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[shmo]

Hi.

I have taken my Xbox to a chipguy to get chipped and he cannot figure out what the deal is. We have used the aladdin 64, and trust me when I say all the connections are fine. The BT, D0... all absolutely fine, done and redone multiples times, all tested ok with a multimeter or whatever.

Now it's not like this guy doesn't know what he's doing, he does lots of them every week, including my brothers, which inspired me for getting this cursed Xbox in the first place. HOPEFULLY, someone can help figure out this kerfuffle.

After not being successful the first time, I jumped online and hit the xbox scene to see what I could find. Tredging through diagrams and forums, I find this 1.5 extra diagram, thinking that's what it could be. Granted I do have a video chip marked 'Focus', but testing the ground connection and the 3.3v connection, they are both active... and yes, we've tried connecting them with wires as well, nothing.

We've put in new chips, we've rechecked everything like a bazillion times, this Xbox is making me crazy!

The guy seems to think that, perhaps, it could be an issue of the lpc point numbers being different, if that makes sense? (like 1-8 in different positions on the lpc bus than say a 1.3 or 1.5 or whatever)

Does anyone know anything that can help? Please!?

Also is it remotely possible that the modchip needs flashing with a new bios, I don't know why it would, as they work straight out on anyother Xbox he installs them on, are they preflashed? I don't know... The one thing I found online was a case where the Xbox turns on but no video is shown and you can eject the tray, so then flash the chip etc...

Oh, and for all intensive purposes the chip appears to be working, as in you can hold it down for 3 or 5 seconds and get different boot modes, and it will show HD activity via the led, but when a copied disc is put in, it will display an error message saying something along the lines of incorrect region.

Is this post too long and crazy? Well it's because this Xbox is driving me insane!*@#$!

Help me Obi-wan.

[dzv]

Unfortunately, you haven't really given any relevant details.  For example...

What version of Xbox is it?  Or at least what's the manuf. date?

How was the chip installed (pin header, quicksolder, wire)?

What BIOS is on the chip?

What exactly happens when you try to boot?  Simply saying 'it doesn't work' doesn't give us anything to work with.

Have you tried grounding the D0 point directly instead of through the chip?

QUOTE

The guy seems to think that, perhaps, it could be an issue of the lpc point numbers being different, if that makes sense? (like 1-8 in different positions on the lpc bus than say a 1.3 or 1.5 or whatever)

The theory of the LPC points being changed around seems extremely far-fetched to me.

If you provide as much detail as you can, the chances are that I or somebody else here can probably help you out.

[Troed]

I've seen boxes where the tracks to one or more of the LPC points were broken from factory. After rebuilding them everything worked fine.

If the guy is such a professional he should've measured the LPC-points to other points on the motherboard already.

[Scan-C]

what troed said.
another thing to check is the bios. for 1.4-1.5 use at least x2 4979

also does the aladdin 64 needs the lframe? i'm not to sure about this chip. never had one. if it does you need to connect it on the mcpx itself.

[Arakon]

aladdin doesn't need lframe.

[Chancer]

QUOTE

and trust me when I say all the connections are fine. The BT, D0... all absolutely fine, done and redone multiples times, all tested ok with a multimeter or whatever

If I had a pound for everytime I have heard that.

QUOTE

Now it's not like this guy doesn't know what he's doing, he does lots of them every week

hes told you he knows what he is doing, if he did it would be working now.

QUOTE

If the guy is such a professional he should've measured the LPC-points to other points on the motherboard already

very much agreed, I would take it somewhere else and get a second opinion on it before it ends up wrecked.
Also the point made about the bios needs to be 4979 or newer for the Focus chip.

[xboxexpert]

send that box over to me ill install a x2 chip i have 1 more instock...
check my sig for details...

[otherguy]

there's no way the pinout on the lpc is changed, they are all in the same order. I would be a little reluctant to take my box back to this supposed "pro installer"

at this point, like dzv said, you havn't really supplied us with much info. The most important thing you left out is what the box is doing when you turn it on, it sounds like (from what you said) that the box is loading successfully, this hints to your bios not supporting the video encoder in your box. Find out what's flashed on the chip.

[shmo]

Hey guys, thanks for your help so far.

I've checked the manufacture date and it was made on line 4 in the 11th week of 2004, which according to xbox-linux.org and doing the other version test here at xbox-scene.com makes it a 1.4 machine.

The chip was installed with wires, not directly soldered on to the lpc bus, which as far as I understand if all correctly soldered and tested, makes no big difference, right?

We've tried grounding the d0 directly instead of through the chip, and when it turns on the eject light flashes red and green, nothing displays on the screen and the tray will NOT open.

When the machine boots up, the standard MS dash loads up, whether I hold the button in for 2 seconds to activate the chip or not. It does not have the logo "EVOX" up in the top left hand corner of the screen during boot up like it did for another Xbox that I watched him chip.

It will play original games no problem, but when I put in a copied disc it will give the error message "incorrect region...", and when I try to put my brothers HD in with evox on it, it won't load the dash --duh-- at all and gives a "service error, call MS repair guy...".

So it's probably safe to say that the LPC points haven't changed right? At least I can rule that one out... :/

So now it looks like i'm left with two things now.

The bios on the chip. How do I check it? Is it possible I need to change it? Why would they work on other peoples machines and not mine? Like I said before, when it works it displays the "EVOX" logo on the top left of the screen, so maybe you can tell what's flashed on the chip by that?

Would it seem right that if the chip needs bios 4979 or newer for the focus chip, which I have, that changing that would just make it all work? However I do that...

And the tracks to the LPC points. I don't know if he has tested those to be honest. How would I go about checked them? Do I just test the connection between an LPC point and where it goes to with a multimeter? And if it's not connecting, how would I go about fixing it?

Yeah xboxexpert, i'd love to, but I live in a little place called Australia, and to be honest I don't really know anyone else who can chip Xboxes, so in a way, you're my only hope!

Hope i've provided some better details this time, thanks for you help again guys, you rock.

[illypso]

QUOTE

and when I try to put my brothers HD in with evox on it, it won't load the dash --duh-- at all and gives a "service error, call MS repair guy...".

It wont work the 2 HDD are lock and they have diferent password. this is why your xbox dont start when you change the HDD with the other one

[shmo]

yeah, but that's not really the reason anyway.

if the chip worked I could install evox myself.

[dzv]

QUOTE (shmo @ Aug 10 2004, 11:50 AM)

The chip was installed with wires, not directly soldered on to the lpc bus, which as far as I understand if all correctly soldered and tested, makes no big difference, right?

Being that it was installed by wires, there's a smaller chance of LPC damage due to a botched quicksolder job.  And the wire install makes it easier to remove and have a good look at the LPC area for testing.

QUOTE

We've tried grounding the d0 directly instead of through the chip, and when it turns on the eject light flashes red and green, nothing displays on the screen and the tray will NOT open.

Pretty much tells you that the problem lies somewhere in the LPC.  Although the FRAG could also be caused by grounding the wrong point instead of D0.  Double-check you've got the right D0 point for a v1.4

QUOTE

When the machine boots up, the standard MS dash loads up, whether I hold the button in for 2 seconds to activate the chip or not. It does not have the logo "EVOX" up in the top left hand corner of the screen during boot up like it did for another Xbox that I watched him chip.

Clearly, D0 isn't being grounded by the chip.  My first thought would be that the Ground connection on the chip is not solid.  Double-check the Ground (LPC Pin 2) and you might even want to try connecting the Aladdin's Ground to a screw point, just to make sure it's a really solid ground.

QUOTE

It will play original games no problem, but when I put in a copied disc it will give the error message "incorrect region...", and when I try to put my brothers HD in with evox on it, it won't load the dash --duh-- at all and gives a "service error, call MS repair guy...".

Just confirms the chip isn't being enabled at all.

QUOTE

The bios on the chip. How do I check it? Is it possible I need to change it? Why would they work on other peoples machines and not mine? Like I said before, when it works it displays the "EVOX" logo on the top left of the screen, so maybe you can tell what's flashed on the chip by that?

EvoX M8 is the only BIOS I know of that would show the EvoX logo in the top left corner.  This BIOS should work fine on your machine.

QUOTE

And the tracks to the LPC points. I don't know if he has tested those to be honest. How would I go about checked them? Do I just test the connection between an LPC point and where it goes to with a multimeter? And if it's not connecting, how would I go about fixing it?

There's a tutorial titled something like "The LPC repair guide".  Have a look at it.

QUOTE

Yeah xboxexpert, i'd love to, but I live in a little place called Australia, and to be honest I don't really know anyone else who can chip Xboxes, so in a way, you're my only hope!

Are you in Sydney?

[blazer1155]

If the console is a 1.4 (Has grd and 3.3v on LPC) than all you needed was to solder the DO on top of the board to GRD and flash the M8 bios on the chip and it would of worked.  If you wanted it to be controlled (on-Off) through the Power button , then you Solder th BT point also.


Where is the DO point he used? If he used the DO point by "C6D4" area on top of the board , then he used the correct one. If he used the DO on the bottom of te board by "C7P3", that is the problem.

I have installed Lot of Alladdin "Live" units and they work like a charm.  

You  should be using "M8.bin" BIos not the "M8_16.bin" which could cause problems. ( I heard it worked on a 1.5, but Haven't tried it)

Good luck

B

[Chancer]

QUOTE

If he used the DO on the bottom of te board by "C7P3", that is the problem

You are using the wrong alt D0 point then because the Alt D0 definetely works fine on 1.4 and 1.5 and with the Aladdin.
the problem has to be incorrect LPC installation.
Take it to someone who knows what they are doing

[shmo]

hey, thanks for your help again...

dzv - yeah I am in Sydney, might give you a call to see if you can maybe fix this mess up, am sick of it not working!