This page describes the file systems used by the Xbox 360 as well as what each directory is on the hard drive. Most custom dashboards have built in file browsers and provide an FTP service for connecting to the Xbox 360 from another device. There is also dedicated file browsing software on the Xbox 360 console, like XeXMenu.
File Systems
The Xbox 360 uses various file systems for storing games, user content, and more.
- FATX (File Allocation Table for Xbox) is the storage file system used on hard drives, memory units, USB System Drives, and xlaunch.fdf files.
- Windows tools:
- Linux tools:
- MacOS tools:
- GDFX (Game Disc Format for Xbox) / XSF is the file system used on Xbox 360 CD/DVD Media.
- STFS (Secure Transacted File System) is used for game saves, profiles, arcade games, downloadable content and more. STFS is also referred to as CON/LIVE/PIRS files, as they are all STFS files, just signed with a different header.
- SFCX (Secure File Cache for Xbox) is used for cache storage for games.
- NAND File System is used to store the bootloaders, kernel, keyvault, SMC firmware, and other files on the NAND. CPU key is required to browse its contents.
- Windows tools:
Root
Different file browsers for the Xbox 360 will list different directories in root, but generally follow the name convention below. Some file browsers won't show all directories, this changes between implementations.
- DVD: Contents of current CD/DVD in the disc drive.
- Game: Shortcut for the currently loaded applications directory. This is directory where currently loaded .xex exists.
- Hdd1: Internal hard disk main partition (partition 3).
- HddX: Original Xbox backwards compatibility partition (partition 2). This might not be present if it is not installed.
- SysExt: System extended partition.
- System or Flash: Contents of the NAND chip.
- Usb0: Contents of first plugged in USB drive.
- Usb1: Contents of second plugged in USB drive.
Hdd1
Hdd1 is where all console-created and downloaded content is stored. From here can be found for example profiles, save games, DLC, Game on Demand games, title updates. Custom dashboard software is also usually installed here and is where the dashboard tries to find the launch.ini file.
Example Structure
Cache (partition 0) Content 0000000000000000 (public directory) 4D5307DC (example title) 4D5307EA (example title) ...other titles E00015BF00008BD2 (example profile) 4D53880C (example title) FFFE07D1 (profile GPD) 00010000 (profile data) ... other titles E0004EC40000CBC7 (example profile) 5655002A (example title) FFFE07D1 (profile GPD) 00010000 (profile data) ... other titles ...other profiles FreeStyle Aurora launch.ini name.txt
Content
- The 0000000000000000 directory is a common public or "download" directory for all profiles in system. Everything downloaded from the Xbox Marketplace and files installed system-wide (for example DLC and game extra files) are stored here. Files in here are usually "PIR" and "LIVE", meaning that they are signed with Microsoft's private key and verified by consoles public key.
- The FFFE07D1 directory contains a profile's Game Profile Data in the 0001000 directory which includes the profile's achievements, name, and profile settings.
- Other directories inside Content are profile directories. The name of a directory is a profile's ID. Under here are files that are specific to a profile, such as game saves. Files under here are usually type of "CON" meaning that they're signed by consoles private key.
- Files inside both the public and profile-specific directories are directories identified by Title ID. Each game or app has its own unique Title ID, which can be looked up here. Each Title ID directory contains directories that are identified by type of data they hold inside them as listed below. Files inside these directories are usually packages with STFS and can be opened with a tool such as Velocity.
000D0000 Arcade Title 00009000 Avatar Item 00040000 Cache File 02000000 Community Game 00080000 Game Demo 00020000 Gamer Picture 000A0000 Game Title 000C0000 Game Trailer 00400000 Game Video 00004000 Installed Game 000B0000 Installer 00002000 IPTV Pause Buffer 000F0000 License Store 00000002 Marketplace Content 00100000 Movie 0x300000 Music Video 0x500000 Podcast Video 00010000 Profile 00000003 Publisher 00000001 Saved Game 00050000 Storage Download 00030000 Theme 00200000 TV 00900000 Video 00600000 Viral Video 00070000 Xbox Download 00005000 Xbox Original Game 00060000 Xbox Saved Game 00001000 Xbox 360 Title 00005000 Xbox Title 000E0000 XNA
Compatibility
- User data of original Xbox content goes into the
Compatibility\Xbox1folder. It's essentially a copy of the original Xbox's E partition. - Just like on the original Xbox,
TDATAis for DLC, title updates, and homebrew data, whereasUDATAis for save files.
HddX
HddX is the original Xbox backwards compatibility partition. It is used when playing original Xbox games on the Xbox 360. If partition is not visible, it might not be installed.
SysExt
The SystemExtended partition introduced in the 2.0.12611.0 (Kinect-Dashboard) update was created to hold Kinect and Avatar related system files. Most likely the reason for this partition to exist is that Microsoft needed place for new system files and there was not enough space in the NAND chip to hold everything. SysExt contains important system files and it is dangerous to change anything if you don't know what you're doing. Broken SysExt can lead to a bricked console!
System
The System partition contains the contents of your Xbox 360 NAND chip. The NAND contains important system files and it is dangerous to change anything if you don't know what you're doing. Broken NAND can lead to a bricked console!
Compatibility Partition Cache
The Xbox 360's Xbox emulator uses a location near the beginning of the HDD as a cache. 640 bytes at HDD offset 0x800-0xA80 are filled with cached data once an original Xbox game is launched. Clearing this block of the hard drive is one of the functions that "Clear System Cache" from the Xbox 360 original dashboard's system settings does. In particular, if this block of HDD is cleared between modded Halo mappack launches, the original process of clearing system cache before launching each mappack is no longer required.
Switching between the old and new format for external USB flash drives
Before Dashboard version 2.0.17349.0, external storage connected through the USB ports had a strict requirement to have a FATX file structure on a FAT32 USB drive in order to be used with the console, but this traditional file system also had a limit of 32 GB. However, since Dashboard version 17349 and up, it's possible to switch from the old format (now retroactively called a "System Drive") to the new format (still FAT32, but stores Xbox 360 content in the FAT32 file system instead of the additional FATX file system) which clears that limitation; this allows the following benefits:
- No need to use Horizon or any other special software to access the file system
- Xbox 360 machines provided without an internal drive which rely on external flash drives can now utilize their entire capacity (potentially up to 2TB).
- External drives can now function almost the same as internal drives via USB.
However, normal FAT32 storage without the Xbox 360 System Drive folder also can't install the extra data required for the Kinect or avatars to function like hard drives or memory units can, so if you're using a console without any internal memory units or no hard drive attachment, it will still be beneficial to keep at least one USB drive configured as a System Drive.
Enabling the modern format on a new, clean external flash drive
Enabling the modern format is surprisingly easy. In fact, if your console has a hard drive attached or has a built-in memory unit, it won't even allow you add the old file system to newly formatted drives. The following instructions only apply to consoles without a memory unit or hard drive.
- Plug in the external drive into the Xbox 360, and navigate to the drive within the original dash.
- If the drive shows up as
Unformatted, select it and clickFormat. The drive is now formatted as FAT32 and ready to be used.- On a console without a memory unit or hard drive, select
Configure Now. This will format the drive and add the additional old file system, but it can be removed by going to the drive's settings again and clickingRemove Xbox 360 Storage
- On a console without a memory unit or hard drive, select
- If the drive is formatted as FAT32 with an MBR partition table, but does not have an Xbox360 folder, the drive is already in the "modern" format and ready to be used.
- If the drive shows up as
- Plug the USB drive into a PC. Then, create a new folder, and name it
Content- You can also copy a file, game, save file, or DLC to the newly formatted drive with the console itself in order to automatically make this folder path.
You've now switched into the new format, and you can now treat it as if it was an internal drive. So, whatever goes into the Content folder in an internal drive now go into the same folder in the external drive.
Switching to the modern format on an existing external flash drive
 | Removing the Xbox360 folder will remove existing profiles/saves/games/DLC! |
With a PC
- Backup the hidden
Xbox360folder (in case something went wrong with the switch)- This can be ignored if you don't have/need any data to back up.
- Extract the
Contentfolder from your existingXbox360folder using some FATX filesystem browser, like Horizon, FATXplorer, USB XTAF Explorer, etc... - ONLY AFTER you've backed everything up, delete the hidden "Xbox360" folder and place the
Contentfolder backup on the root of the USB drive. - Check that your old profiles/saves/games work!
With an Xbox 360
You'll want to have an extra USB drive for this method, unless you either don't have any data to back up, or don't care about the old data.
- Navigate to the console settings, and then to the storage settings.
- Plug in the USB drive with the old format, and then plug in another USB drive that's big enough to back up your old data to.
- If the USB drive for your backup isn't formatted as FAT32, you can use the console's storage settings to format it as such.
- Go to the old drive's Device Options, and select
Transfer Contentin order to select all data at once, and then select the new drive. The transfer will take some time. - Go to the old drive's
Device Optionsagain and selectRemove Xbox 360 Storage. After that, it will now be in the "modern" format.
Switching back to the old format
The "Xbox360" folder precedes the "Content" folder, so if it exists and there's data in it, you will switch to the old format, so you have a few options:
- If you have a backup of the old "Xbox360" folder you can restore it.
- Copy all your profiles/saves/games over, re-format the drive and re-inject the profiles/saves/games with some FATX browser (Horizon, FATXplorer, etc...).
- If your console doesn't have a built-in memory unit and doesn't have a hard drive attached, you can still configure USB drives to have the old format in the dashboard's storage settings.
- If the drive is formatted as FAT32, you can go in the Device Options of the drive, and select the option
Make System Driveto add the old Xbox360 file system. - If the drive does not currently have FAT32, you can click
Configure Nowin the drive's settings to both format it as FAT32, and add the extra Xbox360 folder. In this screen, you can configure the size of the Xbox360 folder to your liking, though it will still be limited at 32 GB maximum.
- If the drive is formatted as FAT32, you can go in the Device Options of the drive, and select the option
Additional Notes
- Aurora identifies the external USB flash drive correctly and so denies the ability to apply "Cache Title Updates", in order to bypass that you will need to:
- Download the cache title update manually and extract it. Create a "Cache" folder in your external flash drive. Copy the extracted title update into the "Cache" folder. Scan for Title Updates (via Aurora's settings). Enable the title update.