One of the big worries for XBox users (original XBox, of course) was that the dashboard and other OS files might become corrupted on the hard drive, and so the XBox wouldn't have been able to boot. It was a real worry to some people since similar problems were hardly uncommon on the PC (and the XBox didn't even provide a Scandisk/CHKDSK equivalent. Of course, it was much less of a worry to those who'd modded their XBox, since then they could just reinstall everything. But thinking back, I don't ever remember reading about anyone who's unmodded XBox became un-bootable due to corrupt system files. Did this ever happen to anyone? And if so, could the XBox still boot up from commercial game discs, or did the XBox require the OS to run first? I'm not talking about modded XBoxes, of course. That can happen, mostly due to the user messing up the installation or trying to change the working dashboard from/to Evo-X/Unleash/XBMC etc. I mean unmodded XBoxes, that have never ran anything but ordinary commercial games from their discs.
Well, at least not to me or anyone I know. A stock Xbox tries to boot a default.xbe off the DVD drive first and only if that fails it'll load the dashboard, so even if you do hose your HDD contents, having a game disc with a dashboard update installer(**) would allow you to fix it. As long as you don't manage destroy the partition table (how would you even do that with any of the signed xbes?) or the BIOS (which is read-only, sooo...) you should be able to recover. ** edit/add: well unless those installers only contain the updated files instead of a full set, and you're missing one not included. no idea if that is the case though.
If the hard drive become corrupted due to damaged hard drive or corrupted in some other way (maybe corruption during an unexpected power outage?) then you could simply use an EEPROM reader + PC to rebuild the hard drive (with stock files) or install another stock hard drive. I've read online about people mentioning their unmodded Xboxes stopped working due to broken hard drive so it's certainly not unheard of. But it's easily repairable with the right tools. Hard drives don't last forever.
The Xbox hard drives seem pretty robust, I must have modded at least 50 Xboxes, and I cannot remember one stock hard drive being corrupt! Not bad considering all original Xbox hard drives must be at least 10 years old by now. I suppose they don't get as much use as they do in a PC?
If the OS system files became corrupt you would be seeing Error 16. (If you corrupt the hdd & you have set the time, don't remove the power cable, as this will allow the clock capacitor to deplete & give you the above) Due to the Xbox check if the time is set or not before booting any xbe files. So boot process looks like so. Clock set: Check time, time is set so boot. D:\default.xbe C:\xboxdash.xbe Clock not set: Check time, time is not set so boot. C:\xboxdash.xbe (This is why you are presented with the set time screen even if a disc is in the Xbox.) Now you could always hot swap & use some PC software to fix the corrupt dash files & thus fix your Xbox. Softmods get round the clock check/loop by setting the time when the font exploit is loaded, so a valid xboxdash.xbe is not required. (Valid as in the actual dashboard file, not the 4920 xodash.xbe renamed to xboxdash.xbe, used for NDURE softmods)
There's a official refresh disc for issues like that, not sure about a corrupted hdd. Is there a built in hdd sector test in the xbox?
off-topic but relevant to the discussion, um by anychance will a ide-usb adapter fit & work with a Xbox Harddrive or is it better i'd get any ide hdd usb 2.0 docking station? cuz i have that same error code 16 (13 before till i unplugged the power plug overnight like a dumb a-hole) and so would i need to do is copy the dashboard files back to the C partition with xplorer360 along with the epprom backup folder and move it back there as well correct? P.S Do i need to unplug the dvd drive cables and have it set my xbox to error code 12 while doing it?
Sorry, I don't know. Have a look at the XBox Scene FAQs at: http://www.xbox-scene.com/ or the forums at: http://forums.xbox-scene.com/ as hopefully you'll find the answers there.
