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View Full Version : Xbox 360 DVD firmware hack Boots Copys



wraggster
May 17th, 2006, 15:37
Via Hackaday (http://hackaday.com/entry/1234000520073694/)

Backups can now be booted on the Xbox 360 according to Xbox-scene. The firmware was released by Commodore4Eva who previously released a functional Xbox 1 firmware. It works under the same idea as the final Xbox hack: it patches the response to the media check into the DVD drive’s firmware. So the drive responds with an all-clear without even checking the DVD. This hack works on units with the Toshiba-Samsung drive. The new firmware also lets you use the drive under Windows for easy game ripping. There are some quirks to it, but it sounds like everything you need is included. It’s unfortunate that this happened before they were able to get executable code running on the machine. Now that the bootleggers have what they want I’m afraid it might take some steam out of the homebrew movement.

Hevyduty
May 17th, 2006, 17:15
It's an interesting hack at this point, but it's really only for the technically inclined. It's a long way from becoming mainstream. There are just too many obstacles to overcome before you should even bother trying this, making it something only a very few people can really do.

1. Your XB360 better have a Toshiba-Samsung DVD drive. If it's Hitachi, it's a no go.

2. Your computer better support SATA. This hack doesn't work with SATA-to-IDE converters at this point.

3. The SATA chipset in your motherboard better be compatible with the hack. If it uses one of the very common Silicon Image chipsets, it probably won't work.

4. If you use a PCI SATA controller card in your computer, it won't work. No one's found a SATA PCI card that works with this hack yet.

Basically, you need to open up the the 360 case, which voids your warranty. Then you hook up the 360's DVD to your computer via a SATA cable. Then follow the processs in the readme.

Can you brick your XB360 system with this? Yes, but you'd have to be something of a retard. If you can get past the obstacles above and access your XB360 DVD drive from your PC, the first thing you should do is backup your original firmware (as clearly instructed in the readme).

If you backup your original firmware, and later hose up your 360 DVD drive while flashing the hacked firmware, the worse case scenario is that you have to buy a new DVD drive (under $100) and flash it with your original firmware. That should get your console back up and running.

Of course, hosing up a $100 drive isn't ideal, but it's better than turning your $400 system into a cinder block. Even then, I haven't seen many reports of people bricking their DVD drives. Even people who have had problems, and thought they bricked their drives, seemed to find a way to recover without buying a new drive.

Still, it's not for the meek. I'd try it, but i have a Hitachi drive in my 360 AND an unsupported SATA chipset in my computer. And as far as I know, there's no way to tell what kind of drive is in a 360 before you buy it. That is, you can't walk into a store, look at the serial number on the 360's box, and know what you're getting. It's hit and miss.

So I'll be waiting for a more mature hack before trying this. Right now, the flashing tool is DOS only. I think we'll need a Windows app in order for more SATA options to work. Once someone makes this work with Hitachi drives, and gets this working with either the SI SATA chipsets, an IDE-to-Sata converter, or better yet a SATA to USB cable, I'll give it a go.

Plus I think the process of flashing drives and patching games will get almost automatic as time goes one. Right now, it's a mostly manual process. In time, I think we'll see apps that practically do it for you.

Anyway, it's been fascinating to read about this hack over the past couple of days, but I won't be trying it anytime soon.

xXSujoXx
May 19th, 2006, 02:07
The problem with the system is that people put on a certain file such as people put a downgrader on their psp like hacking it. Same exact kind of situation with the Xbox. People send a file from a Flash USB with a virus that attacks the OPS and the BIOS setting on the xbox which makes it hackable.