- 24
- Sep
So you don’t want to buy an Action Replay to hack your xbox? Lets make our own Xbox USB cable with no soldering required. I will even show you how to use Action Replay software with your USB drive.
Before we go any further take a look here to see if your USB thumb drive is compatible with the Xbox. If your USB drive is not listed, just stick in the Xbox after we make our cable and you will know if it is compatible or not.
What you need:
- USB cable with a female end:
- Electrical Tape:
- Scissors:
- And an extra Xbox controller end (You know the part that plugs into the Xbox that you can detach from the controller?) I don’t have a picture, I just used my last one. :)
- A USB jump drive:
- Action Replay Software
- USB View Software
Ok, lets get started. Prepare your USB cable:
- Take your USB dongle with the female end and cut it about 5 inches from the female end. If you are new to stripping wires you might want to leave some ample room, like 10 inches.
- Now strip the USB cable about 2 1/2 inches down from where you cut it, and cut off any shielding, etc.
- You should have 4 wires. Red, black, white, and green.
- Strip those little colored wires. I find using open scissors works well.
After preparing the USB cable we need to do the same to the Xbox controller dongle. Cut it just before the black lump on the plugin side. You don’t need the yellow wire so just cut it off. Now, twist the matching colors together. After that, test the cord by plugging your USB drive into the Xbox and going to memory management before you wrap it tight with electrical tape.
Format your USB drive for the Xbox:
- BACKUP YOUR USB DRIVE. IT WILL BE ERASED.
- Format your USB drive with the FAT32 file system
- Open USBVIEW.EXE (Download above). Your USB drive should be showing. Note the following numbers: idVendor, and idProduct. The only numbers you have to worry about is the Zs - 0xZZZZ.
- Install Action Replay
- Navigate to C:\Program Files\Datel\Action Replay XBOX\drivers. Edit the xbreader.inf and scroll to the [_Devices] sections.
- Edit only the first line. Replace the digits next to PID_ and VID_ and enter the ZZZZ digits from above.
- Now, take your formated USB drive and plug it into the Xbox with your cable.
- Turn your Xbox on and in the default dashboard navigate to your card from within Memory Management.
- The Xbox will state that your memory unit has been erased. The Xbox has just formated your USB drive with the FATX xbox file system.
- Take your USB drive back to your PC, open device manager and right click your USB Mass Storage device and click Update driver. Don’t select automatic and point the driver location to C:\Program Files\Datel\Action Replay XBOX\drivers\xbreader.inf. Run Action Replay. You can now transfer game saves onto your USB drive with Action Replay.
- Take your USB drive back to your Xbox and copy the save games to the HD. :)
I hope you enjoyed making your own USB xbox cable and hacking Action Replay. Let me know how it goes!
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Related Posts
Tags: Action replay, DIY, Gaming, Hardware, USB drive, Xbox
October 9th, 2007 at 5:13 pm
Very clear and well done. I am however having a problem with both flash drives I have tried to use. When I attempt to update the device driver for the flash to the modified xbreader.inf I get the message “The specified location does not contain information about your hardware.” I have double checked the Vendor and Product ID’s with USBVIEW several times. Thanks for any help you can provide.
October 9th, 2007 at 5:27 pm
Ignore my previous post. As usual it came down to doing what the instructions said, not what I thought made sense. Thanks.
October 9th, 2007 at 6:14 pm
Glad you got it worked out. ;)
October 13th, 2007 at 6:21 pm
I can not for the life of me get the action replay software to detect my usb device. I have gone through the tutorials, updated the driver in device manager to show ActionReplay XBox but everytime I start up the action replay software it blinks green and gray finally remaining gray.
I have used my usb drive with my female xbox cable and I have been able to copy saves from the hard drive to the drive. I have unplugged the drive and plugged it back in and the saves still remain. Is it possible that my usb drive works well with xbox but not action replay. I have wasted way too much time on this already and could really use some help.
Thanks!!
October 16th, 2007 at 1:21 am
Thanks for the advice Shane, I did try. I removed my hardware, restarted and triple checked my ini file. I even changed it a few different ways as recommended by some other sites but still no go. AR software only blinks green never stays that way.
I am about to give up, I might just have to pay to have someone do it. I am usually decent that this type of thing but it’s proving to be a tough go.
Thanks again.
October 29th, 2007 at 3:17 pm
Everything works great until I go to transfer the saves from the thumb drive to the xbox. I only have an option to delete the save, there is no option to copy the save to the hard drive. any ideas?
November 29th, 2007 at 8:43 pm
I’m having a problem once I try read the memory stick on the x-box. Once I go to the ‘Memory’ page on the x-box menu, the screen flashes constantly, as does the light on my memory stick.
I’m pretty sure I did the crimping/wiring correctly, and the memory unit is supported.
I wonder what’s going on here… I’m going to re-try the wiring again, but I could use some ideas….
Thanks!
November 30th, 2007 at 11:56 am
deleonphoto — you might not be selecting the right thing. As far as I can tell, you have an option to delete the ‘game’, but you need to select a specific save (toggle to the right) to be given the option to copy the save to the HD.
November 30th, 2007 at 11:57 am
Awesome guide Shane.
This guide definitely helped me keep the costs of my little project down.
Here’s some comments from my own experience (which included AR giving the “USB device failed to enumerate” error (at least, on one of the four USB devices I tried)
http://www.slanty.net/en/2007/11/28/hacking-project-done/
November 30th, 2007 at 10:56 pm
@24601 - I am glad you succeeded and made use of my document.
December 3rd, 2007 at 1:54 pm
i’ve tried for 2 hours the xbox reads it fine but ar wont pick up any saved game from usb and the pc just wants to reformat it.
December 4th, 2007 at 2:01 pm
Yeah took me like 5 mins! works awesome! thanks again.
December 15th, 2007 at 12:31 am
A great replacement for the female USB cable end (and eliminate the cutting, and save a dongle) is to use, if you can find one, the old PSO keyboard adapter. Its essentially a USB passthrough. I used it with my Apple Shuffle and it worked like a charm.
Anyone know what happens if I attempt to download content (IE KOTOR content, or Links courses) after I softmod?
December 16th, 2007 at 10:30 pm
i used my psp to do the AR and the logo on the AR program flashes and then windows says “Ar has encounttered a problem and needs to close
December 16th, 2007 at 10:56 pm
never mind
December 20th, 2007 at 7:29 pm
I did what u said but i get the error “The specified location does not contain information about your hardware” When i try to update. Help.
December 23rd, 2007 at 10:37 pm
I did it, but when i plugged in the usb device to the xbox, the usb device would get really hot
ive checked the wiring, and the usb device.
But still no go
December 24th, 2007 at 11:52 am
hey,
ok i need help how do you do step 2
Format your USB drive with the FAT32 file system
i am sooooo lost here i got the dongle and female conected but the x-box doesn’t show its there.
any help is appreciated.
thx yours31f@yahoo.com
December 24th, 2007 at 1:09 pm
To Format your USb drive with FAT32 -
1. Open My Computer
2. Right click USB drive
3. Click format
4. Make sure FAT32 is selected.
Make sure you backup your files on USB drive, they will be deleted!
December 24th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
ok got that but now it says “You dont have permision to save here” but i own the computer???!?!?wtf why dont i have permission?
December 24th, 2007 at 3:50 pm
i got it but now i cant change drver
December 24th, 2007 at 4:49 pm
Ok I did all the steps correctly I think I double checked it though but My computer recognizes the usb port but it says that “Usb device not recognized can you guys help me with this i’m really getting mad
December 24th, 2007 at 5:33 pm
my xbox doesn’t recognize it either guys plz help a noob.
December 24th, 2007 at 8:14 pm
k never mind
I realized that none of my 3 usb are compatible with xbox.
go figure.
so i’m deciding to buy one of those memory units. do you guys know if that is able to interface with a pc.
December 27th, 2007 at 9:03 pm
Well… I followed another tutorial for the usb cord. and I followed the steps on this tutorial for the usb drive. and my xbox doesn’t see that my drive is there. It’s FAT32. I’m wondering if it’s my usb adapter. I have the correct usb drive. the ids are correct as well. Any help you can give me is greatly appreciated.
December 27th, 2007 at 9:26 pm
It will not work if your drive is FAT32, you have to format it as FATX as instructed in the tutorial.
December 27th, 2007 at 10:22 pm
I formatted it to FAT32 before I inserted it in the xbox, to have the xbox format it to FATX. Never mind, I made a new usb cable. But now I can’t update the drivers (I’m running Vista). Whoops, to be more precise, it says there are no drivers located in that specific folder. I may re-install AR. Last post I promise. It’s my flash drive that is the problem. Lol. [edited by admin]
January 1st, 2008 at 8:24 pm
by step 9, does that mean the usb memory stick can be used as an xbox360 storage device?
January 1st, 2008 at 10:10 pm
Hey John.
I have not tested this method on a xbox360. If you do, let us know how it turns out.
January 2nd, 2008 at 9:48 am
I stuck when I open the usb-cable! The colors of mine are brown, yellow, red and blue!! May I should try it on another one…
January 2nd, 2008 at 10:49 am
Max,
I would try another cable, or if you have ample length, just try some combinations.
Good luck.
January 6th, 2008 at 8:14 pm
Thank you for the tutorial. I am having the same problem as jmtrott was. My xbox reads my USB drive and erases/formats it appropriately. However, I cannot get the driver to update on my PC. Every time I try to install it, it says “The specified location does not contain information about your hardware.” Does anyone know what I am doing wrong? Thanks.
January 7th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
For the usb cable wouldn’t you need the male cord to plug into the computer?
January 7th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
Or could you just use male usb instead some way and if so how?
January 8th, 2008 at 4:29 am
I bought a compatible Lexar USB flash drive on eBay, and the Xbox recognizes it and formats it. However, once I get to step 10, updating the driver, Windows simply tells me, “Cannot continue the Hardware Update Wizard. The wizard could not find a better match for your hardware other than the software you currently have installed.” Then if I put the path in the Update Driver Wizard directly to xbreader.inf, it states, “The specified location does not contain information about your hardware.” I have edited the xbreader.inf correctly, multiple times, yet Windows still gives me the finger. What do I do here? This seems to be the same problem jmtrott and trey are having. Jmtrott or Shane, what’s the trick to getting this to work? I noticed you got it down ok jmtrott. I have tried uninstalling the flash drive completely, checked the .inf file several times, checked it with USBVIEW several times, yet still theres still a problem. Any solutions?
January 8th, 2008 at 8:15 am
Some suggestions:
1. Try it on another PC.
2. Delete your USB Controller from device manager and scan for new hardware with the USB drive unplugged.
3. What is the device ID and what model is the Lexar?
January 8th, 2008 at 10:07 am
I tried those suggestions, and on two other computers as well. The flash drive is a 256 MB Lexar JumpDrive Sport/Photo. I also tried this with another older flash drive of mine (brand name I am unaware of, 64 MB) that the Xbox recognized and formatted. Still, nothing works. The Lexar’s product ID is: 0xA411.
January 9th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
Does anyone have the xbox action replay software? Its been pulled from the codejunkies site and an email to their support got me nowhere.
January 9th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
@elcamino:
Link is in the post:
http://rapidshare.com/files/57911589/ARforXbox_USEnglish1_05_.zip.html
January 9th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
Question. I am having the same problem as Christian. I made the USB adapter, it is being read (it lights up when I plug it into the Xbox), but when I go to Memory Management, I don’t see anything but the Xbox hard disk. What have a done wrong?
January 9th, 2008 at 4:13 pm
I should add that I have formatted it with FAT32.
January 9th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
Sorry again. I’ve managed to get it to be formatted on the Xbox and have it recognize it. Now I’m having a different issue. Same thing as jmtrott. “Specified location…” blah blah blah. I feel like I’m reading and doing everything right, but hey, I’ve been known to get it wrong before. Any help would be appreciated.
January 9th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Hi,
maybe a bit offtopic, but I don’t get the action replay SW installed, neither from the link above nor from the original CD. Clicking on setup (as admin user), gives the waiting cursor for a moment and then it’s back to normal. No installation dialog whatsoever. Any help,link or pointer is appreciated.
January 9th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
Hey Emily, welcome to the blog.
A couple of questions for starters:
1. What OS and specific version are you running?
2. What AntiVirus?
3. Any messages in the Event Log?
January 9th, 2008 at 11:03 pm
I guess I’ll just buy Action Replay or something, this method doesn’t work for me at all, whatsoever. Thanks for the tutorial anyway Shane, peace.
January 10th, 2008 at 8:10 am
Cambo, have you deleted the USB device first before trying to install the xbreader.inf driver? Maybe you will have better luck.
January 10th, 2008 at 9:47 am
@ Kevin:
It seems there was a problem updating the information on the wrong device. Are you updating the driver for the USB drive or the USB controller?
January 11th, 2008 at 1:31 am
my xbox wont recognize nor see my usb drive. any reasons as to why. i formatted it to fat32 .
January 18th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
Hi and thanks for your interest. I’m running Windows XP Pro SP2(German) on an IBM T30 will full patches. Avira is my AV solution (rather popular over here). However, my second computer (a desktop, but otherwise a similar config) allowed me to install Action Replay SW without a hitch and I’m now using that for game status transfer.
January 26th, 2008 at 12:16 am
hey, so i’ve followed through with everything up until the point of where I run action replay. when I do run action replay, the “memory card” window just becomes flooded with folders called Unnamed Title and the process continues for a long time (i have never waited for very long)… but is this a sign that my USB drive is not compatible? or what can i do?
January 26th, 2008 at 9:26 am
@Alan -
I actually ran into the same problem. It seemed that the save game I was trying put on my USB drive was acually the culprit.
Try a different method.
January 26th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
i switched to a smaller flash drive (my friend’s) and got it to work
terrific tutorial
thanks shane
January 27th, 2008 at 12:25 am
Glad you got it sorted Alan. ;)
January 27th, 2008 at 11:27 pm
Great tutorial, very simple. Although, I am having trouble with the device manager step. I am confused with what to format to and how to do it. I am using windows 2000 any help would be appreciated
well it appears I have figured that out
now it seems when I try to put saves on the “memory card” from the xbox it gets about a quarter done and gives an error and the xbox starts flashing is this an incompatible usb drive?
I was also wondering if there is any way to somehow erase the action replay setting on the usb drive and format them regularly. thanks
edited by admin
January 28th, 2008 at 8:29 am
Graeme,
1. Have you checked the USB drive compatibility list?
2. In order to remformat your USB drive as FAT, delete the action replay device from your devices manager and rescan for hardware. You should then be able to right click the drive in My Computer and select format.
January 28th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
Sorry…how would you go about deleting this? (I don’t know very much about windows) (mac user)
Thanks
January 28th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
the usb drive I have used is probably not compatible since it is branded with companies and does not say the actual manufacturer. I will try and scrounge up a compatible one of the list.
January 29th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
will this fake AR work for the xbox soft mod?
January 29th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
dragondude,
It worked for my friend. ;)
January 30th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
freekin sweet
February 1st, 2008 at 2:45 pm
could some one tell me how real quick?
February 5th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
For everyone that may have received the error:
“The specified location does not contain information about your hardware.”
Try selecting the USB CONTROLLER not the device. Look for the controller in device manager under “Universal serial bus controllers” –> then find the usb mass storage device –> now update using the aforementioned method!
Good luck
February 8th, 2008 at 8:16 pm
A little confused as to which side of the black lump is the “plug-in” side; both sides plug into something!
Controller side or Console side of the lump?
February 8th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
Nevermind. Answered my own question with this: http://www.xbox-scene.com/imageserver3/xbox-usb-xbox-cable/pic1.jpg
Either side can be cut.
February 9th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
Shane. Please update your tutorial with the details mentioned in the post by “Finally” on 2/5/2008. This info was extremely helpful.
I kept trying to update the USB device under the “disk drives” section in the device manager. “Finally” had the info I needed.
Thanks Shane for the great tutorial! and thanks to “Finally” too.
February 9th, 2008 at 10:41 pm
For those of you that have tryed this and did not sucseed because of updating the driver didnt work this is for you:) when you have edited the xbreader.inf and put the pid and vid numbers in save it then go to contol panal and switch to classic veiw next go to system then on the tabs select hardware then go to device manager and drop down the universal serial bus option and right click on the usb mass storage device you are using after right clicking on it select updat driver and select yes this time only then hit next now select install from a list or specific location navigate to where the xbreader.inf file is normaly it is in C:/program files/datel/action replay/drivers or somthing like that now at the bottom choose dont search i will choose the
driver to install and press next a list showld come up with 1 or 2 things pick action replay or somtthing this is what i did and it worked fine. if you have any question or need more detaild instructions email me at magor_666@hotmail.com ill be glad to help
February 9th, 2008 at 11:45 pm
I’ve used a 3-rd party controller, so I’ve connected the blue wire to the USB’s black (the others, apart from yellow, matched).
Plugged it in to the Xbox, and it won’t read in Memory.
I have a compatible Lexar JumpDrive Traveller 128MB formatted to FAT32.
Is it just my connections? They look just fine, all twisted together. Maybe it’s my black/blue combo.
February 10th, 2008 at 2:50 am
Maybe i’m just an idiot, but i’ve been trying to do this shit for over two hours, and each time i get “The specified location does not contain information about your hardware.” And yes, i have tried “selecting the USB CONTROLLER not the device. Look for the controller in device manager under “Universal serial bus controllers” –> then find the usb mass storage device” And it still doesn’t work…. PLEASE HELP!!!
February 10th, 2008 at 3:14 am
Well, i tried again and it appears i am an idiot…this works great… awesome!!!
February 10th, 2008 at 3:20 am
whell i got the driver updated, but ar still won’t recognize it…
February 10th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
Tried a different USB device in it; the connection is just fine! My Flash Drive chipset is different from the one mentioned. Now, to get myself a comptaible flash drive!
February 14th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
IT WORKS YALL ITS JUST A MATER OF WHAT USB U US!!!! here is the list
• 3System USB Flash Disk USB Drive 32 MB (1998 blocks)
• A-DATA 2GB FLASH DRIVE PD1 Series (see notes on A-DATA, didn’t work until formatting to 32MB)
• A-DATA 2GB FLASH DRIVE PD2-G20 (50000+ blocks)
• A-DATA 2GB FLASH DRIVE PD9 Series (50000+ blocks)
• Aigo 128MB USB Memory Stick (7997 blocks)
• Apacer 256MB USB Key (Paradigit) HANDY STENO 2.0
• Ativa 512 MB High-speed USB 2.0 Portable Flash Drive: Transfer saves to xbox, but not the other way around.
• AVB 64 MB USB 1.1 Mobile Drive (4030 blocks, ID 0ea0:6803)
• Axine 32MB USB Memory Stick (2042 blocks) Works good
• Belkin 32MB USB 2.0 Memory Stick
• Belkin 128MB USB Flash Drive (7998 blocks), Windows sees it as “3System USB Flash Drive”
• BenQ 256MB USB Flash Drive (15996 blocks), idVendor: 0×04A5 idProduct: 0×7500
• Captiva USB BAR 128 MB (7989 blocks)
• Centrios DSC-314 without a SD card (935 blocks)
• Checkpoint Software 64 MB USB-Stick (ID 0204:6025) (identified as “USB Flash Disk”)
• Commodore Floppy -on- stick 128MB (7989 blocks)
• COMSOL 16MB
• COMSOL 128MB
• CnMemory 64MB USB1.1 (iCreate Technologies Corp., use “MechInstaller-1.0-FATX-8MB-to-32MB.img”, 4014 blocks)
• CnMemory 128MB USB2.0
• CompUSA 128MB USB 2.0 SKU: 332150
• Corsair Flash Voyager (512 MB)
• Corsair Flash Voyager (1 GB), had to low level format first
• Creative Labs Muvo MP3 Player 32MB (1918 blocks)
• Creative Labs Nomad Muvo MP3 Player 128MB (7997 blocks)************Once used this is unreadable in a standard pc as anything other than a 16.7kb memory stick************
• Creative Labs MuVo TX FM MP3 Player 128MB (VID_041E&PID_412O must be reformatted back to FAT32 afterwards to work again! Contributed by: LoopyDood)
• Creative Labs Muvo TX Slim MP3 Player 128MB (VID:041E PID:4112, must be reformatted back to FAT afterwards to work again!)
• Creative MuVo TX FM MP3 Player 256MB (Must first be formatted to FAT32 before plugging into XBOX) (15604 blocks)
• Creative Labs Muvo V200 256MB (15604 blocks)
• DaneElec 256MB - Although it may not work for some, mine worked. Perhaps a different controller was used. I used the 256MB image
• Dell 64MB (I needed the 64mb image, but ‘Write to 32mb’ button instead of the 64mb)
• Dell 128MB
• Dick Smith Electronics 512MB, 31802 blocks (If using Action Replay to transfer files, you will need to constantly reinstall the AR drivers for the USB Stick. Otherwise, works like a charm! Also first format it in FAT32 or else the XBOX won’t detect and format in FATX.)
• Digital Research MP3 player 32MB (~5092 blocks)
• Digitrex DSC-1300 camera, in Mass Storage mode (8MB)
• Dolphin PowerCAM 2.0 Megapixel Digital Camera FASTUSB-1015
• EasyDisk 32MB (2014 Blocks)
• EasyDisk 128MB (7997 Blocks)
• EXCALIBUR 64MB Flash Drive
• Feiya Technology Corp. 128MB (aka QPS .m / QPS multimedia usb 2.0 key)
• Flash/SM Super Talent 2.0 VID&PID: Vid_090c&Pid_1000
• Freecom USB Stick 32 MB (1998 blocks)
• FujiFilm FinePix S5000 with 256MB xD card
• FujiFilm FinePix S5500 with 16MB xD card
• FujiFilm FinePix A210 with 64MB xD card
• FujiFilm FinePix A210 with 16MB xD card
• Fujitsu Siemens 64MB Menustick
• Fujitsu Siemens SB-512 MemoryBird USB-2.0 (512MB, how do I get MechInstaller onto it? - sajb)
• Gateway 16MB USB Flash Drive (998 blocks), Windows sees it as “USB NAND FLASH DISK”, VID:0c45 PID:1060
• Gateway 32MB USB Flash Drive (1998 blocks), Windows sees it as “MFG FLASH DRIVER”, Vendor=0c45 ProdID=1060
• GXT Mobile Data Drive - 1GB, 50000 blocks, (Used AR to get MechInstaller on it)
• Hama 6-in-1 USB Card Reader (Model-Nr.: 46958) with Lexar Media 16MB CompactFlash (992 blocks)
• HP Photosmart 315 with 8 MB SanDisk CF Card
• HP Photosmart C618 Digital Camera
• HP Photosmart M22 with Firmware version 2.02.08 and no Memory card (593 blocks)
• IBM 32 MB USB Memory Key (1998 blocks)
• iCreate Technologies Generic USB Flash Drive (128MB, Ven: 1043, Dev: 8006, 8045 Blocks)
• Integral 32Mb USB Flash Drive (32Mb 20xx Blocks, Ven:Dev 0ea0:6803, lsusb shows “Ours Technology, Inc. OTI-6803 Flash Disk”)
• Iomega Micro Mini USB Drive (64MB, 3995 Blocks)
• KBGear JamP3 Player (9998 blocks)
• KingMax USB2.0 Flash Drive 512MB - KS/PD2-512M (31994 blocks)
• Kingston DataTraveler 32 MB (1998 blocks), 64 MB (3934 blocks), 128 MB & 256 MB (15740 blocks)
• Kingston DataTraveler Elite 2GB (50000 blocks) - must be formatted as Fat32 previously
• Lexar JumpDrive 2.0 Pro 256 MB (JD256-40-501 RevB) (15740 blocks)
• Lexar JumpDrive Elite 128MB (I’m gue
February 17th, 2008 at 10:20 am
[...] However, those instructions required an “action replay” device, which I hacked together from a USB cable (I snipped up a USB hub and a dead Xbox controller) (make your own Action Replay) [...]
February 18th, 2008 at 2:18 am
After nearly a week of frustration I was able to get the save onto my xbox.
My problem was that pretty much every thing i plugged into the Xbox worked just fine, i could read it, copy saves, etc, but I kept getting problems using Action Replay software. So then i tried MXK-bxbx (hacked mega x-key) which would read my fatx formatted memory fine and be able to copy from it, but not write to it.
Until my problem was solved, and here’s how:
1) Insert the flash drive to the XBOX. Go to “Memory” in the dashboard. If it’s compatible, it will automatically format to FATX.
2) Download the latest (that I could find) Xplorer360. http://dl.qj.net/dl.php?fid=13660
3) Plug your FATX formatted flash drive to the computer, and DO NOT reformat.
4) Open Xplorer360, and goto “Drive -> Open -> Harddrive or Memcard..”
5) this should automatically detect your FATX flash drive and now you can drag your unzipped save to the Xplorer360 window. The file to transfer is the folder INSIDE UDATA (which is the code for the game or something).
6) Now you can take your flash drive out and plug back into the XBOX and copy over to the hard drive!
DAYS OF FRUSTRATION ARE OVER AND MADE EVEN MORE SIMPLE!!
Now my problem is my copy of MechAssault has the softmod exploit fixed, so i need to get another compatible game, but my biggest hurdle is over with.
February 25th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
i did everything and it all worked but when i open AR it just freezes.
i tried opening it then plugging in my PSP too neither work
im running vista
February 28th, 2008 at 5:22 pm
You have to have a memory stick that has a total capacity of 64MB or less, or else the xbox wont recognize it.
February 29th, 2008 at 8:09 am
Leland - I beg to differ. I successfully used a 1GB stick.
March 1st, 2008 at 4:07 pm
[...] device using flashdrive Posted on Today at 04:10 PM. By sk8freak315 I have used this site to figure this out but I am going to explain it my way, because they put in un-needed downloads. [...]
March 2nd, 2008 at 6:47 am
Thanks for the guide Shane. I got through all the steps to #11, but my Xbox does not recognise the usb. It did when I got to Step 9, and I’ve got the exploit on the USB through Action Replay.
I’m wondering if this is because I have an old version of the Xbox console - I.e. I’ve never used it ‘Live’ or played any recent (post-2002) live-enabled games. Does anyone know, and how I could fix this?
March 2nd, 2008 at 7:08 am
Sorry, I meant “Xbox Dashboard”, NOT ‘Xbox console’ - i read somewhere that an upgraded dashboard is required to do a softmod.
March 3rd, 2008 at 1:50 am
@eminay
Thanks man! Worked a treat after several failed AR attempts - you are a gem ;)
March 4th, 2008 at 12:09 am
It was all down to a loose wire… Easy mistake from a hacking neophyte. Thanks again for the guide!
March 4th, 2008 at 1:08 am
Shane, thanks for the info. I’m 75% there. I have the xbox recognizing my thumbdrive. I couldn’t get AR to recognize it though. I took eminay’s advice and got xplorer360. It recognized the drive, allowed me to copy the the xbox doesn’t recognize the files. I put them in zip and extracted form. Both times it think’s there’s nothing or next to nothing on the ‘memory card’.
Ideas
Eminay, were you able to get through it?
March 4th, 2008 at 8:35 pm
how would i go about making the flash drive back into a flash drive after i make it into a xbox memcard?
March 4th, 2008 at 9:10 pm
pj - You need to right click the thumb drive in My Computer and click Format. Format it as FAT.
March 5th, 2008 at 1:02 am
ok well i tried that with the lexarjumpdrive and it works with action replay, but now i go to plug it into my computer and it doesnt show the jumpdrive. It shows that it is mass usb storage, i reinstalled the jumpdrive driver but to no avail. Any suggestions?
March 18th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
hello guys I’m new to this and I need help, I’ve made the device to connect to the xbox well, but when I get to the step where u change the ZZZZ on the inf file it says something about cannot find location make sure name is correct or something lke that please help thanks
April 2nd, 2008 at 3:24 pm
hiya,
ive done all the steps all the way up to the updating the memory stick,i slect the file that is needed and it says the best driver for you device is areldy installed wtf.
plz could sme 1 help me here !!
April 2nd, 2008 at 3:28 pm
hiya,
ive tried eminay way and i drag and drop the file in and the files are not in the memory stick when i plug it into the xbox????
enu helpppp
im gettin frustrated
April 18th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
so i get up to the point where i plug the usb into my pc and open AR.
AR recognizes the usb as an “action replay device” but when i try to pull the gave same over (krayzie’s MA exploit) AR says that it has encountered a problem and needs to close.
As for the USB, its an un-named brand (one that you get at business conventions from companies)
I am going to try a sandisk from staples, its only $15, but if you could save me that money :)
April 18th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
muz, the type of usb stick is crucial. Pull it apart (without breaking) and see if you see any markings on the board…
April 18th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
well..its still recognized by the xbox…so i can use it to back up my games..il just go 4 the staples one. i need a new flash anyway.
tyvm
April 19th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
ive followed another guide and ive done wat it tld me 2 do. wen i click on action replay software it turns greesn and then goes blank…
helppp
April 19th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
pimp, can you post a screen shot?
April 19th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
shane, it stays green for 1 sec and then goes blank weh i drag my mouse to the corner wher the clock is it says the usb device failed to enumerate……
April 25th, 2008 at 2:11 am
Follow Shane’s instructions all the way down to the update driver step.
To update the driver go to Device Manager->USB Controlled Devices-> USB Mass Storage devices. Right click and select UPDATE Drivers.
Select Install from a specific location->Dont search I will choose the driver install->Then select the “HAVE DISK” button. It will probably default to A: but select BROWSE and direct it to C:Programs/Datel….(basically back to the xbreader.inf file). Select it and it should show teh Action Replay driver. Install it and enjoy!
April 25th, 2008 at 10:44 am
This coincdes with my post above:
Oh, I also forgot to mention that I formatted the USB stick in FAT format, NOT the FAT32 stated in the directions. IN FAT32 format, the Xbox kept saying the “drive is not working properly” and did not give me the “memory erased” window. I formatted in FAT instead and it did give me the “memory erased” window.
This was all done on a 2GB Sandisk Cruzer Micro using an XP desktop.
May 3rd, 2008 at 11:54 pm
okay, so im having problems with step 10. what are some of the ways to get to the device manager menu?
May 15th, 2008 at 11:54 am
Hi Peeps, I have the mod working but AR will not allow me to drag the files to the memory card, I can see the card as a ‘MaxDrive Xbox’ in device manager but AR still doesn’t seem to see it. Also when going into various sites to do the softmod update Dashboard 5960 or greater is required, anyone know how I can do this from uk not having access to a live game.
Slightly stressed but enjoying the challenge :-)
May 15th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
I have done every step above, but The AR is not picking up my USB drive: What could be the problem?
May 15th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
I get a message when I highlight the AR saying “The USB device failed to enumerate”. Someone please help.
May 16th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
It finaly works,
even with a external hard drive.
I used the 360 program that i found above here
http://dl.qj.net/index.php?pg=12&fid=13660&catid=325
May 21st, 2008 at 2:06 am
Hey, guys. Since people are STILL posting comments on this, Let me tell you what I’ve gotten to work. I’ve had the same problems that everyone else has had with the AR software not detecting my USB device.
Once I found a USB device that worked, meaning it formats and you can transfer to and from it using the xbox, I downloaded AR 1.4 and followed the driver instructions. However, just like everyone else, I got the single flash on the AR symbol. I searched the Internet and found about 3 different versions (1.05, 1.3, 1.31, and 1.4) and tried all of them. The 1.05 version of AR was the only one that recognized my drive. Here’s a link to a download of that. Good luck!
http://rapidshare.com/files/57911589/ARforXbox_USEnglish1_05_.zip.html
May 21st, 2008 at 2:12 am
Whoops! I mean I found 4 versions of the AR software :) Also, if anyone is interested I used a 2GB Lexar MicroSD card attached to a T-Flash Card Reader that I got with my M3 Real(DS cart).
June 4th, 2008 at 12:27 am
thanks for this, i have successfully used both xplorer360 and action replay to get saves onto my USB stick. And the xbox copies them fine. The problem is when i try to load ANY of the saves, the xbox says that they are corrupt. Any ideas? I have tried saves off action replay and off various sites and nothing works. I am in New Zealand so my xbox should be PAL version. Im trying to eventually softmod. Help please!
PS its one of the limited halo edition consoles, will that make any difference?
June 8th, 2008 at 7:53 pm
Don’t bother wasting time, the guy who did this won’t bother answering how to fix the problem for legal reasons. He already is doing something illegal by telling you how to mod it. However since he said how to do it wrong, if the police try it they will find it doesn’t work and just think he’s dumb (not a criminal). However, if he told you how to do it correctly, the police could see he was correct, and then he would be arrested for reverse enginering the Xbox. In other words, this technique will NOT work. It is simply misinformation designed to throw the cops off this guy’s tail, to keep him from getting arrested.
June 9th, 2008 at 7:10 am
Videogamer,
Are you serious? This is the same exact method I used to mod my XBOX, and nothing here is illegal.
Only warez and BIOS based on M$ are illegal. I cover none of that in this tutorial, and have nothing to do with that.
I am simply telling how to enable your XBOX to connect to a USB drive. :S
Sorry for the misunderstanding.
June 11th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
umm yes i loved your tut but i am having a problem sir well when i go to update the driver it tells me that it did not install drivers if you could help i would be very greatful thx have a good day shane
there are no viruses this is just the picture to help you understand what i am talking about [EDITED]
June 11th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
oh ya i am using a toshiba usb i think ?
June 16th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
I cannot get rapidshare to give me the file. I’ve tried downloading it at least 8 separate times, with the stupid verification code with the indistinguishable “cats”. Would anyone be willing to upload the file to a reliable source?
June 16th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
ONLY available for 7 days from today:
http://download.yousendit.com/10CC1E8137A69807
UPDATE: You can also use this software - Xplorer360:
http://www.360mods.net/Downloads/details/id=77.html
June 26th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
[...] using a refurbished Linksys gaming adapter ($40) to hook the console up to my wireless network, hacking together an Action Replay device from a female USB dongle ($6) and an Xbox breakaway cable ($3), and buying a used copy of a game I [...]
June 27th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
I’m getting the problem in Action Replay where it lists a series of Unnamed Titles in the Memory tab. I know the USB is formatted correctly, since I can copy saved games from the Xbox. I know that Action Replay can see the USB stick, since I can see the saved games listed in the Memory tab. I just can’t transfer the hack to the USB stick, because of that irritating Unnamed Title issue. I know that my USB stick should work, since I have a 2GB Sandisk Cruzer Micro like “Figured-It-Out” used above.
Please help?
June 27th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
Sharerware - welcome to Hackosis.com
Have you tried the Xplorer360 software?
June 27th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
Thanks! I tried Xplorer360. In order for it to recognize the USB stick, I have to make sure it’s assigned the normal drivers. Then I can see what’s on it (ie. saved games), but I don’t know what else to do with the app.
When I have the USB stick assigned to the Action Replay drivers, Xplorer360 doesn’t detect the stick, but I think it’s supposed to be like that.
So, what does Xplorer360 do?
June 27th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Xplorer360 is a program for transferring files between Xbox 360 hard drive / memory unit and a PC. ;)
June 27th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
Figured out what Xplorer360 does. Heh. Thanks for the recommendation.
Success! I was able to softmod my Xbox. Thanks so much for the great info. B)
June 27th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
i can not get how to do step 6 to the end can u help?
June 27th, 2008 at 7:59 pm
nvm
June 27th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
ok i got everything then when i went to plug it in to the original xbox it said it was erased then i went back up here and i tried to open the flash drive and it said it needed formated so i formatted it and got the AR things and tried it again and it still says it erased it……i need help
June 27th, 2008 at 9:50 pm
It WILL ask you to format it when you plug in the USB drive after being in the xbox because it is in a format that the PC cannot read without the correct driver.
Ignore the format prompt and continue the steps in the post. ;)
July 2nd, 2008 at 12:38 am
When i start AR using my PSP i get “XBoxPowerSaves MFC Application has encountered a problem and needs to close” i tried uninstalling and reinstalling everything from the the driver to AR and reformatting the stick. NOTHING IS WORKING! help?
July 2nd, 2008 at 12:39 am
oh and xplorer360 doesn’t do a damn thing either
July 2nd, 2008 at 12:40 am
and xplorer360 doesn’t do anything, i try to put in the files and it freezes. nothing.
July 2nd, 2008 at 1:44 am
HAHAHAHHAHAHA I GOT IT TO WORK!!!! just had to reformat it and not update the driver and it worked with xplorer360. bet you can’t tell that i all but pee’d my pants in joy. thanks shane you’re awesome
July 2nd, 2008 at 1:09 pm
That’s funny, Homer, cause I was only able to get XMBC to work with Xplorer360. I couldn’t ever get AR to work for me.
I guess, as always, YMMV…
July 4th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
I also couldn’t get the AR to see the xbox memory card. So, I hacked a female usb connector onto the xbox plug. Backed up my thumb drive. Install it in the xbox and erased (formatted) it using the xbox. Here’s where I got a little stuck. I tried copying udata.zip the the thumbdrive. The xbox only saw a ‘corrupt game save’. Here’s the fix, Unzip the udata.zip and use Explorer360 to copy the 4d530017 folder to the thumbdrive.
Well now on to the next step.
Thanks
PS: In explorer360 I did ‘file’, ‘open memory’ then, I used windows explorer to drag and drop the 4d530017 folder onto the righthand side of Explorer360. It flashed up a message ‘importing folder’ (or something like that)
July 13th, 2008 at 9:32 am
Ok i have been on the internet researching this softmod all day and finally i have the mother of all headaches…but i have come across a sweet little number i thought you all might be interested in
http://www.happycomputing.com.au/prod155.htm
this just happens to be an already made female xbox usb cable quite cheap as well i thought so hopefully this will be of some to others
Cheers guys i will be trying this soon will let you all know how it goes
July 13th, 2008 at 9:55 am
Thanks for the tip WeRa, but the point of this tut was so I didn’t have to buy anything. Frugal. :p
July 14th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
I’ve got everything pretty much done except when I plug everything into my XBox it never gives me a message about anything being erased. So I’ve loaded my drive with the AR drivers assuming that it might have worked. but I guess not because I can’t ever drag and drop any saves onto my drive with the AR program. But ,my Xbox recognizes the card sometimes, some other times it gives me a “may be damaged error.
I’m using a 2 Gig Sandisk Cruzer Micro, the same one that “Figured It Out” uses, I’ve also tried formatting with both FAT and FAT32 but I still get no “memory erased” message when I plug it into my XBox.
July 17th, 2008 at 11:56 am
ok i have tried all the things i have saw on here and i have one thing that bothers me. explorer 360. i put the files i need onto my flash drive but when i put it in my xbox it shows nothing on the memory card. What gives.
July 17th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
i am using a sony microvault 1 gig and also a 1 gig sandisk Cruzer micro. both have been formatted with fat x and the xbox reads them but will not let me copy saves from my hard drive onto the stick. When i update the sandisk with the ar driver my xbox don’t detect it anymore and says it must not work i am not understaning this
July 17th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
Clinton,
The ar drivers make the PC see it as a ar device, not a usb device. What you are seeing is normal. After making the driver change, try accessing it with the software.
July 17th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
ok i can now put the saves i need on my sony microvault flash drive but when i put them in my xbox the flash drive is empty. Then when i put it back on my pc and run AR there is nothing on my flash drive. I thought maybe i was doing something wrong. i also must say i have a modded xbox with a chip and i put my flash drive on my hard modded xbox and it shows my saves that i put on it with AR. I transferred the saves from my flash drive to a regular xbox memory card with a utility in xbox media center on my modded xbox. I can remove the memory card and re-insert it and my hard modded xbox still sees my saves on both the memory card and my flash drive that is in fatx format. but when i put them in my regular xbox both my flash drive and memory card is empty. The xbox does not tell me it is deleting my memory card it just shows up as empty. When i put them back in my hard modded xbox there is nothing on either of them so obviously my regular xbox must be deleting them. Is my regular xbox broke or What. i was thinking about buying another used one if so but i am not really sure what is going on. i am using sid auto installer 5 and i have the right dash and my hard modded xbox reads the saves fine and both memory card and flash drive are in fatx and i can put saves on my flash drive with the AR software. i am thinking there is a problem with the un modded xbox. Please help oh and thanks Shane for your quick response to my last post
July 18th, 2008 at 7:15 am
can someone help me out please
July 18th, 2008 at 7:21 am
Srry Clinton, I don’t have much experience with a hard modded Xbox. Please tell me that you do not see the USB drive in My Computer when you plug it in to your PC.
If you can see it in My Computer you do not have the correct drivers loaded.
July 19th, 2008 at 9:52 am
Shane,
Great tutorial. The one pice that broke it open for me was the USBVIEW.EXE piece and changing the Device ID and Product ID in the Action Replay INI. Thanks!
I still wasn’t able to use a USB flash (4 of them I bought wouldn’t work) but, I was able to finally get a generic Xbox memory card to work with the Action Replay device I had (a Gameshark/XPloder)!
July 19th, 2008 at 10:00 am
Glad you got it worked out Jerry. Come see us again. :)
July 19th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
No i have it formated right because when i put it in my hard modded xbox it says it is in fatx and i can move saves on to it with AR. and with xplorer 360 when i uninstall the action replay drivers but i have found a solution just not how i wanted to do it. I ended up having to format it back into fat16 or fat 32 and put it my hard modded xbox and trensfer saves that way and it works fine. i just don’t understand why i couldn’t see the saves that i transfered with action replay. like i said before the saves was transfered with AR and i could see them when it was in fatx on my hard modded xbox but as soon as i put it in my unmodded xbox they were gone. so i have successsfully soft modded my xbox and i couldn’t have done it without making the cable on this site thanx i just wouldn’t have been able to do it if i hadn’t had a hard modded xbox.
July 19th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
I am stuck at the part where i have to update the thumdrive with the ar driver, it keeps telling me that it cannot continue because it can’t find better software than what i already have.
July 19th, 2008 at 7:20 pm
never mind i got it to work thank you.