Hacked Xbox 360 firmware prevents banning
By Thomas Ricker 
posted May 31st 2007 9:03AM
posted May 31st 2007 9:03AM
In today's episode of tit-for-tat, hackers have blocked Microsoft's attempt to ban their modified consoles. Just two weeks ago remember, Microsoft began checking and then banning Xbox 360 consoles from Xbox Live if the Big M found the gear to be modified in violation of the Terms of Use. However, new firmware -- a tat if you will -- was just released by the lively (to say the least) modding community making hacked Xbox 360s invisible to Microsoft's snooping; if they can't see it, they can't ban it. Now come on Microsoft, show us your tit. Erm.
Not everything on a game disc is signed or encrypted. And you don't have to modify code to modify a game.
Textures, for example, could be made transparent on your copy of a disc so that you can see the player lurking behind a wall.
Hacks like this that allow burned discs to play also allow modifications like this to be made to those discs.
Hehe, I've actually bought stuff from one of the companies cited in that suit. :)
I'd be wary of the enforceability of shrinkwrap licenses. Legally, you are "doing" something, which is a requirement for accepting a contract, but you are not doing something very traceable. With a written contract, you sign and date and witnesses sign and date. With a shrinkwrap license, you can claim any number of reasons you were not able to enter into a contract (you were drunk, your kid opened it, etc.).
Contract law is a very strange beast. As straightforward as it may seem ("you agreed to the terms"), a contract has to be fair and legal. For example, say I buy a game and its EULA says I cannot make any copies, then proceed to make a copy for my own personal use. What I would have done is against the terms I have agreed to; however, that part of the contract contradicts copyright law. You cannot give up a legal right in a contract, which invalidates that clause.
Most contracts contain a common clause at the bottom which states that if any clause is unenforceable or invalid, only that clause is invalid. This is actually CYA for contracts. If they did not contain this clause, the entire contract would be null and void.
Employment contracts are the biggest offenders. They put all sorts of stuff in there, usually knowing it's unenforceable. And despite the fact that all at-will contracts state that either party may terminate the contract at any time for any reason, wrongful termination suits abound.
Just graduated law school; in bar/bri; well aware of enforceability of employment contracts vs. restraints on trade. :-)
But clicking through is pretty widely accepted as acceptance. Similarly, failure to return a computer (i.e., not acting affirmatively) is construed as accepting a contract with an arbitration clause ala Hill v. Gateway.
My response was mainly to the OP saying he couldn't accept a contract if it was on the inside of the box.
-p-
The modders claimed prior to the ban that the firmwares were not detectable. And they were wrong. What makes you believe them now? That's like saying a locks is unbreakable because nobody's tried. Can you tell when or if Microsoft is looking at your firmware? You can't. Then one day, thousands of flashed X-Boxes are banned. Also, this doesn't help people who have already been banned. And it doesn't help people with fresh 360's either because, well, look at history.
RANT ALERT!!!!!!! ATTENTION ALL BANNING SUPPORTERS - ALL MODDERS LOOK AWAY!!!!
How is modding a car ie. putting performance tires, changing the exhaust, changing out the air filter, mufflers, clutch assembly, gear shift, adding a blower EVEN, yes I said EVEN changing out the main chip any different from changing out the dvd player in an xbox360? How is it different from changing the "chip" meaning the software it runs from or whatever it is that gets the mods to work? How is it different than changing the hard drive to get more size or better performance out of it?
You purchased the car yes? Actually most likely, you're still making payments so it REALLY isn't yours yet. For this example, you bought it, it's yours!
So the car is yours, you add high performance tires. Your xbox, you change out your hd or make your dvd player better.
WHATS THE DIFFERENCE????????????????????
The car has software, hardware, peoples time and energy into making it. It has peoples intelligence built right in. Don't give me that crap about "People are changing the software that runs on it blah blah blah". SO WHAT!!!!!!!
They change cars all the time and have been doing since the beginning of the car. WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?????????????????
Make your stuff better. Make it stronger, faster smarter prettier. That is what INNOVATION is about. Hey, all you followers out there....FUCK OFF AND GET OUTTA MY WAY!!!!!!!!!!!
ITS MY SHIT, I BOUGHT IT, FUCK OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!! I didn't buy a license to use the xbox, I'm not renting it, I bought an xbox! When I buy a box of jello, I do with it what I want. Some days, I make it, put fruit in it watch it get hard, play with it for a sec then eat it! Other days I make some, let my gf play with it, then IT gets hard, then I let HER play with it!
Come on people, look forward in life. To all you people out there who "support banning", get a life. I have one! My goal is to make my life happier and better in any way possible. Modding my xbox, xbox360, ps3 and wii is one way of doing that. There is no way that I am gonna sit back and take it "from the man" forever. If you NON modders are such losers that you can't see the benefit of ADVANCEMENT, then screw you! You deserve to be beaten in xbox live from all of our cheating mods! Dumbasses!
We don't mod to cheat, we mod to have better machines because the big companies dont give us what WE want. They give us what THEY want.
How freaking hard is it to put a 120 gb drive in a xbox from the get go? Charge me an extra $100, we would have bought it! Same goes for the PS3. No, they want to put it out later and screw people that spent money on there machines when they first came out. I know tech changes and things get better with time but that's not the point. The point is that they don't give us what they want. They give us what THEY want us to have. The proof is that they try to ban machines that have been changed. Why don't they want us to have large hard drives? Because they want us to buy there crappy 20GB external drive. Give me a break. Give me a 120 gb or large then maybe I'll think about buying your product instead of doing what I do best and that's improving on someone elses ideas.
GIVE ME WHAT I WANT and then I'll think about investing in your product more!
Ummm, read my reply about the car thing. You can do whatever you want to your car, but within limits. You can't drive legally with a NOS pack (atleast not here). There's illegal widths on tires. There are limits on how loud it can go. And in the end no matter what you do, there are laws as to WHERE you can use these Supped up beasts. So yeah, that disvalidates your entire argument. When you can tell me you can customize your car HOWEVER you want without limits and still use public streets, then great. But remember wheels, exhausts, NOS, height, hydro's, are all bound by restrictive laws (change state to state and province to province, sure, but they still exist). Think before you speak. Funny thing is, I support both sides, that's what creates a scene.
So if you think you can mod anything you own and use it wherever you want, go buy some pants, cut a big whole in the crotch and walk into the mall. When they go to kick you out, tell them that you own them and can do what you want. LMAO
Sorry....in that last line....they don't give us what WE want.....but you got the point!
:)
stop yelling!
I'm not missing any points and I'm not changing their patented objects either. I'm not CHANGING their motherboard, their cpus or their software. I'm making changes to existing technology that I purchased to use in my home. For instance, I may change the way the system boots, or even add software to it to make it boot differently, but I'm not rewriting their software. I am however changing out their hard drive, which, by the way, is not only mine because I bought it but it wasn't their patented technology to begin with. It was a part that they bought from someones else to put into their "patented home entertainment unit".
Again, I am not against Microsoft banning the systems from live, I agree completely with ya Morgon and I agree with the concept of playing by their online rules. However, I am NOT against buying a product and improving on it by changing a few things here and there. My rant was specifically to those whose are against modding machines.
So, again, please someone tell me whats the difference between improving a cars performance by doing all the things we do to cars, and improving a gaming machines performance by doing the exact same types of things. Why is it completely legal to go somewhere and buy a computer chip to CHANGE the way a cars timing runs among other things in order to get higher horsepower and performance out of it? I am COMPLETELY reprogramming the cars computer as to how it runs to increase it's performance. Is this any different than going out and purchasing a chip to put in my xbox so that I can install a larger, higher performing hard drive? Absolutely not.
My stance on this is that you should be able to hack all you want, but if it reaches the point where you are affecting other paying users' experience (xbox live multiplayer) than it is horrible. Now on microsoft's side, to go as far as banning, well idk if that is right, I think instead of banning for hacked machines, they should check for clean machines, and only allow those to play on live. Its pretty easy, don't hack if you want to use live.
For those who wants to compare modding their Xboxes and modding their car, look at it this way. Yes you can mod your car all you want, but lets say you want to compete in a race, unless you follow the rules, you won't be able to race. If you want to use Live, follow the rules and you'll be okay.
How is the hell does changing my hard drive for a higher performing or a bigger one have ANYTHING to do playing against you online? How does adding a emulation software to my hard drive that I installed so that I can play snes games or whatever the heck it plays, affect online HALO 2 game play? How does flashing the firmware of a machine so that I can play burned backups of MY games allow me to cheat at Xbox Live? You're an idiot! People like "HOMER" are what cause issues like this because they can't see past the nose on their face.
I never EVER said modding an xbox to outperform you on xbox live is acceptable. As a matter of fact, to my knowledge, I don't know that there ARE any cheats for xbox live. I know there are game cheats to do this and that to your character but EVERYONE has access to those cheats so blame to coders of the software for putting those in the game to begin with.
I agree when you are competing, yes, it would be nice to play fair and be equal, BUT, and that's a big but, changing my hard drive has NOTHING to do with online play. Adding software to a great machine like the xbox and xbox360 is not changing the way we play on Xbox Live. If Microsoft is having shit fit about modders, maybe they should embrace us and help us by allowing changes and figure out a way to make money. Gee, hmmmm, let's sell an xbox that can be modded easily, we can sell extra hard drives like we do now(20gb).
Copying dvds and games is another issue all together but that isn't an xbox thing alone, it's the digital technology that's "flawed" if you will. Everyone that puts out media will have to deal with it until there is another way.
Modding a machine does NOT affect it's online game play. Those who think it does don't know what they are talking about!
Listen, Todd. You can do whatever you want with the Xbox you bought, it's yours, but Microsoft can also do whatever they want with their online network too, it's theirs. It's completely up to them to ban whoever they want from it. If they chose to ban everyone with a modded console from Live, and you have a modded console, all you can do is suck it up. You agreed on the terms of use when you got access to Live that you would abide to their rules, and you didn't, so it's only expectable that they would ban you. Regardless of your true intentions when you modded your console, it's still modded, and you can be sure that Microsoft's only interest is not just to stop cheating, but to prevent rampant piracy and protect their interests and that of the game developers.
To take your example, yes, you can completely and legally modify your car with whatever you want, but you can't complain when you're disqualified from a race that only allows stock cars to participate.
Listen Silvard.....Let me say this AGAIN.....MY DEFENSE IS FOR MODDING YOUR MACHINE IN GENERAL, NOT CHEATING WITH XBOX LIVE!!!!!!!!!!!! As a matter of fact, I said I believe I said that before. Why don't you read my comments above and then rephrase yours. I mention that changing the machine does not affect online game play. I don't believe there ARE ANY WAYS TO DO THIS! I may be wrong but how does a 500GB hard drive help me cheat on xbox live? How does a dual booted machine(one side running the standard xbox stuff and then the other running home brewed apps) help me cheat in xbox live? How does changing ti dvd drive in my xbox help me cheat on xbox live? How does making a backup of a game help me cheat on xbox live? As a matter of fact how does ANY mod help me cheat on xbox live?
If you can't answer any of those questions ACCURATELY then SHUT THE FUCK UP! I don't like cheating and YES I HAVE SAID THIS BEFORE....IT'S NOT FAIR!!!!!!!!!
But until you can prove that any of those situations help anyone cheat on xbox live, STOP trying to say that it does.
The issue here is not whether I am cheating on xbox live. It's about banning people from using xbox live because there is a change to their system that they own. You did not by a license to use an xbox, you bought it outright!!!!!!
This is not stock car racing, I am not bound by rules that all machines must be alike in every way possible. If that were true then why are there different consoles being sold with different hardware specs? To use your analogy, every machine should be identicle, correct? I believe there are 3 different consoles sold, 1 with no hd, 1 with a 20gb and 1 with a 120gb. That is not stock! The person that has an Elite has a better advantage because they can store more data than the person that has a core system.
Now if that core person went out and purchased the hd add on, is he now capable of being a cheater on xbox live? Absolutely not.
Your analogy doesn't work. Do you have another one I can shoot down?
Todd, please notice that I never once said that you were modding to cheat, however in the eyes of MS, that doesn't matter. It's their service, whether you cheat or not is irrelevant, if they choose to ban everyone who mods their console then it's their right, just like it is your right to modify your Xbox 360 as you see fit. Merely buying the 360 does not mean you have a god given right to use Live, signing up to Live under their terms, and abiding their rules does. Please notice they're not prosecuting modders or locking down their 360 or anything, they're simply not letting them on their own private network, I fail to see what's unfair about that. It's not as if you inadvertently modded your 360, and had you read Live's ToS (which you to agree to in order to be able to get the service) then you'd know what their stance on modding has always been, so it shouldn't be a surprise.
And yes, stock doesn't mean all alike, it means unmodified from factory specs, which is that the Core, Premium and Elite are. Buying an official accessory for the console, such as the HDD, is hardly modifying it.
First off, Happy 4th! :)
Second....Lets try this one more time. The WHOLE POINT OF ALL THIS IS......Why ban consoles because people have modded them?
The point ISN'T that I am breaking rules for XBL by doing so. It ISN'T that "it's not fair". It ISN'T that I don't agree with it. It ISN'T that I need to abide by their rules to join their service. It ISN'T that I'm cheating because I put a larger hard drive in my 360. These issues are ALL SECONDARY!!!!!!!!
THE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE HERE IS......WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY do these companies fear us changing their machines? WHY WHY WHY don't they allow it without "penalties"? Am I harming their servers? Am I hacking XBL to serve my purposes? Am I stealing information? Am I deleting accounts? Am I cheating? Am I stealing money somehow from them? Am I stealing ANYTHING from them? AM I breaking their service with my large hard drive? Do I have an unfair advantage with XBL somehow because I've got a 500Gig drive and everyone else has a 120?
The answer to all these questions is absolutely NO. My point and I'm sure others would agree, is what is wrong with modding a machine in the ways I listed? The 360 is a great machine but it lacks SO much because the company that designed it wants to FORCE limitations on their units. WHY? It's not like they are selling anything like I mentioned are they? OOPS I forgot, they sell a 20gb hard drive.
I want to focus on the hard drive mod for the best example of what I'm talking about. Please, for the love of GOD PLEASE tell me why Microsoft would ban a machine because I have put a bigger hard drive in my machine. Can anyone list a reason WHY that is such a big deal and WHY it's such a no no?
I am going to flash my 360 drive to read DVD-R as well as my original games.
With the 1:1 match up MS looks for on LIVE, will I be safe having my 360 flashed and only playing my original games on LIVE?
AND... would I then have to dissconnect the console from the internet in order to play my back-up copies?
Can MS search for my flashed drive while I'm not playing online?
Are they watching me through my telivision?
Also... Any idea why my XBOX stops in the middle of load screens every now and then and says "please remove and clean disc"?
I play backups and such, but to those saying you bought the system you can do whatever you want with it. That's pretty lame. You're right you can buy a car and modify it as much as you want. but you CAN'T drive it whenever, wherever, however you want without getting fined or BANNED from driving. And the licence you agreed to was the ONLINE service, which is NOT in the box, but read ON SCREEN when you sign up. I still support the "scene", but stop being so arrogant. Just cause you hack your satalite box doesn't give you the RIGHT to use their service. Idiots... If you don't play by the rules, you don't play at all. Don't like it use a tunnel service.
Best answer I can give to that question is.
Because they forwarned you.
Because they don't want to support products they don't supply.
Because they don't want to support pirating (not to say YOU are, but many peopl do.
Because you can't put any engine you want in your car and still drive it on the road (needs to be street legal).
And as for the HD upgrade, why would they support NON MS products? They probably haven't tested compatibility, and they don't pick and choose who to ban. ANY MODS get banned. Don't like it, don't play on live.
OK here we go again with another dumbass! YOUR argument IS valid to a point! Of course there are legal limits to what you can do with a VEHICLE. I'm sorry you MISINTERPRETED my comments to such an extreme. MY comments were based on small changes to a car such as maybe exaust, computer chips to change timing, mufflers, headers, etc. ALL to add horsepower and to enhance performance and ALL are legal. I'm sorry that I implied that adding a jet engine to a Mustang and driving it on a public street was entirely legal. I didn't mean to imply that adding monster tires to a Toyota Yaris and driving it on a public would be ok. YOUR argument in NO way dis validates my argument. In fact, You didn't mention one thing in your little car example that I CAN'T do legally given the right circumstances which actually HELPS me make MY point. AT LEAST THERE IS A TIME AND A PLACE WHERE THOSE CERTAIN CHANGES ARE LEGAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!NOT SO IN THIS ARGUMENT CORRECT????? So in fact again, you can't really compare your examples to this situation because they are different. You can however, compare mine because everything I mentioned is completely legal. Name one place where you cannot replace factory tires with higher performing ones! Name one place where I cannot change out an engine! Name one place where I can't change my exaust!
I can completely tear a car apart into a thousand pieces and reconstruct it in any way I choose, it's COMPLETELY LEGAL. I can change tires, engines, doors, windows, everything. Of course there are limits to where I can drive the thing but that's outside the arguments scope don't you think? I never once said I can make any changes I desire and drive it on a public road illegally. I guess I have to specifically say, because some people just can't think very well and use their brains,
ALL MODIFICATIONS TO VEHICLES MENTIONED IN THIS OR ANY OTHER COMMENT THAT I HAVE MADE IN THE PAST OR WILL EVER MAKE ARE MEANT TO BE UNDERSTOOD AS STREET LEGAL MODIFICATIONS AND ARE ALSO MODIFICATIONS THAT ARE ALLOWED ON ANY STREET WHERE IT IS LEGAL AS THEY ARE MODIFICATIONS TO VEHICLES FOR THE SOLE INTENT ON MAKING A BETTER PERFORMING VEHICLE ON A PUBLIC STREET AND ARE NOT MEANT TO BE UNDERSTOOD AS ILLEGAL/NON PUBLIC STREET DRIVEABLE MODIFICATIONS. FURTHER MORE, ONLY AS A WORD OF ADVICE, AND VERTAINLY NOT LEGAL AT THAT, DON'T ADD A JET ENGINE TO YOUR CAR BECAUSE IT MAY RENDER IT NON DRIVEABLE ON A PUBLIC STREET.
CLEAR ENOUGH JERK OFF?
Example - XBOX 360 - add chip, add software - run apps - reboot into M$ OS to run normally if needed. Mustang - Add chip, reload software to make engine run at different timings, gas/air mix, etc - reload software to run normally if needed.
What's the difference?
OK here we go again with another dumbass! YOUR argument IS valid to a point! Of course there are legal limits to what you can do with a VEHICLE. I'm sorry you MISINTERPRETED my comments to such an extreme. MY comments were based on small changes to a car such as maybe exaust, computer chips to change timing, mufflers, headers, etc. ALL to add horsepower and to enhance performance and ALL are legal. I'm sorry that I implied that adding a jet engine to a Mustang and driving it on a public street was entirely legal. I didn't mean to imply that adding monster tires to a Toyota Yaris and driving it on a public would be ok. YOUR argument in NO way dis validates my argument. In fact, You didn't mention one thing in your little car example that I CAN'T do legally given the right circumstances which actually HELPS me make MY point. AT LEAST THERE IS A TIME AND A PLACE WHERE THOSE CERTAIN CHANGES ARE LEGAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!NOT SO IN THIS ARGUMENT CORRECT????? So in fact again, you can't really compare your examples to this situation because they are different. You can however, compare mine because everything I mentioned is completely legal. Name one place where you cannot replace factory tires with higher performing ones! Name one place where I cannot change out an engine! Name one place where I can't change my exaust!
I can completely tear a car apart into a thousand pieces and reconstruct it in any way I choose, it's COMPLETELY LEGAL. I can change tires, engines, doors, windows, everything. Of course there are limits to where I can drive the thing but that's outside the arguments scope don't you think? I never once said I can make any changes I desire and drive it on a public road illegally. I guess I have to specifically say, because some people just can't think very well and use their brains,
ALL MODIFICATIONS TO VEHICLES MENTIONED IN THIS OR ANY OTHER COMMENT THAT I HAVE MADE IN THE PAST OR WILL EVER MAKE ARE MEANT TO BE UNDERSTOOD AS STREET LEGAL MODIFICATIONS AND ARE ALSO MODIFICATIONS THAT ARE ALLOWED ON ANY STREET WHERE IT IS LEGAL AS THEY ARE MODIFICATIONS TO VEHICLES FOR THE SOLE INTENT ON MAKING A BETTER PERFORMING VEHICLE ON A PUBLIC STREET AND ARE NOT MEANT TO BE UNDERSTOOD AS ILLEGAL/NON PUBLIC STREET DRIVEABLE MODIFICATIONS. FURTHER MORE, ONLY AS A WORD OF ADVICE, AND VERTAINLY NOT LEGAL AT THAT, DON'T ADD A JET ENGINE TO YOUR CAR BECAUSE IT MAY RENDER IT NON DRIVEABLE ON A PUBLIC STREET.
CLEAR ENOUGH JERK OFF?
Example - XBOX 360 - add chip, add software - run apps - reboot into M$ OS to run normally if needed. Mustang - Add chip, reload software to make engine run at different timings, gas/air mix, etc - reload software to run normally if needed.
What's the difference?
Todd, you have some of the worst arguments I've ever seen. Microsoft has every right to ban your console from their networks. You do not own it. It isn't like they're turning your 360 into a brick. Regardless of what the modding accomplished, you violate the EULA when you registered for XBox Live. Complain to MS if you don't like it. It's extremely immature to call people "Jerkoffs" when they're absolutely correct. Your car example is easily refuted. Some mods are illegal to your car, the government owns the roads and can decided who and what drives on them. It works the same way with MS - they establish a "No Mods to play on XBox Live rule" and you're forced to abide by them. It's a liability to MS and cuts into their profits so they decided we can legally enforce it by revoking your privileges. Again, They aren't violating your ownership - they aren't bricking your XBox. They are legally doing what they can to discourage people from going against their original specifications. The difference between this and your car example? There is none - just the rules are tougher (you may think draconian). Legally, you can do whatever you want to your XBox, but to drive on their roads - they can make those rules.
i agree if ms wants modders to stop modding than lower prices of HD,games,and etc.
YOU CAN MOD WITH HACKED FIRMWARE
its quite simple such as any halo games or many multiplayer games.
Copy disk data, mod the maps you wish. Use ******** (any signer will work) to
resign the maps
then make a complete duplicate but with the new maps (signed) replacing the old maps
wuala u got mods its not that hard u noobs. You can find micro$oft signers for almost any type of file they make online. Im a noob compared to everyone i knoe so u guys are like super noobs.