(WIP) New modchip coming in

Discussion about Modding the XBOX, including hardware and software hacks.
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professor_jonny
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Re: (WIP) New modchip coming in

Post by professor_jonny »

could a customised mod chip be installed in the tpm header in a modern motherboard to be able to have a vfd display like the xbox ?

I know they hang of the lpc bus but I have never heard of it being used for custom hardware?

some of the tpm modules run an arm processor would something like that enable you to have smarts on the smartxx lcd with out using a cpld to interface bus signals?
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Re: (WIP) New modchip coming in

Post by psyko_chewbacca »

professor_jonny wrote:could a customised mod chip be installed in the tpm header in a modern motherboard to be able to have a vfd display like the xbox ?

I know they hang of the lpc bus but I have never heard of it being used for custom hardware?

some of the tpm modules run an arm processor would something like that enable you to have smarts on the smartxx lcd with out using a cpld to interface bus signals?
I don't think TPM devices could be reprogrammed to interface a parallel LCD. Surely they are write protected to avoid any tampering. You'd still need some dedicated hardware on the bus to interface the LCD. Good news is that theorically, you can connect multiple LPC devices in parallel and it would work; as long as they are not interfaced on the same logic ports address.

So you'd still need some sort of device like a LCD-MOD to drive the LCD. I guess a SmartXX could be used too. The BIOS loading part of the device will just never be used.

LPC Bus on Xbox is compatible with Intel LPC bus specification (except it doesn't route the LFRAME signal but that doesn't matter). Technically it could work.
On the physical side, pinout will certainly be different. Voltage levels might not be the same.

On the software side, I think LCDProc can interface a hardware port directly(supposing the kernel/EFI will let you access the LPC bus), you'd need to interface it across multiple ports if you want to control backlight and contrast too. 0xF700, 0xF701 and 0xF703 are used in SmartXX/XBlast to interface the LCD.

If LCDProc cannot interface it correctly, you'll need to have something like InpOut32 to interface the low level port(s) from a userland software.

IMO, just get a LCD2USB converter board. Much less hassle and compatibility with LCDProc out of the box!
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Re: (WIP) New modchip coming in

Post by budbandito720 »

So when can we start putting orders in ? Can't wait to tryout
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Re: (WIP) New modchip coming in

Post by psyko_chewbacca »

budbandito720 wrote:So when can we start putting orders in ? Can't wait to tryout
Very very soon :)
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Re: (WIP) New modchip coming in

Post by Geeba »

Dont suppose you managed to get an HDMI interface, multicore CPU, 4Gb RAM on that mod chips did you? :lol:

Just kiddin! looking forward to it :D
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Re: (WIP) New modchip coming in

Post by psyko_chewbacca »

Hello everyone,

It's been quite some time but you'll understand why if you briefly look at the pictures below!
This is the first batch of the XBlast Lite V1 modchip and it's a little special.
I decided to make a "special" edition for this first batch which I named "XBlast Lite V1 Pre-Edition".

There will be 65 units up for sale. After these 65, there will never be other "Pre-Edition" made. All subsequent batches will be regular "XBlast Lite V1".
I will begin selling them on 13-11-2015... for luck! This is to give anyone following this thread a chance to catchup.
Plus I'd like another week of binge-playing Halo 5 before I start this thing!

What sets them apart physically?
- Hand soldered and individually tested
- Purple board color
- Gold plated finish
- Thank you note on the modchip
- Purple LPC activity LED
- Presoldered LCD port header (gold plated)

They might also be the only batch to have a through-hole LPC connector. Surface mount headers are much more cheaper to assemble(but are mechanically weaker than through-hole) so regular batches of XBlast modchips might be fitted with surface mount female headers to reduce cost. I'm still not 100% sure about this.
Same goes for PCB thickness. "Pre-Edtition" boards are 1.6mm thick but regular batches might have a thinner PCB (like 0.8mm). Ultimately, I'll have to evaluate if cost reduction is significant enough to justify these changes.

On the software side, here's what sets them apart:
- "Pre-Edition" DeviceID (SYSCON ID). XBlast OS will report "XBlast Lite V1 Pre-Edition" as the detected modchip, in gold-ish colored characters, instead of the regular "XBlast Lite V1" in green colored characters
- Purple background instead of the regular blue one. Of course you can switch back to the regular blue one if you prefer.

So just to make this clear, functionnality-wise, there is absolutely no difference between these "Pre-Edition" units and the regular ones. You only get a purple-gold themed experience in extra (which could easily be spoofed on a regular unit if you wanted; as the OS is open source!) and the knowledge that very few people have one.

Here's what they look like:

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Here's a picture of the packaging:

Image
As you can see, the modchip will come with a gold plated male pin header both in a purple(ish) sealed anti-static bag.

Because every good product comes with a warranty and I'm very confident about the quality of my modchips, I'm offering a 1-year limited warranty on these. Warranty will be honored at my discretion(I won't be a jerk, I promise!) and will be based on the following conditions:
- Read the manual before asking questions that might already be answered. (It's WIP but good enough! https://bitbucket.org/psyko_chewbacca/l ... i/mainmenu)
- Pictures of installation in console must be provided(take note of the 's' in "pictures", I want pictures from all angles)
- Detailed description of the behavior, video if possible would be cool!
- No physical damage and/or alteration to the modchip. Soldering on the solder pads, LCD port, rescue port is part of normal usage and is covered. However, if you lift a solder pad (because your soldering iron was too hot) then I won't cover it.

Of course, the warranty applies only to the modchip itself. For example, there's no warranty if you destroy your Xbox when installing the modchip. I know my modchip works good and I have personnally tested each modchip I will sell in a 1.0, 1.2 and 1.6 Xbox. Plus I've been running my own device in one of my Xbox for a few months now.

To sum up, if it breaks and it's not your fault, just contact me and we'll work from there. I won't pay for you to ship the unit back to me but I will pay return shipping once it's fixed.
Be aware that if you try to cover your mess, send me a modchip that you know shouldn't be covered by the warranty (and I find out), I won't try to repair it and you'll have to pay the return shipping yourself if you want it back!


And finally... the price!
$40USD per unit. Shipping is extra.
Shipping from Canada to most part of the world surprisingly cost around the same amount wether I ship within Canada or to Australia! For cheaper, non-express services at least... Basic airmail shipping (non-trackable) cost about $8.5USD so base price would be $48.50USD for regular airmail shipping (non trackable, insured, CanadaPost says delivery time is 6-10 working days but I feel it could take longer).
I'm open to upgrading service if you want it but bear in mind that just adding tracking support will likely double the price of shipping. Using a speedier service will surely raise shipping cost to $25USD and up!
Of course, if you live near Montreal, Quebec I'm open for a meetup to save on shipping!

To maximize the number of people getting one, please consider buying only one unit for now. I won't sell more than 2 units to a single user.

All sales will be made through Paypal.

So on 13-11-2015, I will put up a sale thread in the marketplace section of AssemblerGames forums. Contact me via PM if you want to order one.
As good sense dictates, it will be first-come first-served as soon as the sale thread is up. Any PM before that will not be taken into consideration.
Please only contact me if you really want to buy one. You know the price, you know the conditions.
If you want to propose a trade, I would only be interested in certain Special Edition Xbox Controllers (especially the Japanese smoke black one) and they'd have to be in very good condition!
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Re: (WIP) New modchip coming in

Post by nidge »

November 13th is my sisters 70th birthday :)
http://www.theoriginalxboxshoppe.weebly.com
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Crystal Xbox v1.4, Xecuter 3, 500gb sata hard disk, 1ghz CPU, 128mb RAM, HD component 720p, blue LED's.
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Re: (WIP) New modchip coming in

Post by professor_jonny »

did you manage to find a source of cheap suitable lcd's out of china ?
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Re: (WIP) New modchip coming in

Post by psyko_chewbacca »

professor_jonny wrote:did you manage to find a source of cheap suitable lcd's out of china ?
There is a manufacturer out there that makes the perfect sized LCD for our needs.

http://topwaydisplays.eu/EN/LMB204CFC-1 ... ::P004594/

They have 2 color patterns available: Grey backlight with blue characters and Blue backlight with white characters(the most popular combination).

The only problem is that they are not interested in small volume selling. They are the manufacturer and want to sell big batches.
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Re: (WIP) New modchip coming in

Post by asbo »

How big is the smallest batch they will sell?
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Re: (WIP) New modchip coming in

Post by psyko_chewbacca »

asbo wrote:How big is the smallest batch they will sell?
I don't know, I contacted them some time ago asking what would be the minimum order for a custom batch fitted with a longer flex cable (to have them interfaced directly on XBlast!) and they told me they'd consider it for a 1000+ unit order!
No talk about price was done as I'm sure the entire order would have cost several thousand dollars and I wasn't interested in that.
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Re: (WIP) New modchip coming in

Post by asbo »

That's a shame, too big for a group buy even :(
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Re: (WIP) New modchip coming in

Post by professor_jonny »

psyko_chewbacca wrote:
asbo wrote:How big is the smallest batch they will sell?
I don't know, I contacted them some time ago asking what would be the minimum order for a custom batch fitted with a longer flex cable (to have them interfaced directly on XBlast!) and they told me they'd consider it for a 1000+ unit order!
No talk about price was done as I'm sure the entire order would have cost several thousand dollars and I wasn't interested in that.
I had the same problems with the vfd the minimum was 2000 but the price per unit was not too bad at that amount still it was a load of cash.
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Re: (WIP) New modchip coming in

Post by psyko_chewbacca »

Well... Paypal permanently limited my account for selling what they think is an illegal product...

I have to suspend further sales for the time being. Sorry for the let down but it's kind of a bummer. I wish to resolve this situation before doing anything else.

Rest assured that all units already purchased will be honored. They are either already shipped or about to.

In the meantime, if you have any advice to help me restore control of my Paypal account, please tell me!
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Re: (WIP) New modchip coming in

Post by DavPow »

psyko_chewbacca wrote:Well... Paypal permanently limited my account for selling what they think is an illegal product...

I have to suspend further sales for the time being. Sorry for the let down but it's kind of a bummer. I wish to resolve this situation before doing anything else.

Rest assured that all units already purchased will be honored. They are either already shipped or about to.

In the meantime, if you have any advice to help me restore control of my Paypal account, please tell me!

Well that sucks..... luckily I got one before that happened. It arrived today, this thing is awesome!

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Flashing the BIOS on it was super easy using NetFlash. Also the XBlast boots quicker than my my Aladdin chip into XBMC and other apps for some reason. Sometimes my Aladdin chip would stay on a black screen for like 10 seconds after starting a game, now it loads pretty much instantly with the XBlast (SATA HDD, same bios, iND-BIOS 5003). Very satisfied. Just need to get my hands on an LCD in the near future ;)

EDIT: Alright, may have spoken too soon about it being faster than the Aladdin, but the first few boots were definatly faster than usual. Now it's pretty much how it used to be. Hmm.

Thanks again psyko for the great work you did with that thing!
Xlink Kai: DavPow
V1.0, Crystal case, OpenXenium + iND BIOS 5003, 1TB HDD (WD WD10EZEX), XBMC4Xbox 3.5.3, XBMC4Gamers
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Re: (WIP) New modchip coming in

Post by BuZz »

psyko_chewbacca wrote: In the meantime, if you have any advice to help me restore control of my Paypal account, please tell me!
Are they requesting any proof of anything, or have they actually closed it ?

If closed and they are giving you no option to try and resolve it with them it might be a problem. It happened to me, but I was able to get it resolved by blogging about it (and someone managed to get it noticed on reddit, and they backed down).

I would start by writing to them I guess detailing that your product is completely legal etc.

http://www.speckygeek.com/get-closed-pa ... ount-back/

They may well argue that modchips are illegal under the DMCA. I believe they are legal in the EU currently (depending on the designed use - http://www.gamerlaw.co.uk/2014/modchips ... he-eu-ish/). I don't know a lot about this really though.
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Re: (WIP) New modchip coming in

Post by psyko_chewbacca »

BuZz wrote:
psyko_chewbacca wrote: In the meantime, if you have any advice to help me restore control of my Paypal account, please tell me!
Are they requesting any proof of anything, or have they actually closed it ?

If closed and they are giving you no option to try and resolve it with them it might be a problem. It happened to me, but I was able to get it resolved by blogging about it (and someone managed to get it noticed on reddit, and they backed down).

I would start by writing to them I guess detailing that your product is completely legal etc.

http://www.speckygeek.com/get-closed-pa ... ount-back/

They may well argue that modchips are illegal under the DMCA. I believe they are legal in the EU currently (depending on the designed use - http://www.gamerlaw.co.uk/2014/modchips ... he-eu-ish/). I don't know a lot about this really though.
They "permanently limited" my account without warning. They gave a a Paypal dispute case number related to this closure.

Thanks for the advice, I sent an email this morning stating that I am willing to fully cooperate to get usage of my account back. I also explained that the device I am selling is completely legal and pointed them to the Code repo of XBlast OS as well as the Wikipedia article on Cromwell firmware.

The most important thing to me is to get my Paypal account back. If I get it back, I'll see with Paypal if they will allow me to sell my XBlasts using their service. If not, I guess I'll switch to Bitcoins and/or Skrill.
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Re: (WIP) New modchip coming in

Post by The Tweed Monk »

How do we get one??
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Re: (WIP) New modchip coming in

Post by professor_jonny »

The Tweed Monk wrote:How do we get one??
you can pm psyko_chewabaca aka bennydiamond there is a sales thread on assembler games he will respond to emails there too.
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Re: (WIP) New modchip coming in

Post by morpheous »

would there be a market for this modchip?
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