There are a couple ways to tact the problem of battery drain in smart phones. The first is to carry a spare battery around with you. The problem with that is the batteries are expensive, if the contacts touch metal you will start a fire. Also once you’ve discharged both batteries, its back to the battery charger in the car or home to charge two batteries now. Oh and to charge the extra battery you need to put it in the phone, which mean twice as long on the charger.

I recently seen a solar charger for the cell phones, the problem with that is the phone needs to be in the sunlight which also means the extreme heat from the sun. The Incredible suffers from heat charging where if the battery gets too hot it will stop charging and trip the phone out. I overheated my phone a few times while I was travelling in the heat. The Incredible will flash green and orange while on charge to signal overheating.

The last option I seen in an airport is called “The Charging Station”. It is a booth with every adapter known to man and a credit card slot. You buy time to charge your phone; the problem is you need to be tied down to the charging station while it’s being charged.

I knew that I would be using my phone a lot on the last trip I went on, so I wanted to make sure it wouldn’t go dead on my journey. My plan was to make my own Minty Boost from spare parts in my office. A Minty Boost is a small device that uses “AA” batteries and a step up converter, to step the voltage up from 3 volts to 5 volts.

About the Circuit

My plan was to step the voltage down from a 9 volt battery to 5 volts using a 7805 voltage regulator. Two 100uf electrolytic capacitors are used to buffer the voltage for any line noise. They are placed in front of the 7805 and in back. These capacitors are not “required” for use with a 9 volt battery since there is no noise (transformer) that would come from the battery itself. This circuit can be adapted for an old DC transformer so I left them in the schematic. The ceramic 100nf cap is to buffer the voltage during load changes and should be kept in to provide a smooth 5 volt supply.

Construction

I didn’t do anything fancy like etching a PCB, I just used some fabrication board and soldered the leads together. I also took apart an old USB hub and desoldered the female USB A-type connector. The USB connector fit nice on the fabrication perf board. I did use some epoxy to firm it up against the 7805, which worked out well because it acted like a heat sink. Of course I packaged the whole thing in an Altoids mint container that I had lying around. I used double stick tape to mount the board in the mint container and used a Dremel to cut the opening square.

Now anytime I’m out and need a quick charge as long as I have the box in my bag, I can always find a 9 volt and charge my iPod or Incredible back up. During the trip I used it with great success and got an average of two full charges out of a 9 volt battery.

It has taken me some time to write this article as I needed to find the popular way to format and install a dashboard. The software I use (Slayers Auto Install v2.7) is not easy to find and I last downloaded it from a torrent. The current software (as of the writing of this article) for formatting and installing a dashboard is AIDeluxe or Auto Installer Deluxe. The need for the software is two fold; first reason you need something that will partition and format the hard drive. The second reason is you need a simple dashboard that supports FTP, so that you can upload the latest XBMC dashboard. I will use the AIDeluxe software for the rest of this article.

First we need to get a valid BIOS on the Mod Chip you installed in the first part of this guide. The Duo2 mod chip comes with a 1MB flash area that is split into two separate 512KB banks. Bank 1 is the only bank you will be flashing, because bank 2 is a failsafe BIOS in case you brick the box with Bank 1. The tools you should use are the Eurasia Generic Pro flash disc that can be downloaded at http://www.eurasia.nu, download the Rar file and extract it then burn the ISO to either a CD-RW or a DVD-R.

Next you will also need to create a BIOS disc that will be used with Eurasia Generic Pro. The BIOS I use is the X2 5035 BIOS; however there are other BIOS images out there and you mileage will vary, but the image must be 512KB in size. Find the BIOS image that matches your motherboard version. Most all images are labeled either old or v1.6, so for the writing of this article I will stick with the v1.4 and use the old image. Copy it into a folder and rename it to bios.bin, you will also need the dummy50mb file that you got after unpacking Eurasia Pro along with the raincoat.cfg and optionally a bios.txt file. Burn all of those files now to a seperate CD-RW or DVD-R disc.

Now insert the Eurasia Generic Pro disc in the Xbox as you turn it on and select CD from the Cromwell Menu. Then wait for it to boot and follow the instructions carefully. Do not touch any buttons during the process, this includes the eject button! The Eurasia utility will eject the CD tray and load the CD tray so really hands off. The Eurasia utility will ask for the BIOS disc, it will take an additional minute for the disc to spin up and read. If all goes well Eurasia will eject the CD/DVD and ask to reboot. However be aware that if you have a problem at this stage; you may have either a bad chip or a faulty install. Everytime i’ve had a problem at this stage it was a bad chip.

Next we need to download a copy of the AIDeluxe software; you will need to visit http://www.aideluxe.com. From there you will find a link to the downloads section which you will need to register for or you could visit http://www.aidtracker.com and download AIDeluxe from there. In either case you will want the Lite version which will fit on a CD or CD-Rewritable (some readers will not support a normal CD). Place it in the Xbox drive and proceed to boot it up.

This is the easy part, you will need to format and install the XBMC Dashboard. The first step is to partition and format the Hard Drive. Select format/prepare from the the AIDeluxe menu then select Format Large HDD. When it finishes set your computer’s IP address to 192.168.0.1 with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0 and start your favorite FTP program. Connect to 192.168.0.2 with a username of xbox and password of xbox, this IP address is the default dashboards IP address; don’t worry you will change it later. Next download the XBMC binaries, forget about xbmc.org they cannot host the download. So Google for ‘XBMC Binary Build’ or ‘xbmc t3ch’ then download the latest stable build. Unpack the latest stable build to a directory you will upload the XBMC directory to the E: drive of the FTP. Now if you installed the X2-5035 BIOS find the x2config.ini that came with it. Open it and edit dash1Name = e:XBMC\default.xbe then save it and upload the x2config.ini to the base of the E: drive via FTP.

That is it you now have the XBMC dashboard installed and now it is just setting up the XBMC. Reboot the box cold to make sure the dashboard loads properly. Now let’s set the IP address… Go to Settings from the main menu, then Network click right to Assignment and change it from Default (Dashboard) to Automatic (DHCP), click left again, then back and the settings will save. Enjoy your new Xbox Media Center and be sure to change the skin to the new ‘Media Stream’ skin.

You can always upgrade the XBMC dashboard to the latest and not loose your settings by booting the AIDeluxe and downloading the UserData folder. Deleting the XBMC folder, uploading the latest XBMC folder and then overwriting the UserData.

Microsoft never intended to have another operating system on the device; however they did intend to have a debugging and development platform connect for game development. So on the Xbox motherboard they left an unsoldered jumper pad that we will use to connect the modchip called the LPC header. The modchip’s function is a replacement BIOS for the Xbox. It will allow us to use an unlocked drive or bigger drive, a custom dashboard (replacement operating system), and customize the boot process thru an ini file.

You will need a few things:

Xbox (obviously)
Largest IDE drive you can get your hands on
Xbox Modchip (I tell you the best one)
Set of Torx screwdrivers (you need T10, T15 and T20 screwdrivers)
80 wire cable (optional, explained later)
25 Watt Soldering iron, flux, alcohol, low temp/thin solder
Small needle nose pliers
Small diagonal cutting/stripping pliers
A foot of very fine wire (28 or 30 AWG gauge wire)
A steady hand and patience

So the Xbox modchip I use was recommended by a friend, you can choose your own. The chip this article will focus on is a ‘DouX 2 GS’ chip with the Linux Cromwell flash loaded from the factory. The first one I purchased I had problems with; life isn’t perfect… You will need to gain some patience when working with the Xbox or any mod; this is your first lesson. This chip can be purchased from various vendors for $15 dollars or less, my advice is to check xbox-scene.com for the current preferred vendor. This chip is cheap, no frills, covers every version of Xbox and it also has dual BIOS so you can’t brick it. There are other chips out there that have a lot more features. You can decide yourself, but they all perform the same basic function of allowing a modified flash to be loaded so you can replace the Microsoft dashboard with the XBMC dashboard.

So after the modchip is purchased the next step is removing the motherboard from the unit. You will need a Torx 20 screwdriver; I would also recommend a box to sort your screws. Start by lifting the four sticky pads in each corner on the bottom of the unit. You will also find 2 screws under the silver patent sticker and under the barcode/date sticker. Now lift the top of the case off and set it to the side.

Next you will need a Torx 10 screwdriver. You will now take the 3 screws out that hold the DVD ROM and hard drive to the chassis. Unplug the hard drive power connector; you might need to use a flat tip screwdriver to gently pry it out as it sticks sometimes. Then gently unplug the hard drive IDE cable, be attentive to the cable connector as it can coming apart if you are not careful. Now remove the hard drive from the Xbox chassis and set it to the side for later. Remove the IDE cable from the rear of the DVD ROM drive as well as the DVD ROM power cable (yellow Jumper). Now the DVD ROM can be removed from the Xbox chassis; you may have to wiggle it out of the chassis. Set the DVD ROM to the side for later installation.

Now you have a clear view of the motherboard in the chassis. Now it is time to identify the version of Xbox you have. Basically v1.0 to v1.5 uses the “old” classification and v1.6 uses the “new” classification. The v1.6 BIOS is different and a v1.6 also requires a board soldered to the bottom of the motherboard. I’ve done both “old” and “new” and if you have a “old” Xbox then you have a lot less work, but don’t worry it’s not that hard if you do have a v1.6. This article will focus on the “old” Xbox as this is the majority of consoles out there. To identify the version of motherboard you will need to Google the terms “xbox version identification”; xbox-scene.com has a great visual guide for identification. If you want a quick check: locate the video chip to the left of the fan and right above the first heat sink (from the left) and you can use the guide of: Conexant  is v1.0,v1.1, v1.2, v1.3, Focus is v1.4, v1.5 and Xcalibur is v1.6. I would still recommend using the guide to check the exact version; this is the only standard way of verification. I also recommend that the check is done with the motherboard still in the chassis. Sometime there is a question of v1.4 vs. an older version and a continuity check is required; I prefer doing the check while the motherboard is in the chassis. You should always know your unit’s version number before the mod is preformed, so if you run into trouble you can talk intelligibly on forums.

Now it is time to remove the motherboard. Remove the power connector and front panel connector on the right front of the motherboard and push them out of the way. I use a bread tie to keep them out of the way during the process of motherboard removal and installation. Next remove the game pad connector from the left front of the motherboard, again tying is out of the way is recommended. Lastly the fan connector on the rear of the motherboard needs to be removed; you may need to use a pair of needle nose pliers. I usually wedge this connector out of the way as it is in the rear of the board. Now you need a Torx 10 screwdriver to remove all 10 Torx screws, see the figure below. Once all the screws are removed, slide the motherboard forward and lift up on the front. Place it on an anti-static surface that you can stabilize the unit on, if you don’t use an anti-static surface you will suffer later. I have a large block of wood with a slot cut in it, so the motherboard stands on its edge, two of these and you can suspend the board. Move the chassis out of the way for later assembly.

Now it is game on! Your soldering skills will come out now and also your frustration if you do it wrong. Use a pair of needle nose pliers and remove the #4 pin from the motherboard header (male end), see the diagram below. Apply some flux to the motherboard pads both sides and the header pins (short side), keep in mind that you will need to remove the flux later so a very thin coat is all you need. Install the header pins on the top of the motherboard, it should only fit one way. If the #4 pin is drilled then install the header pins closest to the front of the board leaving 4 pins open towards the back of the board. Now apply solder to the bottom and allow a liberal amount to flow through the hole, the trick is allowing the heat to do the work by preheating the board and pin slightly.

The next step is to solder the modchip header onto the modchip. Remove the #4 and #6 pins from the modchip header; you can also remove the #3 pin it basically does nothing. Now apply some flux to top and bottom of the modchip pads and the modchip header. Then solder it into place again preheating slightly to allow the solder to flow. Check the pictures to make sure you have the configuration and orientation proper.

The last steps are to connect the BT and D0. The BT is a toggle for the mod, my recommendation is to connect BT to #10 pin or G pin with a small length of wire; this will keep the mod on all the time. The only reason you would want to toggle is if you play online with the Xbox. Apply flux to the BT pad and apply solder without the wire; this procedure is called tinning. Then make a length of wire and strip it on both ends. Now apply flux to the wire and solder it to the BT pad and the #10 pin. Now tin the D0 pad with some flux and solder. Make a wire that will be about 4 to 5 inches in length and strip both sides. Feed the wire through the #16 hole on the motherboard and flip the motherboard over. Now for the tricky part of soldering D0 on the very small solder pad. First locate the pad to be soldered to using the picture below and then mark it with a sharpie pen. The trick is tin the wire slightly then preheat the wire and attach it to D0 in one quick continuous action. Once that is done, flip the board and attach the other side to the D0 on the modchip after pushing the modchip onto the header pins on the motherboard.

Use a piece of paper towel and some alcohol to remove all of the flux from the motherboard and the modchip. Take time to clean it properly as the flux will act like a resistor over time across the bridged pads. Also apply a small piece of electrical tap to the D0 on the bottom of the board and route it away from the screw hole.

I was very amazed to see a solution from Hakko that addressed this problem. It is a small metal container that has brass windings inside for cleaning the soldering iron tip. The tip cleaner can be purchased for about $10 dollars from various online vendors or you can do like me and build one.

So I found an old baby food jar and on my recent visit to a dollar store I found a scrubbing pad made of copper. The copper pad is rolled and can easily be unrolled and cut to length. Just shake the excess copper after you cut the pad and stuff it neatly into a glass baby food jar. Set it next to your soldering station and use it for years…

Soldering Tip Cleaning Station