Dynatron Presents:
XBOX v1.6 motherboard Duo X 2 install.
What you will need for this tutorial
this tutorial teaches you how to re-build the LPC on a v1.6 motherboard
to learn how to take apart an xbox, click HERE
to learn more about the different versions of Motherboards, click
HERE
to go back to the DUO X2 chip install tutorial, click
HERE
once you have located the bogus LPC bus on the motherboard....
you can get started identifying the points that will make
contact with your rebuild PCB (the little blue circuit board that comes with the
duo chip).
rather than diving in and suggesting that you start soldering
all over the place, i'm going to suggest a different method that has worked great
for me the last few years.
the LPC rebuild board you see in the picture above is correctly laid
out, before soldering, so you can map out your points.
above is a close up of the first two points.
one of them is the D0 point
which activates the LPC when grounded.
the other is your far LPC point.
you can get started by lightly tinning these points.
"tinning"
just means to flow a bit of fresh solder to the points. below are the next
couple of points.
locate, and "tin" them, as well.
if you are having trouble identifying the points, they are
the points in these pictures with the little mound of fresh solder on them.
below, the LPC point on the short end of the rebuild board is illustrated with some fresh solder.
just one more point to go...
double check to make sure all the points have been tinned.
be careful how much solder you use. if you are using the pictures as an example,
i suggest a tad bit less solder than i used.
and now you are ready to tin all the points on the rebuild board.
be sure to tin the spots on the bottom of the rebuild board, as that is the
side that will be welded to the motherboard. also, tin the point labeled "D0"
on the top of the rebuild board.
this next step is the tricky part. you need to tack the
rebuild board into position. use the center LPC point, the one inside that
funny corner (picture below) to get it started.
this is not easy to do the
first few times, and can be frustrating, so here's my advice...
... put the solder away...
you should have enough solder already, so once
you have it satisfactorily lined up, heat that corner spot until you feel it sink
down on to the board.
it's easy to fuck up the alignment when you are welding
your first point. be patient. it may sink crooked the first few attempts,
or it may not sink much.
if it becomes misaligned, just re-heat that middle point, and when the solder
becomes liquid again, you will easily be able to re-align. like i said, be patient.
if you get it the first time, you're lucky....or you've done it before.
if it doesn't sink in like you expect it to, it may be because you have too much
solder on your other points. this can also cause misalignment as the little balls
of solder slide off of each other. just be patient, and don't move on to your next points
until you are satisfied with the alignment, and the connection of your first point.
a good point should look something like the one below.
once all of your points look somewhat like the ones above,
have a smoke. you earned it. the hardest part should now be over, which means
you should have something that looks like the picture below.
now that you have an LPC bus installed on your v1.6 motherboard,
you can move on to the chip install portion of the tutorial. the first step is
installing the pinheader in your LPC, which provides a nice swappable interface.
this makes installation, removal, and switching of your bios chip (modchip) as
simple as sliding a condom on.
the first step is to take your male pinheader (comes
with the DuoX2), and jam the long ends of the pins through a piece of electrical
tape, or any other strip of non-conducting adhesive tape (example shown below).
next, insert the pinheader into the open holes on the LPC.
remember that 4 of the LPC points (the 4 closest to the screw hole) are blocked
on the other side by your LPC rebuild board. if you force the pinheader into the
wrong holes, then you will break the LPC rebuild on the other side, and most
likely ruin your motherboard.
after inserting the pinheader, secure
it by applying the piece of tape to the motherboard surface, like below.
now, flip the motherboard over to ensure that the pins are
protruding through the other side of the motherboard, as well as through the
LPC rebuild board.
your solder connections will be between the pins and the LPC rebuild
on the back of the motherboard.
you can now start soldering the pinheader into place.
i do this by heating the end of the first pin (on either end), and adding solder
until the hole is completely filled with solder. i use a soldering iron at 330
degrees Celcius. the heat can be an important factor when it comes to solder penetration.
the solder point (hole) should appear to be somewhat drawing solder into it as
the solder is added. if not, your solder may have insufficient flux content. in
that scenario, i'd advise you to add just a dab of liquid or paste flux to the points
with a q-tip, previous to adding solder.
after removing heat from the point, the
solder should freeze to a shiny little dome.
next, repeat the process for the point at the opposite end
of the pinheader. if your first two points look like the ones in the picture above,
then continue on to the rest of the points, being careful not to touch two pins
at the same time, as this may cause a solder bridge between the two points.
once finished, you should have something that looks like the picture below...
next, prepare a short length of wire (about 12cm) by
stripping a tiny bit (3mm) of insulation away from the ends of the wire. tin the
ends of the wire with a shiny coat of solder.
melt one end together with the D0 point on the LPC rebuild
board that you tinned earlier (example above), and wrap the other end around to
the top side of the motherboard (example below).
the only thing left
to take care of is the BT point on the chip. the purpose of the BT point is
for you to be able to bypass the modchip using the eject button (or some other
form of bypass).
i recommend using a jumped (unused) BT point. there isn't any reason to use this feature in your typical install,
but it's a bad idea to leave the point open, so for this tutorial, make a little
wire jumper, and jump the BT to the point shown in the picture (below).
now you're ready to slide the chip on to the pinheader.
double check to make sure that the chip is seated properly. if it's off by a row
you may damage the modchip, or possibly the motherboard.
for instructions on how to re-assemble the xbox, click HERE
I FUCKED UP! (what now?)