1         Introduction

The intent of the document is to provide comprehensive instructions on how to use the Evolution X dashboard for your M$ XBox from a bootable CD/DVD. It is also our intent to provide a complete description of the EVOX.INI file and to detail the inner working of this file.

We assume that you already have a copy of Evolution X. If you do not have it go out and find it, it’s not that hard if you put a little effort into it. Please do not ask me (or anyone else for that matter) where to find; if you really want it you will find it).

2         Creating an Evolution Boot Disk

To start using Evolution X from a bootable disk (CD/DVD) you will need to burn the Evolution X distribution to whatever media you have available. Currently we have tested it on the following media types: CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW and DVD+RW.

You should create an ISO before burning the files to your media or you can use RecordNow Max’s UDF 128 format. I recommend creating an ISO file, especially if you are adding other applications to the DVD.  ISO generators will create an ISO in the XFS (XBox File System) and are generally more efficient, but with the UDF 128 format you can read XBox discs in your PC drive.

There are plenty of programs out there that can make an ISO for you (XISO, IsoMaker, ISOx Creator and GDFImage [that I am aware of today], it should be noted that GDFImage is a copyright-licensed tool from Microsoft which can be found in the XBox Development Kit [XDK] and cannot freely be distributed but is widely accepted as the best.)

Some distributions can be found as an ISO but these generally have only Evolution X. The standard distribution comes with all of the raw files required to use Evolution X. Basically all you need to do is extract these files into a temporary folder on your hard drive, use your ISO make to generate an ISO from these files and using your favorite burning application. This is the most basic and should boot to an Evolution X dashboard.

To really use Evolution X to its fullest it can be used as a boot loader for multiple applications on a single DVD or a movie or any other XBox application (.XBE file). You can also install Evolution X to your XBox hard drive and replace the standard M$ dashboard. If you are interested in that please see Life With XBOX After You Installed a Modchip by Sandman (http://www.xbox-modchips.com/tutorials/lifewithxboxaftermodchip.htm).

3         EVOX.INI

This is the file that basically configures the look and feel of the Evolution X dashboard and sets up the menus that you will have/see in your dashboard.

3.1        The INI File Defined

Starting with later versions EvoX (I use 1.8.2812) the MENU.INI was changed to EVOX.INI and the format changed dramatically as well. This section will walk through the entire EVOX.INI file and define the parameters within:

[Misc]

For miscellaneous items and parameters that can automate the booting of your Xbox and define some default parameters for the @’s you see in the EVOX.INI file.

AutoLaunchGames

This simply asks if you want to automatically launch the games menu. When set to No the default EvoX menu comes up, set to Yes the GAMES menu is displayed on boot. The default is No.

AutoLaunchDVD

Similar to AutoLaunchGames but will launch the DVD player defined for the DVDPlayer parameter if one is defined. When set to No the default EvoX menu comes up, set to Yes the DVD player is started on boot. The default is No.

DVDPlayer

Points to a location where your DVD player executable (.XBE) is located. The default can be changed to any valid location. If you install to your hard drive point to the location where you put the player, it can also be loaded from the boot CD-RW or DVD (e.g. D:\mydvdplayer\DVDPlayer.XBE). The default is a suggested location, not an actual location or file.

AutoLaunchAudio

Similar to AutoLaunchGames but will launch the audio player defined for the AudioPlayer parameter if one is defined. When set to No the default EvoX menu comes up, set to Yes the audio player is started on boot. The default is No.

AudioPlayer

Points to a location where your audio player executable (.XBE) is located. The default can be changed to any valid location. If you install to your hard drive point to the location where you put the player, it can also be loaded from the boot CD-RW or DVD (e.g. D:\myaudioplayer\AudioPlayer.XBE). The default is the “c:\msxboxdase.xbe” you can define it similar to the DVDPlayer item.

MSDashBoard

This defines the MS Dashboard executable location and name for the “MS Dashboard” parameter on the default (top) EvoX menu. The default is the default MS Xbox dashboard name if you follow standard tutorials for installing EvoX on your harddrive (http://www.xbox-modchips.com/tutorials/evoxsetup.htm) - the default from the factory is XBOXDASH.XBE.

UseFDrive

Defines whether or not the EvoX should look at (use) the F: drive. If you have stuff installed there it better say Yes. The default is Yes.

SkinName

Defines the default EvoX skin to load on boot. Assumes that you have a SKINS directory where you booted. The system scans the SKINS directory folder and reads all SKIN.INI files in all subdirectories and uses the SkinName in the SKIN.INI to identify which skin to load. The default is Evox2 (e.g. D:\SKINS\EvoX2\skin.ini).

[Network]

Used for general Xbox network configuration – these parameters define how you will access your Xbox over the network after EvoX has completed loading. To learn about TCP/IP networking search the Internet, there is a lot of information out there. (Note: for basic networking with your Xbox http://evox.xboxhackz.net/evox/guides/body_basic_networking.html)

SetupNetwork

This is used to determine whether or not during booting of EvoX it loads the network drivers or not. Set to Yes it loads the network drives so you can connect to your Xbox through the Ethernet port, set to No it does not load the network drives. The default is Yes.

StaticIP

Determines whether or not to use DHCP or the IP address defined in the Ip parameter. Set to Yes the system will use the defined IP address, set to No it will use DHCP to obtain an IP address. The default is No. (Note: when set to No you must have a DHCP server available to provide your Xbox with an IP address.)

Ip

Defines the station IP address for the StaticIP parameter. The default is 192.168.0.3. (Note: we cannot offer a complete networking tutorial here, just make sure that the IP address used matches your local networks IP network range.)

Subnetmask

Defines the subnet mask used for your static IP address. The default is 255.255.255.0. (Note: the default is a Class C net mask, please refer to your local network for the net mask in use.)

Defaultgateway

Defines the default gateway to use for your Xbox. The default is 192.168.0.1. (Note: if your Xbox is on a separate network set this parameter to the gateway your Xbox will use to communicate throughout to entire network.)

DNS1

Defines the primary DNS server your Xbox will use to perform domain name resolution. The default is 0.0.0.0. (Note: only necessary if your Xbox needs to perform domain name resolution.)

DNS2

Defines the secondary DNS server your Xbox will use to perform domain name resolution. The default is 0.0.0.0. (Note: only necessary if your Xbox needs to perform domain name resolution.)

[Clock]

Defines how EvoX will set and use the system clock of your Xbox.

JumpToMsDash

Tells EvoX whether or not it should jump to the MS dashboard if the clock is not set on your Xbox. Set to Yes the system will jump to the MS dashboard if the clock is not set, set to No it not. The default is No.

JumpIfNoLink

Tells EvoX whether or not to attempt to jump if there is no system link connected. Set to Yes the system will jump of there is no system link connected, set to No it will not. The default is Yes.

Use24

Tell the EvoX whether or not you want to use the 24-based clock or not. Set to Yes the system uses 24-hour time, set to No it uses 12-hour time with AM/PM. The default is Yes.

SNTP_Server

Defines the address of the Simply Network Time Protocol server. The remote Time Server automatically set the clock time if a remote timeserver is available. The default is 216.244.192.3.

[FTP]

Defines the FTP server parameters.

Enable

Determines whether or not EvoX should load the FTP server. If the parameter is set to Yes EvoX loads the FTP server, if set to No it does not. The default is Yes. (For Xbox FTP commands http://www.xbox-modchips.com/tutorials/evoxcommands.htm)

Password

Sets the FTP password for your Xbox. The default is xbox.

[RDTOOLS]

Defines the Remote Debug parameters.

Enable

Determines whether or not EvoX should load the Remote Debug tools. If the parameter is set to Yes EvoX loads the Remote Debug, if set to No it does not. The default is Yes.

Name

Sets the Remote Debug name to use when connecting to your Xbox with Remote Debug tools. The default is EvoX.

[BIOS]

Define parameters for flashing your BIOS and information about the ROM files available for flashing.

ROM

These define different BIOS versions and their CRC (Cyclical Redundancy Check – for verification and the like [and that is as technical as I am getting on the subject]). The structure is as follows:

ROM = “<name of ROM to display>”,”<CRC of BIOS>”

example:

ROM = "EvoX 2.0",0x76fd88337b8d8c1f116f85f3984b98b6

Flash

Similar to the ROM parameter but this defines flash parts so these can be displayed as well. The structure is as follows:

Flash = (TBD),"<flash part manufacture – name>",<flash size>

example:

Flash = 0x01d5,"AMD - Am29F080B",0x100000

Current

Simply used to tell EvoX which version your BIOS is for display purposes.

[SKIN_ORIGINAL]

Defines the default, or original skin, for EvoX and some of the display parameters available. (Note: these are the same parameters available when making a skin as well, you can learn more about skins here: http://www.evoxskins.com/) So, you will see something like this:

# <Time> (the time the Xbox is reporting)

# <IP> (your Xbox’s IP address, handy if using DHCP)

# <Name> (name of dashboard)

# <Version> (EvoX version)

# <CD> (displays the cd that is in the Xbox)

# <BIOSVer> (displays your BIOS version – see [BIOS] above)

# <KernelVer> (displays your Xbox’s kernel version)

# <RDName> (displays the Remote Debus user name – see [RDTOOLS] above)

# <SpaceC> (displays the space used on the C: drive)

# <SpaceE> (displays the space used on the E: drive)

# <SpaceF> (displays the space used on the F: drive)

# <SpaceX> (displays the space used on the X: drive)

# <SpaceY> (displays the space used on the Y: drive)

# <SpaceZ> (displays the space used on the Z: drive)

these define the parameters that are available to display in the original EvoX skin.

Next are the text parameters, you can effectively have as many as you want, but here is how the work:

Text = <position from left to right>,<position from top to bottom>,<text opacity >,<font color – just like HTML colors first 2 are RED, next 2 are GREEN and last two are BLUE>,<justification: 0 = left and 1 = right>,”<anything in quotes gets displayed, use a <PARAMETER> from above to display it or simply type the text you want to appear on the screen>

So, the default display is this:

Text = 30,37,0.5,0x000000,0,"<Time>"

Text = 28,39,0.5,0x808080,0,"<Time>"

Text = 620,420,0.5,0x000000,1,"<Name> V<Version>"

Text = 618,422,0.5,0x808080,1,"<Name> V<Version>"

Text = 620,37,0.5,0x000000,1,"<CD>"

Text = 618,39,0.5,0x808080,1,"<CD>"

Text = 30,420,0.5,0x000000,0,"RD Name : <RDName>"

Text = 28,422,0.5,0x808080,0,"RD Name : <RDName>"

example 1:

Text = 30,37,0.5,0x000000,0,"<Time>"

displays the Xbox time (<TIME>) at screen offset 30,37 with an opacity of 0.5 using Black as its color left justified

Text     =       28,39,0.5,0x808080,0,"<Time>"

displays the Xbox time at screen offset 30,37 with an opacity of 0.5 using Gray as its color left justified

(this would provide a short of shadowed text effect)

example 2:

Text = 620,420,0.5,0x000000,1,"<Name> V<Version>"

displays the name (<NAME>) the letter V and EvoX version (<VERSION>) of the at screen offset 620,420 with an opacity of 0.5 using Black as its color right justified

Text = 618,422,0.5,0x808080,1,"<Name> V<Version>"

displays the name (<NAME>) the letter V and EvoX version (<VERSION>) of the at screen offset 618,422 with an opacity of 0.5 using Black as its color right justified

(this would provide a short of shadowed text effect)

3.2        The Menu

[MENU]

This is the section where you can define the menu and menu item of the scrolling menu in the center of the bottom half of the screen. This is the best part because you can define the menu items and actions that the menu can do. I like to use EvoX as a menu system for multiple programs on a single DVD, but it has endless possibilities for launching and .XBE file (games, media players, etc.)

So, the default menu looks like this:

Section "Root"

{

            Item "MS Dashboard",@3

            Item "Reboot",@5

            Item "Power Off",@10

            Section "System Utils"

            {

                        Item "Settings",@9

                        Item "Flash BIOS",@1

                        Item "Backup",@11

                        Item "Skins",@13

#                      Section  "Install Menu"

#                      {

#                                  Item "Install 4043",@210

#                                  Item "Action 11",@211

#                                  Item "Action 12",@212

#                      }

            }

            Section  "Launch Menu"

            {

                        Section "Games"

                        {

                                    Line "- Auto Items -",2

                                    SortStart         

                                    AutoAddItem "f:\games\"

                                    SortEnd

#                                  SortAll

                        }

                        Section "Apps"

                        {

#                                  Item "DVDX","f:\Applications\dvdx\default.xbe"

                                    SortAll

                                    AutoAddItem "f:\applications\"

                        }

            }

}

First I will outline what this menu does and looks like, next I will define all of the options and the construction parameters for each line.

This menu basically puts 5 items in the top-level (or root) menu:

MS Dashboard

Reboot

Power Off

System Utils

Launch Menu

this creates 3 actions and 2 sub-menus off of the top-level menu. The 2 sub-menus are:

System Utils

Launch Menu

which also create new sub-menus items. First, System Utils has 5 more items:

Settings

Flash BIOS

Backup

Skins

Install Menu

here there are 4 actions and yet another sub-menu for Install Menu which has the following 3 items:

Install 4043

Action 11

Action 12

It should be noted that you will not see the Install Menu nor its sub-menus if you are using the default EVOX.INI – the # in front of each line “comments” out these line (this is defined below).

Now, for the Launch Menu 2 more items are created:

Games

Apps

each of these is yet another sub menu when items are either added manually or automatically.

3.2.1      Menu Parameters

This may seem a little complex, but is actually very easy if you understand the rules which the menu must follow:

1.       You must start of the menu with Section “Root” to tell EvoX where the menu root is

2.       When starting a menu at any level you must first put a curly brace before defining any parameters

3.       When finishing a menu at any level you must put a curly brace after defining all parameters

4.       # means that the line is commented out and will not be used when making the menu

5.       To be neat tab in for each sub-menu level as above in the default/example, this helps you see what the menu levels are before burring and booting your EvoX disc

Finally, the term definitions:

First, the line construct: each line as 2 to 3 setting per line:

<paramter>,”<text to display>”,<command to process>

§          @ = default or built in commands, there is a list available at the end of this

§          Item = defines a line in the menu that processes a command

o         example: Item "HomeBrewGame1","D:\mygame\default.xbe"

§          Section = defines a sub-menu section and name

o         example: Section = “My Sub-menu”

§          Line = defines a line of text to be displayed (does not define anything)