Kernal to achieve this

 

are you talking about the black 64MB debug kit? those were indeed made to test live games.

 

No, he's talking about the beta kit I presume. Your black debug is a standard kit that will connect to Partner.net for testing Live games (which is what all standard debug kits do).

-hl718

 

I dont think you can simply add a mod chip to a debug or a dev kit.
A retail xbox and a debug/dev kit are alot different.If that was the
case dont you think game companies would convert a retail to debug
to save money.

 

Well they're not *that* much different. Yes there are hardware differences, but if you know what you are doing you can make a retail act a whole hell of a lot like a debug which is why the homebrew scene took off so quickly.

And yes, some game companies *DO* use modded retail Xboxes (as well as modded retail PS2s) in place of debug and test units to supplement their hardware because it is cheaper and nearly as effective.

-hl718

 

Well I know about the homebrew scene converts to debug,but I didnt think
game companies would do this also.Well I guess you make a good point.
Just cant use the xdk recovery on retail.
A little off topic but I just bought a debug kit a couple of days ago,and it
came with a 120 HDD,is there anyway for the debug kit to recongnize
the whole HDD,or is it a no go because of the debug bios.

 

Of course you can. You just can't flash the retail with the bios on the disc.

You bought a hacked debug kit? Didja check the MCPX to make sure it's a real debug kit board and not a modded retail board in a debug case? That said, I'm pretty sure there was a DXT extension floating around that let you see the extra space on a hard drive for a debug. Don't know of anyone that wanted to crack their debug open and try it out. Sometimes, you just don't want to break the seal.

-hl718

 

Its a real debug kit,I just used the recovery cd yesterday and upgraded the
xdk dashboard on it.Tust me I know the difference.I used to have a dev kit
so I know what to look for.I tried the dxt file but I think I have to use
xbox neighborhood for it to work.You can put any HDD in a dev/debug kit
as long as you use the recovery cd.On my debug motherboard the
MCPX is a X2

 

Of course you can...

I run a couple of 'spare' Debug Kit's fitted with 120gb HDD's, just add F: dxt ( from the usual places) to E: and format F:

...Jobs a good 'un