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Switch
Introduction
The new switch on the X3 is completely different
than all previous chips, so naturally there is some
confusion as to how to properly use the switch. Fortunately
once you understand the features, you can understand
the switch. First, let's recall the features of the
X3 as per the BIOS flashing.
"2MB
Flash Rom With 15 Bios Storage Options
Dedicated 256K Backup Rom (Can be upgraded to any
bios you wish)"
"Bank
Modes:
256k/256k/256k/256k/256k/256k/256k/256k/
512k/512k/512k/512k/
1024k/1024k
2048k"
This
information was pulled from this thread
on the TeamXecuter forums. Reading this post we can
see that it appears that the X3 can handle up 15 different
BIOS options and has 2MB of memory built in. This
is where the switch comes in.
Each
'bank' of the chip is divided into the smallest components.
Per the post, 256K is the smallest amount of BIOS
data that can be flashed to the chip. Given the fact
that the X3 has 2MB or 2048K (remember 1024-kilobyetes
= 1 megabyte) of available flash memory, using simple
math we can determine that we have 8 banks of 256K
memory ( 2048K / 256K = 8 ) available to use.
This is where the dipswitch on the front of the unit
comes into play.
Let's
take a look at the switch:
As you
can see the front of the X3 switch contains 5 different
little white switches. This allows us to change the
different banks on the chip for flashing. 0-3 are
the banks we have and the last switch determines if
we will use flash protection or not.
Now,
when you received your X3 chip, all the switches were
to the left, and everything flashed and booted just
fine. But to fully unlock the potential of the chip
we need to understand how to switch banks.
Switching
Banks
Per this post on the TeamXecuter forums Xecuter tells us the
proper settings for the switch in order to tell the
X3 chip which bank to flash to. Here is the quote:
"256k
Bank
Bank 1: on on on on
Bank 2: off on on on
Bank 3: on off on on
Bank 4: off off on on
Bank 5: on on off on
Bank 6: off on off on
Bank 7: on off off on
Bank 8: off off off on
512k Bank
Bank 12: on on on off
Bank 34: off on on off
Bank 56: on off on off
Bank 78: off off on off
1MB Bank
Bank 1234: on on off off (Set to this when flashing
first time with FlashBIOS)
Bank 5678: off on off off
2MB Bank
Bank 12345678: off off off off"
Now I
know that you are sitting there wondering what the
hell all of this means, and that is understandable,
so let's get into it.
If you
recall the X3 chip can support a BIOS from 256K through
2048K in size, so, if you think about when you acquired
the X3 BIOS, regardless of version, the file size
was exactly 1024K. Now, using simple math again, if
the available flash memory we have is 2048K and the
X3 Config Live BIOS is 1024K, we need to 'bank' 1024K
of memory in order to flash the BIOS correclty.
Per the
switch info posted by Xecuter, the 1024 or 1MB bank
is accessiable by pushing the Bank 0 and Bank 1
switch to the right - the 'on' position - in order
to enable memory banks 1-4. Now before you freak out,
think about what I just said.
If the
lowest common BIOS size is 256K and the max we have
is 2048K, then we have 8 banks of 256K memory available
for flashing. Now, since we need 1024K to flash the
X3 BIOS correctly, we use the switches on the front
to select those banks.
To add
to the confusion, we still have 1024K of memory available
to us for flashing since we have a max of 2048K available.
Which could be in either memory bank 1234 or 5678.
Make sense? If not, maybe this little image will help.
Click to enlarge.
Lastly
take a quick peek at both the switch and the chip
itself:
The X3
has built in flash protection to prevent the accidental
flashing of the chip. Now this protection is two-fold.
So, if the switch on the X3 itself is set the off,
the setting on the external switch determines if the
X3 can be flashed. If the switch is set to the on
position, the chip is not flash-able regardless of
the external switch settings.
See the
X3 switch isn't that bad.
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