Homemade Sputnik360/tridentmx Alternative For Mxic Chipsets, Make your own switch to unlock SPI Options

[Gazc0igne]

hi guys thought id share my little switch design for the slim liteon unlock for MXIC chipsets

very cheap and easy to install, for the people like me who like to do it themselves

what you need:

• slim liteon drive 0272 with locked SPI and MXIC chipset (IMPORTANT!! does not work on winbond drives)
• sub-mini SPDT switch - link http://www.maplin.co.uk/single-pole-sub-miniature-2476
• thin wire - i used 20 AWG
• resistor - 10-12 ohms, pull through type 1/4W
• hot glue gun and glue
• soldering iron - i used 30W
• scalpel or small tipped screwdriver to cut and prepare traces
• dremel or drill with 12mm drill to cut drive case for easy access to switch

WIRING DIAGRAM



traces cut, and wires installed, wires are aprox 5cm long, cut them to suit the position of the switch which you will see below



then you solder the resistor to one outer leg of the SPDT switch, as shown above, then the other two wires are soldered on being careful to get them correct!! (measure twice cut once!!)

cover all of this in insulation tape or liquid insulator (very cool stuff!!)

then on the underside of the dvd drive chassis, you will see a channel below the PCB that routes the drive motor cables etc, which is safe from the moving parts of the drive assembly and which is also a perfect spot for the switch.

Fire up your hot glue gun and put a big blob in the corner, and set the switch in making sure the switch is almost level with the metal case, just shy of it. (also good idea to test the circuit before you glue it in)



lastly, measure the switch location relative to the screw hole for the case nearby and transfer this to the drive case and use your drill or dremel to make a hole above the switch that will allow you to flip it without having to remove the drive case (timesaver!! as i think we will be seeing a lot of new CFW in the future with AP2.6)

hopefully this is clear and easy to follow!!

with the sputnik360 and tridentMX you are required to remove the drive case to flick the switch/place the probe, and with mine all you have to do is flip the drive over and move the switch!

have fun modding your locked drives guys!! cat and mouse games are fun!!

not bashing TX/Maximus products, i love them all and own most of them, but sometimes the whole fun is in doing it yourself!!

big thanks to the actual hackers and devs working on these brilliant mods - they deserve all the credits, this is just my small contribution to the mod.

This post has been edited by hamwbone: Oct 1 2011, 01:25 PM

[Dark Mod]

awesome...you just made me save $15....but quick question..do i still need to use that probe thingy to unlock the drive to write the firmware on the driveboard?

[Gazc0igne]

no probe required, this basically switches between probe with resistor, or original circuit restored.

if your drive is locked you must first get it into vendor mode using JF and slimunlock, switch position at zero

open the russian tool, and enter sata port in hex, check the port it will say in vendor mode but locked

flip the switch and hit unlock drive, and it will unlock

then in JF erase the drive and write your CFW.

*tingedace has developed an app to lock the spi after the CFW is on, which will most likely be added to JF's next release with LT 1.91* this is optional but recommended for live use

finally, turn off the drive, put switch back to 0 and put back into console and enjoy!

[rigger66]

Great! Little tutorial and device there m8.

Hopefully one day I will enjoy making this. Thank you for your time and efforts.

Regards

Rigger66

[Dark Mod]

do i have to leave the switch on the driveboard or i can reassemble the trace and remove the switch?

[Gazc0igne]

do i have to leave the switch on the driveboard or i can reassemble the trace and remove the switch?

why would you want to do that?

this mod is meant to be permanently left in, to ease the process of unlocking and flashing the drive in the future.

if you were to remove it, you would have to redo the trace cut and place probe onto board the next time you need to unlock it to flash it.

with this mod all you have to do is flick the switch to 1 once you have got the drive into vendor mode.

your drive should be re-locked after flashing 1.9LT, and the same mod will be required when you have to update your drive with a future LT version.

switch to 1 and unlock the drive for flashing

after its done set the switch to 0 to be a normal functioning drive again.

if anyone wants a breakdown of how to unlock and flash the drive using this mod i will list it out, i thought it was pretty self explanatory!!

This post has been edited by Gazc0igne: Aug 2 2011, 10:43 PM

[Gazc0igne]

looking at the information just released from Geremia i have already started on a new design that will incorporate a variable resistor (space permitting) and a push to make switch that you can press repeatedly to get unlock status

more info to follow!!

[Dark Mod]

why would you want to do that?

this mod is meant to be permanently left in, to ease the process of unlocking and flashing the drive in the future.

if you were to remove it, you would have to redo the trace cut and place probe onto board the next time you need to unlock it to flash it.

with this mod all you have to do is flick the switch to 1 once you have got the drive into vendor mode.

your drive should be re-locked after flashing 1.9LT, and the same mod will be required when you have to update your drive with a future LT version.

switch to 1 and unlock the drive for flashing

after its done set the switch to 0 to be a normal functioning drive again.

if anyone wants a breakdown of how to unlock and flash the drive using this mod i will list it out, i thought it was pretty self explanatory!!

well umm...none of my clients would want a switch stickin out their drive next thing they mess it up, I don't mind just removing the piece of wire soldered on the trace to install the switch once more for flashing in the future.

BTW....we don't mind you make the list, cause this is kinda confusing for me

[Gazc0igne]

the switch can only be accessed by stripping the console cover off and removing the dvd drive from the console and accessing the underside of it

how many of your clients strip their xboxes regularly to flick internal switches? really? i dont think you grasp the idea of this, and where the switch is located.

it cannot be seen or accessed when the console is fully assembled.

did you think i drilled a hole clean through the console motherboard to see it from outside the console?

if you dont want an easy unlock switch and prefer to solder and unsolder the trace cut on the drive for each update go on ahead! follow the original tutorial released. your PCB will be in a great state after 10 or more updates!!

heres the method i used to get vendor mode (bad flash recovery method steps 1 - 5) and unlock the drive

1. run JF and get the drive recognised on whatever port you use
2. hit intro and it will say power cycle drive.
3. hit yes on JF and power off drive
4. place PMT probe on MPX01 point on top of board close to the flash chip shown in diagram below. dont worry about the example below saying Lizard, it can be used with any PMT style probe, homemade or not, the grip shown on the yellow wire is also part of the lizard and does not need to be used with a TX/homemade probe.



5. power on the drive and you should get 0x72 vendor mode.
6. run the russian unlock tool, enter the port number in hex, poll the drive and it will say vendor mode 0x72 and SPI locked 0x9
7. flick the switch to 1 and hit unlock in the russian tool, and it will report unlocked SPI status 0x0.
8. in JF hit erase and it will go through. power cycle the drive and intro it again, if it is correctly erased it will enter vendor mode without the PMT probe. you may need to run the unlock tool and enter unlock command to ensure it is still unlocked.
9. at this point flash a 9504OFW to your drive with your key etc spoofed in. it should go through.
10. after successful 9504 write power off drive and return switch to 0, normal circuit. power drive and ensure it is working by ejecting it and observing laser movements.
11. then power drive, and get it recognised, then run slimunlock. the drive will completely unlock with 0x72 vendor mode.
12. flash LT 1.9 to the drive, and run the locking tool released on x-h to lock the SPI again.

done!

This post has been edited by Gazc0igne: Aug 3 2011, 02:44 PM

[Dark Mod]

ok ok ok....imma stock up on switches and resistors now...thnx

[360newb617]

funny i had the exact same ida when i heard about the russian method and the trace cut, but iam still confused about the mt probe , doyou definitly need the pmt probe? i thought that you only needed it if youF**k it up ?

so you need to use the pmt no matter what? i saw an early tutorial that didnt mention it
and does that method work on 0225 drives too? or just 9504?

[Gazc0igne]

Thats how i got my drive into vendor mode, the slimunlock returned an error, and the lock prevented an erase.

the original guide that i followed posted on here called "russian hack working" started with this method, so i followed it.

[prayed]

Thanks for the switch idea tryed it last night, after a lot of messing about i got it to work .

I had one prob when ulock drive i had to flick switch that i fitted or i wouldent get it in vendor mode dident matter which way i flicked it.

As i said thanks. Time to use the slim again

[360newb617]

used what to get it into vendor mode? the pmt probe?
i thought you needed both the pmt and the trace cut/resistor probe?

or do you not need the pmt?
i saw two tutorials, one shows the pmt and one doesnt even mention it

[wanny1]

Just tried to install this mod, and the bloody through hole has just pulled off on the board, along with that side of the cut trace. Is tghere an alternative point I can use or is this console a write off?