Topic: Chameleon (Read 1282 times)

yardguy00 · « **Reply #60 on:** June 01, 2003, 05:02:00 PM »

hey so what bios is recomended for this chip? x2?

yardguy00 · « **Reply #61 on:** June 01, 2003, 05:10:00 PM »

QUOTE (clold @ Jun 2 2003, 01:07 AM)

I had a working system with a cheapmod and thought I'd try upgrading to the Chameleon. The cheapmod had a pinheader install and had been working flawlessly for some time.

The Chameleon boots its Cromwell BIOS and prompts me for the disk with the new BIOS to flash. It warns me not to turn off the Xbox, as it will do so automatically when done programming... and nothing happens. I've waited upwards of half an hour.

I would try a hot-swap, but I just moved and can't find my old cheapmod among dozens of boxes. I've gotten OzxFlash to load, but (of course) its version of Raincoat doesn't recognize the Chameleon flash.

Anyone out there with any ideas?

well mine acctually reads the bios then says not to turn off the system it will turn itself off... then it does turn itself off.... but when i start it up again it still shows the cromwell screen... how do you use the flashed bios?
oh and i also used a cdrw and made a 50+mb dummy.bin file.... it seemed to help cause it didnt work til i made the dummy file. hope that works for you

Telemachus · « **Reply #62 on:** June 01, 2003, 06:15:00 PM »

For those of you not seeing anything on the screen, what A/V adapter are you using. The cromwell bios on the Cham ONLY supports the stock A/V cables. It WILL NOT display with the RC adapter, and probably not with the components or SVIDEO cable. Plug in the yellow RCA cable.

Let us know.

Peace

ronin64 · « **Reply #63 on:** June 01, 2003, 06:59:00 PM »

Good point. I've heard that cromwell doesn't support RF cables. I have a Monster brand SVIDEO cable and cromwell appeared fine.

GrisGris · « **Reply #64 on:** June 01, 2003, 07:11:00 PM »

Yeah, and I ran it through a normal RCA video cable and still get a black screen...oh well...

dzv · « **Reply #65 on:** June 01, 2003, 10:42:00 PM »

If your multimeter is set to test for continuity (or resistance) then what you are trying won't ground D0. You need to ground D0 with a wire.

cgt32 · « **Reply #66 on:** June 01, 2003, 10:57:00 PM »

I have a problem, a small one... I got my chameleon installed perfectly with the e and p installed too... however I don't know if it's working or not...
What I do know is that if I want eject the dvd drive, I have to hold on to it for 3 seconds and it will power up with an eject. However, I can't seem to find a way for it to eject w/o powering down. Does anyone know of a solution to this?
I'm also trying to find a software eject program... does anyone know of any?
Thanks in advance.

matic · « **Reply #67 on:** June 01, 2003, 11:17:00 PM »

QUOTE (dzv @ Jun 2 2003, 07:42 AM)

If your multimeter is set to test for continuity (or resistance) then what you are trying won't ground D0. You need to ground D0 with a wire.

Thanks dzv. I kinda realized that after a short while and grounded D0 with a wire.

Here's my problem now. After I ground D0 with a wire, I get a FRAG without the chameleon chip installed (as expected). But I also get a FRAG and no blue light WITH the chameleon chip installed (pin header method). I've tried all four memory banks using the appropriate dip switches and each time it results in a FRAG.

I also tried connecting D0 to the proper point on the chameleon chip and with all four memory banks, it just boots to the default MS dashboard.

So am I right to say it's either the chip that's defective or the pin headers are not connecting properly?

Can anyone suggest to me what I can do from here to test these two things out and further troubleshoot this problem?

GrisGris · « **Reply #68 on:** June 02, 2003, 05:12:00 AM »

matic, all I can say is that you appear to be following the same timeline as I. I finally got the d0 right yesterday and was getting the FRAG. Then I said, what the hell, and messed with the pinheader solder again. As you know, I am now getting what appears to be a Cromwell boot, but no visual indication on the screen. I'm probably going to try completely redoing the pinheader tonight with the pins just about flush with the bottom of the board. I have to really push and torque the chip around to get the blue light to flash and I'm not sure if it's the pinheader connections to the LPC or the actual pins making contact within the chip housing. If it's the latter, I guess there wouldn't be much I could do about it... So, matic, all I can say is that it is probably worth making EXTRA sure that your pinheader install is good.

matic · « **Reply #69 on:** June 02, 2003, 08:00:00 AM »

I've rechecked my pin header soldering and it looks clean.

Does anyone know how I can check if the chameleon chip is defective, or if it has no cromwell bios loaded in. If there's no default bios, what can I do to get one on it?

GrisGris · « **Reply #70 on:** June 02, 2003, 08:46:00 AM »

Well now there's an interesting idea for testing purposes..seems like that would indeed answer my question. Thanks a lot for the tip.

Yeah it seems like too many experienced solderers are having the same problem as you. I was just amazed when something actually happened after I messed with the soldering.

Sounds like the only solution for an unflashed chip (and I have no idea how you'd verify that it IS unflashed) at this point is a hot swap with a good one...but unless you're an installer, why would you have more than one of these things around? I guess if you know someone.. I know that people like ExplicitLyrics and maybe others are looking into flashing the Chams via matrix programmer or otherwise.

Bboy · « **Reply #71 on:** June 02, 2003, 04:14:00 PM »

Guys,
Can one of you with experiance using the Matrix addon method tell me where I might be going wrong?

I took off the Matric and cut the lines really well. I reinstalled the chip with a nice bright green light. If I turn the system on I get the red and green flashes as the chip can no longer boot the system on its own. I add the Cham to the Matrix and the green light on the Matrix blinks and the blue light on the Cham blinks, but the system doesn't boot. It does the flashing thing, like the install is bad.

I've removed the chip abd checked my cutting job, then added it back in. I get the same results.

What should I try?

Thanks.

GrisGris · « **Reply #72 on:** June 02, 2003, 05:45:00 PM »

(Sorry, no Matrix Bboy)

Alright guys...I think I have this chip working as well as I'm going to get it. To summarize some things I've learned installing this on my v1.1:

-Wiring the alternate d0 on the bottom of the mobo is much easier and (in my case) much more effective

-Starting the xbox up in Chameleon mode 1 (all switches in off mode) is what puts me into Cromwell where the DVD tray ejects and asks for a disc. I get FRAGs in other modes.

-You will get a black screen even if the chip is working depending on how your video is set up...I went back to the original A/V connector with the RCA video connector and finally got to actually SEE the damn Cromwell bios in action

Now, the reason I am not saying that I've got the thing working 100% is that the blue light isn't flashing! I have to press on the chip fairly hard and kind of twist it a bit in a certain direction for it to blink. Yet, it is clearly booting up in Cromwell. Could it just be that the connector that controls the blue light is what isn't connected 100%?? Should I be concerned about the lack of a blinking light or move on with my life and consider this thing installed?

Edit: Hmm..nevermind about only being able to boot in mode 1...I've tried mode 4 and one other mode which also worked. Maybe most of them do now...

ItsGForMe · « **Reply #73 on:** June 03, 2003, 07:59:00 AM »

Do you need the HD and the DVD drive connected in order to get the Cham to work?

What is the behavior when the HD and DVD are not connected?

Mine was FRAGging...Could it be that I should have just reconnected everything and it would have booted?

GrisGris · « **Reply #74 on:** June 03, 2003, 08:57:00 AM »

Yes, you will get a FRAG no matter what if you don't reconnect the DVD and HD. As I have become quite adept at doing over and over, you can simply connect the drives without actually putting the whole case back together. Just make sure your DVD tray is clear to open...as it should do so if it boots in Cromwell.

Author Topic: Chameleon (Read 1282 times)