XBMC4Xbox

Hey all.

I have an X3 chip on my 1.4 Xbox. I'm running the latest X3 BIOS (3294), but would like to load an alternate BIOS so I can launch ISO files as discussed here:

viewtopic.php?p=39003#p39003

According to Rocky5 I should use either M8Plus (with Eject Fix) or ind-bios 5003.

I'm 99% sure that the X3 chip is capable of storing more than one BIOS simultaneously, and that I can switch between them using the bank select.

I'm looking for:

1) Recommendation on whether Is hould use the M8Plus or the ind-bios 5003
2) The easiest way to load this alternate BIOS onto the other banks of my X3 (how I set the DIP switches, whether I can do this entirely in X3 config or if I need to flash some other way, etc).
3) Easiest way for me to switch back and forth between the two BIOS (will I really need to change the DIP switches every time, etc)?
4) Where to actually get a hold of the bios I need (I have read that there is confusion between M8 and different xbox versions, I don't know if ind-bios has similar caveats, etc.).

The X3 forums are down so its harder to find some of this info.

Thanks very much!

I couldn't tell you, never used a X3 chip.

But unless you're on a v1.6 Xbox I would use Ind-Bios 5003 or 5004. There is no need for any other bios.

Thanks Rocky5. What are the advantages of the ind bios over the M8?
Also will the IND 5004 bios be ok? It looks like there are some fixes in there regarding button combinations.

Big one is it supports a config file on the HDD, so no more reflashing the bios to change a setting or dashboard path. Also it supports custom xlogo models and 128MB of ram.
( it’s one of the two most feature rich bios out there, x2 5035 is the other )

Ok - so I've answered almost all of my own questions.

With an X3 chip it is *extremely* easy to update the BIOS settings.

All you have to do is start X3 Config Live (hold down the white button while booting).
Then you can go into the BIOS settings and choose to install a BIOS file from your hard disk.

The X3 Bios is loaded to the first 4 banks (2 * 256KB = 1 MB for the X3 BIOS).
The remaining 4 banks have 4 copies of the 256KB backup bios (seemingly).
So you can basically just choose the BIOS file from your hard disk and then tell it to flash to bank 5 for example.

After a few seconds it is flashed and then you can go and choose to boot to bank 5 from within the same menu.
After you power down your Xbox it will then boot back to your normal X3 BIOS again and if you wish to boot to the alternate you can just hold down the white button again to go into X3CL.

Also, if you want to (semi) permanently boot from the alternate BIOS you can change the DIP switch settings to launch that particular one.

You can also FTP to the X3 modchip when in X3 Config Live. (The Xbox may be at a IP address than you access it at once a replacement dashboard is running.) When you do, the directory listing shows where various sized bios .bin files can be uploaded to flash the various banks of the X3 modchip. Just don't overwrite the banks where you have the X3 BIOS flashed. (Generally the first 4 256KB banks 1 2 3 4). You can upload the BIOS's .bin file to the other banks, select the X3 Admin/BIOS banks subdirectory.
Next, select the bank size (e.g. 256k) - depends on what the BIOS size is as to which you select - X2 4983, M8plus and iND-BiOS 5003 or 5004 are 256KB while X2 5035 is 512KB and X3 3294 is 1MB: then bank number (e.g. 5): to flash the 256KB sized Bank 5 when the BIOS's .bin file is uploaded.

kaos_engr wrote: ↑Wed Aug 02, 2017 9:52 am You can also FTP to the X3 modchip when in X3 Config Live.

Thanks Kaos...I did know that. Or at least I rediscovered it again when I was flashing the BIOS.
For some reason I feel more comfortable transferring via FTP and flashing from within the console, but that's just preference I suppose.