I decided to write this Tutorial after attempting to mod my own Xbox 360 and I take no credit for the information contained within this Tutorial as I did not figure any of this out, I simply trolled the various forums and found many topics written to cover the process. I am simply presenting what I think is the easiest way to accomplish the task at hand which is to flash the DVD drives's firmware. I have also found links to all the software you will require for this tutorial and links are provided throughout when needed.
Important: you can break, fudge, kill or maim a perfectly good Xbox 360 if you are not careful so I warn you in advance don't complain or cry to me it you make a mistake, the steps I will describe worked for me and countless others, proceed with caution and make sure you fully understand the process before attempting it.
NOTE: this firmware modification will only allow you to boot Back-ups, no other programs or emulators can be installed using this firmware modification
First lets check which DVD-drive your Xbox 360 contains, eject the drive tray and compare against the photo below to determine which DVD-drive you have. Compare the circled areas against your drive to determine which model you drive is and proceed accordingly. The Phillips DVD-drive has just been identified (June 28-06) so no firmware is available for this type of DVD-drive yet.
Tools and Items you will require:
Knowledge of which DVD-drive your Xbox 360 contains (see above photo)
Extreme firmware for the drive you will be flashing (see the section below)
Torx 7,10 and 12 screwdrivers to open the Xbox 360
A PC with a suitable SATA chipset (click Here to check known compatibility)
Get the right files
All of the files you require are available from one site but a free registration is required to access the downloads section please visit them and register before clicking on the following links or access to the files will be denied click Here to register the link will take you to eurasia.nu registration screen. Important All the files you will download use a compression called '.rar' so you will need a tool called Winrar to decompress the files it can be downloaded from Here.
Hitachi DVD-drives
Xtreme Firmware Hitachi 4in1 which supports
Hitachi 36, 46D, 47D and 59 DVD drives and the Flasher tool for Windows is included.
Click Here to download from eurasia.nu
Samsung DVD-drives
Toshiba-Samsung TS-H943 DVD drive and the Flasher tool for DOS included.
Click Here to download from eurasia.nu
You'll also need the FreeDOS boot floppy which can be found Here
Phillips DVD-drives
No Firmware is available yet
Removal of the DVD-drive from the Xbox 360
You'll need to crack the Xbox 360's case in order to get access to the SATA cables connected to your DVD-drive if you need instructions on opening the Xbox 360 click Here
Three methods of getting the DVD-drive recognized by your PC
We need to tell the DVD-drive to enter a mode known as 'Mode B' or the PC will not be able to see the drive and we need the PC to see it before we can do any firmware updates. Three methods are available to accomplish the task, choose your method and read how it's done.
Slax CD if your SATA chipset is compatible (click Here to check known compatibility)
Click Here for instructions
Crossed Wires Method requires adding some wires to the DVD-drive
Click Here for instructions
Xecuter Connectivity Kit needs to be purchased for around $30 online
Click Here for instructions
My DVD-Drive has been sucessfully flashed now what?
We need to obtain the security sectors of the Xbox title we wish to create a back-up for. Only the Toshiba-Samsung DVD-drives are currently able to perform this function. and it requires flashing a different firmware to the drive to enable this particular function to work. users with the other drive types will have no choice to obtain .iso images that are 'Xtreme' firmware ready meaning the security sectors have been injected correctly into the back-up by someone else. You can also find the current sectors for most games available as a download if you look around. Remember the Xbox 360 requires you use the correct version so if you have a NTSC Xbox look for a NTSC version and of course PAL users need a PAL version.
For users who wish to read the security sectors for now you'll have to look around for instructions until I get this part done.
try these resources:
www.xbox-scene.comwww.xboxhacker.netwww.eurasia.nu Enjoy!
Subject: How To Flash your Xbox360! 