Can't TSOP Flash my Xbox, was it made unmoddable?

[blazingwolf]

I bought this X-Box from a game store where I know they open up and clean consoles before putting them on the shelves.

I made this topic here: https://gbatemp.net/threads/what-is-this-on-my-xbox-1-0-mobo.535438/

And the concensus was it was a modchip removal, possibly by the guy at the store.

The thing I noticed about the pads I need to solder is that they seemed flat. Like in the videos its two small metal round bumps. But mine seem flat to the board. Anyway, I've never soldered but I've heard electric paint can make this job easy so I did that:



Here some pictures I took. The paint looks like a solid connection to both points to me, I was really conservative with it, because I believe if I touch any of the neighboring traces with the paint, I could cross them and fry/damage the chips. (I have no idea how you could solder this point without getting solder over those trace lines!). But I've tried twice, each time I go back in, add some more, scrape it away from the traces, and nothing happens. I'm not sure whats wrong. Could the solder pads been damage with a chip removal, or ground down? Even if the pads were punched out, the paint should still bridge the gap right? Not sure if my work here is sloppy or if its something that happened before me.

Also Hexen says I have Retail OR EliteX (EnigmahX) BIOS, not sure if thats signs of an old modchip?

Thanks for any help, bit frustrated this didn't work like I had planned.

Red wire was there already from a prior mod I assume.

Here is a picture of the pads before I put the paint on em, do they look off?



EDIT: Sorry for the double post, a mod can delete the other one!

 

[blazingwolf]

Now the thing isn't powering on, I went in a third time, removed the paint, put a nice blob on it, checked to see if I crossed any traces, but now when I power on I get nothing, and I'm sure its put together right. If I tried to turn on the X-Box while conductive paint was crossing other traces/points, could it have permanently damaged the X-box or can I try to remove all the conductive paint and try again?

 

[bobdog]

Now the thing isn't powering on, I went in a third time, removed the paint, put a nice blob on it, checked to see if I crossed any traces, but now when I power on I get nothing, and I'm sure its put together right. If I tried to turn on the X-Box while conductive paint was crossing other traces/points, could it have permanently damaged the X-box or can I try to remove all the conductive paint and try again?

yes you probably fried it.

 

[blazingwolf]

yes you probably fried it.

Well, it was a cheap learning experience, guess I'll settle for the softmod. I was looking for something to practice soldering on, guess I can use this, lol.

 

[Alexander1970]

Hello.

Nothing has happend,you don´t solder anything you only use the conductive paint.

Surely you can remove it/clean it.

But i´m afraid that your XBox has an "malfunction" before you did aniything.
As someone mentioned the "thing" on the LCP is from an "failed" Modchip removal,i think there was maybe an "incident" before you buyed it.

 

[blazingwolf]

Hello.

Nothing has happend,you don´t solder anything you only use the conductive paint.

Surely you can remove it/clean it.

But i´m afraid that your XBox has an "malfunction" before you did aniything.
As someone mentioned the "thing" on the LCP is from an "failed" Modchip removal,i think there was maybe an "incident" before you buyed it.

Hello

The Xbox worked fine before I did anything. I was able to take it apart and put it back together twice, soft mod it, play games. But the third time I cleaned it really good, and tried again with conductive paint being a little more aggressive. I think I crossed a trace just barely because now it won’t turn on at all. I must have done something. I thought maybe I damage a trace but I only used 99 percent rubbing alcohol and q-tip, and I see no damage.

I already remove all of the conductive paint but it still don’t turn on.

 

[Alexander1970]

Take a look on this Picture please and check the 3.Pic:

 

[blazingwolf]

By some miracle; the thing is turning on now. I tried one more time 99 percent sure it wouldn’t boot, but it fired right up!

Wonder what was wrong?

 

[Haizum74]

Tempermental xboxes, been having similar issues.

 

[blazingwolf]

Yeah now I can’t get it to power on again I was trying to upgrade the HDD. And the Xbox hung when loading apps, I didn’t have chimp ready to selects so turned it off to retry. And the. Suddenly I notice the Xbox sparks at the power slot when I plug it in. When it will power on I hear a spark and hear a hiss, if I don’t hear a spark when I plug it in, I get nothing. I ended up accidentally unplugging the DVD drive while it was plugged in and heard the sound of “electricity”, like a crackle. When I unplugged it and tried again, I don’t think I got it on again. I can’t remember. It was late and I was getting frustrated. Could I have killed the unit by unplugging the DVD drive while it was plugged in but the unit wasn’t “on”.

 

[Haizum74]

Worst case scenario is yes you have fried it. Best case is that the fuse in the plug has blown.
I've never had any issues unplugging the dvd drive as you mentioned.

Are you soft modded?

 

[blazingwolf]

Worst case scenario is yes you have fried it. Best case is that the fuse in the plug has blown.
I've never had any issues unplugging the dvd drive as you mentioned.

Are you soft modded?

I am soft modded.

I think I actually got the unit to power on again once after that, but I can’t remember for sure, which is why I’m not sure if the unit isn’t turning on because the power cord and power slot aren’t “lined up” causing that spark or the yanking of the ide cable while the Xbox was plugged in did it in.

Of course the unit should not be sparking at the power plug when I plug it in, so maybe it finally arced over it something else? I see no burnout spots.

 

[skydancer93]

If you need a spare DVD drive, I have one here.

 

[Haizum74]

I am soft modded.

I think I actually got the unit to power on again once after that, but I can’t remember for sure, which is why I’m not sure if the unit isn’t turning on because the power cord and power slot aren’t “lined up” causing that spark or the yanking of the ide cable while the Xbox was plugged in did it in.

Of course the unit should not be sparking at the power plug when I plug it in, so maybe it finally arced over it something else? I see no burnout spots.

Can you try a different power cable.

 

[KHANV1CT]

It sounds like you have an intermittent power issue which may be due to bad traces from the clock capacitor leaking. Idk if you removed that or not.

 

[Alexander1970]

Hello.

After long search i found it (most XBox sites are down..)

Xbox Trace Corrosion Repair

http://fillwithcoolblogname.blogspot.com/2011/02/1st-gen-xbox-trace-corrosion-repair.html

I did this longtime ago and it works for me.I have it from another site and i think i printed out the pictures.Maybe somewhere....

Good Luck.

 

[blazingwolf]

It sounds like you have an intermittent power issue which may be due to bad traces from the clock capacitor leaking. Idk if you removed that or not.

I don’t think it’s been pulled but I checked and didn’t see any signs of leakage near the capacitor. The guy I bought a new modded box from says it sounds like the solder points where my power slot is may be loose, causing my power issues. It would require a resolder which at this point I have nothing to lose.

I just don’t understand how the thing turned on and off perfectly atleast 20 times when I bought it from the shop. It was the third time taking it apart and trying to TSOP it that the intermittent issues started.

I also noticed when I plug the power cord into the power slot. The slot kinda gives in and wiggles in the cut out hole a bit. This is the first Xbox I’ve ever owned. Is it supposed to move a bit? The power cable is OEM but man do you have to push hard to get it to fit snug, which is how I notice the slot doesn’t stay perfectly still when I plug the cord in.

I’ll look for corrosion and the PSU solder points when I get home. If the power supply cable to the Xbox shows a green light, that means the fuse in it must still be good?

Edit: what the guy said make sense too, I plugged the power cord into the Xbox a few times while the lid was off and because it was tight I applied a lot of pressure, might have bent it back a bit too far, I heard no cracking or sounds of breaking, but might explain how I went from constant power one, to none, to intermittent, to none again.

 

[blazingwolf]

Well I have fantastic news, I fixed it!

I followed the guys advice about bad solder joints on the PSU. I took the PSU and flipped it over. Wouldn’t you know? One of the solder joints was blackened and not connected to the board.

So I figured it’s time to do my first solder. I was nervous but the joint was big enough and by itself so I figured I couldn’t fuck it up that bad.

It wasn’t pretty and it’s not soldered all the way around but I connected it back up and it turned RIGHT ON. The power connector doesn’t give and wiggle like it did before either.

I am so pumped to do my first solder and actually fix something!

 

[Alexander1970]

Hello.

Congratulations for your "persistence"
Thats what console modding stands for.

Fun,perplexity,frustration,endurance,sweat and blood and success paired with FUN.

Great job.

 

[blazingwolf]

Hello.

Congratulations for your "persistence"
Thats what console modding stands for.

Fun,perplexity,frustration,endurance,sweat and blood and success paired with FUN.

Great job.

Thanks!

I'm trying to do a HDD upgrade now, but I'm having trouble timing the IDE cable swap. If I have nothing important on the main HDD, can I get the Xbox to boot straight into the disc, without a formatted HDD set up, or do I need a TSOP for that?