Xbox:Chihiro General Information

Like any early Xbox motherboard, you will need to remove the Xbox:Clock Capacitor to prevent severe damage to the motherboard.

The Sega Chihiro is an arcade system based around the Xbox motherboard with multiple other boards attached. The primary differences between the Chihiro motherboard and the Xbox motherboard are:

• There's no bootup splash screen.
• There's no requirement for a HDD or DVD drive.
• It always boots from SEGABOOT XBE contained on the DIMM board, never from any other source.
• Different memory layout
• Earlier version MCPX chip (MCPX X2)
• All RAM pads populated, bringing the total to 128MB of RAM

See the Xbox:Chihiro Games on Xbox page for instructions on how to play some Chihiro games on a modded retail Xbox.

Unit Construction

From the top down, the boards are:

• A DIMM board (DIMM or NetDIMM) unit that plugs into the top board
• Mediaboard: This board is where the DIMM board plugs into as well as a bridge for the GD-ROM to work with the Xboxboard.
• Baseboard: This Sega-specific board connects to the Xboxboard. It converts video to VGA and has USB controllers for handling gamepads.
• Xboxboard: This is an Xbox motherboard that is nearly identical to retail hardware, with the only physical differences being it uses an earlier version MCPX chip (MCPX X2) and it having the extra RAM slots populated to bring the total RAM up to 128MB.
• Filterboard: A JVS standard panel board on the side.

Powering the Unit

The Chihiro is powered by a standard JVS power harness used in arcades. However, you can either buy an adapter cable or DIY your own out of a JST VL 4x2 connector and a JST VL 3x2 connector (shown below) to connect them to a standard desktop ATX power supply. A video over how to wire up such a cable can be found on the Video Game Esoterica YouTube channel.

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Video Output

The unit outputs 480p RGBS video via a standard VGA port on the fan side of the unit. Although the Xbox board can output a variety of resolutions, the output from it traverses the link cable to the mediaboard where it is changed into 480p RGBS.

Games

Games are loaded off of a separate GD-ROM that is connected by a single cable OR if a NetDIMM module is installed on the top of the top-most board, games can be booted over a network, from a Compact Flash card (with official or unofficial adapter), or from a hard drive connected to a Compact Flash adapter.

Regardless of method, a security key must be plugged into the USB port on the side of the unit. Games loaded from GD-ROM must use a USB key specific to that game, while booting games from a NetDIMM can use a "zero security key" which works for any game. See the Xbox:Chihiro Security Keys page for more information.

Below is the list of all Sega Chihiro games:

• Crazy Taxi High Roller (not compatible with Chihiro Type 3)
• Ghost Squad (supports light gun)
• Gundam Battle Operating Simulator
• Ollie King
• OutRun 2 SP
• Sega Club Golf 2006 Next Tours
• Sega Network Taisen Mahjong MJ 2 and 3
• The House of the Dead III (not compatible with Chihiro Type 3)
• Ford Racing Full Blown
• Virtua Cop 3 (supports light gun)
• Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 1 and 2

Gallery

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  NetDIMM

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  Mediaboard Type 1 (top)

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  Mediaboard Type 1 (bottom)

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  Baseboard (top)

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  Baseboard (bottom)

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  Xboxboard (Xbox motherboard)

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  AVIP cable linking baseboard to xboxboard

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  Filterboard (side)

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  Side (filterboard removed)

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  Back panel (rear)

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  Side of unit (fan)

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  Side of unit (stickers)

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  Side of unit (vent)

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  GD-ROM