One of my bands Sans Saboteur playing at Attraction Reaction, April 21 2012, Route 196
[TUTORIAL] Copy & Play XBOX 360 ISO Files From An External Drive Using Freestyle 3
As a newcomer to XBOX Jailbreaking and JTAG, it was very difficult for me to find any clear tutorials on how to get my downloaded XBOX 360 ISO files onto my external hard drive. I am lucky to live in a country where dubious services are easy to come by and I had someone do all of the aforementioned tasks for me. So to return the favor here is my simplified tutorial on getting your precious ISO files onto your external HD for you to enjoy some good ol’ fashioned pirate-friendly gaming!
Please note this tutorial is NOOB friendly so the more experienced can skim through and get things done faster.
!!! UPDATED for use with Freestyle 3 !!!
Requirements
- – A Jailbroken and JTAG-ed XBOX 360 (I have the 4GB Slim version)
- – An external hard drive formatted as FAT32 and not NTFS – Your XBOX 360 can only read drives formatted in this archaic mode. (I have a 500GB Seagate drive with a 100GB FAT32 partition for my XBOX needs)
- – FAT32 Format – this is for formatting your large external drive as FAT 32
- – 7Zip or WinRAR – to extract the Freestyle Dash files
- ISO of your XBOX 360 game of choice (TPB)
- – XBOX Backup Creator – This will let you unpack those yummy ISO files into the file structures that your XBOX 360 can read and play.
- – Freestyle Dash 3 – this was the custom dashboard used by the guys who set my XBOX 360 and external HD up. (link updated to Freestyle3.0.483.7z Dec. 21, 2012)
One of the drawbacks with the FAT32 file system is that it technically cannot be used for drives larger than 32GB or recognize files larger than 4GB. This is where FAT32 Format comes in and it’s as simple as it gets.
- – Open up the FAT32 Format application.
- – Choose your drive from the top drop-down menu, make sure Quick Format is checked, then click Start at the bottom. You should have a FAT32 formatted drive within a few seconds.
- [Updated] Go to the root of your external drive and create a folder named FSD3 (you can name it whatever you want but we’ll use FSD3 for the purposes of this tutorial). Now open up the TeamFSD.Freestyle3.0.483.7z file you downloaded and you should see another zip file inside that one called FreestyleRev483.7z. Open that and extract all files to the FSD3 folder you recently created.
- – Now open up Notepad and copy and paste the following code into a blank document then Save As LAUNCH.INI (make sure its file name extension is .INI and not .TXT). Save this file in the root of your external hard drive (NOT the FSD3 folder) and your FSD is all set. The purpose of this launch.ini file is to tell your JTAG XBOX to load FSD on boot up.
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Step Three – Unpacking your XBOX 360 iso
- – Open up XBOX Backup Creator and click on the Image Tools tab.
- – Click on Image Browser. This will open up the XBOX Image Browser sub-app.
- – Click on File then Open Image File.
- – From here navigate to the iso game file you downloaded and click Open.
- – Next, right click on the iso file that appears on the left pane of the app and click on Extract.
- – Now choose the location you want to save your game in. This can be anywhere you fancy but I highly recommend putting it in an appropriately named folder INSIDE the GAMES folder which now sits in your external HD (eg h:\games\halo reach\) This will start the lengthy extraction process so take a break and come back after a few minutes.
Another option for file extraction would be to use ISO2GOD. I wrote a tutorial for that here (coz I’m a swell kinda guy)
Step Four – Loading up your game using Freestyle Dash on your XBOX 360
Unfortunately, I cannot take screenshots of my XBOX 360 display so please bear with the all-text tutorial from hereon-in.
- – Plug in your external hard drive to a USB port on your JTAG XBOX360. Your console will now boot up straight into Freestyle Dash. Before you can play your games you need to tell FSD where they should be loaded from.
- – From the main screen, choose Settings and then Content Settings and then Game Path
- – Select Choose Path and then locate your games folder on your hard drive. Choose USB0, press A, choose GAMES, press A, and then press Y to select this folder.
- – Next, press X to save your game path and it should appear on the right pane of the screen.
- – Get back to the main menu and choose XBOX 360 Games and you will be taken to the game selection screen where your precious extracted ISOs can finally be enjoyed.
Note: There is a minor glitch where not all the games you have in your Games folder will turn up in the game selection screen. Oddly enough some games find their way in the other menus such as HOMEBREW GAMES/APPS. So simply choose that option from the main menu and you should see your ‘missing’ games there. If you are finicky like me, you will want to highlight the misplaced games there and press Y for options. Choose MOVE from the menu that pops up and select XBOX 360 Games as the new location and all your lovely games should now be in the main XBOX 360 Games selection screen.
Voila! I hope that help all the newbies like me. Please leave a comment if you run into any trouble. Enjoy!
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You Had Me At "You Suck"
I recently came upon an article written by a Filipino-Chinese who shared her thoughts on what was wrong with The Philippines. The piece was titled “Why The Philippines Sucks”. It was a typical tirade that we’ve all heard before except maybe for the fact that she personally knew some victims of heinous crimes here and witnessed firsthand the equally inept bureaucracy that handled the cases. However, it wasn’t the content of her article that I’m writing about but some of the comments it received. One in particular struck a (dissonant) chord. It was actually from someone I knew personally and what he said basically was that he was tired of Filipinos hating and complaining about the state of our country. He said that those very same people are what’s wrong with the Philippines and what they ought to do is to take some action and stop the whining. This made me reflect on my current conduct.
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| Help me help you! Oh wait, wrong scene… |
As attested to by my other blog entries here, I myself have a tendency to state my complaints (or what I’d like to think of as commentary) about the issues I see in everyday Filipino life. On the other hand I actually do take action (as minor as they may seem) instead of just bitching. For one thing I am a law-abiding citizen. I follow even the most basic traffic rules. I fall in line and wait my turn. I smile at customer service people and say thank you each time I get served adequately. So here I am, setting a so-called example, but who’s following? I feel like Jerry Maguire when he resigned from work asking, “Who’s coming with me?” The fact is most Filipinos are so content and used to the way of life here that a slow, methodical change of our systems doesn’t seem to be worth their precious time. To me, one phrase that exemplifies the way of the Filipino is, “Pwede na yan!” and with that mindset, we’re probably going to be stuck here for quite some time.
*I am aware I come off as a self-righteous bastard and maybe I am, but when I bitch for change at least I try to do my part no matter how small it may seem at first.
Words Of Wisdom
Funny how some quotes stick to you all your life, some for the wrong reasons. Here’s a priceless nugget from a high school classmate of mine who thought he knew it all at the age of 15.
“Girls don’t dig guitar players because they have rough, calloused hands” -Divad Onairam*
It has to be mentioned that Divad didn’t know how to play the guitar so chalk this one up to spitefulness.
*not real name
I Game To Complain: Gran Turismo 5
Why I Sold My Copy Of Gran Turismo 5
I prefer sim racers over arcade ones like the Burnout series but Gran Turismo 5, the self-proclaimed king of driving sims, despite it’s realistic trappings and awesome visuals, left me wanting a lot more. In this case my money back.
Menu/User Interface
Did Polyphony Digital design the interface to be future-proof hoping that all households will eventually be using touch-screen TVs? You’d think they were releasing GT5 on PC with what looks like a mouse-driven GUI but without the analog control. Basically it’s a very cluttered confusing mess with mysterious icons and whatnot that forces the player into way too many button presses just to get the simplest tasks done (exiting any given menu usually takes about 2-3 button presses).
Damage
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| What’s this rally car doing on a street circuit anyway? |
Real racing is full of incidents, accidents, and mishaps. These mishaps affect a vehicle’s aesthetics and overall performance. Therefore a Real Driving Simulator should have Real Damage Modeling, right? Apparently not, according to Polyphony Digital who believe a head on impact with a steel barrier at 200mph results only in a dull ‘thud’ sound effect and your car’s bonnet only getting slightly crumpled. Your steering might go somewhat awry but rest assured you can still finish the race even after several brushes with death. How can GT5 pride itself as being a complete simulation when one of the most integral parts of racing is missing?
Classic Cars Get Discriminated Against
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| If you prick us do we not get a flat tire? |
GT5 boasts an unprecedented number of cars available in-game. What most will realize though is that only about 20% of the 1000-plus vehicles are modeled in great detail. The rest of the “non-premium” cars have a PS2 look to them, are missing their corresponding dashboard/cockpit views and feature no damage modeling at all on any of them save for some scratches here and there. My favorite, the Honda Civic SiR-II, is included in this list.
Jagged, Flickering Shadows
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GT5 has superb graphics all in all that’s why the little negative nuances really shine as well. The rippling shadow issue has plagued GT since the first game on the original Playstation. You’d think with all the power the PS3 has could’ve resolved this issue but sadly no. The replays are marred by this technical hiccup and it gets really distracting especially as the rest of the visuals are stunning.
Long Install & Load Times
GT5 took about 45 minutes to install on my PS3. FORTY-FIVE WHAT THE HELL FOR MINUTES! On top of that, once it’s done installing and you’ve also finished doing your laundry AND making dinner for you and your neighbors, the game tells you that it requires an update via PSN. This update is 600-plus MB which, depending on your internet connection, is another 40 minutes or so. GT5 installs about 7GB of data on your PS3 hard drive yet it still takes the game ages to load just about anything. From menus, to car previews, to race start, GT5 likes to makes you wait. The game also insists on checking and synchronizing online every time you change something which makes the wait time more unbearable. Polyphony Digital is probably Japanese for “You take it & like it, idiot monkey“.
The Need For More Speed
Why can’t driving at 200mph feel as dangerous as it should? I often find myself under-braking when turning into corners in the game because I get the sensation I’m already at a slow enough speed to take them but then I realize the speedometer says I’m still going at well above 20mph faster than I ought to be. Even on straights the sensation of speed is sorely lacking unlike in games like NFS Shift which I thought had this part of the driving experience well in hand. In NFS Shift it felt exciting and dangerous to be going wheel to wheel at top speed and that’s probably due to the (excessive) blur effect. But then if that’s what it takes to make for a great experience then blur me silly, I say.
PWEDE NA YAN: If Your Home Is Your Castle, Then Your Toilet Is Your Throne
Part of my job is to visit different call center sites and to carry out the English Language Assessments for their recruitment and Human Resources departments. There are a couple of clients I frequent that have toilet facilities that make me shake my head in disgust. These toilets are mostly used by current employees yet I often see urine on the floor or on the sides of the toilet bowl. There are times when there are USED tissues or paper towels just left on the floor or worse, in the sink/washing area. The worst offense of all is the un-flushed toilet. For f@#%’s sake! How difficult is it to flush after yourself?! If you feel like the flush handle might be too dirty to touch with your bare hands then use a tissue or even your goddamn feet to flush. I would partly understand if this was happening in a public toilet like in a mall where you probably won’t be using the same toilet twice but in your own freakin’ office?! Talk about shitting in your own backyard. I feel very sorry for the cleaners who have to tidy up after you. They must curse your filthy, soiled name in their sleep.
Why do Filipinos do this anyway? We have a history of having no regard for the cleanliness of our surroundings. Try going to a food court in any mall and you will see tables filled with used plates and utensils even though they’re mere feet away from the waste bin. There are also citizens who throw all manner of rubbish on the streets from candy wrappers to whole plastic bags of garbage. The only explanation I can come up with is that we are so used to having people clean up after us. From household maids to street sweepers to food court waste collectors, we got our collective litterbug asses covered well. PNY indeed.
PWEDE NA YAN: Miss Universe Is A Major Major Joke
The Miss Universe contest is a joke. Some people are deluded enough to believe it is more than a beauty pageant. What led me to this train of thought was the fumbled opportunity our Miss Philippines Venus Raj had at the 2010 contest. I personally did not get a chance to watch the show but judging from what I’ve heard she was stunning in her swimsuit, elegant in her evening gown, and dazzling in all the other criteria. So in short, she was deserving of the crown if it weren’t for the inadequate answer she gave in the final round. Now I’m not going to delve into how the question she received was difficult to answer well and honestly. She’s a young woman who probably hasn’t had many MAJOR MAJOR roadblocks in her life. Nor will I bring up the fact that the question came from Billy Baldwin, a person not exactly known for his profound intellect or any MAJOR MAJOR box office hits. No I just want to focus on the reality that any given Miss Universe winner is there to be looked at and not to be listened to. Don’t give me that “you sexist, chauvinistic pig” look. Ask yourselves, if a Miss Universe were to make an appearance in your neck of the woods, would you go to check out how good-looking she really is? Or would you bring a notepad and jot down the deep, insightful words of wisdom pouring forth from her lovely mouth? Hmmm?
Every year the contestants are prepped and trained to answer an expected list of questions. How does that measure intellect? I think a fairer way to do that is to put the finalists in sound-isolation booths and ask each the same question. Another thing, why don’t non native English speakers just answer in their own language if it means they’re just going to embarrass themselves? I mean if they can get their point across more eloquently in their native tongue, why hold them back by asking them to trip over themselves? I’m looking in your direction, Manny Pacquiao.
PWEDE NA YAN: I’m Whining In The Rain
The Philippines is a tropical country yet most locals seem to detest the only elements we have, sunshine & rain. I remember when my mom visited me back when I used to live in Sydney, Australia and the time she popped-open her umbrella on a perfectly sunny day. People were giving us funny looks and double takes and some even held out their hands trying to see if it was starting to rain. Most Filipinos hide from the sun for two main reasons, the first being a wholly logical and scientifically proven one and that is skin cancer. The second though is rooted more into our past and culture: dark skin complexion. It is widely acknowledged here that fair skin complexion is more attractive and is usually a sign of nobility (see The Beautiful People).
As for the apparent fear of rain, I would say this is due by and large to old wives’ tales. My mother up to this very day constantly reminds me, “Huwag ka magpabasa sa ulan ha? (Don’t get yourself wet in the rain ok?)” as she believes I will most certainly catch a cold that way. The last time I checked rainfall is made of almost pure water which I’m pretty sure is not detrimental to our wellbeing. Just recently I was in a taxi stopped at an intersection when it began to very lightly drizzle. A young woman standing at the crossing caught my attention. She badly wanted to cross the street despite the red light because she was getting a bit rained on. The expression on her face was a mix of irritation, frustration, and anguish as she shuffled about and even stomped her feet from time to time. This amused me greatly but on the other hand I thought maybe she just had to go pee.
PWEDE NA YAN: The Beautiful People
My skin tone is slightly dark and I’ve never really had too much of a problem with it. There was the slight teasing back in elementary school but kids have never cared and would probably mock you for having an abusive, alcoholic father too. So I used to wonder why the majority of Filipinos go mad trying to ‘whiten’ their skin complexion. It’s understood that fair skin is often looked at as attractiveness but there are plenty of beautiful people with dark skin as well.
Well I’ve come to the conclusion that the motive to look “white” is rooted in the belief that fair skin was a sign of nobility back in the day. The fair-skinned people then were in most cases descendents of Spaniards whilst the “kayumanggi (brown-colored)” folk were the commoners and locals. The rich and well-to-do could safely stay in the shade while the local workers toiled in the heat of the sun hence darkening their skin. Recollect and you will remember a time when you’d hear people comment “Ay mukhang mayaman siya (Oh, she looks rich)” solely basing this on the mere fact that the person in question is fair-skinned. Thus even today, Filipinos are after a lighter complexion so that they don’t look common and so they can emulate their favorite celebrities as well. The irony is, those very same celebrities are trying to tan themselves to match our native kayumanggi color.
Shame on Upper Deck & Panini
I pay a lot of attention to the packaging of hobby products. In fact as a kid I based my pack purchases solely on this aspect.
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| watch a youtube box break here |
Now I’d been away from NBA cards for more than 12 years and just recently got back into it late this year (2010). Back in the day, there were only a handful of brands from the 4 main manufacturers, Fleer, Skybox, Topps & Upper Deck. The most expensive products then were Topps Finest & the Skybox E-X releases. Game-used jersey cards were next to impossible to find and only Skybox products offered autographed pulls on relatively easy odds via their cross-brand Autographics inserts. So upon my glorious return to collecting, I discover that GU cards and AUTOS are pretty commonplace especially if one buys high-end products.
I am aware that the hobby demanded these premium cards and were very much OK to shell out the big bucks for them. High end cards sure look tasty and the card stock used is 4-5 times thicker than what I’d been used to. Then I watched a few box-breaks on youtube and I have to say I was pretty disgusted when I discovered how these products are packaged. For example we have the Exquisite Collection from Upper Deck. You have seven cards inside a cushioned box wrapped in plastic. This box sits inside a tin container which is inside another cushioned box again wrapped in plastic. Everything then is contained in yet another bigger cardboard box wrapped in plastic! What a shameful waste of materials! In this age of eco-friendliness and consciousness, how can we stand by this travesty? Is all this necessary to make consumers feel they are getting the appropriate bang for their buck? I think not.
I say Panini and the rest should set an example by being a little more ‘green’ and conserve on packaging which will no doubt lead to lower prices and “de-alienating” the rest of the hobby folk from the high end releases. Even if they choose to maintain the high prices, I wish they’d show more responsibility and maybe use recycled materials. Another idea would be to run a redemption program and let customers return the packaging in exchange for collectibles or cards.
Disclaimer: I am not a hippie nor a tree-hugger. I just care.
geekbone 