HDShadow
-
Posts
935 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
17
Everything posted by HDShadow
-
Avalaunch Xmas Anime Launch Skin - Disable-able?
HDShadow replied to pwntang666's topic in Dashboards
I was told a long time ago, may even have been on the Xbox-Scene forum, that the anime 'Santa' boot image is embedded in the Avalaunch default XBE. No mention was made that I remember there was a way of overriding it or that it was in the skin. However later I did get hold of an archive of Avalaunch skins and indeed some do include a "bootimage.png" in the skin's own folder. I'd assume JPG, BMP and PNG are all supported image file types. What I do not remember is if the anime 'Santa' had a bootimage added to its Default skin or whether, as I was told, it was an embedded icon. Somewhere I must have the Xmas Build 138 or the Default Xmas skin (if that was how it was done) itself but in my Avalaunch archive I've just checked and can't find it. There's a possibility it was on the HDD I forgot to format correctly and lost all of F:\ a couple of years ago and it wasn't backed up to the archive I used to repopulated the HDD after I'd reformatted it properly. Maybe I have it on one of my stored stock softmodded Xboxes HDD but I'd rather not have to hook all those up again to their respective Xboxes just to see if its there. So I too would appreciate it if someone could point to a download location or share it here. -
If you want to chip it a v1.6 is more complicated because you have to rebuild the LPC and if you were thinking of TSOPing instead then that is out with a v1.6 because it doesn't have a TSOP chip. Rebuilding the LPC is 'just' a rewiring job and there are plenty of guides and advice available but it'll come down to your solder skills and equipment just how easy or not that is. If you're looking to softmod then the v1.6 is as good as any and, as said, being the final version will be the youngest and, in theory best condition. Otherwise a good condition v1.2/1.3 or v1.4 are my recommendation but mainly that's just due to them being younger than the v1.0 and v1.1. If you do want to keep it stock then those would also be my preference for the same reason too. You can be pretty sure that either a v1.0 or v1.1 Xbox is going to need the clock cap replacement if not already done but other caps will likely be close to their end date too. That can also affect the v1.2 and v1.3 as I found out a few months ago when my least used/least modded virgin Xbox suddenly started misbehaving. All three caps adjacent to the CPU heat sink had started to leak. The use of poor quality caps was apparently not limited to just the clock cap. The Hitachi DVD game disc 'problem' I described is very, very, very, niche. As said I've not had any other games behave like that and otherwise it is without question the most reliable of all the DVD drive types I've used. The Samsung 605B or 605F are good too but you will have tray eject/close issues. It is usually fixable but it is a negative. PQ using RGB SCART which of course is just 576i/480i SD is up for debate whether Xbox version is of any significance. My own observation is that it is not but that maybe specific to my CRT TV and the settings I use. If you adjust the TV picture settings to match, 576i/480i SD via Component is, on my set up, as good as RGB SCART. In short it doesn't matter which you use the PQ is very similar. Whether that will apply to your set up I can't say but good Xbox RGB SCART cables are relatively cheap so you can test that yourself, But I reiterate: your TV picture settings will have to be adjusted significantly to get the two to match. In my experience RGB SCART cables always exaggerate colour and contrast and the Component cable PQ will look wishy-washy in comparison at the same settings.
-
1). 480p is 60Hz and according to the 480p wiki comes in at least 10 different recognised formats AFAIK but there is is no 480p 50Hz 'PAL' format let alone support for it on the Xbox. '480p'. Xbox WS appears to be 720 x 480p ie. 3:2 not 16:9. 720 x 480p:- My TV does have 576p/50Hz support but although you can apparently force some consoles (GC/Wii) to use it the games don't officially support it and may display with problems if the are forced. But why you'd want to play a game at 50Hz when a 60Hz option is available is another question. Higher resolution ie. the extra, roughly, 100 lines of 576p/576i over 480p/480i is not the only only consideration when talking about PQ. 2). I think what you're asking is whether the PAL Xbox is using PAL60 (NTSC 4.43) or NTSC (NTSC 3.58) - not sure. I'd like a definitive answer on that myself because it has been my suspicion that the claimed "PAL60" mode is actually NTSC 3.58 like the PS2. The only PAL console I know that I'm certain uses PAL60 for 60Hz is the Sega PAL Dreamcast but I wouldn't be surprised if the PAL Sega Saturn did too. 3). No idea. 4). I'd say buy the youngest ie. a v1.6 despite its issues with a couple of dozen games when you use 480p. These are easily resolved in 90% of those cases by using Rocky5's 480p v1.6 script. Clock cap problems are known to be less common with the v1.6s, probably because they are the last and therefore youngest models. That applies to all caps but it will depend on how much use and abuse the particular console has had. The clock cap used in the v1.6s, supposedly, is of better quality. Based on my experience as for the DVD drive in order of preference: Hitachi > Thomson (original model) > Samsung 605B > Samsung 605F > Philips 35/21. There are actually two Philips and, apparently, an earlier Samsung too, I've never owned them or the later Thomson either. Too many 'top' DVD drive tables only seem to be concerned with media compatibility - doesn't bother me. If you use DVD-R which are still easily found worldwide it is the only universal disc media proven to work with all Xbox disc drives. For me it is mechanical reliability and with that longevity which matters. I use a chipped v1.6a I've had since 2004 with a Hitachi and despite the fact it doesn't like CD-Rs (works with CD-RW) it has been the epitome of reliability. However it is the one disc drive I know for certain has a read issue with an original Xbox game disc. The same disc plays perfectly with any other disc drive and if you use the Hitachi to install it on the HDD likewise. But play it from the disc itself and it buffers regularly. I have two Hitachi and both have the same problem - it is probably unique to that particular game, Myst 4: Revelation. I've never had anything similar with any other disc drive but there is a possibility there are other games out there with the same issue. The Thomson is unfairly castigated IMHO - I don't like my Thomson, it is noisy, annoyingly so but it is reliable unlike the Samsungs (tray eject problems guaranteed) or the Philips 35/21. The latter I've now had two or three become unusable, quite suddenly too where they not only refuse to read discs but also interfere with the Xbox booting.
-
The answers to your questions are yes in all cases. That is exactly the the same set up I've been using for at least 15 years, probably longer, including using a 480p capable CRT. I've used PAL original discs, imported NTSC ones and tested NTSC versions against PAL ones and if there is any difference at 480p or any other resolution it is insignificant. What I can say for sure is that 480p beats the PQ of PAL50 or PAL60 or NTSC by a country mile even when using a high quality RGB SCART cable (Monster) with a 100/120MHz CRT Sony TV. That gives the best SD PQ quality I've seen from a Xbox but even then the difference between that and a Component cable with the same SD resolutions on a non-100/120MHz CRT TV is small.
-
TBH I don't how PAL Xbox 480p game support is enabled. My guess based on the evidence is that the 'NTSC' 480p (or higher in some games' cases) is that the 'PAL' and 'NTSC' discs are identical or near enough identical. They may have different UDATA/TDATA IDs but are otherwise essentially the same. That is what appears to be true of the significant number of genuinely region free games. They may be sold as NTSC but they'll play perfectly even when using an unmodified Xbox in PAL50 and PAL60. An example of this is Myst 4 Revelation. There never was a PAL release, it had to be imported but it played without any problems using a retail PAL Xbox or a modded PAL Xbox region swapped to NTSC. There are other examples although I'm not sure what PAL only released games, if any, were completely region free. Region locking and resolution support is something the makers/publishers of the games decided on - the Xbox itself is region free except that in PAL regions we were, for no good reason, prevented from accessing the ED/HD options by the limited PAL video settings GUI. 480p is only available if your Xbox is NTSC or a region swapped PAL one so as far as 'PAL' optimisation goes it doesn't make any sense that they would include an 'optimised' PAL 480p mode nobody could access rather than, simply, adding PAL50 support to what is otherwise a NTSC disc. Ergo 480p on a PAL or NTSC game disc is the same....................................probably. I await to be educated if any of this is wrong. BTW I think you're wrong about the GC - from what I've read no PAL GC game included 480p support so they can not be forced. Only NTSC GC games supported 480p. However you could use a Free Loader swap disc to play them on a PAL GC (or Wii too I think) in 480p. With the PAL GC you also needed to be using one of the earlier models which had the extra 'Digital' port and a GC Component cable. The latter were rare in PAL regions and very expensive to import. I paid more for my one than I did for my PAL GC only to find out that I'd also have to import NTSC GC games to get 480p. That money importing the GC Component cable was effectively wasted as the RGB picture quality at 480i/60Hz via RGB SCART cable was just as good or better than Component at 480i/60Hz. Again if I'm wrong about any of this I'm here to know more.
-
The orange LED is an indication of a softmod, depending on what was used to install that. For example with SID/AID it typically goes to orange on cold boot before going to the default, green. It is a good confirmation when using a softmodded Xbox that it is functioning OK. My guess is what KaosEngineer implied ie. that after TSOPing you didn't clean up the original softmod files. Unless customised the Evox M8+ BIOS by default looks for "C:\evoxdash.xbe" as the primary dash. After you rebooted that is what it was looking for and if it didn't find that, eventually, it would try "C:\xboxdash.xbe". With a softmod that is reassigned from its original use, launching the MS dash, to launch the online updater or Xbox Live, now both redundant and usual result is a blank screen. Again that depends on the softmod. Slightly worrying though is why "C:\evoxdash..xbe" wasn't found. HeXEn EvoX M8+ BIOS boot priority is:- C:\evoXdash.xbe E:\Dash\UnleashX\unleash.xbe E:\Dashboard\default.xbe then finally C:\xboxdash.xbe However depending on the HeXEn version used the BIOS priority may have been changed, the second two are only useful if you'd previously installed a softmod or main dashboard using HeXEn. It is probably the previous softmod interfering and that is why the C:\evoxdash.xbe was not used to launch your main dash but unless that wasn't actually installed (my suspicion) I don't understand the cause of the problem. Its not really a big deal whateve the cause, with a TSOP/chip it can be easily sorted via FTP or an installer disc.
-
What constitutes "exceptionally slow"? My own experience after swapping to SATA HDDs, generic ( ie. not StarTech) adapters and an 80 wire IDE cable is that the WD 320GB HDD I used took about twice as long to boot to the main dash as the Seagate 160GB IDE HDD had done on the same chipped and incidentally also Hitachi DVD drive fitted v1.6 Xbox. That means about 30 seconds rather than 15 seconds. You should also be made aware that certain content and the volume of content on the HDD can slow down the boot too.
-
Unusual problem - and unusual error code for a problem that can be solved just by swapping the cable position. Is the HDD set to Cable Select, perhaps? Try swapping it to Master. You're using a SATA HDD adapter so I'd be thinking something going wrong with that is the most likely culprit. But you should be using an 80 wire IDE cable with a SATA HDD/adapter and as that is the cheapest option I'd try replacing your existing IDE cable with one of those before spending more on a new SATA > IDE adapter. It could be something else but without having the means to check the HDD or the DVD drive with known good replacements the best hope is what I've suggested.
-
Does the LED remain red when you just boot the console ie. without using any disc? It sounds as if you were experimenting trying to get the console back to retail state is that correct? If so what, exactly, did you do?
-
^That is rubbish information. Philips behave no differently whether soft or hard mod. They do seem to have a habit of failing completely and that causing boot problems more often than others. Philips disc media compatibility is not that much different from Samsung 605F and unless there is a problem with the specific DVD drive DVD-R should be good for them just like it is with all other known DVD drive types. DVD-R is the only universally Xbox friendly disc media. That has been proven time and time again with discs from a wide range of manufacturers not just brands.
-
If you use UnleashX as your main dash it has a controller/remote shortcut facility which allows you to assign almost any controller or remote button to launch any XBE. You can have it set up to launch any dashboard you like - you just hold down the assigned button on boot or reboot. I've not used it but there is a XSelect tool that gives you a launch option menu rather than a main dash. https://www.xbox-hq.com/html/xbox-tutorials-239.html Don't really see the point of it TBH. You might as well install other dashes as apps launched from your primary dashboard or use the UnleashX controller/remote shortcut facility I described instead.
-
Yes as long as it is installed correctly and in particular its XBE (which maybe evoxdash.xbe or similar if your file source is a main dash installer) is simply changed to "default.xbe" (no quotation marks of course). You'll probably need to reboot to get it working from Programs/Apps or wherever you have it installed. If it is still not working check that it is only in a one level folder ie. UnleashX/default.xbe. The UnleashX default.xbe is actually all you need in the folder as it will automatically generate its own config.xml and item.xml when it is first used. The config.xml is a default one and doesn't have all the bells and whistles you'll find with the usually highly customised config.xml used by a dashboard installer. However you can copy in such a config.xml replacing the default one if you so wish.
-
Sounds interesting - I'm wondering if it is really the MS dash. How would you replace the "Xbox Live tab" with whatever this Phoenix thing is?
-
I've used double-sided tape too and, in absence of glue, even squished Blu-Tack as a temporary and reasonably reliable short term solution to sticking the feet in place. Best glue I've found is a 'simple' general purpose solvent based glue: Bostick. It grabs harder when dry than whatever was used originally but the rubbery feet are still 'peelable' without damaging them if they ever need to be removed again. Alternatively you can just stick down only the bottom half so they can be bent back enough to get at the screw underneath.
-
Just an update: the chip is now back to behaving normally. Boots the bank 1 'logo' Evox BIOS as normal and reboot. So whatever it is/was is it appears it is not a BIOS corruption issue. Whilst that is welcome it just adds another level of mystery to the problem.
-
I've always thought that the cheap quality switch array might be a source of problems so I've rarely played with it over the years. I just don't understand how cold booting and rebooting could use different BIOS on the same chip. If the EvoX logo version BIOS was corrupted and it was set up to use the Bank 2 BIOS in such circumstances (is that possible) how come Bank 1 BIOS is apparently being used on reboot etc. You explained a few months ago here, all new info to me, that the BIOS for the Xecuter 2.6CE is an unusual beast that needs a combined single BIOS file to install two different 512K BIOS. I'm probably showing my ignorance about how these things work but Is it possible that part of the Bank 1 BIOS initial boot commands is corrupted? However the rest is OK and as they are not used on reboot or IGR the Bank 1 BIOS, otherwise working, is still being used.
-
I've had a v1.6 Xbox with a pro-fitted Xecuter 2.6CE since 2005 and its been pretty much perfect until recently. On two or three occasions its refused to boot either via the Power button or the Eject/Close button. I get a green/red flashing LED typically indicating a hardware error. Sometimes it does that once and then shutdown, others times it frags. However I found that if I shutdown, switch the chip off, boot to Error 5 (unlocked HDD) then switch off and reboot with the chip back on everything is back to normal. But yesterday I noticed something else weird: the chip has two 512K banks with the originally supplied custom EvoX BIOS on both. The only difference between them is Bank 1 has the EvoX logo and Bank 2 doesn't. I usually have it set to the EvoX logo one but now it has swapped to the non-logo version on boot. It doesn't seem to matter whether I switch banks or not. You might think a connection problem with the switch array ie. it is stuck on Bank 2 but, here's the weird thing: if I Reboot from my Unleash main dash or IGR the EvoX logo version BIOS appears to be used. Never heard/read about anything like this - any ideas what is going on?
-
I'll be interested to know how flashing that goes for you. Having a Xecuter 2.6CE myself and on a v1.6 but never having touched the BIOS it would be potentially helpful to know that this Xecuter 2.6CE specific BIOS pairing works OK and the flashing details ie. the tool used.
-
Thanks but what I actually meant was anyone interested in the EvoX manual? I have a copy or two archived I was just wondering if it was worth sharing it here. But as you do now have it available as a download not much point in me attaching it.
-
I did look but couldn't find it here - not sure why my copy, which I think I got from Xbox-HQ years ago, is smaller in size so I'm downloading it from here now to check............or would be if the I wasn't getting an error message. Try again..................oh, I see it was my download manager that some sites do not like, standard browser downloader worked fine. Can't see any difference between the two; same 32 page PDF. I thought it might be the images on pages 14 onwards were missing but no they're all there too. So why is my PDF only about 1.5MB and the one here 5+MB? Odd, particularly as I found I also had the UX Manual archived in Text Document Form (Libre Office) too and that's only 1.5MB as well. Probably not important but it would be interesting to know what's padding out UX PDF download here, any ideas? BTW do we have the EvoX 'manual' here? Its more a text document than a manual but it has useful information although far from everything, particularly in regards to the syntax required for some purposes.
-
Not for the first time I've gone looking for the 'official' UnleashX manual online to point a poster in a forum to some of the useful information it contains. I've just had to do that again and this time I could not find an online copy except for one some bad monkey web site is trying to get users to pay for. I thought why not attach the original copy I have to a post here. Hope it works. If not then perhaps somebody else could post a working link or share a copy and add it to the downloads here instead. UnleashX Tutorial.pdf
-
There's a video somewhere, I think it was Timesplitters FP, might have been Timesplitters 2 where they compared GC and PS2 versions with the Xbox one. As it was a UK games TV programme they were likely all PAL versions so they did not compare it in 480p, just SD 480i/60Hz. It showed that any differences were marginal. If it was TS2 I would not expect TS FP to have been any different. The only games with a significant graphical advantage were the games [b]originally[/b] exclusively released for the Xbpx first like Splinter Cell and I believe Indiana Jones and The Emperor's Tomb. But after that brief period of Xbox temporary exclusives cross platform games were usually designed for the lowest common denominator one, the PS2. Being able to play using 480p and latterly 720p in some cases is the Xbox's big graphical advantage over the others as 480p support for them was not as common. The stuff you can find on YT clearly showing the Xbox's superiority in frame rate with TS FP as well, at least against the PS2, don't as far as I can see specify the cable type being used. A Xbox using Component 480p is al;ways going to lick the butt of a game graphically running on Component at 480i or other SD cable type. If its not like against like its not a fair comparison.
-
Glad to hear doing that did work, I thought it would. Using UnleashX installed as an app to fix it yet again proves my long held belief that having an alternative dash in Apps should be standard practice. Reinstalling the game was probably unnecessary extra work but if its all fixed that's the main thing.
-
What dashboard are you using? With UnleashX the game save manager is found under the System sub-menu. With XBMC or its variants the menu link to the Game Saves is in the left side menu when in the Programs menu but that does depend on the skin/XBMC variant you're using. With EvoX AFAIK there is no game save display option that can be added to the main menus. It doesn't include a file manager either so you'd have to do it by FTP or installing a file manager as an app. The location of the games save in question is:- E:\UDATA\abbafff0\0fd719fe19c1\config.cfg You can delete the whole 0fd719fe19c1 folder because playing the game will generate a new one. If doing the above doesn't fix the issue I'd also try deleting the contents of E:\CACHE too and check on X:\, Y:\ and Z:\ that there are not any temporary Q2x files present either.
-
It should work from any directory - F:\HomeBrewGames was only meant as an example. I'm installing the Q2x download right now on a softmodded machine - I'll let you know if there is any problem getting it to boot as soon as that's done...................................... Just finished testing it - no problems. It required a reboot after install or it would not go to the Start menu but after that no trouble. I took the opportunity to kill some stuff. Well we now know that the download I linked to is OK so that means we have a known good start point. If it still doesn't work for you it would suggest a settings issue and I was just reminded that when I tried to run the Q2x in 1080i ( a supposedly supported resolution) on my primary Xbox years ago I had problems with the game freezing after the initial FMV. In the end I ran the game at 480p without issue. The Xbox I've installed this on just now is only set up for SD so I can't test that but if you can't get to the main menu again via the game the only solution I can think of that will is you delete the Quake II game save settings file. That should restore it to default resolution. There is a F:\Quake II\baseq2\config.cfg which I've had a look at but I can't see any resolution setting option there. That maybe because I'm using the default 480i/60Hz setting. You could check and edit it if there is a resolution entry in your config.cfg instead but I think deleting the settings game save and restoring it to default would be the best thing to try first.
Board Life Status
Board startup date: April 23, 2017 12:45:48