User:Sliverstorm
From Xbox-Linux
Hey, sliverstorm here. I've had my box modded for a while now, and I only just came back here looking for more documentation (this site is great!)
Xbox- v1.0 DuoX chip
I would love to help any potential Xbox-Linux users get their hardware working; I know the trials this hardware can present. I just spent 3 hours last night soldering and making myself a VGA adapter (not pretty, but dangit it works!). I cannot exaggerate how much I love doing this stuff!
-Patrick
P.S. If you have any unusual situation, for example, like I did, I' be glad to help you try and recover your xbox. (though the chances of success decrease after serious issues, like if your only motherboard is in 30 pieces, or your hd is molten metal in the bottom of the box) Although i can't provide you with the hardware like your new hard drive, I can provide the know-how, the tools, and the hands wielding a soldering iron.
brief history of mods:
- 1: My xbox hd died a terrible death due to hardware failure 3 days after purchase (used, from a store) but they were reluctant to take it back- I had already exchanged for IT because the other used one i had bought 2 weeks earlier had a dysfunctional dvd drive with it's seal broken- which is why they were suspicious of me; I only knew the seal was broken because I opened the xbox (which of course they realized), and the only reason I opened it was because I was out of their used-xbox warranty. AND they knew I was gonna mod it cause I asked for a used one, and to make sure it is old enough, they ask why, I say, well, to softmod. Of course, they immediately think, pirate, not believing me when I tell them about Xbox-Linux. So anyway, it dies before i can back up eeprom, thus I am stuck with a mobo lacking a key or working hd. I'm in a Catch-22. If only it would work, I could get the crucial information I need to get it working. So, i can either remove the eeprom chip and solder it onto a modded xbox mobo, or I can use a modchip and bios that allows using an unlocked hd (which I supplied- used the wonderful tool xboxhdm_v1.9 to build myself a new one out of a free 10GB hd. Ancient, too.) So modchip it is, and now that it's all working, I could just flash the TSOP and I'd be fine, no need for the modchip anymore. argh.
- 2: friend from school asked me to mod his box, and he ordered 2 xecuter 2.6 chips, one for him and one for another friend (xbox #3). I got myself into some BIG trouble with this one. the xbox was a v1.1, and therefore the pin holes were filled with solder. Having successfully done a pin header install on my v1.0 (whose holes had similarly been filled) I began slurping solder out of the holes. Problem was, my solder iron was kinda big and the solder didn't want to come out! Although I took great care, the combination of high temperatures and a large iron tip poking into the holes damaged a few pinholes and connections. I spent the next week going over the board with a magnifying glass fixing everything that looked even remotely like it COULD be a problem. Tested the pinheader with my voltmeter, tested lines for connectivity, stuck one corner of a lose transistor back onto the board... and then, the real solution to those damaged traces (they broke in places near impossible to fix) was lay down new traces! i.e., connect some regular wire to act as a bridge. Fortunately for me, it worked, and the box was fully functional once more! (I had given the guy my xbox to hold in custody, to be his if I couldn't fix his original one) Gave me some real good experience fixing a damaged xbox :)
- 3: Learned on #2 what wires install was REALLY for- you don't have to suck out the solder in v1.0 or v1.1 if you use wires! this one went flawlessly with that knowledge
- 4: loaded mechassault images onto a xbox mem card (via mail, contacted by this list)
- 5: TSOP flashed (with cromwell) an xbox (via mail, contacted by this list)
