You are on page 1of 10

Hitachi 078fk Firmware Update Using The CK3

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 know - thanks !
The official forum thread for this tutorial is HERE
If you have one of the 078fk Hitachi drives then you have to follow a couple of
extra steps to get the drive into Mode B as the switch trick was disabled. First
you must have SATA that supports Legacy Mode or a compatible SATA Card
(Such as the VIA 6421). There are many different devices that support this
(Intel, VIA, nForce etc). Our test rig uses an onboard nForce4 Sata chipset.
Raid must be disabled in the Bios and the port must be set to Legacy / Sata /
IDE (the combinations are different depending on what setup you have. iPrep
will tell you if your Port is working and compatible (see Images 2 & 3).
The instructions are the same for both the Connectivity Kit 3 Pro & Lite. The
tutorial assumes that you are using Windows XP.
1. We are first assuming that you have dissasembled your 360 and removed
the DVD drive, If you haven't yet follow this tutorial. Connect power from the
CK3 to the Hitachi DVD using the green power cable (make sure the
connections are the right way around - there are guides on the connectors to
help you - plug in the wrong way around and you will damage the drive -
remember it's a power cable). Connect a molex power source to the CK3 (to
be safe make sure the CK3 power switch is set to OFF). Connect the SATA
cable from the DVD drive to your PC SATA. Now turn the CK3 power switch to
ON. To check the power cable is working press the eject switch so that the
tray ejects. See Image1 to show how everything should look.
Image 1
2. Now we have to get the drive into Modeb so that it can be recognized in
Windows. The method we use is the Modeb_B utility. It is a DOS command
that can also be used in Windows (Full credits go to Podger for this method).
You must first find which IO port the SATA card is using to communicate with
the 360 DVD Drive. The easiest way to do this is to install iPrep. Once
installed select which SATA card you are using and then click on the ? icon
next to it (See Image 2). A popup window will show the 4 digits you need (See
Image 3). The example in the images shows that we are using an nForce4
Sata controller and the I/O port is C080.
Hitachi GDR-3120L 078fk Firmware Update Tutorial http://team-xecuter.com/ck3/hitachi_78.htm
1 of 10 11/30/12 17:32
Image 2
Image 3
3. Now you must install IO drivers for Windows. These are the PortIO32
Drivers from Winford Engineering and are the most stable yet (previous
versions caused blue screens etc). Once downloaded simply double click on
PortIO32.exe. To check that the install was a succuss goto Device Manager
(Control Panel > System > Hardware > Device Manager) and scroll to the
bottom (See Image 4)
Hitachi GDR-3120L 078fk Firmware Update Tutorial http://team-xecuter.com/ck3/hitachi_78.htm
2 of 10 11/30/12 17:32
Image 4
4. Now copy the Mode_B.exe file to the C:\ drive and open a command
prompt (click Start > Run > type "CMD" (without the quotes) and press enter.
If you are not at the C:\ prompt (possibly C:\Documents and Settings\
<USERNAME>) then simply type "CD\" (without the quotes). Make sure
modeb is disabled (Blue LED) and then turn the CK3 power switch to OFF
(the LED's will turn off). Now type mode_b <io port> (The example uses port
c080 so we type mode_b c080. When the dots start appearing turn the CK3
power switch to ON. The DOS screen should now display done! (see Image
5).
Image 5
5. Your PC should now pick up the drive. The guide assumes you are using
Windows XP. Click on My computer to see the new drive. You will need to
make a note of the drive letter (see Image 6) You can also check device
manager (Control Panel > System > Hardware > Device Manager) See Image
7.
Image 6
Hitachi GDR-3120L 078fk Firmware Update Tutorial http://team-xecuter.com/ck3/hitachi_78.htm
3 of 10 11/30/12 17:32
Image 6
Image 7
Image 8
6. Now you are read to flash the drive. To do this you will be using Maximus'
Firmware Toolbox v4.8. First press eject on the CK3 and insert an original 360
game or DVD movie. Wait for Windows to recognize the disc, then close out
of any autoruns caused by the disc.
7. Open Firmware Toolbox and select Tools > Direct Drive Dump (GDR Only)
(See Image 9)
Hitachi GDR-3120L 078fk Firmware Update Tutorial http://team-xecuter.com/ck3/hitachi_78.htm
4 of 10 11/30/12 17:32
Image 9
8.Make sure your Hitachi drive is selected in the drop-down list and Select
"Raw Dump Firmware As..." (See Image 10)
Image 10
10. You'll now be asked to save the firmware dump from the DVD Rom. The
example shows a directory called 0078 on the C:\ drive. Use the filename
"Original" (See Image 11)
Image 11
9. You may be asked to validate the firmware to make sure everything worked
correctly. Select "Yes" (See Image 12)
Image 12
10. You should then get a message saying the Data Checksum is OK. CLick
"OK" (See Image 13)
Hitachi GDR-3120L 078fk Firmware Update Tutorial http://team-xecuter.com/ck3/hitachi_78.htm
5 of 10 11/30/12 17:32
Image 13
11. The program will tell you that your firmware has been dumped and asks if
you want to open it, select "Yes" (See Image 14)
Image 14
12. Now the firmware is loaded into the Toolbox you will see that it has
detected the Hitachi drive version and the important drive key is displayed.
Make sure the drive key 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 (See Image 15)
Image 15
13. Now select Tools > Smart Hack Patcher (See Image 16)
Hitachi GDR-3120L 078fk Firmware Update Tutorial http://team-xecuter.com/ck3/hitachi_78.htm
6 of 10 11/30/12 17:32
Image 16
14. Read the warning and accept it by clicking "OK" (See Image 17)
Image 17
15. On the line labelled output file, click the box to the right with the ellipsis
(three dots) (See Image 18) and save the file as hacked.bin where you saved
the original firmware (See Image 19)
Image 18
Image 19
16. Select the correct firmware for your drive. There are different options for
the 78 and 79 drives. Here we have selected the iXtreme 1.4 8x Firmware for
the 078 Drive. (See Image 20)
Hitachi GDR-3120L 078fk Firmware Update Tutorial http://team-xecuter.com/ck3/hitachi_78.htm
7 of 10 11/30/12 17:32
Image 20
17. It should now tell you that the hacked firmware was created, and asks if
you want to open it, again select "Yes" (See Image 21)
Image 21
18. The firmware version should now display as iXTREME : 78 V1.4-8X.
Verify that the drive key is still the same as before ! (See Image 22)
Image 22
19. Now select Tools > Direct Drive Flash (GDR Only) > Differential Flash
(PATCH) (See Image 23)
Hitachi GDR-3120L 078fk Firmware Update Tutorial http://team-xecuter.com/ck3/hitachi_78.htm
8 of 10 11/30/12 17:32
Image 23
21. Check that your Hitachi drive is selected in the drop-down list then select
"Read and Detect Differences" (See Image 24)
Image 24
22. A list of numbers should list in the "Flash this Sectors" window. Internal
Flasher should be selected as default. Now select "Start Flashing" and let it
finish (See Image 25)
Hitachi GDR-3120L 078fk Firmware Update Tutorial http://team-xecuter.com/ck3/hitachi_78.htm
9 of 10 11/30/12 17:32
Image 25
23. If everything is successful you will get a pop up saying "All Sectors
Flashed" - Now click "OK" (See Image 26)
Image 26
24. You are now finished! Turn the CK3 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 know - thanks !
Hitachi GDR-3120L 078fk Firmware Update Tutorial http://team-xecuter.com/ck3/hitachi_78.htm
10 of 10 11/30/12 17:32

You might also like