How Does a PC Work?
An xbox is basically a personal computer (a PC). It shares many characteristics and functionalities with a personal computer. The PC you are using to read this guide more likely consist of the following:
1. A motherboard (also called a mainboard) which is a printed circuit board has all the paths to connect all the components
2. A central processing unit (a CPU or just a processor) which does all the ?brain work.?
3. Main memory (also called RAM or memory) the CPU?s working space, like a person?s desk. Bigger the desk (Ram) the more files you can hold / process.
4. A hard disk drive (an HDD, or just a hard drive or disk) the storage area, like a person?s filing cabinet.
5. A display adapter (also called a video card or a graphics card) which creates the display you see on your monitor.
6. A network interface card (a NIC or a network card) which interacts with a network of other computers.
7. A sound card which creates the sounds you hear from your speakers.
8. A CD-ROM drive or a DVD-ROM (read only memory) which allows you to load large amounts of data.
9. Other input/output (I/O) devices such as a keyboard, a mouse, speakers, and a monitor which allow human interaction.
If you have a modem that you use to connect to the Internet over a phone-line (not DSL), then you probably have a 56k modem in place of a NIC. And if you have a CD/DVD burner then you probably know what that does.
To load something generally means to bring something from the HDD, the network, or the CD/DVD-ROM to the main memory so the CPU can work with it.
That?s just the hardware. Your PC probably also has a lot of software, the most important being the operating system (the OS). Most of you are probably using Windows, although there are alternatives such as Linux, Lindows, etc..etc.. The OS takes care of just about everything. It decides how to manage the memory, how to format and maintain the hard drive, how to manage all the other devices listed above, and the list goes on. The main idea is that nothing of interest can happen without an operating system, such as loading and executing programs. So how does the computer know what to do before the operating system is loaded? After all, the OS is a program! How can it be loaded to memory if there?s nothing to manage the devices involved? That is where the BIOS comes in.
A BIOS is a Basic Input/Output System. It is a very small amount of software basically designed to tell your computer how to load the OS. This is a very simplistic view. The term CMOS might come to mind for some of you. The BIOS is sometimes referred to as the CMOS because of the type of chip it is sometimes stored on, but let?s just stick with the term BIOS.
When you boot your computer (interestingly, this term comes from the idea of the computer picking itself up by it?s bootstraps), the first thing that happens is it tests itself at a low level. It checks that the memory is okay, everything is powered, the disks are connected, the keyboard is connected, etc. This is called a Power On Self Test (POST). If any part of this test fails, you will usually get a beeping signal from the crappy little speaker in the computer case indicating that something is wrong. The system will then halt until you remedy the problem. This will probably happen to you on your xbox at some point if you do not configure it correctly. If it passes the POST, it looks to the BIOS to figure out what to do. Once the BIOS tells it how to load the OS, it does that, and bada-bing bang-boom you?re in Windows. Usually when you press the <del> key during the POST, you can change some of the BIOS settings (processor speed is a popular one, referred to as overclocking, which is a different subject altogether).
The BIOS is stored on a non-volatile chip, which means when you turn off your computer, the data is still there. It is a ROM (read only memory), which means it can?t be changed. But these days ROM is sort of a misnomer, because it can be changed. That is what flashing refers to. To flash the BIOS means to overwrite the current data on the chip with other data. This is what we?re Backup-Source members are most interested in!
How Does an XBOX Work?
So how does this all relate to your XBox? Well, like I saimd, your XBox is very much like a personal computer. It has a processor, a DVD-ROM drive, a display adapter, a sound adapter, a hard disk drive, and most importantly a BIOS. Not bad for $200, eh? When you turn on your XBox, it does its own little POST, goes to the BIOS, plays that flubber animation thing, and looks to the DVD-ROM for an authentic XBox game or a DVD movie. If it does find one of those things, it will boot up the game; or, if it?s a DVD movie, it will play it (if you have Microsoft?s little DVD playback kit installed, which is a dongle that connects to one of the controller ports that unlocks the DVD-ROM drive). If it doesn?t find either of these (it?s very picky), then it boots up it?s own little OS referred to as the dashboard. This is that green screen with the three menu options like ?Settings?, ?Music?, and ?Memory,? or something like that. We want to replace the BIOS so it?s not so picky about what it will execute.
Replacing the BIOS
(The Infamous ?MODCHIP?) It's used in front of? the original BIOS chip, so to speak, That when the computer goes to look for the BIOS, it is fooled into looking at our replacement modchip, which has a BIOS on it. Once the BIOS is replaced, you have begun to unleash the xbox?s potential. At this point you can play games that are not authentic, boot from other media (although most xboxes seem to be very picky about CD-Rs), run unsigned programs, etc?
