(WIP) New modchip coming in

Will fat x support be in this one and the screen shot feature? I ask as the pictures I put in the wiki need a proper screen shot they are not very good.

 

Release of OS update will be postponed (as you might have probably guessed). I have troubling issues with 1.6 consoles I wish to fix before.

Unfortunately no. But I'm planning on starting working on FATX write support once I clear all the issues I'm having with 1.6 Xboxes...
Once FATX write is in place, generating bmp screenshot will be possible and rather easy to implement.

 

To put this first release in perspective, can you elaborate on any features that might be added to the XBlast "NonLite" chip?
-In particular, might it add support for a few more IOs?

 

I believe it will have a onboard micro and will enable future expansion I/O possibilities such as: i2c port, ir blasting, remote turn, amberlight controller, power on sounds, chihiro media board emulation any thing really is a possibility but in reality it will come down to what benny wants to implement.

With this micro it will instead of being dumb device slave to the program running on the xbox it will be able to have some smart features and be able to run without xbmc4xbox telling it what to do for example.

In the current chips the lcd stops working when you run a game for example, it could be used to display the cpu temp or operate a small program controlling I/O on the chip and continue scrolling along the game name.

 

Right on it. Except for Media board emulation. That will likely require more dedicated hardware.


Taking the time to do a small update on how v0.3Beta of OS is coming. I know I've been saying it's coming for a few weeks now but I had some issues with universal compatibility(1.0 through 1.6b).
I'm in the process of fixing it. I have images of SmartXX OS(decrypted) and SpiderGX OS which both seem to have tackled the issue with success. I have to extract all the init code (Memory init tables, X-Codes and earlier x86 ASM sequence) and adapt XBlast OS boot init using code from those. It's going well but I do have a small annoying issue with 1.0 consoles now I wish to resolve before releasing anything.

So basically, once I get this fixed, I will release something but I really don't have an ETA. I guess worst case scenario is I'll go back to having separate version for 1.6b consoles like Gentoox Loader but I would rather not.

 

For those interested, there's an update to XBlast OS.
https://www.assemblergames.com/forums/showthread.php?56457-Release-XBlast-OS-v0-3Beta

 

Definitely interested in an update on this since the site is back again.

 

I want one...

 

Hi!
I've been out for a while now. Summer is better spent outside, with friends and family. My job has also been very demanding for the past few months. We've recently had a big product release and everyone is working real hard to meet the deadlines. For anyone interested, I work in a company that makes automation controllers and other supporting electronic devices for swine and poultry production. Here's some info on our new line of products : http://www.automatedproduction.com/en/apedge.php.

I'm also working on another project that might be interesting for some of you. It's a 4-inputs, 2-outputs automatic TOSLINK audio switcher.
The 4 inputs are monitored by a micro controller and detects the presence of valid digital signals on all inputs. The device can switch to the desired input automatically to output the signal to the 2 output ports (the 2 outputs are fed with the same signal, this way you could plug a surround sound system and a headset at the same time).
Of course, you can turn off or temporarily override automatic input switching.
You can also configure each input with a priority to customize switching behavior when more than 1 input have valid signals detected.
Everything will be open source, hardware and software.
I'm currently making tweaks and cleaning up the code before putting all this on BitBucket.
If there's demand for it, I might make a small batch for sale.

So, for all these reasons I took a little break and been spending less time on XBlast. Don't worry, software development will be picked back up very soon. Hardware is coming too.

 

Hey Benny - really very good to hear from you mate - welcome back )

I figured as much that you had been busy with work and who can blame you for taking some time out. Same here really now the sun is shining.

That stuff you work on for a living looks really impressive and I know what time savers they can be. A friend has a massive farm in the UK and the electronics guys like you produce really make such a difference to efficiency and cost control.

Your TOSLINK switcher sounds really cool and I can definitely put one to good use here if you do make them available.

Back on topic and I am sure everyone will be very glad when the XBlast is available. The beta that you very kindly sent me has been rock solid including multiple flashing with my feeble attempts at messing about editing and compiling the OS!

Anyway - thanks for the update and glad to hear you are well.

Cheers, Mark

 

Great to see this project is still going forward, and still eagerly waiting for it to be available.
Thanks Benny for the hard work

 

When will this be available for sale? I want some!!!

 

Really eagerly awaiting the day when I can order a couple of these badboys

 

Hello everyone,

It's been quite some time but you'll understand why if you briefly look at the pictures below!
This is the first batch of the XBlast Lite V1 modchip and it's a little special.
I decided to make a "special" edition for this first batch which I named "XBlast Lite V1 Pre-Edition".

There will be 65 units up for sale. After these 65, there will never be other "Pre-Edition" made. All subsequent batches will be regular "XBlast Lite V1".
I will begin selling them on 13-11-2015... for luck! This is to give anyone following this thread a chance to catchup.
Plus I'd like another week of binge-playing Halo 5 before I start this thing!

What sets them apart physically?
- Hand soldered and individually tested
- Purple board color
- Gold plated finish
- Thank you note on the modchip
- Purple LPC activity LED
- Presoldered LCD port header (gold plated)

They might also be the only batch to have a through-hole LPC connector. Surface mount headers are much more cheaper to assemble(but are mechanically weaker than through-hole) so regular batches of XBlast modchips might be fitted with surface mount female headers to reduce cost. I'm still not 100% sure about this.
Same goes for PCB thickness. "Pre-Edtition" boards are 1.6mm thick but regular batches might have a thinner PCB (like 0.8mm). Ultimately, I'll have to evaluate if cost reduction is significant enough to justify these changes.

On the software side, here's what sets them apart:
- "Pre-Edition" DeviceID (SYSCON ID). XBlast OS will report "XBlast Lite V1 Pre-Edition" as the detected modchip, in gold-ish colored characters, instead of the regular "XBlast Lite V1" in green colored characters
- Purple background instead of the regular blue one. Of course you can switch back to the regular blue one if you prefer.

So just to make this clear, functionnality-wise, there is absolutely no difference between these "Pre-Edition" units and the regular ones. You only get a purple-gold themed experience in extra (which could easily be spoofed on a regular unit if you wanted; as the OS is open source!) and the knowledge that very few people have one.

Here's what they look like:











Here's a picture of the packaging:


As you can see, the modchip will come with a gold plated male pin header both in a purple(ish) sealed anti-static bag.

Because every good product comes with a warranty and I'm very confident about the quality of my modchips, I'm offering a 1-year limited warranty on these. Warranty will be honored at my discretion(I won't be a jerk, I promise!) and will be based on the following conditions:
- Read the manual before asking questions that might already be answered. (It's WIP but good enough! https://bitbucket.org/psyko_chewbacca/lpcmod_os/wiki/mainmenu)
- Pictures of installation in console must be provided(take note of the 's' in "pictures", I want pictures from all angles)
- Detailed description of the behavior, video if possible would be cool!
- No physical damage and/or alteration to the modchip. Soldering on the solder pads, LCD port, rescue port is part of normal usage and is covered. However, if you lift a solder pad (because your soldering iron was too hot) then I won't cover it.

Of course, the warranty applies only to the modchip itself. For example, there's no warranty if you destroy your Xbox when installing the modchip. I know my modchip works good and I have personnally tested each modchip I will sell in a 1.0, 1.2 and 1.6 Xbox. Plus I've been running my own device in one of my Xbox for a few months now.

To sum up, if it breaks and it's not your fault, just contact me and we'll work from there. I won't pay for you to ship the unit back to me but I will pay return shipping once it's fixed.
Be aware that if you try to cover your mess, send me a modchip that you know shouldn't be covered by the warranty (and I find out), I won't try to repair it and you'll have to pay the return shipping yourself if you want it back!


And finally... the price!
$40USD per unit. Shipping is extra.
Shipping from Canada to most part of the world surprisingly cost around the same amount wether I ship within Canada or to Australia! For cheaper, non-express services at least... Basic airmail shipping (non-trackable) cost about $8.5USD so base price would be $48.50USD for regular airmail shipping (non trackable, insured, CanadaPost says delivery time is 6-10 working days but I feel it could take longer).
I'm open to upgrading service if you want it but bear in mind that just adding tracking support will likely double the price of shipping. Using a speedier service will surely raise shipping cost to $25USD and up!
Of course, if you live near Montreal, Quebec I'm open for a meetup to save on shipping!

To maximize the number of people getting one, please consider buying only one unit for now. I won't sell more than 2 units to a single user.

All sales will be made through Paypal.

So on 13-11-2015, I will put up a sale thread in the marketplace section of AssemblerGames forums. Contact me via PM if you want to order one.
As good sense dictates, it will be first-come first-served as soon as the sale thread is up. Any PM before that will not be taken into consideration.
Please only contact me if you really want to buy one. You know the price, you know the conditions.
If you want to propose a trade, I would only be interested in certain Special Edition Xbox Controllers (especially the Japanese smoke black one) and they'd have to be in very good condition!

 

Benny - - thank you. You're doing a great thing for the community, and in a super-professional, really nice way! This is awesome.

 

This is a very good day

Do you have an estimated time these will be posted? I really would like a first run, but not sure if I would be able to watch the market for them all day

 

Lol, I originally thought of putting this information but I decided not to because I thought it would look overzealous like I would be launching an iPhone or something!

It should be around 17:00 or 18:00 EST. When I get back home from work.

 

Thanks! Didnt want to be checking in the evening and find out they were posted at 12:01 am and they were sold out at 12:02 am

 

Thank you benny. Can't wait to buy one.

 

Definitely want one of these. This is an absolute must have for me, being a collector of xbox modchips. I MUST own one of these!