Bowlsnapper
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Posts posted by Bowlsnapper
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33 minutes ago, ZAPHOD01 said:
I would love to buy one of these as well if possible...USA based, but that's not a problem for me. I can pay.
Ballinˋ!
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18 hours ago, Playa-V said:
I didnt find a price check thread and wasnt sure where to post this. But wanted to ask how much would this go for?
V1.0 Xbox with X3CE + X3CP front panel + 200GB HDD
I need to buy this from you. Letˋs talk.
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1 hour ago, Playa-V said:
I would try that i’m also missing the dip/bank switch board, itself.
I looked at the chip and the contacts at the rear of the socket are exposed you could solder to those. As far as a switch bank, fuck it: just wire up some digikey switches and put them on a strip of double sided tape. Then just stick it to the underside of the front panel like the original. Bam.
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19 minutes ago, Playa-V said:
I have an Xbox with a 2.6 but it’s missing the bank dip switch board and cable.
Does anyone have one for sale?
If youˋre not able to find one, I would suggest soldering wires to your own home made switch board. Just solder them to the points that the socket is soldered to... assuming that the contacts are exposed on the opposite side of the switch board... if not, then nevermind. Lol.
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1 hour ago, Silver said:
When I press the power and eject buttons I get the flash bios screen. I don't really mess with the switches. Hopefully today I should be up and running.
Thankfully, the switches donˋt need to be messed with much. Itˋs 1&2 for the first 1MB bank (1234) and just switch 2 for the second 1MB bank (5678). You can also have NO switches selected for the first 1MB bank, which is a contingency created for a situation where you donˋt have a switch panel hooked up for whatever reason... or if the switch panel fails, somehow.
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Sooo, are you up and running now, fully? The X3 should have already had a copy of flashbios stored in its 256k backup flash bank, which can be booted by pressing power and eject simultaniously at powerup. The backup bank is isolated and separate from the 8 256k (2MB) flash banks for safety.
Hell yeah, links are allowed. What do you think this is, 2005?
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8 hours ago, KaosEngineer said:
There are many causes for a FRAG. An improperly flashed BIOS is just one of them.
Flashing the BIOS does start at address 0 of the flash memory chip and goes to the end of the size of the BIOS's dot bin file for some flashing applications. Others (e.g., Evoxdash, XBlastOS) write multiple copies of a smaller than flash size file to fill the entire flash chip. For the Xbox, Microsoft originally used a 1MB flash memory chip that contained 4 copies of the BIOS data one after the other. They later changed the size of the flash memory chip to a smaller sized device that holds one copy of the BIOS - 256 KB instead of 1 MB in size.
Excerpt from Understanding the Xbox boot process/Flash structures | Hacking the Xbox (hackspot.net)
If Gentoox Loader is used to flash a 1MB TSOP of v1.0/1.1 Xboxes, the bios.bin file needs to be 1 MB in size (4x the 256KB BIOS) not a single 256KB bios file so it writes data to fill the entire 1MB chip.
As noted in the last quoted paragraph above, if a single copy of a 256KB BIOS is flashed to a 1MB TSOP flash memory chip the content of some data structures will be filled with 0xFFs at the end of the flash chip, not the correct data as found in the first 256KB of the chip; thus the FRAG. The console will not boot, freezes during startup and the System Management Controller recognizes that a problem has occurred and resets the console a few times in the hope that the error clears before it flashes the eject ring red and green (FRAGs) indicating a general system failure has occurred.
Oh, I know FRAGs are caused by multiple things, I just meant when it comes to FRAGs resulting from improper TSOP writes.
Thank you for the info, sir. You are the man.
I canˋt believe it took me 17 years to realize that FRAG was short for "Flashing Red and Green." WOW.
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30 minutes ago, KaosEngineer said:
Depends which BIOS flashing software was used to flash the v1.1's TSOP. Not all of the flashing software fills the flash memory chip. Some write the one copy of the dot bin file leaving the rest of the flash chip empty.
GentooX Loader is one that does not write multiple copies of the BIOS to fill the flash. If that tool was used, then the 1MB TSOP now contains:
- 256KB CerBIOS
- 256KB Empty (0xFF filled)
- 256KB Empty (0xFF filled)
- 256KB Empty (0xFF filled)
Instead of
- 256KB CerBIOS
- 256KB CerBIOS
- 256KB CerBIOS
- 256KB CerBIOS
You should be able to solder two wires to force access to the first 256KB BIOS.
Like used to fix a COMA v1.0 or v1.1 console.
DAMN, youˋre good. So FRAGs are just caused by the beginning of the TSOPˋs flash being empty. Makes sense. The data doesnˋt start where itˋs being seeked. Why the hell would any utility not begin writing to the flash at the beginning anyway?... and what is the proper terminology for what I just asked, so I can sound like less of a fucking moron in the future?
What is the reason for opposite BIOS sources not being accessible to each other? I thought the LPC or TSOP is just a bank that the MCPX looks to to load a bios that just ends up being run from RAM like everything else? Maybe I need to finally comprehensively read the boot process of the Xbox. I donˋt even know how software directs a write command to the TSOP or LPC respectively in the first place. Would you mind explaining that, Kaos? Or at least directing me to the correct answer?
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Lol x1,000. I was waiting for an interesting back and forth diagnostic process with Kaos and the problem just fixed itself.
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1 hour ago, Donnie-Burger said:
Odd as Cerbios is supposed to work with TSOP 1.0-1.5 - I just flashed Cerbios 2.01 on a 1.4 last night no issue. Only flashed TSOP no ini or boot animations.
I think different versions have different TSOP sizes, and they have to be flashed a certain way (redundantly) if the bios file is smaller than the chipˋs total space. So you need to flash a file compatible with your boxˋs specific TSOP chip, ensuring that the chipˋs space is fully written to. Otherwise, a FRAG occurs.
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5 hours ago, tktagmedia said:
Ah, hell. I know where my mistake was made: I used the wrong flasher with the wrong chip. Outside of a modchip, is there any way to rescue this? Otherwise I'll order an Aladdin.
You officially need a chip, my friend, since you now have no BIOS to boot from to remedy the mistake.
Thatˋs the joy of TSOP flashing. If it doesnˋt work the first time, you canˋt try again... unless you boot from a chip and do it.
Edit: Wait a minute. Kaos, can you flash a bios to the TSOP when booted from an LPC bios?
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On 5/9/2022 at 11:09 AM, shawnunderse7en said:
Did one myself. Had to use my microscope and ensure everything was lined up so there was no bridging. Totally cooked first flex, so had to get a second one. As metioned, flux, lots and lots of flux and the opposite with solder. Not alot of soldering. You can tack things down and then drag soler to ensure everythinng is nice and set. I ended up using an angled tip which helped alot and ofcourse microscope made the process a whole lot easier. Definitely was way more challenging than your normal micro soldering for sure!
A microscope? Like, a magnifying glass, or an actual fucking microscope designed for electronics work?
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On 5/9/2022 at 11:06 AM, shawnunderse7en said:
I would say if you can, get an IR-PRO-SC over the 6000, it will give you the ability to work on more consoles if you'd like down the road. I have one myself and been doing tons of PS3's recently. I can help you with a rough profile setup from what i've been using for my reballs!
How would you compare it to the 6500, like DB mentioned?
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On 5/9/2022 at 2:58 PM, zzattack said:
As I laid down in bed I couldn't contain my curiosity since I was still so perplexed that the 3 attempts after my initial successful one failed. I needed to check. The first board I used was a 1.4, the others were 1.0. Could there be a big difference in alignment between them? The top of the board sits very close to an SMD cap. You judge!
On a 1.4, it's close but it fits:
On a 1.0, oops, that'll elevate the interposer and certainly not benefit the soldering quality:
I'm fairly assured this caused the poor BGA alignment. And so we learn. More later this week.
Theoretically, you should be able to relocate that SMD cap and just use tiny-ass gauge wire to link it to the pads it was soldered to.
ZZ, you are the shit, man. Iˋve been hoping that somebody with an enthusiasm and drive for CPU upgrades would show up... and with knowledge of BGA stuff. I will probably ask you a LOT of questions over the next few months. Hopefully, I wonˋt become a nuisance.
Interesting suggestion with the tape. Thanks for that.
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Interesting. Mine was doing this with a shitty composite to HDMI converter. I moved over to a pound converter (which is essentially the same thing, but better made) and the cutouts stopped. I canˋt imagine how that makes sense, but itˋs what happened.
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I was actually looking at the ACHI IR6000 as my first unit. Iˋm just worried about aligning the interposer by eye. Not looking forward to that at all... that and programming the heating profiles into the unit. Any guidance on alignment?
I thought I would be putting CPUs in Xboxes by now, but life circumstances keep putting it on hold and it sucks.
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6 hours ago, zzattack said:
Had less time than anticipated tonight, but I did manage to pickup the replacement electrolytic caps from Farnell at the pickup point.
All the 1.6's are recapped, which as suspected resurrected the 2 dead ones as well. So, these have clean shells, boards + PSU's gone through ultrasonic cleaning, recapped, fresh thermal paste, I restored the LPC with a QSB (but did not install any modchip). I'm ready to part with them, and I'll be hunting to find non-1.6's to replace them in the coming days.
Tomorrow I hope to get the remaining ones recapped and TSOP'd, plus maybe RAM upgrade on one or two of them. It's about a 50/50 chance I'll have 2 more Tualatins on Saturday, so fingers crossed we may get to complete two boxes entirely.
I've dumped some pictures here for now on imgur: https://imgur.com/a/grMufPW. The forum itself feels very restrictive in regards to maximum and combined filesizes.
Iˋm seriously jealous of your workspace. I should just give up now. lol.
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14 minutes ago, zzattack said:
I just made some offers on a few CPUs on eBay yeah. One of the sellers said "I have more" and I purchased 8 off of him. In total I will have 11, assuming at least one's a dud.
I've got a WDS-620 station.
Dude... thatˋs like, a 12,000 dollar station. Holy shit. You are one HELL of a hobbyist.
Edit: More like 3,500. But still... Damn. Right on man.
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1 hour ago, zzattack said:
Regarding progress, yesterday I started on the pile of 10 by softmodding them/nulling HDD keys, primarily so that I can throw all disks on a pile without having to worry about keeping pairs. All motherboards and PSU's have received ultrasonic cleaning, while the enclosures took a bath to get rid of dust and potential smells. As far as I could tell, none of them came from nicotine using owners, but 3 or 4 likely had pets, so I'm happy those smells are replaced with a fresh scent.
While the enclosures were getting bathed, I set out to remove some clock capacitors, clean up potential leaks from said supercaps, and overwrite the stock BIOS on the TSOP memory. Sadly, 4 out of 10 are 1.6's so they won't have a future with me. I don't think it makes sense to go all-in with a CPU swap if you're inevitably going to remain stuck on 64MB RAM with an Xcalibur encoder. I'll be patching these up with new caps, new thermal paste, and then I'll probably dump them at a loss.
From the remaining 6, one isn't powering on (likely due to bulged caps) and 2 more do work despite having bulged caps. New caps were ordered yesterday, so today I will be replacing the electrolytics on each of the 10 boards. Time permitting, the 6 non 1.6 revision boards will get a TSOP flash, and then I can start with the RAM upgrades over the weekend. When those are done, I can take a (long) break until the Tualatin CPUs arrive from China.
Meanwhile I also arranged for an old Socket 370 system so that I can test the CPUs before (semi-)permanently attaching them to the xbox motherboards.
How did you decide to source the CPUs? Individually from Ebay? Youˋre saying that youˋre using an optical alignment system? Which BGA rework station have you decided to go with that is equipped with one? Iˋd appreciate your help, as I will be doing this as soon as I can get the parts and equipment... hopefully soon!
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11 minutes ago, Donnie-Burger said:
I have been researching this myself lately and thinking about ordering a 5 Pack of Xbox-CPU-interposer boards
Out of all the parts Digikey doesn't have these 3 in stock.
NC7SZ32M5XCT-ND - ON-Semiconductor
NC7WZ07P6XCT-ND - ON-Semiconductor
SER4329CT-ND - SG-3030JC 32.7680KB0: ROHS
Ebay has the 3 misssing parts that digikey is out of with one part from china. Anyone know of any other sources or part replacement?
The word is that there isnˋt, which is making a couple people that I talk to nervous about the future capability of performing this upgrade, myself included. I wanna solder 1.4GHZ CPUs into Xboxes until all the parts run out. I have so much anxiety that I will probably start hording the parts to do it, so I can just mod Xboxes at my leisure without worrying about part availability.
Does the OP know of a place to get the components DB just mentioned? Or a better place to get those Tualatins than Ebay? Seems expensive. Iˋve seen random recycler sites that claim to have them but they seem hella fuckinˋ sketchy.
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16 hours ago, SPARKY358 said:
Hello, i got a new xbox, and i had a few issues with it
just to establish some info:
it's been staying in my appartment for about 2 years without even plugging it in, idk how much it stayed at the seller's place
The sticker on the bottom (where the screws are) has not yet been broken
The xbox uses the philips dvd drive
It's from europe (PAL)
So, it has been emmiting this quite high pitched sound constantly, it's not very loud but it still gives me headaches
Also my custom CDs don't seem to work on it (xbox can't recognize disc), however i tried a few more official-ish discs and they worked
Any tips?
What do you mean by custom CD? Just any burned CD? The laser may just be a bit weaker than normal, which can result in stuff like that. I HAVE adjusted the pots on the laser moduule (CD or DVD, depending on what was called for) and remedied problems like that before, but you have to be careful with doing that. I donˋt even remember the guidelines for adjusting the pots anymore.
As for the squeaking... Kaos? Can PSU components generate noise like that when they deteriorate?
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22 hours ago, zzattack said:
Last week I purchased a nice OG to revisit a console that I'd had so much fun with 2 decades ago and to do some modding on. I set out to finally recreate one of those Friendtech/trusty/n64freak consoles that I'd wanted to do for a long time, but unfortunately never followed up with. This was made infinitely simpler after n64freak opened up sales of his bare interposer boards, so now the daunting amount of work for engineering these boards myself from the Friendtech patent file and datasheets can be skipped.
I sourced the components for the clock switching circuit on the interposer, which totaled an astonishing €5 from Digikey, while I needed to spend €50 to qualify for free shipping. This quickly spiraled out of control, I ordered everything x10... There's another 10 CPUs coming my way and there's a 10-high stack of never-been-opened xboxes behind me already.
While awaiting components to arrive, I've been reading about this upgrade and this left me the impression that these CPU-upgraded consoles at some point were highly sought after. I'd like to gauge current interest and am trying to get global idea of what these units should yield when sold. I was thinking of offering the following for €275:
- Clean motherboard with CPU upgraded to a 1.4GHz/512kB cache Tualatin using n64freak's interposer
- RAM upgraded to 128MB by installing the 4 additional chips
- OpenXenium modchip installed (or only with a flashed BIOS for some discount)
- no PSU, HDD, DVD, case since cost of shipping twice easily exceeds sourcing an xbox locally for most locationsI still have to think about a proper reliable solution for the heatsink if these boards are to be shipped.
Any thoughts?
Youˋre doing exactly want I want to do. You might beat me to it. FUCK!... I hope you make the shit out of these. Thereˋs room for both of us.
How in the hell do you have 10 unopened Xboxes? And I guess digikey is no longer out of the ICs needed for the performance reduction circuit?
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15 hours ago, OGXbox Admin said:
FB will sometimes say things don't meet community standards. Everyone thinks it's admin but it's not... It will just be gone. Sometimes you get a message about it. Sometimes you don't. There are ways entire groups can disappear. It's not really the safest way to try to have a community or archive information. It's so far outside of anyone's control it's not funny. That's why this site exists.
Community Standards... I had just started a facebook account a week ago and within 40 minutes my account was banned with a vague reason of violating community standards. All I did was say hi to some people I hadnˋt talked to since high school. Guess I wont be reconnecting with any old friends, now.
Facebook is run by pussies.
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6 hours ago, corona2222 said:
photo of the affected area?
He doesnˋt wanna. Lol. Iˋve got diagnosis blueballs now.
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Board Life Status
Board startup date: April 23, 2017 12:45:48
Wanted: Any Xecuter 3 Hardware
in Wanted
Posted
Looking for X3 chips, Control Panels, etc. Plus, if itˋs new in the package and unopened.
If the planets align, that is.