Help with setting up Demon

[rpmccormick]

Hi all. I read a ton before ever posting and have been at this project for weeks. I have a Zypher with a DemoN and a CRrevC. I am an expert solderer and have tested continuity both for neighbor-shorts and for successful QSBtp-to-stockNANDpin.

Here is where I am at:

0) DemoN's NAND is blank, CoolRunner is blank (and set to NOR), I have not yet read my stock NAND.

1) DemoN works fine with micro-USB in PC-mode and xbox unplugged. (no wire were attached during this test, though QSB pads were)

2) Extra Board with mini-USB, button, and led has never done anything at all... no LEDs, button does nothing, no USB connection no matter how the board is powered or the state of the XB/PC switch.

3) The XBOX will not boot if either the DemoN's red(6) or green(4) wires are connected. If everything for the Demon and CRrevC RGH2 is all wired up except those 2 wires, then it boots fine.

I have double checked these problem wires and they are fine with no shorts.


Questions
---------
How am I supposed to read my stock NAND, can I do it using microUSB and PC mode, or do I have to get the miniUSB/XB working?

Is there any newer DemoN firmware I should flash?

Once I've got my stock NAND, where do I get the hackerNAND to merge it with before flashing the DemoN's NAND?

NOTE: I already found the CoolRunner program.


Thanks.

 

[BL4K3Y]

Why did you solder anything before testing?

You are instructed to test BEFORE installing.

Anyway, I believe you only need the DemoN in place with the 5v STBY and GND wires in place to read the console's NAND (ensure the switch on the DemoN is set to XB).

Also, check that the flex cable is firmly connected to the external module and inserted the correct way.

 

[rpmccormick]

I did test before soldering... I plugged in the DemoN via the micro-USB and all seemed fine. I admittedly did not test the miniUSB/button/led board before soldering.

I have double checked the ribbon many times, blue side up/pins down. It is deep in the connector and secure.

5v STBY is the Red wire. If it is connected, the box doesn't boot (the red light on the CR revC lights up with power, but the power button doesn't turn green when pressed). The miniUSB doesn't work, only the microUSB does, when box is unplugged and the switch is PC and none of the wires are connected.

Should I try the microUSB with the XBOX powered and wires connected? If yes, in PC mode or XB mode? ...and if yes, should I leave the Red (and Green) wires unplugged? What is the green wire (RB) for?

 

[Martin C]

We need pics of your install.

Now the DemoN is installed, the switch should be left at XB.

 

[rpmccormick]

It took me a while to get some pics. As I said, I have buzz-tested it to verify:
1) No shorting
2) Every QSB-pad is continuous with one of the pins on the stock NAND chip.

Please tell me if it is possible to use the microUSB port when installed this way (since the miniUSB board is not working).

Also note: The first thing I am looking to do with this (besides back up my stock NAND) is just to recover the lost CD-Key. What do I need to get that far?


Thanks for the help!
-Ryan

 

[Martin C]

Do you need to be told your soldering is shockingly bad? Probably not - you can tell yourself by looking at other installs that the install you have there is a mess. No telling what's happened with it TBH.

Soldering aside (although I still feel it's the main cause of your problems), did you test continuity between the connector on the DemoN and the connector on the Mini USB port (where the ribbon plugs in)?

 

[Krafter]

You really should cleanup the access flux. It can cause problems. It only takes a little flux. A lot is just a waste and must be cleaned up (it is acidic). Not saying this will cure your problem but I have seen problems with to much flux being used.


I hate TapaTalk auto correction. Please bare with me.

 

[rpmccormick]

I have soldered TSSOP nand chips and such daily for 10 years of my life. I have inspected production lines in China. I think my job is very clean; Wires are routed nice and glued. The QSB's took forever to get all of them continuous on that one side (I did not have a fine-tipped iron), which is why all the flux is there, but it is no problem. I just use solder with a flux core, I've never used separate flux in my 10 years of soldering 1000's of tiny chips.

Anyway, I just tested both sides of the ribbon, and no, none of the pins are connected! I thought blue was on top all over... didn't realize the button board had a top-connecting ribbon. All is good now with my 2nd board (but the xbox still won't boot when either the Red or Green wires are attached).

I'm going to read my NAND and program my Cool-Runner now. ...then what do I do? How do I get it to boot showing my CD-Key and CPU-Key?

Thanks.

 

[Martin C]

Cool, so is the console booting now with the DemoN wired?

Carry on with the RGH process to get the CPU key. You can the decrypt the NAND to get the other values (which J-Runner will do for you automatically).

 

[rpmccormick]

Ok, it's running on XBox with switch to XB connected on the miniUSB port. I can read Demon NAND, but when I try to read 360NAND I get:

An unhandled exception occured in file "..\src\Demon.cpp" at line 315


I think the cool runner worked... I programmed RGH2_DEMON_CR_EN_D.xsvf and it said:

Executing XSVF
XSVF executed successfully in 4 seconds!

 

[Martin C]

That error tells me you've definitely got something badly soldered.

you've tested for continuity, but from where to where? also have you checked for neighbouring shorts between D0 to D1, D1 to D2 etc. Finally, did you resolder the RB wire? A close up image of the soldering on the board for this is needed too.

 

[rpmccormick]

Yes, I re-soldered the Red and Green wires (The box is thus not booting).

I tested continuity from the testpoints on the Demon to the pins on the stock NAND chip on the other side... they are all good.


I just tried using J-Runner instead of Demon Toolbox and it seems to have worked:

Reading Nand to C:\Users\Admin\Desktop\J-Runner v02 (278) Core Pack\J-Runner v02 (278) Core Pack\output\nanddump1.bin
XBOX360
Hardware   : Demon Phat
Firmware   : 1.00
Flash ID   : 0x73AD Hynix (16MiB - Small block)
Flash Size : 0x400 blocks of 0x4200 bytes
Reading Nand
Done!
in 0:29 min:sec

Reading Nand to C:\Users\Admin\Desktop\J-Runner v02 (278) Core Pack\J-Runner v02 (278) Core Pack\output\nanddump2.bin
Initializing Nand..
Reading Nand
Header is wrong..
Done!
in 0:22 min:sec

Comparing...
Nands are the same

---------- Post added at 09:13 ---------- Previous post was at 09:05 ----------

Ok, I still don't know the exact procedure here, but I'm thinking I need to use J-Runner to "Create ECC" so that I can get my CPU-Key... right?

When I click Create ECC, I get this:

* unpacking flash image, ....
UnECC'ed
* found decrypted CD
* found XeLL binary, must be linked to 0x1c000000
 * we found the following parts: 
SMC: 117.78
CB_A: missing
CB_B: missing
CD (image): missing
CD (decrypted): 8453
Failed to create ecc image

 

[Martin C]

"Reading NAND
Header is wrong"

So the problem is the NAND isn't being read. you still have a problem here with one of your soldered points (or more than one).

You say the console won't turn on - are you pressing the button on the mini-USB so the light is OFF first? You won't be able to boot from the DemoN until there's something on it.

Do you understand now why DemoNs are for pro installers only?

 

[rpmccormick]

It didn't say "Header is wrong" for the first one, only for the second one... and then they matched, so I thought I was ok.

I am a "pro-installer", this is just my 1st XBox hack. I have done hardware-hacks inside cell phones before.

Nice! The box does boot up with all wires connected after pressing the button to tuen the lights off. Thanks! I tried that before but that was before I connected the ribbon correctly


If the NAND isn't reading correctly, I will re-touch up all the signals I guess. The multi-meter is still saying all 14 QSB points are linked to one of the stock-NAND pins each though.

 

[Martin C]

Open the NAND in a hex editor and check the details in the first bytes. It'll be obvious if there's a data issue.

Regardless of what you've done before this, you do need to know your stuff when messing with the DemoN: checking continuity between the USB port and the DemoN itself for instance should have been a no-brainer, as is opening the NAND in a hex editor to get a good idea of what you're actually dumping. Being able to solder electronics covers about 30% of what's needed. Understanding the RGH process covers another 25% of it.

 

[rpmccormick]

Hey man, you gotta learn sometime. I can't understand the RGH process with out ever doing the RGH process once. The backwards cable was def a doh moment, but after seeing 3 pictures of blue on top, I did not notice that the 4th was backwards (it makes no sense for them to be made that way and require a second part-type, unless the layout was too tight to swap the pins).

You were right about the bin... all 01's, where as the blank demon is all FF's. So the only suggestion you have at this point is to re-check all the 14 QSB pads?

Thanks for all the help man.

 

[BL4K3Y]

Did you ground the external USB module?

I had issues with a DemoN install (it wouldn't read/write to the on-board NAND) and grounding the module fixed it.

 

[rpmccormick]

Thanks for the suggestion. I added a GND wire to the miniUSB board, but still get the same thing... error on line 315 in toolbox, and 16MB of 01's when read using J-Runner.

 

[Martin C]

Did you check for neighbouring shorts ?

---------- Post added at 16:11 ---------- Previous post was at 16:09 ----------

I can't understand the RGH process with out ever doing the RGH process once

So you don't make a DemoN/Coolrunner install your first rodeo - simples.

 

[Dicko316]

Will most likely be your soldering, why does everyone always get touchy when someone says your soldering is bad lol.

I'd remove the Demon, clean up the motherboard, clean up the demon and then start again.