Oldies Others Programming an Aladdin XT+ with XBlast (FT232RL Method)

[SylverReZ]

You must have prior soldering experience before proceeding. This is in no way, shape or form, a guide on how to solder.​

Requirements:

• OpenOCD-XPack (download)
• XBlast CPLD files - only download the ones with (.SVF) (download)
• FT232RL UART adapter - either a clone or original

1. Download the latest release of the OpenOCD-XPack, then extract the contents to an empty folder.

2. Inside the "/bin/" folder, create a new file called "openocd.cfg". Open the file using your preferred text editor, then make the following changes::

#daemon configuration
telnet_port 4444
gdb_port 3333

adapter driver ft232r
adapter speed 500
ft232r restore_serial 0x15
transport select jtag
jtag newtap LC4032V tap -irlen 8 -expected-id 0x01805043

3. Next, use a set of male-to-male jumper wires, and solder the JTAG connections from the Aladdin chip to the FT232 adapter as follows:

Aladdin XT+​	FT232RL​
+3.3V	+3.3V
TDO	RTS
TMS	CTS
TDI	RXD
TCK	TXD
GND	GND

(ENSURE THAT THE JUMPER ON THE FTDI IS SET TO +3.3V AND NOT +5V!)

4. Open a new terminal window inside of the current directory of "/bin/" and type "sudo ./openocd -f openocd.cfg" (no quotations) and press Enter. OpenOCD will wait until a debugger is connected. Then, in another terminal window, type "xterm -e telnet localhost 4444" (no quotations), from there, you can send commands to OpenOCD.

5. Inside of the Telnet window, type "svf" followed by the filename of the SVF file you wish to program (i.e., svf "1MB OSSUPPORT.SVF"), then press Enter to write it to the chip.

6. You're all set!

 

[TheStonedModder]

I was wondering how Modville has been doing this and didn’t know enough about OG Xbox to Google how.

Great write up! Thanks for sharing

 

[wolffangalchemist]

nifty, might be useful if i ever get a proper chip to go in my alladin xt.

 

[SylverReZ]

I was wondering how Modville has been doing this and didn’t know enough about OG Xbox to Google how.

Great write up! Thanks for sharing

Modzville was using those clone Lattice ispDownload boxes. He modified the power rail to output 3.3V instead of 5V by installing a jumper from the regulator.

 

[MopSec]

Modzville was using those clone Lattice ispDownload boxes. He modified the power rail to output 3.3V instead of 5V by installing a jumper from the regulator.

I made my own XBlast Alladin using that method a few weeks ago. So much fun and it worked right away. His video about the topic is so great

 

[SylverReZ]

I made my own XBlast Alladin using that method a few weeks ago. So much fun and it worked right away. His video about the topic is so great

I agree 100%. I've helped him out on some occasions with his PSX DVR chip installation. He's such a great guy to speak to, and I enjoy his videos.

 

[Danook28]

i see there are chip on youtu.be video People remove it and put it in programer is that also need or just this???!!!

 

[SylverReZ]

i see there are chip on youtu.be video People remove it and put it in programer is that also need or just this???!!!

Using this method is way cheaper than having to buy a proprietary Lattice programmer.

 

[jbrou]

Using this method is way cheaper than having to buy a proprietary Lattice programmer.

So im actually trying to flash a aladin xt plus2 to have a tester before upgrading my ram on my .6 xbox. Im running into issues when doing svf "filename.svf" it does nothing until i unplug the ft232rl. i tried on windows but then switch to linux where i got further in the process, I think its getting stuct and "escape character is '^]'. i think im also supposed to see something about debug. Thank you for any help