Original Xbox takes several attempts to boot successfully

[retrofan01]

(Cross-posting from Reddit having done further testing to see if anyone has any other ideas on how to fix this)

My hard-modded Xbox 1.2 with OpenXenium and Cerbios 2.3.2 Alpha set as the default BIOS has an issue where it'll take several attempts to boot fully into XBMC4Gamers. If I power the machine on, the power, eject button and controller port lights come on, the DVD drive clicks a couple of times and the disk activity light stays solidly on for 5-10 seconds before stopping. The machine will then get stuck on a black screen and I have to power cycle it.

I've noticed that the Xbox seems less likely to boot successfully if I boot it up 'cold' for the first time in several days or weeks whereas it's more likely to boot if I try it 4 or 5 times in quick succession. The machine has the following:

• XboxHD+ Revision 3C (the issue still occurred when I was using a component cable instead of HDMI)
• iND-BiOS, EvoX M8 Plus 1.0.5838.1 and Cerbios 2.3.2 Alpha added via the OpenXenium launch menu - the issue occurs with all 3 BIOSes
• Crucial MX500 2TB SSD connected via a StarTech IDE to SATA adaptor
• Brook Wingman XB2 paired wirelessly with official Xbox Series X controller - I've noticed when using Cerbios that the controller pairs successfully even when the machine gets stuck on a black screen?
• replacement capacitors
• clock capacitor removed
• DVD drive belt replaced
• 128MB RAM upgrade

I bought the Xbox pre-modded on eBay and the last 3 items on that list were done by the seller. Other hardware mods like the XboxHD+ installation and replacement capacitors were done by the trusted UK modder I use. I've tried rebuilding the C:\ drive using an OG Xbox Installer 2021 DVD (or at least manually doing the equivalent using the built-in file manager as some of the files were failing to read off the drive) but that didn't make a difference.

Once the machine has booted fully, it seems pretty stable and I've been able to complete several games on the system.

Any ideas what can be done to get the machine to boot more reliably? If it's a hardware issue, I don't have any soldering skills but I don't mind sending it off to get it looked at - I'm just hoping that the issue is fixable as I don't really want the hassle of purchasing a replacement console and having to transplant everything over.

[Donnie-Burger]

I would check clock cap leakage and trace rot.  These are symptoms of that.

[Bowlsnapper]

12 minutes ago, Thairanny said:

This is crazzy, it's the exact problem I have right now in the Grey screen post! Except, mine only cold boots.

The thing is, his has a modchip. openXenium. He should be booting fine since the flash is presumably not that old so I think he may have a different problem than you. Although, everything is still just speculation

[Bowlsnapper]

51 minutes ago, Thairanny said:

Oh, I see. Well I can say, this is almost exactly what happens when mine will not boot:

"If I power the machine on, the power, eject button and controller port lights come on, the DVD drive clicks a couple of times and the disk activity light stays solidly on for 5-10 seconds before stopping. The machine will then get stuck on a black screen and I have to power cycle it."

So maybe it's still an issue with the bios, just a different cause?

Yeah... I think so. Could have corrupted the flash, technically. It would have to be a very old IC though... I never hear about new ICs corrupting for no apparent reason. Still too early to say.

[retrofan01]

2 hours ago, Donnie-Burger said:

I would check clock cap leakage and trace rot.  These are symptoms of that.

OK, might send it off to get it looked at then. Would these issues not prevent the Xbox from booting at all let alone working fine for hours on end? (Genuine question - it's the first and only one I've owned and the problem started soon after I bought it in 2021)

[Marty]

2 hours ago, Thairanny said:

 

"If I power the machine on, the power, eject button and controller port lights come on

If this is happening just by plugging in the AC cord, you definitely have trace corrosion issues.

[lightwish]

My xbox 1.0 has this exact same issue, after i updated to Cerbios 2.3.2 Alpha with Xbox HD+ installed. My Xbox has already caused so many problems, that I decided to buy another one, and I'm going to transfer all the mods that are already installed on it, to the other one, except XboxHD+, and I'm going to use Xbox2Hdmi. The only problem is that I will have to change the capacitors on the motherboard of this Xbox I bought, and I had already done that on my old one.

[Bowlsnapper]

2 hours ago, Thairanny said:

 

I just recapped my ENTIRE Xbox and it had no effect on such an issue. I would say it is definitely not the caps. Like you said it works normal when it does boot. I even tested in waves so that I could pinpoint the issue if it were capacitor related, no variations.

Like I said in the other thread, I would look at booting from the LPC instead of the TSOP. That way you could confirm very quickly if this is the issue. and you will have to look no further.

[retrofan01]

10 hours ago, Marty said:

If this is happening just by plugging in the AC cord, you definitely have trace corrosion issues.

Nope, only when pressing the power button.

9 hours ago, lightwish said:

My xbox 1.0 has this exact same issue, after i updated to Cerbios 2.3.2 Alpha with Xbox HD+ installed. My Xbox has already caused so many problems, that I decided to buy another one, and I'm going to transfer all the mods that are already installed on it, to the other one, except XboxHD+, and I'm going to use Xbox2Hdmi. The only problem is that I will have to change the capacitors on the motherboard of this Xbox I bought, and I had already done that on my old one.

I'm thinking that I might eventually have to do something similar but I would want to get my XboxHD+ transferred over if possible, I have digital-to-digital HDMI mods on most of my consoles that they're available for.