Hardmodded XBox - black screen problem

XBOX, but not XBMC4XBOX related discussion
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Don_S
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Hardmodded XBox - black screen problem

Post by Don_S »

Hi all,

I have a v 1.4 Xbox that was modded with the Xenium ice modchip about 15 years ago. It was in storage for several years and I just went back to using it again. It booted up just fine after all these years after I changed some bad caps and the clock capacitor. I was messing around with the various apps I had installed on it several years ago, and when using the XBMP (Xbox Media Player) app, I changed the resolution in the settings menu and when I rebooted, there was no video output - only a black screen with the "no signal" message on the TV. It looks like the XBox boots up normally because the Xenium chip's LED lights up indicating that it has loaded a custom BIOS, and I am able to FTP into the box. My suspicion is that the XBMP app changed a configuration (?.ini) file causing it to output a video signal that the TV (a Samsung flat screen TV with a 720p resolution, I think) cannot display. Can some one tell me what I need to do to get the display back? Thanks in advance for your responses.
Coldly-Indifferent
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Re: Hardmodded XBox - black screen problem

Post by Coldly-Indifferent »

The problem is that XBMP, if that is what you're using, is old, really old and you really need someone who knows it to be able to suggest a solution.

If it was XBMC you'd likely be able to resolve the problem just by holding down the controller joysticks (L3/R3) at boot up to restore default settings. A menu appears asking if you really want to do that and voila.

But I really do not not know if this is appropriate for XBMP so I wouldn't try it without more knowledgeable advice.

With FTP access you could try looking for the "guisettings.xml" but again I do not know if XBMP even has one. But if it does and if it is like XBMC there are two solutions: delete it and the reboot and it will generate a replacement default one. The second solution is to scroll down through the guisettings.xml to the entry:-

<videooutput>

and adjust the resolution setting to the one your TV supports.

So if it is showing 1080i as "true" and your TV doesn't support that, edit the entry to "false" and make sure the supported resolution you want to "true". If it is just a resolution issue on reboot you should get it displaying again.

Again whilst this would work for XBMC I have no idea if it is applicable to XBMP.
Don_S
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Re: Hardmodded XBox - black screen problem

Post by Don_S »

Thank you for your input. I was able to solve the issue by switching the video cable from component to composite. With the composite cable, I was able to get a very unsteady (but readable) black-and-white output. Fortunately, I had backed up the EEPROM and therefore was able to restore it in Xenium OS. Everything is back to normal now.
Coldly-Indifferent
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Re: Hardmodded XBox - black screen problem

Post by Coldly-Indifferent »

Interesting that you could do that. With SD cable types ie. AV Composite cable and XBMC the HD options are not available in the dashboard. Same if you're using an UnleashX dash - with a SD cable in the video settings you just get screen formatting options and can't change the resolution. Also applies to the MS dash.

So if you've accidentally enabled a display setting your TV doesn't support it is more of problem than it should be.

There are ways to fix it and good to read you've found one that worked for you.
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