Looking for more info on creating an Alpha XDK

Was there ever any better info than what CJPC had done? His 'How to' seems very poorly written but it seems its all we have. Id love to give a project like this a stab but there doesn't seem to be any good starting points.

Link to his old article http://www.ps3news.com/forums/console-news/how-build-alpha-xbox-scratch-w-retail-parts-22278.html

Any input would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

The motherboard is known, the video card used in the Alphas isn't one that appears to be readily available. Might've been an "engineering sample". Though video cards that use the appropriate GPU are floating around out there with the same amount of RAM, etc that seem to be able to use the BIOS dumped from the requisite card.

Still missing the USB PCI cards part # as well as the video card's exact part #. People seem to be protecting these numbers like they're gold. Even with all of the correct parts inside one case it seems clear that some hacking will need to be done first.

 

what part number assembler?

 

Probably, but what has stopped me is the fact that I wanted identical parts if possible. While it is unlikely having a slightly different model of USB card won't affect its ability to boot I'd rather not play a game of "find the fault" if it could be avoided.

 

How much hardware can you pull from these alpha kits to still have the bios boot? Can you still boot without the NIC/USB? Is the sound integrated to the mobo? I'd like to at least see a BIOS boot on the hardware before worrying about getting xe/xbe running.

I can't remember, was the executable type 'XE' on the alphas or was it XBE? I'm trying to remember so I can have an easier time finding my old info...I've got a lot of it somewhere.

I'd be willing to start purchasing random hardware (like whats in the alphas) and start trying to mix and match. If I remember correctly a dump of the video cards bios was released somewhere, which I still may have.

I wouldnt mind playing the "find the fault" game too much, as long as we get a BIOS booting. Is it known if the alpha kits had the 1-21 error messages like the retail Xbox has?

And for the BIOS, has this been dumped somewhere?

 

http://www.assemblergames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=33592

There is a dl link for the vga bios and 2 recoveries and some info about alpha hardware in this thread.
Afaik nothing but what you can dl there got dumped/leaked

 

Great thread there thanks. My biggest fear is the motherboard bios. I will check through some documents when I get home to see what I can find. I've got the full source code some older bios but not the alphas. Hoping that will givem me some knowledge

 

My alpha software is in XBE format I believe.

 

from the sound of it he didnt modify the bios less the logo.

 

APE says the motherboard is known, does anyone have any information on this?

 

other thread says VC820 intel

 

Missed that, thanks.

I didn't have a chance to go through my documents last night but will when I am home tonight to see if I can find anything to help us out.

 

Were the P3s in the alphas rated at 600mhz? I'm about to purchase a bunch of old hardware.

 

what two port usb cards do we need? do we have a chipset number?

 

I'm very curious as to how the BIOS works. The recovery discs for the alphas come with an xboxbios.bin, is this just a modified intel motherboard BIOS or is this an actual Xbox bios like the retail/debug/dev kits come with? How does the BIOS work with these alphas?

I hope someone can shed some light on this.

 

Just an update, since I just remembered...Xbox debug/devkits had a "BFM" bios right? (boot from memory) which would load the BIOS from memory instead of from a flash. I'm guessing that's the answer to my last question. If so this project keeps sounding easier and easier. I'll keep updating.

Quick note to owners of Alpha kits, this isn't an attempt to ruin your product, I would love what you guys own and I would keep attempting this project with or without it.

 

For me, anyone having a kit is a good thing. The fact is that the bits and pieces won't last forever, so replacements may be needed at some point. I know I personally am not willing to break my kit in the process of trying to get answers though, which is why you don't see more posts for me.

I would just say that you should be careful making assumptions about Alpha vs later kits, though obviously you have to start somewhere. Even DVT3 kits had incompatible parts when compared with final kits, which made games not run. The software changed a lot over a period of a few months.