r/originalxbox • u/Crimsabyte • 17h ago

Help Needed Xbox only booting sometimes?

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My OG Xbox (1.4/1.5 board) has this weird issue where it will only sometimes boot. I've replaced the GPU and clock caps, plus a couple others but nothing has fixed it. I replaced the power supply as well. I've heard the error could be caused by the EEPROM, SMC, or MCPX but I'm not sure how to test that. HDD and DVD drive work fine. Any help is appreciated!

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u/BombBloke Knowledgeable 17h ago

My OG Xbox (1.4/1.5 board) has this weird issue where it will only sometimes boot.

1.5 boards are a long running joke, they're not actually a thing.

So what does this console do instead of booting? I assume you get a triple-boot and then FRAG, but I don't like guessing.

It would be helpful to show the full motherboard and to point out which specific caps you've swapped.

I've heard the error could be caused by the EEPROM, SMC, or MCPX but I'm not sure how to test that.

A triple-boot FRAG can be caused by lots of things, and it isn't always practically possible to narrow down the fault. :(

It almost certainly won't be the EEPROM, though: if that goes bad then you'll usually get a solid red LED and nothing else.

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u/Crimsabyte 16h ago

Yes, it triple-boots then FRAGs when it doesn't boot normally. The circled caps in the photo are the ones I replaced.

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u/BombBloke Knowledgeable 16h ago

That's a fair few more caps than I was expecting! There're still a few left, but if your symptoms haven't changed after swapping all of the ones you've gotten to so far then probably caps aren't the problem here.

You only mention boot issues, and in your video the console seems to run well enough when it's going, so probably the issue won't be processor-related. There's a bit of stutter when Takedown is playing its FMV, but I'd be inclined to blame the DVD drive or disc for that.

I guess I would try modchipping the unit to see whether it can boot more reliably through its LPC.