Smart XX v2 -Review-

By Brakken, July 2005
SmartXX v2 Specs

XBOX v1.0 - v1.6 Support
4 Megabytes of BIOS Space
Pin Header, Solder and No-Solder Install
Windows Based Transfer Tool
Disc and Network Flashable
FTP / TELNET Support
Linux Support

Contents of the Package

SmartXX v2 Chip
v1.6 LPC Bus Rebuild Module
USB -> XBOX Adapter
Utilities / Linux Disc
Wire
Sticker

Installation

I've installed quiet a few XBOX chips in my day so was skeptical about trying a new brand, but the skepticism was unneeded as this chip worked out quiet well. After examining the design I came to admire the quality of the chip itself. So I set off to install it.

As a practice before installing any new mods I jump on the web and read the official installation instructions, search forums and make sure I get enough information to feel confident in my ability to successfully fit the chip.

The package itself included most of the documentation I came across on the Utility Disc, but I also managed to come across some really good guides including the v1.6 Rebuild Manual, Flashing your BIOS blind and the Post Install Instructions which two were very useful in the installation process.

Grabbing my torx 10 and 20 bits I disassembled the console, located and LPC bus and soldered the pinhead onto it. I chose to go with a soldered solution as I've found most non-solder solutions come lose over time which may result in damage to your chip and/or console.

Next was the fun part as I started to install the LPC rebuild as I had a v1.6 XBOX to work with. Not only was it a v1.6, but it was the newer so called "v1.6d / v1.7" which the only different is that the soldering points have been covered with a thin layer of some sort of transparent substance which had to be removed in order to get a connection.

I found an exacto knife and gently scraped of the substance making sure not to scrape off the solder point with it as if I did I would have to put the point back onto the board which is a whole other story by itself. Luckily I was successful in my attempt so I moved on to solder on the LPC rebuild.

As with most small points like this I took some flux, put it on the point and on the corresponding LPC rebuild point, applied a small amount of solder to the end of my iron and held the iron on both points until they heated up and the solder attached to both of them. Piece of cake!

Next I soldered the included wire from the D0 point on the LPC rebuild to the D0 point on the chip then went to test the unit. To test the SmartXX v2 all I had to do was hook up all of the power cables except the ones running to the drives and turn the XBOX on of course making sure not to touch the power assembly in the process.

Once you do this if the LED's on the chip flash from red to blue repeatedly then the chip has been installed correct which it was so I turned it off and then put the XBOX completely back together.

Movie - Flashing Lights

BIOS Features and Comments

Luckily the SmartXX v2 sample I received from eXtreme Mods came Preflashed with a v1.6 compatible BIOS otherwise I would have had to flash the chip using the blind install guide.

The first thing I did was configure the network via the onscreen prompts to grab it's connection via DHCP then after restarting the machine I flashed it via HTTP (just type in the IP of the XBOX) using the Official 3345 BIOS which I found on SmartXX's Homepage. Following that I unlocked my hard drive so that if I remove it that it could be used in another device. Glad to say everything went smoothly.

Next I flashed the chip with EvolutionX's M8 BIOS making sure to use the v1.6 version and also flashed it with the X2 5035 BIOS (x2_5035_v16plus_512k.bin). As far as I know these are the only two BIOS available that will let you boot unassigned code (homebrew, backups, dashboards, emulators, media players, etc).

Now following the post install guide instructions I set the BIOS bank mode into "high" with one 2 megabyte slot and flashed it with the ED on Chip utility which is basically a small Linux kernel with built in FTP/TELNET. I then FTP'd into my XBOX and backed up the main hard drive so just incase something went wrong I could fix it later.

Next I copied over the Avalaunch Dashboard, XBOX Media Center (XBMC), a bunch of emulators, applications and a couple of games I owned. After spending much time configuring all of these by editing their INI files according to their included documentation I had a perfectly working modded XBOX.

I tested all of the things I installed and they worked flawlessly with no errors at all including booting backups from the hard drive and from DVDR.

Following this the last thing I tested was the Linux distribution the SmartXX's v2 Utility Disc came included with. All I had to do to boot it was pick the Linux option from the SmartXX BIOS and plop in the disc. It then asked if I wanted to install it, boot an install from HDD or boot it from the disc. I decided to boot it from the disc and the 10 gigabyte HDD the XBOX comes with was about full.

After waiting a little while Linux loaded and thankfully using the included USB adapter I was able to control the Linux distro using a keyboard. The distro is based on Debian and comes with many pre-installed applications including a GUI, web browser, text editor and for forth.

I took a little bit of time and browsed the web, edited a documented then printed it, played a couple of basic games and then drew a simple picture. Due to the fact that I was running it from the disc it was a bit slow, but when I installed it on my other XBOX it ran pretty fast.

Conclusion

Due to the quality of the hardware, the ease of installation, the included software, the amount of support you can find on SmartXX's homepage and the functionality I am very pleased with this product and would say it's up on my list of the top rated XBOX chips on the market today and I will make sure to recommend it in the future to potential clientele.

Links

www.xbins.org
- Everything you'll ever need to know about XBOX modding!

www.smartxx.com
- Official Homepage for the SmartXX v2 line of modchips!

ISO-420 Review
- SmartXX xLCD Addon Review

-=[SmartXX v2 Review Discussion Thread]=-

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