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[LazerOrca]

right now i have x2 4981.06 installed...  I heard that fan adjustment was possible with this bios.  I really have no idea what to do, but I am pretty sure it is going to require me to reflash the bios with the adjustment made.  right now my fan is operating at 40%, but my CPU reaches 140 F all of the time.  a 7200 RPM WD hard drive was recently added and this seems to be the cause of the the heat problems I believe.  I have had to pull the xbox out of my entertainment system and open the top becuz I was afraid that this temp might be too hot.  i heard PCs melt at 180 F.

I have a mac and I was curious if bios editting was possible with a text editor.  and after that, how exactly would I flash this bios.  i am so freaked out about flashing becuz I tried flashing myself using the slayer's disk and the flash turned out bad.  what should I do?  I have media that my xbox will accept.

[Psilocybe]

a fan mod will NOT shorten it's life, think about it, stock you are strattling the fan at 7v when it's meant to operate at 12v

anyway you can't hex edit with a notepad tool, i'm sure there are hex editors for mac, though i'm not sure how to hex edit the fan speeds
my suggestion would be to use a dashboard that uses fan mods such as mxm, avalaunch, or unleashX
unleashX you can actually set a threshold where you specify a temperature and when the cpu reaches that then it bumps up the speed and adjusts it to keep it below the temp you specify
only problem with this is that once you turn off the mod then your fan wont be any faster nor would it be with a bios mod
maybe you should hardwire a 7v/12v switch for the fan

[futbol4kee]

with unleashx u can do in it the dash settings...

[8itgreat]

yeah i would want it to run all the time....i guess if no proggie to do this maybe i will compare the 4979 bios i did it with , with a hex editor or something...see if i can change it through that...obviously this would be last resort...

this is an xbox i just modded for a friend...i tried to go back to the earlier bios but when i looked at backed up games after flash it was empty lol...so i flashed back to the 4983.6 and all was there again...he wont care...just would like to know for future builds and or if i update my bios from 4979 version

[Soup]

Xecuter 'copy-protected' the 4983 bios, and one side effect of that copy-protection is that you can't edit it.  Use 4981 instead.  It's virtually identical to 4983, but it lacks the 'copy-protection.'

[Intensecure]

QUOTE

Ya but once you load an app or a game thats it boom......gone

That is wrong - it remains at the pre-set fan speed when changing games, apps and even a warm re-boot. The temperature threshold fan speed monitor is disabled, but any preset speed such as 3X remains active throughout.
I use UnleashX as my main dash, but it will also work like this if you use it as an app. Also seems to apply to Avalaunch. Try it and see!

[ddkore]

QUOTE

Xecuter 'copy-protected' the 4983 bios, and one side effect of that copy-protection is that you can't edit it. Use 4981 instead. It's virtually identical to 4983, but it lacks the 'copy-protection.'

Where do people get this shit?  4983 isn't encrypted.  The only copy protection Xecuter released was program to verify that you have an unedited copy.  The only reason you can't edit it is support was never added to XBtool by NghtShd.  That's it.  If NghtShd had the desire we could probably edit it tomorrow.  Unfortunatly for us, he has a life outside the scene.  I do wish he would come back, cause we need a LBA48 patch for M8


EDIT: I won't delete what I wrote, cause I was an ass, and I was wrong, and I can admit it.  My apologies

[Intensecure]

QUOTE

I can CLEARLY hear the fan slow down

OK, I accept that it may do that on your box, and I can't explain it. Are you sure that you have the fan speed set to 2X or 3X or whatever, and not just the temperature threshold monitor?
I ask in all seriousness, because I live in a very hot place and use UnleashX precisely because when I set the fan speed to 2.5X it *stays* at that speed throughout loading any apps or games - I guarantee it that it does! I was fanatical about getting the temps down sensibly after hating the 12v fan mod as too loud.
FYI - I have tried setting the default fan speed to 50% in Avalaunch and then changing apps etc - the fan speed stays at 50% throughout!
Anyone else care to comment?

Edit: BTW, it only does this if you are using an unmodified bios. I use 4983. If you, for example, modify 4981 or M7 to a 30% (or other) default fan speed, then it *does* revert to the bios settings when changing apps/games!! I have tested this feature extensively

[Intensecure]

I can only guarantee that it does work on my system. And I have had friends verify it to prove that I am not imagining it!  Or going mad...
I have a standard fan - yours is an 80mm?
The UX system works as so: you can pre-set a fan speed, as you know. i.e. 2x = 40%. This speed will be maintained, whatever.
You can also set a temperature threshold. i.e. 55C (or whatever) and *if this temperature is exceeded for more than a minute or two* then the fan will boost speed (to whatever it requires, even 100% if needed) until the temperature gets to the set threshold - it is a really neat feature, but *this* feature IS disabled when switching to a game/app - only the pre-set speed is maintained.

And, as noted, it will not retain the preset speed on an edited bios - which is why I have suggested it is ideal in this case as the question was to increase in 4983, which is, of course unmodifiable.

[solvil]

I agree with Intensecure...if you use bios without edit by xbtools(color preset or boot order), speed will not slow down when run games or apps, fans will stay same speed what you set in unleashx.

[Intensecure]

QUOTE

Or do you guys keep it slow because its loud

Yes, basically. I tried the 12v fan mod for about a month, and it during the day it was tolerable, but watching a DVD at 2 in the morning?  
The ambient temp where I live is about 32-34C (90-94F) with 80-90% humidity, and my Xbox would run at 65C CPU and 50C MoBo (that's 149 and 122F!), which is right at the top end of acceptable, on the stock fan settings. Add a 7200rpm drive and it was a bit hot for my peace of mind!
With my stock fan at 50% (in UX, of course), my box runs at 54C/44C (129-111F) which is very acceptable for the ambient temps here and also not too loud for DVD playing. Strangely, I found 60% to be "just" that bit too loud.
100% will not burn your fan out, it is designed to cope with that  - it may only last three/four years instead of five perhaps but that is usually not a problem.
Honestly speaking, I used to get overly concerned about cooling  - which is why I still respond to posts about it, I did plenty of research. But living in a hot climate and having plenty of friends that have Xboxes, PS2s and PCs that run without additional cooling and run perfectly well I eventually decided it is an over-stated problem (most of the time....!).

[AE6689]

QUOTE (ddkore @ Jul 13 2004, 06:33 PM)

Where do people get this ****?  4983 isn't encrypted.  The only copy protection Xecuter released was program to verify that you have an unedited copy.  The only reason you can't edit it is support was never added to XBtool by NghtShd.  That's it.  If NghtShd had the desire we could probably edit it tomorrow.  Unfortunatly for us, he has a life outside the scene.  I do wish he would come back, cause we need a LBA48 patch for M8

Umm, before you post get your facts straight.  4983 is infact encrypted.  This has been stated by the xecuter team.  They released 4983 as a test to see whether or not their X3 bios would be secure.  And NghtShd has not left the scene.  Also just to prove everything you stated was wrong NghtShd is working on a LBA48 patch for M8.  Not meaning to be rude, but please refrain from posting if you don't have any idea.  

Also back on topic I would recommend using X2 4981.06.  It is fully modable via XBTool and has all the same tools, except for disabling some of the hacks.

[Intensecure]

QUOTE

I have had to pull the xbox out of my entertainment system

If your fan is recirculating hot air within a closed environment, it makes little difference if it is spinning at 40% or 100% or, indeed, is a larger fan! Ensure it can get a supply of fresh cooler air - that is priority one.

[fallafalla]

Does anyone know how to hex edit the fan speed, xbtool dosnt work and i have already tried the search?

[heinrich]

ok, I merged 3 threads into 1, so hopefully more people will read and understand this without me having to post it over and over.

About the fan speed...

the fan speed is controlled by a PIC on the xbox, any software/bios/whatever can make write a value to this PIC to set the fan speed.  This is done ONCE and fan speed is set until something else writes another value.  The retail xbox bios does NOT set the fan speed.  So what is xbtool editing you ask?  XBtool totally REPLACES the xbe loader part of the bios with its own loader, one which has more room for dash names, sets the fan speed and LED sequence (controlled by the same PIC).  Several dashes now have, like Psilocybe said, settings to adjust the fan speed according to the temperature, this works fine, -while the dash is running-.  As soon as you launch another app or game, the fan is left where it is, and if you have edited your bios with xbtool to use a certain fan speed, that speed will resume, since it sets the speed when loading an .xbe.

And before you ask, yes, I am sure it is possible to have the bios set the fan speed based on the temperature every so often, ala the evox x-chip's bios, which uses the chip's SRAM for TSR.