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X3 Install Issues.


nikeymikey
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Hi, i dont know if anyone out there can help me out with this, i know these chips are old and rare nowadays. Anyway i manged to snag one from ebay for a not to unreasonable price just this week :)

I have just done the pin header install and seem to have an issue, when i power n the chip lights up with the 2 blue leds (i have another x3 modded box from years ago so i know thats right), I also know that you need to push both eject and power to get to the backup cromwell bios to flash the x3 bios to the chip.

The issue i am am having is that no matter what combination of button press i do i can only boot the stock bios. The power led is supposed to change to purple to indicate the backup bios is being used, Red to show cip disabled and green when the chip is on. I ONLY ever get green and then stock bios. 

I have checked my pin header soldering and it looks nice and secure, also have re done the d0 point just to make sure. Its booting as if the chip isnt there. 

 

I am trying to use this chip to fix a box with a botched softmod..... It has error 16 when booting normally. I dont know if that makes any difference, but i wouldnt of thought so.....

Its late now so im gonna go to bed and pick it up in the mornig, fist im going to try the new chip in my existing x3 xbox which has an xapt3r install and i know it works 100%, maybe i can flash it that way and then move it back to the  other xbox. At least that way i can rule out a dead chip.... or not.... :(

 

Edited by nikeymikey
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Right ok here goes....

 

Its a 1.1 motherboard.  I can't use the switchboard because it looks a though a couple of the pins are slightly bent :( i will try and realign them maybe at some point but the chip doesnt need them to be able to boot.  Ive also tried having the flash protect switch in both directions and that makes no difference either...

I have tried the new chip in my previously modded x3 box (this has an xapt3r) I get two blue leds and it still wont boot in to the backup bios.... I am thinking the chip is dead, flash wise....

I also took my 100% working x3CE and mounted that on the pin header install i did last night.. Only get 1 blue led so i know there's an issue with the pin header. This happens with both chips, which is strange because last night i had 2 blue leds...

 

I am going to pack everything away and come back to it later in the week. I can find any desoldering braid to remove the pin header right now so ill order some more and try again when i have this. 

 

If i can get either chip to boot in the new install i can fix the bloody error 16 and then even softmod it if i need to!!!! Meanwhile if any of you have any suggestions id be glad to listen :)

 

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The blue leds light up on the chip itself when its powered up,I think one is for 5v and one is for 3.3v but i could be wrong.

I tried to get a picture of the bent pins but they are so small i couldnt get a good one. The bent pins are in the socket on the modchip where the switchboard wires connect. 

 

The xbox does not boot, currently it will show error 16. Thats part of the reason i want to install the chip, so i can ftp in to the x3 and fix the missing dash and get it booting again.

Edited by nikeymikey
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From what I recall without the switchboard connected, the X3 modchip will boot from the first 1MB BIOS bank. 

But, if it acts like it's not working, booting to error 16 (MS Dash messed up) not sure what to try next.

Update: If it boots HeXEn, you can FTP to the console to fix the dashboard on the C drive to fix error 16.

Or, create a backup of the eeprom using evoxdash so you can connect the HDD to a PC run XboxHDM23USB Beta 2 to unlock the drive and repair the C drive.

Edited by KaosEngineer
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GREAT NEWS!!! THE CHIP WORKS!!!!

IMG-7802.jpg
IMG-7803.jpg

 

Now im struggling to burn a disc that actually works, Flashing over network doesnt seem to be working, i can get the upload screen but whe i click upload and flash, nothing happens :(

EDIT: The flash seems to have now worked... I now get a purple screen with  a green xbox logo when booting and the Xecuter logo appears at the bottom after a while... Dont seem to be able to get into the x3 config screen tho.... Oh well baby steps :P

Is this the standard screen when an X3 bios is flashed???

 

IMG-7804.jpg

Holding the white button doe nothing, it should get me into x3 config live..... Don't think its flashed correctly, im sure the screen shouldn't be that colour???

Im gonna have to find a blank cd-r in the morning and try that as none of the dvds i've burnt have been read by the drive.... hoping a cd will do the trick and flash this bastard properly :)

 

Edited by nikeymikey
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The purple should be black.  Maybe a bad connection on the AV cable.  Clean the contacts of the Xbox AVIP connector and inside the mating cable end.  Do you have another TV to try?  What type of cable is it, composite or component?

Does it show the flubber animation before that?

It may not be booting the X3 BIOS.  You can flash other BIOSes to the chip and select them to boot via the front panel (which you are having a problem with).

Edited by KaosEngineer
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I have mounted the chip in my other box using the Xapt3r and I get the same result.  The flubber anim plays but is also weird colors. It’s booting the bios because the xecuter logo appears at the bottom of the sceeen, but seems to get halfway through and stall.

i am pretty sure the chip is more or less fubar when it comes to the flash. I’ve flashed it multiple times and the same result every time!! 

 

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  • 1 month later...

Hmm, I wonder if the previous owner had changed the colors and other settings that need to be cleared (set back to defaults) as something's not quite right with them and possibly the newer version of the BIOS.  

I remember seeing something about needing to use the Set Defaults option in X3 Config Live after flashing an upgrade to the BIOS.  I've never had the console hang but only did a minor version number upgrade or having no X3 BIOS every installed to the chip. 

I don't know if it had a much older X3 BIOS version maybe 1959 or older and you flashed 3294 if that could cause it to hang with such a major BIOS version update.

I thought there was an app to clear all the settings on an X3.

You could run it after hot swapping the non-working X3 modchip with the working one you have.

Update: The Xbox app x3_eeprom_erase.rar

Edited by KaosEngineer
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@KaosEngineer I will try exactly that when i get some free time one evening next week. It would be great to bring the chip back from the dead!!

 

To be honest i should of tried booting the xbox before trying to flash it, as it may have already been flashed just like you have said. 

And yes thats the screen i was expecting to see if it was a freshly flashed bios with the default settings. My flubber and X are red on my other x3 install.

Edited by nikeymikey
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@KaosEngineer I have just done a hotswap of the X3 chips. Did a flash erase of the problem chip. Rebooted into Flashbios and flashed the latest X3 bios. All good, everything works perfectly!!

Thanks for all your help with this, id given up on it weeks ago, then suddenly you came back with an idea which turned out to be the exact fix i needed :)

 

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