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[Hoyt]

Hello all,

I just joined and have been searching for some detailed info on the onboard BIOS of thest two budget chips but I am still unclear about their out of box functionality.

I have been using softmods for some time (NKPatcher with UnleashX dashboards) and am for the most part happy with them but I would like to hardware mod one of my boxes so that hopefully I will be able to run unlocked hard drives.

From what I have read with the DuoX 2 Lite I would need to flash the BIOS to get it to work right with my 1.0 version boxes and provide the ability to run hard drive backups of my games.  I would really like to stay away from flashing if at all possible.  Would the Aladdin XT ship with a BIOS that will allow me the flexibility I have with the softmods with the addition of being able to use an unlocked hard drive?

Basically, I would like to do what I am doing now with the softmods:  Copying my game disks to the hard drive to run them from there, running UnleashX as my dashboard, and hopefully do this with unlocked hard drives for convenience.

Many thanks to all that understand this stuff and are willing to share!

[Julius Pleaser]

If you are that concerned about whether you will need to flash/reflash a chip, then do you really think you should be trying to solder a mod chip?  I would suggest taking it to a pro then.  Flashing a chip takes all of 60 seconds tops to do and is very easy.  If that is too much hassle/hard for you, then soldering a mod chip will be way too tough for you to try.

[Hoyt]

I guess I need to clarify.

I would like to be able to just buy a chip that will allow me to run an unlocked hard drive out of the box and was wondering if one of these two will allow me to do that.

I will worry about the rest.

[wup]

Assuming the Aladdin is flashed with any useful bios, both chips will let you get going with an unlocked hard drive, but may require flashig before going to far.

[Chancer]

Any hacked bios will allow running with an unlocked drive.
However it is not advised to run a 1.6 bios long term on any other version so if the chip you choose has a 1.6 bios on it you will have to re-flash it but the 1.6 bios wil allow you to boot and will work short term.

[u_n_s97]

This is a good question. None can be sure what BIOS is preflashed into the chip. One reseller sells them preflashed with X bios while others use Y bioses. Mostly the new Aladin's come with M8 which is not good for a V1.0, so you have to reflash them. Duo2 Lite comes with the same BIOS as I can remember. So, if you do not wanna flash it, ask the seller to preflash the BIOS which you want into. Anyway flashing takes a few secs so I do not understand why you are afraid of that. As these chips are usually for V1.6 these days and the M8 V1.6 BIOS is not that good for a V1.0 you have to reflash them in most cases.

 regards, Stephen

[Hoyt]

Thanks a lot for the info folks.

I guess the reason I was looking for a chip that has a good BIOS out of the box is because it seems that a lot of them are intentionally hard to find for legal reasons.

For example, if I ordered either of these chips where would I go to find out which BIOS I should download, where would I download it from, and would proper instructions be available for the procedure?

Thanks for taking the time to help with this, I am not looking to do this on a regular basis, I just want to do it right the first time.

Hoyt

[u_n_s97]

#Xbins is the place to get any stuff from. Do some search how to access it and almost all bioses can be found there. The flashing procedure is quite easy, as there are a few tools that you can use to flash the chips, deppends on what chip you have. For V1.0 I'd suggest the X2 4981 if you have a 256K chip, for 512K chips the newer x2_5035_vOld_512k is the best. If you prefer EvolutionX bioses then the M8plus is your best choice.

 regards, Stephen

[Hoyt]

I have uses Xbins before for applications and torrents to auto installer CDs.  I guess those auto installers are the only way I was able to figure out the softmods.  When I looked into Xbins for the BIOSes I couldn't make sense of them I'm afraid.  I guess I just haven't been looking into this stuff long enough to understand the lingo.

I did however manage to download the HackDaBox Reflash CD.  Would this have the flasher and some BIOS files in it?  If so that would be great as packages like this seem to really help the new folks get started.

Thanks again for all the info.

[Chancer]

The reflash disc by HackDaBox will reflash the chip to a suitable bios from the M8+.16 already on the chip

[Hoyt]

Excellent!

I guess now the only question remains is which chip to order.

Divineo seems to be a good place to order from what I have heard.  Do y'all have any other recommendations as far as suppliers?  Any that accept PayPal would be great, but I haven't seen any yet.

If the Duo X2 is the best choice (I have heard a lot of folks say they really like it) which would be better suited for my basic needs, the Lite or Cromwell Edition?

Thanks again for all the replies.  I know that this knowledge is hard earned.

[gjm]

In your case either would be fine but the DuoX2 is a more capable chip - it can take the new 512kb BIOS' whereas the Aladdin can only take 256kb. Also there have been issues with Aladdin's on 1.6's (irrelevant for your current application) but this shouldnt happen on new chips anyway.

The DuoX2 Lite comes pre-flashed, and it has only one bank.
The DuoX2 Cromwell comes flashed with FlashBIOS/Cromwell so you have to flash it yourself (note you would not be able to use the HackDaBox CD with FlashBIOS/Cromwell but it is easy - you can flash via HTTP) - also it has two banks. This is a real plus if you manage to mess up one bank as you can always have another go at flashing with the other bank, and flicking the switch to flash over the bad bank means you can take as many goes as you need to get it right!

I always use DuoX2 Cromwell's personally as i like to flash all chips so i know exactly what's on them - that's just personal preference though.

This post has been edited by gjm: Mar 20 2006, 09:48 PM

[Julius Pleaser]

I also prefer to flash my own chips so I know exactly what is on it.  I always use DuoX2 Cromwell's and I actually order from Divineo as they are a great company and don't have to worry about them shipping clones.   When you get the White DuoX2's, I recommend flashing with X2.5035  
  I love that bios and you will have no troubles with it as long as you don't flash it to a clone..... which divineo does not try and do.

[Hoyt]

Thanks for the updates folks.

I guess from what I have learned I could order the Aladdin XT and flash it with the HackDaBox cd I already have downloaded, or get the DuoX 2 Cromwell and flash it myself in case I ever learn more and can take advantage of the 512K BIOS.

If I did get the DuoX 2 Cromwell how would I go about making sure I have the correct BIOS downloaded?  You have mentioned the X2.5035 BIOS.  Who makes this BIOS?  I have heard of Xecutor, is this the company?  If I do download it, how does the http flashing method work?  Do I just point the browser of a computer on the network to the IP of the Xbox and follow the prompts?

Also, will the Cromwell chip allow a normal Xbox hard drive to boot as it is so I know the install went OK, or do I have to flash it before the box will work at all?

Thanks again for all of your help, it is at least starting to make some sense to me now.

[funnyperson1]

This is what FlashBios looks like and it is all it will allow you to do:
http://www.teamxecuter.com/flashbios/

The X2 bioses are made by Team Executor.  Just make sure you don't get a BFM bios and you should be alright with using FlashBios, the HTTP method is insanely easy.

DuoX2 bios flash tutorial:
http://hackdabox.com...2_Flashing.html