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Tsop Flashing At Wich Factory and Onboard?


codeasm
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Only recently ive been looking at this manufacturing proces part where they get the kernel on the motherboard.
"our" Blake Clements @OGXbox Admin linked me at facebook to the following url: http://www.ogxbox.com/archive/xboxsecurity.html
look at the Modchip part.

It states that

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the flash chip gets programmed in-system, the first time they are turned on, using an external LPC ROM chip.

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But I do not know if this is said based on the observation mentioned or based on internal Microsoft or flextronics manufacturing personal.

Blake also said that:

Quote

The TSOP was not flashed prior to being soldered on the board. This is why the lpc port exists.

So, the LPC port was used for programming? A bed of nails (pogo pins) should and probably be used to connect the write enable pins on the motherboard to enable the flash writing of the then onboard tsop.
I do not know for sure if this is posible but I rather for now asume it was. because we cant flash tsop today whne the xbox has been booted from LPC (modchip boots can only flash modchip, not the tsop, even of you remove the modchip prior to flashing)

Connecting to lpc and connecting the write enable lines using pogopins could be done, altho I dont know how they would write to flash from LPC. the MCPX doesnt allow flash write in a LPC boot right? maybe a unkown mode? anyway, pure onboard tsop writing by connecting to the tsop directly would be a pain, but posible with fine pitched pins. not sure if the board would allow that with the mcpx on the same wires.

All logic I can come up with is that MS would send their kernel to the tsop manufactorer and let them preprogram all tsops before soldering. then at the factory MS could use a bed of pogopins and a "recovery disk" to install a newer kernel if  they wanted as long as the xbox booted from tsop.

any other sources or interviews that claim or verify either side are welcome. movies and pictures of this proces too. most details I know came or will be added to: http://xboxdevwiki.net/Manufacturing_Process

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There are certain bioses out there that have enabled flashing the tsop while booting from a modchip. The Matrix, the Chameleon were claimed to be able to do this, Possibly the Xenium. You have to time the d0 ungrounding properly(maybe it wasn't d0. I don't remember which points you have to connect/disconnect prior to flashing but the tutorials are out there.) but I'm certain that can be done programmatically/mechanically. 

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"1. Insert you booting disc in the DVD drive(HeXen, Auto-Installer...)
2. Tie both D0 and A15 to ground
3. Boot the Xbox with tsop_m7
4. Remove D0 from ground (leave it hanging without touching anything)once the front LED starts flashing
5. Remove A15 from ground one you see the Xbox logo on your TV.
6. Flash your TSOP using your favorite tool.

Some important info:
- As tsop_d6, you can only boot from a Xbox disc in your DVD drive. If no disc is in the DVD drive, the Xbox will just sit at the booting Xbox Logo.
- There is no boot animation. I chose a really weird color combination for the Xbox logo so you know you're booting the right thing.
- There is a chance this BIOS will not boot if you have previously flashed a hacked BIOS on your TSOP. From personal experience, M8+ and X2 5035 are problematic across all revisions. IND-BIOS 5004 works on my 1.2 and 1.4 but not on my 1.0(probably an RC4 key issue).
- There is no LBA48 support. This BIOS is not meant to be used as your everyday BIOS anyway.
- Pre-insert you disc in your DVD drive. This BIOS resets on Eject."

tsop_m7.zip

Edited by DarkGabbz
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