Bringing XEcuter 3ce Back From the Dead

[lilkuz2005]

1 minute ago, SS_Dave said:

Is this in a version 1.6 or a 1.0-1.4?

 

Cheers

SS Dave

Soft modding is like masturbating, It gets the job done but it's nothing like the real thing.

 

 

its a v1.0

[SS_Dave]

Ok I have not had a enough caffeine

Think of the X3 3294.bin as a OS so flash that 1st

Now flash some BIOS to bank 1,2,3,4

IND to bank 1 sw 1,2,3,4  on

Xblast to bank 2 sw 1 off  sw 2,3,4 on

X2-5035 to bank 3/4 sw 1,4 off sw 2,3 on

 

256k Bank
Bank 1: on on on on
Bank 2: off on on on
Bank 3: on off on on
Bank 4: off off on on
Bank 5: on on off on
Bank 6: off on off on
Bank 7: on off off on
Bank 8: off off off on
512k Bank
Bank 12: on on on off
Bank 34: off on on off
Bank 56: on off on off
Bank 78: off off on off
1MB Bank
Bank 1234: on on off off
(Set to this when flashing
first time with FlashBIOS)
Bank 5678: off on off off
2MB Bank
Bank 12345678: off off off

 

Cheers

SS Dave

Soft modding is like masturbating, It gets the job done but it's nothing like the real thing.

 

 

[jimbobjones]

Hi, sorry i wasn't allowed to reply earlier due to being new on the forum.

I have tried using the white button to get into boot menu with no avail. 

Tried using flashbios on both banks with the protect switch in both positions, getting the same unknown flash error.

Is there a particular folder x3_erase has to be run from, as its hanging on the loading screen when run after swapping chips. I didnt want to run it to test with the working chip for obvious reasons.

i have since put in a spare drive and soft modded the console, thought this might help diagnose the chip as i dont need to keep swapping chips, but im not sure if this will let me access the chip? clutching at straws a bit now? Is there any other chip diagnostic software worth trying?

Cheers.

[SS_Dave]

In order for the Xbox to work with a modchip it needs to boot from the LPC port so from a modchip(Not softmodded)

Have you seen this screen?

I tried the erase prg from C\:x3_erase folder and it worked.

 

Cheers

SS Dave

Soft modding is like masturbating, It gets the job done but it's nothing like the real thing.

[jimbobjones]

yes i can get into x3 config live when i have the working modchip installed, not with the faulty one im trying to sort. should i get into x3 config live, then swap chips and try a flash?

will put the orginal hard mod drive back in and copy over a new instance of x3_erase and try that too.

[SS_Dave]

2 hours ago, jimbobjones said:

Hi, sorry i wasn't allowed to reply earlier due to being new on the forum.

Cheers.

You can by pass that with a small donation have a look in the Store Tab.

 

Cheers

SS Dave

Soft modding is like masturbating, It gets the job done but it's nothing like the real thing.

[jimbobjones]

Okay, now if i run x3_erase when the working chip is in, it loads, reboots and brings me to the x3 config screen as it should, however if i run it after swapping chips to the problem one, it hangs on loading and wont go any further. 

So after putting the working chip back in, booting with white button to config and reflashing the bios just to test, no probs. I then hotswapped over to the problem chip and tried to flash a bios. It errors with 'Please remove write protection and try again' on both banks, with the switch both ways and the front panel dips installed and removed.

Not really sure where to go with this now. This is as far as i got last time i had a go at this. 

Any other diagnostic tools or burning apps i should be looking at?

Will also look into a donation, thank you!

Cheers

[SS_Dave]

Try the erase without the switch panel plugged in as that makes it a 2 meg chip

 

Cheers

SS Dave

Soft modding is like masturbating, It gets the job done but it's nothing like the real thing.

[jimbobjones]

Okay i'll give that a try later. Just remove the front panel connection and try an erase. Whats the bare minimum wires i need to connect after a hotswap? just the aux 5v due to the 1.6 board?

[SS_Dave]

It sounds like you may need to reflash the backup Rom

 

Flash Backup Rom:
A great feature of the X3 is that it has a 256k backup bank. This 256k
bank is designed to hold the 256k Cromwell FlashBIOS software.
Therefore if anything goes wrong with your main bios, you can start
from your backup bios by turning on your Xbox by pressing both Eject
and Power at the same time. With the 256k Cromwell FlashBIOS stored
on your backup bank you are able to re-flash your main bios.

FlashBios 3.0.3.bin

 

Cheers

SS Dave

Soft modding is like masturbating, It gets the job done but it's nothing like the real thing.

 

[SS_Dave]

1 minute ago, jimbobjones said:

Okay i'll give that a try later. Just remove the front panel connection and try an erase. Whats the bare minimum wires i need to connect after a hotswap? just the aux 5v due to the 1.6 board?

Yes just the 5 volt and the 3 pin plug from the D0 and plug it on the pin header 

 

Cheers

SS Dave

Soft modding is like masturbating, It gets the job done but it's nothing like the real thing.

[KaosEngineer]

15 hours ago, jimbobjones said:

Tried using flashbios on both banks with the protect switch in both positions, getting the same unknown flash error.

From your description, I'd say the the protect switch is broken.  (or the wire connecting it to the modchip).

There are two protect switches - the one on the chip which I believe overrides any setting of the one on the front panel.  Does the flash protect light on the modchip change colors when you change the position of the flash protect switch on the modchip?

[KaosEngineer]

13 hours ago, SS_Dave said:

You can by pass that with a small donation have a look in the Store Tab.

Not a donation - they have to pay for a membership to gain perks on the system.  Though you could think of it as a donation but the system differentiates between the two payment methods.   A donation gains no perks. You are just making a donation to the site without gaining any special treatment.  You want to support the site.  Thank you!

A paid membership gains access to downloads and there are two levels each with slightly different additional perks beyond that.

[jimbobjones]

Hi, the colour changes when i move the internal protect switch and the external one, but i don't think the nand wants to be written to in any state.

Is it worth pulling the switch off and just solder bridging the points to keep it permanently unprotected?

I got a chance to boot into config live with the good chip, hotswap to the problem one, and try to burn flashbios 303 to the backup rom... same "please remove write protection and flash again" error, that's the same on both the main nand and the backup nand.

Safe to say the chip is a goner? I'm not afraid to get the rework station out if something can be replaced/repaired. X3 chips appear to be gold dust these days.

Cheers for your ongoing help folks.

[SS_Dave]

You could try that

Open circuit is write protect off

 

The green arrow is ground

The black arrows are linked and by grounding it is write protected.

 

 

Cheers

SS Dave

Soft modding is like masturbating, It gets the job done but it's nothing like the real thing.

 

[jimbobjones]

No probs, so if i simply remove the switch it should be permanently unprotected?

[SS_Dave]

I would test with a multimeter and if the switch is in the protect position the black and green arrow will read 0 ohm's or very close to 0

But yes and if you de-pin(remove the wire from the plug) the wire with the black arrow.

And I would try the wire 1st

In the pic I posted the switch is in the unprotect position 

 

Cheers

SS Dave

Soft modding is like masturbating, It gets the job done but it's nothing like the real thing.

[jimbobjones]

Belled out the switch on both a working chip and the faulty one... both got similar readings. I think the switch is working fine... unfortunately as it would have been an easy fix. its odd that both the main and backup nand are locked out, would suggest the protect circuit to me. But then again, the chip did come to be broken, maybe i was just sold a pup?

[SS_Dave]

37 minutes ago, jimbobjones said:

Belled out the switch on both a working chip and the faulty one... both got similar readings. I think the switch is working fine... unfortunately as it would have been an easy fix. its odd that both the main and backup nand are locked out, would suggest the protect circuit to me. But then again, the chip did come to be broken, maybe i was just sold a pup?

Quite possibly

 

Cheers

SS Dave

Soft modding is like masturbating, It gets the job done but it's nothing like the real thing.