Aladdin XT flashing with Xblast

[Johny white]

I've got one of these Aladdin XT clones from Aliexpress and want to flash it with XBlast instead of using the openxenium for testing my boards I do ram upgrade on. From what I read some said that the SST49LF020A chip needs to be replaced with SST49LF080A.

Anyone has more idea of how this is exactly done or is there a write up about this? I've attached a picture of the SST49LF020A  that's on the Aladdin XT I got at the moment/

[MadMartigan]

Have a read here

Edited April 30 by MadMartigan
Fixed link

[Johny white]

2 hours ago, MadMartigan said:

Have a read here

I got OGXBox Bios Flasher Disc v1.1.0, placed bios.bin in c:/bios/ and booted Xblast OS from the flasher disc, choose HDD flash, it then says confirm flash active bank? Hold RT, LT, Start and White to confirm. I do this few times and eventually xbox just reboots. Any ideas!!!

 

[colinmcm]

Johny white     good chance the chip is fake on the board.   Manfacture id 57.     real is 52.

[Johny white]

50 minutes ago, colinmcm said:

Johny white     good chance the chip is fake on the board.   Manfacture id 57.     real is 52.

You're right. So how does one go from there? Ir I get SST49LF080A is there a way for me to flash this instead?

[KaosEngineer]

25 minutes ago, Johny white said:

You're right. So how does one go from there? Ir I get SST49LF080A is there a way for me to flash this instead?

<KaosEngineer: I removed the images to save space.  See them above.>

 

No, for the Aladdin XT you need a real SST49LF020A (Manufacturer ID: BF Device ID: 52).  

Edit: To update the BIOS on the modchip you have.  You have to remove the flash memory chip from the socket then reprogram it using an external flash programmer that connects to a PC.

The socketed flash chip that has been installed on many recently purchased Aladdin modchips has been a rebadged part - SST49LF002A (Manufacturer ID: BF Device ID: 57), not a real SST49LF020A that can be reprogrammed with Evoxdash or any other flash programming application that runs on the Xbox.

Edit 2: There may be a design flaw on the modchip's printed circuit board that is preventing the flash chip from being reprogrammable or CPLD code revision error/bug. However, I don't have one of these problem modchips to see if that's the case or not.  IIRC, Evoxdash and XBlastOS know the correct programming algorithm to flash an SST49LF002A flash device.

To make an Aladdin XBlast hybrid modchip that uses an SST49LF080A, you have to reprogram the Lattice CPLD chip (using a JTAG programmer) and replace the flash memory chip with the preprogrammed part you mention.

Edit 3: To preprogram the SST49LF080A, you need the external programmer previously mentioned. Or, have an already working Aladdin XBlast hybrid modchip that you can hotswap modchips or remove and socket a new SST49LF080A into the modchip to program the new device in the Xbox.

I keep thinking of new things to add to my original post.

 

[Johny white]

13 minutes ago, KaosEngineer said:

No, for the Aladdin XT you need a real SST49LF020A (Manufacturer ID: BF Device ID: 52).  

Edit: To update the BIOS on the modchip you have.  You have to remove the flash memory chip from the socket then reprogram it using an external flash programmer that connects to a PC.

The socketed flash chip that has been installed on many recently purchased Aladdin modchips has been a rebadged part - SST49LF002A (Manufacturer ID: BF Device ID: 57), not a real SST49LF020A that can be reprogrammed with Evoxdash or any other flash programming application that runs on the Xbox.

Edit2: There may be a design flaw on the modchip's printed circuit board that is preventing the flash chip from being reprogrammable or CPLD coding revision error. However, I don't have one of these problem modchips to see if that's the case or not.  IIRC, Evoxdash and XBlastOS know the correct programming algorithm to flash an SST49LF002A flash device.

To make an Aladdin XBlast hybrid modchip that uses an SST49LF080A, you have to reprogram the Lattice CPLD chip (using a JTAG programmer) and replace the flash memory chip with the part you mention.

Thanks for your reply, I can get hold of both SST49LF020A and SST49LF080A. I've also got few jtag and epprom programmers. If I get the SST49LF020A  can I just my eppprom pgorammer to flash the bios directly onto it?

[KaosEngineer]

2 minutes ago, Johny white said:

Thanks for your reply, I can get hold of both SST49LF020A and SST49LF080A. I've also got few jtag and epprom programmers. If I get the SST49LF020A  can I just my eppprom pgorammer to flash the bios directly onto it?

Yes, as long as the external device / EEPROM programmer's software knows how to program an SST49LF020A.

 

Or without the new part, it knows how to program the current flash device - SST49LF002A - on your modchip.  No need to get another flash device unless you want to reflash the modchip while installed in the Xbox.

NOTE: If there is a bug in the CPLD's logic code or a printed circuit board layout error, a real SST49LF020A may not be reprogrammable either while the modchip is installed in the Xbox.  I don't know if anyone has tried replacing the fake SST49LF020A with a real SST49LF020A to see if the modchip's BIOS can be reflashed while installed in the console.

[Johny white]

16 hours ago, KaosEngineer said:

Yes, as long as the external device / EEPROM programmer's software knows how to program an SST49LF020A.

 

Or without the new part, it knows how to program the current flash device - SST49LF002A - on your modchip.  No need to get another flash device unless you want to reflash the modchip while installed in the Xbox.

NOTE: If there is a bug in the CPLD's logic code or a printed circuit board layout error, a real SST49LF020A may not be reprogrammable either while the modchip is installed in the Xbox.  I don't know if anyone has tried replacing the fake SST49LF020A with a real SST49LF020A to see if the modchip's BIOS can be reflashed while installed in the console.

Do you know the right size for the plcc socket for the SST49LF020A as I need to get one to connect to my eppprom programmers?

[KaosEngineer]

6 hours ago, Johny white said:

Do you know the right size for the plcc socket for the SST49LF020A as I need to get one to connect to my eppprom programmers?

It's a standard PLCC-32 layout.  I'm not sure if this is what you are asking about?

[Johny white]

Thanks for all the replies, I now know where I stand but it clear that to program an SST49LF020A  or even SST49LF080A I need a decent EPROM programmer like TOP3000 or similar which sells for a nearly £120.00. So I'm just going to continue with the openxenium for now. Its shaem though as openxium doesn't seem to work with some of the 1.0 boards and  console keep fragging when trying to boot xblast bios from openxenium.

[KaosEngineer]

14 hours ago, Johny white said:

Thanks for all the replies, I now know where I stand but it clear that to program an SST49LF020A  or even SST49LF080A I need a decent EPROM programmer like TOP3000 or similar which sells for a nearly £120.00.

You can use a Nano BIOS Programmer ($24 to $34 + S&H) to flash an SST49LF020A, 080A, 002A, etc.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1313&_nkw=nano+bios+programmer&_sacat=0

Quote

So I'm just going to continue with the openxenium for now. Its shaem though as openxium doesn't seem to work with some of the 1.0 boards and  console keep fragging when trying to boot xblast bios from openxenium.

Yes, XBlastOS BIOS will not boot from the XeniumOS - OpenXenium issue #6 - XeniumOS: v1.0 Xboxes 'frag' when booting Cromwell/Xblast from XeniumOS.

[edit: Only on v1.0 Xboxes - other revisions ???. I don't see mention of them having a problem so don't use a v1.0 console with an OpenXenium to boot XblastOS.]

 

You can run the XBlastOS XBE version from a replacement dashboard once you boot a different modified BIOS.

However, if you need/want to boot directly into XBlast OS from a modchip flashed with its dot bin file - crcwell.bin, you will need to use another modchip, not the OpenXenium.