After Aladdin modchip frag can`t find the issue

[UltimateMe]

I've a Xbox v1.2 - 1.5. I know you can TSOP it, but I like the options a modchip brings.

So, I soldered the LPC pinheader, a wire from D0 to ground (screwhole) and a wire on the Aladdin XT PLUS2 XT 4032 chip from the BT to the other pad. Now when turning on the Xbox it FRAGs. The led on the modchip is on. When I remove the modchip (I didn`t remove the LPC header or the D0 to ground wire, only the modchip from the header) the FRAGing exists. Before I soldered the modchip, the Xbox was working fine.

Some photo's from my soldering job. I also tested from the top of the board the D0 point and my meter beeps on all the screwplates, so that looks fine. Also the LPC pinheader looks good. So I'm a bit frustrated because of this issue.

https://imgur.com/a/3IRniGb

Above the pinheader you'll see some flux residu, I've taken care of that after the photo's.

 

Is there a way to double check the connections from the pins and the back of the board to somewhere on the board?

Edited June 18, 2023 by UltimateMe

[sweetdarkdestiny]

As long as you have D0 connectet to ground your xbox will still frag. Reason for that is that, when you link D0 ground the XBox tries to boot from the LPC no matter what. 

And watching at the pics make me shiver. The cable on the D0 pad could sort to the near by pads, way to much exposed wire there. And 2 pins on the header seems not soldered very well. They maybe make didn't good contact. 

Edited June 18, 2023 by sweetdarkdestiny
well....

[UltimateMe]

29 minutes ago, sweetdarkdestiny said:

As long as you have D0 connectet to ground your xbox will still frag. Reason for that is that, when you link D0 ground the XBox tries to boot from the LPC no matter what. 

And watching at the pics make me shiver. The cable on the D0 pad could sort to the near by pads, way to much exposed wire there. And 2 pins on the header seems not soldered very well. They maybe make didn't good contact. 

Okay, that D0 remark is a good one. I've used my multi-meter to check for shorts and there isn`t one. You are correct that the part exposed wire could be a bit shorter, but as long there is no shorting I think it will be fine (it's an ecstatic thing and I've some electrical tape under it, when it works I can make it cleaner). Under the magnifier all the LPC pins looks good on solder, but that's why I would be helped by points on the board to measure between with the LPC pins to verify it.

Edited June 18, 2023 by UltimateMe
Missed some text

[UltimateMe]

When removing the D0 the Xbox works indeed.

I've tried to make a good photo with the magnifier from the LPC header, ignore the wormy stuff, that's from a cotton swap and I didn`t blow of before taking the photo. Do you mean the top left and the one besided the empty slot that aren`t good?

https://imgur.com/a/kOSTZIt

 

[sweetdarkdestiny]

Add some flux and reflow all of them just to rule that out. And D0 is for real horrible. When you flip the board over there is always a change the cable moves and shorts something.

[UltimateMe]

Will look into it when I've some more time this week. Soldering jobs are not a thing to do in a hurry. Maybe the issue is in the modchip, but that is hard to test out. I've another Aladdin chip to test, but maybe they are both faulty. Hard to know.

[Bowlsnapper]

13 minutes ago, UltimateMe said:

Will look into it when I've some more time this week. Soldering jobs are not a thing to do in a hurry. Maybe the issue is in the modchip, but that is hard to test out. I've another Aladdin chip to test, but maybe they are both faulty. Hard to know.

A reflow couldn't hurt. Only takes a minute... It's helped me before...

[MadMartigan]

57 minutes ago, UltimateMe said:

Will look into it when I've some more time this week. Soldering jobs are not a thing to do in a hurry. Maybe the issue is in the modchip, but that is hard to test out. I've another Aladdin chip to test, but maybe they are both faulty. Hard to know.

The chances of the chip being bad are slim and it’s a good sign that the LED works on the chip. Those connections don’t look good at all. As @Bowlsnapper has suggested, it’s highly recommended to use some flux and add just a tiny amount of solder to each connection of the LPC. I recommend doing the opposite to the D0. The solder is a bit globby and a little too much exposed wire. Not entirely sure what gauge wire you’re using, but the smaller the better in that case. Around 30g or smaller makes for an easier connection. Flux can be your best friend on all connections. Take your time!

Edited June 18, 2023 by MadMartigan
Reworded

[Bowlsnapper]

2 hours ago, UltimateMe said:

I've a Xbox v1.2 - 1.5. I know you can TSOP it, but I like the options a modchip brings.

So, I soldered the LPC pinheader, a wire from D0 to ground (screwhole) and a wire on the Aladdin XT PLUS2 XT 4032 chip from the BT to the other pad. Now when turning on the Xbox it FRAGs. The led on the modchip is on. When I remove the modchip (I didn`t remove the LPC header or the D0 to ground wire, only the modchip from the header) the FRAGing exists. Before I soldered the modchip, the Xbox was working fine.

Some photo's from my soldering job. I also tested from the top of the board the D0 point and my meter beeps on all the screwplates, so that looks fine. Also the LPC pinheader looks good. So I'm a bit frustrated because of this issue.

https://imgur.com/a/3IRniGb

Above the pinheader you'll see some flux residu, I've taken care of that after the photo's.

 

Is there a way to double check the connections from the pins and the back of the board to somewhere on the board?

Which Aladdin is that? Have you tried disconnecting BT entirely? Try it. My Aladdin fragged until I got rid of the BT wire and left it alone.

[UltimateMe]

17 hours ago, Bowlsnapper said:

Which Aladdin is that? Have you tried disconnecting BT entirely? Try it. My Aladdin fragged until I got rid of the BT wire and left it alone.

I've read some reviews on Ali and there were positive reactions about this one / seller. I think the XT is double and not specific. I've also one at which I didn`t solder the BT wire and the Xbox also frags, but I will double check the LPC header / reflow them and then I can swap the chips to test. I also read something in one of the topics on this forums that some chips had to be reflashed before they are working.

So enough to check / test, but I'm a few days from home for work, so didn`t have time to reflow or do further testing.

[UltimateMe]

18 hours ago, MadMartigan said:

The chances of the chip being bad are slim and it’s a good sign that the LED works on the chip. Those connections don’t look good at all. As @Bowlsnapper has suggested, it’s highly recommended to use some flux and add just a tiny amount of solder to each connection of the LPC. I recommend doing the opposite to the D0. The solder is a bit globby and a little too much exposed wire. Not entirely sure what gauge wire you’re using, but the smaller the better in that case. Around 30g or smaller makes for an easier connection. Flux can be your best friend on all connections. Take your time!

I used flux, but maybe a bit to much solder on the LPC, because it didn`t work and solder was hard to see. I use 30awg wire. I can remove all the solder and do it again with a tiny amount / small blobs. The wire has multiple small strings in it, instead of solid core, which seems very hard to find here.

Edited June 19, 2023 by UltimateMe

[Bowlsnapper]

3 hours ago, UltimateMe said:

I used flux, but maybe a bit to much solder on the LPC, because it didn`t work and solder was hard to see. I use 30awg wire. I can remove all the solder and do it again with a tiny amount / small blobs. The wire has multiple small strings in it, instead of solid core, which seems very hard to find here.

The wire is not a single strand, it's multiple wires? I have that too. Gotta make sure I twist it before I cut it off and make it stubby for via connections and all that jazz.

[Bowlsnapper]

4 hours ago, UltimateMe said:

I've read some reviews on Ali and there were positive reactions about this one / seller. I think the XT is double and not specific. I've also one at which I didn`t solder the BT wire and the Xbox also frags, but I will double check the LPC header / reflow them and then I can swap the chips to test. I also read something in one of the topics on this forums that some chips had to be reflashed before they are working.

So enough to check / test, but I'm a few days from home for work, so didn`t have time to reflow or do further testing.

Check that BT wire! Had to do it with my XBlast. I don't trust Ali Express... Get one from modzville. Lol

[UltimateMe]

Well finally back from work, so I re-flowed all the pins of the LPC pinheader, also made the exposed wire thing better. But still fraging, with or without the BT wire.

So, I have a working 1.6 xbox which has an Executer2 chip in it. Replaced that chip with the Aladdin and also that one starts fraging. Solder the wires back to the Executer2 chip and the Xbox is booting again. Placing the Aladdin back in my (I believe 1.4 xbox) and it's also fraging.

Now I used the D0 on the Aladdin chip and no BT connection. The Xbox boots without an issue, but the chip had a led burning, but does nothing.

But it would be strange that all the chips I have should be bad, but I`m out of options at this moment.

Edited June 21, 2023 by UltimateMe

[Bowlsnapper]

2 hours ago, UltimateMe said:

Well finally back from work, so I re-flowed all the pins of the LPC pinheader, also made the exposed wire thing better. But still fraging, with or without the BT wire.

So, I have a working 1.6 xbox which has an Executer2 chip in it. Replaced that chip with the Aladdin and also that one starts fraging. Solder the wires back to the Executer2 chip and the Xbox is booting again. Placing the Aladdin back in my (I believe 1.4 xbox) and it's also fraging.

Now I used the D0 on the Aladdin chip and no BT connection. The Xbox boots without an issue, but the chip had a led burning, but does nothing.

But it would be strange that all the chips I have should be bad, but I`m out of options at this moment.

Stop buying 5 dollar chips from Ali Express. You're getting what you pay for. Go to modzville and get an XBlast Aladdin for 28 bucks with shipping.

You're attempting to boot that 1.6 Xbox with a 1.0-1.4 Evox bios. It's not gonna work anyway. Not good for a test. 

 

Boot to XBlastOS with the BETTER Aladdin and flash Cerbios. You'll be set after that. Don't waste any more time.

Or get an XBlast chip from @Dtomcat18 and he'll take care of you. Fuck regular Aladdins. Please hear me.

Just spend the money on a modchip that is worth your time!

[UltimateMe]

10 minutes ago, Bowlsnapper said:

Stop buying 5 dollar chips from Ali Express. You're getting what you pay for. Go to modzville and get an XBlast Aladdin for 28 bucks with shipping.

You're attempting to boot that 1.6 Xbox with a 1.0-1.4 Evox bios. It's not gonna work anyway. Not good for a test. 

 

Boot to XBlastOS with the BETTER Aladdin and flash Cerbios. You'll be set after that. Don't waste any more time.

Or get an XBlast chip from @Dtomcat18 and he'll take care of you. Fuck regular Aladdins. Please hear me.

Just spend the money on a modchip that is worth your time!

Well, when I use the D0 to ground instead of the one on the Aladdin chip, it frags again.

And modzville does not sent to the Netherlands and when they do the shipping costs are more than the chip. A lot of chips you can buy in the Netherlands are also from Ali Express so that wouldn`t solve anything at this moment.

[sweetdarkdestiny]

24 minutes ago, Bowlsnapper said:

Stop buying 5 dollar chips from Ali Express. You're getting what you pay for. Go to modzville and get an XBlast Aladdin for 28 bucks with shipping.

You're attempting to boot that 1.6 Xbox with a 1.0-1.4 Evox bios. It's not gonna work anyway. Not good for a test. 

 

Boot to XBlastOS with the BETTER Aladdin and flash Cerbios. You'll be set after that. Don't waste any more time.

Or get an XBlast chip from @Dtomcat18 and he'll take care of you. Fuck regular Aladdins. Please hear me.

Just spend the money on a modchip that is worth your time!

Well, well, well.... You know that the Aladdins Modzy uses are also from Ali just with a different code on the Latttice and a bigger NOR? And me has still some of those as well as some cheap mods which are work very well. And in 99% of the cases these Aladdins from Ali come with m8plus multi bios which works on all versions. That being said, you can make a Aladdin XBlast out of this Aladdin fairly cheap. 3 Euros for a SST49LF080a and a 8 Euros Altera USB Blaster clone from Amazon. The code for the lattice is on github.

18 minutes ago, UltimateMe said:

And modzville does not sent to the Netherlands and when they do the shipping costs are more than the chip. A lot of chips you can buy in the Netherlands are also from Ali Express so that wouldn`t solve anything at this moment.

I could sell you an real XBlast-Lite if interested. Shipping from Görmany should not be that expansive.

[Bowlsnapper]

5 hours ago, sweetdarkdestiny said:

Well, well, well.... You know that the Aladdins Modzy uses are also from Ali just with a different code on the Latttice and a bigger NOR? And me has still some of those as well as some cheap mods which are work very well. And in 99% of the cases these Aladdins from Ali come with m8plus multi bios which works on all versions. That being said, you can make a Aladdin XBlast out of this Aladdin fairly cheap. 3 Euros for a SST49LF080a and a 8 Euros Altera USB Blaster clone from Amazon. The code for the lattice is on github.

I could sell you an real XBlast-Lite if interested. Shipping from Görmany should not be that expansive.

People don't have coders/programmers sweet. Lol. I'm recommending the XBlast Aladdin for the average person. Him. I plan to start programming Aladdins the way modz does, just need a little cash to invest. Aliexpress plain Aladdins are what I'm referring to.

[Bowlsnapper]

AliExpress Aladdins have issues and are too basic. Although my experience is surface level. What's yours sweet? Because these things have only one 256k bank and I've heard the sst chip is not flashable.

Couldn't edit my last post.

@sweetdarkdestiny does your XBlast have multiple banks so he can use it as an all in one?

[sweetdarkdestiny]

3 hours ago, Bowlsnapper said:

@sweetdarkdestiny does your XBlast have multiple banks so he can use it as an all in one?

The XBlast-Lite I have are the "real ones" which are createt by psyko_chewbacca The others like Jafar/Aladdin XBlast and a couple of others are cheaper solutions using the Lattice and lack some features the "real" XBlast-Lite has to offer. These are the same chips n64_freak has made and sold (He was so nice to provide me some PCB's to create some more of the chips.

Features include:

• 1MB flash support. Split as 512KB user bank, 256KB user bank, 256KB OS bank
• Full XBlast OS software support
• Parallel character LCD support, with backlight and contrast software control
• High-speed, high-current driver for D0(1.0-1.5) and LFRAME(1.6,1.6b)
• Chameleon/Matrix TSOP recovery (A15)
• Software-controlled TSOP split(1.0,1.1)
• General purpose inputs/outputs
• Status LED
• Chihiro mediaboard basic spoof (Reports as 1024MB FPGA mediaboard)
• Bank flashing & software control support in Evolution-X dashboard (Chameleon Modchip emulation)
• Support for 1.0-1.5 no solder adapter (D0 routing)

 

• https://www.xbmc4xbox.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2937&start=60
• https://github.com/Kekule-OXC/xblast_lite_cpld

 

[Bowlsnapper]

@UltimateMe... That's a solid option.

@sweetdarkdestiny I'm a little fuzzy on some details:

LCD control is in XBlastOS? 

The TSOP has a split control in XBlastOS?

GP Inputs and outputs?

Chihiro spoof? 

Can you explain the flashing support in Evolutionx?

 

You're the man, sweet!

 

[sweetdarkdestiny]

50 minutes ago, Bowlsnapper said:

@UltimateMe... That's a solid option.

@sweetdarkdestiny I'm a little fuzzy on some details:

LCD control is in XBlastOS? 

The TSOP has a split control in XBlastOS?

GP Inputs and outputs?

Chihiro spoof? 

Can you explain the flashing support in Evolutionx?

 

You're the man, sweet!

 

The Evox XBlast support looks like this (Self explaining) : 

 

Section "Root"
  {
   Line "EvoXBlast - Control Center",@250
   Line " ",n
   Section "XBlast TSOP split mode"
     {
      Line "XBlast TSOP split mode",2
      Item "Switch To TSOP (Disable Chameleon)",ID_Chameleon_Release_D0,ID_Full_Reboot
      Item "Switch To XBlast 512KB Bank",ID_Chameleon_Bank_0,ID_Full_Reboot
      Item "Switch To XBlast 256KB Bank",ID_Chameleon_Bank_2,ID_Full_Reboot
      Item "Switch To TSOP Bank 0",ID_Chameleon_Bank_1,ID_Full_Reboot
      Item "Switch To TSOP Bank 1",ID_Chameleon_Bank_3,ID_Full_Reboot
      Line "-------------------------------------"
      Item "Flash TSOP Bank 0",ID_Chameleon_Bank_1,ID_Flash_Bios
      Item "Flash TSOP Bank 1",ID_Chameleon_Bank_3,ID_Flash_Bios
     }
   Section "XBlast TSOP mode"
     {
      Line "XBlast TSOP mode",2
      Item "Switch To TSOP (Disable Chameleon)",ID_Chameleon_Release_D0,ID_Full_Reboot
      Item "Switch To XBlast 512KB Bank",ID_Chameleon_Bank_0,ID_Full_Reboot
      Item "Switch To XBlast 256KB Bank",ID_Chameleon_Bank_2,ID_Full_Reboot
      Line "-------------------------------------"
      Item "Flash TSOP",ID_Flash_Bios
     }
   Section "XBlast Onboard Flash"
     {
      Line "XBlast Onboard Flash",2
      Item "Switch To XBlast 512KB Bank",ID_Chameleon_Bank_0,ID_Full_Reboot
      Item "Switch To XBlast 256KB Bank",ID_Chameleon_Bank_2,ID_Full_Reboot
      Item "Switch To TSOP (Disable Chameleon)",ID_Chameleon_Release_D0,ID_Full_Reboot
      Item "Switch To TSOP Bank0",ID_Chameleon_Bank_1,ID_Full_Reboot
      Item "Switch To TSOP Bank1",ID_Chameleon_Bank_3,ID_Full_Reboot
      Line "-------------------------------------"
      Item "Flash XBlast 512KB Bank",ID_Chameleon_Bank_0,ID_Flash_Bios
      Item "Flash XBlast 256KB Bank",ID_Chameleon_Bank_2,ID_Flash_Bios
     }
	Line "--------------------------------------------------------",n
   Section "EvoX System"
     {
      Item "Settings",ID_Settings
      Item "Lock Harddisk",@210
      Item "Unlock Harddisk",@211
      Item "Clear Cache",@237
     }

 

Yes, this modchip can take control over the TSOP and in case of 1.0/1.1 also over a splittet TSOP. 

You can hook up one of those HD44780 right away without any addon. 

GP Inputs and outputs. Take a look at the PCB's back. There are quite a lot solderpads to play with.  

Not to sure about that Chihiro thing but maybe @KaosEngineer knows what it means and what the benifts are. 

And I am A MAN not THE MAN. THE MAN's are others like: Kaos, Dave, NeMesiS, DTomcat, ShinGoutetsu, Prehistoricman, Haguero, EqUiNox, Ryzee, Kekule, n64_freak and so on and on and on....

Edited June 22, 2023 by sweetdarkdestiny

[Bowlsnapper]

2 minutes ago, sweetdarkdestiny said:

The Evox XBlast support looks like this (Self explaining) : 

 

Section "Root"
  {
   Line "EvoXBlast - Control Center",@250
   Line " ",n
   Section "XBlast TSOP split mode"
     {
      Line "XBlast TSOP split mode",2
      Item "Switch To TSOP (Disable Chameleon)",ID_Chameleon_Release_D0,ID_Full_Reboot
      Item "Switch To XBlast 512KB Bank",ID_Chameleon_Bank_0,ID_Full_Reboot
      Item "Switch To XBlast 256KB Bank",ID_Chameleon_Bank_2,ID_Full_Reboot
      Item "Switch To TSOP Bank 0",ID_Chameleon_Bank_1,ID_Full_Reboot
      Item "Switch To TSOP Bank 1",ID_Chameleon_Bank_3,ID_Full_Reboot
      Line "-------------------------------------"
      Item "Flash TSOP Bank 0",ID_Chameleon_Bank_1,ID_Flash_Bios
      Item "Flash TSOP Bank 1",ID_Chameleon_Bank_3,ID_Flash_Bios
     }
   Section "XBlast TSOP mode"
     {
      Line "XBlast TSOP mode",2
      Item "Switch To TSOP (Disable Chameleon)",ID_Chameleon_Release_D0,ID_Full_Reboot
      Item "Switch To XBlast 512KB Bank",ID_Chameleon_Bank_0,ID_Full_Reboot
      Item "Switch To XBlast 256KB Bank",ID_Chameleon_Bank_2,ID_Full_Reboot
      Line "-------------------------------------"
      Item "Flash TSOP",ID_Flash_Bios
     }
   Section "XBlast Onboard Flash"
     {
      Line "XBlast Onboard Flash",2
      Item "Switch To XBlast 512KB Bank",ID_Chameleon_Bank_0,ID_Full_Reboot
      Item "Switch To XBlast 256KB Bank",ID_Chameleon_Bank_2,ID_Full_Reboot
      Item "Switch To TSOP (Disable Chameleon)",ID_Chameleon_Release_D0,ID_Full_Reboot
      Item "Switch To TSOP Bank0",ID_Chameleon_Bank_1,ID_Full_Reboot
      Item "Switch To TSOP Bank1",ID_Chameleon_Bank_3,ID_Full_Reboot
      Line "-------------------------------------"
      Item "Flash XBlast 512KB Bank",ID_Chameleon_Bank_0,ID_Flash_Bios
      Item "Flash XBlast 256KB Bank",ID_Chameleon_Bank_2,ID_Flash_Bios
     }
	Line "--------------------------------------------------------",n
   Section "EvoX System"
     {
      Item "Settings",ID_Settings
      Item "Lock Harddisk",@210
      Item "Unlock Harddisk",@211
      Item "Clear Cache",@237
     }

 

Yes, this modchip can take control over the TSOP and in case of 1.0/1.1 also over a splittet TSOP. 

You can hook up one of those HD44780 right away without any addon. 

GP Inputs and outputs. Take a look at the PCB's back. There are quite a lot solderpads to play with.  

Not to sure about that Chihiro thing but maybe @KaosEngineer knows what it means and what the benifts are. 

And I am A MAN not THE MAN. THE MAN's are others like: Kaos, Dave, NeMesiS, DTomcat, ShinGoutetsu, Prehistoricman, Haguero, EqUiNox, Ryzee, Kekule, n64_freak and so on and on and on....

Pretty cool that a 1mb TSOP can be managed that way from the chip. Very cool feature.

I would hate to install the LCD manually. Never done a heavy case mod like that before. I'm scared.

But GP how? What would be some examples? And yes those people are the men. You didn't have to take me so seriously. I was trying to compliment you dude. Lol

[UltimateMe]

Besides the rest (and the information provided about XBlast), I've prepared the other Aladdin chips I have. The result: 2 working fine and 2 are giving the frag. So my soldering was good enough at that point.

Will look into XBlast in more detail. For me it's just jiggling around and have fun with debugging and that kind of things. But enough knowledge to absorb. Where PC's and the Nintendo / Sega consoles have no secrets, there is enough to explore for me regarding the Xbox.