Total Noob - Needs some guidence

[delte7]

OK…here goes my first post.  Hope I don’t embarrass myself to much.

Would like to start off by saying I have been reading up for the last few month or so on Xbox hacking. Also just finished reading “Hacking the Xbox” by bunnie.  Very informative, but a lot went way over my head.

Got an Xbox from a friend who claimed it was modded.  Based on the “focus” chipset I believe it to be 1.4/1.5. 

When I first booted it up I got the 3xboot frag. Cracked it open and didn’t see any mod chip or wires soldiered.  However, did notice that one of the holes on the LPC (think that’s what it called) had been filled in with soldier. My friend said this xbox sat around for a year in a closet before he gave it to me. I have a Xenium chip on order, wont be in for a couple more weeks though.

Not sure where to go from here. My first couple of questions are this:

1)   How can I tell if its been modded ?
2)   How can I fix the frag issue.
3)   How can I verify the HD is good?

[Arakon]

it could've been a softmod or tsop flash, not a real modchip.
as for the HD.. it wouldn't frag if the HD was defective, instead give an error message.

[dirtysanchez]

Did you take the board out and look at the underside to see if there are any wires soldered to the board? the d0 wire might have come off.

3xboot frag? reboots 3 times then flashes red-green? You say there's no chip on the LPC... and if there's no extra wires under the board then you might have a softmodded xbox. (i.e. no mod chip required...)

Does the XBOX show an error on the screen? 05 error?

If you live near an XBOX repair shop, you might have some luck. Or you could send it off to llamma.com

http://www.llamma.com/xbox/xbox.htm

Might want to contact them if you can't get it working.

[delte7]

Arakon:

Based on your experience, what would be the next logical trouble shooting step?  TSOP Flash or Softmod ?

If its Flash, what can I do to fix?
If its softmod, what can I do to fix?

Thx.

[delte7]

Did you take the board out and look at the underside to see if there are any wires soldered to the board?
Yes, no wires on the underside of the MB

3xboot frag? reboots 3 times then flashes red-green?
Yes. when I power it up it reboots 3x and then flashes Red and Green

Does the XBOX show an error on the screen? 05 error?
Dont believe so.  I will re-assemble and verify

If you live near an XBOX repair shop, you might have some luck. Or you could send it off to llamma.com
I have been working on PC's, routers, and servers (Hardware and S/W) for about 8 years now.  I would rather spends months trying to figure something out then send it off to someone else. Besides, I have to have some excuse to hang out down in my basement and ignore my wife 

[delte7]

Does the XBOX show an error on the screen? 05 error?
Confirmed that there are No error messages, just a blank screen.

[Arakon]

if it's tsop flash, install a modchip and it will work. as for softmod, it usually would at least start up before fragging then.

[delte7]

Is there any way to repair tsop flash with out a modchip ?

[Arakon]

nope. not unless you want to desolder the chip, flash it in a programmer, and solder it back in.

[delte7]

OK..Thx Arakon.  Appreciate your help 

[delte7]

Just thought of another question...

What is the cheapest mod chip (Soldierless) out there I could buy that would allow me to get this think up and running, and still have the ability tp play games (No Xbox Live is needed)

As I said earlier. I already have a Xenium chip on order. I plan on using the Xeniun chip on another Xbox I have that has not been modded yet and is working.

[dirtysanchez]

Xenium's are nice... but pricey. I've got a cheapmod (Aladdin XT... I just had one installed for a buddy of mine.. it's called Xenochip FX now... I think you can get them online for like $20 or $30.)

There are other modchips out there that will do the trick..Duo X2, Xecuter3 to name a couple more.