Xbox Hard Drive (everybody's actin' like I'm crazy)

[Half Japanese]

Alright, my question to you DP members is this:

I want to clear off my hard drive entirely on my Xbox. I can not do this manually as a file is corrupted somehow and will not delete. It is a music file that I believe is causing issues with games freezing. I have always heard that you can call MS to get a code to reset your Xbox's HD or whatever. I called them and talked to them in chat and they acted like I made this up or pulled it out of my ass. I didn't pull it out of my ass, but GamePRO's Watchdog section and a few other places.

Am I crazy or does this code exist?

NOTE: I do not, and at the moment am not interested in modding the Xbox. I need it to be factory so that I can play on Xbox Live.

[tholly]

Alright, my question to you DP members is this:

I want to clear off my hard drive entirely on my Xbox. I can not do this manually as a file is corrupted somehow and will not delete. It is a music file that I believe is causing issues with games freezing. I have always heard that you can call MS to get a code to reset your Xbox's HD or whatever. I called them and talked to them in chat and they acted like I made this up or pulled it out of my ass. I didn't pull it out of my ass, but GamePRO's Watchdog section and a few other places.

Am I crazy or does this code exist?

NOTE: I do not, and at the moment am not interested in modding the Xbox. I need it to be factory so that I can play on Xbox Live.


it exists....i called microsoft and used this code for my friends xbox that was acting up......but, a little while later it started messing up again and it was under warranty so he got a new box that was working fine last time i talked to him

[omnedon]

No magic fix for when your DVDrom drive can't read well anymore. Reset to your hearts content. Buy a reset disc off Ebay (I have one). It's good for one thing. Blowing away all saves, soundtracks, and system settings. Unless you have a failed savegame exploit on your HD (and that would cause total DRE with all games, and sometimes red flashing LED) resetting it will do nothing except blow away your saves.

You likely need a new DVDrom drive in your system. I see a few EVERY week. And that's just local area customers.

You can listen to me, or keep googling for a magic fix. FWIW, I'd be happy for you if you found a magic fix. :)

[LiquidX01]

I've been having the same issue lately with my DVD-Rom drive. Its a very known problem with the old model Xbox being that the Thomson drives are pure crap and thats why MS has been using Philips and Samsung drives with their current Xbox's.

The only thing I could recommend if you havent tried is using a DVD lense cleaner. But thats just a temp fix and eventually the drive will become shot and you can either buy a new Xbox or replace the drive neither of which are cheap.

[allsport11]

Not sure if this is what you need but it might work. :)

http://www.llamma.com/xbox/reformatting_the_hard_drive.htm

[DigitalSpace]

Wow, never thought the Scorpions could cause so much trouble. LOL

Lame joke aside, good luck getting that file off your XBox! :)

[Atarileaf]

Its a very known problem with the old model Xbox being that the Thomson drives are pure crap and thats why MS has been using Philips and Samsung drives with their current Xbox's.


I don't have an Xbox but if I got one brand new, would it be safe to say, at this point, that I would not get one with the Thomson drive?

[omnedon]

Not at all. I see new Xboxes all the time. There are more Philips than before, but Samsungs are still rare. Philips have there own issues, and are a bit better than Thomsons.

Buying a new Xbox for the drive is a lottery, and the odds are gainst you. Refurbed Xboxes have old used drives, so watch out for that too.

I can sell new Thomsons, new Philips, and used Samsungs, FYI.

[-hellvin-]

There is no little code that will allow you to delete files off the xbox. It's all cut up into different partitions and there's files all over the place so I have no idea what particular file you think needs deleting. The only way you can delete particular files is to mod the xbox. There's one line of text you can enter into the new dashboard's setup file to make it reboot and deactivate the chip so it loads into the normal dashboard and you can play on live.

[NoahsMyBro]

I'm ignorant of this stuff, so forgive me if this is a stupid question, but why can't you simply take the drive out of the XBox and add it to a PC, blow away every exisiting partition, and then replace it in the XBox and prepare it for XBox use exactly as though you'd replaced it with a larger drive? There must be plenty of websites detailing how to upgrade to a larger, presumably blank, drive. Wouldn't those instructions work in this case?

[NE146]

I'm ignorant of this stuff, so forgive me if this is a stupid question, but why can't you simply take the drive out of the XBox and add it to a PC, blow away every exisiting partition, and then replace it in the XBox and prepare it for XBox use exactly as though you'd replaced it with a larger drive? There must be plenty of websites detailing how to upgrade to a larger, presumably blank, drive. Wouldn't those instructions work in this case?

Actually you do it exactly that way with one minor exception. Once you blow away the partitions you'd have to put that cleaned out hardrive back into the xbox and format it THERE. (xbox uses the FAT-X filesystem). Once you got it formatted, you'd fill in the C: and E: partitions with your backed up contents of a virgin xbox (which I assume you'd have) and voila.

'course the xbox has to be modded to do this.

[Half Japanese]

Alright I'll try to conclude this neatly and answer a few misguided replies:

YES. The code does exist. Thank you Allsport for putting that link up. I found it before I saw that you put it up, but it's one thing that kept me going in my search! First things's first: those codes are NOT universal. They MIGHT work for your system, but they probably won't. I had to call a second time and finally got a decent human on the other line who was willing to work with me. I told him my problem and after trying what he told me to repeatedly (they were trying EVERYTHING in their power not to have to hand over the code) they finally broke down after 20 minutes or so and his supervisor looked it up for me. So this code IS out there, although you'll have to put your customer service counselor's nuts in a vise grip to get it. This problem fixed my problem with Tony Hawk's Underground and I can now play it again without the freezing.


To those that recommended taking it out, etc: I mentioned before that I could not and would not mod this Xbox as I play a ton on Live and Star Wars Battlefront is coming out soon. It was never an option.


Refurbed Xboxes have old used drives, so watch out for that too.

This is a generalization. My friend bought a refurb that came with a most-excellent Samsung drive. We both play online at my house sometimes and in Unreal 2, for instance, he always loads in about 5 seconds before my Philips. I'd take his refurb over my factory Xbox any day.


So to sum it up: this code is out there but getting it is like asking a woman her weight, it can be gotten if you're willing to put up with some hassle first.

For reference, here is my Xbox's information and the code used:

Serial # 314230124705
K: 1.00.4817.01
N: 1.00.5960.01

(those last two numbers are found in the system info portion of the menu, under settings)

Here's the button combination I had to enter:

A, Y, Up (left analog), Down (left analog), Y, X

This is not to say that this code will work for another Xbox, I just put it here for reference.

[omnedon]

I'm glad your Xbox is working.

I was just trying to share what I've learned. I'm pleased you've shared your progress with us. I hope the freezups do not return.