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[Perplexer]

I've repaired lots of Xboxes lately with damaged ethernet.  This time of year is bad for the Xbox NIC and they are often damaged by static electricity or power surges.

If you get no green "link" LED on the Xbox NIC and your router, or if your "activity" LED is always on, and you get a "no link" or 0.0.0.0 IP address on your Xbox, then replacing the ethernet PHY will usually fix this issue.

This fix applies for all Xboxes, from 1.0 - 1.6b.

You will need good soldering skills, because if you damage the solder pads for the PHY chip, then is will be very difficult or impossible to repair.

Here is the chip you will be removing and replacing with a good one:



Make sure you orient the chip correctly when installing.  The small circular dot or indentation in the chip is pin1, and will match up to a silkscreened indentation on the motherboard.  PHOTO.

The procedure for removing and installing the chips is very similar to doing a RAM upgrade.  You can check this thread for links to removal and install videos.

In short, remove the old chip carefully, without damaging the solder pads on the motherboard.  Then line up the new chip, solder down one corner pin, then line up and solder down an opposite corner pin.  The rest of the pins should line up, and you can solder them down one at a time.

I sell replacement ICS PHY chips (tested and professionally removed with a SMT station, not as shown in the video) for $18 plus shipping.  I also offer a full repair service for $40 plus return shipping (covers the ICS chip and port replacement if needed).

[Perplexer]

Discounted NIC repair service through the end of February, $30 plus return shipping.  

[Sord_Fish]

nice tut should help some people out.

is there anyway to prevent the chips from dying in the first place?

[Perplexer]

Couldn't hurt to put both your Xbox and router on a UPS or good surge protector.  All my sensitive electronics are on UPSes, never had a problem.  You can get them for close to free after rebate every once in a while.

[FallsInc]

he speaks the truth... i can think of atleast 3 times when i've had surges, and my ups took it like a hooker

it is a good investment... even if you dont get a battery version, a power filter is a very good idea.

[Slawek]

man i think mine is fried but i live in Canada.. it'll be a bitch trying to get this Xbox to you.. any canadian suppliers for this replacement chip?

[jonstar]

QUOTE(Slawek @ Mar 9 2005, 03:43 PM)

man i think mine is fried but i live in Canada.. it'll be a bitch trying to get this Xbox to you.. any canadian suppliers for this replacement chip?

Dude, did you find anyone to fix it in Canada (in southwest Ontario)? Mine just went and since I don't have that crappy xtra service they want to bend me over for $119 CDN!

Crazy...but I don't want to give up my live!

ANY HELP???

[garyopa]

Our store has done three to four of these types of repairs so far this year.

Located in Toronto.

OPA Limited
[email protected]
416-928-2374

[jonstar]

QUOTE(garyopa @ Mar 18 2005, 12:29 AM)

Our store has done three to four of these types of repairs so far this year.

How have they gone? And is the Box covered if anything goes wrong during the fix? Is there a guarentee on the nic card?

How much is it and how long does it take (I'm from close to London so can it be done in a day)?

sorry for the questions....i'm still frustrated about the damn thing!

[kjetilsn]

I managed to get the part from ICST, changed it and the xbox worked for about one hour. restarted and there the fault was back. a luckily have four more ic's but wonder what can cause the is to blow. could it be the modchip (smartXX)?

[javamocha2000]

QUOTE(kjetilsn @ Mar 23 2005, 07:39 PM)

I managed to get the part from ICST, changed it and the xbox worked for about one hour. restarted and there the fault was back. a luckily have four more ic's but wonder what can cause the is to blow. could it be the modchip (smartXX)?

Which one did you buy?  (ICS1892, ICS1893AF, ICS1893BF/BK, or ICS1893Y-10)

http://www.icst.com/icscs/SearchByType.asp...type=PHYceivers

[kRoNoUs]

Hi plp, I'm new to this fourm.  
I used to be able to connect to my xbox with my PC.
Using the following
-----XBOX----
IP: 192.168.0.3
SUBNET MASK 255.255.255.0
DEFAULT GATEWAY : 192.168.100.1

------PC------
IP: 192.168.0.1
SUBNET MASK 255.255.255.0
DEFAULT GATEWAY : 192.168.100.1
And then lately its not be connecting. I haved tryed different IP Address's, reflased the bios changed the hard disk and bios mod and still nothing.

I even tryed another xbox with the original settings and it connected  

I guess that this means my xbox motherboard is pumped.
OH and Ive tryed different cross over cables, Iam not using a router.
and evox IS set up for ftp
Can you buy these chips in the UK and also its surface mount I dont think a normal soldering iorn is up to it.

[kjetilsn]

I bought the 1893AF same as the one original on the board.
Maybe the 3,3V is to high ore is high during boot.
Could the modchip have anything to do with this?
My guess is no. Any ideas?

[kRoNoUs]

QUOTE

Maybe the 3,3V is to high ore is high during boot.
Could the modchip have anything to do with this?
My guess is no. Any ideas?

I would not think that any software can contol voltages on the motherboard since they are regulated throught the switch mode PSU. But mabey i could be wrong and if I am I would love to know how they do it.  

[kjetilsn]

I dont think the software woult have anything to to with it.

My first thought is the 3.3 is to high from the voltage regulator.
But the chip blew when i re-started the box. making me think that there is a voltage spike coming from the psu ore some other part when the box is powerd on.

Anyways I will messure the 3.3V during normal operations to see if something's wrong. if not I'll need to use a scope to check for spikes during startup.