After about eight months and spending outrageous money on postage, I finally got Enigmah installed on my Xbox. Only to discover that, contrary to what I was informed, PAL games cannot be forced into 720p or 1080i. I am really at my wits end with this console and at this stage feel very tempted to pick it up and smash it. Now, even when I boot up a PAL game it loads at 480p. I've tried switching Engimah over to PAL and going into the softmod settings to disabling 480p, but it still loads the games in 480p. This is a downgrade, as they were running at 576i before the softmod. How do I restore 576i?
It doesn't look like an improvement my end. It looks compressed and literally rough around edges. And furthermore, I make recordings with an Elgato HD. Before the softmod, my Elgato software would deinterlace the 576i to 576p. So now at 480p my recordings are actually lower res. The only reason I got this damn softmod was to force my games into 720p or 1080i without any need for an upscaler. Now all I can get is 480p. It is a downgrade, I hate how it looks, and I can't turn it off.
The Xbox will only generate 576i if the console video mode is set to PAL. From the sounds of it, you switched over your console to try and enable HD, so now it's in NTSC mode. The easiest way to switch it back is to use a little single-purpose application called the "Enigmah Video Mode Switch Disc", which does exactly what the name says - it lets you toggle the console between PAL and NTSC mode. If you find the change doesn't stick, then check to see if your softmod has a virtual EEPROM, and if so disable it.
I've tried switching it back to PAL in Enigmah and its not working properly. Sometimes it boots in 576i. sometimes it boots in 480p. But now an even worse problem has developed. Some games are crashing the console when I try to load them, and in some cases the image is shifted horizontally, with the right part of the screen emerging on the right of the screen.
To get 480p, 720p, or 1080i from a PAL Xbox and if supported by a game, the PAL Xbox must be in NTSC video mode. Use Enigmah Video switcher application to change video standard from PAL to NTSC output. Enable the HD modes in the dashboard (e.g., MS Dashboard, UnleashX, XBMC4Xbox). To even see these options in MS Dashboard or enabled for modification in the other dashboards, you have to have a High-def A/V pack connected for component video out to an HDTV.
OK, this sounds like the problem I mentioned earlier with the EEPROM virtualization - basically, you are changing the softmod's shadow copy of the EEPROM and not the hardware EEPROM. Since a softmod boots through the original MS code, this can result in things getting confused. Unfortunately, I can't tell you the exact steps to take to get around this, since it depends on which softmod and/or installer you used to set it up. You could try creating a file called "eeprom_off.bin" (it can be blank) in the E:\ partition and then running Enigmah again and see if it sticks this time.
What took 8 months to install Enigmah app on the Xbox, FTP it over and it's there no time or money spent? Did you purchase a High Definition A/V pack? Run NTSC version of the game instead of PAL version. Not sure why it wouldn't be back to 576i with an SCART cable for RGB output. Maybe need to press both triggers and thumbstick buttons to force HD mode. Not sure if this is NTSC only or works with PAL too...or just changes dashboard and not games. Don't live in region with PAL video usage so...these words...!
I have the Xbox component cables. Last April I came across this YouTube video. About 3minutes into the video, in it the guy claims that you could force games that don't support 480p or HD by holding the triggers and joysticks on the dashboard menu. Obviously, PAL consoles require a softmod kit to access these resolutions, so I purchased a softmod kit from a seller in ebay. When I made my purchase, the seller asked if I wanted any emulators with it. I declined telling him my only need for the kit was restoring HD modes. I installed the softmod, but I couldn't get the HD resolutions to work. The seller then informed me that I needed Enigmah, for reasons unknown he never told me that when I told him my goal was to restore the resolutions. He even told me he still had the Enigmah disks! Why didn't he offer to include Enigmah with my package when he offered me the emulators? He sent me links to Enigmah for download, but no matter what I did, I couldn't get my FTP clients to work with my Xbox. Burnt DVDs also didn't work. After about two months of getting nowhere, the idiot seller told me I could transfer it with a thumb drive. I purchased an 8GB USB stick, but the console didn't detect it. I was told it had to be 4GB or less. They stopped selling drives that small in stores about 10 years, so I copied the Enigmah software to an old 2GB USB that I had. The Xbox formatted the USB - and erased all the other files that were on it. The moron who sold me the kit didn't tell me that Xboxes don't use Fat32 and require a special program to even install files. I screamed and yelled for my money back, not to mention the money it was going to cost me to recover my lost files. I had to lodge a complaint to PayPal to get my refund. On and off I tried to get Enigmah installed with no success. And I followed the FTP instructions exactly. More recently, I found the Tasmanian based company Retro Regeneration Tasmania who said they could install Engimah for me. I stated repeatedly to them that my primary need to install Enigmah was to restore the HD resolutions. It cost me $80 in postage and packaging to send it to Tasmania, plus another $80 for the services and return postage. It arrived back yesterday, but it only played the softmod dashboard in 1080i. I contacted RRT and was told that only NTSC games that support 720p or 1080i could thake advanage of it. And that contrary to what was said in that video, games that don't support them cannot be forced to 720p or 1080i. Adding insult to injury, the RRT guy I spoke to tried to talk his way around the issue with "Oh, you asked me to restore HD, I did it!" I made explicitly clear what I needed the HD resolutions for, if the PAL games couldn't take advantage of them or be forced into those modes, he could have said something before we agreed to proceed with the order. The Xbox can only play Xbox games, it can't even play DVDs without additional hardware. What the hell did he think I was trying to use the Xbox's HD modes for? VHS tapes?! I don't have NTSC versions of the games. And the only games I have for the Xbox are Deus Ex 2, Wreckless The Yukuza Missions, Shenmue 2, and Halo 2. The best the NTSC versions of these games support is 480p. As stated above, I've tried to force the HD mode with the triggers and thumbsticks, but it doesn't do anything. I don't have an Xbox SCART cable. And honestly, the only reason I've not simply used RGB like I have for most of my other consoles is because in all the Youtube videos I've seem, the Xbox's RGB looks terrible. Now its not even playing the games properly and is practically unplayable.
In the video, he mentions at ~1m30s it's for Xbox with Hi-definition component cable and has the HD modes enabled which are only available on NTSC Xbox's. His hi-def trick of pressing both triggers and thumbstick buttons only works for the dashboard, not the games themselves. Not sure why he states it affects games too (still has to be NTSC instead of PAL). Damn, a lot of runarounds to get things to the state they currently are. Download/extract and burn image of HeXEn 2017 installer disk. It has Enigmah Video Swither on it to run and install to HDD from DVD media. Not sure why FTP never worked for you. Generally, it's the easiest method to get working to install software to the HDD once an Xbox is modded -- either by softmod or modchip installation. The latest greatest bestest softmod to use/upgrade to is Rock5y's Xbox Softmodding Tool Build v1.1.3. Last update 10 days ago. But once modded, it can. Install DVDX2 Region Free and Dongle free DVD player (available from the usual place or HERE) -- no DVD playback kit required. Playback operations are controlled by the Xbox game controller. Or, XBMC can also play DVD's - XBMC4Xbox v3.5.3 also installable from HeXEn 2017 disc (link above).
Thanks, but after all the misery my current softmod has caused, I'm done with Xbox softmods. If they can't force PAL games to HD, I've no use for them. My only goal right now is restoring the console to its original pre-softmod settings. I'd rather stick with component upscalers. That's news to me. Still, thanks but no thanks. My only goal right now is getting this softmod removed.
You can easily upgrade the current softmod and see how it works compared to the older mod you installed. Xbox Softmodding Tool Build v1.1.3's/Installer Variant/Quick Upgrade.zip, extract and follow the instructions to install it by executing the default.xbe file inside. Follow the on-screen instructions "Press A" to install - then A a few more times to acknowledge pop-up messages. Reboot. If you still want to uninstall the Xbox Softmodding Tool, you can with its Extras Disc via menu option to remove it. The softmod is so nice, allowing you to mount game images (XISO's) as if they were an actual disc in the DVD drive (D:\). NKPatcher tool of Xbox Softmodding Tool has video mode selections: default and force progressive. The later might help to get your 576i back. Again, I don't have a PAL Xbox to verify being in the States. So many updates and the inclusion of all the best softmod features are included in Rocky5's Xbox Softmodding Tool. Night and day to older softmods give it a try it may just be what you need. And, if not, pop in the Extras Disc and remove it back to stock Xbox configuration -- unmodded state (with backdoor -- no game disc required to re-softmod). Full source code for the softmod portion, some included tools never had their source code released to the public, available at github.
Well, I got the softmod removed and got my 576i back, but its still problematic. Deus Ex keeps rebooting the console back to the MS dashboard and sometimes there are weird horizontal lines across the screen, almost like something corrupted. I'm at my wits end. I'm feel ready to pick up the console, throw it out the window and buy a new one. Any suggestions?
You will never be able to force 720p or higher in any game that doesn’t support those resolutions period. ( some can be patched to 720p but slowdown and random issues will be present ) You can only force 480p for content that runs in 480i. As for your issues now, is there an error that pops up like the disc can’t be read eg... when it crashes to the MSDash? Also the corruption on screen could be the GPU having issues. Really what you should have done it come here or to any of the other active Xbox forums and asked before shelling out $160 for what takes 2 seconds to do via FTP or a burned disc. ( better yet if you used my softmod it’s built into NKPatcher Setting, so no enigmah app required ) Also you probably had SID installed, as that’s been the goto softmod. ( I preferred krazzies to be honest )
Just an update, Deus Ex seems to be working fine now, as are my other games. The only game that seems to be having issues is Halo 2. The NPCs keep glitching back and forth as they walk. This glitching doesn't reoccur on the Xbox 360, though. Maybe the disk needs cleaning?
