So I ordered this Xenium mod chip for my XBox last week. It arrived yesterday, and I attempted to install it. What a trial!
Here are the lessons I learned...
[pictures at bottom]
The Xenium arrived in a plastic, bubbly FedEx envelope. I was expecting a box or something, but it turned out this was sufficient protection. I ordered my chip through ModWhiz, who was an authorized seller as listed on the ozXodus site, the people who make the chip.
I've been researching this for quite a while, and I settled on the Xenium chip because it seemed to have the right combination of features. Of particular interest to me was an easy, no-switches way of disabling the chip for use with XBox Live. The Xenium can be disabled from it's boot menu, or by turning the system on with the power button as opposed to the eject button, which is pretty nice.
Anyhow, I ran out to Home Depot and snatched up a Torx screwdriver set. They didn't have any like the size 15 I already have, which look just like a regular srewdriver except the head. The thing I got for $9 looks like one of those multi-allen wrench things, with lots of Torx heads on it. It had the size 10 and 20 that I needed to disassemble the XBox.
I recommend this modding procedure to friends. My XBox probably differs from most of yours because it's out of warranty. So when yours expires, you're free to experiment. If I had known at the beginning what I know now, the whole install process would have taken less than a half hour. But...
I got the Box apart and located the LPC port. This port is a place on the motherboard of the XBox that a device can be attached to perform diagnostic testing. The Xenium chip uses it to integrate itself into the workings of the XBox and change certain behaviors, like the code that the XBox uses to start.
It turns out my XBox was a version 1.0. There are 6 different versions of XBox and you need to know which one you have (to some degree) to install the mod chip because of the placement of what they call the d0 lead. It turns out that the d0 lead is a very small hole on the motherboard that seems randomly located. I have no idea how the mod chip manufacturers located the d0, but I'm sure it required hours of fooling around and quite a few toasted XBoxes.
Like I said, my XBox is a 1.0. You can tell because the LPC port contacts are filled with solder, which only happes on a 1.0. Other XBoxes have large holes that are unfilled, and sometimes require the use of these extra rivet things that came with the Xenium. I didn't need those.
I bought the solderless bracket for the Xenium. Basically, you have three install options when you install this (and most others) mod chip. You can use the quick solder method, which is a neat idea on the part of the mod chip maker that allows you to solder the mod chip circuit board directly to the face of the motherboard LPC. You can use the pin header method, where you solder a set of pins into the LPC holes and attach the mod chip to the pins via a socket. And you can use the solderless install method, which uses this little blue arm-like gadget with pointy spring-heads that gouge into the LPC holes when you screw the arm to the main board.
The solderless adapter has a little wire that sprouts from it that is in generally the right place to poke it through the d0 hole. You pasically place the "pogo pins" on the bottom of the arm so that they contact the LPC holes (in my case, they were nicely soldered over), screw the arm down on the motherboard to crush the points into contact, then slip the wire into the d0 hole. Simple.
I set up the adapter and plugged the Xenium into the pin header that it exposed. I put the dvd drive and hard drive back in, and powered the whole thing up...
FRAG.
"FRAG" is a technical term in XBox mod chip install that stands for "Flashing Red And Green". It's what happens to the power light on the front of the XBox when something is wrong during power-up. Uh-oh.
I fiddled with the connection for about two hours. No matter what I tried, I could not seem to get the connection set so that it would work. The XBox seemed to reboot twice then FRAG every time I turned it on. The red light on the Xenium that indicates correct operation would flash when the Box rebooted, but wouldn't stay constant. Real bummer.
I was getting tired, and as such, more stupid and bold. After trying pretty much everything else, I decided to flip the Xenium around on the pin header just to see if the whole thing would catch on fire. I turned it on and, voila! Xenium-OS appeared on my screen.
So here's the lesson learned- When installing the Xenium chip with the solderless adapter, put the chip board on the pin header so that the LED on the board faces the closest side of the XBox. Or, if it's not working, just turn it around.
I looked through the installation manual again just to see how I could have missed this, but there was only one close-up picture of the installed Xenium on the pin header, and it wasn't really clear about which direction the board should have been attached. I recommended the change on their message board.
So with the Xenium installed, I proceeded to perform the OS upgrade and install the new EvolutionX dashboard. For some reason, after searching for quite a long time for the files, I feel compelled not to tell you where I got them. But I will anyway. Go to EFNet on IRC and join channel #xmods. Follow the instructions there and you'll be on your way to downloading working binaries in no time.
Another weird thing is that I needed WinRar to extract the files. BitZipper wouldn't do it. BitZipper would show the directories, but not the files. BitZipper has been annoying me lately, especialy with its lack of bz2 support. I'm going to have to write Bitberry.
Anyway, in short order, I had EvoX and XBox Media Center installed. You can now boot my XBox to EvoX without using a boot disk. It's pretty sweet. Sometime soon, I plan on setting up the SMB shares in the XBox Media Center so that I can display files (pictures, music, movies) directly from my computers on the network.
I'm so close to playing pirate movies on my livingroom TV that I can smell the sea air.
I installed Avalaunch latest dashboard instead of Evo-x, and I was surprised to see XBMC with SMB already installed and working. I highly recommend trying that out. You can actually boot it directly within a running Evox dash. Congrats on a successful install. I just did mine last week. Yeah. Cool!
Thanks for the info on your delemas, i will be installing my chip in a few weeks, after i buy it. Been reserchung for 2 weeks now and also chose the xenium chip, thanks again.
Hey man, good to see a fairly good description of a recent chip install. Just thought maybe I should clear up the fact that not only the V1.0 mother boards have solder in the LPC. V1.1 have solder in the holes as well which includes the same install procedure. So 1.0-1.1, 1.2-1.5 all of similiar install methods and then 1.6 is fairly tough because you need to bridge all of the LPC points before you can install. Anyways just thought I would drop you some info.
Thanks for the info. I may have the need to install another Xenium in the near future, so I'll be coming back here for reference. I wish other guides I've seen were more friendly and hand-holding than confusing and degrading like the ones I've read. This seems to be part of the nature of the scene.
I like the documentary you did on your xbox mod project. I myself have had several problems like you encountered and then did something minor and everything starts working. Its great when it works out in the end becuase I am beyond pleased with my xbox mod. I have just installed linux Gentoo Home 3.1 on my xbox and we also mod them by putting them in pc cases. Check out the website everyone and see our pc case mod.
Did you burn the bin files on a cd-rw or a dvd? I can't get my 1.0 Xbox to read a cd-rw.
I used a DVD, only because I didn't have any CD-RWs around. But I have had success with CD-RWs. You need to find a brand that works and write it slowly.
If you're xbox is a V1.0 you have a thompson DVD drive which is by far the worst DVD drive as far as reading burned media. Search ebay and BST forums for a samsung drive.
if the LPC holes are filled with iron, you can just push thepins of the solderless-adaptor into the holes? don't you mess up your motherboard then?
greetz
The installation manual for the chip is here.
The solderless adapter has spring-loaded pins. If there's solder in your LPC holes, you only need to rest the adapter pins on top of the solder bubbles to make a good connection. Screw it down tightly, and the pins will push themselves into the solder, which also has some give to it since it's a soft metal. You will not ruin your motherboard unless you overtighten the screw on the adapter to the point that your motherboard cracks, which is rather difficult to do anyway if you use the included longer screw.
Thank you for the info. I just ordered a solderless xenium mod andnever recieved any install instructions, is there any way you could e-mail me the instalation manual?
THANK YOU, DEVIN
I installed the xenium solderless and after I did that, I realized that there is supposed to be a wire soldered from one pin to the do pin. My solderless adapter never had that on it, and didn't come with a wire to solder on. Is this wire criticle to making it work. When I turn on my xbox it is as if I havent even installed the mod.
Devin Terry you are without a doubt going to need the d0 wire due to the fact this is what enables/disables the chip. If you have some soldering capabilities then go out and purchase some 30 gauge wire and solder the point from chip to d0.
Yes, the solderless adapter is supposed to have a little stiff U-shaped wire on it. On most XBoxes the wire is aimed very close to the d0 hole on the motherboard. You need only to shove the wire into the hole, and it should make decent contact without solder.
If your adapter didn't come with this wire, either solder a replacement on (kind of defeats the purpose of the solderless adapter) and hook that to the d0, or request a replacement from the place that you bought it.
You absolutely need the d0 hookup to make the chip work.
thanx for your reply owen!
can you also stick tape on the wire to keep stuck in the dO hole? or can it melt or something like that?
I suppose it couldn't hurt to apply a bit of electrical tape, as long as the tape doesn't cause it to come in contact with any other spot on the board. Still, it's probably not necessary to use tape.
On my adapter, for example, the wire goes straight through the hole and comes out the other side when the adapter is screwed down tight. On my friend's adapter, the wire has a very tight fit in the d0 hole, and when I tugged on the wire a bit it didn't budge at all.
Dan's adapter install was a little amusing because I kept trying to get the wire to go through the hole like mine and it wouldn't go, but then when I lifted the adapter up to reseat it, the wire was stuck firm.
Lee Wilkins & my Xbox
I bought my Xbox from a guy named Lee Wilkins who introduced me to all these Social Networking websites as well as Wordpress. Got my Xbox modded and have been using it mainly to watch TV shows that I used to have to watch either on the computer or by h...
There are still some things not clear to me.
When installed the modchip and you startup the xbox,
what else do you have to do then?
is it illegal to have a modchip in my xbox
Uh, no, it's really not illegal. It's what you can do when the chip is installed that is illegal.
I recently purchased the Xenium Ice. How do you install the usb port? Will someone tell me or send a picture of it in the xbox?
You don't install the USB port. You put the adapter into the controller port and it lets you hook USB devices (like a flash RAM stick, keyboard, or mouse) to the XBox. You do not need the USB adapter to use the Xenium, but I understand that it might be easier to load a BIOS and files onto a flash stick, then use the Xenium to boot from the stick when it's inserted into the adapter.
where do you get that chip for the xbox??
How much is it to send mine in to get pro's to do it for me??
You can get mod chips many places. Search for "XBox Mod Chip" on Google. You can also try going directly to the OSXodus site and getting their authorized retailer list. That is primarily a list of resellers who will accept returns, which is important if you have any problems with your $80 chip.
I don't know how much it will cost to have a pro install your chip. The new solderless adapter on the Xenium SpIce makes installtion possible for the brain-dead, though. It lights up when it's positioned on the XBox mainboard correctly. Then you just drop the chip onto the pegs and sew it back up.
great blog entry! I ordered a xenium and should get it soon.. Your post made me way less nervous about installing it. I guess the majority of people having problems with thier chips arent, how do you say, very tech saavy. Anyways man, great post! I've played with a friends modded xbox and have seen the potential every xbox has. I bought a 200gb hdd to slap into my mod. I'm VERY excited. And to the guy who asked if it is illegal: not if you use a linux-based bios ;-)... but c'mon, who uses those?
oh and did you have to scrape off the mother board any for the lpc to make a solid connection?
Two things about your Xenium install, jeremy:
First, Be careful with the super-sized hard drive. There is a limit to the size you can install without some special settings in the XBox. Be sure that you read the docs on the XBox scene sites about using large hard drives.
As far as scraping the motherboard goes, no I didn't have to. The solder bubbles on the LPC in my 1.0 were soft enough that the pins pushed nicely into them. In later XBoxes, the holes won't have solder, and you'll get to use these extra little doo-dads that come in the Xenium install kit that will help the adapter make a solid connection.
There wasn't any protective coating on my LPC solder points, either, if that's what you were getting at. :)
after u install the mod chip do u need a special cd to get the chip working or does it just start working?
The chip just starts working. However, most of the cool functionality (at least, the reason why I bought the mod chip) doesn't happen without installing some extra software, specifically, a replacement Dashboard and XBox Media Center.
To install that software, you'll need a CD or DVD that contains it. You can download these programs from many places on IRC, I think I mentioned how in an earlier comment. (They are not available for download here.)
I'd just like to add that my xbox reads dvd-r fine and any dvd+r that I bit-set to dvd-rom.... im loving my modded xbox... i use it as my media center, i convert my dvds to xvid usign fairuse and then ftp them to my box... its pretty cool to have my entire dvd library on my xbox!
(im the same jeremy who posted a few months ago)
To The Honorable, Highly Respected, & Very Much Appreciated ~ ADMINISTRATOR MR. OWEN ~ ,
What an Absolutely ( hmmmm ) Wonderful, Informative, Entertaining, and Genuinely Kind and Caring Forum you've put together here.
Me, I am in the middle of my Install, like so many others I'm sure.., got it over a month ago .. same chip as yours, I also researched and liked the features. Anyways, I wanted to compliment you, I read TOP to BOTTOM of your Posting or 'Thread' just like I'll bet 90% of the people who find URL do, ..... and ejoyed, laughed, learned, and found myself thinking, " .. this guy is great, after alllll the dreary, dull, confusing, perplexing and never ending frustration of the VOLUMES of information that is out there, - that I have spent many, ( and I mean Many )hours, searching for and reading, WHY CANT THEY BE MORE LIKE OWEN.., THIS MAN IS FANTASTIC !! -----------
Great Job Owen, and Thanks.
..... and Finally, I would like to say, " GOOD ON Jeremy ", for he took the time to Express His Gratitude & to Give Praise where He felt it was Deserved.
Best to You, Owen.
.. and to this Forum as well as the many endeavors that await you.
Respectfully,
John Tighe.
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___________________________
What high praise! Thank you!
Also, I should mention that I did my friend's XBox mod with a Xenium Ice using the details here and it worked pretty well. With the exception of his lousy DVD drive (it will only read data burned on DVD+RW media) everything works smoothly.
I recently installed the Xenium mod chip into my xbox. I got all the lights to light up and whatnot, but it doesnt work. I dont get a frag instead i get a blinking orange and green light... which is av problem. Does this mean the chip itself is bad or i have a bad connection somewhere?
correction it ONLY blinks orange
Hope you can help. I installed a Xenium ice solderless on a 1.1 Xbox with solder filled holes. All connections are good. D0 Hole is good. I even scraped the solder so there is no interference. It boots up to the xbox menu and I get a red light on my chip. I've checked and rechecked all connections, especially the d0 hole and everything looks great but it won't boot to the xenuim menu (even using the eject button). I'm about to give up. Any suggestions? Thanks
xbox boots into ms dashboard after mod. how do i get my xenium back?