Xbox 360S
updxell.bin size error

August 9, 2022

After performing an RGH3 update to an Xbox 360 Trinity I ran into an issue where the system would boot into Xell but then show an error message "! dvd:/updxell.bin does not have the correct size of 256kb.  Aborting update!".  This message would continue to repeat on the console for as long as I let it run and the system would not boot into the dashboard despite repeated attempts.

Xbox 360 Xell boot screen showing an error message "dvd:/updxell.bin does not have the correct size of 256kb.  Aborting update!'

I checked the RGH3 wiring and everything looked to be connected to the correct points, and things seemed solid with no shorts.  I didn't recall seeing any errors during the original flash attempt so I was puzzled by what was happening.

Xbox 360 main board showing a jumper wire soldered, and the connection secured with kapton tape.

I wasn't able to find anything particularly clear and helpful online, although I did see a suggestion to try reflashing the NAND.  I tried using the PicoFlasher that I had used originally and ended with the same results.  After some more reading I came to understand that if an updflash.bin is placed in the root of a USB key and a system is booted into Xell, a flash tool with execute to update the NAND.

In violation of troubleshooting protocol I decided to change two things at once and recreate a new flash image with J-Runner while also switch to flashing the update via Xell.  After the flashing process completed I rebooted the console and it came up properly!  I was able to load Aurora and a few other items

Aurora Dashboard running on an Xbox 360 system.

Success, the console came to life!

Given that I had made two changes in my last troubleshooting step, I'm unsure if it was recreating the image, or flashing through Xell that fixed the problem.  At some point I'll go back and look at the two updflash.bin files that were generated to see if they are different but I suspect this is the case.  Maybe I missed picking the proper selections during the initial creation.  In any case, if you run into the error message in Xell of "! dvd:/updxell.bin does not have the correct size of 256kb.  Aborting update!", try recreating your updflash.bin file and see if it solves your problem too.