Chameleon, The definitive guide Options

[Noiz]

That red/green flashing after 3 startup attempts is what I get. I've soldered that damn D0 so many times the point is no longer visible on the board

I'm 50% sure I've destroyed the Xbox but when I pull the Cham off and power on without the DVD/hard drives attached it *seems* to start normally (apart from it flashing about the drives). I've been messing with it for hours and I'm really thinking I shoulda just attached it to the Matrix and been done with it... But now I'm giving up for the night.

So am I almost there or is my Box completely dead? I'm gonna pull the chip off and connect it to a TV tomorrow to see if it's completely dead but if anyone knows, or has had this themselves... Let me know!

Cheers,

Mike

[GrisGris]

QUOTE (dzv @ Jun 1 2003, 10:04 PM)

GrisGris, if you have a digital camera, post a pic of the point your soldered the D0 wire to on the motherboard, so we can verify it's the right point and no bridges/broken traces are apparent.

dzv...I do have a digital camera but I can't get a close up in focus shot with this thing to save my life...even in macro mode. I am 100% positive that I have the right alt d0 soldered, especially since I am now experiencing the same FRAG issue that most others are. And I got it very quickly on the first try, so I don't think I've done any damage. Also, when I unground it, I get a normal boot.

I'm curious about what someone else mentioned in another thread about there being oversolder on the Chameleon chip as shipped that was causing their FRAG problem.

[ronin64]

Has anyone installed external switches and/or leds for the chameleon, yet?

[GrisGris]

Hmm..maybe it IS me and not the chip... I decided to play with the pinheader solder a bit more. Now when I turn it on, the power light goes orange red and green and ejects the DVD tray (I think that's what Cromwell does). But I'm getting nothing visual. I have to kind of move the Chameleon around and the blue light will come on, but it won't stay on...so it must be my connection...the light is supposed to stay on solid when you get it right..right? Guess I'll keep messing with it...

[yardguy00]

ok wow.... i got it to work.... i just changed the dip switches... i guess the first 2 banks were blank but the third was all good....but now i cant get it to recognize my burnt disc.... atleast i think thats the prob.. it just says waiting for drive... so everybody with a fraging xbox try messin witht he dips switches worked for me

[GrisGris]

Yeah, I started in mode 1 (all switches off) per THIS GUIDE which is much better than the pinheader install guide that Xodus has provided. That seems to be the only mode where I don't FRAG and it seems to be doing everything right except showing me the linux screen (it stays black). I really have to push down on the chip and kind of torque it to the right to get the blue light to blink, but the light on or off doesn't seem to make a difference. I've also got d0 working connected to the chip instead of the mobo screw. I wonder if I should just try putting in a disc when it spits out the tray.

[donrogelio]

i bought a resistor at radio shack and pluged it in and got my xbox working all during my lunch. Just wanted to say thanks and screw this chameleon stuff i'm gonnna put in a cheap mod and call it quits.

[yardguy00]

hey so what bios is recomended for this chip? x2?

[clold]

I had a working system with a cheapmod and thought I'd try upgrading to the Chameleon. The cheapmod had a pinheader install and had been working flawlessly for some time.

The Chameleon boots its Cromwell BIOS and prompts me for the disk with the new BIOS to flash. It warns me not to turn off the Xbox, as it will do so automatically when done programming... and nothing happens. I've waited upwards of half an hour.

I would try a hot-swap, but I just moved and can't find my old cheapmod among dozens of boxes. I've gotten OzxFlash to load, but (of course) its version of Raincoat doesn't recognize the Chameleon flash.

Anyone out there with any ideas?

[yardguy00]

QUOTE (clold @ Jun 2 2003, 01:07 AM)

I had a working system with a cheapmod and thought I'd try upgrading to the Chameleon.  The cheapmod had a pinheader install and had been working flawlessly for some time. The Chameleon boots its Cromwell BIOS and prompts me for the disk with the new BIOS to flash.  It warns me not to turn off the Xbox, as it will do so automatically when done programming... and nothing happens.  I've waited upwards of half an hour.  I would try a hot-swap, but I just moved and can't find my old cheapmod among dozens of boxes.  I've gotten OzxFlash to load, but (of course) its version of Raincoat doesn't recognize the Chameleon flash. Anyone out there with any ideas?

well mine acctually reads the bios then says not to turn off the system it will turn itself off... then it does turn itself off.... but when i start it up again it still shows the cromwell screen... how do you use the flashed bios?
oh and i also used a cdrw and made a 50+mb dummy.bin file.... it seemed to help cause it didnt work til i made the dummy file. hope that works for you

This post has been edited by yardguy00: Jun 2 2003, 12:15 AM

[clold]

Yes, I had a dummy file. I have no doubts that everything is being read correctly as these CDRWs have worked flawlessly in the past (and are working now for OzxFlash). Then again, we have two different problems with our chips right now, so what helped you may very well not help me.

[Telemachus]

For those of you not seeing anything on the screen, what A/V adapter are you using. The cromwell bios on the Cham ONLY supports the stock A/V cables. It WILL NOT display with the RC adapter, and probably not with the components or SVIDEO cable. Plug in the yellow RCA cable.

Let us know.

Peace

[GrisGris]

Ha! Thanks for the heads up Telemachus...I'm using S-Video...

[ronin64]

Good point. I've heard that cromwell doesn't support RF cables. I have a Monster brand SVIDEO cable and cromwell appeared fine.

[GrisGris]

Yeah, and I ran it through a normal RCA video cable and still get a black screen...oh well...