A number of my games (Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance NTSC is the one I'm struggling with now) seem to default to 480i, even though they are supposed to support 480p. (Other games work just fine.)

I'm using an adaptor (x2vga 2) to output my xbox to my monitor. For some reason, the only image I can get is a 480i one (which is distorted and blurry and not really playable).

I'm not sure if this is an EvoX issue, an x2vga2 issue, a game issue, or a monitor issue.

If someone could help me narrow down the culprit and/or give me a few ideas, I will be grateful!

EDIT: I just qwixed Dark Alliance II to my Xbox, and it exhibits exactly the same problem. If anyone can help me, please do! Even if it's just to tell me that my problem isn't with EvoX, and that I should repost this in a different forum.

How is your xbox modded?

I don't know, I bought it used. (I can still contact the original owner if need be.)

I believe it's an executor chip. I can enable/disable it at will with a switch. It also has four dips, of which the second needs to be kept down for it to do its thing.

Is that relevant to this problem? Please share!

Was asking because softmods can be a pain to enable the higher resolutions compared to hardmods like yours...have you enabled 480P in the MS Dash?

Also, you are using component cables correct? the standard xbox composite a/v cable cannot do 480P.

I have enabled everything in the dash, yes. (Switched off the chip in order to get access to the stock dash, if that makes a difference.)

I'm not sure about the cables, but I believe I am using component ones, yes. It's hooked up to a computer monitor (and they don't support 480i) and plays many games just fine.

EDIT: I can list some of the games that work fine, if that will help narrow down the problem.

Well if some display 480P and some not...even tho they are supposed to...maybe you have to enable the 480P res from within the game? other than that im not sure.

I would also ditch Evox completely and just run XBMC as my dash/launcher...more up to date, still supported...can always run Evox as an app for whatever needs you may need it for.

Nope, that's not the problem. Most don't allow changing from 480i to 480p from within the game.

Do you have experience outputting Xbox to a monitor? Because I'm almost positive that's relevant to this issue.

Nope sure dont, not original xbox anyway...but providing you're using xbox component cables then the x2vga should output any resolution available/that you choose rather easily.

Come to think of it, I don't know of a single Xbox game with in-game options to change the resolution.

Can you name a couple? Or even one? I will try it out, and perhaps learn more about this issue.

They don't. Games that can use multiple HD resolutions automatically default to the highest allowed res enabled in the M$ dash first, and hacked dashes second. The dashes tell the game what res to use. So for example, if you start a game that supports both 720p and 1080i, it will be displayed in the highest res, 1080i, unless of course this res is disabled in dash, in which case it would drop to 720p, so on and so forth.

Note:You must make sure that all dashes (including the M$) have identical resolution settings. It's best if you disable any resolutions that your monitor won't support, and also, some PC monitors may have issues displaying interlaced resolutions.

Ah, now we're getting somewhere. And this is where I need some EvoX-specific help.

I've looked all over the dash's settings for an option to enable specific resolutions (suspecting that something similar to what you just told me might be true) but couldn't find it. Is it in a config file somewhere?

My theory is that, even though I am enabling the resolutions in the MS dash, the EvoX dash isn't matching it (just like you said). BUT: Many of my games output progressive resolutions (not sure which one) just fine, which I know because interlaced resolutions won't display properly on my monitor. This pokes a hole in my theory.

In any case, if I can find the appropriate EvoX settings, it may save me the hassle of researching and installing a different dash (e.g., xbmc).

Thank you for your help!

There are no Evox settings for 480p.

I'm not sure that games care how the hacked dash is set up - I suspect that they simply read the available video settings from the eeprom, which contains the settings from the MS Dash.

Depends.

Regarding Unleash X (and possibly other hacked dashes) it can override M$ resolution settings when disabling certain HD resolutions, but not when enabling them, as far as the displayed resolution of the dash itself. I'll explain.

The TV I have connected to my main gaming Xbox via component cable only supports 480p and 1080i. It does not handle 720p. With that known, right now I have all HD resolutions enabled in the M$ dash. In the Unleash X dash, I have 480p enabled, 720p disabled, and 1080i disabled (just because I don't like the 1080i picture). The dash displays at 480p. If I enable 1080i in Unleash X, the dash is displayed at 1080i. If I enable 720p in Unleash, the dash is not displayed properly. Also, if I enable either in Unleash and then go back the M$Dash, the Unleash changes are not reflected here. This would suggest that Unleash X must be patching the eeprom settings in memory because if unleash had direct access to the eeprom, then when I changed a resolution setting in Unleash X, the changes WOULD then be reflected in the M$dash. This would also lead me to believe that any game launched (through Unleash X with these settings) would adhere to those resolution settings as well, however the game part is speculation, as I haven't actually tried it, but seems likely, which is why I suggested in my above post to set all HD settings the same in all dashboards used. Better to err on the side of caution, right?

Now for the flip side to the coin: If I were to go into my M$ dash and disable all of my HD resolutions, this would be the final say and all HD resolutions are now disabled, regardless of my Unleash X settings. It is almost as if Unleash X has the ability to patch "out" enabled HD resolution settings made from the M$dash, but can't patch "in" disabled HD resolution settings. My guess, if I am correct in all this, is that it is for safety reasons.

EDIT: Actually, I take that back. I have tried it. I have more than a few xbox games, some of which do support 720p, but I have never had an issue with displaying any these games on my TV, so yes, the games do adhere to my Unleash X resolution settings.

EDIT2:Nevermind, you were right Heimdall. I just tried Soul Calibur 2 and it is not displayed correctly. So, the M$DASH does determine resolution settings for games. Looks like I have some resolutions to disable in the M$Dash. LOL

So you're saying that changing my dash to another one such as XBMC will likely not fix my problem?

Nope. It will not. Also, name a few of the games you are having the issue with.

Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 are the latest culprits. I can find a few more, if you think that will help narrow down the problem.

I was thinking that your issue may have something to do with "green screen" games but now I can't find the list of games anywhere.

Well, thanks for trying anyhow.

Would you mind sharing with me why you don't believe that changing my dash would fix the problem?

Because the dash doesn't set the video modes - they are set in the eeprom. The dash is just another application that can use the available video modes, it just happens to give the user control over video mode selection - whereas games don't.

Hmm... You think it's the x2vga 2 that's causing the problems? That's certainly a possibility, though I'm confused as to why it works fine with so many other games.

Taken from a review of the X2VGA that I found online:
"Games really do look spectacular through the X2VGA+ and once you see the crisp HD visuals it is hard to go back to a normal TV. Games pop out at you like never before and it really feels like a different experience. I have tested everything from Halo and Halo 2 to KOTOR I and II to Need for Speed Underground 2 and everything looks gorgeous. Other games such as Jet Set Radio Future and 2D fighters like Guilty Gear X2 #Reload are so sharp you can cut yourself just looking at them. Even Enter the Matrix looks beautiful in HD. A handful of games (mostly junk from the Xbox launch) only run in 480i so they won’t work, but everything else in the Xbox library runs in at least 480p and it all looks wonderful through the X2VGA+."

Further research uncovered that on the back of the case for Baldars Gate II, 480p was not checked. This may be your problem. I did find one post where a guy says he was able to play this game using the X2VGA with no issues. I'm guessing that he had one of those rare PC monitors that could properly display interlaced resolutions.
Here is an image of the back of the case. The only feature checked is "Players: 1-2"

This game apparently does not support 480p, and therefore cannot be made to work with your current configuration.

regards

Sorry to necro my own thread, but I've been playing with this a bit more, the issue remains the same, and I have a bit more info to go on.

I'm trying to get Castlevania: Curse of Darkness (supports up to 720p) to run on the same setup, and it exhibits the same "default to interlaced mode" problems. Halo 1 as well (and I KNOW I have run Halo 1 successfully on this setup in the past, which leads me to believe that I screwed something up somewhere and this issue can be fixed). Both of these were run from original retail NTSC discs. (My system is NTSC-J, but other than the video issue these games run fine on my system with the xecuter2 chip enabled.) Also, a hard disk copy of Flatout is newly exhibiting this problem, so I suspect it is related. A setting must have changed somewhere! (Or I changed it without knowing it.)

Finally, I ran a Japanese retail disc with the modchip disabled, and it ran fine in progressive! It now seems obvious to me what the problem is, though I still don't know how to fix it:

The xecuter2 modchip is not picking up the changes in settings from the MS dash. (480p and 720p enabled; 1080i disabled.)

How can I change the settings in my hacked dash, so that they are recognized?

I'm still using EvoX. Is there a way to change the settings in EvoxX? Are there other dashes that give the option to enable 480p / 720p / 1080i?

Your question about the hacked dash has been answered more than once in this thread. The hacked dash doesn't change the Xbox video settings, it simply makes use of them for its own display. If you disable 1080i in the MSDash (which changes the settings in the eeprom) then Evox and UnleashX will never display in 1080i nomatter what you do. Again - the hacked dash has nothing to do with your problem.

Modchips don't "pick up" anything - they are simply carriers for the BIOS. Which BIOS are you using?

What happens if you do each of the following?
- Cold boot with a Japanese retail game, modchip disabled (your post implies that you get 480p, but just confirm it so we get a complete picture of the problem)
- Cold boot with a Japanese retail game, modchip enabled
- Start a Japanese retail game from your dashboard, modchip enabled

I got progressive output with the modchip disabled, and interlaced SD output with it disabled, on the same Japanese retail game. I don't remember if it was a cold boot or a dash startup. I think perhaps both gave the same results.

I never did discover the problem, but I did discover the solution! I am posting it here, in case someone else has a similar issue.

Go into system utils --> Settings --> Game Region --> Auto. That fixed the issue. It was set to NTSC (U), which matches the majority of my retail games, but for whatever reason was forcing them to output in SD.

Disabling TSR fixed another issue on another thread in this forum I started that was never answered a couple years ago: that of the game freezing on the EvolutionX splashscreen. So I solved two problems in the same hour. I'll go find that thread now and update it.

Thank you very much, everyone who posted in this thread trying to help me!

EDIT:
P.S. According to this link, Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance supports 480p.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Xbox_...with_HD_support

However, I continue to get interlaced output on it. I suppose the best explanation for this is that that information is simply incorrect. I'll look into it a bit more and update this post if I find anything.

Hmm, seems I can't edit anymore.

Sorry, that should read "I got progressive output with the modchip disabled, and interlaced SD output with it ENABLED, on the same Japanese retail game. I don't remember if it was a cold boot or a dash startup. I think perhaps both gave the same results."