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This tutorial was written by Team Xecuter. If you use anything from this tutorial please give credits and also a direct link to this page. Also if we have made any mistakes or left anything out please let us now - thanks !

The official forum thread for this tutorial is http://www.team-xecuter.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45302

This guide is also available in GERMAN.

How to flash update the Hitachi 3120L 0078fk

The Blaster360 and also the Xecuter Connectivity Kit will not switch this drive to modeB so you have to use the SLAX disc (We recommend v2.0) for this drive to switch to modeB (Debug Mode) so it can be detected in Windows. You must also have a compatible SATA chipset on your motherboard (we conducted our tests with a motherboard that has an NFORCE4 SATA chipset (set to NON-RAID in the bios). If you do not have SATA on your motherboard or you have a Silicon Image chipset (not compatible), a very popular and highly compatible PCI card is the VIA 6421 which is sold at many major outlets.

1. We are assuming you are using the Blaster360 so first connect the SATA cable from the Blaster to your PC SATA and also connect a Molex PSU to the Blaster (you can use any external Molex PSU - if you use the same PSU as your PC your 078 drive may lose its ModeB status when you restart the PC). When connecting power to the Blaster360 make sure the Xbox360 power supply is NOT connected to the Xbox! You can test if the Blaster360 is working correctly by toggling the power on/off switch. When working correctly the LED should be BLUE.

2. On the Blaster360 make sure ModeB is set to OFF and Power is set to OFF.

3. Boot your PC with the SLAX CD (The Slax iso can be burned using a CD-R). When you get to the screen that displays the Shamrock [Pic 1a] switch the Blaster360 power to ON (Blue LED) then hit ENTER on your keyboard.

[Pic 1a]

4. Slax should now list a bunch of text on your screen. If your drive has been discovered correctly you will see a message saying HL3120 detected -> switch to modeB; thanks to kev.nu! [Pic 1b]

[Pic 1b]

5. Slax will pause for a while at the Spinning up disc...... message. Just wait until its all finished [Pic 1c] and then restart the PC (make sure the Xbox doesn't lose any power when restarting the PC or it will lose the ModeB status)

[Pic 1c]

6. When your PC boots into windows check that the Hitachi now has a drive letter. Simply go into My Computer and right click>properties on the new drive to check everything has detected correctly [Pic2a]

[Pic 2a]

7. If you have got to this stage then the hard work is 99% done so relax :) Now press eject on the Blaster and insert an original 360 game or DVD movie. Wait for Windows to recognize the disc inserted, then close out of any autoruns caused by the disc.

8. Now open up Maximus' 360 Firmware Toolbox v3.0. It is a .NET application that requires Microsoft .NET framework v2 to run properly.

9. Select Tools > Direct Drive Dump (GDR Only) [Pic 3a]

[Pic 3a]

10. Make sure your Hitachi drive is selected in the drop-down list and Select "Raw Dump Firmware As..."

[Pic 3b]

11. You may be asked to validate the firmware to make sure everything worked correctly. Select "Yes" [Pic 3c]

12. Save the original firmware as original.bin somewhere safe (we used a directory called 0078 on the C: drive) [Pic 3d]

[Pic 3d]

13. The program will tell you that your firmware has been dumped and asks if you want to open it, select "Yes" [Pic 3e]

[Pic 3e]

14. Make sure the key displayed looks fairly unique, with no multiple FF or 00 bytes. You may also want to dump the firmware a couple times and make sure the key is the same for each dump [Pic 4a]

[Pic 4a]

15. Select Tools > Smart Hack Patcher [Pic 4b]

[Pic 4b]

16. Read the warning and accept it by clicking "OK" [Pic 4c]

[Pic 4c]

17. Verify that the drive key is still the same as before !

18. On the line labelled output file, click the box to the right with the ellipsis (three dots) [Pic 4d] and save the file as hacked.bin where you saved the original firmware [Pic 4e]

[Pic 4d]

[Pic 4e]

19. Check that the rule set is for Hitachi v78 [Pic 4f]

[Pic 4f]

20. Select "Generate File"  [Pic 4g]

[Pic 4g]

21. It should say that the hacked firmware was created, and asks if you want to open it, again select "Yes" [Pic 4h]

22. The firmware version should now display as XTRM:MAX:78:V1.6 [Pic 5a] Verify that the drive key is still the same as before !

[Pic 5a]

23. Select Tools > Direct Drive Flash (GDR Only) > Differential Flash (PATCH)
 [Pic 5b]

[Pic 5b]

24. Check that your Hitachi drive is selected in the drop-down list [Pic 5c]

[Pic 5c]

25. Select "Read and Detect Differences" [Pic 5d]

[Pic 5d]

26. A list of numbers should list in the "Flash this Sectors" window. Now select "Start Flashing" and let it finish [Pic 5e]

[Pic 5e]

27. If everything is successful you will get a pop up saying "All Sectors Flashed" - Now click "OK" [Pic 5f]

[Pic 5f]

28 You are now finished! Turn the Blaster360 power off, unplug the cables and test your new flash updated Xbox 360 :)

This tutorial was written by Team Xecuter. If you use anything from this tutorial please give credits and also a direct link to this page. Also if we have made any mistakes or left anything out please let us now - thanks !