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Xecuter Probe II - REVIEW

April 12th, 2010

Xecuter Probe II - Review

What do you get for your money?

Probe II Contents

The Probe II
Power Cable (retail version of cable is longer than the one pictured)

Okay, I got the version without conductive glue! (£11.95)
But that comes cheaper than with the glue (the special glue was delayed but will be available shortly. In the meantime Xecuter allowed some retailers to sell without glue, at the cheaper price, due to popular demand - so you can just get your own glue or do the small solder job to fix the traces)

I have been following the Hype on this one very closely! I have seen people doubt a solderless solution and to be honest, wondered what this probe has over the competition. Well, now having one in my hands – I no longer wonder! – It’s plainly obvious!
As with CK3 Probe 1, the quality is outstanding – A very clean white PCB, which has been put together flawlessly, soldering is very neat, pogo pins are sturdy and made more so by the fact they are recessed into the PCB itself (as with CK3 Probe 1). There are several LED’s (5 actually) but don’t get confused only 3 ever operate at any time. There are also 3 Switches and a connector.
To explain the beauty of this product you must delve deeper and look closer

The Probe II - If you haven’t guessed already is not only able to carry out the MRA Hack but is also able to be used to carry out the original probes function of retrieving the drives data by probing the R707 hole (74850C fw ONLY). However neatly built into this version – Is a protection circuit!

When in PROBE mode – the op-switch switches the protection circuit on and off this is indicated with the orange STANDBY LED – so you can place probe into the R707 hole, get a good connection, shown by the green SERIAL LED being lit! BEFORE disengaging protection circuit by operating the op switch (orange LED goes out) – This should prevent people from damaging their drives/probes like they used to do when they incorrectly touched probe on wrong part of PCB’s

This Probe essentially carries out exactly the same function as the T-X’s LT Switch.
So like the LT Switch it has 2 modes Normal and R/W, and an LED to show which selection is in use.

Now in addition to the standard MRA there is also the new built-in MULTI-R function which allows you to choose which resistor value (22/20/18 ohm) you wish to use during the MRA Hack, perfect for those awkward 9 series drives that some people have already discovered can sometimes be troublesome due to smaller resistances being required.

The solderless part of this device is in the repair method used on the traces (which can be made more or less complicated dependant on where you cut the traces!) – As I don’t have the version with the Glue – I am unable to comment on this! – but its straightforward enough!
As described in Team-Xecuters tutorial you must ensure the top trace is kept intact –
You can either use a jumper wire( if you used double cut on top trace) or use a V-cut!

Now I won’t cover the usage method in any detail as Team-Xecuter website does that
here for MRA Hack usage. and here for Probe 1 Usage

Probe II in action:
Following the websites tutorial – I have a pre-cut board (with jumper wire fitted) it’s a Winbond (for those that my earlier Vampire review – yes that same drive!).
Follow the T-X tutorial and in normal mode (green LED lit) – Drive shows up,
Power off the CK3, switch to R/W by pressing op-switch,
Press intro in Jungleflasher, power on the CK3 (red LED on probe),
Message to switch back to normal appears! – press op-switch (green LED), click ok.
STATUS 0x72 appears:
Press “read” then “save” and HEY PRESTO – I have a full firmware dump!

Continue to hold probe in place, back to MTK tab and click Write! - "Write Verified Ok"

Excellent result – A troublesome Winbond I/C and the Xecuter probe II operates perfectly!

I try another drive! This time I use the V-cut method – Follow the tutorial on T-X website but it fails to go into Vendor mode,
hmmmmm – Then I realise I had mistakenly switched the MULTI-R to 22ohms (DOH!) move it to 20ohms and try again – RESULT! – It goes smoothly into Vendor mode! (Incidentally a MXIC I/C this time) once again it lets me read and write to the drive! SUCCESS!

Just before I go to test the probe 1 function of Probe II – It occurs to me that this might work using a different connectivity kit! So I try again – but this time, I decide to power the Probe 2 using my 360Xtractor instead of my CK3 Pro(Well the cable connectors are the same – thought I’d give it a go!). Another success! – No problems at all!

I dig out another drive – this time a 7 series – Stock firmware – time to test the Probe 1 functions.
Probe the R707 hole with the correct switches selected on Probe II (press op-switch to disengage protection circuit orange LED extinguishes) – drive tray half closed, Press DVDKey32 on JungleFlasher and again it performs flawlessly. Key dumps successfully!
This Probe truly is Multifunctional!

CONCLUSIONS

POSITIVES

NEGATIVES

A cheap solution for those that already own a CK3 Pro, CK3 Lite

Excellent Build Quality

Multi Functional (Probe 1 and MRA)

Solderless Option (if bought with the conductive glue)

Works on ALL types of LiteOn I/C (Winbond and MXIC) without the need for any additional rebuild PCBs

allows full READ and WRITE without stopping to repair anything first!

Selectable Resistance values using MULTI-R selector switch

Designed with compatibility in mind – even works using 360Xtractor (so no need to buy a CK3 if you already own a 360Xtractor – it will work straight out of the box)

As with all T-X products – covered by a warranty.

I was unable to fault this item!

Overall an excellent product! Its Multi functional, affordable and great quality. I was unable to get it to fail (even on Winbond chipset). With its Protection circuit and it’s MULTI-R switch Team-Xecuter have once again designed and produced an excellent item!

I would recommend this neat little probe to anyone who encounters a lot of drives! Or those who truly are scared of a soldering iron (once the glue is available)

A Superb item to add to the clutches of any modder (experienced or otherwise)
For those with CK3 Pro/Lite or EVEN a 360Xtractor!
- This one is a sure-fire hit! It’s a Must.