NGX 337 Unbricking & Modified Firmware Flashing Tutorial

[omgngx]

These changes apply to actual gameplay only, so the menu system still looks like garbage.

The following changes were made...

LCD:

The default handheld resolution is now 320x224. There will be black bars on the sides and the bottom of the screen. The alternate resolution is the previous 4:3 scaled version.



HDMI:

The resolution for HDMI is now 640x448, with black bars on the sides and bottom. The scaling algorithm has been switched to linear (it was bi-linear before). This gets rid of most of the blurriness.

Before


After


Keep in mind that this will only work on the 337 version of the system (with the internal micro SD card socket). 370 units have been bricked trying this mod (probably because the modified firmware is more than 2 GB).

Fist you need to open the unit up... there should be some tutorials already out there for this.


Remove the glued in micro SD card.


- Install a clean 4 GB micro SD card into the NGX's internal socket
- Download the modified firmware image (no ROMs are included) from here: FW IMAGE
- Download and install the flasher: FLASHER

This will only work on a 32bit Winxp or 32bit Win7 setup.

- Open device manager in windows to see when the device is detected
- With the NGX powered off, press and hold the start button and plug the NGX into your computer
- An unknown JZ4770 boot device will show up in the device manager
- Manually install the drivers that are in the RAR
- Unplug the NGX
- Start USBbootTool.exe
- With the ngx powered off, press and hold the start button and plug the NGX back into your computer again



The default settings work fine, or you can set it to the following:

- CPU drop down menu set to Jz4770
- Check the option for NAND (chinese text)
- Choose NAND flash instead of SD/MCC card
- Select your image file (once you select the img file, uboob.bin should already be checked automatically)

This will write it out to the internal misro SD card of the NGX (aka the internal NAND). The
progress bar is at the bottom, be patient as this takes a little while to flash!

At this point you will want to restore the stock 20 ROMs on the internal micro SD. You need a
program called "Ext2 IFS" (google it). This will allow a windows PC to browse the
folder structure on your newly flashed 4GB card. Remove the card from the NGX one last time and plug it in to your PC, drag and drop the games back into the games dir on the micro SD.

Make sure that the games are named properly!
(for example the first game on the internal should be named whp.fba)

game1 = World Heroes Perfect = whp.fba
game2 = 3 Count Bount = 3countb.fba
game3 = Real Bout = rbffspec.fba
game4 = Puzzled = puzzled.fba
game5 = Nam-1975 = nam1975.fba
game6 = Mutation Nation = mutnat.fba
game7 = Last Resort = lresort.fba
game8 = King of the Monsters = kotm.fba
game9 = Alpha Mission II = alpham2.fba
game10 = Cyber-Lip = cyberlip.fba
game11 = Fatal Fury Special = fatfursp.fba
game12 = Art of Fighting = aof.fba
game13 = Super Sidekicks = ssideki.fba
game14 = League Bowling = lbowling.fba
game15 = Metal Slug = mslug.fba
game16 = Magicial Lord = maglord.fba
game17 = Baseball Stars 2 = bstars2.fba
game18 = Samurai Shodown II = samsho2.fba
game19 = King of Fighters 95 = kof95.fba
game20 = Fatal Fury = fatfury1.fba

Inject unibios with the same convertX tool used for making ROMs on the external card.

- Reinsert the micro SD into the NGX. I recommend using a small piece of electrical tape (or even a small dab of hot glue) to secure the card inside of the NGX.

- Your Neo-Geo X now has 4GB of internal NAND as opposed to the 370/500/500a firmware's 2GB. Theoretically when new hacks/jailbreaks surface for the NGX you could have the entire Neo-Geo collection on the internal menu, imagine that. One can dream for now, right? In the meantime, at least you can enjoy the new LCD resolution & HDMI out!

[chansterling]

Alright. Let's do this!

[chansterling]

Hmmm... so, I figured out how to get the whole thing dismantled, but I'm nervous about removing the SD card. Do I need a heat gun or something?

[chansterling]

And the first link doesn't work. =(

[omgngx]

Links edited.

Copy/paste links into your browser:

FLASHER - www.findthatrar.com/search-2646920-fRAR/winrar-winzip-download-usb_boot_burn-jz4770-20111025.rar.htm

IMAGE - www.dropbox.com/s/707mbhhr206miqt/hd_nxu_2g.rar

[chansterling]

Hahhh, well, this is why I don't usually open things up. I think I may have ruined it. Let's hope not!

I'm having a hard time getting the drivers to install ( I have 64bit windows, which is a problem) and I really don't have a clue how to get the flasher to work.

[chansterling]

And here's the worst part: I scratched up a little part of the board getting the SD card out, and I snapped off one of the sides of the SD card enclosure.

Yup. That was a pretty expensive mistake.

[omgngx]

Jul 1, 2013 19:51:22 GMT -5 chansterling said:

And here's the worst part: I scratched up a little part of the board getting the SD card out, and I snapped off one of the sides of the SD card enclosure.

Yup. That was a pretty expensive mistake.

I did the same things-  a scratch and BOTH sides of the socket snapped. You only need the bottom plastic to hold the micro SD to the contacts so as long as the micro can still make contact and the scratch is not deep enough to have cut any traces you should be fine... use a piece of electrical tape to hold the micro SD in place more snug if needed.

As far as the flasher, you only need to be concerned with the top/left button/checkbox (uboot.bin although your image will be a different name)... the button on the right will allow you to select your image and the one on the left (checkbox) will start the flash process.

[omgngx]

Jul 1, 2013 19:26:21 GMT -5 chansterling said:

Hahhh, well, this is why I don't usually open things up. I think I may have ruined it. Let's hope not!

I'm having a hard time getting the drivers to install ( I have 64bit windows, which is a problem) and I really don't have a clue how to get the flasher to work.

You might need to use a different PC as nobody has gotten this to run on 64 bit Windows, this ONLY works for 32 bit, no way around that at all.

[superdanx]

Best new member ever. Stick around please, when I get around to trying this ill have a million questions no doubt. But thanks for posting.

[Deleted]

Thanks for this. The link for the flasher isn't working however. I opened mine up and ended up tearing apart the sd card. when trying to remove it.  Removing the micro sd really is the hardest part.; they glue the hell out of it.  Hopefully, the 4gb micro sd I ordered will still work. I also copied some tips for opening up your neo geo x from the neo-geo.com boards:

"There's a number of disassemble tips:

1) To pop off back cover after unscrewing, slide a credit card or other flat object around it first, then gently pry up.
2) To pop off the stick (to free the miniboard inside), pop off the pad from the front using same flat object. It's the same as a NeoGeo CD pad.
3) Once PCB is entirely unscrewed (two on the right side underneath the miniboard) use a small screwdriver to gently pry up the PCB on the top while pulling the port plastic away so that the ports come out of their slots. Once for each port until it's freed.
4) Be careful with the Start/Menu buttons, they seemingly can be put in upside-down and will feel weird and if done wrong the Menu button on the dock won't work.
5) Be careful with the glue under the microSD. One pried the card out, I personally had to pierce a bunch of holes in the glue using a small knife. Don't damage the PCB. A small pair of pliers will come in very handy for pulling it out the first time.
6) Be careful with the Springs on the triggers. Lose one and you're in trouble.
7) Be very careful to try and keep the start/menu buttons from falling out. Don't turn the screen side front-side-up while the PCB is out.

Overall once you know how it's done it's fairly easy. The only difficult steps are the one-time glue removal and dealing with the springs on the triggers."

[omgngx]

ALTERNATE FLASHER

Try this link...

[chansterling]

Can I just say how ecstatic I am about Business Cat helping me with my mod?

[omgngx]

Jul 2, 2013 19:38:53 GMT -5 chansterling said:

Can I just say how ecstatic I am about Business Cat helping me with my mod?

I have no thumbs... but still can't complain about the NGX.

[chansterling]

Hmmm... Just to keep everyone update, I was able to install 32-bit Windows 7 onto Virtual Box, then I was able to get the device drivers installed. It is now attempting to do the firmware write. I got it to start the process, but it seems to be hanging out on BOOT:Please.Waite.100%

I'm not sure if that means it's working or not. You said it takes a long time, right?