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[Chancer]

get a Blue DuoX2. 2 Banks flashed with hacked bios on each. bank 0 is for the V1 to V1.5 and bank 1 is for the 1.6

[Hoyt]

Man, you folks have really been great.

I am still a little confused on the flashing of the DuoX 2 chip as far as what utility to use.  I couldn't find anything called FlashBIOS on Xbins but I did find a file called FlashBIOS Cromwell which appears just to be a .bin file which am I correct in thinking that it is just the BIOS file which needs to be renamed bios.bin?  To start the flashing process (http) for the DuoX I would still need to download a flashing utility of some kind?  If so what utility would y'all recommend?

Also there may be an easy way out for me to flash the DuoX 2 (y'all let me know if I am right).  A while ago I downloaded and burned SlaYers_EvoX_Auto-Installer_v2.6_FINAL and it has a flashing section in it.  I see a ton of X2 BIOSes in it, one of them is the X2-4981.67 EVX.  Can I flash the DuoX (or Aladdin XT for that matter) using this bootable utility disk?

Again I want to thank all of y'all for your assistance.  I feel like I just got lucky in finding the guides for the softmods I have done up to now because for the most part I got them right on the first try just reading up on things.  The only glitch I ever had was just that Crimson Skies would not run due to the PBL thing and once I redid the drive with NKPatcher it fired up without a hitch.

[Chancer]

If you get a white DuoX2 Flashbios is already on the chip itself.
You need a hacked bios like X2 4981 (don't use this on a 1.6). the bios has to be 512k in size on a DuoX 2.
You would make up a data disc which has on it your hacked bios (e.g 4981) named BIOS.BIN on the disc. It also helps to add a dummy file which can be anything of around 100 to 200mb just name this aabbcc.dat
When you boot up the box after fitting the chip you will be greeted by the flashbios screen.
One of the options on the screen is to flash from your bios disc, so you simply insert the disc push the A button on the controller and it will flash your new hacked bios to the chip.

[gjm]

QUOTE(Hoyt @ Mar 21 2006, 03:09 AM)

To start the flashing process (http) for the DuoX I would still need to download a flashing utility of some kind?  If so what utility would y'all recommend?

On the DuoX2 cromwell/white, the flashing utitlity is FlashBIOS. It's a BIOS that is used to flash another BIOS to the chip, and that's what the white's ship with. As Chancer mentioned previously the DuoX2 blue ships with hacked BIOS' already on it.

[Hoyt]

Thanks again folks.

From what I can find on Divineo the DuoX 2 GS - Import Version is the one with the two hacked BIOSes already on it, so I ordered that one.  Hopefully this is the "Blue" chip chancer is referring to.  I have seen the regular DuoX 2 Lite install video and if this is similar it should be easy to install, I still hope it comes with instructions though.

The box that I am installing this chip on will not boot from it's own BIOS; it just give the "Your Xbox needs servicing" error without a number after the flubber screen, so this is the main reason I wanted a cheap chip to experiment with.  If this chip gets it going I will probably try to find out how to wire the chip "always on" so it will boot straight into the hacked BIOS (even if the onboard BIOS didn't have problems I can't get broadband where I live so Xbox Live would never be a concern).  If this box does not work (I picked it up broke and cheap at a flea market) I have another I can try later on.

Also, have y'all noticed that sometimes Divineo will have items appear and then disappear on their site?  I was going to bundle a particular adapter with the order that was there a couple of days ago and now its gone.  Might be a stocking issue I guess.

Thanks again for all your help, now I just gotta get some wire and wait.  Would a single strand from a CAT 5 cable work, or should I specifically purchase stranded 30 gauge?

[gjm]

Definitely get some 30awg. It'll make your life much easier. The single strands of cat5 (i assume you mean one of the 8 internal coated wires) is 24awg, twice the thickness - it's a load of cores twisted together.

Oh yeah the install for the dual bank chips is identical to the Lite.

This post has been edited by gjm: Mar 21 2006, 03:19 PM

[Chancer]

QUOTE

I still hope it comes with instructions though.

Just click the install link in my signature I did a step by step guide on installing DuoX 2

[Hoyt]

Thanks a lot for the link.  I used CutePDF to print it to a file so I can take it home.  I'll definitely try to get some of that wire when I go into town.

Also, if my suspicion is correct that the onboard BIOS is trashed and I need it to boot into the chip every time, do you know how I can wire it so it boots into the chips BIOS every time?

Thanks again.

[Hoyt]

I had a few minutes to browse through Chancer's site.  If I am reading this correctly in this image:

http://www.fixnchipz.../wpf187d8e4.jpg

all I have to do is run a jumper wire between the BT pad and the pin header that is shown to get it to turn on every time.  Does this sound correct?

Also, if I ever install this chip on a regular undamaged Xbox, will it go into the chip BIOS with the press of the eject button and normal boot with the power button or the other way around?

[Julius Pleaser]

yes, in that pic BT-Pin 9 will giveyou always on regardless if you press the power or eject button to boot.  If you install BT to the top-left point on the back of the eject button instead, then booting with the power button will boot the chip, eject button without the chip.

[Hoyt]

Good to know that.  I think with all this information the thing should go fairly well once I get the chip and wire.  If I get the box that will not boot at this point running with the chip, is there a way to get the box booting back from the factory settings, so to speak?  It certainly will not be a big deal to me as this is a spare box, but it would be interesting to know.

Thanks again, you folks have been great.

[Alex548]

QUOTE(Hoyt @ Mar 21 2006, 07:39 AM)

Thanks a lot for the link.  I used CutePDF to print it to a file so I can take it home.  I'll definitely try to get some of that wire when I go into town.

Also, if my suspicion is correct that the onboard BIOS is trashed and I need it to boot into the chip every time, do you know how I can wire it so it boots into the chips BIOS every time?

Thanks again.

If you have a 1.0 motherboard, you will see the "your xbox requires service" message without error codes.
If you see that message, then your motherboard has successfully booted the BIOS, but something else is causing an error.

Could be a bad dvd drive, corrupt files on the hard drive, dead hard drive, etc....

Your problem IS NOT a bad BIOS on your motherboard. It's something else, but a modchip will definitely help you diagnose the problem.

[Hoyt]

Thanks for the reply Alex.

This is a 1.0 motherboard.  The DVD drive works fine in another unit.  From what I understand there is no easy way for me to obtain the hard drive password since I never was able to boot the box and run Config Magic so I can not lock another drive to this boards password.

So I think what I need to do is install the modchip so that this machine can boot from a known good hard drive that is unlocked.  At this point could ConfigMagix extract the password from the motherboard and save it as a file so I can repair/replace the drive and lock it with that password?

Thanks again, all of you have been a great deal of help!

[Hoyt]

Howdy all,

I just wanted to give an update to the modchip/dead box goings on.

I got the DuoX 2 GS installed easily and set it to boot with the Xecuter2 BIOS (1.0 box).

It still would not boot unless I used another hard drive.  I unlocked the original drive using a Slayers disc and ran Western Digital hard drive diagnostics on it.  Sure enough, the drive was bad.  So I tinkered with other drives to get used to how the chip works and have found the box to run fine.

I must say though that I was spoiled rotten with the ease of use of the UnleashX dashboard of my soft modded box.  This chip boots up with Slayers Evo-X v.2.6 dashboard.  I guess this was loaded into the BIOS because I have never installed it on this drive as far as I know.

Does anyone know if I can get this chip to work with the UnleashX dashboard natively?  Also this chip seems to be too new for any of my current utilities to identify exactly what BIOS is on the chip.  Are there any newer ones that may say (it's not really that big of a deal to me unless I find that I need to reflash the chip for some reason)?

Again I would like to thank everybody for all the help you have given me.  This has been a good learning experience that I know is far from over.

Hoyt