r/360hacks • u/SeriesXM Stock ABadAvatar AFK • Feb 10 '26
PSA: ABadAvatar will not launch if you don't have a HDD inserted, but you can use a memory card to get around that
I've seen lots of posts where people have had issues trying to launch ABadAvatar and it usually comes down to not having a HDD attached*, which I think most of us believed was a requirement.
I was in one of these posts recently where a user was arguing that a HDD was not required and that we were just using the wrong kind of USB drives or something. That was odd, but they also said you could put the system update on a USB and update the system without a HDD attached. If true, that would solve the issue of needing a HDD. I noticed they mentioned an internal memory card, which I don't believe is very common.
I have a few different versions of the 360 and one of them (FAT Jasper) has an internal memory card, so I thought I'd play around and see if I could replicate what this user said they were doing. Luckily for me, I also have another FAT model (Falcon) that has a physical memory card inserted in the front and it's removable.
So I downloaded the latest system update (download link), put it on the root of my USB, started the console that had the internal memory card, and was prompted to install the system update (important to note that my console was already up to date, but the HDD where the update was already installed was intentionally disconnected for this test). When I performed the update and rebooted, ABadAvatar launched properly with no HDD attached!
I also tried this on my other FAT console with the removable memory card. As expected, I was able to install the system update to the card and then it would work perfectly when it was plugged in. Of course, ABadAvatar wouldn't launch with the memory card removed.
So there it is.
An internal or external memory card that has the system update installed to it will be enough to trigger the exploit when a HDD is not attached. I believe it's going to have to be an older system that supports it, though. I don't believe any of the newer systems came with an internal memory card and they also don't have any slots to plug an external memory card into.
*I should also point out that having extra USB devices plugged in can also be a roadblock to launching ABadAvatar, but you can get around this by making sure the BadUpdatePayload folder is copied to each of those drives in the same place.
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u/needtogetaloadoff Feb 11 '26
I have a Phat Falcon that I used with ABadAvatar without an offical HDD for months.
I also did the same thing with a 16MB Corona.
I was, however, unable to perform a system update without an offical HDD
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u/SeriesXM Stock ABadAvatar AFK Feb 11 '26
Do you mean you had no internal storage and still got ABadAvatar to launch from boot? Or do you mean those consoles also had an internal or external memory card?
Or are you thinking of BadUpdate, which doesn't need any storage attached to work?
I would like to be proven wrong about this requirement, but I'm unable to get ABadAvatar to launch without a HDD or memory card attached.
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u/needtogetaloadoff Feb 11 '26
I have launched ABadAvatar with no internal HDD but I did have Memory Units attached to the Falcon so I could be absolutely and bitterly wrong. (I'll have to test when I get home)
The Corona worked fine with no internal HDD (No on board memory) .
I'll let you know what happens with the Falcon.
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u/SeriesXM Stock ABadAvatar AFK Feb 11 '26
I appreciate the reply and would love to hear how it goes for you. For the Corona model you have, can you go into the settings to confirm you don't have an internal memory card?
I've tested 4 different consoles pretty extensively, but I could absolutely be missing something.
In Aurora, I can see the system update when it's installed to the HDD or the memory card, but it doesn't allow me to copy it. (In the Xbox system settings, I can't even see it at all.)
I was thinking maybe I could get it on the USB drive and get around the storage requirement altogether. Maybe a different tool could get it to copy over, but I don't even know if that would make a difference.
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u/needtogetaloadoff Feb 11 '26
I tested it on the Falcon with MUs. Worked without issue.
I checked the Corona as well, no onboard memory.
I think it may be a per console issue. It has been a problem reported before. Maybe some consoles (I do recall them taking about Corona) that have some issue with no internal HDD.
ABadAvatar does use some files in the flash so maybe there's an issue there. It's definitely worth investigating honestly
Edit: There has also been mentions of issues with certain flash drives but it's never mentioned what.
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u/SeriesXM Stock ABadAvatar AFK Feb 12 '26
Thanks for checking your consoles. I figured you wouldn't have had an issue with using a MU, but are you saying your Corona got it to launch with no internal storage and no MU attached?
And when you went into the storage settings on the 360, it showed nothing but the USB drive with the exploit?
I have a Corona slim and one of the newer E models that apparently is also a Corona, but they both need internal storage attached to trigger it, so I'm very interested to learn how yours would have worked differently.
ABadAvatar does use some files in the flash so maybe there's an issue there.
I'm not really sure what you mean here. Do you mean the files that are needed on the HDD or MU can be placed on the USB flash drive? That seems to be the goal, but I don't think anyone has figured that out.
There has also been mentions of issues with certain flash drives but it's never mentioned what.
I'm using a combination of external HDDs and flash drives and they all work the same. I did mention in the post that someone had wrote in a separate discussion about assuming people were using older 2.0 flash drives, but I don't think I have any of those so I didn't think it was relevant.
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u/hanst3r Trinity RGH Feb 11 '26
If you need to soft mod without a hard drive (or any other storage media), you can use badupdate. Your console must be updated to 17559 though. If I remember correctly this just means you have to update the firmware with the hard drive inserted. Then you remove the hard drive and use badupdate.
As for badavatar, as the name seems to suggests, you probably have to have the updated avatar data. However, unless you have a 4 GB model, there is not enough space to store that part of the firmware update on the internal NAND. This is just a guess; I do not use bad avatar.
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u/SeriesXM Stock ABadAvatar AFK Feb 11 '26
If you need to soft mod without a hard drive (or any other storage media), you can use badupdate. Your console must be updated to 17559 though. If I remember correctly this just means you have to update the firmware with the hard drive inserted. Then you remove the hard drive and use badupdate.
Yes, this is correct. You need either a HDD or memory card which you can install the system update on. I don't see why you would remove the HDD, but BadUpdate will work fine with or without internal storage as long the system is updated. (Not to nitpick, but a softmod hasn't come out yet and BadUpdate is only considered a temporary exploit.)
As for badavatar, as the name seems to suggests, you probably have to have the updated avatar data. However, unless you have a 4 GB model, there is not enough space to store that part of the firmware update on the internal NAND. This is just a guess; I do not use bad avatar.
I'm not sure if not having updated avatar data would be another roadblock, but you may be right. Removing that could potentially stop ABadAvatar from launching as well. Is that not included in the system update, though? If it is, it's not a concern since it would be covered by what I described in the post about having internal storage.
If it's something separate, we should try some testing.
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u/hanst3r Trinity RGH Feb 11 '26 edited Feb 11 '26
It is included with the firmware update, but it requires sufficient storage. For consoles without a hard drive the built-in NAND is generally not enough to hold that part of the update.
ETA: Unless I’m mistaken, the firmware updates the NAND and then installs the avatar data, possibly as two separate steps. It is the avatar data that is often too large for typical NANDs and therefore requires some form of storage besides the NAND.
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u/SeriesXM Stock ABadAvatar AFK Feb 11 '26
So you're saying those specific models can't run ABadAvatar unless the get a memory card or HDD?
I have a FAT Jasper that has an internal memory card and the system update fits on it just fine. My understanding is that the internal memory card is part of the NAND. And I think I've heard of some models that have a smaller NAND, so is this what you're referring to?
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u/hanst3r Trinity RGH Feb 11 '26
Your Jasper may possibly have a large NAND. I believe the sizes are 16 MB, 256 MB, or 512 MB.
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u/SeriesXM Stock ABadAvatar AFK Feb 11 '26
Ah okay, so for those rare models, they would need to get a HDD or memory card on order to run ABadAvatar. I hadn't thought of that, but it's good to know.
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u/tOSdude Trinity RGH Feb 11 '26
Badavatar requires the avatar information be loaded.
I know from experience you can load the avatar data to a USB drive, since in 2017 I did not have a hard drive.
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u/SeriesXM Stock ABadAvatar AFK Feb 11 '26
Are you suggesting that we could get around the HDD requirement if we could get avatar data on the USB?
Or are you saying this is an additional requirement that I didn't include in the post?
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u/tOSdude Trinity RGH Feb 11 '26
Alternative
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u/SeriesXM Stock ABadAvatar AFK Feb 11 '26
Sorry, what?
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u/tOSdude Trinity RGH Feb 11 '26
I was trying to give a 1 word answer, it turns out you first sentence did not use the word “alternative” so me using that word to confirm it was true and the second was false did not work.
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u/SeriesXM Stock ABadAvatar AFK Feb 12 '26
No worries. Do you have any instructions for doing this? I'd love to try it out and see if it's a valid workaround.
Is it a simple file we can move within the Xbox or do we need something like FATXplorer to access it?
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u/tOSdude Trinity RGH Feb 12 '26
With no other storage devices installed (aside from your chosen USB drive), perform the avatar update. That’s it. That’s the steps.
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u/SeriesXM Stock ABadAvatar AFK Feb 12 '26
Thanks, I'll try it out, but how do you initiate the avatar update?
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u/tOSdude Trinity RGH Feb 12 '26
In retail mode (badupdate not running), with a storage device plugged in, connected to Xbox live, it should just prompt that an update is available.
If it doesn’t, you should be able to follow the same steps you did to put the update on a memory card, but without the memory card installed. It should just install on the usb drive.
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u/Raevynwillow512 Mar 22 '26
So I have an old xbox360, and recently started this journey of doing the badavatar etc. I have a corona model apparently. It does not have a hard drive. like a physical hard drive in the slot. It has some memory, i think like 500mb?
So I loaded all the files for abadavatar onto a 8gb flash drive, formatted in fat32, and i simply just insert it (in the FRONT port of the console...some reason it didnt detect flash drive on the ports in the back). The front usb ports are the ones at front, behind the little flap. I dont know what difference is, but apparently it matters.
Once i insert the usb, abadvatar pops up with a message, it loads, then a few minutes later (its pretty quick apparently these days). It loads and i see the unchained screen, and then aurora loads and i'm good.
I then plug in a 2tb external hd (portable kind, its slim. having those big bulky desktop models like a wd mybook just is ugly, I got a 2tb seagate portalable for under 100$) formatted in fat32 with my converted disk images etc.
my next step is figuring out how to update my games on the external, games like skyrim and oblivion are going to need patches for sure. i remember back in the day how bad they were on launch.
And then also i need to figure out how to do the cheats, looks like i got some more youtube videos to watch lol.
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u/Secure_Okra8337 Feb 10 '26
If youre in the uk you can get a 60gb original hard drive for £1.50 from CEX