NeMesiS

Sounds like to me that MakeMHz is trying to claim ownership over "XeniumOS" with the sole purpose of hindering the community as they have absolutely zero use for it. "xenium-update" by Dustin is OpenSource and covered under GNU licensing. And this what I get in return for OpenSourcing my work on the Xenium-Programmer (aka XeniumPGR) to the community. I haven't supplied anything that wasn't already on GitHub other than my own works. It wouldn't surprise me if MakeMHz starts attacking OGXbox related GitHubs in the near future!

Just before I placed the PCB order I managed to throw in a quick adaptor design for the ST-Link v2. I had a bit of fun with it, I really didn't need to add the LED and capacitors. Either way I'll be including one of these along with a ST-Link v2 for each of the test kits that will be going out...

Managed to get half of the modchips assembled, including one for myself with whatever components I had on hand. Already I'm seeing the benefits of the programmer and redesign of the Xenium. Programming these modchips is super easy now...

Been busy for the last couple of days getting together what I can for the test kits and finishing up those dual fan caddy kits in the background. I've been throwing in a few extras for people to try out including those Xenium jewels. Still awaiting one last parcel which has the last of the Xilinx's for the modchip and ADV7511's for the HDMI mod. But there's plenty to do in the meantime.

Download "XeniumPGR - v1.0.zip" from the link below: https://mega.nz/file/0fwCjYAY#UuqczDFnYAF8c5h17pwUpBe_Jzlnr6QGpSBofCNjT-M Thanks mate, but I'm just one piece of the puzzle. None of this would be possible without the combined efforts of countless contributors over the past 20 years. It's common practice for one to continue projects when previous dev's have moved on.

I've included a reference schematic for people to use, even though I don't OpenSource my hardware designs I have no intention of stopping anyone else from doing one for themselves. I tried to do it in a way that they can either refer to the XeniumICE edge connector or the OpenXenium pin headers, it should be very straight forward. Notes: If one where to do a PCB design, you dont have to stick to the GPIO used. it's possible to rearrange the GPIO to better suit your PCB design as I did. The 100uF capacitor helps with brown outs, I added the other 0805 capacitors just for the sake of trying to use up components I would otherwise have no use for.

Insert the SD card and connect the USB cable to the "RPi Zero". Once the "RPi Zero" has booted SSH into the device via terminal. Input the following commands and follow further instruction. Notes: I was able to check connected devices on my router to get the IP of RPi. It might take a few minutes for the RPi Zero to boot up for the first time. The RPi Zero aren't very fast so this process takes a little while. Much of the time is spent updating the distro, download and compiling X-P. I'm actually using Linux sub-system on Windows 11 for this (left hand side).

Use "RPi Imager" to install "RPi OS Lite 32bit" onto an SD card. Before writing the image click on the cog icon for settings. Enable SSH then setup username and password. (This will also be your FTP login.) Finally configure your wireless settings, save and write the image. Notes: I could have created an image but it's best to do a fresh install using RPi imager to enable SSH and setup Wifi as the RPi Zero only has micro USB ports so connecting a mouse and keyboard is not so straight forward. And if you don't have a Linux machine to read an "ext" formatted SD card you can FTP into the device via Wifi.

Now that my other RPi Zero's have arrived I was able to go through and do some fresh installs. I found a bug where I forgot to add a variable for the username and put together a bash script to automate the install process as much as possible. I kept the install.sh bash script as simple as possible to make it easy for people to read. It installs all the required libraries plus xenium-programmer from GitHub, including a variety of changes before compiling X-P. Also, the python script that makes the hardware work with X-P software will startup on boot. FTP home directory gets forwarded to where the firmware and OS are located for quick access. Once the install script is finished the LED's will cycle and land on "Standby". From here your ready to start programming Xenium's, no reboot required. I'll follow up this post with the entire install process along with a short video and link to the files. This might take me a couple hours or so but I hope to have it done before the end of the day.

Just to recap on the xenium programmer, the final design still works as shown in the proto video with only one minor visual different being that the "Power" LED is now labelled as "Standby". Have been able to confirm that the OpenXenium adaptor works like a charm, not that there was much to it. I ended up using a rubber band to apply some pressure on the bottom header but much better solution would be to use some spring loaded pogo pins.

And we're off... This will take 3 or so days to complete all the prints using 2x printers. I'm keeping one printer spare for prototyping... No hurry mate, Don't forget that Dempsey wrote an install guide, forget which page though...

When I first did the dual fan caddy design, I got a bit excited and started printing it off in different colors to see what they would look like. The sets are incomplete but I should have enough filament on hand to finish them off. I managed to print off 3x "Black" sets before I ran out of filament. But as reference the above image shows all the pieces for a complete conversion. The "Blue" prints are extra's I'm throwing in for now... (Excuse the workbench with solder and stuff all over it.)

Immediately ran into a problem, as I was unpacking the PETG it hit me. Printing PETG on these PEI beds will destroy them... Will need to look into which surface finish will be better suited. In the meantime, I'm just going to have to work with what I got. I don't use many colors so it would be nice to use them up. PLA+ Filaments: White = Full Blue = 3/4 Purple = 3/4 Red = 1/2 Green = 1/2 Dark Gray = 1/4 Pink = 1/4

Now that the parcels are starting to arrive by break is over and I'm slowly getting back into finishing up some projects. I had a bit or a print off to compare 3DFillies, SunLu and eSun. It only took a couple of prints to see the results and I really wasn't impressed with the print quality of either SunLu or eSun. PLA+ is a combination of PLA and TPU to give it some flexibility. eSun seems to have a higher TPU percentage as the melting temp seem to be lower and produces a very high gloss finish. It's a similar situation for eSun but just not as bad. These test results have given me more appreciation for the quality prints I've been getting while using 3DFillies filaments. Unfortunately, it seems they continue to have some stock issues as they have not had either PLA+ or PETG available in black for some time now. But I think it would be worth the wait... I have a couple rolls of PETG I got from 3Dfillies a couple years back that I never used, so it might be worth that I setup slicing profile for PETG. With any luck I can just use my PLA+ profile and tweak the temps to suit.

I could speculate the same things about MakeMHz, it's awfully similar to your xboxhdmi mod. Which begs the question, who copied who? I didn't think that was a problem, after all Dustin did commit to OpenSourcing the hardware. Does this imply that the XboxHD+ is based on OpenSource hardware? Then why spend so much time and effort on the subject. So, am I in the clear for the hardware side of things? Have I done something wrong by selling Xenium modchips? I'm far from being the only person to have done so. You're jumping the gun a little, the project is still in active development. I don't even have a working prototype yet. We'll just have to wait and see what this project evolves to. Correct... "But for the sake of argument" The community just needed the hardware, I don't need to include a firmware on my end. It will be up to the end user which firmware they choose to use, much like a bios. All I've done is given the community an alternate option, which is what they wanted. This wouldn't be the case if MakeMHz focused on having good public relations instead of attacking everyone including their own customers. And anti-competitive behavior like this: "https://teamxodus.com/" For myself and many others this was crossing one line too many... False or misleading claims Claims that businesses make about their products or services should be accurate, true and based on reasonable grounds. It’s against the law for a business to make false or misleading claims. Not delivering products and services that are paid for Businesses must not accept payment for products or services that they don’t intend to supply. Pressuring and harassing consumers It’s against the law for a business to use physical force, coercion or undue harassment against consumers. Unconscionable conduct Unconscionable conduct is behaviour so harsh that it goes against good conscience. Under consumer law, businesses must not act unconscionably towards consumers or other businesses. Business behaviour that is potentially illegal Business behaviour substantially lessens competition when it interferes with or damages the competitive process in a market in a meaningful way. This is usually by deterring, hindering or preventing competition. Misuse of market power It's not illegal to have market power. However, businesses must not misuse this power to stop other businesses competing on their merits. "Conclusion" I could go on, but the bottom line is that I'm not crossing any lines that MakeMHz hasn't already! Some forget that this is a hacking community, I accepted the risks that go along with that years ago. And so has anyone else that has used modified bioses, emulators and games...

Little hard to tell at this stage... Testing: Still need to send test kits for a handful of people to tryout the new mods. I just finished ordering everything for this yesterday, expected to arrive in 2 weeks. Another 2-3 weeks for the testers to receive their test kits. Manufacturing: If all goes well, it would take another 4-6 weeks for have these mods fabricated and then another 2 weeks for delivery, followed by a week to programmer these devices. Roughly it could be another 2 to 3 months depending how everything goes. I'm only wanting to do around 100-150pcs for the first round, then scaling up as we go. Thinking Ahead. I'd like to get these things out as soon as possible but I really wanna make sure these things a thoroughly tested. I may start discussing large batch order with my supplier so we can iron out any potential issues in the meantime. I know that I will probably need to supply some components for them, like the Xilinx CPLD. Logistics: I got a reseller lined up in North America, so this should help with availability in that area.

I did it after restoring the "Xenium" logo, reused the "M" and trimmed it for the "N". Also modified the "E" from xenium for E and S in nemesis.

So, I'm having a bit of a grace period before ordering the next prototype batch in case any last ideas pop up. This will also give me a bit of time to catch up on things at home... Been thinking that I would really like an intro video for YouTube videos and Cerbios. I like things to have a bit of a nostalgic vibe to them. Funny enough I watched "RoboCop" the other night and the "Orion" intro gave me that vibe. Would like to do an "Xenium" themed intro based on the "Orion" intro, the colors are rather fitting being "blue", "black" and "white". Instead of that cluster of stars outlining the "O" in orion, we could have a star outlining each letters for "Xenium". Came across the above wallpaper which I thought would make a great background. Interested in what the community think of the idea...

Damn... I just paid for 4 rolls on eBay, hopefully I can cancel it since I only just placed the order. What I might do is order 1 of each to see what results I get from my printers to play it safe. Using 3x Ender-3 S1 Pro's, failures have been at a minimum with these things. I would expect some different results using direct extrusion.

Thanks mate, much appreciated... Yea, while I'm still developing hardware I think it would be best to stick with PLA+ for the time being as if I were to start printing PETG I would have to create new slicing profile to suit and to try and match the level of quality I'm currently getting with PLA+. It took me a solid week to tweak the settings for PLA+ filament. My regular supplier of PLA+ filament is currently out of stock of black PLA+ filament and has been for over a month now "www.3dfillies.com". So, I'm going to try out a few rolls of "Sunlu" PLA+ and see how it compares. "Sunlu" could be the better option as I'm able to get them from multiple sources unlike "3dfillies".

I'll have to start working towards 3D printing the dual fan caddies. I just checked how much filament I have in stock and I don't have enough to produce more than a couple of caddies. This might give us the opportunity to discuss filaments... So, for the past 2-3 years that I've been 3D printing I had been using PLA+ from "www.3dfillies.com". I've had a good experience using PLA+ as it has alot more flexibility than standard PLA which can be brittle and break easily. With the sort of temps that were getting I don't think there will be any issue with continuing to use PLA+. However, with my new printers I could print with PETG but will ultimately cost more due to the higher temps and slower prints speeds required plus that PETG cost's around 50% more than PLA+ filament. And if you add up all the components that need to be printed there's quite alot of hours of printing involved for a complete kit (including the HDD caddy, etc.). Constantly monitoring and resetting printers for more prints nonstop for 3-4 weeks at a time it takes a toll. I fear that PETG will just increase my workload and unnecessarily increase the price of manufacturing the product. And this is why I would like to eventually get things plastic mold injected. The problem being the initial cost of a mold but after that it should be relatively smooth sailing. I live in a large town about and fortunately there are a couple of mold injection businesses local to me, potentially saving on shipping and storage fees for the molds. In the long run mold injection could be the cheaper option compared to 3D printing. Especially if a can get a steady rate of sales for a particular 3D design like the dual fan caddy as for example.

I actually had to do this with the older XeniumICE design. Super pain in the bum when you're doing hundreds of them. CLPD pads are on the underside (component side) on the newer XeniumICE modchip design and LPC pads are on the topside. The programmer was mostly for myself to make my job easier, but I think there are some in the community that could use it also. Perhaps the fan speed is to high not allowing enough time for the escaping air to be exhausted (at a guess). How high do you have the 80mm fans set to? A little bit but nothing special. Since I had much of the traces running through the hub, integrating XERC into the design would make the installation of XERC much easier. OpenXenium and XeniumICE both use the same firmware and OS so there essentially the same but my hardware design was a replica of the original XeniumICE deisgn by TeamXodus/ozXodus.

Actually, it could be the tabs on the RF shielding that sometimes pushes the DVD bezel bracket backwards creating that gap. I didn't think that was going to be an issue with this bracket as it butts up to the HDD caddy. But what I did for the slimmer standalone bracket was add a couple of screws on the underside to allow some adjustment.

General Duties! PS3 PS5 and more Repairs! - YouTube "ACE Console Repair" successfully tested both flex cables again today. About 2 and a half hours into he's stream...

Someone asked me this mourning if they could program an "OpenXenium" with the "XeniumPGR". Well, they can now with this adaptor board...