Hacking the Xbox

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252 Hacking the Xbox: An Introduction to Reverse Engineering the system is drawing, and touch all the components to see if any are getting excessively hot. If a component has gone into latch-up, you will typically observe excess current consumption on the order of hundreds of milliamps. 9. Thermal problem. This is a problem primarily with linear voltage regulators and high power digital circuitry. Verify that all high power components are properly heat sinked, and that the heat sinks are properly isolated when they contact an electrically active part of the chip package. 10. Unintentional short to bare copper. This is a problem with connectors and chips that have exposed regions of metal on their undersides that can short across exposed regions of the board, such as vias. This is also a problem around areas where screws are used to hold a board in place. The head of a metal screw can inadvertently come in contact with a via that has been placed too close to the screw hole. 11. Contamination of the board. This problem is caused by solder flux residue or other process residue on the board causing low-current leakage paths. Some flux residues have a non-negligible (less than one mega-ohm) resistance and this can cause problems with high-impedance circuits, such as slow time constant R-C networks. 12. Faulty test equipment. This is especially a problem if you use second-hand or old test equipment. Test probes develop kinks and calibration faults over time, so sometimes the crummy signal you are seeing on the oscilloscope is actually a result of a bad test probe or a poor choice of probe ground. Calibrate your test equipment to a known good signal to eliminate test equipment problems. 13. The least likely problem is a bad chip or a faulty component. Component manufacturers go to great lengths to ensure that the parts shipped to you are functional. Typical failure rates are measured in the single-digit parts per million for simple to moderately complex parts. Frequently, we like to imagine that the cause of our problem is a bad chip from the manufacturer, but that is almost never the case. Usually, if a bad part is found, the part was damaged either by a processing problem (rough handling or assembly issues) or a design problem elsewhere in the circuit that induces the observed failure. Recovering from a Lifted Trace or Pad The lifting or tearing of the copper traces on a circuit board is a common problem encountered by people trying to install after-market modifications using flying wires. This delamination of the copper foil traces is usually caused by excessive heat from the soldering iron. Another common cause is pulling on the attached modification wire, as one might do while stripping
Appendix E - Debugging: Hints and Tips 253 the insulation off the end of a wire, after it has been soldered to the circuit board. Fortunately, it is usually fairly easy to recover from this problem. Tip The best solution is prevention. Do not use an over-powered soldering iron for working on circuit boards. A temperature-controlled iron is preferred, but an inexpensive low-wattage (15 watts) iron will also work. Also, if the solder does not seem to be sticking to the board, stop applying heat. Instead, put a touch of flux on the board and the wire, and clean the soldering iron tip with tip conditioner or a sponge dampened with distilled water (tap water contains chemicals that can degrade soldering iron tips). This will enhance solderability so you do not need to apply as much heat or force to make the connection. The first thing to do when you see a trace or pad lifting off of the circuit board is to STOP! Do not aggravate the problem further; the worst thing you can do is cause the entire trace to peel back by continuing to pull on Figure E-1: Left, arrow points to the original pad that is being soldered. Right, pad has been torn off through excess heat and force. the wire. Remove the wire, if it is still connected, by barely touching the soldering iron to the joint and letting the wire fall off. Figure E-1 illustrates such a disaster scene. The strategy for recovering from a broken trace is to remove the soldermask, fix the trace with a jumper wire, and find an alternate point for soldering by following the trace to a nearby component or via. Removing the soldermask reveals the underlying copper traces. A short jumper wire can be soldered to these bared traces to fix the discontinuity caused by the torn trace. The bare region also serves as a convenient starting point for using a continuity meter to find an alternate point for affixing the jumper wire. Remove the soldermask using either a fine-grit (200 or finer) sandpaper, or by scraping the surface with a sharp hobbyists knife. When removing the soldermask, be careful not to catch pieces of the broken trace and further tear the trace of the board. Once the soldermask has been removed, clean the region with a gentle solvent, such as rubbing alcohol,
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Hacking the Xbox An Introduction to
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The US government is far and away t
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Hacking the Xbox An Introduction to
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In memory of Aaron Swartz
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Acknowledgments I would like to tha
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CHAPTER 4 Building a USB Adapter Ca
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Strategy Chapter 4 - Building a USB
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Chapter 4 - Building a USB Adapter
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CHAPTER 5 Replacing a Broken Power
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Chapter 5 - Replacing a Broken Powe
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Strategy Chapter 5 - Replacing a Br
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Figure 5-6: The final cable assembl
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CHAPTER 8 Reverse Engineering Xbox
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Chapter 8 - Reverse Engineering Xbo
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clearance for motherboard component
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CHAPTER 9 Sneaking in the Back Door
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Note Chapter 9 - Sneaking in the Ba
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CHAPTER 11 Developing Software for
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CHAPTER 12 Caveat Hacker Reverse en
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Hacking the Xbox

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