vekter303 Posted January 8 Report Share Posted January 8 (edited) Just bought an Xbox I thought was stock, turns out it has a Xenium ICE modchip. Unsure what revision, just going through downloads from links in pinned posts for Gen 4 chips. It seem to be genuine, rather than a clone/fake. I'm curious what BIOS version it is running and if the chip itself has any limitations (for context I have an Aladdin modded box and a Stellar too). Seems it cannot handle 128 RAM upgrade or LCD support, I am okay with that. Xbox itself has a 128GB HDD - I may install a bigger one if that is not an issue? It's not even that obvious to me that updating the BIOS is necessary. Main thing for me is to tidy up unused files and personalise the dash. Bootscreen seems washed out says Xboxbreakers and I don't recognise the dash. i would like to change that. Cleaner boot with flubber into XBMC4Gamers likely. Anyone have experience with this modchip, am I good to go? Edited January 8 by vekter303 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SS_Dave Posted January 8 Report Share Posted January 8 The board could have a RAM upgrade if you really wanted and the chip could have a LCD added, In my view not really worth it any way. If it was here I would re-flash one of the bios banks with a current Cerbios and replace the HDD with a larger one. As I suspect the board is a version 1.0-1.1 you should remove the gold clock cap and think about replacing the main filter caps next to the Power connector and heat sink. All in all it's a good chip and I have several of them... Cheers SS Dave Soft modding is like masturbating, It gets the job done but it's nothing like the real thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vekter303 Posted January 8 Author Report Share Posted January 8 Thanks for the reply Dave. Yes, it's 1.0. Bought a 1.1 heatsink and clamp, expecting the fan to be a bit noisy or failing. Caps look okay, but makes sense to swap out/remove for sure. I have a 500GB HDD here (I had hotswapped, cloned and expanded using Chimp to 750GB on another box a few years back) Would I just be able to swap that? Both HDDs are unlocked. This box boots to Xenium V2.0 with eject button. Also, curious in what way Cerbios would benefit me. Does it add much? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SS_Dave Posted January 8 Report Share Posted January 8 The main reason I suggest cerbios is it supports a faster data transfer speed from the HDD to the motherboard I assume the 500gb is from a softmod Xbox. You can fit that but you need to be able to make the Xbox look for the new dash not the original dash. The easy way would be fit the drive and boot a install disk to remove the softmod. I am guessing the 500gb is a PATA (40 pin ) drive if it's a 7200rpm drive you could also change the 40 wire IDE cable to a 80wire and set a faster BUS speed Have a read of this thread https://www.ogxbox.com/forums/index.php?/topic/6706-cerbios-new-xbox-bios/ I will send a link to the Xenium user manual shortly as well. https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/10oqyc7wqv6qnkjez7nvc/AE_vIZs5iN6IcsVMsjR2-Eo?rlkey=py4laaam6uued8qr4m1tntmtl&st=tdudufsi&dl=0 44 minutes ago, vekter303 said: Bought a 1.1 heatsink and clamp, expecting the fan to be a bit noisy or failing. Caps look okay, but makes sense to swap out/remove for sure. I have a 1.0 with the small heat sink and I swapped the fan to a new one and I can't hear it. I also don't recommend removing the CPU heat sink to change the paste, If you clean the stock fan and give the CPU heat sink a clean with a brush the temps are just as low as when you change the paste. I clean the GPU paste off with WaxnGrease remover (it used to clean metal before spray painting) Do you know what bios files are on the chip? Cheers SS Dave Soft modding is like masturbating, It gets the job done but it's nothing like the real thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vekter303 Posted January 8 Author Report Share Posted January 8 Cool, will look into Cerbios. Xbox has an 80 wire already. All that and the chip was quite a surprise. I actually wanted a good condition stock box for nostalgia sake The 500GB came out of an Xbox with Aladdin XBlast. Used Chimp within that to upgrade to 750GB. Had downloaded those manuals from the pinned link in this thread. Will give them a read. I'm guessing I just need to check where Xenium is looking for the dashboard .xbe to have the 500GB boot okay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SS_Dave Posted January 9 Report Share Posted January 9 4 hours ago, vekter303 said: The 500GB came out of an Xbox with Aladdin XBlast If that's the case you can just plug it in and it should work Cheers SS Dave Soft modding is like masturbating, It gets the job done but it's nothing like the real thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lopenator Posted January 9 Report Share Posted January 9 Does this one look like a clone? The vias in the "X" are black and yours are not. The cutout in the "U" looks accurate though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vekter303 Posted January 9 Author Report Share Posted January 9 I am far from expert! I did a quick check from info linked in the post pinned at the top of this thread. I will have a look again and post... The typeface looks good. The 'D' has little serifs and as you say, what I assume the placement of the via, on the comparison shot looks good too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vekter303 Posted January 9 Author Report Share Posted January 9 In the pinned "4th Generation Chips" there is a spreadsheet, a row "spotting fakes" then links to "1st, 2nd, 3rd Generation Fakes" 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lopenator Posted January 9 Report Share Posted January 9 5 minutes ago, vekter303 said: In the pinned "4th Generation Chips" there is a spreadsheet, a row "spotting fakes" then links to "1st, 2nd, 3rd Generation Fakes" very helpful Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vekter303 Posted January 9 Author Report Share Posted January 9 (edited) Lots to learn! I never even knew there were so many modchips. Had an OG at the time and since, but 2019 was my first modded console. You never installed the chip? I am guessing that it was releasd a while ago, the website is not active... Edited January 9 by vekter303 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lopenator Posted January 9 Report Share Posted January 9 (edited) hell no. I installed a pin header. Those pogo pins are janky. edit. I misunderstood. yes I installed the chip. this is an old photo I took before installation. Edited January 9 by lopenator Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jailer Posted January 9 Report Share Posted January 9 23 hours ago, vekter303 said: I'm curious what BIOS version it is running IIRC, that Xenium chip should be running the Xenium OS which is accessible by powering on the xbox with the eject button. I have that same chip in my 1.6. Once in the Xenium OS you it should display what BIOS version you are running as well as give you access to some of the other functions of that chip such as the ftp client and such. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vekter303 Posted January 9 Author Report Share Posted January 9 Yes, thanks. Was looking through it later on last night. V2.0 going by eject button boot. I see there is a V2.3.1 not sure if updating is worthwhile, cannot see a changelog. I like to have latest version running, but other things will likely take priority, caps, cleaning up folders, dash and apps etc. Do you know anything about functions in later versions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lopenator Posted January 9 Report Share Posted January 9 I recommend flashing PrometheOS instead of Xenium OS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vekter303 Posted January 9 Author Report Share Posted January 9 What would be the benefit of that over Xenium? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lopenator Posted January 9 Report Share Posted January 9 PrometheOS is way more feature rich. Also it is still being worked on today. Its the latest and greatest OS 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vekter303 Posted January 9 Author Report Share Posted January 9 Will have a look at it, thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vekter303 Posted January 10 Author Report Share Posted January 10 6 hours ago, lopenator said: PrometheOS is way more feature rich. Also it is still being worked on today. Its the latest and greatest OS Looks good, nice and clean presentation. Support for HD+ too which might be handy down the road. Thanks for the suggestion. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SS_Dave Posted January 10 Report Share Posted January 10 12 hours ago, vekter303 said: Yes, thanks. Was looking through it later on last night. V2.0 going by eject button boot. I see there is a V2.3.1 not sure if updating is worthwhile, cannot see a changelog. I like to have latest version running, but other things will likely take priority, caps, cleaning up folders, dash and apps etc. Do you know anything about functions in later versions? What happens when you power on with the power button? Cheers SS Dave Soft modding is like masturbating, It gets the job done but it's nothing like the real thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vekter303 Posted January 10 Author Report Share Posted January 10 It all works okay, no real problem there. Power button boots to flubber then a washed out Xbox logo screen with "xboxbreakers" and then what turns out to be EvoX dash (I didn't recognise the dash at first because of the custom skin) My only issue with that is aesthetics. Original question was more to do with the fact I knew nothing about the modchip and it's functions. Seems that this Xbox was modded quite a while ago. Quite funny, running through the custom skins most seem to be a variety of semi naked 'babes' of the Pamela Anderson and Angelina Jolie variety. Very 2000s 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nikeymikey Posted January 11 Report Share Posted January 11 On 1/10/2025 at 11:50 AM, vekter303 said: It all works okay, no real problem there. Power button boots to flubber then a washed out Xbox logo screen with "xboxbreakers" and then what turns out to be EvoX dash (I didn't recognise the dash at first because of the custom skin) My only issue with that is aesthetics. Original question was more to do with the fact I knew nothing about the modchip and it's functions. Seems that this Xbox was modded quite a while ago. Quite funny, running through the custom skins most seem to be a variety of semi naked 'babes' of the Pamela Anderson and Angelina Jolie variety. Very 2000s Its not a modded Xbox from the classic era without some boobies on the dash 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vekter303 Posted January 11 Author Report Share Posted January 11 There were lots! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nikeymikey Posted January 11 Report Share Posted January 11 7 minutes ago, vekter303 said: There were lots! Dump the skin folder and upload it here, someone might like them. Might be some that are not already archived in that folder too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vekter303 Posted January 11 Author Report Share Posted January 11 Will do. Might be a couple of weeks before I get around to it. Packed away for now. Made me chuckle, easy to forget how much the world and media have changed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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