It's not our job to decide which modchip you want or need.
It all depends what you expect , what your soldering skills are and what price you want to pay.

For a comparisontable of the modchips :
http://www.xbox-scene.com/modchips.php

QUOTE (XanTium @ Oct 20 2002, 03:39 PM)

It's not our job to decide which modchip you want or need. It all depends what you expect , what your soldering skills are and what price you want to pay. For a comparisontable of the modchips : http://www.xbox-scene.com/modchips.php

I highly recommend the following chips for anybody setting up an XBOX: X2:Pro, X2:Lite, Matrix or CheapMod.

The difference between the X2 series and the cheapmod is that the X2 series comes with 1mb of flash memory on the chip, while the cheapmod only comes with 256k. Currently the majority of bios's for the XBOX is 256k, thus making 1 mbit a bit useless. HOWEVER, with 1 mbit you'll be sure that you don't have future problems with compatability (at least when it comes to BIOS size). The X2:Pro is the most expensive product on the market, however it's also the one with the most features.

X2:Pro and X2:Lite are the same except the X2:Pro comes with a hardware mod chip programmer. The X2:Lite does not come with a programmer, but it comes pre-flashed with a bios, and can be re-programmed through a software called Evolution-X Dashboard. The X2:Pro can also be re-programmed using Evolution-X Dashboard.

The nice thing about a hardware programmer is if you flash your mod chip with an incorrect bios, you can still fix it with the programmer. Without a hardware programmer, you cannot fix a bad flash.

The matrix is the exact same as a cheapmod except with pogo pins.

I would say the bigger the better on mod chips.... go with anything with a higher amount of flashable storage

QUOTE (nautiazn85 @ Feb 16 2003, 04:10 AM)

QUOTE (XanTium @ Oct 20 2002, 03:39 PM) It's not our job to decide which modchip you want or need. It all depends what you expect , what your soldering skills are and what price you want to pay. For a comparisontable of the modchips : http://www.xbox-scene.com/modchips.php I highly recommend the following chips for anybody setting up an XBOX: X2:Pro, X2:Lite, Matrix or CheapMod. The difference between the X2 series and the cheapmod is that the X2 series comes with 1mb of flash memory on the chip, while the cheapmod only comes with 256k. Currently the majority of bios's for the XBOX is 256k, thus making 1 mbit a bit useless. HOWEVER, with 1 mbit you'll be sure that you don't have future problems with compatability (at least when it comes to BIOS size). The X2:Pro is the most expensive product on the market, however it's also the one with the most features. X2:Pro and X2:Lite are the same except the X2:Pro comes with a hardware mod chip programmer. The X2:Lite does not come with a programmer, but it comes pre-flashed with a bios, and can be re-programmed through a software called Evolution-X Dashboard. The X2:Pro can also be re-programmed using Evolution-X Dashboard. The nice thing about a hardware programmer is if you flash your mod chip with an incorrect bios, you can still fix it with the programmer. Without a hardware programmer, you cannot fix a bad flash. The matrix is the exact same as a cheapmod except with pogo pins.

the matrix is based on a cheapmod, but it has a "switch", the creative mode3

so you can turn the matrix off?

ok, so I'm a total neophyte. I'm not much into gaming and the only reason I have an XBox is because I got it for free, MS subsidizes it, and if it costs them money, I take it.
So my main plan is to run Linux (or even better: Darwin, if anyone ever ports that) on the box to run a web server, mail server and maybe some firewall software.

That aside, I'd like to use it as a multi-region DVD player, if possible, since it would save me the expense of buying a multi-region player. I have the DVD playback kit.

My Xbox is v1.1.

So here the questions:
a) I'm trying to decide between a Xecuter-Pro w/ pogo pin add-on and a Matrix w/ Chameleon add-on. What are the advantages, disadvantages between these two? The table on this site lists a feature set that looks almost identical, except I don't know what the color coding of some of the features mean, plus not all of the Xbox hacker lingo is self-evident. (e.g. what's "mode 3"?)
b) is there a step by step introduction somewhere to
- Xbox hack vocabulary
- the sequence in which things need to be installed if one wants to do the
following:
+ leave the Xbox as unmodified as possible (e.g. no soldering)
+ run Linux
+ put in a bigger hard drive (I have some spare ones floating around)
+ wants to play back multi-region DVD
+ wants to be able to boot the box as if it had been never modded
(e.g. how do I need to format the bigger HD and how do I get
the original drive's information onto the new drive).

Main point here is, I find bits and pieces of information here and there, but no good overview on how the pieces fit together, and since I don't have excessive amounts of time to play with all this, my Xbox has already been sitting here doing nothing for 4 months.

I am a newbie and I am looking into modding my xbox. I am not very good at soldering but if it comes down to it I have friends that are pros. I have been reading thru a bunch of these forums and I cant come to a decision. I thought about the matrix because there is no solderpoints then I saw the chameloen and it says stand alone or matrix addon. This confuses me because of the 256K flash of the matrix and the 1MB flash of the chameleon which will I have? If I just get the matrix how will I be able to flash it? Thru a PC? Will I be able to back up games if I just get the matrix? I saw tech tv and it said to use evoX on the box is this one the best? Sorry I have so many questions I will do some more reading but if some one could just get me started that would be great.
Thanks guys
Tonio21

tonio,

obviously pogo pins are not everyone's fav. option but if your looking for that no-solder type of solution, then DEFINITLY go with the X-ectuer 2 Lite Plus OR even the newest out, X-ecuter 2.1 Lite Plus ... it comes with the pogo pin addon and is one chip ... took me like 5 minutes to install on my v1.1 xbox and works like a charm, dunno what people are talking about misaligned because it's stuck there like glue, i can't even force it out without a screwdriver ...

oh yea, make sure u have a 1.0-1.1 if you want a no-solder chip, if not (if have the 1.2) your screwed, you then HAVE to solder and no-solder chips are useless ...

X2l+ over matrix tho, no comparison ... IMO anyway, soldering is obviously the best solution but pogo pins are great IMO, esp. since it's so easy to install ...

Ok, first let me answer zio:

The matrix is approx. 50 bus + 40 for the chameleon, making it 90 bux (not cheap).
The executer with pogo pins isn't cheap either.

For your uses, TSOP flash would be fine (free, though it requires minimal soddering. I doubt that you'll be signing up for Live andytime soon).

Second would be Matrix. No soddering (though you can to add some functionality - its really easy soddering)

Third would be Chameleon - No wires to sodder, just directly sodder the 2 pcb's. Pretty easy.




OK, now let me explain the entire Matrix Chameleon Business (for tonio21)

The matrix is a 256k modchip with pogopins, so that soddering is not necessary.

The Chameleon is a 1 meg modchip that was designed to be soddered directly onto the PCB of the Xbox.

The Chameleon can be used in conjunction with the matrix to make it a sodderless 1 meg mod chip. It requires that you modifity (destroy) the Matrix and it would simply serve as a pogo pin adapter.

Yes you can turn the matrix off. hold power and reset for 3 seconds.

QUOTE (nimaim @ Jun 5 2003, 08:07 PM)

tonio, obviously pogo pins are not everyone's fav. option but if your looking for that no-solder type of solution, then DEFINITLY go with the X-ectuer 2 Lite Plus OR even the newest out, X-ecuter 2.1 Lite Plus ... it comes with the pogo pin addon and is one chip ... took me like 5 minutes to install on my v1.1 xbox and works like a charm, dunno what people are talking about misaligned because it's stuck there like glue, i can't even force it out without a screwdriver ... oh yea, make sure u have a 1.0-1.1 if you want a no-solder chip, if not (if have the 1.2) your screwed, you then HAVE to solder and no-solder chips are useless ... X2l+ over matrix tho, no comparison ... IMO anyway, soldering is obviously the best solution but pogo pins are great IMO, esp. since it's so easy to install ...

The X2.1 Lite Plus works fine on the 1.2.

''The nice thing about a hardware programmer is if you flash your mod chip with an incorrect bios, you can still fix it with the programmer. Without a hardware programmer, you cannot fix a bad flash.''

does a bad flash mean lost chip if u don't have the hardware programmer?

QUOTE (_maxxx @ Jul 11 2003, 05:08 PM)

''The nice thing about a hardware programmer is if you flash your mod chip with an incorrect bios, you can still fix it with the programmer. Without a hardware programmer, you cannot fix a bad flash.'' does a bad flash mean lost chip if u don't have the hardware programmer?

If that's the only chip you have, you're pretty much SOL. However, if you have access to a) another mod chip with pogo pins; or another chip and a motherboard with a pin header installl; you can perform a hot swap. This would require booting EvoX or the flashing software with the good chip installed, then swapping the chips, and flashing the bad one.

X2.2 Lite seems to be the most popular, but if you are a n00b and have the extra $10 or so to get the pro version, do it. It just may save you a lot of headache in the long run.

It's been quite a while since I've done a modchip install. I've installed the Matrix chip into two v1.0 xboxes, but I've been commissioned to do two more installs on higher version xboxes. My question is can I install a no-solder modchip into higher version xboxes (like from v1.1 to v1.5)?

QUOTE (ShinSeany @ Oct 2 2003, 02:15 PM)

It's been quite a while since I've done a modchip install.  I've installed the Matrix chip into two v1.0 xboxes, but I've been commissioned to do two more installs on higher version xboxes.  My question is can I install a no-solder modchip into higher version xboxes (like from v1.1 to v1.5)?

The Matrix chip and X2.0 pogos will work on 1.0/1.1.
X2.2 pogos will work on 1.0/1.1/1.2/1.3/1.4/1.5

NOTE: in a 1.5, you'll probably have to manually route +5V and GND to the bottomside of the LPC points to use them as intended - MS removed them from the LPC points in this build. This will will require some soldering (4 points).

has any of this changed???

go for the Xecuter 2.3 pro. the latest and greatest

QUOTE (daviefresh1775 @ Dec 7 2003, 03:27 AM)

has any of this changed???

Nope, nothing has changed. It's still your decision.

Hi there, this is my first post so please understand i'm a newbe.
I have purchased a new Xbox for my son for xmas to replace his PS1. (which I chipped before it was even ever plugged in).
I've been reading the FAQ and forum here for about a week to see how to chip the Xbox. My god it's gotten complicated.
OK, first off since its a new Xbox I am assuming it to be a ver 1.5 or at least a 1.4. Therefore my understanding is the only bios that will work is the X2 4979 256K. Or did I misunderstand the bios chart I found? I was thinking about the X bIT mod but if there only a 256K bios useful guess I don't really need a multi bios. My soldering skills are excellent and would prefer to solder for reliability purposes. Can anyone recomment a mod for me? And I don't care about $10 here or there as long as its a reliable mod. I also want to upgrade the hard drive to 120GB as so the disks can be transfered and put away. (My son treats his disks like shit) Also so I can download games and load them up to HD. Any recommendations would be much appreciated......

So does anyone have any experience with the X-BIT modchip? It requires no soldering and it has 2MB flash, would i be better off buying the X-Ecuter 2.3 lite over this one?

Thanks!

I was wondering if anyone has any reason to go for the regular X-Ecuter 2.3 LITE or PRO instead of the solderless model? I definitely would prefer something that i can plug in and replace easily in the future if I need to.

Thanks!

pipes: I do not think that downloading games is legal or can be discussed/mentioned here.

pipes & ludicrous: When I first got into xbox modding, I was a big fan of the xecutor 2.2 series. The xecutor 2.2lite w/ a header pin install is/was the only chip necessary for xbox modding. It is no longer available, and I personally refuse to goto that usb power-addon x2.3 thing. xecutor chips,however are by far the most popular, IMO with good support found here at xbox-scene. . Of course, now that the x2.2lite is gone, I'm looking towards cheapmods ... AppleX chip perhaps. thats just me though....

s_cube

Well I am in the market for a chip as well. Not sure how they all work just yet. But I kinda wanna go for the solderless chips.

Are any of the Xecuters solderless?

If not, any good tips on getting the soldering skills up to par?

And is it worth it to put Linux on the Xbox? I would like to upgrade to the largest drive available.

Someone had mentioned a chart. I need a place where I can compare chips together.

Thanks, I know I am a newbie here sorry for the redundancy.

in case you arent aware, whats_cube said is outdated, the usb adaptors have been removed in the B batch, so i'd still reccomend an x23b pro to any reading this

Tommy Vercetti,
did you even click the link in the first post? It has most of the answers you just asked.

pipes59,
PIRCAY ie GAME DOWNLOADING is the biggest taboo on Xbox-Scene.. just don't discuss it. We don't support it here, and threads about it will be locked, edited, and moved to the garbage bin, and there is a reasonable chance for a banning.

Hi,
the x-bit modchip is still not avaible yet, becouse of some problems. but the modchip sounds quite intressting (2 MB Flash, USB, up to 4 Multibios ect.). So my questionis, if i should wait until its avaible or choose another one. 4 Multibios, does it mean, that i can put for example Linux, Wince, "normal" xbox and "cracked" xbox os on one xbox? sry when i think absolut wrong, me is a beginner
Anyway, important is, if its worth to wait or buy another one.

thx, sant0s

Im Lookin For a Good Quality Chip , Whats The Best?

I Wanna Run Backups
Wanna Use X-Box Live!
And Wanna Save Games and other Stuff To My HD.

I Think That X.B.I.T Is A Nice One but its not avail.

Which One u Recommend ?

Well I have a chameleon 1.3 installed and it works flawlessly, no soldering required unless ya want the power eject switch on , installed within 10 mins with pogo pins perfect function

so I would have to reccomend it

QUOTE (geordiedave @ Jan 14 2004, 11:12 AM)

Well I have a chameleon 1.3 installed and it works flawlessly, no soldering required unless ya want the power eject switch on , installed within 10 mins with pogo pins perfect function so I would have to reccomend it

What about the xenium chip? How does it compare to the x-ecuter 3?

Lots of people also ask

"What is the best mod-chip?"

Same thing as "which one"

there isnt really any "best one", they all do pretty much the same thing, but some are solderless, some have bigger flash banks, some have hardware programmers in case of bad flash

just look around for which ever one you think is best

I currently have a matrix mod chip in my version 1.1 (I think) xbox. It never stays in place for very long, but I don't really want to get into soldering. My question is can anyone who knows the matrix and a newer (no-solder) chip tell me if they stay put better than the matrix? I know , I know solder would fix that problem but I don't want to fry my xbox. Thanks if anyone can help.

Seriously.. Soldering is not that big of a deal.. I personally had an extreme phobia of soldering but after fighting with pogo pins and always realigning them had finally driven me to go for it. Doing a little reasearch on soldering practices, I had found that it really isnt that hard. So I went for it and gave it a go and next thing I know I was soldering the "DO" point on the motherboard , the one on the top of the mobo which is quite small, and success.. I have two tips that seemed to help me alot. First use "FLUX". Its like a dried honey looking substance that spreads the soldering evenly. It also keeps the solder from sticking to the end of the iron. Secondly, when your iron is at the right temperature melt a little solder on the tip of the iron and then just apply it to the spot where you want to solder to. This will free up one of your hands. It really is very easy. Practice, Practice, Practice.... It is something you should really want to learn because soldering has many applications that you will need to do if you are a so called "modder".. Good luck and be confident.. You can do it...

Hey
I'm a total n00b, and i was interested in getting a mod chip, so i could backup xbox games. i dont prefer to do soldering at, all, and all i really need my mod chip to do is play backups of my games. i looked at some newer chips, such as the Xenium, which comes with a solder-less adaptor, but i heard that soldering is still required to atatch the adapter to the chip. Also, i heard that there is a way you can switch your mod chip off to continue xbox live. I know that there is a chart at this site, but frankly, i was a little confused. if its not too much trouble, could someone explain this little dilemna to me?
Thanks a lot,
OscarMayer

I installed a xenium over the weekend without much of a problem. I spent more time taking the box apart than soldering.

I did the quick solder method, it was very easy.

for the d0 connection, get a magnifying glass.

get a low wat iron, desolder braid, solder, flux, magnifying glass and go for it.

i did practice on an old circuit board for a couple of minutes.

Hope this helps!!!

I have been in the modding scene since less than a month, but these days i have been reading a lot, and everybody seems to have different opinions based on their own experiences. So here comes mine:

I got an xbox over 1 year ago, and after spending a lot of money buying 7 games, i finally get bored of playing same games so my xbox stood resting since last christmas. One day i was searching something at google and discovered a news about modding your console using only exploits. It made me happy as i had consoles since the beginning of times, as follows: NES, GameGear, Genesis, SNES, N64, PS and PS2 before Xbox. None of them was modded because i was scared of frying my money...

After considering that my xbox was not giving any fun to me, i decided to "risk" it and try some of the exploits to do anything new with my box. I read a lot, downloaded lots of software, info, exploits, tutorials... and then my great doubts came, everybody seemed to have problems with bios versions, hotswapping, and nothing was clear. I tried some things, always scared to get my box useless, with no success. But at that point i wanted to do something with the green box!!!

So i found a site selling mod chips. New problem, which one should i take? Reading forums again blah blah blah, i decided to take a solderless chip, because i had no soldering skills and neither the tools to do that. I bought a Xecuter 2.3Lite+ and i had it at home next day (great delivering company!!!) I opened the box, installed the chip following the tutorials at the xecuter site, and with some minor adjustments to the pogo pins, all working. Really easy, so i recommend all you scared of soldering or modding your box to do it. I have the console on a table, i never move it from there, so i don't think the chip will move from its working position, and i am having a lot of fun with the xbox again, playing emulators, divx movies and my backuped games

Wish I could have done this before!!!

hi, im new to the scene.
havent done to much to my xbox yet.
ive been thinking about getting a mod chip. one of these 4th genration ones.
i want to take full advantage of my xbox.
i would like to be able to use new dashboards, put in a new hdd, put in a ned dvd drive, backup games onto the hdd/play them from the hdd, and so on(jsut so you get an idea of wehat i want).
ive got a xbox version 1.0 and i found someone who can do the soldering for me.
well, as i said, ive been taking a look at these new 4th generation mod chips. ive been leaning to the smartxx 4mb.
is this a good choice for my needs? is there anything i should be aware of about this or any other chips before purchase?
thanks for any apllies before hand.

I recomend Xenium or Smart XX is a 4th gen modchip (latest) with an OS and is very easy to install. I got Xenium and it works exelent!.

hi,

(i really hate to ask this.... but)
i am just about to buy a modchip for my box (1st time), these are my choices:

x2.3b lite 79$
x2.3b pro 95$
xenium 89$ (genuine)

(dont worry about what currency)

so i'm looking for OPINIONS about what i should get. Please dont just say "its up to you", I would like to hear what you think. For reference, i intend to use xbox for games/dvd player/linux- basically everything.

obviously theres not a lot of difference between the prices for me so DONT recomment the x2 lite just because its 10$ less. I am not scared by dip switches or ftp/other admin stuff. Please dont use something trivial to determine- but if there really is nothing else then say so.

the reason i ask is because i would have thought the xenium was better than both the other two based on its "4th gen"-ness. (does the xenium OS have overheads? or is it just run before the particular bios)

I am fine with soldering (though thats not really gonna help the decision).

thankyou,
parao!

Just looking into Xbox as a media player. Would probably buy one when the drop in price again. I would be using it primarily for playing media on an HDTV, divx and xvid. Ive soldered things before shouldnt really have a problem. There would be games played on the xbox aswell, I doubt I would ever use xbox live. But its always nice to see if I can still use it. Which modchip do you guys reccommend?

i bought a duox chip, it was a lot cheaper as does everything that you mentioned you wanted to do, i could really recommend it but it depends if you would ever take advantage of the extra features on the smart xx for example, and if not is it worht paying the extra?
matthew

1st time poster, looking for help.
Im looking for a modchip to play imports. Is the Chameleon+solderless adapter a good choice, and can it run the EvolutionX_Build_3921?
Will the chip come with the cables to reflash it, or do I purchase them seperatly?

Thanks.

I purchased a xecuter light 2.3 but found out the site I bought it at was a scam ( xbox-modchips.com ). So I checked the xbox-scene shopping fourms and found a reputable site to buy from and purchased an Xenium and slodered it myself using the pin header method. I had only messed around with and never even used a soldering gun before that but the install went fine. I'm happy that the first site was a scam because the Xenium is an awsome chip with a great OS and lots of ram. I haven't tried any other chips yet but I would definatley recommend the Xenuim. Also watch out for the fake Xeniums the some scam companies are selling.

Some one a long time ago asked about the X-Bit chip from DMS? Well, I don't know if anyone cares, but here goes. i have installed that chip on two Xboxs and I am about to do it again on a third. The first two times I bought it from thr UK, now I am waiting to buy it from USA (cheaper).
It's installation is a breeze. Just make sure the pins are lined up right. When I load the bios in, I like to change the boot screen so i know that it is on. I have bad soldering skills (but they are inmproving) so that is the main reason I liked this chip, plus, it has usb, which makes it a breeze to flash.
A guy I knew had trouble installing one, so much in fact, that he sold it too a friend of mine for 30 bucks. I installed the chip with no problem on my friends box. So, all in all, I like the chip. We have no problems with it, the xbox gets moved around a lot and it works great. So, yeah, that is that.
I don't think there is anything to secial about any of them, in my opionion. Although, the ones that have ntwork/hdd activity sound appealing to me.

i'm also a noob here.. i read over the comparisions and couldn't find much reason to purchase a gen 4 mod chip ??



anyone can help on on that topic??

the question would be why should i get a gen4 when gen3(? executioner 2.3pro) seems to go all the jobs.


tx

is it worth it to get a gen4 mod chip?

Newbie here and i am totally confused. I have been reading all i can on this board for 2 days and i still dont know what chip to get. I was leaning towards the Xecuter 2.3b lite + but now this Xenium thing is also looking attractive. The most important things to me are that i do not want to solder anything and i want a rock solid OS. What does a confused newbie do? :

Xenium all the way.





I got mine with the solderless adapter...worth every penny, as cost less than the X.Bit!!

I just bough an Xbox since the priced dropped to $150. Now I'm looking into getting a Mod chip. I'm pretty much decided on the OzXodus Xenium from reading the forums. But now still contemplating wherher to go the solder way or wait for the solderless version to come out? (OzXodus says the solderless version is in production).

For any expert with this whole modchip scene, let say I wait and get the solderless xenium, but if it isn't working well, can I still solder the chip onto the Xbox like the solder version? I assume the chip is the same except the solderless version comes with that pogo pin thing, yes/no?