New Xecuter Product Idea

[GiSWiG]

I've wanted to add memory to my xbox for linux and emulators like mame and n64. I was wondering if it would be possible without the need of soldering all thoes little pins on the board, let alone obtaining the memory in the first place. Can a RAM slot be added/soldered in somehow for PC memory to be used like PC-133 or whatever RAM would work? Or maybe a small board that includes a compatible memory controler that can interupt the xbox memory, like mod chips do to the BIOS with RAM slots? Or can a new mod chip take care of this? (Can you imagine an XBOX with 1GB RAM?)

Or is this just not possible?

 

[thexboxaddict]

thats just not possible
it isnt possible to add ram without soldiering and im not sure what type of ram xbox uses so idk if it is possible to use any pc ram and modchips only do hardware wise is change allow the use of different BIOS and a xbox can not support more that 128mb of ram

 

[aural]

not to mention the ONLY benefit would be in Linux. the xbox has been built to run on the RAM it has available (except on that Forza demo from the CES... very funny)

 

[Shibz]

not to mention the ONLY benefit would be in Linux. the xbox has been built to run on the RAM it has available

Not 100% true, in the debug section of the usual places there is an app called ram delimiter that will remove the limit on ram. I have some xbox RAM if you want to buy it. I bought it then decided not to install it.

 

[NeOnRaBbIt]

but seriously, what game has enough sh*t in it to make the system run slow? Halo2 works flawlessly on 64mb with the exception of crappy xbox dvd drive and maps failing to load every second.

 

[GiSWiG]

I reallize that games wouldn't really be effected. More than likely, they are programed to only address 64MB anyway. It's the N64 and MAME I'm mostly interested in. Mostly the N64 anyway.

 

[H8raid]

1Gb of ram would be retarded. There is no need and you can actually have adverse effects of too much ram if the system doesn't need it. You can compare this to turbo charged cars. If you are running too much boost in a car that is not modded for the added boost, you will most likely experience fuel cut and shoot a nice 4-5 foot flame out your exhaust. Same concept applies here, the Xbox would not perform better with 1Gb of ram, you would actually probably see performance decrease from this. There are plenty of Ram installers on the X-S boards, go browse for one and send them your Xbox.

 

[Shibz]

its impossible to install more than 4 16mb chips (128MB total). It won't effect your xbox at all unless you run the ram delimiter program on it, and then, the worst thing that can happen is the game will run a little faster, probably not noticable.

 

[GiSWiG]

Ok, yeah 1GB of ram is just way too much. I'm not looking for that amount. 128 would be sufficient. Really, it's just the idea of finding a way of using PC memory to upgrade the RAM through some kind of mod. That's really the only idea I'm presenting. I mean when ya look at it, the xbox is a PC. The bios has already been overridden, and yes, you can even have a 1400 MHz Pentium installed. The people who did this most likely didn't go forward with thoes ideas by saying what it can't do, rather they went forward saying what can it do or better yet, what can I make it do. Many have come up with inovations that sound almost impossible, yet we use they all the time.

 

[YAKABOUSKI]

i heard that with more ram, some games will actually stop working because of compatibility. is this wrong?

 

[Martin C]

You're talking about soldering a DDR socket to an Xbox, which is the only way to add PC memory.

No offence, but have you any PC technical knowledge at all? The reason it hasn't been done is because it can't. Just because you think the Xbox is a PC, it's not.

It uses similar components to a PC, but it most certainly isn't a PC.

Martin

 

[Shibz]

i heard that with more ram, some games will actually stop working because of compatibility. is this wrong?

the games can't even see the extra RAM unless you run the delimiter program on them. If it does cause a problem in the game, just restore the backup of the origional .xbe from before you patched it.

 

[GiSWiG]

Quote:
You're talking about soldering a DDR socket to an Xbox, which is the only way to add PC memory.

No offence, but have you any PC technical knowledge at all? The reason it hasn't been done is because it can't. Just because you think the Xbox is a PC, it's not.

It uses similar components to a PC, but it most certainly isn't a PC.

Martin

Yes, I have plenty of PC knowledge. I work as a system administrator and build and service the clients and servers that we use and the network. I also take care of about 10 different servers running Windows 2000, 2003 and Linux.

This, however, doesn't afford me much time messing with xbox stuff (and my wife would perfer less, though she does enjoy it.) All I know it that the xbox has been called 'PC like' and seeing that it carries PC components, I would tend to believe that. I've installed several modchips, USB ports for a mouse and keyboard, used linux on it, etc., but never got into the heavy technical side of it. So really, I don't know what type of memory is used and seeing that so many parts are basicly PC parts, I thought that maybe it was really just memory chips soldered to the MB instead of a SIMM. It is also the only console to use mostly PC parts. All others use specially designed CPUs.

So I took an educated guess, and thought that maybe it was possible.

And Martin, just saying that it can't be be done because it hasn't, isn't a justifiable reason. I'm not saying that you don't know the tech. specs. on why it can't be done, but if you do then say so. If you don't, then how do you know? If there wasn't an XBOX out there carring a P3 1.4 w/ 128mb, would you say that that couldn't be done?

 

[Martin C]

"I work as a system administrator and build and service the clients and servers that we use and the network. I also take care of about 10 different servers running Windows 2000, 2003 and Linux."

Ok - so you know how to build a PC. Join the rest of the millions of people who know how to do this. I'm not trying to belittle your knowledge here - I'm merely indicating that building a PC is basic knowledge. Everything plugs into something. As long as you have the correct components it will just 'slot' into place. Components are even colour coded nowadays!!!


"I thought that maybe it was really just memory chips soldered to the MB instead of a SIMM"

There are no SIMMs in an Xbox - they are RAM chips, which brings me to..

"If there wasn't an XBOX out there carring a P3 1.4 w/ 128mb, would you say that that couldn't be done?"

Not at all - the layout of a 1.4 CPU is the same as the 733Mhz CPU which is in the Xbox presently. also, there are spaces on the motherboard for more RAM chips.

You're asking if a DDR socket can be soldered to the Xbox. You have 184 lines to solder somewhere. Where are you going to solder them to? Are you going to bypass the current 64MB/128MB configuration and avoid any timing / speed issues, or are you going to use in conjunction?

I was probably wrong is saying it cannot be done - It's more accurate to say it's not WORTH even thinking about it.

128MB is a vast amount of RAM for a games console, considering the 64MB is the standard amount that most games address without patching.

Microsoft operating systems are terribly inefficient in addressing memory - 128MB is ample, unless you're running consecutive applications. Since most users choose a linux build over anything MS, memory allocation is greatly improved.

If you want to run linux on a 1.4GB 512MB unit - get a PC.

Martin