(WIP) New modchip coming in

I totally agree with TankedThomas...eagerly awaiting

 

I'm in the process of writing documentation (my least favorite part I must admit). It will contain all the information you need to know.

I'll have a draft of the install manual in the coming days.
OS manual will come later. I'll need to set up a XQemu to take screenshots of menus and options. Either that or buy a TV capture card.

 

If you'd like somebody to read over the documentation and proof-read it to make sure it makes sense to somebody else then I can look it over for you. Just saying.

 

Will there be skinning support for the XblastOS? As the gentoox default look isn't a looker.

I know it's not really needed, but would be nice or I guess we could compile the source with a new UI? (Is the source public? & what is needed just the XDK?)

 

There's no skinning engine(yet).

As I wrote a while ago, everything related to UI look will be dealt with way later, if ever! I prefer putting my efforts on adding new features instead.

That said, everyone is very welcome to help. Yes the project is open source. It is located here :
https://bitbucket.org/psyko_chewbacca/lpcmod_os

Information on how to build it is on the page linked above. Basically, you need gcc-3.3 or gcc-4.1. No XDK as it's Cromwell. It makes me think I should upload my VM so anyone could get going easily.

Yes the UI is really ugly. If anyone with the necessary skills (not me that's for sure!) is more than welcome to beautify this thing. Clone the repo and look in the "pics" folder for the JPEG file used. Subscribe to the project on BitBucket and I'll add you if you want to participate and commit changes.

 

Benny - only skim read quickly but that would be great if you could upload your VM.

I do so like your priorities tho - much rather have all the yummy features you have been churning out aplenty - the rest can be tidied up later )

Cheers and best regards, Mark

 

Will do that's for sure. It's a Lubuntu 14.04 x86 VM with everything installed to get you started developing, Eclipse Luna, Meld, git and of course the proper version of gcc. All legal stuff. There's nothing set up in term of debugging tools sorry(gdb is still there no worries). I guess it would be possible to do something here to test some portion of the code but I always managed to make everything work without it.

I'll upload it early next week, I just need to make a small cleanup in it before. It's going to be a few GBs in size so I'll probably upload it in multiple parts on MEGA.


I began receiving messages from tester saying they received their beta unit so in order to make things go faster, I have uploaded the very first draft of the install manual. It's rough and probably not that well written (english is not my native language) but you'll get the idea. Also there are images I shamelessly took from the internet. It's just to get a first draft done. I'll replace them with my own as soon as I can take some shots with a good camera.

Anyway here's the manual, in docx format for now:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/7092024/XBlast_install_draft_v1.zip

 

Thanks Benny, but only upload your VM when you have time - don't let it get in the way of important stuff.

The install manual is looking really good - I think most people will find that pretty clear. If we do have any suggestions for improvements (which I imagine will be small), where/how do you prefer to receive them?

Best and all that, Mark

 

Thank's benny. I got my chip yesterday. I am installing this in a v1.0 tsop'd xbox with ram upgrade/cpu upgrade from N64 Freak.

​

- chip installed, flashed the 512 bank with X2 5035 and 256 bank with indibios 5003, and tested the ram(successful on all 4)

Next up I will be installing a lcd screen and testing the tsop feature's included. I think I am going to use a pinheader on the chip for a the lcd install so I can remove it afterwards.

This chip is fantastic


I will be posting a review with more pic's but just wanted to install it first and do all the testing I can.

 

Hi,

Glad to see some feedback!


I've uploaded a draft of the install manual on Google Docs.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NdVK8I-BE-ccpVvW9o863IeFBPOvGsZkBfUSSP5U1yo/edit?usp=sharing

Comments are allowed in document if you think something is missing or not properly written.

 

So jealous, cant wait to get my hands on a few of these myself. Lucky dog. ​

 

Thanks for the feedback Turfster - nice one.

That is my intention too - install a pin header for the lcd.

Looking forward to your review.

Cheers. Mark

 

Hi Mark,

After reading your comment I decided to temporarily install a lcd to test it. I installed a single row pinheader on the xblast lite and a double row on the LCD(SC202A). I hooked them up according to the xblast lite install manual. Booted to the OS and enabled the lcd screen. Woot, it work's.

It also work's in XBMC too.

 

Cool Xbox, turfster!

From the man himself:



I didn't find any real bugs yet and I've been using it quite a bit.

"Settings" has an extra "t"
The 4th LCD line will still be modified by menu prompts (i.e naming a bios) when "Display Custom Text" is enabled.
I messaged you about FATX format detection after HDD unlock.
Magenta/semi transparent pixels in the menu images leave magenta pixels behind. (duh)
Left arrow image has some garbage on the left. (duh)

I might look into expanding that HDD unlocker and messing with some of the GUI after you get that VM uploaded. Hopefully Rocky5 does too considering his XBMC skinning background.

 

Turfster - thanks for taking that trouble mate - really appreciate it. It is looking pretty good too.

I am still trying to source a 4 x 20 display that will fit in the front of an Xbox - they all have crazy big PCBs (apart from Crystalfontz who want silly money). I have plenty that are in my X3CP consoles but don't really want to split those. If anyone has any suggestions then that would be great.

Weiner - thanks for your feedback buddy - and that console looks really clean )

Cheers, Mark

 

I would just order them from Crystalfontz. If you call them or talk to them in online chat they will give you a discounted price. I bought 1 at the 10 + rate. Also the 20 x 2 is a little cheaper and work's good too. Ask them for one with the smallest pcb size.

Here's the 20 x 2 I ordered. It was $14 plus shipping. They gave me the discounted rate.
https://www.crystalfontz.com/product/CFAH2002ATMIJT

Here's a 20 x 4 that should work too
https://www.crystalfontz.com/product/CFAH2004KTMIJP

I have found a few on ebay with a smaller pcb but they are hard to find.

 

Thanks for the info Turfster.

Think you are right - I need to bite the bullet and order from them. To be fair, it is the shipping cost to the UK that pushes the price right up. Just a shame that they are not as prevalent as the ones with the bigger PCBs.

Cheers, Mark

 

I may have found a source for properly sized LCDs! They are exactly identical to the ones I purchased some years ago, which fits in the front panel just perfectly!
https://translate.google.com/transl...1336&spm=2014.12317209.0.0&edit-text=&act=url

Translation from Chinese suggest they offer a model with white characters and blue background.
I bought 10 through an agent. If there's no shipping adjustement, they should come to around $9USD a piece!



The VM is up on Google Drive:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B...HYyN2ZIVHM0QU55N0RnNzBlU2dNYXp6N00&authuser=0

Use the import feature in VirtualBox and don't forget to tick the option to reset the NAT settings to have network.
You'll need your own credentials to submit commits to the git repo. You should do a pull before working on it as I commit stuff regularly.
The good stuff starts in "BootResetAction" function. That's the entry point coming from the 2bl.

If people start working on this, I think a dedicated thread should be created, whatever the forum.

Have fun and don't hesitate to ask questions.

 

Benny

Nice find on the displays! If yours arrive with no shipping adjustment then that is a pretty good price. I just ordered 10 too and also via an agent because my Cantonese is not so good I see that their stock has just reduced by 20 so that is encouraging but that pretty much wiped out the stock they had. I wonder if they will get any more if we need them (assuming what they send is any good!). Thanks for sharing that mate - most kind.

Thank you also for the VM upload - much appreciated.

I don't know if I mentioned this before, but if production goes to plan then I don't mind helping out with distribution in the UK (and Europe) if needed. I guess that might help with shipping costs but the main thing would be speed of delivery. My beta hasn't arrived yet which is fine because I am lucky to be receiving one in the first place and I knew it would be slow - but paying customers won't be so patient and would likely do your head in with constant "where's my chip" messages! Just let me know if there is anything I can do.

Best regards, Mark

 

Don't shout victory too soon yet. I just had a message from my agent saying the seller was out of work for 20 days... I told him I could wait but I hope this won't backfire on me!

Keep me inform of what happens on your side please.