2. Installation

XBlast Lite is compatible with all retail Xbox revisions. However, the installation procedure varies slightly depending on which revision it will be installed.

2.1 Tools and equipment required

• Torx 20 screwdriver(for Xbox disassembly)

• Torx 10 screwdriver(for Xbox disassembly)

• Long nose pliers

• 15W soldering iron

• small gauge electrical wire (preferably 30AWG)

• XBlast Lite modchip and supplied male pin header.

If you need explanation on how to solder click here

2.2 Common procedure

2.2.1 Disassemble the Xbox

The first step is to extract the motherboard from the Xbox console.

Opening the Xbox console and removing the motherboard is not explained in this manual. There are numerous tutorials available on the Internet that explains how to do this. You can follow the one on ifixit.com up to the point the motherboard is removed from the case: https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Xbox+Teardown/1308

2.2.2 Preparing the male pinheader.

The supplied 2x6 male pin header comes with an extra metal pin. You need to remove the extra pin with your long nose pliers to make the male pin header fit in the LPC port on the Xbox motherboard. Please take note of the orientation of the pin header as the length of the metal pins are not equal on both sides of the plastic seating of the pin header.

2.2.3 Soldering the male pin header to the motherboard.

(Note that most 1.0/1.1 motherboards have the LPC port holes already filled with solder. You should remove the solder using a solder pump before any of the following instructions)

Place the male pin header into the LPC port on the Xbox motherboard from the top side so that the plastic seating is on the top side too. The longest part of the pin header's pin should be on the topside too. The 4 holes closer to the rear of the motherboard should not be covered by the pin header. Use any form of temporary adhesive (electrical tape, etc.) to secure it in place as you will need to flip the motherboard to the bottom side to solder the pin header. Once you have flipped over the motherboard, make sure the pin header is still properly seated in place(all pins perfectly perpendicular to the motherboard); you should also make sure that all the pins of the header are equally sticking out from the LPC port holes on the bottom of the motherboard.

Solder the pin header with your soldering iron. You should put just enough solder onto each pin so that it forms a concave cone around each pin of the LPC port.

For the rest of the installation please refer to the appropriate installation section depending on your Xbox motherboard revision. If you do not know your Xbox revision, there are numerous tutorials on the Internet that will guide you through the process of identification. One of them is located here: http://www.xbox-scene.com/versions_0.php

For 1.0/1.1 installation, please see section 2.3.

For 1.2 to 1.4 installation, please see section 2.4

For 1.5 installation, please see section 2.5

For 1.6/1.6b installation, please see section 2.6

2.3 1.0/1.1 installation [section 2.3.]

The rest of the installation procedure requires soldering wires to solder points on the bottom side of the motherboard. There are up to 3 points to solder to; only 1 is mandatory: D0 point. Here are the locations of the 3 points you can solder on the bottom side of the motherboard. They are located near the LPC port, toward the center of the motherboard.

The D0 point is mandatory and must be soldered and connected to the XBlast Lite's D0 labeled solder pad in order to enable it.

The A15 point is optional and should be soldered and connected to the XBlast Lite's A15 labeled solder pad. Its purpose is to enable TSOP recovery feature of the XBlast Lite. The TSOP recovery is explained in detail in the Extra features section of this manual.

The A19 point is optional and should be soldered and connected to the XBlast Lite's A19 labeled solder pad. Its purpose is to enable splitting of the 1.0/1.1 1MB TSOP in half and control it via software. The TSOP splitting feature is explained in detail in the Extra features section of this manual.

To ease soldering wires to these points, you should pre tin the via(s) on the motherboards as well as the stripped end of the wire(s) with just a little bit of solder. Take care in removing just enough insulation of your wire, 1mm should be enough. Once done, just solder the wire onto the via by placing the wire's end on top of the via and heating the tinned via and wire at the same time.

TIP: If you plan on flashing your on board TSOP, you should solder the write-enable points of the TSOP. More info in the Extra features section of this manual.

For the rest of the installation. Please go to [section 2.7][#section 2.7] Installation finalization.

2.4 1.2-1.4 installation

The rest of the installation procedure requires to solder wires to solder points on the bottom side of the motherboard. There are up to 2 points to solder to; only 1 is mandatory: D0 point. Here are the locations of the 2 points you can solder on the bottom side of the motherboard. They are located near the LPC port, toward the center of the motherboard.

D0 point is mandatory and must be soldered and connected to the XBlast Lite's D0 labeled solder pad in order to enable it.

A15 point is optional and should be soldered and connected to the XBlast Lite's A15 labeled solder pad. Its purpose is to enable TSOP recovery feature of the XBlast Lite. TSOP recovery is explained in detail in the Extra features section of this manual.

To ease soldering wires to these points, you should pre tin the via(s) on the motherboards as well as the stripped end of the wire(s) with just a little bit of solder. Take care in removing just enough insulation of your wire, 1mm should be enough. Once done, just solder the wire onto the via by placing the wire's end on top of the via and heating the tinned via and wire at the same time.

TIP: If you plan on flashing your on board TSOP, you should solder the write-enable points of the TSOP. More info in the Extra features section of this manual.

For the rest of the installation. Please go to [section 2.7][#section 2.7] Installation finalization.

2.5 1.5 installation

1.5 Xbox motherboards requires you to "fix" the LPC port. In fact, the LPC port of 1.5 motherboards lack the necessary ground and +3.3V signals applied to the appropriate pin. In order to restore these 2 points on the LPC port, please check the picture below.

The rest of the installation procedure is the same as 1.2-1.4 installation procedure.

Please go to [section 2.4][#section 2.4] of this manual and continue reading the instructions from there.

2.6 1.6/1.6b installation

1.6/1.6b Xbox have a severely crippled LPC port. There are numerous signals missing. In order to properly install the XBlast Lite modchip, you must "rebuild" your LPC port. Please check the diagram below to identify the connections between the solder points on the motherboard and LPC port holes.

Tip: Rebuild the LPC port after installing the pin header. Also pre-tin the solder points for ease of soldering.

The rest of the installation procedure requires soldering a wire to a solder point on the bottom side of the motherboard. There is only 1 point to solder on 1.6/1.6b: LFRAME. The location of LFRAME signal on the motherboard is identified in the picture above.

LFRAME point is mandatory and must be soldered and connected to the XBlast Lite's L1 labeled solder pad in order to enable it.

For ease of soldering wires to these points, you should pre tin the via(s) on the motherboards as well as the stripped end of the wire(s) with just a little bit of solder. Take care in removing just enough insulation of your wire, 1mm should be enough. Once done, just solder the wire onto the via by placing the wire's end on top of the via and heating the tinned via and wire at the same time.

For the rest of the installation. Please go to [section 2.7][#section 2.7] Installation finalization.

2.7 Installation finalization

Once all the wires are firmly soldered to the vias, pass them through the unused LPC port holes, (if the wires aren't too big), or bring them to the top side by running them to the motherboard's side edge. Make sure all the wires are long enough to reach their designated solder pad on the XBlast Lite. Also make sure no wire runs across a screw hole. For optimal performance, adjust length of the wires so it will reach the XBlast solder pads with little slack. Too long a wires could produce unexpected behavior and/or boot failure!

Insert the modchip onto the male pin header on the LPC port. When inserting the XBlast Lite, make sure the larger part of the XBlast Lite is toward the Xbox motherboard side edge(using the LPC port as a reference point). Check that the modchip is properly aligned with the male pin header on the LPC port. Solder all the wires to the appropriate solder pads on the XBlast lite.

Put the motherboard back into the Xbox case and connect all the necessary cables.

Tip: Before completely reassembling the console, you should do a power ON test to see if the xbox boots with XBlast installed .

Reassemble your Xbox.

See the XBlast OS manual for more information on usage.