Akira 2 Flashing

[Coner]

've been searchin the net for hours reading everything i can on this chip. I have one installed in my xbox, but i have changed my default dashboard, now i'm missing IGR, this is a must for me. So i figured i'd flash the bios with an X2 5032v16plus bios which is 512kb. I have a 1.6 xbox (could be a 'b' i'm not too sure) and also this in an xbox with a 160gig so i need the lba-48 support. Now my questions are as follows. Right now the chip is flashed with Evox M8+ v1.6, i'm not sure the size either 256kb or 512kb. But i have looked at a chart for the akira2 and it says if both jumpers are off then xbox 1.6bank2, if jumper 2 is on its 512kb. So i'm guessin if its bank 2 it must be 256kb cause of 256kbx2. Is there any way i can confirm this? Also if i want to flash the x2 bios onto this chip is it as easy as putting a jumper on jumper 2 and flashing right over whats previously been done there. This is also a part that confuses me, once the jumper is changed it won't read the bios am i correct? Would i just bootdvd to flash the chip? How would this work. Also, i do not have jumpers for this chip will any jumpers i put on the pins of this chip work, i'm sure i have some kind of electronics with jumpers here?

Thanks guys

 

[jwin767]

've been searchin the net for hours reading everything i can on this chip. I have one installed in my xbox, but i have changed my default dashboard, now i'm missing IGR, this is a must for me. So i figured i'd flash the bios with an X2 5032v16plus bios which is 512kb. I have a 1.6 xbox (could be a 'b' i'm not too sure) and also this in an xbox with a 160gig so i need the lba-48 support. Now my questions are as follows. Right now the chip is flashed with Evox M8+ v1.6, i'm not sure the size either 256kb or 512kb. But i have looked at a chart for the akira2 and it says if both jumpers are off then xbox 1.6bank2, if jumper 2 is on its 512kb. So i'm guessin if its bank 2 it must be 256kb cause of 256kbx2. Is there any way i can confirm this? Also if i want to flash the x2 bios onto this chip is it as easy as putting a jumper on jumper 2 and flashing right over whats previously been done there. This is also a part that confuses me, once the jumper is changed it won't read the bios am i correct? Would i just bootdvd to flash the chip? How would this work. Also, i do not have jumpers for this chip will any jumpers i put on the pins of this chip work, i'm sure i have some kind of electronics with jumpers here?

Thanks guys

The EVOx bios does not support IGR only Xecuter BIOS's do. its not the dash

The x2 bios is 512kb so it will flash BOTH banks it your chip is 2x256kb only because thats means you have 512 MAX.

AND why are you talking bout jumpers? explain a BIT more please im just confused ATM

 

[baseballer87]

(sigh)..... this is the XECUTER site. sorry but i don't think many people know what you're talking about. try google or the xbox-scene forums.

 

[Coner]

Ok guys, sorry about the confusion. The modchip is NOW flashed with evox m8+, but i want to switch to x2 5032, for mainly the igr function and some customization. my question was can i just flash right over whats currently there? and about jumpers, i don't have a jumper for this chip, will any jumper work off electronics.

 

[Big_Whoopin]

Haven't turned up any worthwhile pictures of the Akira 2 chip, so I can't say for certain. There are a couple different common jumper sizes, if you're lucky it's the same size as something you've already got. Probably borrow one from a HD or mobo. The common jumper size I'm thinking of would fit on a pair of pins on the LPC pin header if one was installed for your chip and if you were foolish enough to try to put it on there. A jumper simply shorts out or bridges two pins. Anything that will create a solid electrical path from one point to the other should work. In a pinch one could wrap some bare wire around a pair of pins, but it doesn't provide any protection from shorting out against surrounding components.

So FWIW there's a brief lesson on jumpers. Can't give you any direct help on your chip as I'm not familiar with it, good luck with your move to X2CL.

-Whoopin'

 

[Coner]

OK, well i finally flashed it with x2 5032. I flashed in evox dashboard, flashed ok, no problems. Told me xbox was turning off. I powered back on and everytime i power on it says loading config file. The color presets i loaded, none of them work, its the stock green color. And on top of this it wiped out my f drive, all games and apps i had stored, wiped out. Can anyone help with this. I put the hard drive in a friends xbox, same result, f drive is blank. I don't understand whats goin on, i put the config file on my c: drive of my xbox like i was supposed to.

 

[Big_Whoopin]

It's always going to say "loading config file," at least until the team spuces up that screen. This is a pause to allow your drives to initialize so the BIOS can read the config file. There has been some bitching about this but it's gotta be there to allow time for init. Once it is either "cooler looking" or possibly customizable I'm sure less people will complain. Team Xecuter took the road of establishing a solid BIOS first, they'll shine it up and add more bells and whistles in time.

Colors:
How did you build your config file? Did you use one of the apps listed here - http://www.teamxecuter.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30657
It's named x2config.ini and on the root of E:? (since you can't see F

F Drive:
Did you alter the LBA48 mode in the BIOS at all? If not, maybe try a different mode. Check the LBA48.txt file that was bundled with the BIOS. Your data is likely still there, it's just that the system isn't figuring out the partitions correctly. Don't be impatient and reformat until all possible attempts of accessing your data are exhausted! Formatting *definitely* will whack whatever was there. Probably just need to get to an LBA48 setting that matches what was set in your previous BIOS.

-Whoopin'

 

[Coner]

OK, well i used XBool to do the editing, but i'll check the lba48 settings like you suggested. But the lba48 is part of the bios am i correct? so everytime i change it i need to reflash the chip right? Also where does the ini file go on my xbox? As of right now its on the root of my c: drive.

 

[Big_Whoopin]

Correct, LBA48 is part of BIOS and will require a flash. I still have yet to play with this myself, can't provide much more info on it. There are only 4 settings to try so it shouldn't take long to work out the right one. There is more detailed information available if you search for it.

The x2config.ini file must be either on the root of F: (first place checked) or on the root of E: (second place checked). Having the file on C: is why you saw the default colors.

-Whoopin'

 

[Coner]

Thank you for your help Big_Whoopin you've been a big help. I will try those flashes now, and post tomorrow my results. Thank you.

 

[Big_Whoopin]

One thing I would recomend, take things one step at a time. Get your x2config.ini over to E: and make sure that is working the way you want it before playing with the LBA48 BIOS settings. In other words, don't make too many changes at once because if you encounter a problem it will be harder to troubleshoot.

-Whoopin'

 

[Coner]

OK i made 4 seperate bios files, each patched with a different lba48 setting. And loaded them one by one, until i found my f drive, seems like it was partitioned by my installer as f: gets 137 and g gets rest. So right now i'm copying my files to a backup drive and i'm gonna flash it back with the f gets all flash. And then format/partition the drive the right way. Also the config file worked perfect also. Thanks for all the info. Very much appriciated.

 

[DragonSlayer]

Akira 2 jumper modes

Jumper1 OFF & Jumper2 OFF = bank2 (1.6)
Jumper1 ON & Jumper2 ON = bank1 (old)
Jumper1 ON & Jumper2 OFF = bank1 (old)

Jumper1 OFF & Jumper2 ON = single 512Kb bank

(i might mixed up bank names)

Add to Evox.ini:
Flash = 0xbfd7,"AKIRA2 SST - 39VF040",0x80000