Soldering and the D0 wire.

[tonylott]

I have just been reading some installation problems that people have been having, particularly with regards to the D0. At the risk of being slammed I must throw a little criticism at the Team X installation guide for V1.0 to V1.5 Boxes.. (The 1.6 version looks lovely - proper job)

http://www.teamxecuter.com/x3/tutorials/x3pin1015.htm

Whilst the soldering on this guide is extremely good (unlike the welding job I recently looked at by one bloke on this forum), the length of the exposed wire on the D0 connection is less than acceptable... It is far too long and runs the risk of contacting one of the adjacent pads...Especially if the installer solders it from another angle.
Whilst more experienced solderes will not do this, installers new to the game might not realise that this is bad practice and this may be one of the reasons people are having snags after fitting. Especially if they then tape the wire to the board (and maybe an adjacent point - too late then!).

The exposed wire should be tinned and then cut to the size of the D0 pad - There is no reason to have it any bigger.

One last thing... If you are new to soldering, practice on an old PCB before you hack your pride and joy - It will make you better!!!

I am now putting my body armour on and digging in.

 

[AEgawd]

if you dont know that when soldering, if any electrical connection you make touches an adjacent point is bad, then you really souldnt be screwing around with it to begin with. :roll:
most guides dont cover the "im a total noob" concept. lets say using a screwdriver for example, guides or instructions dont tell you "lefty loosey; righty tighty" do they? most guides expect the assembler/tech to have some sort of general understanding on what the hell they're doing.

 

[tonylott]

I agree but one of the main points of this forum is to support people who have no experience. People who really shouldn't be soldering are encouraged to do so by the way the installation guide alludes to the fact it is so easy to carry out.

All I am trying to highlight is somthing that may well be cause of many installation problems (read em for yourself). What makes matters worse is that, in the installation guide, after the D0 wire has been soldered it is bent round towards adjacent points and taped down.

Anyway, are you saying that Team X dont know what they are doing? it is their solder job.

most guides expect the assembler/tech to have some sort of general understanding on what the hell they're doing.

 

[tonylott]

Here is a good example from one of todays posts.
Case Rested!

 

[sean]

How do you tell what version firmware you have after update?

Hi all,

Currently, I have a BenQ drive running 1.61 & I want to update it to the newest version. If you have someone else update it, is there any way to confirm the service they did? I figure it's always smart to check if it's possible.

 

[Skiloo123]

Re: How do you tell what version firmware you have after upd

yeah tell them you want to watch them update it.
it only takes like 15 minutes to update it - 10 of that is
taking the xbox apart and putting it back together again.