This is the review for the SmartXX v3, Team SmartXX' latest installement of their Pro-range modchip. I tested the modchip with a solder install on an Xbox v1.1 and with SmartXX' own nosolder adapter (called Spider16) on an Xbox v1.6x. The review also includes an up-to-date overview of the SmartXX Pro OS.
The SmartXX v3 comes as a pretty complete package. You'll get:
* The SmartXX v3 modchip
* An LPC rebuild PCB for Xbox v1.6x
* A Headerpin
* A replacement wire of the power/eject-DVD-ROM that will tap off 5v for your chip
* IR-sender
* Wirebundle you can plug in your SmartXX v3 with a wire for D0, LFRAME, ground, emergency recovery and disable.
* A SmartXX v3 case-sticker
* A 5v-wire to use between SmartXX v3 and a Spider16 nosolder addon (or eventually other future addons that might need an extra 5v)
* An Xbox-to-USB connector
* A Xebian (Debian for Xbox) CD (not burned, but pressed ... easier to read for the Xbox)
The packaging isn't really special. Both PCBs (modchip and LPC rebuild) are in an antistatic bag and those are packed together with all the wires, the case sticker and headerpin in a soft-plastic box. The CD simply comes in a paper sleeve and the USB addon comes packed in bubbelpaper. The packaging is certainly enough to protect against dust and scratches, but not for heavy shocks, so shops shipping this chip should ship it in a solid box with good protection inside (we all know how some postal companies treat packages).
* The main controller chip is a QuickLogic, just like on previous SmartXX mods. This chip has a reputation to be very stable and reliable.
* 4Mbytes (or 32Mbits) flash chip by MX (Macronix International): Just like the v1 and v2 this v3 will come with 4Mbytes of space. The main SmartXX OS uses only 0.5Mbytes meaning you have 3.5Mbytes left for your own bioses. That's certainly more than enough. With a linux (cromwell) bios and most normal hacked Xbox bioses taking just 256KB to max 512KB for some special hacked bioses or debug bioses you will have more then enough to space to flash all the flavors of bioses you want.
Also keep in mind this flashchip can be used for 'ED on Chip', that's a mini linux (and thus legal) distro that will setup an FTP and TELNET server. This takes 2048KB on your flashchip (meaning you still have 1536KB left for your own bioses) but you're in no-way forced to flash this if you don't want.
As you can see from the high-res close-up pictures posted above, the smartxx is build with a high level of precision. No bad word about the build quality of this modchip as it's pretty much as good as it can be. Return rate for these chips is certainly very low.
Ports/Plugs and LEDs on the modchip:
* XLCD port: This port will allow you to connect a plug-and-play Xecuter LCD addon (no soldering required) with your SmartXX v3 modchip. It's pretty original to see one of the big manifacturers make their modchip compatible with the addon of one of the other manifacturers ... but this is of course good for the end-user as 1 addon will work on both modchips. SmartXX even improved it as you will be able to change backlight (and contrast too of course) from within the OS, so no need for an external wheel/pot. I also noticed support for the XLCD on the SmartXX v3 has been added to XboxMediaCenter. This I2C I/O port could also be used for other future addons.
You can also use this port to connect other LCD screens solderlessly with the special display cable released by SmartXX (sold separately - pictured below). This guide explains how to connect some types of screens with this cable.
Below is a video of the of the XLCD connected to the SmartXX v3 showing how it looks like in both the SmartXX OS and XboxMediaCenter. Note that the text it displays in XBMC can be fully modified by changing the lcd.xml file in your XBMC release.
The video also shows how the USB adapter can be used to connect a keyboard to your Xbox. While it's most useful if you run linux on your Xbox, the movie below shows it works fine in SmartXX OS and (some) homebrew software too.
* LCD solderpads: Team SmartXX of course did not remove their own port for an LCD screen. You can still connect LCD screens compatible with SmartXX v1/v2. This is not a solderless install, but you'll have a wider choice of LCD screens and you can probably find it cheaper too. Contrast and Blacklight can also be changed from within the OS.
* General I/O port: This is a I/O port that can be used for future addons. SmartXX already mentions it'll be compatible with an IR-addon they will probably release soon (that's an IR-receiver so you can for example turn on/off xbox, turn on/off modchip and more (DVD dongle features) with a remote control). We have no information when this addon will be released.
* RGB LED connector port. You can connect LEDs to this port that will allow you to bring the RGB LED and status LED on the SmartXX PCB externally. This guide explains how you can connect simple LEDs to this port. There's no wire/plug for this port yet as far as I know ... and soldering to the tiny pins inside this port is far from easy. Maybe simple solderpads would have been easier for the average case-mod fanatic. This port could be interesting for a fully pre-build external LED-addon that could be connected solderlessly to this port ... but none has been released so far.
The feature to control the RGB LED is not implemented yet into any software (as far as I know) so I asked Freakware (main smartxx distributor) for a bit of info, here's the info they sent me:
Regarding the RGB Port, this is in fact a simple 3 channel open collector output that can sink about 200 mA each. Each channel is controlled by a single PWM hardwareblock. There are a lot of usefull things that can be made with this. The easiest thing would be to simply connect LED's to that channels eg. a red led, a green led and a blue led to each of them (or a couple of them parallel (to max 200mA) also RGB LED's can be used. Each channels has it's own 7 bit PWM register that means doing a simple port write sets the brightness of the corresponding led connected to that channel without the need for doing PWM in software (like has to be done on previous SmartXX or on other mods like Xenium, the bad thing on software PWM is, that it's very timing critical and needs a lot of timing recources and if software end even the PWM output stops)
However the PWM output was mainly implemented to give a new toy to all the casemodders out there. We could think of a feature in XBMC where the RGB output is always set depending on the main screen color when watching a movie or anything else. Due to the simply software (as PWm is in hardware) it would be quite easy to implement such things.
A special RGB LED or PWM Port PCB or hardware is not planed yet but could be easy and quick developed if needed..
A last minute update to the review: The latest beta release of the SmartXX OS (build 3408) has a basic implementation of RGB LED control ... you can't control the RGB LED yourself in software yet, but the RGB LED will flash all kinda different colors after eachother with this new OS build.
* Connection for D0, LFRAME, Ground, Eject and Recovery. You'll get a 5wire cable with plug you can click in your SmartXX v3.
There's a wire for D0 (Purple) and LFRAME (White). As you might know SmartXX does not use the same signal for D0 and LFRAME, they claim their method is better and safer on the long term.
The 3rd wire (yellow) will hard disable your SmartXX modchip when connected to ground. Hard disable means it will not go through the SmartXX OS to boot the Original (onboard) bios, it will directly boot up the onboard bios and the modchip will be fully disabled/invisible. You'll also notice the yellow wire is much longer then the other wires. This is probably done so it can reach the power and eject points on the xbox motherboard ... so you can hard disable your mod by booting your console with the power or eject button. (note that eject/power pressing can now be 'soft' detected by OS, see the OS section below)
The 4th wire (green) will boot up your SmartXX in 'Recovery Mode' when connected to ground. The Recovery mode will allow you to reset the OS config (back to factory default) and it'll allow you to recover the primary OS (incase of bad flash during upgrade for example).
The 5th wire (black) is for ground, but ground is normally already taken from LPC or solderless adapter, so you will not have to connect this to a ground point. Instead, you can use this ground wire to make external switches for recovery-boot and hard-disable.
The 3rd and 4th are just simple wires, if you don't plan to use these functions often (normally you don't really need them ... to disable you can just boot original bios from OS menu or via quickboot options and recovery is only required if something goes really wrong which should normally never happen) you can simply leave the wires in the case (make sure to protect the tips of the wires with some tape so it doesn't make contact with motherboard/case) and incase you ever need it you can open your xbox and put the wire under a screw to ground it fast and easy.
If you like modding your case and so though you can install some nice external switches somewhere on your case.
The video below shows the SmartXX installed with headerpin in an Xbox v1.1. Both the recovery and hard-disable wire are tested and we show you how the leds look like in the dark.
* Infrared remote output port: Unlike some wrong reports this is NOT a LED for IR-activity and this is NOT a IR-receiver either. In this port you can plug in the IR-sender you received with your SmartXX v3 package. Yes, you read it correctly, it will send out an IR signal ... your SmartXX v3 will be able to act as remote controller. Right now it's not in use yet, but Team SmartXX will probably release more info about this feature soon. Very original feature ... so I'm waiting for more details on how we can use it.
* 5v input: The SmartXX v3 comes with a replacement wire for the DVD power/eject cable (often called the "yellow DVD cable" but in newer xbox consoles it can be white or brown too). This replacement cable will branch of a 5v cable that you can plug into this port of the modchip. So the SmartXX does not need 5v from the LPC points, it will take it solderless from the DVD connector. Advantage is also that this works on all Xbox versions.
* 5v output: This is essentially made for the SmartXX Spider16 adapter. This adapter does not take 5v from the motherboard, but it needs it to power its status leds. The cable required is also provided in the SmartXX v3 package. You just plug one end in this port of your modchip and the other end in the Spider16 adapter. The connector could of course also be used for other addons that require extra 5v if that would ever be needed.
* Female Headerpin: Well what can I say ... you all know what this is. Plug this on the pinheader soldered in your Xbox or plug it on the pinheader of your solderless adapter. It's normal sized: 6 rows, 2 columns.
* Status LED: Gives status of your modchip ... has several colors. I did not find an overview of the different modes though. All I know is that if it's flickering blue your modchip is enabled and working and when it's fix blue your modchip is disabled.
* RGB LED: This is an RGB LED that can display over 2 million colors. Right now there's no easy way to set color yourself, but this should come in a next version of the SmartXX OS. It could even come in homebrew applications like XBMC if anyone bothers writing the required code for it. (see info above given by freakware about the 'RGB LED connector port').
Last minute update: In the latest SmartXX beta OS the LED will blink in all kinda different colors after eachother.
* "Remove d0" break-away: This is a small part sticking out of the modchip PCB that you can "break away", it's located on the right side on this picture.
To control modchip enable/disable a modchip will either ground or not the D0 (Xbox v1.0-v1.5) or LFRAME (v1.6x) point. As D0/LFRAME is not a point on the LPC bus, universal nosolder adapters will link the D0/LFRAME point with the unused LPC#4 point, so it can control all points via the pinheader connection. If you leave this breakaway part on the modchip the headerpin#4 of the modchip will be linked with the D0/LFRAME control of the modchip.
If you break away this part headerpin#4 of the modchip will be unused and no signal whatsoever will be sent through it. So if you plan to install your SmartXX with a soldered pinheader, you should remove this break-away part. While on Xbox v1.0-v1.5 there's not even a LPC#4 hole (so if headerpin#4 on the modchip sends a signal or not does not matter much), on Xbox v1.6x there's a LPC#4 hole ... and sending a ground signal through there without reason is not 'clean' (while afaik it does not break the Xbox, it's just not a proper way to send a ground signal to whatever point without any reason).
So in short what you need to know: if you install the modchip with a solderless adapter leave this break-away part, if you install it with a soldered headerpin (also if using v1.6x recovery board) you need to remove this part. Removing it is harder then it looks, it does not break away easily ... you'll want to use a grip to do this cleanly.
* "Recover d0" solderjumper: well ... this is to restore the link between D0/LFRAME control and the headerpin#4 on the modchip (see "Remove d0" break-away above). If you removed the "break-away d0" you can restore the link by soldering this jumper.
Also note this is a new feature on v3 ... on v1/v2 SmartXX LPC#4 was never linked to D0/LFRAME of modchip. This usually requires the soldering of a wire to make it compatible with universal solderless adapters. That's no longer needed on SmartXX v3.
Instead of using a break-away and solderjumper, it sure would have been more clean to use a nice little switch on the PCB. But as most people will either break-away the small part or leave it (depending on the install method they chose), few will ever need the solderjumper to relink D0/LFRAME ... so it does make sense not to raise the production costs of the modchip with a switch pretty much noone will ever need.
* "Bridge 5v" solderjumper: LPC#6 on your Xbox motherboard normally gives 5v, but that's no longer true on Xbox v1.5+. SmartXX decided to get their 5v from the DVD power/eject connector with a special replacement DVD cable you'll get (as mentioned above). This takes 5v solderlessly from all Xbox versions and also makes your modchip's stay more invisible from the LPC bus. So by default 5v is unlinked from the headerpin#6 connection on the modchip, if for whatever reason you don't want to use this DVD replacement cable you can relink 5v with headerpin#6 by soldering this jumper.
* "ER" solderjumper: Same as grounding the green wire, if you solder this jumper your SmartXX will boot in recovery mode (see info above for details).
* 5v solderpad: this is yet another alternative 5v connection, so if you don't want to use the 5v from the DVD connector and not the 5v connection on the headerpin either you can still link this point to the 5v of your choice. Or you can use it as output if you need 5v for an addon.
* 3.3v solderpad: This an alternative 3.3v connection. Normally the SmartXX v3 takes 3.3v from the headerpin. If you want to take 3.3v from somewhere else use this point. Or you can use it as output too ofcourse if an addons needs it.
* D0 solderpad: Another alternative connection for D0 (Xbox v1.0-v1.5). If you don't use headerpin#4 to link to D0 either use this solderpad with your own wire or use the purple wire from the adapter (see above)
* LF solderpad: Another alternative connection for LFRAME (Xbox v1.6x). If you don't use headerpin#4 to link to LFRAME either use this solderpad with your own wire or use the white wire from the adapter (see above)
* EJ solderpad: If you ground this point, the Xbox will boot with modchip disabled (similar to the yellow wire). Originally this was added to SmartXX chips to connect with the eject point of your Xbox (so Xbox would boot with mod disabled by pressing the eject button). But on recent versions of the SmartXX OS, pressing power or eject button is detected by the OS software (which allows you to boot the bios bank of your choice by quick pressing the power or eject button (basicly it very quickly boots the OS (invisible to user), check what button you pressed + how long and directly loads the bios bank of choice)). So normally there's no need for a 'hardware' detection of pressing the eject button, but it's still available if you really want it.
* GND solderpad: Another alternative connection for ground. If you don't use the LPC for ground use this solderpad with your own wire or use the black wire from the adapter (see above). Alternatively, if your modchip has ground already, it can also be used to pass ground to an addon or switches for example.
Installation
Some changes here compared to the SmartXX v1/v2.
To start with,
the quicksolder install for Xbox v1.0-v1.5 is gone. With all the connectors they added there was no real space anymore to add the quicksolder pads. They could have made the board bigger of course, but I guess the extra costs were not worth it. Most new Xboxes that get modded are v1.6x so for those it's useless anyway and for Xbox v1.0-v1.5 the quicksolder method has never really been the most popular. So for me personally I think it was a wise decision to drop the quicksolder method for v1.0-v1.5, but there are people out there who like this method, so they will be disappointed I guess.
The headerpin (female) is of course still available, same amount of pins as on v1/v2.
A wire-install is not really available, theoretically you could of course solder wires to the pins of the headerpin, but that's just making things more complicated then they are. Just install it using the normal headerpin method.
For Xbox v1.6x you'll get a LPC repair PCB too ... as the name says it, it repairs the missing LPC points on a Xbox v1.6x. That's similar to a quicksolder install, but on the back of the motherboard and it's only for Xbox v1.6x. Once you quicksoldered the LPC repair PCB you can just install your Xbox v1.6 with headerpin.
If you want to go solderless, the SmartXX v3 is now compatible with every universal solderless adapter, meaning headerpin#4 is connected with D0/Lframe on the modchip). It will of course also work with SmartXX' own Spider16 solderless adapter for Xbox v1.6x. Below is a overview of this Spider16 adapter.
At the time I was testing the modchip the official installation manuals were not released yet, but in meantime they're out. The installation guides are pretty complete although a troubleshooting FAQ with problems that often occur would have been a nice addition.
* Xbox v1.0–v1.5 solder–installation: english | german * Xbox v1.6x solder–installation: english | german * Xbox v1.6x Spider16 nosolder–installation: english | german
* LCDs and RGB-LEDs addon guide: english | german
SmartXX v3 installed with Spider16 NoSolder Adapter on Xbox v1.6x
Below is a video of the SmartXX v3 installed in an Xbox v1.6 with the SmartXX solderless Spider16 adapter. We also show you how the OS warns you if you try to launch a bios with init-table for Xbox v1.0-5 on an Xbox v1.6x (a smartxx-only feature as far as I know). After that you'll see it boot up to XboxMediaCenter using the EvoX M8+ bios. Then we try booting EvolutionX dashboard from a CD-RW and then a DVD-R of "Forza Motorsport".
The Spider16 is a solderless adapter made by Team SmartXX. It's been released for a while already and of course works fine on all the other SmartXX modchips too.
Unlike most other solderless adapters, this one will ONLY work on Xbox v1.6x. It's not made for Xbox v1.0-v1.5. Reason is very simple ... SmartXX does not use pogopins here, but instead it uses springwires for all points.
It takes 5v from the DVD connector too, so if you buy a SmartXX v3 and Spider16 adapter you'll end up with 2 of these DVD replacement wires. Of course you can only connect one on your Xbox motherboard. So you simply connect this to your SmartXX v3 modchip and link the SmartXX v3 5v output to the Spider16 5v input. The extra wire you need for this is included with your modchip.
Once the Spider16 is installed you can simply plug the modchip on the pinheader of the adapter. Make sure you leave the "D0 breakaway" part on the PCB (or solder the D0-jumper if you broke it away already). The adapter needs LFRAME linked with pinheader#4.
As you can see from the close-up pictures above, the spingwires of the adapter go inside the points (called vias). The wires are pretty thick (but just thin enough to fit into the vias) and they are firmly soldered on the adapter, so they will not break easily. Of course, don't try to bend 'em too much because as with any other springwire they might end up breaking.
The SmartXX manuals clearly show in what point each spingwire should fit ... so installation is farily easy. Actually ... springwires are more easy to get working correctly than pogopins. No need to align it like with pogopins what-so-ever ... just place each spingwire in the correct point, connect the 5v plug from modchip and place the chip on the pinheader adapter of the Spider16 and your modchip will boot. In case it doesn't boot ... just make 100% sure each spingwire is in the correct point and push each wire to a (any) side of the point just to make sure it makes good contact (if it's exactly in the middle and doesn't touch any sides it seems more picky). The choice to use spingwires for all points is not only cheaper in production (pogopins are very expensive), it also seems easier to install and cause less issues in general. While I've seen some pogopins solutions that worked really fine ... these are often more sensible to very small details (like if screw is not 100% straight it can place pogopins 1mm off which can cause bad contact). Springwires give more flexibility as they easily bend in the right direction. Downside, if you can call it that, is that it'll only work on Xbox v1.6x. If you want to install your SmartXX solderlessly in an Xbox v1.0-5 you'll need a 3rd party adapter.
SmartXX v3 installed with HeaderPin on Xbox v1.1
There's not much special to say here ... I removed the pin#4, soldered the headerpin in my Xbox, linked the purple wire to D0 on the back. The wire is just long enough to use the back D0 and go through the side of the motherboard altho an extra 1cm would have been nice. You can always put the wire through LPC#13-16 of course (shorter way to backside D0), but I personally prefer to put it via the side of motherboard.
The OS
The SmartXX OS is not really new of course, it's the same OS as on SmartXX v1 and v2. But as there are new builds since our v2 review, here's a new overview of the OS.
The video below shows on overview of the SmartXX OS and SmartXX Web OS:
* Select bios to boot: Here you see a list of all your bios banks, eventually with name if flashed and recognised. Select one of the banks, hit green/A key and your Xbox will boot up with the selected bios. The original bios located on Xbox motherboard can also be booted from this menu. Original and unique (afaik) feature here is that the SmartXX OS will detect if you try to boot an Xbox v1.0-5 bios on a Xbox v1.6x (or the other way around). While theoretically this could work (if video-encoder support is available) the init-table will be wrong which can harm your Xbox. SmartXX will detect if you try to boot a bios with wrong init for your machine and ask if you're sure you want to boot it. One of the videos above (the one where we show the smartxx v3 installed with Spider16) shows this feature.
* Linux: submenu, see below
* Reboot: This will reboot your Xbox console
* Shutdown: This will shutdown your Xbox console.
* Config: submenu, see below
Linux:
This menu allows you to directly boot up linux distros without the need of a hacked MS bios or need to flash the cromwell bios.
* Linux FATX: Boot an Xbox-Linux distro from HD formatted in the FATX filesystem.
* Linux HDA: Boot an Xbox-Linux distro from HD formatted in the HDA filesystem.
* Linux DVD: Boot an Xbox-Linux distro from the DVD drive (live-cds, ...)
* Linux Flash: Boot an Xbox-Linux distro on the modchip flashchip. As far as I know there's only ed-on-chip (mini distro that will run an FTP and Telnet server on your Xbox - so you can access HD/DVD and so from your PC ... easily to install first homebrew dashboard for example, no need to burn it on CD/DVD anymore).
Config:
* HDD-DISK Tool (safety lock - hold L+R keys to reach this menu)
- Clone HDD 1:1: This requires 2 HDs installed in your Xbox (put 2nd/new HD with jumper on slave on the IDE connector of Xbox DVD-drive, for power you'll need a simple splitter like those used in PCs). This feature will do a byte-by-byte copy of your HD to the 2nd/new HD. This is a pretty slow method, but very safe (100% identic copy).
- QuickCopy: This requires 2 HDs installed in your Xbox. Does same as above, less safe (not byte-by-byte, but works with the filesystem to copy by file) but much faster.
- Copy C (OS): This requires 2 HDs installed in your Xbox. This will just copy the files on your C-partition (dashboard and so) to your 2nd/new HD. Also using the 'quickcopy' method.
- Format Menu: Here you can format a new HD in FATX partitions to use with the Xbox. You can format them separately or all at the same time. Drive must be set to slave before you can format.
-- Format All
-- Format C
-- Format E
-- Format F
-- Format Cache + BFR
- Lock Primary HDD: This will lock your HD. The original onboard Xbox bios (that you need to go to unmodded state for Xbox LIVE for example) needs a locked drive to boot. When locking the SmartXX OS will display the unlock key (write that down somewhere so incase your Xbox/EEPROM dies you can still recover your drive).
- Unlock Primary HDD: This will unlock your HD - so you can read/access the HD easily with any Xbox (in modded state) or PC.
* Bios/Bank Config
- Bankmode (Low 2MB) (safety lock - hold L+R keys to reach this menu)
The SmartXX has a 4MB flash, 0.5MB is used by the OS and 3.5MB is available to flash all the bioses you like. The flash is splitted in Low-2MB and Mid-2MB. So the biggest bios you can ever get on it is 2MB, not 3.5MB. But that's largely enough ... normal bioses are just 256KB or 512KB (only 2 exceptions are a beta Xecuter bios with FTP xbe included that takes 1MB and the linux ed-on-chip bios that takes 2MB which will run just fine on the Mid-2MB). On the low-2MB you got 1.5MB left (OS takes 0.5MB) and you can choose between this subdivisions:
-- 6*256, 3*512, 512/512/256/256, 512 + 4*256, 1024/512, 1024/256/256
- Bankmode (Mid 2MB) (safety lock - hold L+R keys to reach this menu)
On the Mid-2MB you got the full 2MB available with these subdivisions:
-- 4*512, 1024/512/512, 512/512/1024, 2*1024, 2048
- Bank Erase
-- You can erase a bios flashed on a specific bank here. You also have an option to erase the config sector: this will erase the config file of the SmartXX OS. All OS settings wil be gone and your SmartXX goes back to factory settings. I'll boot again asif you'll boot it for the first time.
- Flashing menu: Here you can flash each bank of your SmartXX v3 modchip with a bios bin-file from an ISO9660 CD/DVD or Xbox Harddrive. With the "mirror to fit" feature it will automaticly 'fill' (mirror) the bios if you flash it in a bank that's too large (256K bios on a 512K bank for example).
You can also flash your banks via a webbrowser on your PC or using SmartXX's "RemoteFlasher" ... more about this later.
- Bank Names: Here you can give a name to each bank. SmartXX will auto detect most known bioses and auto-name them, but if bios is undetected or you'd like to change it this is the menu you need.
* EEprom Tool
- Video-Mode: Change the video output mode of your Xbox: PAL, NTSC/U, NTSC/J
- Game Region: Here you can change the game region for your Xbox: Europe, USA/CAN or Japan. With a hacked MS bios it will not matter what you chose here, but if booting with the original Xbox bios it'll only boot games matching the region selected here.
- DVD Region: You can reset your DVD region here, you will still need the DVD dongle. If you use a homebrew program to read your DVD movies this settings doesn't matter ... they will play just all regions.
- Display HDD PW: If your HD is locked this is will display the key to manually unlock your HD.
- EEprom diagnostic: This will detect which eeprom version you have and check if it's working OK. If it detects any corruption it's possible the SmartXX OS will be able to repair it - this is a SmartXX exclusive feature as far as I know.
-
backup eeprom on chip: Will put a backup of your eeprom on the SmartXX v3 chip (inside the 0.5MB reserved for the OS). Make sure to make such a backup ... if you ever break your eeprom you'll be able to easily restore it.
- restore eeprom: restore eeprom from the backup you made on the SmartXX v3 chip
* Setting
- Default bios: Here you can chose which bios will be auto-selected when booting SmartXX OS. It will not auto-boot this bios, but it'll be the bios auto-selected in the list so you just have to press the green/A button to boot it.
- Quick Eject bios: This will be the bios that will boot if you boot your Xbox by quick pressing the eject button. The button you press is 'soft detected by the OS' (basicly means it's still SmartXX OS booting first, it'll detect what button you pressed and directly boot the requested bios (goes so fast you will not even see SmartXX OS screen)).
- Quick Power bios: This will be the bios that will boot if you boot your Xbox by quick pressing the power button.
- Quick Boot Modes: eject only, power only, eject+power , none: this will select if you want to use one, both or none of the 2 features above to boot a certain bank by starting the Xbox by quick pressing eject or power.
- Timeout boot: This will auto-boot the bios selected as "Default bios" (see above) after giving secs if no activity (not pressing any buttons) on the SmartXX OS main menu. If set to 0sec it's disabled.
- Shutdown time: Here you can give the amount of secs before actually shutting down the console after you requested a shutdown from the SmartXX OS main menu.
- Languages: By default only english is available. There are langauge packs on the smartxx website. Once added you can select another language for your SmartXX OS here (if you're lost in some strange language you can return to english by pressing both triggers + Y)
- WrapAround: If enabled when you move down on the lowest item in a menu, it will go back to the top of the menu. If disabled it'll just stay on the lowest item when pressing down.
- Clock Correct: If enabled it'll detect if internal clock is reset (which can give problems with some applications and games). If clock reset is detected it'll boot to the MS dashboard so you can fix the clock.
- Video Dimm: If enabled it'll act as a 'screensaver' ... if there's no activity it'll dim the screen after a while.
* Linux
- Linux 128MB: An xbox has 64MB of RAM by default, but on Xbox v1.0-1.5 you can solder an extra 64MB in it. If you did this you'll need to enable this feature so the linux distros you boot via the SmartXX OS Linux menu can use/access the extra memory areas.
- Extended Memory Tester: This is another SmartXX only feature. If you solder an extra 64MB of RAM in your Xbox it requires to solder 4 chips of 16MB ... this feature will check if each 16MB chip is working correctly so you can easily find out if you soldered it correctly and in case of problems you'll know which chip is not working.
- Autoboot: Here you can autoboot your chosen linux boot method (FATX, HDA, DVD or Flash) when entering the Linux menu of your SmartXX OS so you don't have to select it each time.
- Boot time: This is the time SmartXX OS will wait before autobooting linux (see option above) ... if set higher than 0sec it will leave you some time to chose another boot method then your default method.
* Network
- Enable Ethernet: You can enable or disabled the network feaure here.
- DHCP: If your network works with DHCP enabled this option and your smartxx will get IP/Subnet/gateway automatically, else fill them in manually with the options below. My network normally works fine with DHCP ... but I did not manage to get it working with my SmartXX. I'm no real network expert, all I know is all homebrew software, windows pcs, linux pcs, xbox 360s ... they all work fine with DHCP on my network, but the SmartXX doesn't get an IP. Nothing really to worry about tho, I set it manually and it works just fine.
Last minute update: we contacted SmartXX about this specific problem and we'll try to give them all the details they need to fix this problems. They can't reproduce this issue because it's not a general DHCP problem, it seems to be working for most people.
- IP Address: If you want to set network settings manually, fill in IP here.
- Subnet: If you want to set network settings manually, fill in subnet here.
- Gateway: If you want to set network settings manually, fill in gateway here.
* X-LCD
- X-LCD: Enable or disable the LCD screen (connected to an XLCD, with the special display cable (sold separately) or via smartxx solder pads doesn't matter).
- Quickboot: Here you can set if your LCD screen should be enabled or not when booting with a quickboot method (that's the method to directly boot a chosen bios by quick pressing power or eject button to power your Xbox... see info in "Setting" menu above).
- CustomText: If enabled it'll show custom text on the first line of your LCD screen when you're in the SmartXX OS.
- Custom: Here you can set the custom text it should display on first line.
- X-LCD Blacklight: Change the blacklight setting of your LCD screen.
- X-LCD Contrast: Change the contrast of your LCD screen.
- LinesCharacters: Here you can set the amount of characters your LCD screen can display on 1 line.
- Line1 Start: Where line1 starts (usually 0).
- Line2 Start: Where line2 starts (SmartXX OS uses max 2 lines, but other applications can can use more lines if available. XBMC for example uses the 4 lines of the XLCD)
SmartXX Web Interface
If your Xbox is network connected with your PC and you enabled network support in the SmartXX OS you will be able to access the SmartXX web interface via the web browser on your PC by simply surfing to the IP of your Xbox on your local network.
Via the Web Interface you can:
* Flash Bios: Here you can flash each bank of your SmartXX modchip with a file located on your PC harddrive. Bios file will be uploaded to Xbox and flashed to flash. Useful, certainly for the first bios you flash ... no need to burn the bios on a CD/DVD anymore, just put a network connection between your Xbox and your PC and flash it via this web interface with the bioses you have on your PC HD.
* Direct Boot: Here you select with what bios bank your Xbox should boot, the original onboard bios is also available.
* Xbox Infos: This will display some info about your Xbox console and modchip: smartxx OS build, network info (ip, mask, gateway, mac), type of video encoder, video cable used, MCPX version, SMC version. You can also download this info yo your PC in a simple txt file.
* EEprom: Will display the hex output of the content on your EEprom chip and the EEprom backups flashed on your chip. You can also download the EEprom (and flash backups) to your PC here.
* Coffee Cooker: This is something else that's SmartXX-only feature as far as I know, but sadly it's very hard to find good english info about it. It's been there ever since SmartXX v1 and on this v3 the coffee cooker points are on J2 (genreal I/O port) and and the 4 non-used pins of J1 (XLCD port - if you use the smartxx special display cable the 4 pins in the XLCD connector used by the coffee cooker are available on a separated connector not used by the LCD screen).
What the 'coffee cooker' allows you to do is basicly enable and disable pretty much anything from the web interface. You can for example connect LEDs to the points and via the coffee cooker menu on the smartxx web interface you can put these LEDs on and off. But you can of course also connect something much more complex than simple LEDs. I hope a detailed english manual will be made available soon to explains all details about the 'coffee cooker' as it's an original feature (certainly for the case modders out there) and currently under-used feature.
* Shutdown: press this link will shut down your Xbox.
Positives::
+ Built quality is top-notch, like we're used to see from SmartXX
+ Very stable chip and OS
+ XLCD compatible with software contrast/blacklight software control, and old SmartXX LCD output also still available
+ Legal OS with some unique features
+ Chip and pre-flashed OS works fine on any Xbox version
+ Huge 4Mbytes flashchip
+ IR-sender: original feature, but not in-use yet.
+ Case-mod and Expert friendly - lots of freedom into installing the feature you want the way you want them.
+ Very complete package: required wires, headerpin, IR-sender ... but also a case-sticker, Xebian pressed install disc and USB-adapter.
+ Team SmartXX is still working on new and improved versions of their OS.
Neutrals/Comments::
* Price ... it's not the cheapest chip out there. But you pay for what you get, quality is never cheap. Last Minute update: we heard the retail price would drop to around 40eur ... that would be a really nice price of a chip like this.
Negatives::
- All the optional features, solderpads, plugs, solderjumpers and break-away parts might confuse beginners.
- Fans of the quicksolder method for Xbox v1.0-v1.5 will be disappointed to see their install method removed.
- DHCP issues in SmartXX OS (they are working on fixing this atm)
