IMPORTANT - The points E/P are for modchip control in mode 4, they may looks like just the same as a15 and d0 but they are infact far more tricky. If you are NOT A GOOD SOLDERER DO NOT attempt to solder it when first installing the modchip, it can heat up the solder and disconnect the resistor, meaning your xbox will not stay on for more than 30seconds. WARNING!!!!
THIS is a the best way to do it and involves no soldering and is totally reversible



Out of the three ways to install your chameleon, there are some things that will help you in installation
1) Pin header - when installing the d0, a15, p and e wires it is often good to put a header pin onto the chip itself and then to push the wire into it - however header pins can sometimes be very sticky and thus when pulling them out it may be possible to pull the wire out of the motherboard by accident. Thus an easier way of connecting the points is to install a soldered wire with a couple of centimeters of extra wire between so it is slack. Then cut it, ideally fairly close to the chip and you can twist the wires together:it is secure enough - connects the point and much easier than mounting header pins and going to the shop to find the perfect adapter. Further to this it is a good idea to put a thin sheet of sellotape of a couple of cm's long on the bottom of the motherboard - after soldering the header pins. This way you can be sure that nomatter what gets into your xbox (for example a small drop of solder), it will never prevent the xbox from booting the chip
2) Quick solder - This is the only install I havnt tried yet and thus all I can say about this method of install is becareful not too heat the chip or xbox board up too much. Also watch for any short circuits and make sure none of the components on the chameleon touch any other live parts of the xbox motherboard.
3) Matrix Add-on - This was a bit of a pain as it required cutting lines on my matrix however I have now repaired this, a little messily for another install in future. The key thing to watch out for here is that when running the matrix on its own, before installing chameleon, check the exact positioning and try pressing parts of the chip to see where pressure needs to be applied. Once you have done this you can remove it, cut the wires, reinstall (applying pressure where you noted it and checking underneath the chip for contact positions), add on the chameleon and boot. If your lucky you should see the chameleon blue led come on, if not then just power off, wbble the matrix a bit and retry. Hopefully it wont take too much of this before it boots fine. If you are really having problems, only have one chameleon and one matrix, suspect that your chameleon may not be flashed corectly (however 4/4 worked with me), do not dispair. The last choice is the possibility that you can install the matrix normally again, and reconnect the wires which you may have already cut by using small strips of wire between the onboard components, boot, then switch and attempt to program the chameleon this way - however this is only for desperation and if you are fine with easybuy2000's return time then probably better to just do this.
Once installed, the chameleon should boot and without any flash logo should boot to chameleon cromwell bios (installed on all 4 banks out of four). From here it will automatically eject the cd tray and ask you to insert a LINUXBIO.BIN (note the caps lock!!!!) now you can follow the instructions on www.xodus-chip.com in the userguide for burning a cdrw with a blank file. If you would like to install linux you can continue from the cromwell screen and boot mandrake (or whatever takes your fancy). However, if like me you wanted Evox on your cromwell your best bet is to find a totally fresh copy of "evox d.6.bin", rename this to LINUXBIO.BIN - burn on the cd with the dummy file and when the xbox finishes loading just insert this cdrw. Now the xecuter bioses are better as they are newer and have more modifications. At the time of this edit (7th September 2003) the x2 4977 bios was best for me as it was 256k and had all the features i wanted. so you should instead rename the x2 4977 bios to LINUXBIO.BIN and put it on the cd with the dummy file. You can get nice colourmod bioses from xecuter now and they help you tell if the chameleon flashed correctly. When booting after the power off the x and xbox at the startup will be a different colour and thus that your xbox is ready to boot an evox disk or similar.
It will flash the chip in bank 0 and then power off- upon restarting it will boot evox and you can then ftp accross the new evox.ini to allow control of the flash banks (written also in chameleon userguide).
I hope this helps, it was a fairly stressful install but even so I still think the header pin is the best install, because, apart from d0, the points are not too hard. Good luck and message me with any problems/queries. Chris

Added: At the present time I am pretty sure it is impossible to flash the chameleon from pc (using matrix adapter), however it is not too complicated a program so we shall see how long it will take. Hope you enjoy your now working chameleon

Further EDIT: Dont know whether it has been said already but if you chameleon does not boot - try changing the memory location before messing around and cutting wires... etc Just a simple solution i forgot to say as the chances of all banks being bad is very low (in my opinion)

7/9/2003 EDIT: updated a little info about flashing bioses, will update further soon when i have more time

you didn't by chance have any problems with your power button not working after the chameleon install, did you? I did a pin header install and everything seemed to go smoothly, but when I put my xbox back together, it booted to the cromwell screen, but I noticed the power button didn't work. And the other odd thing is that the system would unexpectedly shut down after 30-45 seconds.

I've since uninstalled the chameleon chip (including the A15 and P & E wiring) but I'm still having the power button and abnormal shutdown problem described above. Did you experience anything like this?

Uh oh, i dont know how I would go about fixing it. However, the point at which P solders to is a diode that controls the power button and the same for point E. I know that diodes are very sensitive however I do not know whether there is a problem with the diode or if it is touching another component. What might be a good idea, is even though you have checked the component connections, it is probably a good idea to just touch them again - infcase you created a bad soler join. As for destroying the diode, I dont know how good you are at soldering and thus whether this is possible that this has happened, but do not lose hope (it is either replacable or will recover after a period of inactivity as some components seem to). Best bet for now though is to touch all points which you soldered to check connections - then look for any bridges with a magnifying glass, then blow on it to get rid of any loose solder that may be trapped - then put it together again and see what happens. Wish you luck, Chris

Good job ExplicitLyrics100 !
Very educational post.

I have also posted similar information here yesterday :
http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?act...=ST&f=9&t=59107

and have added pics of the D0/A15 and E/P headerpins this morning.

I still believe headerpins are a good idea and I recomend using a little bit of hot glue (from any cheap hot glue gun) on the wires near your solder points on the mobo.. That way you wont have the issue of ripping them off by pulling to hard when unplugging the wires.

I honestly dont recommend the "twisting the wires" part.... expecially if on E/P unless you want your box to take a life of its own... LOL

If you do so, isolate them properly.

Cheers.

Nice post explicit!

Could you clarify a bit on booting the jury-rigged matrix and then plugging in the chameleon? Do you mean boot the repaired matrix, and then hot-install the chameleon, or do you have to boot then remove the 'repair' wires and then hot-install?

coolhp thanks for your reply, I have already tried every single dip configuration without success. I emailed the xodus people and hopefully they have an answer. Dollars to donuts I have blank chameleon They just need to post software for programming via parallel port adapter...

- Angry Pirate -

Angry pirate,

There is something you can try... Have you installed the headerpins yet ?
If so, this is what you should try... but its going to be a little tricky (I just tested it and it works !!!)

1) Repair your matrix if you have already cut the tracks.

2) With a little electrical tape, attach your D0 wire to the D0 pins.

3) Attache a wire to a ground point and with a little more tape, attach it to the matrix groung point.

4) Hold the matrix on top of the headerpins so that each pogo ping makes contact with its correspond pin.

5) Boot your box. If all goes well, you should be able to boot Evox.

6) Once evox is booted, remove the matrix and install the chameleon on the header pins (you dont need to put D0 yet... its not mandatory)

7) Go to the flash bios menu in evox and flash with a 256k evox d.6. That will flash it onto your Chameleon's bank 0.

8) Once the box has shut off... Attache D0 if you haven't done so...

9) Restart your box.


If while flashing, you get a Manufacturer ID of 09 or something like that and evox says "Flash not writable" it means your chameleon is busted and you'd need to call your provider for an exchange or a refund.

Hope that helps.

Good post Coolhp, that was what i was trying to say, in my somewhat slurred english . anyway i think that covers many of the issues that need referral.

It's ready to be made sticky

About e/p using twisting wires, just so long as you put a tiny bit of sellotape around it there are no problems... trust me but of course header pins would be ideal, this was just an alternative as i didnt have any at that point in time.

Anyway on another note I just flashed the onboard tsop with chameleon and then back again just so I knew how it was possible and to tell you all: here goes. Boot into evox or cromwell, flash onto the chip the matrix_tsop_flash bios, as per normal in chameleon (ideally use a bank other than 0 (otherwise if you screw up its a hell of a lot harder to go back). The switch to this bank, boot the evox dash and you should now have the option to flash the tsop (if you attatched a15), just flash it and it will power off. Upon restarting it will boot into your chameleon bank 0 again and the chameleon needs to be removed to check to see if it is working. Hopefully you will see the bios you just flashed into the tsop and you have just successfully flashed your tsop. You can leave it without a chip or just keep the chip to flash a friends. Hope nobody has any problems with this, if you do just add it on here and it should help cover everything in the near future.

Chameleon rocks!

Hey Chris. Regarding the xbox problem i have above, do you know how I can troubleshoot it? Is there a way I can test whether the diode got fried? I have a multimeter, but I'm no electrical engineer. I was hoping you could give me some tips on how I can see whether the diode needs to be replaced.

Thanks.

oh, nor i really . I presume you followed the few steps I gave you above. You will have to check what voltage the multimeter uses because if it went the wrong way through the circuit board you could end up messing up the whole thing. look for signes of burning, signs of molten plastic, loose connection, darkened solder, burnt motherboard, small chippings/splashes of solder. Those are justa few that come to mind, if you can see nothing wrong then I would assume it is your soldering for the header pin/d0. I can tell from the fact that it is fairly random and that the chip and xbox does still work that it is a hardware problem. Thus i guess just checking and rechecking all connections/areas where you touched, with anything that may conduct electricity for shorts. Other than that you will have to check with a more senior electrician. Chris

I am having the same problem as Matic with my chameleon. The Chip is now out, but the power button doesn't work. It also turns off after about 45 seconds. I wonder if anyone knows where I can get a replacement diode (or the values for such a diode), or if this is repairable another way?

Thanks in Advance,
Adam

Would you consider yourself an able solderer? I cant believe 2 people would have the same problem from the chameleon yet I havnt seen anybody with this problem on an x2. Any1 out there with advice? Chris

can somebody pin this or something!!!! Ive answered most of the question here so many times already!

EDIT: Thanks!

How to check the condition of a diode... Note that always check diodes with power off (make ALL resistance measurements with power off).

With a digital multimeter:
Most dmm have a diode check mode. Looks like this: --|<--
Anywho select this mode, place your leads on either side of the diode. You may or may not hear a beep from the dmm. Reverse the leads. You may or may not hear a beep.

- If you hear a beep both ways, your diode has shorted out.

- If you don't hear a beep either way, your diode has opened.

- If you hear a beep one way only, your diode is fine.


With an analog multimeter:
Select the most sensitive ohmmeter mode you have. Place leads on either side of the diode. The resistance should either be next to nothing or very high. Reverse and note the resistance again.

- If the resistance is low both ways, you've got a short.

- High both ways you've got an open.

- Low one way and high the other, your diode is fine.

- Angry Pirate -

Hey all ! ...

With explicitlyrics100's authorisation, I'm transfering some of the information I had originally posted in another post hoping that it might help you guys a little. I've also included the pin header pics for A15/D0 and E/P for thoses who were wondering what I was talking about.

Enjoy :

After months of waiting, I finally got my hands on 2 Chameleon chips last night... and I started playing around with them. Here is a little log of what I had to go through... might help some of you :-)

Let me start by a few facts :

1) Altough the chameleon can be plugged into your matrix programmer... it is not a good idea to do so... I'm not sure if its a WinLPC issue or just the fact that the connector is only meant to be used for the Matrix Addon installation procedure. Still, WinLPC will not detect the device and you wont be able to flash it. Furthermore, you might end up erasing the content of your chip so don't bother for now.

2) You REALLY dont wand to solder your D0, A15, E an P wires to the chip itself. Solder the mobo side but install some sort of header pins (or other solution that might come through your mind) so that you can unplug them easily... you never know what might happen, you might need to swap chips at some point (like I had to do :-) )

3) Although they say the chip comes preflashed with a cromwell bios, some of them come unflashed (I had one of these).. This can proove to be a pain when you start asking yourself why your box isnt booting.


Anyhow...

I started by attempting the Matrix Addon installation... just out of curiosity.
1 st issue... you actually have to cut 3 tracks on your good'old matrix... and that really sucks... but I can understand XODUS's Team's position (read the addon instructions for more details)... the chameleon should really be used as a full blown chip... not some backpack.
Still, I followed the instructions... and ended up with a Red/Green flash....
Since the TSOP on my mobo is busted, I'm kind of used to that... so I started looking for issues around the LPC connector or around D0... but NADA... ZIP... everything is connected properly.

Alright.. Maybe its the matrix addon part that doesnt work to good... Lets try it the right way.
I installed the header pins on the bus, soldered my D0, E and P (dont really need A15 if you dont want to flash your TSOP) onto the mobo, attached the chip and connected the 3 wires.
Again... Red/Green flash....

Hmmmm.... Is the chip functionning ?

I then tried to connect the chip to the Matrix programmer... see if winLPC would see it and let me read the chips content. Nothing... Device Not Found... again and again...

I ended up installing the other chameleon I had... and at last... it booted the Cromwell bios.

Now here's something else... THE CROMWELL BIOS WILL NOT BOOT EVOX.... it is not meant to do so.

Conclusion :

Ended up copying a 256k Evox d.6 file into a CDRW (rename as LINUXBIO.BIN and burn as ISO9660) and thanks to the cool flash feature included with this version of the Cromwell bios, I was able to flash my bank 0 with that evox bios.

Once evox booted. I hotswapped the chameleons in order the flash the unprogrammed one. It worked like a charm. (Thats where all the header pins come in handy).


Installation of the PIN Headers :

Alright... I finally got to take some shots of the pins I installed.
Sorry about the quality of the pics. My digital camera is dead... I had to take them with an old crappy webcam.


Here's the chip :



and the pins :



Here is how I hold the stuff together :



Now what you have to do is this :



Then solder :



Same thing for E/P



Then solder :





Here's a pic of the headerpins on the mobo :



The chip mounted :



And the chip wired :




Hope that helps.



Side note :

I had a few other minor issues along the way that you migh encouter so if any of you have issues with installing your matrix, let me know... I might be able to assist.

I also recommend using Mode4 with the following setup :

0k->256k : Evox d.6 or any other bios 256k bios of your choice
256k->512k : Chameleon Cromwell (Keep it in case something goes bad)
512k->1024k : A 512k debug bios (TATX Dual Debug -> 1st 2 banks)

Best luck to you all...

QUOTE

I also recommend using Mode4 with the following setup : 0k->256k : Evox d.6 or any other bios 256k bios of your choice 256k->512k : Chameleon Cromwell (Keep it in case something goes bad) 512k->1024k : A 512k debug bios (TATX Dual Debug -> 1st 2 banks)

since i dont need the debug bios, since i have no use for it cause im not a developer or anything..
would it be safe to run these bioses?

0-256 : Evox d.6
256-512 : Xecuter2 4976.02
512-1024: Chameleon Cromwell

i guess the main question is, can i run this setup and can i use 256k bios in a 512k slot and leave 256k blank in the same slot.. would that work? or does it have to be exact. will i have to get the 1024 and cut it to 512 using some program?

you can have it like that,,, but just use 4 x 256 - that will allow you to have a second copy of either evox or xecuter.. alternatively you can leave two copies of cromwell in the last two banks and then have two backups of cromwell. its totally up to you

QUOTE (explicitlyrics100 @ May 29 2003, 02:52 PM)

you can have it like that,,, but just use 4 x 256 - that will allow you to have a second copy of either evox or xecuter.. alternatively you can leave two copies of cromwell in the last two banks and then have two backups of cromwell. its totally up to you

i guess ur right, but i was thinking of using the P&E feature.

but i guess i could do it through the evox menu


but what the hell would i need 4 slots for though, i only need like 3..

what could possibly not be supported by evoxd6 or x2 bios. is there any other recommended bios that could come in handy for a regular gamer.. im planning on getting xbmp later, so what else would be a good choice in boises..

nope but why have three when you could have 4! - you could have one bios that boots an xboxdash.xbe (whatever one) froma different partition - thus u could make it automatically start xbmp when you boot a certain bios - etc... lots of choices

QUOTE (explicitlyrics100 @ May 28 2003, 11:30 AM)

Uh oh, i dont know how I would go about fixing it. However, the point at which P solders to is a diode that controls the power button and the same for point E. I know that diodes are very sensitive however I do not know whether there is a problem with the diode or if it is touching another component. What might be a good idea, is even though you have checked the component connections, it is probably a good idea to just touch them again - infcase you created a bad soler join. As for destroying the diode, I dont know how good you are at soldering and thus whether this is possible that this has happened, but do not lose hope (it is either replacable or will recover after a period of inactivity as some components seem to). Best bet for now though is to touch all points which you soldered to check connections - then look for any bridges with a magnifying glass, then blow on it to get rid of any loose solder that may be trapped - then put it together again and see what happens. Wish you luck, Chris

I have the EXACT same problem as you. EXACT. My xbox will only run for about 45 seconds and it auto shuts off. Is this the chip doing it on purpose? or did I damage something on the board? i can only get the chip to boot in Cromwell bios, and I think i don't have enough time to flash the banks because each time i try, the xbox shuts down. At first i thought it was supposed to shut down, but it seems to never completely flash the bank. SOMEONE HELP!!! my power button doesn't work whatsoever, and i have to start my xbox w/ the eject button

Kyle

I took my chameleon out and fixed the diode that connects to (P). I had to make a small (2mm) jumper that would go from the top of that diode to the motherboard, but it worked. However, I am still unable to use the Chameleon. I tried booting it from each bank, but every time, It begins to flash green/red. Does this likely indicate that I received an unflashed Chameleon? If so, is there a way that I might be able to flash it on my own? I sent an email to Xodus-chip.com, but they haven't replied in several days.

Thanks in advance for your expertise,

Adam

QUOTE

Anyway on another note I just flashed the onboard tsop with chameleon and then back again just so I knew how it was possible and to tell you all: here goes. Boot into evox or cromwell, flash onto the chip the matrix_tsop_flash bios, as per normal in chameleon (ideally use a bank other than 0 (otherwise if you screw up its a hell of a lot harder to go back). The switch to this bank, boot the evox dash and you should now have the option to flash the tsop (if you attatched a15), just flash it and it will power off. Upon restarting it will boot into your chameleon bank 0 again and the chameleon needs to be removed to check to see if it is working. Hopefully  you will see the bios you just flashed into the tsop and you have just successfully flashed your tsop. You can leave it without a chip or just keep the chip to flash a friends.

OK, before I flash the TSOP, do I have to solder any jumpers? And do I have to do anything else, like edit the evox.ini or solder anything else?

QUOTE (asgaffney @ May 30 2003, 01:08 AM)

I took my chameleon out and fixed the diode that connects to (P). I had to make a small (2mm) jumper that would go from the top of that diode to the motherboard, but it worked. However, I am still unable to use the Chameleon. I tried booting it from each bank, but every time, It begins to flash green/red. Does this likely indicate that I received an unflashed Chameleon? If so, is there a way that I might be able to flash it on my own? I sent an email to Xodus-chip.com, but they haven't replied in several days. Thanks in advance for your expertise, Adam

OK i just did this and it seemed to work. I've got my power button back and working;). Thanks for the help. BUT, I'm still having a problem flashing my chip. I can boot to Cromwell, and insert the disc and it says updating bank 0 and all.. but when it shuts down, and i switch the chip to boot in bank 0, it gives me the red/green led and doesn't boot. I know this is from a bad bios flash, but what the heck, i've tried it a million times. Anyone got any ideas?

kyle

ok - if youve tried flashing a million times and it still flashes red/gree but youca n boot cromwell then try a different copy of the evox bios. there are some duds floating around and you should be fine if you try another.
perhpas as a notice for the future it is a good idea to solder e/p on the back of the board - that way you should eliminate the problem of frying the diode or removing its contact points.
as for the restarting - you have desoldered a connection slightly and thus it may be worth checking your other connections as it is likely this may have happened on another point, check everything is secure, then try booting bank0, then bank 1 then bank 2 just incase there was a bad copy of cromwell. then make sure you have a good copy of evox or whatever bios you may use - you can only tell by checking with the person you are gettig it off....
finally for the bios flash this depends on which xbox verion you have and whether you intend to remove the chip again at the end.
Chris

Interesting stuff with the power button not working. Has anyone tried soldering to the bottom of the board instead? Where would that point be?

So does the Chameleon ground itself through the LPC points, or what?

And finally, did you have to place any jumpers for the TSOP flash?

Thanks.

no for tsop flash.
the bottom of the board for p/e is quite hard as the actual connection is to a chip not to a connection ring for a component but it might be worth taking a look any1 who has their console open.
d0 is the ground and doesnt need anything other than that.
Chris

I would assume I can still use the bottom d0 correct?(easier to soder)

QUOTE (explicitlyrics100 @ May 30 2003, 09:33 AM)

ok - if youve tried flashing a million times and it still flashes red/gree but youca n boot cromwell then try a different copy of the evox bios.  there are some duds floating around and you should be fine if you try another. perhpas as a notice for the future it is a good idea to solder e/p on the back of the board - that way you should eliminate the problem of frying the diode or removing its contact points. as for the restarting - you have desoldered a connection slightly and thus it may be worth checking your other connections as it is likely this may have happened on another point, check everything is secure, then try booting bank0, then bank 1 then bank 2 just incase there was a bad copy of cromwell.  then make sure you have a good copy of evox or whatever bios you may use - you can only tell by checking with the person you are gettig it off.... finally for the bios flash this depends on which xbox verion you have and whether you intend to remove the chip again at the end. Chris

Chris, I've pretty much already done those steps. I've tried nearly 5 different evo-x bios in 256kb format, and even the Cromwell bios, nothing flashed correctly. I did fix my power button and the reset timer by resoldering the diode, and making a jumper from the back of the board to that diode- so the power button works and it doesn't auto power down. Flashing the bios is still a problem. I've booted from each bank that contains a good copy of cromwell now, cause bank 0 isn't flashing- and I still can't get it to flash. Each time it says it's flashing and not to turn off my xbox, but when it reboots and i set to boot from bank 0, it comes up red/green. I even replaced my chip w/ another chameleon. Same thing- boots fine, flashes fine (i think) and then bank 0 still sucks. Anyone got any suggestions??? Maybe someone could hook me up w/ the TATX 512kb bios and I could try that???

Kyle

so can you put evox on any of the banks in the chip or is it just bank 0 that doesnt work - if so then boot evox or something into bank 1,2 or 3 and then flash bank 0 from there. if you have flashed bank 0 and it restarts how come it boots cromwell again from the same bank, if it boots cromwell and it says it has flashed then it could be some flash protect ont he chip or perhaps one of the pins on the chip has broken.

QUOTE (explicitlyrics100 @ May 30 2003, 05:31 PM)

so can you put evox on any of the banks in the chip or is it just bank 0 that doesnt work - if so then boot evox or something into bank 1,2 or 3 and then flash bank 0 from there. if you have flashed bank 0 and it restarts how come it boots cromwell again from the same bank, if it boots cromwell and it says it has flashed then it could be some flash protect ont he chip or perhaps one of the pins on the chip has broken.

Well from Cromwell, you can ONLY flash into bank 0. I don't have the option of flashing into any other bank. I can boot into the other banks, which all contain cromwell- but when i try flashing any bios into bank0, it acts like it works, and then it shuts down automatically (like it is supposed to). Then I boot it up into bank 0, and the bios is bad. So i have to switch back to bank 2 or 3 to get into cromwell and try all over again. I don't understand though, I've tried with both chips and it's not working with either one. I have two other chips here, i'll try those too, hopefully with some better results. If anyone has any idea why i can't correctly flash my bank 0, please let me know.

if you change the jumpers to boot bank 1/2/3 it still only flashes bank 0? i cant belive thats true, oh well i guess i havnt tried it coz i never needed to... gd luck

QUOTE (explicitlyrics100 @ May 30 2003, 06:27 PM)

if you change the jumpers to boot bank 1/2/3 it still only flashes bank 0? i cant belive thats true, oh well i guess i havnt tried it coz i never needed to... gd luck

OK new problem, now in both my xbox's, i cannot get the chip to boot anylonger. The TSOP bios boots, but the chip does nothing. I've checked and rechecked the D0/A15 points and they are fine. I can only conclude that it's a problem with the LPC points. I've checked those, and they seem ok. I just can't get the chip to boot in any mode at all! has anyone had this problem? In both xbox's, and with both chips, nothign works. Any ideas?

If you have another chip lying around (Matrix or similar)... try booting your box by holding it in place. If you succcessed... hotswap the chip with a chameleon and try to flash an evox bios from Evox.

Ok i found out something cool. If you ground the D0 point to the motherboard (the nearest screw hole), the xbox auto boots from the LPC. So i just quickly did this and got my chameleon to boot. Can i flash the chip with it like this? or will it ruin my tsop?

Kyle

never tried it so i cant really help you there - however if you flash it - it all goes bad then you have a bad bios on tsop - so what? you can always reflash it once more

and what i was saying about the banks - is boot into bank 2 and flash bank 2 (or any bank bu 0) then boot into it again so your in evox - then flash bank 0 from evox.... is that what you tried or does that not work?

I soldered off my p diode and lost it. How can i replace it. can i bridge it to eject, buy it at radio shack?

Holy moly, you guys are DESTROYING your XBOX's with those E and P points. I am beginning to think that those points should be categorized as INTERMEDIATE-ADVANCED users ONLY! Afterall, the options that they offer are totally accessable with software control.

I don't think XODUS ever IMAGINED that so many people would have problems with those things. It's really sad, actually. Just get the pin headers and the D0, and call it quits in my opinion.

Really, it took me maybe two drops of solder to get wires to stick to those points. Take it easy, and USE FLUX, or don't try them at all!

As far as the alternative D0 goes, I would be weary to use it. The only XBOX I have seen get fragged was my brother's who tried to solder the alternative d0 and pulled it off. The top is a little tricky, but just cut the wire down with your XACTO knife so that the wire fits into the hole, tin the wire, drop a tiny bit of flux on D0, and slap it in. The hardest part about it is holding the wire long enough for the solder to drop... fingers get kinda hot, so I just tape down, secured with an "S" similar to IV securing.

What still baffles me is the quick solder method. Having never used an X1, I found the idea quite absurd. It looks cool, but I would NOT want the Cham that close to the MB. Many people having luck with this install? Might actually be easier than headerpin if you aren't interested in upgrading in the future...

Sorry for the long one.

Peace

i got greaddy i had it in da d0 and the a15 already. Now i'd just like to be able to use it with security. cant i bridge it off another diode or get an equivilant at radio shack.

if you can see the diode details on somebody elses or on another diode of the same type then by all means take a trip to radio shack and see what you can do. Chris

I just posted this guide for 2 alternative methods for attaching the E and P points. I hope it helps.

edit: I don't mean that it will help those who already stuffed things up, just hope it helps prevent others from doing the same

Guys, just confirm for me:

IT IS NOT CURRENTLY POSSIBLE TO FLASH THE CHAMELEON WIHT A MATRIX PROGRAMMER

Is this correct?

yup sorry not possible at the moment

hey does the chameleon come pre-flashed

There's a loaded question...

It's certainly supposed to... Cromwell on all four banks...

heh true, but you should get a working one im sure. yeh theres plenty of info on it and some if it isnt flashed too. Chris

I love the post about the alternative E and P. Great minds out there helping to prevent fragged Xbox's.

I am curious to see what Xodus will do with the no solder adapter for the chameleon. I would imagine that it will omit both E and P, and possible even A15.

As I feel that A15 is totally optional, I think that this methos for inserting E and P without soldering will be quite a nice adjunct to their adapter.

I will try to post later this evening or tomorrow after I try the alternative E and P that were suggested.

yeh, what they could do is create an adapter that sits between the existing one and the motherboard that will connect straight through whilst also allowing input wires from chameleon. but to be honest i think they will leave them out. as for a15 they will certainly leave that out because it causes problems and is far more likely to be in an inconvenient place. accomodating a d0 on a 1.2 is also something they weill have to consider - i sit (and now sleep) with great anticipation. Chris

QUOTE

if you can see the diode details on somebody elses or on another diode of the same type then by all means take a trip to radio shack and see what you can do

Everyone seems to referring point E (R3G2) and point P (R3G4), as a diode. I would disagree. The first letter "R" in R3G2 indicates resistor. "3G" indicates the location of the component on the mobo. Just like a on street map when looking for a steet on a map. (e.g. Main St. = H3) The top right of the mobo is "A1" going down to "G" and from the right to left is "8". You will notice that part of row "A" is missing, because of the cooling fan. The last digit indicates component number.

Also, on the resistor its labeled as "103", which means 10k. 10 + 3 zeros = 10000.

You are correct. They are 10k ohm resistors. I've tested them with my multimeter.

Hell yeah i can buy that at radio shack. Would any one have a pic of an alternative a15 point like the back of the board like i've seen for d0. I soldered every thing in and the chameleon is lighting up a dull green, i'm pretty sure i didnt get it in da hole right .

god i wish i read this thread b4 i started soldering (aka fucking up my xbox?)
Well i seem to have a diff prob then everyone else.. i hope i can explain it well enough.
i have installed the chameleon using the header pins and i have soldered the d0 , e and p connections.
when i turn on my xbox i dont get any loading screen just black. the chameleon blinks blue consistantly. it does pop out the rom drive. ive tried to load a bios via cd but it just kicks it back out after flashing green green then red. also i cant acctually turn off my xbox.... it just keeps resseting and spitting out the rom drive.
if you guys can help please do.