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OG Xbox Forums => Hardware Forums => General Hardware/Technical Chat => Topic started by: ydgmms on April 23, 2005, 01:46:00 AM

Title: Coma Console...or Worse?
Post by: ydgmms on April 23, 2005, 01:46:00 AM

forgot to mention that the chip was brand new from packaging. So I doubt its a bad chip. I bought a lot of 5, and so far 3/5 have worked perfect. So I dunno about that,  but I will test a known working one, hopefully it doesn't screw it up. Or I guess I should just try that questionable chip in a working xbox. I think that'll be safer.

Anyway.

anyone please post any random ideas.....well ...ideas pertaining to the problem at hand.


Thanks

Title: Coma Console...or Worse?
Post by: rwarrin on April 23, 2005, 06:19:00 AM

I have no idea on what may help but I have a v1.1 box and it sounds like mine has the same problems yours has. I power the box with the tv on and it gets a signal and goes black, light on the box is steady green. If I pull the video cable on back of unit and power the box on the light now flashes green and orange if I plug video cable back in it goes to a steady green and tv goes black. It's appears it is aware of whats going on there is just no video or sound for that matter. I hope you find something to try so I can try it also. If I unplug the HD and DVD it flashes some other sequence. I tried the three wire deal for a coma xbox and it didn't work either. What I did notice before this happened was all voltages coming from PSU were normal 5v was 5v, 3.3v was 3.3v and 12v was 12v. Now that this has happened the 5.5v is still 5.5v, but the 3.3v lines are 3.6v and the 12v line is 11.9v and holding steady. Somthing has a probelm and has put this load on the PSU maybe this will help. The reason I know the voltages before and after is because the box was having a random freezing problem and I thought it might be a faulty PSU so I was monitoring the voltages when it happened. Everytine it frooze the voltages would change like I mentioned above and hold there until I rebooted the box then they would come back to normal unitl it frooze again. Maybe this will help some how with what might be happening.

Title: Coma Console...or Worse?
Post by: millican on April 23, 2005, 09:32:00 AM

A failed bios isn't the only thing to give the dreaded coma console. A failed eprom can as well. Your Xbox may have been banned and the former owner screwed it up bad by flashing the wrong version eprom to it. Now it's locked up.

You can fake out the on-board emprom with XB Tools and a 4981 BIOS. In XB Tools it has an option on "embed eprom". You install your eprom.bin file in the patch data directory under XB Tools and then when you run the program, load your 4981 BIOS and check "embed eprom". now "save as" anything you want.

Now the tricky part, you have to re-flash your modchip with this special BIOS and you will be working again if the eprom was indeed corrupt. I say it's tricky because you have to have another modchip xbox to hot swap and flash your chip.

Title: Coma Console...or Worse?
Post by: ydgmms on April 23, 2005, 03:20:00 PM

so even thought I have a 4th gen chip w/ its own OS. A bad eeprom can keep it from booting up at all? Odd. Never heard that. I know an eeprom can keep it from booting, but I didn't know that it would also keep a chip w/ builtin os from booting as well.

So what you're telling me is I have to preflash the chip in another box, which is easy enough. And have it setup to auto boot that eeprom'd bios? easy enough too.

but I dont see how that is really possible. I mean if you read my post, the SmartXX LT OPX does not even seem to boot up its own OS. It doesn't do the GREEN->RED->GREEN sequence that it should do.


(note to self for later: hook up chip and network. see if its loading the smartxx webflash utility to test if it is booting the OS.)

Title: Coma Console...or Worse?
Post by: Duende on April 23, 2005, 09:51:00 PM

QUOTE(ydgmms @ Apr 23 2005, 05:26 PM)

so even thought I have a 4th gen chip w/ its own OS. A bad eeprom can keep it from booting up at all? Odd. Never heard that. I know an eeprom can keep it from booting, but I didn't know that it would also keep a chip w/ builtin os from booting as well.

Title: Coma Console...or Worse?
Post by: starscream1101 on April 24, 2005, 04:55:00 AM

I had a bad eeprom box the other day...I wasn't paying attention (damn beer) and flashed a 1.6 box with a 1.0 eeprom I had.  It took me 3 days to find out how to fix it.

The 1.6 had an X3 installed and whenever it tried to put to the bios it would stay steady green as well.  I figured out from reading that if I switch to a 256k bank that wasn't flashed yet I would get to Cromwell's.  Then I read some stuff some more and found out that you can find Cromwell's 3.0.3 Unauthorized at the usual places and this unauthorized version has an eeprom flasher...for EVERY version xbox.

So download that flash it to an X3 chip (ymmv with other chips)  then reboot and flash your eeprom.

Notice this eeprom is likely banned from xblive...so you'll wanna find a new eeprom for your box if you wanna get on live.

You'll also need an unlocked drive once you fix your eeprom.

hope this makes sense...it worked for me...the whole thread on fixing your eeprom is in my sig if you wanna read it.

Title: Coma Console...or Worse?
Post by: ydgmms on April 24, 2005, 12:07:00 PM

QUOTE(starscream1101 @ Apr 24 2005, 11:01 AM)

I had a bad eeprom box the other day...I wasn't paying attention (damn beer) and flashed a 1.6 box with a 1.0 eeprom I had.  It took me 3 days to find out how to fix it.

Title: Coma Console...or Worse?
Post by: millican on April 24, 2005, 07:39:00 PM

QUOTE(ydgmms @ Apr 24 2005, 12:13 PM)

In short, can a messed up EEPROM keep ANYTHING from booting, including a 4th gen chip?

Title: Coma Console...or Worse?
Post by: ydgmms on April 24, 2005, 07:41:00 PM

well any other advice then?

I just flashed the SmartXX LT OPX in a working 1.0. I got 4981 + embedded an eeprom from my other working 1.0 (configmagic). Flashed that new embd4981 and set it up to auto boot to that bios. put it back in the broken 1.0 and ...same.


So I'll need a what? X2 Lite?

The D0 and Pinheader are already installed so, i'd just have to order the x2 and solder the d0 to whatever point its d0 is and pop it on the pinheader right?

Title: Coma Console...or Worse?
Post by: starscream1101 on April 24, 2005, 09:18:00 PM

I could not boot the X3 config live OS...all's I could boot is cromwell's.  My eeprom was fucked up.  Read the thread in my sig and it will tell you how to fix an eeprom that is no good anymore.  

There are ways to fix it.

When I tried booting my 1959 bios...it would do exactly the same as your box is doing.  If I held the power/eject button...it would start the same as yours...turn off...turn back on to Cromwell's.

I flashed over Cromwell's 3.0.1 with Cromwell's 3.0.3 Unauthorized...reflashed my eeprom...then my Xecuter 3 worked fine on all bank settings again...minus the locked stock drive that was in as a precautionary measure.

Title: Coma Console...or Worse?
Post by: ydgmms on April 24, 2005, 10:06:00 PM

Lemme put it this way; its like the xbox is not even seeing the SmartXX.
Its not the chip. I highly highly doubt its my soldering, given I've checked the voltages and all are right (Cept lclk is 1.6v where the diag image says it should be .2v, but I think it should be 1.6v from what I searched), as well as resistances that I'm supposed to get.

The SmartXX should, after pressing the power button, go GREEN-->RED-->GREEN. To allow a user to get into the SmartXX OS if needbe. It does not do this at all. It just stays green. I can flash the chip from another xbox, and have it setup to auto-boot a bios. BUT the mobo is not seeign the chip.

I'm beginning to give up and conclude its a hosed mcpx. If it was a bad bios, the chip should have booted it up. If it was a bad eeprom, I dunno, I think it should have booted up. But since eject does not work at all, the image goes from black (no chip) to NO image(it stays blue from my vcr, w/ chip), that the mcpx is hosed.

I did try booting 4981 w/ a 1.0 embedded eeprom, but like I said, it doesn't appear to even work at all. I can do the same w/ a cromwell based bios, but I doubt it'll work.


W/ respect to that thread:
What am I supposed to do? Flash that image.bin as a BIOS on the chip and load it?
If so, then i doubt it will work, since the 4981 is basically doing that, and it didn't work.

Title: Coma Console...or Worse?
Post by: starscream1101 on April 24, 2005, 10:40:00 PM

I changed image.bin to bios.bin and flashed.

I had tried embedded eeprom with X2 4981 bios too...couldn't get it too work.

I'm telling ya...you have the same problems I had...or so I think.

If you can't fix it...I'll buy the box off of you for the same price you paid and try to fix it myself.


Try flashing the chip with cromwell's 3.0.3 unauthorized in a good working box...then put it in the otehr box...see if cromwell's boots.

Don't flash your eeprom if it works until it's in the bad box.