You need to emulate an Xbox BIOS to format the drive. Using qemu-system-i386 with a special Xbox boot ROM:
Here is why the Qcow2 format is becoming the standard for this: Xbox Hdd Qcow2
-drive file=xbox_hdd.qcow2,format=qcow2,cache=writeback,aio=native You need to emulate an Xbox BIOS to format the drive
This is a lifesaver for developers working on Xbox homebrew. Xbox Hdd Qcow2
The intersection of retro console emulation and modern virtualization has created a niche but vital demand for converting physical or digital Xbox hard drive dumps into versatile formats. Among these, the QCOW2 (QEMU Copy-On-Write) format stands out as the gold standard for enthusiasts using QEMU-based emulators like xemu.
When creating or converting, add: