NeMesiS

The new batch of proto flex cables arrived, the EMI film looks great. To save on costs I only tried EMI on one version of the flex cable. Tomorrow I will test fit the flex cables on a couple of motherboards.

Firstly, if I were to design something as such it would depend on if there is any demand for it. Secondly, fitment will require some cutting to the console in order to fit extra connectors. Thirdly, I havent gotten a working prototype of the HDMI mod as yet. One thing at a time.

Damn... The motherboard came up a lot cleaner than I was expecting. EDIT: testing and working

Little off topic but I got myself a larger Ultrasonic Cleaner so that I can fit a whole motherboard. The idea is to give the mobo a good clean in the UC with solution, rinse under hot water then dry in the reflow oven at 60 degrees for 90 minutes. Not done this before, the reflow oven should be done shortly for me to see if the mobo still boots.

Oh, right... The 10pin connector should have the same pinout as the OpenXenium but I can't be for sure. OpenXenium/Images/openxenium1.jpg at master · Ryzee119/OpenXenium · GitHub

Can you post an image of the modchip?

Is it one of mine? Does it say "NeMesiS" on it? Here's a user guide: XeniumOS User Guide - Rev 2.0.pdf | DocDroid

Flip it back over again and insert the legs to the caddy and place caddy into the console. The reason I needed testers is to see how they go about cable management. Testers have the option of using either FLK or PWM fans. Or a hybrid of the two having the case fan FLK and 80mm PWM fans for example. I think it would be possible to run 3x FLK fans from a single header. I would like to do a PWM fan controller based on mobo and cpu temps at some point. Testers can use whatever fans they please, they don't have to go with noctua. This guide was a bit rushed so if anyone has any questions please ask...

Next, we prepare the dual fan caddy by installing the 80mm fans. Insert them from the bottom side, flip it over and screw down the top plate. I designed the caddy around the Noctua 80mm Chromax PWM fans. As they have a short lead, making custom cable for optimal fitment is possible.

Optional 60mm fan housing (friction fit) and CPU/PSU divider. If you look at the previous images you might notice that I cut a bit of the DVDrom bracket thingy to allow a bit extra clearance for the 60mm fan cable. In the above image I'm using a Noctua 60mm "FLK" fan connected directly to the 3pin fan header. Alternatively a "PWM" fan could be used but you guys might have to look into that further as they would probably need some sort of PWM fan controller.

Next we have the HDD caddy, pretty simple just attaches to the DVDrom bracket thingy. Slotted mounting screw holes on the underside. If you're wanting to use a 2.5" drive, I'd recommend the Orico 3.5" to 2.5" adaptor. You can get away with a short Ultra IDE cable since the HDD is now super close to the IDE connector. But you will need to extend the molex power cable. I've been using rather long extension cables so I can route the cable around the front of the console instead of the back.

In order to install the dual fan caddy we first need to relocate the HDD over to where the DVDrom goes. Start by installing the DVD bezel bracket. I included two versions, a slim version for use on it's own and a fat version for use with HDD caddy. There's also a DVD pcb module that connects to the DVDrom cable, this helps prevent XBMC, etc. from crashing when using file manager. Not sure if Cerbios has a fix for this.

I sent off a handful of parcels to some volunteers to try out some of my 3D prints, in particular the Dual 80mm Fan Caddy and everything necessary to make it work. I'll be posting some quick install guides... I still have one parcel for anyone interested it testing.

Well that wasn't cheap, small orders suck... It is what it is, I don't even wanna know what the total was. I had to order a bunch of components that I didnt have on hand. I kinda just made do last time but it was just the modchip. Since the modchip is a couple of steps ahead of the HDMI mod in development. My plans are to order 100x XeniumICE v3.0 modchips first and shortly after 100x XeniumHD+ mods including all the supporting hardware and cables. I could definitely order more but I think it would be safer to see how the first batch goes out in the wild before committing to larger orders. Plus I should be able to cover the costs of a smaller order without needing to do pre-orders and such. Tomorrow is the start of the new financial year, after I do a quick stocktake I'll start a EOFY sale on Revision 2.1 hardware. The more funds I can raise in the meantime the less I have to worry about when ordering the first batch of things.

PCB's ordered... It worked out cheaper doing the flex cables and pcb's at different manufacturers. Just gotta add the last few components for testing the prototypes to my DigiKey order.

We could start works on the HDMI firmware before we have a working prototype. By reprogramming the MakeMHz XboxHD+ (non-stellar) board. (STM32 MCU) All you need is a $3 "ST-LINK v2" programmer and a way to connect to the PROG. header. EDIT: I've already done some tinkering, just need to do an install on a spare console.

I did mention I have OCPD and that I will need you guys to tell me when to chill to out. LoL... So... I used to be a Civil Site Foreman. I was responsible for alot of shit. A small mistake can add up to thousands of dollars very quickly. On one site we got fined $30k for breaking a branch off a tree. Another $30k to replace a streetlight after one of our trucks backed into it. Your right... I need to do absolutely nothing for a week and just play some video games to get this out of my head for a while. I was gonna make a couple of small changes to the HDMI mod but fuck it, I can do that on the final proto batch.

Alright I guess the objective is to have a completely standalone HDMI mod without any dependencies on BIOS. I think the biggest issue is interlaced support for 480i and possibly 1080i by deinterlacing. Wiki: "Deinterlacing is the process of converting interlaced video into a non-interlaced or progressive form." EDIT: This is what I'm hoping to do... The next step would be to test the XboxHD+ (non-stellar) with a 1080i game while using an un-patched bios to see if any deinterlacing was implemented. I think the easiest solution was to use a force 480p patch. Does it force 480p on all games including those that support 720p and/or 1080i? What does forcing 480p do to XBMC when it's set to 720p or higher?

Hmmm... I'll just go with no grounding. Still haven't decided to use the EMI shielding on the final product or not. I have other concerns, I worry that the film might just peel off over time especially where the flex cable bends to meet up with the HDMI mod PCB. One solution would be to see if they'll let me tuck the film underneath the PI stiffener by a small about. Or we ground that end of the film to help prevent peeling. But peeling may not end up being a concern at all, I'm just trying to anticipate any issues. I'd prefer to avoid using a diode on the flex cable as it would incur assemble fee for one component. Not sure if a diode coming off the flex cable connector on the HDMI pcb would have a similar effect. If anything worries me about picture quality, it would be RF... I wonder if it would be worth getting a EM/RF meter with a probe.

@trencherfield I need your opinion... The manufacturers are asking: Quote: "Do you need to do GND connection for the EMI film" I already have a good grounding on bottom layer of the flex cable. But is it good practice to ground the EMI film also?

Great idea... But I'm running on fumes atm... I need a good week off from this after I place my orders. Plus it would be best to see how it comes together at the factory. I'm sure they'll want me to add some details to the design for the EMI shielding. I figured I'd just send the design as is and see if they request any changes.

That image was just an example I found on google of the EMI shielding (in black) But, Yes for the flex cable that attaches to the encoder.

So... I'm about to place the order for a proto batch of flex cables. I'm thinking about doing an extra cable to tryout EMI shielding. This is very expensive to do a small batch with but I assume in larger quantities the rate should get better. I was thinking the bottom side only should do. Should I give it a try?

I think we got to many topics going at the same time... I was referring to hiring a coder for the HDMI mod firmware... In regards to bios I think the 2 biggest things we need is NK patcher and force 480p patch EDIT: Then test the bios with the xboxhd app to see if it passes

Well if you wanted to try and patch M8 bios yourself... There's the force 480p patch, 128mb RAM support patch. Titan patch for larger HDD's if you really wanted to. Then I think we need a patch for NKpatcher. NKpatcher also allows booting of .XISO's As for iND-BiOS 5003, it already supports 128mb RAM. I think it might already have NKpatcher... Which leaves us with a force 480p patch. I fallen way behind on Cerbios so I'm not sure what it supports. I haven't played around with bioses for a while so I'm going by memory.