Ram Upgrade

[Lexieye]

I’m in the process of upgrading my 1.2/3 Xbox with more RAM. I also have a DEAD 1.3 that I want to take the chips from and add them to the 1.2/3.

I've watched many tutorials and think the whole process isn’t that complicated.

is there anything I should know before hand before I start project?

 My 1.2/3 is TSOP’d with IND_BIO’s extended f/ partition that I use from HEXEN 2021 flashed to a 1TB hard drive.

[Donnie-Burger]

43 minutes ago, Lexieye said:

I’m in the process of upgrading my 1.2/3 Xbox with more RAM. I also have a DEAD 1.3 that I want to take the chips from and add them to the 1.2/3.

I've watched many tutorials and think the whole process isn’t that complicated.

is there anything I should know before hand before I start project?

 My 1.2/3 is TSOP’d with IND_BIO’s extended f/ partition that I use from HEXEN 2021 flashed to a 1TB hard drive.

How I do it:

Make sure to flash Xblast bios and load it up to make sure its loading (On some modchips with multiple banks xblast wont load)

 

1. Remove ram chips from dead motherboard with flux and hot air  + vacum pen (Tweezer cool too) (You don't need to ad solder to the legs 1st but you can as it makes the pull slightly easier) - Mechanic LT-201 - Cheap vacum pen - Non electrical and works really good $10

 

2. Clean new ram slot with ipa or acetone then Flux + Tin with leaded solder.  Now use de-solder braid to pick up excess solder and make the pads nice and flat/shiny. (I've tried many many de-solder braids over the years and MG Chemicals has been a Godsend - The newer style is even better).

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003AGEDVI?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

(I used to skip this step and slap ram chips in.  Way better results doing it the right way.  Sometimes get ram chip 1st try with no touch ups needed now).

 

3.  Align new ram chip to corners - Tak down corners while pressing firmly down on the ram chip to make it flat on the board.  When all ready and aligned you can solder each leg one at a time or use hot air to re-solder.  I use hot air now and then check each leg one at a time with tweezers.  Any legs move re-solder them/check again.

 

4. I have best results starting with underside but I don't believe it matters.  After 1 ram chip is soldered fire up xblast and do the 128mb ram test.  If all is good you should see success and 3 fails.  Repeat 1 at at time until all 4 say success.  Any frag'n in between testing is either ram chip not soldered right/leg loose/bad ram chip.

Edited June 15, 2022 by Donnie-Burger

[Donnie-Burger]

Edited June 15, 2022 by Donnie-Burger

[big F]

That's pretty much how I used to do it in the old days. just didn't have vac pens then so used a pencil with blue tac on it.

 

will be visiting this adventure again soon with the 1.6's and my un modded batch.  

 

in this day and age might as well mod them all, except the still sealed in box ones and my original unit  from Launch week. They are staying as is. 

[Lexieye]

My 128mb ram upgrade is not working correctly?

Sorry to bring this topic back up

i have flashed iND-BiOS 5003 67 and used XBlast OS to check the ram on the XBOX (so on paper it looks ok?)

it is a TSOP’d and not modchip XBOX

My PCSX emu won’t play games that it did before the upgrade?

I see no benefit in DVD-playback & graphics and most of my Original XBox games are struggling somewhat in frame rates, most noticeable in the non-OG-XBOX ports like HOD & DN3d, that weren’t that bad originally?

could I get some advice please

XBOX BIOS CHECKER 5.0 - By CrackJack (www.darkmoon.org) CHIP TYPE Winbond W49F020 (TSOP?) Using genuine BIOS IND-BIOS 6003 67 BIOS MD5 Hash 9ADF790EC29602D467E8FFAD5F2D33A4 Press <START> to reboot your BIACKbOx!

XBOX VERSION 1.2/3

CPU 733

RAM 128

 

[KaosEngineer]

You need to use the following patched iND-BiOS 5003 release with 128MBs of RAM.  It fixes a bug in the configuration of 128MBs of RAM that the original 5003 release has.  Edit: It also fixes the button combos that were to but did not require both triggers to be held to activate them - making it near impossible to use CoinOPS on a console running the original iND-BiOS 5003 BIOS/Kernel.  And, allows for Xbox Live network packets to be transmitted - needed to use Insignia when it is finally made available to the general public.

IND-BIOS 5003 Shutdown+Ram Patched+XBL Enabled.zip - Google Drive

Is this the version you are using?

Or, the xbins distribution version of iND-BiOS 5003?

You are using the original release. Try the patched version linked above.

[fox]

add a tiny spot of elmer's white glue to the middle of where each ram chip will sit before aligning them with the pads and let it dry for a day, it's better than trying to hold them in place as you are soldering because the smallest nudge or bump will knock those things out of alignment

[Lexieye]

19 hours ago, KaosEngineer said:

You need to use the following patched iND-BiOS 5003 release with 128MBs of RAM.  It fixes a bug in the configuration of 128MBs of RAM that the original 5003 release has.  Edit: It also fixes the button combos that were to but did not require both triggers to be held to activate them - making it near impossible to use CoinOPS on a console running the original iND-BiOS 5003 BIOS/Kernel.  And, allows for Xbox Live network packets to be transmitted - needed to use Insignia when it is finally made available to the general public.

IND-BIOS 5003 Shutdown+Ram Patched+XBL Enabled.zip - Google Drive

Is this the version you are using?

Or, the xbins distribution version of iND-BiOS 5003?

You are using the original release. Try the patched version linked above.

thank you online it said that the iND-BiOS 5003 67 was the 128mb bios
Shall I get a Aladdin to try your bios out and then remove and TSOP flash?

[KaosEngineer]

58 minutes ago, Lexieye said:

thank you online it said that the iND-BiOS 5003 67 was the 128mb bios
Shall I get a Aladdin to try your bios out and then remove and TSOP flash?

iND-BiOS 5003 supports 128MBs however, it does not work well.  You can either use the patched BIOS (patched release by xbox7887 and @Rocky5)  or run XBMC4Xbox to properly configure access to the extra 64MBs then run your emulator.

[Donnie-Burger]

22 hours ago, fox said:

add a tiny spot of elmer's white glue to the middle of where each ram chip will sit before aligning them with the pads and let it dry for a day, it's better than trying to hold them in place as you are soldering because the smallest nudge or bump will knock those things out of alignment

Align 1 corner and solder tak 1 pin.  Do the same for the opposite side repeat all 4 corners.  This way you cant fuck up.  I then like to start next to the soldered pin(s).  If on 1.6s handle pin 28 now so you don't solder it down like I do all the time

 

Check all pins with tweezers as multimeter can give you a false postivie.  Xblast os can have all 4 banks pass and you can black screen once you flash another bios.  Check your pins (Usually where you struggled) as this will be why.  This one here passed all tests in xblast but black screened most bios's.  Was a few pins not soldered down right.  This one was the toughest one yet.  Make sure if doing a 1,6 piggyback to clean both ram chips, on mobo and new or donors. You want nothing in between, not even flux. 

 

[fox]

5 hours ago, Donnie-Burger said:

You want nothing in between, not even flux. 

hmm

after I did the ram on mine I kept getting shorts or something in them until I cleaned out all the flux, like, the most infinitesimal flux residue between any two leads would keep the new ram from working and making them work took 5 or 6 scrubbings in the sink then drying and checking with XBLAST

are they really this sensitive? I figured it was just my cheapo flux, never had a problem using the same flux on other xbox parts

[Donnie-Burger]

1 hour ago, fox said:

hmm

after I did the ram on mine I kept getting shorts or something in them until I cleaned out all the flux, like, the most infinitesimal flux residue between any two leads would keep the new ram from working and making them work took 5 or 6 scrubbings in the sink then drying and checking with XBLAST

are they really this sensitive? I figured it was just my cheapo flux, never had a problem using the same flux on other xbox parts

I use kingbo flux and this doesnt happen.  I meant because some ram chips have shorter legs and barely reach so you want as much clearance as possible.

[fox]

14 hours ago, Donnie-Burger said:

I use kingbo flux and this doesnt happen.  I meant because some ram chips have shorter legs and barely reach so you want as much clearance as possible.

1.6 piggybacking, gotcha. I wasn't awake more than 2 minutes and missed that. Maybe my cheapo flux really is conductive.

[Donnie-Burger]

21 minutes ago, fox said:

1.6 piggybacking, gotcha. I wasn't awake more than 2 minutes and missed that. Maybe my cheapo flux really is conductive.

If you clean flux with ipa and slight residue left behind it can be conductive.  I clean with acetone now as its cheaper, better and dries super fast.

[fox]

39 minutes ago, Donnie-Burger said:

If you clean flux with ipa and slight residue left behind it can be conductive.  I clean with acetone now as its cheaper, better and dries super fast.

my alcohol is 99%, does acetone leave an odor after drying? sounds interesting

[sweetdarkdestiny]

1 hour ago, fox said:

1.6 piggybacking, gotcha. I wasn't awake more than 2 minutes and missed that. Maybe my cheapo flux really is conductive.

Mix some of your flux with some IPA (which is hopefuly 99%) and check it with a MM.

What I do is to blow most of flux out with some hot air (150°C and 100% AF) and clean it then with IPA. After that it's pretty clean.

[Donnie-Burger]

8 hours ago, fox said:

my alcohol is 99%, does acetone leave an odor after drying? sounds interesting

Nothing left.  I clean cpu / gpu and ram chips with this and it's made life easier

[Donnie-Burger]

Doing another 1.6 - Harvesting from a liquid damage un-fixable 1.6 donor - Had about 10 of these when @Prehistoricmandropped the bomb on us!  Thank you bud!

 

What I have discovered thus far:
Hynix ram chips are slightly thicker. If your 1.6 has hynix chips ram legs will barely reach making it harder to solder them down. Samsung on samsung is much easier as samsungs have a lower profile and legs are slightly longer.

Samsung on Samsung: (I recommend this for first timers)

Hope this helps anyone.

 

[Lexieye]

On 8/12/2022 at 1:21 PM, KaosEngineer said:

You need to use the following patched iND-BiOS 5003 release with 128MBs of RAM.  It fixes a bug in the configuration of 128MBs of RAM that the original 5003 release has.  Edit: It also fixes the button combos that were to but did not require both triggers to be held to activate them - making it near impossible to use CoinOPS on a console running the original iND-BiOS 5003 BIOS/Kernel.  And, allows for Xbox Live network packets to be transmitted - needed to use Insignia when it is finally made available to the general public.

IND-BIOS 5003 Shutdown+Ram Patched+XBL Enabled.zip - Google Drive

Is this the version you are using?

Or, the xbins distribution version of iND-BiOS 5003?

You are using the original release. Try the patched version linked above.

I’m sorry I’m confused in Which ones on the download link do I choose?

.03.bin

.67.bin

 

[KaosEngineer]

54 minutes ago, Lexieye said:

I’m sorry I’m confused in Which ones on the download link do I choose?

.03.bin

.67.bin

 

.06, not .03 or .67 indicates the default LBA48 configuration of the BIOS:

• .06 = Partition 6 only (F drive), no partition 7 (G drive)
• .67 = Partition 6 up to 137GB max LBA28 hard drive and partition 7, G drive, takes rest.

However, a partition should not be bigger than the cluster size it is formatted with. 

UnleashX formats extended partitions with only 16KB clusters; therefore, the largest the extended partition 7 should be is 256 GBs.  If the partition is larger than that size, reformat it with XBPartitioner v1.3.

I always run XBPartitioner v1.3 to make sure that ER is not displayed to the left of the extended partitions' sizes after a new hard drive is formatted with any application other than XBPartitioner v1.3.  If it is, the partition was formatted with the wrong cluster size and should be reformatted to use the correct cluster size.

 

Once XBPartitioner writes a partition table to the hard drive, it doesn't matter which BIOS - .06 or .67 - you use.  The BIOS's LBA48 v3 patch first checks for the presence of a partition table on the hard drive.  If found, the settings in it override the default BIOS settings.  If not found, the BIOS's default settings are used.