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Don't stress mate... Time vs. Money. We could create a firmware on the cheap by the combined efforts of the community but would take time. Alternatively if we could get enough money together, we could hire a professional coder. I have a background in the Contruction industry, even the biggest company's sub-contract other businesses. For example a builder might have a few laborer's and building supervisors but almost all of the works are sub-contracted out to specialised trades such as plumbers, carpenters, electricians, etc. For me it makes sense to do things this way too, I get my PCBs made and assembled by Elecrow. I have a supplier that does my cables, and another that's great for finding hard to get components.

No... The CPLD Firmware has to play nice with the OS There's no restrictions in regards to bioses with XeniumOS. I'm not sure what's the best way to put this. (as I just woke up) Cromwell just gives you the tools like Linux command line. XBlastOS or XeniumOS is the GUI like the many different Linux distributions. I don't think chewbecca ever implemented support for component cables with XBlastOS. So, it's due to the OS not Cromwell from what I understand. Best thing about the Xenium modchip and the OS is that you can sell them without any preloaded bioses. 480i seems to be an inherit issue even with Ryzee's firmware. Quote "480i does not work reliably. Use a force 480p BIOS" 480i is meant for CRT TV's as it's interlaced: Interlaced video - Wikipedia I would think that MakeMHz bios patches also forced 480p. Can it handle 1080i? I don't know of any games that support 1080i but I'm sure that XBMC dashboard can be set to 1080i for some testing. It's possible that your copy of Colin Mcrea 3 has been patched? And this is another option we could take, instead of pacthing bioses the games default.xbe can be patched. In some cases even to 720p. There's a huge thread about it over at EmuXtras: 720p Patches thread - www.emuxtras.net Started to question it the ADV7511 even supports interlaced video. Couldn't find the information I was looking for so I asked ChatGPT. Quote: "Yes, the ADV7511 by Analog Devices supports interlaced video input. The ADV7511 is a digital video encoder that supports various video formats, including interlaced video. It is designed to convert digital video data into a format suitable for transmission over High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) or Digital Visual Interface (DVI) connections."

Compromises have to be made... Don't forget the XeniumOS has to play well with the firmware, so there will be limitations. From what I know XeniumOS is based on cromwell (unix). GitHub - XboxDev/cromwell: A free, legal BIOS replacement for the original Xbox Huh... It would seem that cromwell still see's some development with the latest release being in 2022

In general, I think it's best to keep things modular. Again I want to point out that my focus is hardware and that I am only one man so I have a limit as to what I spend my time on. I think the OGXbox community as a whole could do things a lot better than I can on my own. For example in regards to Xenium based modchips we got the OpenXenium Firmware by Ryzee119. Now we got people working on new OS and we have the team working on Cerbios. In regards to the HDMI mod, one option is to continue Ryzee's OpenSource project: XboxHDMI-Ryzee119/src at master · Ryzee119/XboxHDMI-Ryzee119 · GitHub Quote: "This is a 'working' but unfinished prototype. I don't plan to improve this further." Quote: "This should only really be a starting point to make something better." Obviously, this will need some work... But we have a second option...

No problem... At the moment I'm trying to focus on hardware, I'll know more once I have a working prototype.

Thanks guys, @Dempsey_86The Xenium modchip is optional, it just passes through SCL, SDA, GND and 5v. So, the HDMI mod can be installed as a standalone device. The pads are just a "backup" option for installation, I tried to match the pads on the bottom left corner so the "Stellar Link" could be soldered, that's as much support I'm adding for Stellar. We still might use a DIY cable (connector on one end) for SCL and SDA with standalone installations. Instead of adding another 2pin connector to the HDMI mod we can reuse the 6pin connector that goes to the modchip by making the DIY cable with a 6pin connector but with just 2 wires for SCL and SDA. (I hope that makes sense...) As for the StellarHD+ the MCU has been relocated over to the modchip so it's impossible for the HD+ mod to be a standalone device.

We have a prototype design for the XeniumHD+ I wasn't going to include pads on the top side but thought it might be handy to do so. There are 3 connectors on the underside. 3pin to SPD module, 6pin to Xenium modchip and a 5pin for programming. There's 5v coming in from both the SPD and modchip. As a safety precaution I gave both inputs a diode to prevent voltage from passing through the device. I'm still undecided about the 6pin connector going to the modchip but it kinda just works with both designs. Alternatively, I could just go with a 3 or 2pin connector but then we will be doubling up on connectors on the same PCB which I wanted to avoid preventing things getting plugged up incorrectly. And changing connectors at this stage would require a bit of time reworking the designs to suit. Thoughts? Over the next couple hours I'll be touching up the last few things on the designs so that I can order the next batch of prototypes and whatever components I need to hand assemble a couple. If everything goes well, I'll order a small test batch from my PCB assembler which I'll hand out for testing.

They kinda look like JST connectors but not sure what series. Wire To Board / Wire To Wire Connector | Connectors | LCSC

Thanks... Going back to the programmer... Did you use RPi OS Lite or something? I was thinking of using that and making a script that will run on boot to initiate the process. I'm assuming you did something similar? EDIT: I need to buy a mini HDMI cable before I can play around with it... Hang on... It's been a while since I last used a RPi... There's RPi imager which will allow me to setup a network so I can SSH...

How's that? EDIT: Almost forgot to change the nets to ground for those holes/pads

Great thanks... I was exhausted yesterday, I worked from 9am to 2am... Some 17 hours... I'll make some changes to the PCB design and post my results shortly. Much appreciated, thanks for your support...

Ooooh okay... I like the idea of using short and long presses. Going back to having 3 buttons for different profiles, EG. Profile 1, Profile 2, Profile 3 Profiles could have different sets of pre-installed bioses within the flash.bin Short press to program a particular Profile and maybe Long press for dumping firmware's from modchip to that profile. I guess to make a dump the programmer would first have to dump the CPLD firmware, then flash BitBang to make a dump of the FLASH.bin then flash CPLD again with the dumped CPLD firmware to return it back to it's original state. I only suggest creating dumps as I'm pretty sure I read some notes about it in the code somewhere. I've also been giving some thought to how to go about a programmer for multiple modchips. Using the above draft as a visual aid... With the available GPIO we could do a programmer for 5x modchips. (Including LEDs) I figured they could be powered cycled one at a time, where we could have "power" LED for each of the modchips to show which modchip is currently being programmed. Plus another couple of LED to show if that particular modchip was programed successfully or not. Instead of having 3x LEDs for each modchip we could just use an RGB LED. EG. Blue = Programming, Green = Passed, Red = Failed Also Green (Successful Program) and Red (Failed Program) will persist after the programmer has power cycled to the next modchip. For example once the programmer has completed programming all 5x modchips and say modchip no.3 failed. Modchip no.3's LED will be RED whereas all the others will be Green.

I made an alternative design to go "on top" of the video connector pads/holes. Now we are able to route 5v, GND and SPDIF to a connector. Looking at it now, it would probably help to put that connector on a 45 degree angle. If I need to, I can reduce the size of the PCB to within the white lines. I may need to do this for the top side as it may interfere with the mounting bracket. What's everyone's thoughts on this concept? Would it make installation easier? I definitely see the benefits of having connectors especially if you need to remove the motherboard from the console. EDIT: Are we just grounding the pads for Mode 2 & 3? If so I could remove two of the through holes...

I've been experimenting with some ideas to improve installation for the HDMI mod. Above is a draft for a PCB to cover over the removed video connector holes. Excuse the Gerber viewer as it didn't seem to want to render some of the cutouts. My first idea was to solder a PCB to the underside of the video connector then to pass a wire through but the only wire that I could fit was a 28/30awg Kynar wire. I didn't think this ended up being as practical as I first thought. Which brings me to the next design...

I was taking a shot in the dark but here are the ChatGPT results for the following files: xenium-programmer https://chat.openai.com/share/c8e9ee10-9ed3-46f4-98f1-30670b323690 xenium-programmer-pi https://chat.openai.com/share/66c02543-1ddb-4a02-81f9-8ac210d475a4 Basically, I was asking ChatGPT to add a button to the code. I did this with both of the above files, giving us a couple of options. I know there's more involved but that's as far I'm going to take it until I get the next prototype batch of PCBs ordered. Where I'll have a good 2 to 3 weeks to play around until things arrive.

Nice work... What are the functions of all the buttons? What did you use for an OS? Any suggestions? I thought about having 3 buttons or so, each for a separate programming profile. Or even the possibility of backing up a modchip to be used in a profile later on. And the ability to program up to 5x modchips by power cycling through them one at a time. Any help would be much appreciated... I've been wanting to tryout ChatGPT with something practical, I'll post my results soon...

Made some final touches to the PCB design, had a little fun with the silk overlay. Ready for prototyping...

I drafted a simplified version of the programming PCB including a basic stand. Couldn't find any evidence of the buttons having been implemented into the programming software. I'll have to update the GPIO as I changed it up to make routing traces easier. Flipped the RPi Zero upside down as I thought it looked better plus it moved the SD card to the left-hand side while keeping the USB and HDMI ports to the rear. I would like to get this to the point where it won't require a TV connection. Only requiring a single push button to program both the CPLD and FLASH memory. This will take a bit of work to make it happen. I could see adding additional features but for now I just want to get a basic programmer working.

Cheers @Nier, glad you liked the 3d prints and thanks for the support. GitHub - kooscode/xenium-programmer: OpenXenium CPLD and FLASH programmer I'm preparing to get things together for the next prototype batch. The programmer is something I want to do so I can test the edge connector on the modchip.

Working prototype...

What was it that Ace Ventura used to say... Like a glove... I did the pinout the edge connector in a way that if you plug it into the programmer the wrong way it just won't power up. Pad 1 on both sides are 3.3v, Pad 10 is not connected. Pads 2 and 9 are GND. 6 pads on top side for FLASH programming and 4 pins on bottom side for the CPLD. This left us with 2 spare pads which I used one for an alternative location for D0 and another for Recovery which requires grounding to be enabled, theres a GND pad next to it. As for the connectors: RGB (4pin) = 5v RGB (output) MB (2pin) = D0 and GND (motherboard connection) FAN (3pin) = SCL, SDA and GND (i2c for PWM fan controller) DISPLAY (8pin) = SCL, SDA, MISO, MOSI, SCK, INPUT, CS and GND HDMI (6pin) = SCL, SDA, 2x 5.0v and 2x GND I try not to double up on the same connector unless it has the same pinout. I wasn't sure what to do for the HDMI connector as I hadn't design the HDMI mod yet. So I just allocated it a 6 pin connector...

For scale you can see that the XeniumICE modchip is only slightly larger than an Aladdin. Edge of the modchip lines up nicely with the edge of the motherboard. I'm very satisfied with how it turned out...

Makes sense.. Better to be safe then sorry I guess..

I actually suffer from Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) So I'm going to need you guys to tell me when to chill out. Is the above QSB good enough? I still think the hole for the capacitor could be moved upwards by about 0.4 to 0.6mm Otherwise I'm pretty happy with the design. For this design I will improve it but that's just an example of the little things I fuss about. Much of what I fuss about it the over appearance. I put alot of time into making things look good. Often way too much time... I've done two versions of the HDMI mod but am just not liking the overall look of it. Plus I hadn't fully decided how to go about connectivity which I might just use JST-SH connectors for everything and do without solder pads... I might just go 4-layer PCB design which will give me more design options and less headaches.