N64 Freak's 1400/ 1512 mhz mod - ind-bios.cfg - cooling - fan speed

[Ewok0815]

Hey guys. It is 2023 and still running this wonderful box for my arcade cab. I recently figured that my idle CPU temperature is at about 59 C. I thought this maybe a bit high to have a long life. Maybe this type of processor can handle it but I would want to check for cooling possibilities. At first I've installed a 80mm Noctua. And it shows 59 C°. in the dash. GPU is about 10 C° lower. I wanted to override fan speed in the dash... but those settings don't effect the speed. At least I can't hear anything happening. Then I wanted to check for the ind-bios.cfg to raise the idle speed. And here comes the next thing... I don't have it? I couldn't find it. I am running a 1512 mhz mod with basic xmbc dash/ ind.bios pre setup by N64 Freak. Is the *.cfg file hidden somewhere or injected somehow? Can I just copy one to C:\? Any chance for me to raise fan speed permanently? Or is it fixed due to power supply and always runs at max? How you guys handle temperature on those mods? And why there is no effect when using the override option in the dash an pumping from 10% to 100%?

Happy to hear your voices and hints to keep this baby alive for years to come.

 

All best,

Dan

[Ewok0815]

Maybe I can fill the thread with self conversation  No problem. So my first - and propably easiest path - would be to update the fan again. Maybe the current one is too large and runs too slow. So I already ordered one of those 3d printed adapters to hook up a 60 mm fan. Different power specs may also impact on this one. Let's see what happens. I'll go the hardware route first place. Not looking to change bios settings and to reflash for now.

[SS_Dave]

You need to set the fan speed in the IND config file that should be on C drive (ind-bios.cfg)

FANSPEED=10        ;Fan Speed   10-50 = 20-100%                    Default=10

 

Cheers

SS Dave

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

 

[SS_Dave]

Here is a link to the configuration file.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1caRKikz2bkc8SZZcT4uwO_DSsGu-EO1L/view?usp=share_link

 

Copy it to the Xbox C drive root directory

 

Cheers

SS Dave

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

[Ewok0815]

Thanks alot Dave. I know this is a pretty basic topic and has been talked about many times. Thought it may be a bit different with those specific mods. However... the *.cfg file you are referring to was on my list to check. But I do not have it on my drive. Don't know why. Shouldn't it be automatically created? So if there is no *.cfg file... I simply can add one and the bios knows to read this first? What is the start up routine looking for. Where are those specs stored when obviously no config file has been made to read from?

[SS_Dave]

3 hours ago, Ewok0815 said:

Thanks alot Dave. I know this is a pretty basic topic and has been talked about many times. Thought it may be a bit different with those specific mods. However... the *.cfg file you are referring to was on my list to check. But I do not have it on my drive. Don't know why. Shouldn't it be automatically created? So if there is no *.cfg file... I simply can add one and the bios knows to read this first? What is the start up routine looking for. Where are those specs stored when obviously no config file has been made to read from?

No it's not automatically created and yes you copy it to C drive and the bios will go looking for it. Without the config file the bios uses the default values

The link I added has a config file that can be edited in any text editor, then placed on the root of c drive.

Things to look at are 

FANSPEED=10        ;Fan Speed   10-50 = 20-100%                           Default=10   : I set to 20 for my location or 30 for hotter locations

USEUSEALLMEMORY=0    ;Use 128mb of Ram if Available                Default=0

DASH1=\Device\Harddisk0\Partition6\evoxdash.xbe     :not sure why it's set to look at f drive for the 1st dash
DASH2=\Device\Harddisk0\Partition1\evoxdash.xbe      :for me I set to xbmc4gamers/default 
DASH3=\Device\Harddisk0\Partition2\evoxdash.xbe     :you can have this one set to a backup dash in the event something happens to the main dash
DEFAULTXBE=\Device\CdRom0\default.xbe

 

 

Cheers

SS Dave

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

[GoTeamScotch]

Just to add, you can also use the iND-BIOS Config App to make changes to your BIOS's config file.

Download link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NJj25fhvUNpdRk60oN9oGODwnCIYLTla/view?usp=share_link

Are you running an arcade cabinet with a complete Xbox inside? Or is it without the case? Just curious how you're cooling yours.

Food for thought- Nemesis makes a fan mod kit that replaces the HDD caddy and has two 80mm fans blowing directly down onto the CPU heatsink.
https://www.emuxtras.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=187&t=6786&start=80#p95668

Edited February 17 by GoTeamScotch

[Ewok0815]

Wow. Those are great informations guys. Thanks for all the links and hints. I will go through all of the above in the next days. I was wondering... if I place the *.cfg to C:\ and mess anything up with the dash path or whatever and the box won't load... what is the best way to connect and ftp without a runnig dash? Havn't connected to the box for years and if I recall I also used the HEXEN CD to boot and use network from there. Does this work?

As for the cab. Yes... I have my xbox connected with the jamma port of my arcade cab. Still running all original hardware inside including CRT. Did some revision on the monitor chassis lately. Not that I am able to this by my self though. I just know where to go and whom to ask  The box doesn't sit inside the cab. There is some space but I would be afraid toasting the CPU due to the lag of fresh air. Right now it sits on top. I think that fan mod kit from Nemesis is a beast. I will definitely take a deep look into that. 

[SS_Dave]

On 2/19/2023 at 3:43 AM, Ewok0815 said:

Wow. Those are great informations guys. Thanks for all the links and hints. I will go through all of the above in the next days. I was wondering... if I place the *.cfg to C:\ and mess anything up with the dash path or whatever and the box won't load... what is the best way to connect and ftp without a runnig dash? Havn't connected to the box for years and if I recall I also used the HEXEN CD to boot and use network from there. Does this work?

As for the cab. Yes... I have my xbox connected with the jamma port of my arcade cab. Still running all original hardware inside including CRT. Did some revision on the monitor chassis lately. Not that I am able to this by my self though. I just know where to go and whom to ask  The box doesn't sit inside the cab. There is some space but I would be afraid toasting the CPU due to the lag of fresh air. Right now it sits on top. I think that fan mod kit from Nemesis is a beast. I will definitely take a deep look into that. 

Quote

I was wondering... if I place the *.cfg to C:\ and mess anything up with the dash path or whatever and the box won't load.

Have a look at C:\ drive and if you see a  file called "evoxdash.xbe" it will be fine.

What dash is your Xbox using? as you can always set the path to look there 1st.

I have mine set to boot XBMC4Gamers from E:\

"DASH1=\Device\Harddisk0\Partition1\xbmc\default.xbe"

Quote

and the box won't load... what is the best way to connect and ftp without a running dash?

I use the OGXbox 2021 installer V1.5.4 DVD I know you can FTP to the Xbox if you boot from this disk.

You can download a copy from here

https://1fichier.com/dir/mX1kipIz

 

Cheers

SS Dave

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

[Ewok0815]

Still running XBMC3.3.3. as N64 Freak delivered. Do have a couple more dashes seperately on the drive though. 

First I wanted to download the ogxbox installer. But unfortunately all links seem to be down so far. Then I realized that I had a "LNA" adapter with my 80 mm Noctua. Means that it is reducing to 1650 rpm. I removed the adapter to run at 2000 rpm full speed now. I was able to cool down by 5C°. Running now on 54C° in idle. I was copying some stuff from the HDD and it went above 60C° causing the HDD to shut down. I hope I can revive it after cooling back down.

Therefore I think the fan is already running at max speed automatically. There wouldn't be a change if I modify the ind-bios.cfg. Still the dash board fan override doesn't do anything. Regardless which dash I am loading to set the speed override. Absolutely no effect. 

However. I think I am still too high with my temperature here. I have running coin ops for years now but always thought I will need to cool it down somehow to support lifetime. The Noctua 80mm is capable of  50,4 m³/h airflow but still not enough keeping everything cool to normal. I would think running at 40C° idle would be best. But hey... there is so much stuff inside the box with the HDD tray and DVD drive to prevent optimal airflow.

That fan upgrade from Nemisis seems to be a great option. But as far as I could see it hasn't been released yet and I would need to do major modifications to the inside layout. Guess the DVD drive at least will be obsolete then.  

 

[SS_Dave]

17 minutes ago, Ewok0815 said:

Still running XBMC3.3.3. as N64 Freak delivered. Do have a couple more dashes seperately on the drive though. 

First I wanted to download the ogxbox installer. But unfortunately all links seem to be down so far. Then I realized that I had a "LNA" adapter with my 80 mm Noctua. Means that it is reducing to 1650 rpm. I removed the adapter to run at 2000 rpm full speed now. I was able to cool down by 5C°. Running now on 54C° in idle. I was copying some stuff from the HDD and it went above 60C° causing the HDD to shut down. I hope I can revive it after cooling back down.

Therefore I think the fan is already running at max speed automatically. There wouldn't be a change if I modify the ind-bios.cfg. Still the dash board fan override doesn't do anything. Regardless which dash I am loading to set the speed override. Absolutely no effect. 

However. I think I am still too high with my temperature here. I have running coin ops for years now but always thought I will need to cool it down somehow to support lifetime. The Noctua 80mm is capable of  50,4 m³/h airflow but still not enough keeping everything cool to normal. I would think running at 40C° idle would be best. But hey... there is so much stuff inside the box with the HDD tray and DVD drive to prevent optimal airflow.

That fan upgrade from Nemisis seems to be a great option. But as far as I could see it hasn't been released yet and I would need to do major modifications to the inside layout. Guess the DVD drive at least will be obsolete then.  

 

Quote

 

First I wanted to download the ogxbox installer. But unfortunately all links seem to be down so far

 

Try this link it was missing the last two letters  (My Bad)

https://1fichier.com/dir/mX1kipIz

 

Cheers

SS Dave

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

 

 

 

[Ewok0815]

Alright, thanks Dave. Just ordered a blank set of Verbatim DVD-R. Tried to burn the ISO with my remaining ones but had no luck. I do have an old Slayers which works on another Xbox. My Tsop ind-bios Xbox doesn't care about CD or DVD in the drive when booting up. Is there a hidden procedure I need to follow to start booting from the DVD drive?

[SS_Dave]

5 minutes ago, Ewok0815 said:

Alright, thanks Dave. Just ordered a blank set of Verbatim DVD-R. Tried to burn the ISO with my remaining ones but had no luck. I do have an old Slayers which works on another Xbox. My Tsop ind-bios Xbox doesn't care about CD or DVD in the drive when booting up. Is there a hidden procedure I need to follow to start booting from the DVD drive?

When burning any DVD's for the Xbox I always set the write speed as slow as possible and I have always used Verbatim DVD-r.

I recently used a USB DVD writer and it was even slower that the desktop DVD writer.

Generally all Xbox bios's will cold boot a DVD disk by loading the disk in the DVD drive and power off the Xbox for 30 seconds then power on with the power button, There is 2 exceptions the new Cerbios has a mode that's made to have 2 hard drives connected instead of a DVD and HDD and the Evox bios that's on some of the Hexen Disks as the bios has had the reference to the DVD removed.

 

 

Cheers

SS Dave

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

 

[Ewok0815]

So that the Slayers works on one Box and has no effect on the other could be the drive? Maybe I could swap the drives if this will work. Don't think I have a any of those exceptions you mentioned running. Okay... I'll wait for my new DVD-Rs and will give it another try. Let's see ehat happens. Thanks again for your support Dave. Much appreciated. 

[SS_Dave]

1 hour ago, Ewok0815 said:

So that the Slayers works on one Box and has no effect on the other could be the drive? Maybe I could swap the drives if this will work. Don't think I have a any of those exceptions you mentioned running. Okay... I'll wait for my new DVD-Rs and will give it another try. Let's see ehat happens. Thanks again for your support Dave. Much appreciated. 

Some DVD drives read DVD-r better than others so swapping the DVD drive might help

 

Cheers

SS Dave

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

[Ewok0815]

Okie. Got it! Switched the drive from my 1.4 crystal box. That thing takes it all  Best part... the hdd I thought to be near the end of life due to clicking sounds and turning off by itself... just revived back to normal. So the dvd drive sent hickups to the hdd somehow. Might be the ide cable or the drive itself. However.. I just ordered everything for a ssd upgrade and started setting it up. Works like a charm so far. Will need to transfer data and will hopefully loose mechanical hdd sounds and heat. Might help with the idle temperature as well. So doing a few hardware modifications like these should help reducing cooling the system down by a few C°. Let's see what happens.

[SS_Dave]

Is the DVD a Philips drive?

Do you have a mod-chip on that MB? or would you consider fitting a chip?

If it was mine I would at least test the Cerbios and if you use a modchip if you don't like it all you have to do is remove the chip and it's back to the way it was.

The Cerbios in conjunction with a SSD will allow you to take advantage you faster IDE bus speeds, currently the bus runs at UDMA2 and the Cerbios allows UDMA5 when you use a Startech Sata2Ide and a 80 wire IDE cable.

As  for cooling I would remove the DVD drive and mount the SSD there and 3D print a shroud to cover the CPU/GPU some thing like this.

 

 

Cheers

SS Dave

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

 

 

[Ewok0815]

Yep... it's a Philips drive. There is no Modchip on the MB. Just TSOP. Which actually works nicely right now. I was able to mount the SSD using a 80 wire IDE cable and Star Tech converter with the help of the OGxbox installer you've provided the link for. Took me day to find the settings with the partitions and copying though. It is such a relief with this SSD now. Cloned everything back from the HDD and it runs just great. I was able to lower idle temp to 54C°. Seems okay for now. I actually thought about getting rid off the DVD drive and optimizing airflow. Maybe I'll check that route on a later mission. For now I am pretty happy with my very silent mod to feed my arcade cab. Just love this little box. Thanks alot for all your input Dave.

[SS_Dave]

2 hours ago, Ewok0815 said:

Yep... it's a Philips drive. There is no Modchip on the MB. Just TSOP. Which actually works nicely right now. I was able to mount the SSD using a 80 wire IDE cable and Star Tech converter with the help of the OGxbox installer you've provided the link for. Took me day to find the settings with the partitions and copying though. It is such a relief with this SSD now. Cloned everything back from the HDD and it runs just great. I was able to lower idle temp to 54C°. Seems okay for now. I actually thought about getting rid off the DVD drive and optimizing airflow. Maybe I'll check that route on a later mission. For now I am pretty happy with my very silent mod to feed my arcade cab. Just love this little box. Thanks alot for all your input Dave.

You are welcome..

 

Quote

I actually thought about getting rid off the DVD drive and optimizing airflow.

The HDD and DVD mounting brackets are there to assist with cooling by directing the air towards the GPU/CPU.

2 hours ago, Ewok0815 said:

There is no Modchip on the MB.

On the MB I got from N64 freak he left the pin header on the board so adding a mod chip is a simple thing to do as you only need one wire to the board for the D0 and by having a mod chip it's good when testing a new bios in case it doesn't work on your board.

 

Cheers

SS Dave

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

[Onaga]

On 2/26/2023 at 11:33 PM, Ewok0815 said:

Yep... it's a Philips drive. There is no Modchip on the MB. Just TSOP. Which actually works nicely right now. I was able to mount the SSD using a 80 wire IDE cable and Star Tech converter with the help of the OGxbox installer you've provided the link for. Took me day to find the settings with the partitions and copying though. It is such a relief with this SSD now. Cloned everything back from the HDD and it runs just great. I was able to lower idle temp to 54C°. Seems okay for now. I actually thought about getting rid off the DVD drive and optimizing airflow. Maybe I'll check that route on a later mission. For now I am pretty happy with my very silent mod to feed my arcade cab. Just love this little box. Thanks alot for all your input Dave.

Is the Modchip a Xblast? Becasue you can put the fan speed to 100% in Xblast OS and it will overtake the settings no matter whats missing (for example the cfg file on C). Its basically a good insurance just in case you forget something. Not sure about OpenXenium or other Modchips with Custom OS. I have a N64 Freak 1,4Ghz as well and it came with the Xblast.

[SS_Dave]

4 hours ago, Onaga said:

Is the Modchip a Xblast? Becasue you can put the fan speed to 100% in Xblast OS and it will overtake the settings no matter whats missing (for example the cfg file on C). Its basically a good insurance just in case you forget something. Not sure about OpenXenium or other Modchips with Custom OS. I have a N64 Freak 1,4Ghz as well and it came with the Xblast.

The OP's N64 Freak board hasn't got a mod-chip, Both the N64 Freak boards and the OP's come flashed with IND5004.67 bios and as long as the HDD is working and the config.ini is there then there is no issue. If the config file is missing then the fan returns to auto

I have found there is no need to run the fan at 100% unless you have downgraded the stock fan with an Noctua fan.

 

 

Cheers

SS Dave

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

[Onaga]

5 hours ago, SS_Dave said:

The OP's N64 Freak board hasn't got a mod-chip, Both the N64 Freak boards and the OP's come flashed with IND5004.67 bios and as long as the HDD is working and the config.ini is there then there is no issue. If the config file is missing then the fan returns to auto

I have found there is no need to run the fan at 100% unless you have downgraded the stock fan with an Noctua fan.

 

 

Cheers

SS Dave

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

Mine came with an Xblast, and I installed a Noctua and put fan speed to 100% in Xblast OS.

[Ewok0815]

Correct. There is no modchip installed. Just Tsop. N64 Freak just offered additional modchips on special request. I remember him sayin' it online makes sense if you want to install an extra LCD display.

As for the fan... I replaced the stock fan with a 80mm Noctua which is directly connected to hdd/ssd power. So always running at full speed. No low noise adapter anymore used. That's why the config override doesn't have any effect and I am always running at max speed now. Which is actually what I wanted ;)