alibaba sata adapter, works but takes ages to boot

[bolofski]

Hi all, ive been using the chinese style adapters from ebay but the price has been creeping up on them so thought i would source a bulk from alibaba, they looked the same on the pics so thought i would be good to go, i ordered 10.  they work but the console takes ages to go from the xbox splash screen (without the microsoft tag) to the little microsoft tag appearing at the bottom (15 - 20 seconds as opposed to 1 or 2 seconds with the other adapters), once that has appeared they work fine, everything else is the same speedwise.  looking at these adapters they actually look better quality, even the master/slave jumper comes in its own little bag, one other thing I've noticed is they work with the standard 40 pin ide cable whereas the other chinese adapters only worked with an 80 pin.  anyone had any experience of these?

[sweetdarkdestiny]

Without the jumper the adapter is set to cable select mode. Set the jumper to master and use a 80 wire cable.

Edited February 10, 2022 by sweetdarkdestiny

[MadMartigan]

Also, if you're handy with a soldering iron you could reflow all the points. This has fixed DOA adapters I've recieved in the past. I think I've seen Dave mention that before as well. 

Edited February 10, 2022 by MadMartigan

[bolofski]

yes i install the jumper of course, all 10 adapters work great, just the bootup delay, no difference with/without the 80 pin cable, must be just the way these ones are, the other ones i have say 'rxd-xxxx"  or 'jp103' whereas these say 'm03c'

[KaosEngineer]

Can you remove the sticker from the main controller chip on the adapter to see if the adapter's manufacturer left any labeling on it?

Is it the same chip as on the JP103 or rxd-xxxx adapters?

 

[bolofski]

the m03c are using a vpd labelled chip, the rxd ones say ide/sata.  ive also just noticed the caps on the new ones are 25v 220uf where the rxd are 25v 470uf

[arfows]

Has anyone used the M03E version?  If so, what chip did it have?  Or is there another difference that i just am not picking up on other than the labeling around Y2/R3.  Other than the Chip and potentially the Caps, is there any difference between the JP103/RXD and the M03 series boards?

 

Edited March 4 by arfows
additional questions

[XbLuzbel]

Hi

Solder a 100 ohm resistor to R4 and you'll get instant boots. Not necessary, but you also have a 10K resistor around, solder it to RH1.

Edited March 4 by XbLuzbel

[Bowlsnapper]

6 hours ago, XbLuzbel said:

Hi

Solder a 100 ohm resistor to R4 and you'll get instant boots. Not necessary, but you also have a 10K resistor around, solder it to RH1.

What does adding the 10k resistor do? same thing, just more of it? Also, why TF don't they just do it at manufacturing?

[lopenator]

7 hours ago, XbLuzbel said:

Hi

Solder a 100 ohm resistor to R4 and you'll get instant boots. Not necessary, but you also have a 10K resistor around, solder it to RH1.

it's this really true 

[Bowlsnapper]

14 minutes ago, lopenator said:

it's this really true 

Apparently it works. People have done it. It makes it faster anyway. It also enables UDMA 5 (instead of 4) in many cases.

[XbLuzbel]

The 10K resistor is not necessary, but I read in a Reddit.com post that it could be added, and I simply added it. With this adapter and the added resistors, boot times went from 1.15 minutes to 34 seconds. 4TB disk, Xenium Prometheos Chip and Cerbios2.3.2UDMA6 bios. I don't understand why the manufacturer doesn't include it, I suppose to reduce costs.

 

[arfows]

I've never soldered an SMD before, which is what I'd assume you'd use for something like this?  I have a donor XBOX mobo board, are there any 100 ohm resistors on there that would fit that I could scavenge after practicing a bit?  There are 2500 entries for 100 Ohm SMDs on Mouser...does anybody know of any that would have all the right parameters?

Re: my original question, what chip is under the sticker on your M03E?  Where'd you get your M03E?  Ali? Thanks!

[XbLuzbel]

https://vi.aliexpress.com/item/1005005250074254.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.5.11e31802nkmqff&gatewayAdapt=glo2vnm

https://vi.aliexpress.com/item/1005005671741256.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.122.11e31802nkmqff&gatewayAdapt=glo2vnm

[arfows]

Thanks! The first pic shows an M03C vice an M03E, but I know where I can get the E variant...just wondering if the chip that is under the QC sticker is different on the E variant/ what it is marked with.  

Edited March 4 by arfows

[XbLuzbel]

Ok, when I can I'll look at it and share

[arfows]

Thanks!  Last question...there are several SMDs to pick from on that site, I know I need 100R but there are 0402, 0603, 0805 1206 1210 2512 listed on the main description...what do those reference and which one of those would I want?

Thanks again for all of your help!

[lopenator]

7 hours ago, Bowlsnapper said:

Apparently it works. People have done it. It makes it faster anyway. It also enables UDMA 5 (instead of 4) in many cases.

wow. why the heck don't they just add the resistor then? I'm about to install one on all my cheapo ones lolol

[XbLuzbel]

Hello, the package is 603.

[arfows]

Thanks.  Wow...those are pretty tiny.  Gonna take some significant practice with my setup.  Good thing there are so many.  If the M03E has a different chip than the M03C that may save me melting several of these lol

[Bowlsnapper]

34 minutes ago, arfows said:

Thanks.  Wow...those are pretty tiny.  Gonna take some significant practice with my setup.  Good thing there are so many.  If the M03E has a different chip than the M03C that may save me melting several of these lol

Use magnification and flux. Get a set of helping hands. Use tweezers. Watch youtube clips on SMD soldering. ONce you get the hang of it, it's actually very easy.

[FrostyMaGee]

2 hours ago, arfows said:

Thanks.  Wow...those are pretty tiny.  Gonna take some significant practice with my setup.  Good thing there are so many.  If the M03E has a different chip than the M03C that may save me melting several of these lol

Yeah as bowl mentioned magnification (even if it’s just a glass lens), helping/third hand is helpful, and tweezers are a must. Easiest way starting out with a soldering iron for this is basically cleaning off the pads for the area and dry tacking one end while you have the component placed. That’ll hold it in place so the can the solder the other side as normal then hit the side you dry tacked as well. It’s quite easy once you’ve done a couple. The biggest impediment is that it’s small but magnification, steady hand, and a little patience will overcome this part. Best of luck!  

[lopenator]

I just soldered a 100 ohm resistor to r4 and I'm getting no video out. I'm gonna remove it and see if that's the reason

edit: it wasn't the resistor. on this particular board when I ground d0 I get no video out.

Edited March 5 by lopenator

[arfows]

On 3/4/2024 at 1:56 PM, XbLuzbel said:

Ok, when I can I'll look at it and share

Xb - did you find out what markings were on the chip on your M-3E board?  Thanks again for all the help!

[XbLuzbel]

Hello, the chip is the following.
Greetings