Hi guys and gals.
I am a complete noob when it comes to xbox and forums so please forgive me if I've posted in the wrong place or I should have added this info to another thread!
I post this info in the hope that it may help someone else. I've just had a really difficult time with the install and I know what it feels like when you've just bought an xbox, a mod chip and end up with a system that doesn't work. Not nice at all
I bought the Xecuter 3 from baldbouncer.co.uk - fantastic service - delivered within 24 hours of ordering.
I fitted the chip straight away. Fragging. not happy. Won't boot with chip disabled (unless I unplugged d0 connector).
Read loads of stuff saying check your soldering, resolder, 99% faults caused by your poor install etc. OK so I rechecked everything many times. I've done electronics for years so I'm not new to soldering but I did start wondering if I wasn't losing the plot....
I used a meter to check continuity everywhere very thoroughly and found no problems.
Eventually found that I could boot into bios if I pushed the mod chip PCB down on the edge away from the connector. Ahh - great - so a continuity problem and I haven't trashed the xbox mobo or the mod chip..... There's hope then
I eventually found that there were two continiuity problems on the MOD CHIP board. The LAD0-3 connections are taken from the pads on the component side of the pcb but the connector pins were not electrically connected to the pads. I didn't remove the connector from the pcb but wondered if there was a problem with the through plated holes (or maybe they are not through plated?). Get a meter and check the continuity between the solder pad and the connector pin. You may be in luck.....
My fix was to use wire wrap (very thin) wire to connect the pads adjacent to the connector (on pins 7 ,11, 6, 10) either to the connector pins on the rear of the board or to the pins on the back of the connector on the mother board. Through paranoia I've hard wired ALL of the conncetor pins from the modchip board to the back of the mobo. I really don't want to take the xbox apart again.....
I was SO relieved to find this problem. When I'd removed the short on the back of the reset/eject adaptor everything worked fine!!!!
Even if I'd resoldered my connections 100 times and then done a wire install it wouldn't have fixed this problem, so not ALL of the fragging installs out there are necessarily down to poor soldering!!!!
Once I'd loaded Evox and MBMC I was blown away....
It was worth all of the hassle.
It's just a shame I had problems on two of the three pcbs that are supplied with this kit.
Another issue not mentioned anywhere is ESD (sorry - Electro Static Discharge) The mod chip really should be supplied in a conductive bag and you should take precautions when handing it and doing the install. Wearing an earthed wrist strap and using an earthed conductive table or mat are the absolute minimum... Do an internet search to find out why this is important.
Whilst I think about it you might try the following:
With mod chip fitted or not and box on:
Voltages measured with respect to 0V (pin 2)
measure pin 6 - should be 5V
measure pin 9 - should be 3.3V
On pin1 (LCLK) I measured 1.6V (if I remember correctly) - possibly a 50% duty cycle clock (?) - didn't get a scope out.
Can't remember about the I2C bus pins (13,14) - might have been 1.6V too.
turn off box.
Measure continuity of LAD pins. Pins 11, 10, 8, 7 measured around 12k ohms with respect to 0V.
If all of that measure OK then your problem could be with the mod chip board itself.
I hope this helps someone!
GOOD LUCK & persevere - it's well worth it.
Cheers,
David.
I am a complete noob when it comes to xbox and forums so please forgive me if I've posted in the wrong place or I should have added this info to another thread!
I post this info in the hope that it may help someone else. I've just had a really difficult time with the install and I know what it feels like when you've just bought an xbox, a mod chip and end up with a system that doesn't work. Not nice at all
I bought the Xecuter 3 from baldbouncer.co.uk - fantastic service - delivered within 24 hours of ordering.
I fitted the chip straight away. Fragging. not happy. Won't boot with chip disabled (unless I unplugged d0 connector).
Read loads of stuff saying check your soldering, resolder, 99% faults caused by your poor install etc. OK so I rechecked everything many times. I've done electronics for years so I'm not new to soldering but I did start wondering if I wasn't losing the plot....
I used a meter to check continuity everywhere very thoroughly and found no problems.
Eventually found that I could boot into bios if I pushed the mod chip PCB down on the edge away from the connector. Ahh - great - so a continuity problem and I haven't trashed the xbox mobo or the mod chip..... There's hope then
I eventually found that there were two continiuity problems on the MOD CHIP board. The LAD0-3 connections are taken from the pads on the component side of the pcb but the connector pins were not electrically connected to the pads. I didn't remove the connector from the pcb but wondered if there was a problem with the through plated holes (or maybe they are not through plated?). Get a meter and check the continuity between the solder pad and the connector pin. You may be in luck.....
My fix was to use wire wrap (very thin) wire to connect the pads adjacent to the connector (on pins 7 ,11, 6, 10) either to the connector pins on the rear of the board or to the pins on the back of the connector on the mother board. Through paranoia I've hard wired ALL of the conncetor pins from the modchip board to the back of the mobo. I really don't want to take the xbox apart again.....
I was SO relieved to find this problem. When I'd removed the short on the back of the reset/eject adaptor everything worked fine!!!!
Even if I'd resoldered my connections 100 times and then done a wire install it wouldn't have fixed this problem, so not ALL of the fragging installs out there are necessarily down to poor soldering!!!!
Once I'd loaded Evox and MBMC I was blown away....
It was worth all of the hassle.
It's just a shame I had problems on two of the three pcbs that are supplied with this kit.
Another issue not mentioned anywhere is ESD (sorry - Electro Static Discharge) The mod chip really should be supplied in a conductive bag and you should take precautions when handing it and doing the install. Wearing an earthed wrist strap and using an earthed conductive table or mat are the absolute minimum... Do an internet search to find out why this is important.
Whilst I think about it you might try the following:
With mod chip fitted or not and box on:
Voltages measured with respect to 0V (pin 2)
measure pin 6 - should be 5V
measure pin 9 - should be 3.3V
On pin1 (LCLK) I measured 1.6V (if I remember correctly) - possibly a 50% duty cycle clock (?) - didn't get a scope out.
Can't remember about the I2C bus pins (13,14) - might have been 1.6V too.
turn off box.
Measure continuity of LAD pins. Pins 11, 10, 8, 7 measured around 12k ohms with respect to 0V.
If all of that measure OK then your problem could be with the mod chip board itself.
I hope this helps someone!
GOOD LUCK & persevere - it's well worth it.
Cheers,
David.
