Using external HDD with Xbox 360 - usb storage

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dal2000

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Can't seem to find a definite answer on the web.
Is it possible to use a normal external usb drive with the Xbox and be able to save games and most importantly to install games?
 
dal2000 said:
Can't seem to find a definite answer on the web.
Is it possible to use a normal external usb drive with the Xbox and be able to save games and most importantly to install games?
Click to expand...

As far as I know you can only use a flash drive (up to 4Gig used by Xbox360) for saved games, profiles, etc.
 
benitok said:
As far as I know you can only use a flash drive (up to 4Gig used by Xbox360) for saved games, profiles, etc.
Click to expand...

Up to 4gig only?? :(

EDIT: Just seen this *Performance of non-Xbox 360 branded USB Flash Drives will vary based on quality, speed, and performance of the specific drive. Some may not provide a recommended level of performance. The system will recognize up to 16GB of available space on a connected device, even if the drive is larger in size. USB flash drive is not a hard drive. Some games and Xbox LIVE content may require a hard drive for certain features.
 
dal2000 said:
Up to 4gig only?? :(

EDIT: Just seen this *Performance of non-Xbox 360 branded USB Flash Drives will vary based on quality, speed, and performance of the specific drive. Some may not provide a recommended level of performance. The system will recognize up to 16GB of available space on a connected device, even if the drive is larger in size. USB flash drive is not a hard drive. Some games and Xbox LIVE content may require a hard drive for certain features.
Click to expand...

Sorry, my mistake, yes 16 Gig. Yes, make sure you have a good flash drive, I recommend,

Transcend JetFlash 600 USB 2.0 Compliant Flash Drive
Fast reading and writing speed (32MB/s Read and 18MB/s Write)

There might be faster ones available.
 
Any external USB drive will work - although 16gb, as mentioned is the max partition size.
IIRC, you can have 2x 16gb partitions. Not sure if more than 2 will work.
 
There are 2 ways an xbox 360 can use an external (microsoft dash board not Homebrew dashboard):

1. You can format an external to FAT32. This will allow you to save movies and music to the driver in Windows/Linux/Mac and than watch it on your xbox 360. You can save Music/movies/pictures. Check the official xbox website for supported file formats. I use Video converter ultimate 6. Limitations: Can't save/install games to this drive; FAT32 has a file size limit of 4GB and has a drive size limit of 32 GB (but there are programs on the internet that can circumvent the 32 GB size limit when formating the drive). I use this option: I have a 500 GB 2.5 inch external Seagate GO thats partitioned into 2 with one being NTFS and the other being FAT32 and I save my movies on the FAT32 and watch it ia my xbox. Nb xbox 360 can't access NTFS or FAT file systems.

2. You connect and external go to settings and memory and you can format an external to save data to it (you choose a save game and choose copy to and it will ask you if you want to farmat the connected drive). Note that this will erase the drive and allocate 32 GB for the xbox 360. This drive is an extension of the xbox. Pro: you can save save games to this drive (as of now installation is not supported). Conns: you cant access this partition in Windows without a special program. This is useful if you running low on space or want to back up save games.

Hope this helps. May contain mistakes as I have not tried option 2. But option one works great. Also this pertains to the default xbox dashboard not homebrew.
 
Last edited:
dal2000 said:
Can't seem to find a definite answer on the web.
Is it possible to use a normal external usb drive with the Xbox and be able to save games and most importantly to install games?
Click to expand...

Xbox uses FATX file format
FATX is a slightly modified version of the FAT filesystem, and is designed for Microsoft's Xbox video game console hard disk drive and memory cards. FATX is not to be confused with exFAT, a format introduced by Microsoft in 2006.

On-disk datestamps differ slightly between FAT and FATX: in FAT, the epoch is 1980; in FATX, the epoch is 2000.

FATX memory cards can be read and written by regular PCs by putting them in an Xbox controller and plugging the controller into a USB socket on the PC. The Action Replay software can then be used to access the memory card.

There are two well-known programs to read and write to FATX formatted devices: Xplorer360 and Xport 360. Both programs are free of charge and capable of reading and writing to a variety of FATX devices including Xbox 360 hard drives or Xbox 360 and original Xbox memory cards. These programs are in continual development as they add new features and bugfixes.
Click to expand...
 
dal2000 said:
Can't seem to find a definite answer on the web.
Is it possible to use a normal external usb drive with the Xbox and be able to save games and most importantly to install games?
Click to expand...

yes you can but only a maximium of 16GB per USB device up to a maximum of 32GB , you can use a usb HDD but it might run a bit slow so a usb flash disk will work the best.
Ypu can alos use a usb device of more then 16GB but the xbox will ony use 16Gb of that device.

this all is for save games etc if you want to use a usb as you primary storage (as abosed to the memory card or on board memory the new arcads came wit

if yuo want to watch movies, listen to mp3's or look at jpeg then and portable HDD formated with FAT 32 will be fine
 
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