hepcat Posted March 31, 2005 Share Posted March 31, 2005 Ok, my foray into modern gaming has not gone well. I bought an Xbox around Christmas and got it modded in late January. It came with a bunch of emulators and games on it, but I really wanted to FTP over some of my Mame roms so I could finally try some of those games on a real TV. Unfortunately, no matter what I tried, I could not get the fu@king thing to FTP to my PC. And last night, it stopped working entirely. Well it would start to fire up and it made noise, but nothing appeared on my TV screen. All I got was a light flashing green and red where the on/off switch is. A tutorial I found on Xbox-scene said that probably means the chip is bad. Yeah, I know, I took a risk by modifying a delicate piece of electronic equipment to do something it was not originally designed to; please don’t interrupt my rant with logic and common sense. I guess what I’m looking for here is experiences from other AA members who’ve had an Xbox mod go bad. What were you able to do about it? I have contacted the guy who did my mod, he is willing to look at it, but it probably won’t be until next week at the earliest. The ironic thing is that the Atari 2600 I keep next to my TV and just below the Xbox is at least 25 years old and it works every freakin’ time. Dammit this pisses me off!!!! –Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starscream Posted March 31, 2005 Share Posted March 31, 2005 Did it turn on and off 3 times then just flash red and green? And does it boot up without the chip enabled? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hepcat Posted March 31, 2005 Author Share Posted March 31, 2005 Did it turn on and off 3 times then just flash red and green? And does it boot up without the chip enabled? I pushed the button once. It turned on and off twice and stayed on the third time while flashing red and green. It was making noise, almost like there's a fan inside. This sound was nothing I haven't heard from it in the past. Someone else asked me about the chip last night. I have no idea how to disable the chip. Can that be done without opening up the Xbox? --Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starscream Posted March 31, 2005 Share Posted March 31, 2005 It depends on what modchip you have installed. If it's an Xecuter 2x it would have a switch panel (unless it was never installed), an Alladdin and a few other 1st gen chips are disabled either by tapping the power or eject button on the XB (depends on what chip what button to disable). Or open up the XB, and pull the chip off the pins or disconnect the wire harness. If you see no modchip, let me know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeepnut24 Posted March 31, 2005 Share Posted March 31, 2005 If you aren't afraid to open her up, open up the case and post some pictures. Then we will know what chip you have. Though, I might add that I have a launch box that has never had a single problem and gets almost daily use. No mod chip though... You never know the skill level of the chip installer either... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sega saturn x Posted March 31, 2005 Share Posted March 31, 2005 I found it funny you said your atari works after 25 years maybe thats because you never dicked around with the internal workings of the system? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE146 Posted March 31, 2005 Share Posted March 31, 2005 That happens to me all the time. Fortunately I know how to fix it. But like Starscream says it depends on what you have. I think your xbox is very and simply saveable.. you just need to find someone who knows what they're doing. As far as your FTP problems.. that's another story. I can probably help you out on that a lot better.. Let me know when you get your xbox back up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hepcat Posted March 31, 2005 Author Share Posted March 31, 2005 I found it funny you said your atari works after 25 years maybe thats because you never dicked around with the internal workings of the system? Yeah, I know, I took a risk by modifying a delicate piece of electronic equipment to do something it was not originally designed to; please don’t interrupt my rant with logic and common sense. Thanks for the suggestions everyone, but I'll have to report back on them tomorrow night or over the weekend. Right now if I touch that Xbox, I'm going to wind up throwing it out the window. --Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Random Terrain Posted March 31, 2005 Share Posted March 31, 2005 The Xbox Sucks I think you mean f*cking with the guts of the Xbox sucks when you don't know what the f*ck you are doing. You won't catch me screwing around with the guts of my Xbox when I get another one. By the middle of the year I should be playing GTA: SA and Half-Life 2 on a new Xbox and I'll leave emulation to my PC. I think my post was free of logic and common sense, so it should be OK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xenomorpher Posted March 31, 2005 Share Posted March 31, 2005 My Xbox's DVDROM Drive went bad so I am going to buy a replacement for it. I been wanting to put a Mod Chip in mine and I been researching for awhile and I think I found the one I want so I am pretty happy. I do love the fact that there are some PC games ported to the Xbox because I would rather play it on my Xbox than my PC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hepcat Posted April 1, 2005 Author Share Posted April 1, 2005 It depends on what modchip you have installed. If it's an Xecuter 2x it would have a switch panel (unless it was never installed), an Alladdin and a few other 1st gen chips are disabled either by tapping the power or eject button on the XB (depends on what chip what button to disable). Or open up the XB, and pull the chip off the pins or disconnect the wire harness. If you see no modchip, let me know. That happens to me all the time. Fortunately I know how to fix it. But like Starscream says it depends on what you have. I think your xbox is very and simply saveable.. you just need to find someone who knows what they're doing. As far as your FTP problems.. that's another story. I can probably help you out on that a lot better.. Let me know when you get your xbox back up. I just tried to open the Xbox to take a picture of the mod chip. Two screws come out on the bottom, but it didn't open when I took them out and I saw no obvious way of making it open. Obviously I didn't want to force it. I also reviewed my old e-mails to see if the guy who modded it mentioned what chip he was putting in. No luck. To clear up some apparent confusion, no I didn't try to do this mod by myself, I hired someone to do it who came highly recommended. --Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hepcat Posted April 1, 2005 Author Share Posted April 1, 2005 Thanks for the suggestions, seriously. I'm just feeling even more retarded now that I can't even figure out how to open the thing up. --Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starscream Posted April 1, 2005 Share Posted April 1, 2005 Take out the other 4....1 under each footpad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pestilent Posted April 1, 2005 Share Posted April 1, 2005 His xbox might not even have a chip. I've seen soft mods go into cycles like he mentions. Starscream'll get him sorted out though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hepcat Posted April 1, 2005 Author Share Posted April 1, 2005 Take out the other 4....1 under each footpad Oh man, I didn't even think of trying to remove those. I'll check them out tonight. --Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hepcat Posted April 2, 2005 Author Share Posted April 2, 2005 Ok, I got it open and took a couple pictures. If there's an extra chip installed anywhere here, I don't see it. BTW, I wrote down these version numbers off the TV screen while it was still working. Maybe they'll make sense to someone. Avalaunch Version 0.49.2 Alpha Build 129 Evox Version 0.37.1218A Build 543 --Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hepcat Posted April 2, 2005 Author Share Posted April 2, 2005 Dammit, sorry about breaking the tables. If I could edit that I would. I'm just not having a good week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starscream Posted April 2, 2005 Share Posted April 2, 2005 You would need to remove the hard drive cradle first, then take out the DVD drive to be able to see the chip. It sits right under the DVD drive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starscream Posted April 2, 2005 Share Posted April 2, 2005 Ahh, just noticed that this is probably a version 1.6. Looks as though it has a SmartXX sticker on it the case which means it could possibly have a SmartX OPX which installs under the motherboard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starscream Posted April 2, 2005 Share Posted April 2, 2005 And on that note, if it is the SmartX OPX chip, it more than likely has broken solder on one of the contacts from the chip to the motherboard which would explain why it suddenly quit working. Without boring you with the technical details, the chip has quicksolder points to hit specific parts on the motherboard and if the chip is not aligned 100% correct, in time what solder barely made contact will eventually break at any slight movement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hepcat Posted April 2, 2005 Author Share Posted April 2, 2005 And on that note, if it is the SmartX OPX chip, it more than likely has broken solder on one of the contacts from the chip to the motherboard which would explain why it suddenly quit working. Without boring you with the technical details, the chip has quicksolder points to hit specific parts on the motherboard and if the chip is not aligned 100% correct, in time what solder barely made contact will eventually break at any slight movement. Such as me moving it from the room with the TV to the room with my computer several times? So it's just a matter of soldering something back on? Or would the chip have to be completely replaced? --Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starscream Posted April 2, 2005 Share Posted April 2, 2005 You can see if my guess is correct without removing anything. In the pic below where my shitty circle is drawn, pull the metal shielding out and look down. You should be able to see a blue part sticking out all the way to the metal shielding at the very bottom. It will only be sticking out a little over an 1/8th inch beyond anything else and it will be maybe 2 inches long. Might need a flashlight to check. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starscream Posted April 2, 2005 Share Posted April 2, 2005 Such as me moving it from the room with the TV to the room with my computer several times? So it's just a matter of soldering something back on? Or would the chip have to be completely replaced? --Jason Yes. As you can see the metal shielding on the DVD side is bowed out a bit whereas the HD side isn't. That particular chip will do that. When the case is installed there is just a pube hair of space there. So if you grab the case and maybe rest it on your hip during movement it could move the chip enough to break the solder or loosen it to where it won't make good consistant contact if the chip wasn't perfectly soldered from the start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starscream Posted April 2, 2005 Share Posted April 2, 2005 Sorry, forgot to add that the chip is probably good. In any case, I think SmartX chips have a 1 year warranty anyways Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shannon Posted April 5, 2005 Share Posted April 5, 2005 I feel for ya. I have an xbox with the executor and 160gig hdrive and the hard drive died on me last week, and then the chip turned around and died as well. Just in time to prevent me from putting a new hard drive in (which is hard to do without a chip). Needless to say it took me about 3 months to load that baby up with emulators and the like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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