Problem with 128MB mod on Xbox

I figured I should post this here in case any of the xbox experts on here have an idea, since I'm really confused now.

I decided to modify one of my xboxes to 128MB - I decided to get the ram off a board I had that still booted, but had some serious track damage from someone's attempt to mod it. This board is v1.4.

The machine I decided to mod was another v1.4 - they both had Samsung RAM with the same part numbers - the only thing different was the date code. So I desoldered the RAM from the donor board and soldered it into the other one - and it didn't work. It just gave three green flashes and then FRAGed. So I took a very close look at the chips, but couldn't see any solder shorts.

Eventually I just removed the new chips completely - and the unit started working again.

I then soldered them back into the original board, thinking perhaps they had been damaged by heat - and they worked. So I removed them again, put them into the other box - and it FRAGed again. Swapped them back to the original board, and they were still working there.

I'm pretty sure that the problem wasn't soldering - especially the second time, I examined all the pins very carefully, and everything was soldered down and there were no shorts - and in both cases they worked first time when soldered back onto the original board.

Any ideas? I don't really want to pull them again - apart from anything else, they have been hit with way too much hot air for comfort.

 

Just sounds like soldering.

Had exactly the same a number of times. Just need to make sure they are soldered down correctly on the new board and it should boot.

 

Yeah, that's what I was thinking - it just seemed a bit of a coincidence that both times I soldered them back on the original PCB they worked fine, and both times I soldered them on the board I was trying to mod they didn't.

In any case, I think I should get some new RAMs, since although they are working at the moment, they have been pretty seriously cooked and I don't they are going to be long-term reliable.

 

Is it possible to buy the RAM chips for this mod? I thought they had to be lifted off another board.

 

Go to this site. Find the part number on the chips on your board and search for them. Chances are this place carries them and will have some in stock. I got 4 new chips for my Xbox for $25.60 (American dollars) shipped.

 

You can get them from graphics cards much cheaper than that.

 

I've got a 1.4 here I've got 3 of 4 chips installed without any problems and #3 is missing a few pins. I'm guessing it must take a short somewhere to trigger a FRAG with a RAM install given what I currently know.

 

Thank you. I might have a defective Xbox down in the basement I could take them from. What's the best way to remove surface mounted ICs like these? I tried something called quickchip (or was it chipquick?) on a similar IC once. It works very well, but it's FAR to expensive in the long run.

 

IR rework station is the best, but expensive. Hot air works well

 

I too had such problem with a 1.2 board. I did almost the same thing as you except I was using new chips.

The 4 chips were installed and inspected but would not work. I removed them and installed those on a 1.0 board just fine... The 1.2 board works with 64mb but I never got it to work with 128mb and I tried with 2 different sets of RAM chips. I even checked if the solder pads were still connected to the traces, in case I would have severed a connection.

Screw that, this 1.2 will stay with 64mb of RAM!

 

You're not helping me any since I have a 1.2 and 4 new chips on the way...

 

It was a particular situation. It was the only one to give me issues and to not work on the first try...

The very first Xbox I RAM-modded was a 1.2 and all went very well. The only difference is that I slavaged the chips from an old broken 1.0 motherboard instead of using new ones.

 

I was making a poor excuse for a joke there. I'm sure that as long as I pay attention I will be successful.

Eventually anyways...

 

Don't forget that pins around the area of 14-15 and 93-94 (I think it's those but I'm not sure) are bridged by default. Anyway just check for bridged pins on one of the 4 RAM chips already in place and you'll get the correct pin numbers. Don't try to repair a bridge that's supposed to be there!

A good and old informative site : http://www.dynatron.org/howto/XBOX/hackit/MoBo/RAM/
Is information is a little incomplete, I made a board once that booted to cromwell showing 128MB when there was only 3 of the 4 chips in place. Keep in mind that the cromwell bios thest is not 100% sure to test if the 128MB of RAM is really here.

If you have a SmartXX modchip, there's a RAM tester in the onboard OS that will check addresses of the whole 128MB. Another test is to try big roms in MAME, CPX3 or Surreal. Or you could also boot up VC3 of course!

 

which BIOS are you using?

 

X2-5035

 

I just succeeded in upgrading my Xbox to 128mb RAM. Pictures here:
http://www.playright.dk/forum/emne/26126-vis-os-dit-mod-traaden?reload=655839#655839

I found that Virtua Cop 3 only runs at normal speed, if I boot up Mame OX first and then quits to dash and THEN launch VC3. The dash I use is tHc Lite, but it doesn't seem to work if I boot into UnleashX or XBMC and launch the game from either of those.

Is there a suggested dashboard I should install as my default start-up one, that will start VC3 properly? Without launching Mame OX first, VC3 will start, but it will be unbearably slow

 

I've been asking about a way to do that too. Problem is most dashboards don't seem to initialize all 128MB upon startup. They just use the default 64MB. Launching MAMEoX128 Plus seems to get it all running and will stay active even when returning to dashboard from games and apps. That's how I do it. Once MaMEoX is run all 128MB of RAM stays active until the console is turned off. I was hoping to find a .xbe launcher of some sort that could be placed as the primary boot file that will initialize all 128MB then load the dashboard. That would fix the problem but there isn't one and there seems to be no interest in making one. I'd try myself but I have no experience with coding so finding the code for activating all the RAM in the MAMEoX128 Plus files to inject into a .xbe loader is not going to happen for me.

Perhaps try XBMC? Think it might have the code to use all the RAM from initial startup. Perhaps try the Xecuter 5035 BIOS too. That seems to be the best one out there.

 

I did try running it from XBMC but for some reason that didn't work. Which is weird because I've seen YT videos of people starting VC3 from the XBMC menu just fine. I'll try looking into it tomorrow.

As for BIOS, I'm using the iND BIOS, but I have no idea which version (it's been years since I messed around with the Xbox last). It does support 128mb RAM and I've enabled it in it's .ini file. I think the Aladdin chip I'm using has a smaller flash size than most other chips, so the Xecutor BIOS may not work on my chip?

 

Just tried XBMC again, and it doesn't work which is weird :/

Perhaps I should try updating the XBMC and perhaps it has to be set as the default dashboard? Only problem with that is that there is no game menu in XBMC anymore. You have to go through the file explorer which is retarded.

EDIT: It works with a newer version of XBMC Furthermore this one has the program-menu, so no need for launching stuff through the file explorer.

While I was searching I came across a utility called "Ram Delimit" which supposedly removes the 64mb memory cap in games. I haven't been able to find the program anywhere though, so perhaps it never worked right? Does anyone here know about it?