XboxDash.NeT: Two Weeks in September

XboxDash.NeT (also called Xbox Dash Next) sits at a specific point in the timeline: after tHc, tHc Lite, and BSX, but before the Commemorative merge and UIX. It’s what happened when JbOnE stopped patching the retail XBE and started building a custom-compiled dashboard.

tHC Final was the last purely hex-patched release. After that, the tHc XIPs got adapted to run on a new engine with real C++ objects backing the script functions. Xbox Dash Next is the compiled build of that work – the bridge between tHc and what would become UIX.

Reading the Timestamps

The archive tells the story through file dates. The base Xbox dashboard files are all stamped 2002-02-01 19:50. JbOnE’s modifications are dated August 26 through September 12, 2004. Two weeks.

Untouched from the leak:

The script VM (Compiler.cpp, Lexer.cpp, Parser.cpp) – already worked fine
Visual effects (Background.cpp, DeltaField.cpp, StarField.cpp) – no changes needed
Game copy system (CopyDest.cpp, CopyGames.cpp) – kept as-is

JbOnE’s changes (50+ files in two weeks):

config.cpp – configuration system
MaxMat.cpp (66KB) – material and skin system
Joystick.cpp – input
Harddrive.cpp – new HardDrive node
TitleMenu.cpp – new TitleMenu node
Xbox.cpp – drive mappings
main.cpp, xapp.h – initialization
dvd2.cpp (94KB) – DVD player
Runner.cpp, Node.cpp – VM extensions
SavedGameGrid.cpp – memory management
xbe.cpp – XBE reader

The lib/ folder has Xbox debug SDK libraries – he was compiling with full debug symbols.

Three Drives Became Thirteen

The biggest change was in Xbox.cpp. Microsoft mapped three drive letters:

// Microsoft: 3 drives
IoCreateSymbolicLink("\\??\\C:", "\\Device\\Harddisk0\\partition1");
IoCreateSymbolicLink("\\??\\Y:", "\\Device\\Harddisk0\\partition2");
IoCreateSymbolicLink("\\??\\T:", "...\\TDATA\\fffe0000");

JbOnE mapped thirteen:

// JbOnE: 13 drives
C: -> partition2         // system
D: -> CdRom0             // DVD drive
E: -> partition1         // user data
F: -> partition6          // extended
G: -> partition7          // extended
X: -> partition5          // cache
Y: -> partition4          // cache
Z: -> partition3          // cache
T: -> TDATA              // title data
U: -> UDATA              // user save data
MUSIC: -> TDATA/fffe0000  // dashboard audio temp

He also had to delete the kernel’s existing D: mapping before remapping it – one line of NT kernel API:

OBJECT_STRING ddd = CONSTANT_OBJECT_STRING("\\??\\d:");
IoDeleteSymbolicLink(&ddd);

The MUSIC: drive was his own addition – a dedicated mount point for the dashboard’s temporary audio files, keeping them separate from the general TDATA directory.

The Header Changes

xapp.h shows the surgical additions:

//jbone
HRESULT CXApp::InitAudio();

TCHAR* m_sFontDir;
TCHAR* m_sXipDir;
TCHAR* m_sSkinDir;

bool f_exists;
bool g_exists;

Configurable paths for fonts, XIPs, and skins – no longer hardcoded to Microsoft’s retail locations. Extended partition flags for F: and G: drives. And the MAX_BLOCKS_TO_SHOW bumped from 50,000 to 500,000,000 – because modded consoles had hard drives that Microsoft never planned for.

The //jbone comment is the only signature in the source.

The Compiled Build

Xbox Dash Next is what this source produced. The build shipped with:

7 color presets: MS Dash - Blue, B&W, Green, Orange, Purple, Red, Yellow
Adapted tHc XIPs running on the new engine
Network config: Static IP, FTP server with login/password
Background music on boot
Configurable main menu with password-protected buttons

The default.xbx config file shows the architecture:

[Main Menu Orb]
OrbType=tHc

[Main Menu Button 2 Settings]
Launch=GoToMusicPlayWithSubs()
MenuType=Xbox Hard Drive

[Games Menu]
Name=Games
Path=games

OrbType=tHc – this is a tHc derivative running on a custom engine. The hard drive menu still uses GoToMusicPlayWithSubs() – the music player hijack adapted from tHc’s scripts. Some things carry forward even when you rebuild from source.

JbOnE’s Signature

Line 2062 of default.xap:

////// All functions I added are below here :)   - JbOnE

Below that line: test code for the new engine APIs he’d just built:

// Testing HardDrive file operations
var test = theHardDrive.CopyDirectory("F:\\storage", "E:\\storage");

// Network info display
TellUser("Xbox IP: " + theXboxNetwork.GetXboxIP() + "\n" +
         "Subnet Mask: " + theXboxNetwork.GetXboxSubnet() + "\n" +
         "Gateway: " + theXboxNetwork.GetXboxGateway() + "\n" +
         "Link Status: " + theXboxNetwork.GetLinkStatus() + "\n" +
         "Speed: " + theXboxNetwork.GetLinkType(), "");

// Drive space
var a = theHardDrive.GetFreeSpace("E:\\");
var b = theHardDrive.GetTotalSpace("E:\\");

You can see him testing each new API as he built it. CopyDirectory to verify file operations work. Network info to check the TCP/IP stack. Drive space queries. This is a developer’s working build with test code still in it.

The Skin System (Partial)

MaxMat.cpp reads 149 material colors from a skin .xbx file at boot:

SkinXBX.Open("E:\\UDATA\\XboxDash\\Xbox.xbx");
SkinXBX.GetValue("Dashboard Settings", "Current Skin", CurrentSkinFile, MAX_PATH);
SkinXBX.Open("A:\\Skins\\" + CurrentSkinFile + "\\" + CurrentSkinFile + ".xbx");

SkinXBX.GetValue("InnerWall_01", "ColorA", ColorA, MAX_PATH);
SkinXBX.GetValue("InnerWall_01", "ColorB", ColorB, MAX_PATH);
// ... 147 more material reads
SkinXBX.GetValue("Typesdsafsda", "Color", ColorA, MAX_PATH);

Boot only. No runtime switching. The 7 skin presets work because the colors are read once at startup. Want a different skin? Change the config and reboot. The live-switching came later in UIX proper.

And yes, "Typesdsafsda" is in there on line 1077. Someone mashed their keyboard for a material name and it’s been in every version of this codebase for 20 years.

JbOnE’s Toys

Alongside the source, a separate archive (jbonestoys.rar) contained the tools he used:

Team Assembly XKUtils (GPL): XKEEPROM, XKCRC, XKSHA1, XKRC4, XKHDD, XKUtils – the Xbox crypto and EEPROM library
AV encoder registers: av_register_final.h and modeset.c for video output mode switching

The XKUtils code traveled from Team Assembly through JbOnE’s toolkit into XboxDash.NeT, then into UIX, and eventually into Theseus. GPL open source that’s been in continuous use across the Xbox scene for over 20 years.

Where This Fits

tHc -> tHc Lite -> BSX (fork)
                      \
tHC Final -----------> XboxDash.NeT / Xbox Dash Next (source-based)
                                          |
                            Commemorative merge (tHc + BSX scripts on this engine)
                                          |
                                         UIX

Xbox Dash Next is the moment the dashboard stopped being a patched retail binary and became its own thing. The tHc XIP heritage carried forward in the scripts. The engine underneath was new. Everything that came after – the Commemorative merge, UIX, UIX2, and eventually Theseus – built on this foundation.

UIX History

The story of the Xbox Dashboard modding scene