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Prehistoricman

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Everything posted by Prehistoricman

  1. Prehistoricman
    You could get stuck if you pulled off the modchip in the short window where it's testing the RAM. As for 'normal' cases where that would happen, I don't think it can happen unless the failure is not RAM related. The test code runs from flash so it should be independent of RAM issues (except for bank 1).
  2. Prehistoricman
    Great idea! Have you see the stuck status yet? I got them a few times while refining the test design but haven't had any recently.
  3. Prehistoricman
    Ohh I thought you meant one of those rabbit hole or iceberg style videos. I worked with Tito on that video.
  4. Prehistoricman
    Excellent. I also just bought a mobo from ebay with a short circuit and FRAO after fixing the short. They somehow managed to solder a wire under the ram chip, shorting 5 pins together!
  5. Prehistoricman
    In my opinion they're as hard as the normal leaded RAM chips. Soldering the BGA, however, is a different skill. Let me know if you want to buy any modules - 8 modules for $90. Thanks! What's that video? I'd like to take a look Hmm interesting idea! A bit like old folks using their phone camera instead of putting on glasses. Getting a microscope has been huge for me. Makes fine work super easy and intuitive when you can see how flux and solder behaves. Bi- or tri-nocular is also important to be able to see depth. I lucked out and rescued one from a local university's dump.
  6. Prehistoricman
    Yes! I just fixed an xbox I got from ebay with a failed RAM install. Make sure to use XBlastOS_0.63_RAMTESTER_Stock.bin on a Xbox with the normal RAM chips.
  7. Prehistoricman
    PCBWay made mine. They allow up to 16 layers so I'm not sure why you're having that issue.
  8. Prehistoricman
    I see a 64Mbit chip. It's 8 MB, 2x smaller than the stock chip. Sorry for your loss. Microsoft might have used 8MB chips early on because there are xcodes in the BIOS to handle it.
  9. Prehistoricman
    So it means that there is still something wrong with either the chips, LPC, or the soldering.
  10. Prehistoricman
    What's the full name of the chip? I never found any that are like what you describe.
  11. Prehistoricman
    That's normal for stock BIOSes. Are you trying to launch xblast though?
  12. Prehistoricman
    I've done some tests and I can confirm that Flashing Red And Orange (FRAO) can be caused by bad RAM or by bad BIOS. The SMC expects two bytes to be written with command 0x13 and 0x12. The BIOS is supposed to write these with special values after doing a RAM test. If the values are wrong, you get FRAO. If there are no values, you get FRAG. Curiously, the v1.0 SMC accepts more values (of the 2 bytes) compared to the v1.6. I don't think it's worth looking into deeply but still interesting.
  13. Prehistoricman
    Thanks that's right Yep. The only kinds of chips it won't work on are ones that run an OS first, like Xenium, or if you run PrometheOS.
  14. Prehistoricman
    Yeah good question. This kind of interposer, with some tweaks, could definitely be used to install more modern BGA RAM in the Xbox in the stock quantities of 64MB or 128MB. Thanks Unfortunately no. There's no discernible improvement in performance. Haven't got around to trying it yet. My only 1.6 has my 128MB mod on it so ideally I'd have another 1.6 to test this on.
  15. Prehistoricman
    I have about 6 xboxes worth of chips and interposers so let me know if you're seriously interested in buying them and doing this mod, and let me know your continent and we can work something out.
  16. Prehistoricman
    PCB files and BIOS patcher can be found on github: https://github.com/Prehistoricman/Xbox256MB/tree/master Upgraded Xblast OS can be found on bitbucket: README and Downloads The new Xblast OS comes with a RAMTESTER variant that lets you test the stock set of 4 chips. This can be useful even for a typical 128MB mod when things go wrong and the Xbox won't boot normal Xblast. MachoNacho already did a tutorial on installing this upgrade: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2hvSL30Rlg So here's a brief tutorial for installation. Tutorial Be aware this is an advanced mod and while it does grant quadruple the memory, there is a performance disadvantage. The memory clock speed must be reduced to make this memory stable (this is handled in my BIOS patcher). Tools required: Hot air station (recommended for removing stock chips) Precision soldering station Microscope suitable for soldering Flux Solder Solder wick IPA Multimeter Hardmodded Xbox Spare Xbox to be able to reflash your modchip if necessary Steps: Flash the Xblast OS 0.63 RAMTESTER 256Mbit BIOS to your modchip If your modchip has only one bank, you can still access the normal Xblast menus by pressing eject to power on the Xbox. If your modchip runs an OS BIOS (like PrometheOS, Xenium or Xblast), patch it and flash it first Remove the stock memory chips. Use hot air to desolder it - I like to place tinfoil on the board to protect the other components and plastic from the heat. Or just cut the pins if you don't care about the stock memory chips. Solder in the new memory modules Start with bank 1 in the stock memory layout. See this diagram Precisely align the module on the motherboard Solder 1 pin in a corner to anchor the module Make sure you get the orientation right. There is an arrow in the corner of the module that should align with a dot on the motherboard. That's pin 1. Solder the opposite pin Check the orientation again! I got this wrong twice :((( Solder the rest of the pins on the module Power on the Xbox to test it with the BIOS If you got it right, the LED code will indicate that bank 2 has failed. See README for LED codes. If the LED code shows bank 1 failed, there may be a short circuit or open circuit. Check your soldering. If the Xbox powers off very quickly and doesn't reboot, you have a short circuit. Check your soldering. If the Xbox reboots 3x and FRAGs, there may be a short circuit or open circuit. Check your soldering. Repeat for banks 2, 3, 4 in order. Try booting Xblast using the eject button, or any other 256MB compatible BIOS. Install the rest of the banks, using the memory test in Xblast OS's Tools menu to check if they are working. Flash a 256MB compatible BIOS X2 and X3 BIOSes are known to work and have the full 256MB usable Cerbios support is not good yet, but they are working on it. EvoX will boot, but needs additional patches to be able to use the extra memory. Do nothing with the additional memory Interposer assembly One way to do this upgrade is to buy the loose memory chips and interposer PCBs and assemble them. You need to be confident with BGA soldering. The memory chip is HY5DU573222F-28 which you can find on Alibaba and maybe other places too. The -28 is the speed bin and I don't recommend going any slower such as -33. The interposer PCB designs are on Github and I've included gerbers in the release suitable for ordering from PCBWay.
  17. Prehistoricman
    I made a variant of Xblast OS for testing the stock 4 chips which you can get here https://bitbucket.org/prehistoricman/lpcmod_os/downloads/ Get XBlastOS_0.63_RAMTESTER_Stock.bin, flash it, and run it and it will tell you about RAM issues on the front panel LED. See the RAMTESTER section of the readme https://bitbucket.org/prehistoricman/lpcmod_os/src/master/README.md This BIOS will boot with only 1 working RAM chip so it can help to narrow down the problem.
  18. Prehistoricman
    What will Stellar do with the extra memory?
  19. Prehistoricman
    Have you seen https://x.com/MakeMHz/status/1809271943448916168? No, but I did see on XS discord a couple of guys said they bought a bunch of the BGA chips. Thanks. I'd wait it out until there is something real to purchase. You won't like the price of ordering the interposer PCBs for a single xbox anyway hehe
  20. Prehistoricman
    Hi guys. Happy to see people are interested in this. The basic situation as of now is: I'm looking to producing and selling these, but I'm seeing that people are buying up loads of these chips so might give up on that If MakeMHz sells this hardware, I will see if my software works for it too The current state is that I haven't been able to get the memory running at full speed, so performance suffers 256MB is the absolute maximum as far as I know I'm going to release all the design files, software, patchers, etc. shortly Yeah I know this is useless but it's just for fun
  21. Prehistoricman
    Correct
  22. Prehistoricman
    Ah, but if you want the modchip to always be selected without a D0/LFRAME wire, then you should only cut the trace. Adding a resistor like I did restores the original function where a D0/LFRAME wire is required.
  23. Prehistoricman
    I cut it in a specific place close to the Xyclops and put a 470 ohm resistor between the two cut ends. This lets the Xbox work as normal with and without the modchip and reduces the current greatly. I always use a blade. You can do two cuts at slightly different angles to get a bigger segment out. Yeah the 1.6 uses fewer caps, fewer chips, a more modern version of the GPU, and a less capable PSU (IIRC) all to reduce the cost.
  24. Prehistoricman
    Oh, it's actually worse. Around 71mA on my box So that draws 0.071 * 3.3 = 0.23W which is enough to burn small components. The LFRAME grounding trick was another Microsoft oversight I suppose. The BIOS is in the Xyclops because it's convenient and cheap. The 1.6 is basically a cost-down Xbox and this saves them from including a flash chip like the previous models.
  25. Prehistoricman
    Do you mean how much current does it take to drive LFRAME after it's cut? Grounding isn't required after it's cut. Or how much current it takes when grounded and uncut? It's about the 30mA mark from memory. No, the Xyclops is the SMC or system management controller and it contains the 1.6 BIOS. The video encoder isn't hooked up to the LPC at all so it can't possibly be used as BIOS storage.

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