This Guide is a Work in Progress. I will be adding more information regularly to this.

Lets go from the foundations.

WHAT IS A JTAG?

A JTAG or JTAGABLE console is any xbox that has a dashboard of 7371 or LOWER. Therefore, a console with 2.0.8498.0, 2.0.8507.0, 2.0.8955.0, 2.0.9199.0, 2.0.12611.0, 2.0.12625.0, 2.0.13146.0 or 2.0.13599.0... etc dashboard versions is not JTAGABLE.

Xell is the bootloader. It has a few functions to it but most are found in more useful apps. Tbh, the average user would only use Xell to find out their CPU Key. After that, it'll probably be rewritten with Xellous and then you might put that to some use.

Xellous on the other hand is also a bootloader. It has a bit more functionality. For example, if your console is connected to your home network you can access the IP address that the console is listening on and you can then look at the CPU key and the DVD key. You can also download a raw NAND image of your console. Also, it Xellous allows you to flash your console with newer NAND images if you put the NAND image on the root of the USB stick and name it "updflash0.bin". Then you plug it into the console and boot into Xellous and it should find the file. After that it will flash. Also, Xellous automatically relocates bad blocks in your NAND images.

Bad blocks are bad sections of your NAND chip were data cannot be written to or read from. Therefore, those bad blocks are relocated to the end of your NAND image.

XBR or AKA XBReboot is a older hacked dashboard series for JTAGGED consoles. Hardly anyone uses it anymore but its good to use as a transitional state between Stock NAND and Freeboot nand. XBR is no longer being developed since the team dissolved.

Freeboot is the current hacked dashboard series for JTAGGED consoles. Almost everyone runs this now. Ultimately this is where your console will end up.

Basically these dashboards are hacked dashboards. You won't have a stock dashboard on your console anymore at all if you write these onto your NAND chip. But you will have your original stock dashboard saved on your computer somewhere. You cannot launch these dashboards from the games tab. They are started at console startup. They replace your stock version of your dashboard when you write over it via your LPT cables.

HOW TO UPDATE YOUR JTAG

You can update your JTAG in three ways.
  1. Write a new NAND image via the LPT connections through either Nandpro or you can use JTAG Tool.
  2. Write a new NAND image via Xellous.
  3. Write a new NAND image via Flash360.
1. Writing your NAND image via the LPT connections is fairly easy. You will do most of the same process as when you first hacked your JTAG. First off if you have your LPT connections still connected then you are all ready to update your JTAG. If not then break out the soldering iron and solder your cables in place. After you get your cable ready you can either read your NAND again if you lost it or if you have your stock NAND and then just use one of the NAND builders like JTAG tool or Bestpig's Freeboot Toolbox to create the latest NAND image for your JTAG. After you get your new NAND image from one of the programs you can name it whatever you wish and then write it using JTAG Tool or Nandpro. After you are done writing the new NAND image then unplug your JTAG from the power brick and leave it unplug for at least a minute. After that minute you can turn it on and see if everything worked.

2. Writing your NAND image via Xellous is even easier. Now this is assuming you have Xellous in the first place. If not then install it and then get back to this. So you have Xellous and you want to update your JTAG to the newest hacked dashboard. If you do not have your NAND image then you can get it from either Flash360 and get a dump of it or you can get it from Xellous also. Remember you will need to plug your console into your router so that it is on your home network for this to work.
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To get into Xellous you have to turn on your console by turning it on via the eject button. This will tigger the console to boot into Xell or Xellous, depending on which one you have. Once you see all the pretty scrolling text on either Blue or Gray background (Blue meaning you have Xell and Gray meaning you have Xellous), the text should stop and somewhere near the end of the text it should say something along the lines of “listen.... XXX.XXX.XX.XX (X = numbers)”. That is the internal IP address of your network that your console is listening or accepting connections on. So, once you see that IP address you need to turn on your computer that is also connected to the same router and is on the same network and open up a browser and type that address into your address bar. Press enter it should take you to a white page that looks like this:




Here you can find a plethora of information about your xbox. Such as the CPU and DVD Keys readily displayed at the top. Mostly you are concerned about downloaing the Raw Flash of your console which is highlighted in the picture above with the Blue Outline. Save that to your computer and build a new Freeboot NAND image for your console by either using FBBuild if you like to use manual CMD commands or use any one of the automated NAND builders like JTAG Tool or Bestpig's Freeboot Toolbox. Now, assuming you built your new Freeboot NAND image, you need to get a USB drive and stick the NAND image onto the root of the drive and you have to name it “updflash.bin”. This will allow Xellous to see that you want to update the NAND. So, if your console is not off yet, turn it off and plug in your USB drive, then boot into Xellous again and it should scan the USB drive and see your NAND update. Allow it to do its work and don't worry if it takes a bit. Just let it do whatever it needs to until you see the onscreen instructions telling you that it is done. Now, turn off your console and unplug it from the power brick and let it stay like that for around a minute. After that minute has passed, turn on your console and see if everything works.



Flash360 is a program that you load onto your console and you can run it on your xbox. It will read and write to your NAND. It can read NAND images from a USB and flash them to your console. Remember you need to put the NAND images that you want to flash on the root of a USB drive. Also, you need to name them, "updflash.bin" for Flash360 to flash them.

Basically, to be ultimately clear. You won't have to use your LPT cable again unless you write a bad NAND image and then you will need to restore your NAND to a working state by writing a previous working NAND image.

The whole launching custom dashboard from the games tab that you are referring to is Freestyle Dashboard. This is a dashboard that can be launched from the games tab or it can launch at startup, bypassing your MS dashboard. To make it launch on startup, you have to install Dashlaunch.

Dashlaunch is self-explanatory. It launches your Freestyle dashboard but it also does a few other things that can be tweaked to your interests. Also, it allows you to run newer games that require a more newer dashboard than the one you are running. This works for most games but you can bump into a few picky games.


Hope that helped you.