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[AZImmortal]

There's no 1.6 support because 1.6 consoles have video encoders that can't output VGA, so iND 5003 is ok for your 256k consoles.  I recommend X2 5035 (which also has an unofficial VGA version) for 512k consoles.  Either bios will allow you to remove flubber and DVD checks by editing their respective config files.

[dsdork]

Thank you very much for the information.
I have a few more questions if you don't mind.

Last time I tried a bios with the a config file I was stuck with "loading config" or something like that on the screen and there wasn't any way to get rid of it.  Is this still the case?  I just want a black screen.

Does X2 5035 set the clock if I remove the aerogel capacitor that hold the clock time (and often fails).  The release notes mention that it will ignore a bad clock but it seems that to have to go set the time manually.  The iND has this overtly defined as a feature in their release notes.

[AZImmortal]

I might be wrong, but I think that if you inject your config file directly into the iND bios, then it should eliminate that loading screen because the loading screen is there to give the bios time to find your config file.  I don't believe that there's a way to inject config files into the X2 50xx bioses.  The reason that I recommend X2 5035 is because iND 5003's in-game reset feature is bugged in that it doesn't require you to hold the triggers in addition to pressing the face buttons to trigger the reset, which could conflict with the button mapping of some emulators, but if this doesn't bother you, then use iND 5003

Neither bios will actually set the clock to the correct time if that's what you're asking, but yes, X2 5035 does set the time.  Both bioses will set the clock to an arbitrary time if it detects that the clock's not already set on bootup.  It'll still be up to you to set it to the correct time.  If the Xbox is connected to the internet, then you can use XBMC to automatically sync with a time server on bootup.

[dsdork]

QUOTE

In Game Reset - Off/Quick/Complete
--Reset to Game/Reset to Dash

http://www.xbins.org...xboxnfo1071.nfo

I assumed that quick was the no triggers and complete was with the triggers + face buttons.  Am I wrong?

[AZImmortal]

QUOTE

In Game Reset - Off/Quick/Complete
--Reset to Game/Reset to Dash (Triggers + Black + Back) OR (Triggers + Back + Start)
--Shutdown (Triggers + Back + White)
--Tray Eject (Triggers + Right Thumb + Dpad UP)
--Tray Close (Triggers + Right Thumb + Dpad DOWN)
--Power Cycle (Triggers + Back + X + Black) [hint: hit X before black]

Quick vs complete doesn't have to do with how you trigger the IGR, but rather how the system handles the IGR.  From what I understand, quick IGR is faster to reboot the system but doesn't work sometimes, while complete IGR is a bit slower to reboot the system but works 99.9% of the time.  Whichever one you choose (you can choose with the config file), you're supposed to still need to pull the triggers, but iND bios will reset if you just press Black + Back or Back + Start even though the release notes state otherwise.  I'm not sure how the other commands (like Shutdown) handle the triggers.

[dsdork]

QUOTE

iND bios will reset if you just press Black + Back or Back + Start

Good to know, this is a deal breaker.
Thank You for pointing me to the correct release notes too.

I guess for VGA I can just use a 1.0 TSOP and evox to flash a VGA modified X2 5035 on there and deal with the rest via config file.  Hopefully the initializing text will not show up since the 480i stuff doesn't seem to render.

One more random question, can the X2 5035 boot a .xbe on the F partition?

I really appreciate your time AZImmortal.  I was expecting crickets chirping as a response.

[AZImmortal]

Yes, both X2 5035 and iND 5003 can boot from any partition and in any folder as well as long as you specify the full path to the xbe.  For example, I boot XBMC from F:\Apps\XBMC\default.xbe.  You'll need to follow the correct syntax to specify the path in the config file and you can specify boot priorities for multiple dashboards as well.  You're very welcome for the help.

[dsdork]

I moved some chips around so I had a 512k x2 on a <1.6 and got X2 5035 with the VGA mode and the config file working well.  The thing that drives me crazy is the loading config... text.  I was hoping it would show at a point where the VGA was out of sync but no luck.

I think I'm going to try messing around with the M8+ "Evox M8plus VGA Patcher (Based on VGA Patcher v0." and make the visual changes in the EVtool_1.0.9 tool as I'm doing the VGA patching.

Any idea if M8+ does a clock set (arbitrary date but new enough to not cause problems)?

Thanks again for all the help.  I feel like I'm ~5 years late for this discussion.  
Where is Frosty when you need him?  

[AZImmortal]

I'd be surprised if it didn't set the clock but I don't know for sure because I've never used it and I've never looked into it.  I'm 99% sure that it does though since it's newer than older bioses that do set the clock.  Also, if you're concerned about getting error 16, as long as you keep a complete set of stock MS dash files in your C: drive, then you never have to worry about error 16 no matter what bios you use, even if the Xbox is completely stock.  Error 16 comes about when the system wants to set the clock and can't find the stock dashboard files to allow you to set it.  If you want to test Evox M8+ (or any bios) and see how it handles clock setting, just make sure that you have the stock dash on your C: drive and then you'll be completely safe.

[dsdork]

I'm not worried about error 16 but I do keep a complete MS dask in place so I can change video settings.  As far as the clock goes, I guess there are a few emus that complain when the clock is all messed up.  I think I'm going to replace the areogel caps unless I figure out the m8+ is setting the clock correctly when they are removed.

I rolled a nice customized m8+ that works well except it does not work at 256k when patched for VGA.  I guess this means I'm going to have to use 1.0-1.1's for tsop vga and put a 512k chip like a Duox2 on 1.2-1.5's with VGA.

Thanks again for all the help!

[dsdork]

Thanks again AZImmortal, you really helped me out!

success!