Xbox 360 DVD firmware hacked?

Apparently it's nowhere near the type of hack that would allow you to run unsigned code on your Xbox 360, but due to Microsoft forgetting to "remove the debug routines from the [firmware]," (whatever that means) some hackers have managed to get a burned copy of PGR3 running on the 360. Turns out these are the same guys who turned out the DVD firmware hack for the original Xbox, so things look pretty legit, and the video of the burned disc up and running seems to verify their claims. The team of hackers, headed by TheSpecialist, isn't going to release the actual modified firmware since they're not quite into piracy, but the security details are available on the web so we're sure their results -- if real -- will be soon duplicated.

[Via Max Console; thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Watch - Video of PGR3 running [18.7MB]
Read - Xbox Hacker forum post

[Dave @ Mar 18th 2006 6:04PM]

The biggest problem for the prate wanna-bees and this hack - it requires a hardware firmware burner, not something many will have access to.

Impressive hack by these guys, no doubt. But for all of the torrent whores who will be looking for an easy patch and 360 games ISOs, this won't help you - yet.

[gamergeek @ Jul 9th 2007 10:22AM]

hey dave,can u please tell where i can find that iso file..these prices of xbox games are huge man.

[ugh138 @ Mar 18th 2006 6:27PM]

as long as it plays pr0n, Kudos to them

[jbstingray @ Mar 18th 2006 6:47PM]

Why does it look like that is just a peice of paper on the disk with PGR3 written on it, which quite possibly could have the real disk under? I dunno.

[mike @ Mar 18th 2006 6:51PM]

jbstringray>

Watch the video, they flip it over

[Robby @ Mar 18th 2006 6:55PM]

jbstingray, official discs have a Microsoft hologram around the inner circle of the DVD that most labels don't cover. Also, pressed DVDs don't have dye on the bottom...

[rda52 @ Mar 18th 2006 6:56PM]

it seems to be a printable CD, GO back to ipw

[jake @ Mar 18th 2006 7:09PM]

jbstingray: that was my first though but how many xbox dics have a purple underside?

Maybe there's another xbox plugged in the back!

A lot of websites are reporting this as true

[Ron Holmes @ Mar 18th 2006 7:18PM]

I was just wondering wether or not the XBOX 360 has region coding for games like the previous model. I hated not being able to buy games from wherever in the world had the best games (not all get released in Oz).

Does anyone know? I tried Google, but getting the search term right is a must with so many mentions of the term XBOX360.

[mike @ Mar 18th 2006 7:24PM]

yes they do. so this hack would not help ya out :(

[jbstingray @ Mar 18th 2006 7:26PM]

Haha, I knew I would get trouble for that one....

Just a little food for thought, most likely real, but it is fun to start a good arguement :)

[CYRiX @ Mar 18th 2006 7:40PM]

HEY HEY HEY HEY! Some games ARE region free! Theres a list somewhere but I don't feel like showing you. And whats a firmware burner?! All you do is attach the drive to a computer and then you can install a different firmware.

[Karl Viklund @ Mar 18th 2006 9:36PM]

Impressive. Impressive.
These guys realy know their stuff. I'm happy that they are not into piracy though. Because, most people want to hack their consoles only to run Pirated Games. Then there are a very small group that want to do something else. But they are very few. All I know that own a Xbox 1 console chipped it to run pirated games. Most people are not interested in something else like running Linux on it.

Anyway. Isn't it just for Microsoft to remove the debug-stuff, change some other things and then release an updated firmware with all new consoles? I think Microsoft will close this hole as fast as they can.

[Plebism UK @ Mar 18th 2006 9:56PM]

I recon there is another 360 plugged into the back - not sure my self :/

[mike @ Mar 18th 2006 10:11PM]

Karl Viklund>

yea they will update the firmware and then all you will have to do is reflash it.. they are screwed and damn it smells good because its only a matter of time untill someone follows in their footsteps and releases the firmware. :)

[jason @ Mar 18th 2006 10:20PM]

Karl, unfortunately you're right. I soldered a chip into my Xbox to allow it to function as a media center, home network file storage, run emulators for arcade and older consoles, and just for the fun of it. I think piracy is killing the game industry (especially for PCs) and it's a shame that most people don't see hardware-modding as anything other than a method to steal. Some people just suck.

[matt @ Mar 18th 2006 10:42PM]

Here in Australia, new xbox 360 games retail for $120 a peice. Piracy occurs because publishers are too greedy.

It's good to see some inroads in to hacking the 360 though. Hopefully this will spawn more interest and bigger hacks!

[L33tdawg @ Mar 18th 2006 11:37PM]

You can be sure the asian pirates are going to have a field day with this. I'm sure they already have their firmware burners warmed up.

[Smoke_Dawg_187 @ Mar 19th 2006 12:31AM]

Publishers are far from greedy. It takes a lot of time, money and man power to make a great game. Stealing is wrong!

[charlie @ Mar 19th 2006 2:16AM]

I live in China. The 360 isn't for sale here because pirated games aren't available; legit games aren't really sold in China at all. When this is hacked by the Chinese (I leave tomorrow for a month trip to America; I expect it to be by the time I get back), the 360 will be for sale here. I can't wait.

[jason @ Mar 19th 2006 3:36AM]

Matt, before you make your uniformed conclusion that publishers are greedy, take a look at just how much most videogames make. Games have virtually stayed the same price for two decades, despite great inflation. So, we're actually paying less for games than we did in the days of groups of about 10 people making 8-bit games. While the explosion of the market has allowed for greater profits, the cost of developing games is through the roof. Don't steal developers' hard work.

[embassy @ Mar 19th 2006 4:01AM]

lol@ "smack my bitch up" as the background music...genius...

[Steve @ Mar 19th 2006 4:34AM]

The picture could come from another xbox360 through the SCART connector on the back of the Sony TV :) You can switch input.. ;) anyway I'll never ever buy a MS gaming console.. :)

[aparaty cyfrowe @ Mar 19th 2006 6:54AM]

how nice ;)

[Dreizehnernuss @ Mar 19th 2006 7:41AM]

"Here in Australia, new xbox 360 games retail for $120 a peice. Piracy occurs because publishers are too greedy."

Here in Germany, a Ferrari retails for 300.000 Euros. They are too greedy so i'm gonna steal one from the street.

[btschimmi @ Mar 19th 2006 8:10AM]

if i buy a ferrari i know i'm going to get an awesome car...spending $120 and ending up with a crappy game that i'll play for 2 hours ist just not the same, so stop the stupid comparisons

[rory gallagher @ Mar 19th 2006 8:32AM]

as stupid as i may sound but couldnt that just be a dvd with the intro movies of pgr3?

after all it only shows the movies from pgr3??

[f3l1x @ Mar 19th 2006 10:06AM]

Wouldnt you at least test-drive the ferrari first? we can do this all day. stop making excuses for your inability to just do the right thing and do some research before you foolishly drop money into things.

my prediction: you wont understand and will strike back with some lame witty comment.

bottom line: your worng.

[chuck @ Mar 19th 2006 11:39AM]

can't test drive a video game f3l1x, if that is your real name. Anyway, some chaps like to make backups of their $120 games in case they get scratched.

[mcd @ Mar 19th 2006 12:07PM]

Mmicrosoft will release a manditory firmware update on live! anytime now to patch this problem. Then you can choose to update and have access, or dont and loose any online play.

[mike jones @ Mar 19th 2006 12:45PM]

how do we know that they just wanted to look smart, and put a sticker over the original cover. or tweaked with photoshop?

[MrFloppy @ Mar 19th 2006 1:28PM]

"Here in Germany, a Ferrari retails for 300.000 Euros. They are too greedy so i'm gonna steal one from the street."

Good one! XD
Pro-piracy arguments are soooo stupid...
When they are going to assume what they are? Thieves.

[Lagomorpho @ Mar 19th 2006 1:48PM]

Nuts to burned backups. Let me know when you'll be able to read disc iso's off an external hard drive. Mount whatever game you want, never have to get off the couch again. Ever.

[Fuji @ Mar 19th 2006 2:25PM]

o lard I miss napster

[Dreizehnernuss @ Mar 19th 2006 2:42PM]

"can't test drive a video game"

What? Ever heard of demos? Magazines? Gamefly?

And btw, no one is making "backups" of their leegally purchased games, thats a myth.

[mitch @ Mar 19th 2006 3:04PM]

@ Dreizehnernuss:

You're a moron.

[Les @ Mar 19th 2006 3:29PM]

I saw this comparison between hacking the original XBOX and the 360, if the video is true we might see some modchips in a month or two:

http://gadgets.fosfor.se/history-repeating-itself/

[slyecho @ Mar 19th 2006 4:08PM]

This video is FAKE--look at frames 596-599 when he's "flipping" the disk over.

I really don't need to explain it really, you can check it out yourself, it's quite clearly faked.

[JCollum @ Mar 19th 2006 4:19PM]

"And btw, no one is making "backups" of their leegally purchased games, thats a myth."

Dude, believe me, when my kid gets old enough to play on his PS4 I will definitely be making him play off of backups. Kids have an immense capacity to poorly predict their own actions. I.E. I know he's gonna scratch some $50 game beyond repair!

[James Flaagan @ Mar 19th 2006 4:52PM]

It's great that noone gives a damn about the people that try to make a living making these games, and just use the excuse of "we're doin' this to stick to M$!".

[Mike Browning @ Mar 19th 2006 5:12PM]

#37 slyecho: did you download and watch the "unedited" 100MB original version, or just the short one with the music? If you can spot the same thing in that one, please do share your info.

[Karl Viklund @ Mar 19th 2006 7:06PM]

"Here in Germany, a Ferrari retails for 300.000 Euros. They are too greedy so i'm gonna steal one from the street."

Exactly. Could not have said it better myself. Pracy is just killing the game industry. It strikes hard against the PC platform so alot of developers aim to making games for consoles instead. But, it seems that this market will dissaper thanks to piracy. You damn pirates, work, get some money and buy they games! Are you too st**** to realise that there are actually people making their living by developing games? They work hard to bring you good games and you just copy them. If you could copy a Ferrari as easy as a computer game people would not buy Ferraris and kill the car industry too. You also have to understand that that Microsoft and Sony are losing money on each console. The plan is to sell the console for a low price and then make the money from the games. This will kill the whole industry and business model. We will end up with more expensive consoles and games thanks to piracy. You have to stop copy games first, then they can lower the price! People who mod their consoles are just taking advantage of the situation. They buy a cheap console, mod it and then pirate games. The industry will end upp losing alot.

And. I have to say that if you pirate a game that you had no intention to buy anyway the industry doesn't lose money on that. BUT! You should not have what you haven't paied for so it doesn't matter. Piracy isn't a right. Games isn't a right. Movies isn't a right. It's not the game-industry that is too greedy, it's you! You who pirate all games that are greedy!

[Andy @ Mar 19th 2006 7:27PM]

Copyright infringement is not the same thing as stealing. Please make the differentiation.

And the ability to backup games is not copyright infringement, so again stop bitching about how it's piracy. The fact that the 360 supposedly scratches its games is a great reason to invite this sort of breakthrough. When the games cost sixty bucks, yeah, I'm going to backup my investment. You guys who are complaining about it like it's some sort of bad thing sound like **aa public relations releases.

And yeah, games are pretty profitable. The games division of Sony is the most profitable branch it has. Not to say that this justifies piracy, but it's a fallacy to think that developers are on the brink of losing their jobs or whatever.

[Burntham @ Mar 19th 2006 7:54PM]

I don't get teh importance of this, what is it, fill me in please.

[Karl Viklund @ Mar 19th 2006 8:42PM]

#42

Backup is not piracy but piracy is. When you download games, burn and run on a modded console. Only because game developers and Sony makes money doesn't mean it's right to copy. Think about the situation like this. If you were a game-developer at lets say, Quake4 game and worked hard on the game for a long time. Then alot of peple just download it, copy it. I wonder how you would feel then.

[cheese @ Mar 19th 2006 11:30PM]

"And btw, no one is making "backups" of their leegally purchased games, thats a myth."

Shows what u know, I have 6 kids who are hell on $50 discs.
thats why they never touch the originals.

a myth- ignorant statement.

[Gridlock @ Mar 20th 2006 4:29AM]

"Here in Germany, a Ferrari retails for 300.000 Euros. They are too greedy so i'm gonna steal one from the street."

If you couldn't afford a Ferrari, not ever, and if you could have a perfect copy of someone else's with their permission for free, which wouldn't deprive them of anything, would you still say no? I bet your high and mighty principles would go out of the window pretty damn fast.

This hack will be duplicated within a month by people with darker intentions. Ironic that MS tried so very, very hard to prevent unsigned code from running but then just ported over the Xbox DVD protection with only minor tweaks, and are now facing the fact that copied games could be run. So Pirates 1, Microsoft 0, home-coding hobbyists 0 (well, maybe 1/2 - this could lead somewhere for them, I suppose)

[Alcaron @ Mar 20th 2006 10:32AM]

Oh man, I love all the "nobody burns backups!" and "modchips are only used for piracy" and "piracy is killing the game industry"...

Ugh...yeah, games like Bulletproof, and 25 to life, and all the other GARBAGE getting pumped out at massive cost isn't doing it, no no, its the people who wouldn't buy the game anyway that are doing it in...lol

As for the other two. Screw all of you, _I_ burn backups, and _I_ chipped my Xbox so I could use XBMC, I got about 100x more life (and that translates DIRECTLY into value) out of my Xbox because I could use it to watch movies, or videos, or as an emulator, etc. etc.

Get off your high horses and stop the propaganda spewing. Even IF a segment of thepopulation uses it for ill, that is NO reason to disallow everyone from having their fair use.

[Dave @ Mar 20th 2006 10:34AM]

Reply to #36 -Les:

that timeline is very wrong. Especially on the "Xbox 360 Hacked" point. People are really not understanding what this DVD Firmware hack is. First and foremost, it's a DVD firmware hack, not a hack of the 360s core firmware. HUGE difference. The most this hack can accomplish is allow burned copies of 360 games. Right now, the only ones who could use the hack - if the hacked firmware were to be released - are those with the technicalt know-how to open the 360, open the DVD drive, desolder the chip that holds the FW, re-flash it using a hardware flasher, then replace the chip in the 360.

In short, the 360 itself hasn't been hacked, the DVD drive has. This is a long, long, long way from allowing unsigned code to run.

[ncsugrad94 @ Mar 20th 2006 4:02PM]

You can go out and purchase a DVD that stars Tom Cruise, who was paid 10 Million dollars, for about $15.
That doesn't include the other 150 Million they spent making the film, and the other 30 million promoting it.

Why does a music CD that did not cost a fraction of that cost about the same? And why does a game that cost much less to produce then either the CD or DVD cost $60+?

There will always be pirates when things are priced so high. Maybe if they charged $5 for a downloaded version of the game that had a few limitations then people would not waste their time trying to steal it.

The government spends millions of dollars on trying to catch tax fraud. Maybe they could save that money if they were not stealing from us as well.

When people are charged unfairly, they will look for alternate sources. In college I was charged $85 for a calculus book. I did not have the money, so I went to the library and copied the pages I needed. Yes I was a pirate, a theif, etc. But I would have gladly paid $20 or $30, but $85 for a book in 1989 that was first published in 1963? That was gauging in my opinion and that is just as illegal as being a pirate.