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Current chip that supports X3 bios?


Bowlsnapper
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10 hours ago, Bowlsnapper said:

Forgive me if this is something that can be found by searching, but I haven't found it:

Is there currently any chip in production that supports the X3 bios? It seems like the only ones around have 256k flashes, unless I'm mistaken

The X3 bios is for the X3 chip. I think they made a stripped down version that you could run on a 1MB modchip but there isn't really any reason to do it. 

The Open Xenium is currently in production and it's similar. I don't believe it will run an X3 bios but they have their own alternative. 

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Man, I really need to search better before opening a thread.

Okay, there is a version of the X3 2914 bios that was "unlocked" to work on ,theoretically, any 1MB flash, including 1.0/1.1 TSOP flashes, which has apparently been confirmed to work... or the Xenium 1MB flash. You're correct that there doesn't seem to be much point, since the Xenium doesn't have an onboard EEPROM for it's own personal use and, thus, the X3CL cannot store any settings. However, I have a few questions.

-If installed to a non-X3 flash, will X3 Config Live still boot with the white button?

-If it boots on a TSOP, can it make use of the Xbox's onboard/mainboard EEPROM to store CL settings? I have a feeling the answer is no, since the X3 bios seems more complex than the MS bios and the X3 chip's EEPROM is probably more complex to accommodate, but I don't know shit, so I'm asking here because you guys know how these things work.

-If it boots on the Xenium, I'm assuming that if you can boot into CL, then whatever changes you make will not be saved due to the lack of a dedicated EEPROM. If that's the case, will any settings it wants to load by default conflict with anything Xenium does on startup?

- Is there any bios alternative to the X3 that has the same flexibility and control over settings?

-If I'm dead set on using the damn X3 bios, is there any way to change bios settings if/when I need to? Even if it's just a stupid flubber color change?

I've been using my X3 for years, and I honestly can't imagine not having that sort of control over my bios. The X3 is just intuitive and easy to use, sort of like how I prefer Android/PC to anything Apple. It just works the way I feel it should and in a way that makes sense. As far as I know, there is no way to edit configuration of something like the Evox M8 bios without manually editing a config file on the hard drive or something. And fuck that. Although, please correct me if I'm wrong on that point... Also, I like the feeling of running the X3 bios regardless, even if it offers me no practical advantage. Especially if I'm no worse off than using a commonly used/popular 256k or 512k ROM. If I can, then I will! :)

The OpenXenium does seem pretty cool, actually, but I'm looking for a bit more flexibility over whichever bios I use, if I can somehow achieve that in the same way X3CL used to enable me to do. Then I will use the OpenXenium in all my future mods!... at least until R3DUX gets finished. :)

I'll continue to research and post my findings here, in case others may be curious about it. There is a surprising lack of anecdotal documentation on this particular topic. However, I would appreciate it if people could give me a few answers to these questions and give me any additional input. I like to learn!

Edited by Bowlsnapper
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I would edit my previous post, but I'm not allowed for some reason... Can I also point out that the search function on here does not work very well?

Details were promised but never materialized. That's a bummer, especially since the guy hasn't logged in for 18 months or so. I found a couple of releases of a PC utility called X3 Patcher for the 2914 build (on xbox-hq) that changes the settings and saves them to an "internal EEPROM", whatever the hell that means. I guess the X3 bios can be pointed inside it's own image for settings normally stored in the EEPROM? Interesting. I'm gonna try this out as soon as I get a hold of some OpenXenium chips. If I can get this to work, I'd be willing to set up a hardware template for my future builds, and then build a version of the X3 bios that will suit my configuration (2TB(so F&G), dashboard names & locations, etc.) as far as CL settings, and then just flash it to all my OpenXenium chips...

Or, I could use an X2 5035.67 bios and be able to edit the x2config.ini with the text editor built into UnleashX's file explorer any time I wanted to make a change. But GOD I love the X3... I wish I had a computer science background so I could just find a way to fit the CL menu into the bios image and save settings to a config file on the hard drive. It has to be possible to do that isn't it? It would just require time and effort... and skills that I regrettably do not possess. That would be a worthwhile experiment/project, in my eyes.

 Any thoughts?

Please excuse my overenthusiastic nature. I hope I'm not perceivable filling the forum up with stupid bullcrap. I'm just incredibly passionate about this stuff for some reason... and I probably have Asperger Syndrome or something. 

I... just can't help myself. :)

Edited by Bowlsnapper
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On 1/1/2022 at 2:26 PM, Bowlsnapper said:

Forgive me if this is something that can be found by searching, but I haven't found it:

Is there currently any chip in production that supports the X3 bios? It seems like the only ones around have 256k flashes, unless I'm mistaken

In my view the only 2 pluses for the X3 chip are the bios selection is via switches ( the Xenium is menu controlled) and the LCD is driven direct from the mod chip(The Xenium needs a interface board)

Other than that the Xenium/Open Xenium with the X2 5035.67 bios and the correct config file on the hard drive is just as good.

 

Cheers

SS Dave


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

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14 hours ago, Bowlsnapper said:

The OpenXenium does seem pretty cool, actually, but I'm looking for a bit more flexibility over whichever bios I use, if I can somehow achieve that in the same way X3CL used to enable me to do.

I believe the Xenium OS provides more flexibility over which BIOS you use than the X3 does.

 

What feature of the X3CL are you looking to achieve?  Modding the flubber animation colors.  

No other Gen 4 Xbox modchip's controlling OS is a modified Xbox BIOS and configuration application.  They all control the modchip then boot a different development team's modified Xbox BIOS to do Xbox operations - play original games and unsigned homebrew applications - emulators, PC game ports, etc.

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6 hours ago, SS_Dave said:

In my view the only 2 pluses for the X3 chip are the bios selection is via switches ( the Xenium is menu controlled) and the LCD is driven direct from the mod chip(The Xenium needs a interface board)

Other than that the Xenium/Open Xenium with the X2 5035.67 bios and the correct config file on the hard drive is just as good.

 

Cheers

SS Dave


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

I hear you. X2 5035 will probably end up being the practical option.

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6 hours ago, KaosEngineer said:

I believe the Xenium OS provides more flexibility over which BIOS you use than the X3 does.

 

What feature of the X3CL are you looking to achieve?  Modding the flubber animation colors.  

No other Gen 4 Xbox modchip's controlling OS is a modified Xbox BIOS and configuration application.  They all control the modchip then boot a different development team's modified Xbox BIOS to do Xbox operations - play original games and unsigned homebrew applications - emulators, PC game ports, etc.

I think that if i settle on a particular group of settings, i won't have to worry about CL so much. I think I'm more into it just to be seen if it can be done or made to happen, even if just proof of concept. It would be pretty neat.

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