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OG Xbox Compatibility
The Xbox 360 plays original Xbox games through a Microsoft emulator. It doesn't live alongside
your games: it sits on a separate partition of the hard drive, called HddX. This partition
only exists on drives factory-formatted by Microsoft — a third-party drive, a reformatted one,
or one that has lost this partition simply cannot run original Xbox games, whatever the
dashboard shows.
The Toolbox in TinyXbox360BackupManager lets you recreate/update this partition.
Warning
Experimental. This operation replaces the partition, wiping its current contents first. Tick "Backup the current compatibility files first (zip file)" on your first try — you choose where the archive is saved.
- No target connected in the app (disconnect first, as with the ABadAvatar tool) — this tool is what will have you pick the console, at step 6: over the network (console turned on, Aurora running) or through the hard drive connected to the computer.
- If the
HddXpartition doesn't exist at all on your drive, this tool can't create it — it will tell you so. You first need to recreate it with the HDD Compatibility Partition Fixer homebrew (run on the console) or with FATXplorer.
- Disconnect any target in the app if needed.
- Go to the Toolbox → Original Xbox compatibility card.
- Tick "Backup the current compatibility files first (zip file)" if this is your first run.
- Choose the pack to install (see the table below).
- Tick "Update the per-title configs to support more games" to add the most up-to-date per-game configuration files (used by Xefu Spoofer, see Troubleshooting) — they let you fine-tune each game.
- Start the installation. In the "Which Xbox 360 should get the compatibility files?" window, choose Remote Xbox 360 over Network (WiFi / Ethernet) or Xbox 360 Internal Hard Drive (FATX), then Next to confirm.
📸 Screenshot to take: the "Original Xbox compatibility" card in the Toolbox, with the pack selector visible.
| Pack | What it is | Console |
|---|---|---|
| Retail — unmodified | The official emulators, as found on a factory drive. | Any console, even stock |
| Hacked — no whitelist | The same ones, with no restrictions or game whitelist, plus newer emulators. | JTAG / RGH / XDK only |
| Hacked — no whitelist, with HUD | Same as above, but the Xbox 360 guide stays accessible in-game (uses more memory, a few games run worse). | JTAG / RGH / XDK only |
On a console modded with this guide, choose a Hacked pack to improve compatibility with your games.
Advanced users can add their own packs (a simple URL) in the app's Settings page; they are added to the list, after the default packs.
The "Restore a compatibility backup (.zip)" icon (top right of the card) lets you take an archive previously created by the tool and put it back on a console, with the same steps as installing a pack.
- A game crashes, freezes or gets stuck in the menus: this is often not a bad copy of the game, but the wrong emulator revision selected for that specific game. Use the Xefu Spoofer script on the console (in Aurora: Back → Scripts → Aurora Repo Browser → Utility Scripts → Xefu Spoofer) to choose the right revision, checking the ConsoleMods compatibility list.
- A game freezes on a black screen: disable plugins before launching the game (stealth servers, HvP2, Aurora Crash Patcher), or press Eject right after powering on to boot with plugins disabled.
- A game drops a lot of frames (GTA III, Vice City, Halo CE, Counter-Strike…): set the console's display output to 480p.
- After switching packs, a game behaves strangely: try clearing the system cache (Settings → System → Storage → highlight a storage device, press Y (Device Options) → Clear System Cache).
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