Guide to RGH3 Xbox 360 Trinity Motherboard Consoles!
Required supplies:
- A way to read/write the nand. (Nand-X, JR Programmer, Matrix SPI Flasher, Squirt Slave Programmer, X-Flasher 360, Super Nand Flasher, PicoFlasher, or even a homemade LPT cable!)
- A 3K Ohm resistor (Consider the RGH3 QSB which comes with the resistor)
- Some 28 or 30 gauge AWG wire (I like this ribbon cable made of 28AWG wire that can be separated and cut to length)
- T8 and a T10 Torx screwdriver for all the screws in the console.
- Standard Soldering supplies: A variable temperature soldering iron, some solder (I like 60/40 rosin core Kester), fiberglass scratch pen, some flux paste and a very sharp set of tweezers or an exacto knife too.
Optional Supplies:
- You might want an X-Clamp removal tool to make opening the console easier.
It's been suggested to me that the X-clamp remover should be in the "required" supplies. For sure the X-Clamp can be removed without them, but the risk of damaging your board is very high if you're not very careful. You might want to check out this video clip of using the X-Clamp removal tool properly to see what you are up against.
- Strongly reccommend replacing the thermal paste with good stuff. Beware fake/low quality thermal paste!
My current (Feb 2022) suggestions:
- PicoFlasher (Raspberry Pi Pico cost just $4, then load Picoflasher firmware as described here)
- RGH3 QSB (has the 3K Ohm Resistor built in)
No need for a repack any longer. Just get the latest Jrunner build as it supports RGH3 just fine.
My go-to Jrunner source is Josh's build which he kindly hosts at Octals Console Shop:
Jrunner with Extras
But there is an alternative branch that sometimes gets out of sync feature-wise and is on Github under X360Tools like PicoFlasher:
Jrunner Pro
RGH3 Trinity Process:
1. Have a Trinity motherboard Xbox 360.
Trinity motherboards can be confidently identified visually without opening the console. First, It must be an "S" style slim Xbox 360. Second, check the MFR date on the sticker on the back of the console - Trinities will have a MFR date of 07/2011 and before. Third, and least reliably - look at the power consumption sticker on the back; Trinity consoles will say 10.83A though I've seen consoles close to the cut-over manufacture date have the wrong power label.
2. Open up your console and break it down all the way to the motherboard. (Lots of guides on youtube for opening your console.)
You need a T8 and a T10 Torx screwdriver for all the screws in the console. You will end up removing the heatsink and fan, which means removing the X-clamp on the back. You might want an X-Clamp removal tool, and some replacement thermal paste. The stuff on the console will be old and dried up so I strongly recommend putting fresh thermal paste.
3. Solder in a Nand reading/writing programmer.
There are myriad options for programmers: Nand-X, JR Programmer, Matrix SPI Flasher, Squirt Slave Programmer, X-Flasher 360, Super Nand Flasher, PicoFlasher, or even a homemade LPT cable!
If you're only going to do this one mod, my favorite device right now is the Raspberry Pi Pico set up as a PicoFlasher, you can snag the Pico off Amazon for just $8, but the best deal is at a MicroCenter or other major electronics reseller where they are just $4!
No matter what device you decide on to read/write your nand they are likely to use the color coding in the diagram below as it's essentially a standard now, shared by the Nand-X, JR-Programmer, X-Flasher. All the programmers will use the same point even if they don't respect the color coding.
