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[josh1e]

confusing them... sounds about right

I've done loads of modchip installs, but this is / was my first tsop attempt...

I didnt realise the eeprom & tsop were different. I thought it was two names for the same thing doh...

I was worried i had soldered something wrong when configmagic said unlock eeprom first. now i've redone the solder points, it has updated successfully which it wouldnt before - strange eh?

okay, so i've checked i've no solder / wires in the wrong places & now get frag when i boot no modchip.

I can boot both banks of x2 chip fine.

not sure what to do next to recover the tsop / eeprom though. flashbios says successful, but still frags after.

[Heimdall]

Try booting with X2.5035.......

[josh1e]

hiya mate, thanks for perservering with me

I got fed up banging my head against the wall, sometimes u just need to put it down for half hour before u kill it

so i have successfully in 20mins

softmodded another v1.0 xbox
soldered tsop bridge points,
booted slayers trusty auto installer
flashed the tsop
rebooted with nice x2 logo (no modchip, was virgin box)
rebuilt the HDD with new dashboard & apps
tested everything works properly.

so just to reassure myself i am capable of doing it lol... just had to check

back to the b*st*rd box.....

I'm going to try the x2 5035... just takes ages to flash to the modchip when ur sat there waiting for it, renewed enthusiasm now tho, i know i can do it,

so it will be the 2nd tsop mod lol... ho hum...

[lordvader129]

QUOTE(josh1e @ Jan 19 2009, 04:39 PM)

I'm going to try the x2 5035... just takes ages to flash to the modchip when ur sat there waiting for it, renewed enthusiasm now tho, i know i can do it,

so it will be the 2nd tsop mod lol... ho hum...

cant you just flash from the flashbios? that is what its for, lol

and you have 2 bios banks, are they both cromwell now?

[josh1e]

yea i know thats wot flashbios is for rofl

but then i have to burn another cd / dvd with bios.bin & then pack the cd out.... amazing how fast u get through discs when ur breaking er, i mean modding things lol

on the x2 modchip i've got 1 bank x2 5035 & the other bank unofficial flashbios 3.03. both booting fine.

Tomorrow i will try to

run configmagic & check right country in eeprom

make sure when i save changes, it doesnt give me read only error on eeprom again... (dont know why)

install ndure sc softmod

see if i can flash the tsop with iND-BIOS.5003 / slayers auto installer

pull my hair out if it doesnt work

thanks for both ya help

(oh, btw - whats the best way to update a tsop bios if it is already flashed & bridges still connected?)

thanks.

[Heimdall]

QUOTE

(oh, btw - whats the best way to update a tsop bios if it is already flashed & bridges still connected?)

Just reflash it from Evox - unless you've got a Winbond, which you have on your 1.2/1.3 Xbox ...... in which case you need to use Raincoat. There are quite a few versions - take a look at the Eurasia flash disc. I prefer Resctoox because it is a native Xbox application (no need for telnet), and it supports http and disc flashing (like Flashbios). You need to be slightly careful with it in comparison with Evox because it doesn't upsize the BIOS from 256k to fill a 1Mb chip like Evox does - but on your 256k 1.2/1.3 Xbox that doesn't matter.

[josh1e]

thanks both of ya...

so, the saga continues

this is what i've done so far....

flash x2 chip bank 1 = x2 5035, bank 2 = flashbios 3.03 unofficial

turn on xbox with modchip (bios 5035)

load configmagic

- load xbox eeprom,
- unlock hdd,
- region change to PAL, Region 2 (was NTSC, Region 1)

reboot

boot without modchip = frag

boot with modchip = evox dash

softmod install - ndure sc - minimal (known working disc & savegame files)

reboot when prompted

turn on with mod chip off & frags (no menu to continue softmod install, just red/green flashing)

turn on with mod chip on (bios 5035) & no dash, just black screen (corrupt dash?)

boot with modchip, run slayers, wipe & rebuild hdd c (msdash & evox)

turn on with modchip off = frags

turn on with mod chip on = evox dashboard

install softmod again, first says to remove (it found backup files on e), then when i run it again, it says to install, i chose "recommended" basic option not minimal this time.

reboot when prompted with mod chip off = frags

reboot with mod chip on = evox dash, not softmod continuation (shadow c build)

manually choose unleashx dashboard, then manually complete install creating shadow c

message states = xbox softmod complete, takes me to my original evox dash

reboot with modchip off = frag

reboot with modchip on = evox dash

so it seems the softmod isnt enough to get around the damaged tsop?

can you please suggest what i am doing wrong / what you think i should try from here?

if i can / am working with the eeprom okay & the modchip has bios 5035, i'm not sure what else i can try?

I'm new to tsop / softmods completely, so it maybe something really simple i've missed.

so far as you can see, the xbox will only boot with the modchip on. i'm happy to try whatever, i enjoy the challenge / learning as much as just making it work

thanks

oh, i believe its an xbox v1.3

thanks

[Heimdall]

Are you getting an error screen when you boot with the chip disabled? If so, what is the number in the top left?

Lock the hard drive..... you don't need to unlock the drive to change the eeprom or to flash the TSOP, and if you don't the stock BIOS won't boot.... so you won't be able to run the softmod or flash the TSOP.

Put stock C (5960) dash on C, and a hacked dash on C or E so your chip will boot normally. Build a softmod file set using Kingroach and ftp that (C and E) to the box. Now when you reboot with the chip disabled the Xbox should boot into the softmod dash, and the LED will turn yellow.

[lordvader129]

QUOTE(josh1e @ Jan 19 2009, 07:41 PM)

turn on with mod chip on (bios 5035) & no dash, just black screen (corrupt dash?)

not sure why its still fragging with chip off, but the black screen is because of the softmod, it has to patch some specific bytes in the bios, so when you load it with a non-stock bios it gets confused

is its a normal frag (tries to reboot 2-3 times then flashes red and green)?

[josh1e]

@ heimdall

The HDD is locked m8. no error screen or code because it tries to boot 3 times then frags.

(I have tried with HDD locked & unlocked - it is locked atm)

@ lordvader

yes its a normal frag m8.

it didnt frag when i had the tsop switches connected to choose which bank. doesnt make sense but maybe it's a m/board issue?

i realised the softmod caused the black screen but that kinda defeats the point if the softmod isn't capable of booting the system....

[Heimdall]

Try resoldering the 3 wires - I know it's a pain, and it's illogical, but it seemed to make the Xbox boot the BIOS from the TSOP!

To have the chip and the softmod coexist you need to install a hacked dash, and tell the X2.5035 BIOS where to find it, because at the moment it's not finding a hacked dash so it's defaulting to C:\xboxdash.xbe - which (because it's a softmod) then tries to patch the hacked BIOS = black screen. Just put a hacked dash somewhere sensible on the E drive, then edit X2config.ini to point to the hacked dash (dash1Name = e:default.xbe, or wherever you put the hacked dash) and ftp that to the E drive on the Xbox as well. The box will now happily boot from the chip or from the softmod (once the TSOP problem is fixed!)

[lordvader129]

QUOTE(josh1e @ Jan 20 2009, 02:43 AM)

i realised the softmod caused the black screen but that kinda defeats the point if the softmod isn't capable of booting the system....

well loading the softmod under a hacked bios is what defeats the purpose, lol, just put a hacked dash as c:\evoxdash.xbe and the modchip (and later flashed TSOP) will load that first, which the stock bios will load c:\xboxdash.xbe for the softmod


im wondering if perhaps your attempt at the 3wire trick somehow damaged the TSOP, i have a 1.3 at home i can mess around with and see if it hurts anything

[josh1e]

I've tried reconnecting the 2 switches & also re-flashing the tsop from the x2 unofficial flashbios. says successful but still frags in any switch combination.

booting from the good x2 bios in the modchip's other bank works fine.

I'll try re-arranging the dashboard files as you mention & then try the process again  

while i confidently understand how the x2 bios calls the dashboard xbe's, (lots of years of practise) I am new to softmod's & dont really understand what gets patched & how it calls the dashboard xbe. infact while i've successfully managed it, i dont think i fully understand it yet.

(being able to do it & being able to understand it are quite different)

Once i successfully softmodded the other xbox, I then tried to change the dashboard to xbmc from unleashx or xbmc from evox & foobar'd it both times .... I am not sure which files or what part is actually calling the dashboard xbe. nor do i understand why they provide a shadow c. time for lots of reading i think

i know its all practise & reading, but you really wonder if were sane to keep trying

thanks for both your help, hasnt been a lost cause so far, i've learnt loads about how to recover all my mistakes  

off to remove the tsop switch wires & break it / softmod it again

[josh1e]

okay, i formatted drive completely, so i know old config files etc are arent affecting anything

booted from modchip &

installed latest ms dash
installed evox dash
ndure sc savegames x2

ran sc game, installed softmod, rebooted when it said & black screen again. (modchip on)

rebooted & frag. (mod chip off)

wasnt sure what was right thing to do next tbh....  

so i rebooted with modchip on & ran slayers install disc - booted to disc fine

wiped & re-installed hdd.

up & running as chipped box, still fragging with modchip off (with or without ndure aoftmod)

is there another way of softmoodding it? i presume just ftp'ing over the font patch wont work as it frags before it starts to load them?

[Heimdall]

You have to get it booting from TSOP (i.e. modchip off) without fragging. Until you can do that the softmod is fairly irrelevant.........

If you can't recreate what you managed in post 11 then you're stuck with leaving the chip in the Xbox.