DIY : Guide to Upgrade Xbox 360 HDD

I was reading various articles to prep for my Xbox 360 HDD upgrade, the really helpful article that I found was:

http://digiex.net/guides-reviews/console-guides/xbox-360-guides/3152-hack-250gb-320gb-500gb-sata-harddrive-work-xbox-360-xbox-360-slim.html 

I thought I will add some details on issues I faced and resolved during the upgrade process.

Pre-requsites:

• Computer with windows OS, Windows XP/Vista/7/8.  (Ideally XP)
• You should be able to plug in the hard drive using computer's SATA connection. (I used the laptop, which had the SATA connection and I had to swap the internal hard drive with Xbox 360 upgrade hard drive.
• USB drive to boot computer in DOS mode. (minimum 512MB)
• Western Digital Hard drive you are planning to upgrade with (see the hard drive compatibility list).  It is now possible to hack drives of the following sizes: 500gb, 320gb, 250gb, 120gb, 60gb and 20gb.
• Optional : SATA to USB cable or enclosure.

Hard drive compatibility list:

http://xboxhddupgrade.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/xbox360-hdd-compatibility-list-for.html

I was using the Western Digital WD3200BEKX - 75B7WT0  hard drive, which was not listed on the forums but it can be used with Xbox 360.

Software to download:

• Bootable USB Creator.
• HDDHACKR v1.4
• HDD Bins for flashing the firmware to new HDD.
• Optional: Xplorer360 Extreme 2  (To migrate the Xbox 1 Emulator from your existing old Xbox HDD to new HDD)

Download all software from here.

Summary of steps you need to perform:

• Create a bootable USB drive and copy the HDDHACKR v1.4 to the USB drive and required HDD Bin file to flash (its better to name the file as HDDSS.BIN ).
• Remove all the hard drives from the computer and only plug the hard drive that will be used for upgrade in Xbox 360. (You are not required to remove all the existing drives but it make process more safe)
• Boot the computer using the USB drive and run the HDDHACKR.exe from command prompt.
• From HDDHACKR menu Flash the Hard drive with the firmware HDDSS.BIN and Create the Partition 0/2/3. (During the process existing firmware's backup will be made, keep that file safe i.e. UNDO.BIN)
• Restart the computer after removing the New Xbox 360 Hard drive and plugging in the original hard drive (if removed), and boot the computer in Windows OS.
• If you do not want Xbox 1 Emulator to be installed you can skip the rest of the steps and simply replace the hard drive in Xbox 360 HDD shell. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLr85W6_vFg) and format it in Xbox 360's System Setting > Storage Menu, and your new storage is ready for use.
• Optional Steps for Xbox 1 Emulator Migration : Using the SATA to USB connector plug-in the Old Xbox 360 Hard Drive to the computer and run the Xplorer360 program (as Adminstrator) and take the Backup of Partition 2.
• Once backup is done, remove the old Xbox 360 HDD and use the new Xbox 360 Hard drive using the SATA to USB connector.
• Using the Xplorer360 Program Restore the Partition 2 to the new Hard drive.
•  Now simply replace the hard drive in Xbox 360 HDD shell. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLr85W6_vFg) and format it in Xbox 360's System Setting > Storage Menu, and your new storage is ready for use.

Troubleshooting:

• HDDHACKR error : "No ATA Device Present"

1. Make sure the drive is connected to the first SATA Connector (On either Primary or Secondary SATA Controllers)
2. Make sure BIOS configurations AHCI has not been enabled or RAID should not been active.
3. If your SATA chipset supports Legacy IDE in BIOS make sure it is enabled.

• Xplorer360 Extreme 2 error : "Could not find a FATX drive to open."

This is weird error and required several things to try out;

1. Try changing the SATA to USB Enclosure power source to external one if it's using the USB power.
2. I tried to plug in SATA to USB enclosure on my Windows XP machine and it worked. (Whereas it was not working on my two windows 7 laptops with 320GB HDD installed in shell, while it was working with old 60GB HDD installed in same shell on same windows 7 laptops)
3. Try plugging in your new HDD drive directly through the SATA cable in your PC.

Other useful links:

• If you are after undo firmware files for your hard drive,  http://digiex.net/downloads/download-center-2-0/xbox-360-content/apps-pc/11033-hddhackr-undo-files-downloads-uploads.html