Xbox 1.6 with Aladdin XT chip no video after updating EEPROM with configmagic.

[geohunk 0]

 I messed up. Was fiddling around with configmagic trying to lock the HDD on my chipped Xbox 1.6 so I can transfer and use the HDD on my softmodded Xbox. I followed this guide here: https://www.biline.ca/xbox_uxe_hd2.htm 

 I was able to update the EEPROM as stated and locked the HDD so it can be used on the softmodded Xbox. That worked fine. But now my chipped Xbox turns on but no picture or video whatsoever. I don't know what to do next...

[SS_Dave 626]

Softmods and Hardmods do not play nice with each other and a black screen is normally the result, it should still boot a install disk from a cold boot (load the DVD then power cycle the Xbox) and you can remake the drive without the soft mod.

Is the HDD working in the other Xbox? my guess is no as the HDD key will not match that Xbox.

 

Cheers

SS Dave

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

[geohunk 0]

21 minutes ago, SS_Dave said:

Softmods and Hardmods do not play nice with each other and a black screen is normally the result, it should still boot a install disk from a cold boot (load the DVD then power cycle the Xbox) and you can remake the drive without the soft mod.

Is the HDD working in the other Xbox? my guess is no as the HDD key will not match that Xbox.

 

Cheers

SS Dave

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

 So yeah I was able to put the bigger HDD into the second xbox and its working. Basically what I was doing here is I have 2 xboxes, one hardmodded (300gb) the other softmodded (80gb). So I wanted to put the 300gb into my softmodded one because and put in a new 1tb HDD into the hardmodded one. I followed the tut in the link in my first post.

 1. Saved a backup of the EEPROM and HDD key of my softmod onto my PC.

 2. FTP the EEPROM from PC into my hardmod.

 3. as per the tut, launched configmagic and load EEPROM from bin file

 4. picked "UPDATE EEPROM" and then picked "LOAD EEPROM" and then "LOCK HDD". After that was done, I plugged the 300gb into my softmod and it went straight to dash and I was going to redo the softmod hack anyway on it later on.

 5.  Back on my hardmodded Xbox, I plugged in the new 1tb HDD along with the SATA adapter and boom...no video or audio, just blank screen.

 

[SS_Dave 626]

Are the 2 Xbox's the same version?

 

 

Cheers

SS Dave

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

 

[geohunk 0]

27 minutes ago, SS_Dave said:

Are the 2 Xbox's the same version?

 

 

Cheers

SS Dave

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

 

 Thats where I think I messed up...nope not same version...the hardmodded on is a 1.6. The softmodded one is a 1.2.

[SS_Dave 626]

2 minutes ago, geohunk said:

Thats where I think I messed up...nope not same version...the hardmodded on is a 1.6. The softmodded one is a 1.2.

Yep you will need to use a eeprom read/writer to connect to the 24c02 ic inside the Xbox to flash the 1.6 eeprom bin file back in, you have a backup of the original bin file don't you.

If you don't have a copy of the original file I can send you one from a version 1.6 I have here.

If you google Xbox eeprom reader/writer there is several that will work, I have used a simple one I made from 5 parts that connects to a serial port on a PC.

 

or you could also swap the eeprom from a dead board of the same version.

 

 

Cheers

SS Dave

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

[geohunk 0]

1 hour ago, SS_Dave said:

Yep you will need to use a eeprom read/writer to connect to the 24c02 ic inside the Xbox to flash the 1.6 eeprom bin file back in, you have a backup of the original bin file don't you.

If you don't have a copy of the original file I can send you one from a version 1.6 I have here.

If you google Xbox eeprom reader/writer there is several that will work, I have used a simple one I made from 5 parts that connects to a serial port on a PC.

 

or you could also swap the eeprom from a dead board of the same version.

 

 

Cheers

SS Dave

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

Wow looks a bit daunting for a noob like myself..lol! Appreciate the quick respnse...I'll have to see what I can do and send an update on here.

[SS_Dave 626]

The version 1.6 can be difficult to read and write with the chip on the board.

The easier optiom would be find a non working 1.6 board that should be easy to find and pull the chip from.

The part you need to change is this

 

if you think you can change that part I can post that IC to you.

 

Cheers

SS Dave

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

 

 

 

[geohunk 0]

46 minutes ago, SS_Dave said:

The version 1.6 can be difficult to read and write with the chip on the board.

The easier optiom would be find a non working 1.6 board that should be easy to find and pull the chip from.

The part you need to change is this

 

if you think you can change that part I can post that IC to you.

 

Cheers

SS Dave

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

 

 

 

Oh cool...sent you a PM.

Donor 1.6 boards are really really hard to come by where I live heck Xbox OGs in general is really scarce in the second hand market here.

Edited January 27 by geohunk

[KaosEngineer 735]

4 hours ago, geohunk said:

Oh cool...sent you a PM.

Donor 1.6 boards are really really hard to come by where I live heck Xbox OGs in general is really scarce in the second hand market here.

Do you have an eeprom.bin backup file from the 1.6  console?

[geohunk 0]

1 minute ago, KaosEngineer said:

Do you have an eeprom.bin backup file from the 1.6  console?

Actually I remember making a backup of it..that was the first thing I did when I bought the xbox from the seller...problem is it was saved on my old PC HDD which I need to scavenge out of storage...hopefully it is still there. Thing is I have no knowledge or skills in making or even doing an EEPROM reader writer. 

 

 So my next realistic option I guess would be to replace the EEPROM IC from another 1.6 box which are really really scarce out here...but Dave was kind enough to possibly looking into sending out a donor IC which I'll gladly pay for and have someone do the install for me.

 

 Lesson learned for me when playing with ConfigMagic. I just wished that old tutorial I followed had a disclaimer about flashing EEPROM's with different models etc...could have saved me all this trouble.

[feudalnate 6]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned recovery via modchip. Replace your current modchip with one that has an intermediate interface between startup and when a BIOS loaded, one that supports EEPROM access - a modchip such as the OpenXenium, Xenium, SmartXX, Xecuter 3, etc. can recover the EEPROM. You will need to write a 1.6 EEPROM image, if your hard drive isn't locked then the EEPROM image doesn't necessarily need to be your own but it needs to come from a 1.6 board (untested, would recommend writing the original EEPROM for the board if you have it)

You can grab an OpenXenium off eBay for $25

For future reference:

1.0 EEPROM images only work on a 1.0 board

1.1-1.4(1.5?) EEPROM images only work on 1.1-1.4(1.5?) boards

1.6(b) EEPROM images only work on 1.6(b) boards

1.0-1.4(1.5?) EEPROM images can be edited to work between these models but 1.6(b) EEPROM images contain a required hardware configuration data section and must be written to 1.6(b) boards only (perhaps other model EEPROM images could be edited to add this section but it's unclear if this hardware section is board specific or not)

Your mistake was writing an entire EEPROM image from another console instead of simply updating the XboxHDKey for locking

[SS_Dave 626]

32 minutes ago, feudalnate said:

I'm surprised no one has mentioned recovery via modchip. Replace your current modchip with one that has an intermediate interface between startup and when a BIOS loaded, one that supports EEPROM access - a modchip such as the OpenXenium, Xenium, SmartXX, Xecuter 3, etc. can recover the EEPROM. You will need to write a 1.6 EEPROM image, if your hard drive isn't locked then the EEPROM image doesn't necessarily need to be your own but it needs to come from a 1.6 board (untested, would recommend writing the original EEPROM for the board if you have it)

You can grab an OpenXenium off eBay for $25

For future reference:

1.0 EEPROM images only work on a 1.0 board

1.1-1.4(1.5?) EEPROM images only work on 1.1-1.4(1.5?) boards

1.6(b) EEPROM images only work on 1.6(b) boards

1.0-1.4(1.5?) EEPROM images can be edited to work between these models but 1.6(b) EEPROM images contain a required hardware configuration data section and must be written to 1.6(b) boards only (perhaps other model EEPROM images could be edited to add this section but it's unclear if this hardware section is board specific or not)

Your mistake was writing an entire EEPROM image from another console instead of simply updating the XboxHDKey for locking

I had thought of that but my experience with using  Open Xenium to repair a corrupt eeprom was a fail, I the end it was easier to rewrite the EEprom with a programmer.

The other small problem is a version 1.6 has a short window to start reading or writing to the eeprom while is on the board so the reliable way is to remove the chip from the board and put in a external programer,

Normally you could not give away a version 1.6 board as a lot of modders only like them for the Ram IC's and the GPU heat sink.

 

Cheers

SS Dave

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

 

[geohunk 0]

Really appeciate all the suggestions and advise by the members in this thread! 

 I'll go with the advise of just replacing the EEPROM IC itself on the board and see how that will work out. At least I know someone with excellent soldering skills who can do the job for me.

 

 Shout out to @SS_Dave big thanks!!