After previously boasting about a
DVD firmware hack that made it possible to run a backup copy of Project Gotham Racing 3 on a modified Xbox 360, one of
the hackers behind the mod has joined Microsoft in calling it "useless". Apparently the mod is useless to the
general public due to its complexity (the mod "requires that the flash chip is removed from the drive circuit
board and inserted into a special flash programming device") and the fact that it could easily destroy an
Xbox 360 in the wrong hands.However we must agree with one of the other members of the mod team when he said "given the complexity of the software it seems unlikely that there's no [other] way in." Did you know: Microsoft also make a popular operating system called Windows, an OS notorious for its backdoor vulnerabilities.
[Thanks, striegs]





















(Page 1) Reader Comments
teamxecuter has already made it easily successful to hook drive to pc and flash via software... so it will be done
as this smells like some MS detering propoganda :)
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btw i think this hack is still bogus. he should show a video where we can see the back of the TV. Also i would like to see the laser move inside while he is playing.
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As for the hack, one day they all will be hacked. Its just the way of the world. Im not going to spend 2k on a hack to buy the stuff needded to run back up games. Its just not worth it.
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And I dunno, I think it's a little unwise to broadcast your technique, because well Microsoft will certainly attempt to address it.
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As the hacker has said in his interviews, the whole point of trying to hack the Xbox 360 was because they said it could not be done. They weren't concerned with usability, releasing it to the masses, creation of modchips, etc. The entire objective was to take a backup copy of a game and run it on the Xbox 360.
They've since then basically stopped working on the project - they are still tweaking the process some, but once Microsoft pushes a change, they will not being playing the cat and mouse game.
It's all about whether or not it could be done, not whether or not Joe Schmoe could actually use it.
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Its not inconceivable for a pirate company to set up a small facility to do this hack ad-nauseum and sell the modified xbox 360's to the public. That would be a better option than closing up their business once the next gen consoles become mainstream. And the process itself is simple in a sense, just reflashing the chip...all it needs is a little bit of practice and some special hardware. How is this useless??
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And #3, whoever told you it'll cost 2k to run a backup on your console is grossly misinformed. The cube, ps2, and xbox all have chips with solderless install for less than $50.
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Then it will be as simple as upgrading your firmware on your dvd burner ect. They are very close to releasing their own f/w, and then it will be no problem. And to the person who said they shouldn't say their technique.... It's the scene! You're supposed to share information, and on top of that, there isn't a whole lot Microsoft can do about it. Let me explain, if Microsoft does an update that forces the firmware to be updated, we can just modify the firmware (because that is in our control), to tell it that it’s running the latest version. At worst, it would be a cat and mouse game for a while.
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Given that you can send commands to the drive retrieve the firmware, it would be a simple matter to "verify" the firmware on the drive by downloading it and comparing it with a known valid copy.
The firmware has a limited amount of storage space -- it doesn't have space available to store both a hacked copy and a "valid" copy.
Which then means of course you need to have two chips on board, and a way to switch between the two (accounting for the fact that the offsets into the hacked/nonhacked firmware may not be the same). AND you need to do it the short time between the "firmware validation" check and the media check... Which means you're looking at a hardware modification again (instead of a firmware update).
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you're a moron. there is a video of it plugged into the front of the tv, secondly tv's that small generally dont have any component plugs in the back, and third the laser does move.
onto everyone else. the xecuter website also shows that you dont have to remove any chips at all. the goal is to take the dvd rom from the x360 to a pc, flash it with software, then put it back in the x360. no soldering, no screwing anything up. god forbid if it wouldnt work and you had a backup before the flash you'll be fine. simply put, you dont need to do anything insanely hard or damaging to your xbox.
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And I can't see things getting better with the PS3 either (due to their recent firmware woes).....
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"one of the hackers behind the mod has joined Microsoft in calling it useless"
Keywords: Joined, Microsoft
Yep, I Don't Believe A Word This "Hacker" Has Said About It Being Useless...Plus He's A Sellout.
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I don't care about making Joystiq news, but I do care about getting cited this bad. Robinsod never called the hack useless, he said: "This hack is useless to the public in it’s current form, it has not been ‘weaponised’ and currently requires that the flash chip is removed from the drive circuit board and inserted into a special flash programming device."
Slight difference, makes your article rather off the point.
At #10, the cool guy from "the scene": You say Microsoft cannot upgrade the firmware because you control the firmware. That assumption is correct. However, Microsoft will always be able to *detect* the firmware. And build this check into new games released from now on. Whatever TeamXecuter releases based on this hack will turn an awful lot of 360's into 3.5Kg paperweights only capable of playing pirated games released between Nov 2005 and May 2006.
I'll laugh my ass off though at all the people having to spend $400 on a new Xbox 360. I want face photographs of the first idiot to discover his 360 was practically bricked by MS.
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but they had braken the thing and hacked it is true...
And from starting, MS things having these kind a holes in their systems..
dont they need to do something in this matter?
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but they had braken the thing and hacked it is true...
And from starting, MS things having these kind a holes in their systems..
dont they need to do something in this matter?
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This isn't a permanent hack. They will hack the hardware properly eventually.
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