CK3 Probe v2 First Batch Available & New LT Switch v1.5

As previously announced the CK3 Probe v2 shipment was on hold due to the delay on the custom made conductive glue shipment. Due to the quantity it was not allowed to be flown on a airplane so had to be transported by ship (which has caused an 8 week delay). However we have been inundated with requests to release a batch of the stock without the glue as many of you are simply prepared just to do the trace repairs yourselves. Naturally we have instructed the resellers who are selling without the glue to give a discount and to make sure that you are made aware that the glue is not included. It is on its way so if you are desperate for the no-solder solution then you’ll have to wait a couple more weeks.

The good news is that while we were waiting for the glue we had time to add a new feature called MULTI-R which is also a new feature that we have added to an upgraded version of the ridiculously popular LT Switch.

With the help of TeaJunkie on our forums who has become somewhat of a go-to guy for repairing Liteon PCB’s that some of you had butchered in a frenzy of solder-hate, we discovered a very small number of DVD drives that simply would not switch to vendor mode. Now before a thousand of you who couldn’t get 0×72 vendor mode start waving your hands, the number of returned drives with this error was 2 out of 63 drives. The majority of the time it was user error. However even if there is a small chance of an issue, we had to find a solution and implement it. After input from other experienced members and various articles on the same problem, we found that the LT Switch default resistor level of 20 Ohms could sometimes be too much or not enough for a small number of DVD drives (we found that the majority of drives that ever showed this issue were the Liteon 93450). So our solution once again lends itself to the process of K.I.S.S (KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID) – We added a switch bank so you could choose your level of resistor Your options are 18 Ohms, 20 Ohms (Default) and 22 Ohms. We have called this feature “MULTI-R” and it has now been implemented on the LT Switch v1.5 and the CK3 Probe v2.

We have also made sure that unlike other products, the underside of the PCB is protected against shortages from any exposed PCB traces (as implemented on the LT Switch v1)

The New Designed LT Switch v1.5 with MULTI-R. On Sale From March 28th £5.95 / $8.95 (Bulk Discounts Available As Usual).

….and the new design CK3 Probe v2 with MULTI-R Feature. Note we have also color coded the Probes so they can be easily identified. Remember that unlike other products, the CK3 Probe v2 also has Probe v1 Support (Liteon 74850 Key Dump with No Trace Cuts), has its own power isolator switch so you can be completely safe against shortages even if your CK3 is turned on and no rebuild PCB’s to solder. The new custom made conductive glue is absolutely fantastic and as soon as that’s ready to ship we will let you know. In the meantime you can buy the CK3 probe v2 without the glue for just £11.95 / $17.95 – Stock is expected to arrive before March 28th.

Xecuter XFRAG 360 Launched

The Xecuter XFRAG 360 is the ultimate accessory for the hardcore gamer who craves the accuracy and freedom of using their beloved keyboard and mouse on an Xbox 360. We have looked at other products on the market and taken it to the next level by looking at gamers wish lists and then fine tuning every aspect of quality and performance and giving it to you at a price that doesn’t break the bank.

This device is not meant for the average gamer who likes to take pot shots at tin cans, this is for the gamer who loves to frag the living hell out of anything that moves – whether it be Call Of Duty, Gears of War, Rainbow Six or Halo – you will simply OWN anything that crosses your path. For the discerning Playstation addict – you can even connect a PS2 DualShcok2 controller to your Xbox 360 (though why anybody would prefer the PS2 controller over the soul-soothing goodness that is a 360 controller is beyond us) – we’ve added it anyway !

We have struck a deal that will see this distributed in several global high street retail chains so you can be sure to be able to get your hands on one of these for only $69.95 ! (Similar products sell for upto $100)
Features:

• Connect a PS/2 or USB keyboard & Mouse to the Xbox 360
• Connect a Playstation DualShock2 controller to the Xbox 360
• All Xbox 360 buttons including analogue can be mapped to any keys on the keyboard
• Rapid Fire and Auto Fire Function (8 Customizable Buttons)
• Adjustable X&Y Mouse Sensitivity
• Compatible with most PS/2 or USB Keyboard & Mouse combination’s
• Compatible with all Xbox 360 Games
• Compatible with all Xbox 360 Console Versions
• Compatible with both CL & the new Matrix Xbox 360 Wired Controllers
• Connect any PS2 peripheral including Guitars, Dance mats, Light Guns, Racing Wheels etc
• Trusted Xecuter Design & Quality

New Xecuter Product Reviews

The guys over at Jungle Flasher have given a bunch of our products a review. Many thanks to them !

• LT Switch Review
• CK3 Pro (Rev D) Review
• Blaster CK3 Review

Xecuter CK3-CP Update

The Xecuter CK3-CP is the crown jewel in the range of CK3 products. We have combined all the functionality of the CK3 Pro plus into a fully featured PC driven LCD Display & Control Panel, not to mention a slew of new automated features. Please note that the following image is a prototype. We expect to begin shipping sometime in April 2010.

• Fits into any 5.25″ PC bay
• 2×16 Custom Design LCD Display
• 4 x Button Directional Keypad (e.g Jungle Flasher No-Mouse Operation)
• 1 x SATA Port
• 2 x USB 2.0 Ports
• CK3 Power Connector for any XBOX 360 DVD Drive
• Xbox 360 DVD Eject Button
• IVM (Intelligent Vendor Mode) – Software can control DVD Power and Eject (inc half tray) for fully automated DVD fw access (vendor mode etc)
• 2 x  Programmable LED’s (Many uses with apps like Jungle Flasher)
• When not being used for CK3, the LCD can be used to display ANY information (Huge Possibilities)
• LCD Smartie open source software is fully compatible with the LCD. Includes custom driver.
• The LCD display is fully customizable from the PC, including the directional pad and the notification LED’s.
• LCD backlight and contrast are software controllable.
• The simplified and robust protocol allows anyone from hobbyists to professionals to interface the CK3 CP.
• Great for displaying system statistics like temperature, cpu usage, and ram.
• Compatible with all versions of Windows. Most linux distributions and even PowerPC and Intel Macintosh systems.

CK3 Related (Sources and info available for 3rd party software developers)

• IVM (Intelligent Vendor Mode) – DVD Power and Eject (inc half tray) full software controlled
• The LCD display can guide you step by step when flashing a 360 drive (or other app functions)
• Any input inquiry can be done right on the directional pad – and also an OK/ENTER button.
• No need to keep looking to the monitor or fiddling with the mouse to control the PC for the next step.
• Metal frame means the unit is sturdy and reliable.
• CK3-CP works with all current 360 drives.
• Industry standard, PL2303 transceiver for communication. This means you get great stability and compatibility.

PCEngine360 Alpha v0.1

Our old skool Xbox 1 scene friend Yoshihiro is back and has released PCEngine360 Alpha v0.1 for homebrew Xbox360s:

This is an alpha release, the first one written and coded for the xbox 360 so this emulator has been only coded in big Endian.
It can emulate every Nec PCENGINE games and only the hardware mouse is missing.

This emulator is not a port but a full writen emulator for the xbox360 based on every docs and paterns about PCE hardware and i used hugo for the arcade Card support.
supergraphx doc , pce sound generator , CDROM io , pads ,VDC , VCE ect.. .

How to use this emulator :
put every games pce , sgx , Arcade CD , cdrom images inside the pceroms folder dont forget to put the bios rom inside the bios folder renammed as syscard.pce
This emulator needs the SuperCD Card 3.0 bios to play CDROM games .
supported formats for Hucard zip , gz , pce , sgx .
supported formats for CD game images : .iso and .bin.

Official Site: n/a, by Yoshihiro
Download: n/a (built with XDK)
News-Source: xbins.org

FreeStyle Dash v1.10 Final

A final version of the opensource FreeStyle Dash v1.10 for homebrew 360s has been released.

What’s new/fixed (since v1.10 RC1):
* Final Bug Fixes

Current Features List:
- List Xbox 360 games, XBLA games, GOD Packages, applications, emulators, and launch them.
- Can move items between menus.
- Browse games by genre.
- Favourite games support.
- View recently played games.
- Game details including no of players, resolution, sound etc.
- Full screenshot viewer.
- Preview video for each game.
- Support for background artwork for each title, including boxart, screenshots and icon.
- Use FSD indexer to download artwork (or add manually) and edit the metadata with each game and upload to Xbox 360 either via USB drive or FTP.
- FTP Passive and Active Support.
- FTP speeds now support 10Mb+ to internal HDD.
- FTP working in many more clients.
- File Browser including copying, moving, renaming and deleting files.
- Copy DVD to USB drive or HDD.
- Sounds within user interface.
- Semi-Transparent menus.
- Shows Gamertag on main screen.
- Shows Date and Time in dashboard.
- Shows free disk space on all drives.
- Shows temperatures.
- Show IP address.
- Parental controls which lock down to only showing XBLA games.
- Fully skinable.
- Customizable overscan.
- Source code released too.

Official Site: http://code.google.com/p/freestyledash/
Download: n/a (built with XDK)

Liteon 74850 and CK3 Probe – Serial Data Bad NO GREEN LED Explained

Some of you are posting that you get no green LED when connecting the CK3 probe to R707 on a Liteon 74850 drive.

The answer is simple – chances are you have already previously flashed your drive with iXtreme firmware. Once that has happened then is no serial connection going to R707 (a serial connection provides 3.3v) therefore no LED  (Serial is turned OFF on 83/93 based fw – and iXtreme LT is based on 93 fw).

So when you FIRST use the CK3 Probe on a stock drive – always make sure you save your OFW / Dummy.bin / DVD Key – then you will be able to upgrade your drive without the need for the Probe in future.

To prove that your CK3 Probe is not faulty – simply return the drive to its Stock 74850 fw and you will see that the green LED works again as there is now a serial connection going to R707.

Note: Any keys that you have dumped are stored in the Jungle Flasher Key Database so don’t panic if you think you lost your key !

You can also dump your pre-flashed fw info using the “Dummy from iXtreme” option in Jungle Flasher.

Discuss this news HERE

Yaris-Swap v0.8

Zouzzz released Yaris-Swap v0.8.

What’s new/fixed:
* support CON files (with FTP: creating folders hosts)
* save / load XUID and FTP functions replaced by save / load profile (5)
* preview (fast) of content in a PictureBox
* load the profile A at boot

Official Site/Download: hb-released.com

FreeStyle Dash v1.10 RC1 Beta

An RC1 build of the opensource FreeStyle Dash v1.10 for homebrew 360s has been released.

What’s new/fixed:
* Added Display Options: GamerTag, GamerScore, Temperature, Free Disk Space, System Info
* Added launching of God Games
* FTP Active mode and speed increases
* Can move Titles to different menus
* Fixed Status code crashes
* Semi Transparant Menus
* Fan Speed Controls
* LED Light Settings

Official Site: http://code.google.com/p/freestyledash/
Download: n/a (built with XDK)

MrModchips LT Switch Sale Only £3.95

MrModchips has informed us that he is having an LT Switch sale – now only £3.95 for a limited time only

http://www.mrmodchips.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=785&osCsid=80c956849bdd7c05096445aee6a4f8a6