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Has anyone Converted an Original Xbox to a Chihiro?

I have seen that auction. It was basically just a retail xbox with upgraded ram. Some chihiro games run (partially) on such a unit but there are issues. it's for instance not possible to calibrate your gun in shooting games as the calibration values are saved on the baseboard which doesn't exist. The development of the launcher that allows the gpu to use all 128MB ram can be followed on the assemblergames forum. JayRayFox (who also was involved in creating xqemu together with espes) created that launcher and also created some tools to extract a chihiro bin into it's components (files)
 
Can you post those links here? Maybe some of our members want to have a look and continue that work.
 
There's some known hacks of Xbox (upgrade double RAM and CPU to P3 1.2GHz), with modified Chihiro games. It works, but not perfectly.
VC3 is the most important, because there's no port and you need arcade guns with sensors.
But for us, arcade lovers, I think there's no interest. I've tested it. But I've a VC3 cabinet (and a Ghost squad, too), so no need of this... If you want to play VC, by a Sega IR cabinet, a Chihiro motherboard and a GD game or CF/Netboot it.
 
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obcd said:
I also think most value would come from using a standard 128MB modified retail mobo in a chihiro case together with the other chihiro boards.
A dedicated racing cabinet like outrun 2 has steering force feedback that makes it more fun to play.
If a chihiro mobo breaks, the only current solutions are buying a coplete unit for 400 quid or looking for a debug unit which is expensive as well. A second hand xbox sells for 50 and the additional ram costs maybe 10. Fact is, they do break, usually due to an overheating cpu which is hard to repair.
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This is the exact situation I'm in... Got a Type 3 Chihiro with a Toasted GPU, I'm learning that this happens often. So far it looks like the only realistic option is: just buy another one, because even an Xbox Dev kit is about the same price as another Chihiro.

It would be nice to be able to salvage broken Chihiros from inexpensive Xbox parts.
 
twistedsymphony said:
Toasted GPU
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I wonder why they wouldn't have built in a thermal shutdown in the event of gpu fan failure. Maybe they were projected to last so many years and then failure didn't matter? We're probably pushing them beyond their expected operational life at this point.
 
winteriscoming said:
I wonder why they wouldn't have built in a thermal shutdown in the event of gpu fan failure. Maybe they were projected to last so many years and then failure didn't matter?
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This typically happens when the GPU fan fails. I know on several Xbox consoles where I've had that fan fail the GPU didn't cook. Temp information is available as you can view the temps in many of the homebrew dashboards so the hardware is in place. Perhaps this issue was resolved for retail units but not in the Dev units that the Chihiro is based on? Or Perhaps this protection is a function that was added with the hacked bios images? I don't know.

Also, after Rev 1.0 all of the Xbox consoles replaced the fan cooled GPU with a larger, fan-less heat sync. This is obviously going to be more robust since there is no fan to fail. Interestingly the Chihiro Mobo seems to be based on the Rev 1.2 or 1.3 Xbox mobo so it's surprising that they used the older 1.0 fan design.

i haven't test fit one but it's possible there are clearance issues with the Chihiro daughterboard since it sits above the GPU, it looks like the larger heatsync should fit but I haven't tried. If it does fit it might be worth upgrading your heatsync to prevent future failures.
 
I just check my older Xbox mobos compared to the Chihiro. I'm not sure what revision number they are, but probably the first production version. I compared it to the Chihiro to see what would need to happen to physically plug in the Chihiro boards. A header would need to be installed at C7D1 and the power connector is different. Chihiro has a 2 row ATX connector while the Xbox has a single row connector.

Assuming a hacked bios, more RAM installed, etc, there would be a little more work involved in getting the Xbox motherboard ready to accept the connectors for the other Chihiro boards.
 
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You have chihiro boards with the single row power connector and others with the dual row atx style connector. All you need is a different power cable between the base board and the main board to solve that issue. The header at C7D1 is the LPC connector that is used to install modchips. If you are capable of installing the additional ram chips, that header shouldn't be much of an issue either.

It's the hacked bios that is the difficult missing part.
 
Dev Xbox already have a LPC connector if I remember well, on top of the good MCPX chip and 128Mo of RAM.
RAM can be double on 1.0 to 1.5 retail Xbox (not on 1.6).

But, if you want to repair a dead Chihiro motherboard with a retail Xbox, you can source MCPX and RAM (and C7D1 connector) from your dead Chihiro. So, "just" some soldering and flash ?
 
Gakman said:
if you want to repair a dead Chihiro motherboard with a retail Xbox, you can source MCPX and RAM (and C7D1 connector) from your dead Chihiro. So, "just" some soldering and flash ?
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MCPX is a BGA chip so that puts it out of reach for 99% of people who normally do board repairs.

it seems to me if the GPU is cooked replacing 1 BGA chip (the GPU) to revive the Chihiro is going to be easier than replacing 1 BGA chip (the MCPX) and 4 large surface mount chips (the RAM) to convert a retail box.

if it could be done with JUST the RAM that would preclude the need for BGA equipment, but if you need to replace the MCPX then you might as well just use it to replace the GPU on the original Chihiro board.
 
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