Tutorial written by : GuyBrush
Last edited: December 16, 2003

I've prepared the following guidelines for X2lite users (being an x2lite user myself) since it seems that many people are messing up their x2lite chips with bad flash techniques. Follow these guidlines and you will have a perfect flash everytime, even if there is a power failure or aliens abduct you!

This guide is primarily intended for those users who have had problems flashing their x2lites through Evox (I personally have never had a problem), or for people who have no means to recover from a 1meg flash if it goes bad. As my mum always told me: "prevention is better than cure!"

NB. This guide is for X2lite users only, and applies only to those users who have successfully flashed their chips from Cromwell/Cromwell Flashbios.

Firstly, all new x2lites/pros come with cromwell. For this there are numerous guides on how to flash the chip from this state (see below). Earlier cromwells needed a flash disc and bios disc to be made while newer cromwells are self-flashing. Just search around the forums for these tuts or use tester123's tut.

Things to remember:
1. Use the latest, most stable bios
2 . Get yourself FlashX v1.2, not Xflash or some other similar name.
3 . Use X2BM (Xecuter2 Bios Manager) to create a 1meg bios (if flashing for the first time using cromwell) or create a 512k bios image if flashing with FlashX.

FlashX is made by Team Xecuter for their X2 chips and although it's not perfect it is essential! Using this software will help ensure that even if we have a bad flash we can easily recover from it. It allows us to flash banks 1&2 or banks 3&4 of our x2lite. Now the software is not perfect as it has trouble flashing banks 3&4 but until Team Xecuter sorts it out it is still helpful. Use version 1.1 (this tut is based on version 1.1) cos I had version 1.0 and it never worked with my setup.

When flashing your chip from cromwell for the first time I suggest you don't modify the bios in any way. No colour hacks and the sort, just use the standard bios as is. You can experiment later.

#1 - select the size of your bios. X2lite banks are 512k in size.

#2 - click on bank 1

#3 - click import and select your bios.

this will load your new new bios into bank 1. Now repeat steps 2 & 3, selecting bank 2 using the same bios image.

#4 - now click save, to save your 512k bios image

NB. if you're flashing from cromwell/flashing your chip for the first time-make a 1meg bios image and use tester123's excellent Cromwell/Cromwell Flashbios Guide. It's covers everything, just remember though, if you're using Nero to burn ISO's then select 'disc at once/96' to ensure 100% compatibility.

The other important thing we need are switches on our x2lite. This makes it easy to flash protect the chip and select banks without having to open your BOX. Numerous tuts on Xbox-scene and the newer X2lites have a switch addon already made for you.

Once you've flashed your X2lite from cromwell for the first time, you'll know doubt want to try some colour mods. Use XBtool for this. Always work on a fresh 256k bios image and after you've done editing you must create a 512k image using the bios manager (X2BM) as shown above.

Now comes the flashing part. FlashX has a problem flashing banks 3&4 (or bank 2 as written on the switch pcb of the new x2lites), so this will be our backup bank. Make sure your switch is set to 'Bank 1' (new x2lites) or it is 'ON' (old x2lites were you had to add your own switch). Also 'Unprotect' your x2lite or turn the flash protection switch you've added 'OFF'.

FTP your new bios to your XBOX, store it in c:\bios or create a boot disc with FlashXv1.1. with the bios in the bios directory.

Run FlashXv1.1 and follow the on screen prompts, it's really easy. Just select your bios from the location you saved it to by pressing A, then select bank 1&2 and press Y, and finally press X to confirm!

Small warning, this process can take anywere from 1minute to 30minutes since FlashX is not perfect. Just be patient though, at least if the flash is bad you can still recover without having to buy/make an external programmer.

Now comes the dreaded part. If your flash doesn't work or those aliens abduct you. Just switch to bank2/set your bank selection switch to 'OFF' and reboot and reflash! It's as simple as that. Once you've finished flash it, select bank 1 again and reboot to test your new bios!

Summary:
1. We're always booting from bank1 (&2), hence always select banks1&2 when using FlashX to flash.
2. Bank 2 (3&4) is our backup bios and should never be flashed or tampered with.
3. Always make a 512k bios to flash your x2lite if using this guide.
4 . Always remember to flash protect your chip unless flashing. Switch 'ON' if you've had to add your own switches to your x2lite.
5 . As a safety measure, comment out the bios flash options in the Evox ini.

Remember to take you time, read the on screen prompts before blindly wacking buttons on your controller and I, Team Xecuter, Xbox-scene and any other person associated with this tut can in no way be held responsible if you screw up!

Tutorial written by : GuyBrush