Xbox Original 1.6 died while running then would not boot no lights no fan no nothing

[triplefour]

i have a soft modded xbox 1.6 that suddenly died on me while it was up and running, i was just about to ftp some files to it, and it just shut off. i tried to turn it back on and nothing happened. i have another working 1.6 so i used that to verify cables are all working properly. then i took both apart and swapped power supplies to verify that both PSU's are fine. i even swapped motherboards, thinking maybe if the switch was bad, but both cases/switches are fine. its definitely something on the motherboard, keeping it from booting up. i read everywhere that the 1.6 needs the clock capacitor to be there to work, and i did notice that the cap was bulging on the dead motherboard. so i swap the clock capacitor from the working motherboard to the dead one.

NOW, i get the xbox trying to start up, but failing.
it goes like this:

press power -> green light and fan come on for about one second -> system shuts down. this repeats:
-> green light and fan come on for about one second -> system shuts down
then:
-> green light and fan come on. light stays green for about 1 second, then green light switches to flashing green and red infinitely.

the console stays on blinking like this just fine, but no video is displayed.
i have tested the other 1.6 and it doesnt need anything plugged into the motherboard besides power and the switch, to at least display something (an error code) on the screen
even though, i tested it with everything plugged in (dvd, hd, controllers) and it still does the same thing.

i cant see any other damaged components on the motherboard, and none of the caps looked bulged.

what can i do next to chase down the offending component and replace it?
would a suddenly failed clock capacitor shut down my system and fry some other component like that? or is it more likely that some other component failed first, causing the failure of the clock capacitor?

does anyone here still care about xbox original?
its an awesome retro console, great for running emulators and xbox original games. its worth keeping alive in my opinion.

[triplefour]

Re: Xbox Original 1.6 died while running then would not boot no lights no fan no noth

forgot to mention that i replaced the cap in the good board with a 2200uf 6.3v cap i had laying around and it works fine...i read stj say that in one of the other posts that you could use any cap really for the clock cap.

[sam_sam_sam]

Re: Xbox Original 1.6 died while running then would not boot no lights no fan no noth

You need to recap the mother board and would not hurt to recap the power supply and see that fix the problem you are having

I would use (KY) , (KZE) or any cap having a low ESR value

I hope this helps

[Dan81]

Re: Xbox Original 1.6 died while running then would not boot no lights no fan no noth

forgot to mention that i replaced the cap in the good board with a 2200uf 6.3v cap i had laying around and it works fine...i read stj say that in one of the other posts that you could use any cap really for the clock cap.

You'd have better results with a 3F 2.5v. Far more capacity to store the time.

But just as sam_sam_sam said, replace the CPU caps as well, ESPECIALLY if they're Nichicon HM/HN. I had bad HM and HNs without visibly bulging. (just like some UCC KZG and Toshin Kogyo ATWY series)

[Wester547]

Re: Xbox Original 1.6 died while running then would not boot no lights no fan no noth

i have a soft modded xbox 1.6 that suddenly died on me while it was up and running, i was just about to ftp some files to it, and it just shut off. i tried to turn it back on and nothing happened. i have another working 1.6 so i used that to verify cables are all working properly. then i took both apart and swapped power supplies to verify that both PSU's are fine. i even swapped motherboards, thinking maybe if the switch was bad, but both cases/switches are fine. its definitely something on the motherboard, keeping it from booting up. i read everywhere that the 1.6 needs the clock capacitor to be there to work, and i did notice that the cap was bulging on the dead motherboard. so i swap the clock capacitor from the working motherboard to the dead one.

Yeah, occasionally, the 1F 2.5V Nichicon UC double-layer capacitor is known to bulge. At least it doesn't leak its contents onto the traces 99% of the time like the truly crappy 1F 2.5V Aerogel Powerstor B series "super" capacitor, resulting in catastrophic failure and turning the console into a fire hazard as the traces are destroyed by the highly acidic, leaked electrolyte.

what can i do next to chase down the offending component and replace it?
would a suddenly failed clock capacitor shut down my system and fry some other component like that? or is it more likely that some other component failed first, causing the failure of the clock capacitor?

Well, this could *possibly* be your issue (a bad FET): https://youtube.com/watch?v=deSa6-yeY1I

Seems to be a common issue with version 1.6 and motherboards that refuse to power on for more than a second can certainly be "plagued" by such an issue. The original Xbox motherboards had another issue where the traces going to the LEDs, eject button, and power-on button were either damaged by either the plastic stand-offs on the underside or too much residue and flux from the factory (hard to tell which because the plastic stand-offs seem to be too close to the PCB's underside for comfort), slowly eating away at the solder mask and traces, resulting in corrosion and oxidation.

does anyone here still care about xbox original?
its an awesome retro console, great for running emulators and xbox original games. its worth keeping alive in my opinion.

I completely agree with you. And yes, I do.

Certainly, the original Xbox had its fair share of "issues", but because it uses wirebond rather than flip-chip BGA technology (for the GPU/Northbridge and MCPX chipset, the CPU does use flip-chip BGA technology but it's an Intel CPU and Intel seem to know what they're doing with their choice of underfill and solder bumps, much moreso than NVIDIA) and because it's mostly pre-RoHS, it's much more feasible to repair the first Xbox than any Xbox that came after. That said, the MCPX chipset has no heatsink and does run pretty hot, and it's still BGA, so there is a *slight* chance it may be the issue (but hopefully not - if worse comes to worse, you can install a heatsink on the MCPX chipset and see if that helps, if it's only overheating and isn't too far gone).

And yes, it would help to know what the CPU VRM input and output capacitors are on this motherboard. Version 1.6 uses five 3300uF 6.3V 10x25mm diameter capacitors here, either Nichicon HM (2004-2005 datecodes), Sanyo (Suncon) WG, or Rubycon MBZ, all interchangeably. I've yet to see a WG or MBZ fail in this position on these consoles, but there have been many instances of the bad datecode HMs failing on these boards (and 1.2-1.5 boards as well, but that's for another topic), as you can imagine. As Dan81 said, bulging or not, if that's what's there, it's best to replace them and see if that cures your issue.

[triplefour]

Re: Xbox Original 1.6 died while running then would not boot no lights no fan no noth

thanks for the reply. yeah they're nichicon HM. so i guess replace those 5 and pray? will let u know. where should i buy them? here?

[triplefour]

Re: Xbox Original 1.6 died while running then would not boot no lights no fan no noth

oh yeah and i checked that transistor in the youtube clip and i was getting the normal voltage there so it should be fine

[Wester547]

Re: Xbox Original 1.6 died while running then would not boot no lights no fan no noth

The issue could be unrelated then. Hope the tracks on the underside aren't damaged.

https://www.badcaps.net/store/produc...products_id=30

Those should be suitable replacements for the Nichicon HM. You can buy them either here (by way of the above link) or from an authorized distributor such as Digikey or Mouser. But the replacements above are the closest match height and width wise and are a slight improvement upon the original capacitors with respect to the ripple and ESR rating.

[triplefour]

Re: Xbox Original 1.6 died while running then would not boot no lights no fan no noth

thanks i ordered 5 from here. crossing my fingers!

[triplefour]

Re: Xbox Original 1.6 died while running then would not boot no lights no fan no noth

well the caps came in today and i did the job, but it didnt change the symptoms at all. still tries to boot up, shuts down, loop, on the 3rd try it stays on and flashes green and red...
what else can i look for?

[stj]

Re: Xbox Original 1.6 died while running then would not boot no lights no fan no noth

corrupt bios or a corrupt or badly fitted mod chip will do that.

[triplefour]

Re: Xbox Original 1.6 died while running then would not boot no lights no fan no noth

well i dont have a modchip... and if the bios is corrupted how can i fix that? it's soft modded...

[stj]

Re: Xbox Original 1.6 died while running then would not boot no lights no fan no noth

if that is the problem, fit a cheap modchip like this:
http://www.eurasia.nu/shop/product_i...roducts_id=266

[triplefour]

Re: Xbox Original 1.6 died while running then would not boot no lights no fan no noth

is there any way to tell if thats what it is before throwing more money at it?
12 bux is pretty cheap tho. if it didnt work i could just install it into another xbox?

[stj]

Re: Xbox Original 1.6 died while running then would not boot no lights no fan no noth

afaik the leds and related stuff are controlled by a microcontroller.
originally a PIC, and then a custom (or atleast it has a custom part number)

it probably just means the main cpu is not running as it should.
it could be something as simple as a small cap used to start the system.

i have a 1.1 doing the same thing i need to look at.
btw, on the 1.6 you can replace the supercap with a 220uf 16v cap.
on older boards you dont need anything there at all.