Xbox Hard Disk Partitioning

Retrieved from [1]

by Michael Steil (original version: 8 May 2002)

The Xbox uses a hard disk partitioning scheme that is hardwired into the kernel. The hard disk consists of a header, 3 game cache partitions, a system partition and a data partition:

Offset	Size	Description
0 MB 0x00000000	0.5 MB	Disk Config Area This partition contains no filesystem. Various configuration data is stored on fixed offsets. Linux device: none
0.5 MB 0x00000400	750 MB	Game Cache A (Drive X:) FATX volume containing temporary data of a game for faster access. Linux device: /dev/hda52
750.5 MB 0x00177400	750 MB	Game Cache B (Drive Y:) Linux device: /dev/hda53
1500.5 MB 0x002EE400	750 MB	Game Cache C (Drive Z:) Linux device: /dev/hda54
2250.5 MB 0x00465400	500 MB	System Files (Drive C:) FATX volume containing menu code, graphics, sound, DVD player, music import, ... Linux device: /dev/hda51
2750.5 MB 0x0055F400	4895 MB	Data (Drive E:) FATX volume containing saved games and imported CD audio tracks. Linux device: /dev/hda50
		Non-Standard partitions on disks >8GB
7645.5 MB 0x00EE8AB0	1896 MB - 130 GB	Unused/Additional (Drive F:) The first xboxes had a 8GB disk, later versions came with a 10GB disk. This the space difference between the two and not used. Some tools allow it to be used as additional FATX filesystem Linux device: /dev/hda55 (only present if signature of formatted FATX found) Linux assumes that all remaining space on the disk belongs to this partition unless another FATX filesystem is detected at the LBA28 boundary. See below.
137 GB 0x0FFFFFFF	remaining space	LBA28 (Drive G:) If you install a very big disk some tools are limited by the LBA24 boundary. The drive G allows this space to be used in a separate drive, only accessible to LBA48 capable tools and BIOS'es. Linux device: /dev/hda56 (only present if signature of formatted FATX found at LBA24 boundary) Linux assumes that all remaining space on the disk belongs to this partition.

This table has been completed by Markus Baertschi with lots of stuff. There might be errors and misconceptions, caveat emptor !

For a more detailed description of the format and contents of the partitions see Xbox Partitioning and Filesystem Details.|}