Some 360s incompatible with new dash
Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 12:16 pm
Don't Take the Update
Give it sometime for the guys to have a look at it.
You have been warned
Some 360s incompatible with new dash
According to news from Kotaku, the new Xbox 360 firmware upgrade arriving imminently is incompatible with "a very small number" of consoles, and will prevent certain games from running on the console. The good news is that the platform holder will replace these machines with a brand new Xbox 360 S with 250GB hard drive.
It's a remarkable story, with Kotaku inferring that the new XGD3 disc standard - which adds 1GB of useable data to 360 DVDs - may not be compatible with a certain percentage of Xbox 360 DVD drives. However, the truth behind this incompatibility appears to be somewhat more involved. Since the arrival of the beta version of the new dashboard, hackers have been reverse-engineering it and finding a number of surprising additions never seen before in previous upgrades.
Firstly, this new release is the first that will actually see the drive firmware being rewritten by the Xbox 360 itself. Any one using a current hacked DVD drive will find that updating to the new dash instantly kills their ability to run pirate software, with the hacked code completely expunged from the DVD drive. Microsoft has employed a wide range of DVD drives in its machines from launch - the best guess is that not all of them can be flashed directly, necessitating a swapped console.
This new firmware doesn't just open up the additional 1GB of space previously set aside for the outdated, compromised security scheme - it features a completely brand new anti-piracy mechanism. In the past, previous attempts to foil piracy (such as AP 2.5) only worked on certain drives, with the feature disabled if you had older hardware. With the new system, it seems that the anti-piracy measures are so deeply embedded that they cannot simply be skipped in the same way.
We've also heard a number of reports that the new security protocols go beyond simply updating the dash. Multiple developer sources have told us that Microsoft has upped its game here significantly, and is now calling on studios to help get involved in combating Xbox 360 game piracy. According to this information, new APIs are being worked on that programmers can add to their titles which perform additional scans of the DVD during gameplay, not just when the game is booted as is currently the case.
Burned copies of Xbox 360 games are not 100 per cent identical to the originals, so hacked DVD drive firmware masks the differences with on-the-fly patching. Microsoft's hope is that in-game checks will be far harder to isolate and patch, and with control of these features in the developer's hands, pirate copies of games could even be "downgraded" into playable demos - for example, they could become non-functional after a couple of levels' play.
XDG3 is clearly a big deal for Microsoft - as evidenced by the company effectively giving away free Xboxes to ensure compatibility for all its userbase - but whether its new anti-piracy measures will be enough remains to be seen. The firm's last effort - AP2.5 - was dispensed with in a matter of days, and already drive firmware hacker "commodore4eva" is claiming that he has defeated the new countermeasures introduced in the beta dash...
Breaking News
Team Xecuter: New Dash Update Info and 0225 Unlock Update
>> From team-xecuter.com:
For many weeks a dedicated team has been hard at work in preparation for the release of the new dash which started to roll out today (2.0.13146).
Although we have been quiet in recent weeks, work has been ferocious with a large group of talented, and very well known scene individuals, busting their asses to make sure that the work of the 360 scene keeps on rolling.
So now that the rollout has started, the team can actually start to implement much of the work into releases for public consumption.
Here are some things of note so you have a clue of what’s coming:
* After the update the drive fw is also updated with a new stock fw, rendering the drive unable to play backups (for now).
* When the drives are flashed back again with LT fw the previous AP2.5 patched titles are no longer booting (expected and will be updated with new XBC and 0800)
* It seems that the first update has only been sent to Liteon DG-16D2S and Liteon DG-16D4S drives (Unconfirmed)
* The key location on phat models is now in a different area, so a new JF will be released to accommodate this change which was already anticipated in advance.
* There has been EXTENSIVE progress with all the new AP2.5 challenges. New 0800 BENQ fw is almost ready.
* There is a new XBC (Xbox Backup Creator) that has been designed alongside the new 0800 ripping fw – you’ll love it
* There will be new LT fw’s for all of the new versions that have been released.
* XGD3 progress is being made and there will be an update on this soon.
* We have received unverified reports that after the update to a 9504 slim drive the write protect was enabled like the 0225 drives (Unconfirmed)
* All the slim key read and slim write routines have changed also (again fully anticipated). Easily fixed with new JF
We will also confirm that we have a solution to all unlock all 0225 drives so you can write the firmware. This has been 100% verified and working and we are producing the addons as we speak and will have them available as soon as possible. We will release 2 versions, a kit for pro modders to offer as a service and also a DIY mod type device that users can install themselves. There is a LOT going on so we are working as fast as possible on all projects.
So in the next few days/weeks you can expect new Lt firmwares for 0225 and others, a new Jungle Flasher, a new 0800 fw with new Ap2.5 support, a new Xbox Backup Creator and an addon to unlock 0225 and 0401 Liteon DG-14DS drives (which will also work on 9504 drives too if they become locked out)
Give it sometime for the guys to have a look at it.
You have been warned
Some 360s incompatible with new dash
According to news from Kotaku, the new Xbox 360 firmware upgrade arriving imminently is incompatible with "a very small number" of consoles, and will prevent certain games from running on the console. The good news is that the platform holder will replace these machines with a brand new Xbox 360 S with 250GB hard drive.
It's a remarkable story, with Kotaku inferring that the new XGD3 disc standard - which adds 1GB of useable data to 360 DVDs - may not be compatible with a certain percentage of Xbox 360 DVD drives. However, the truth behind this incompatibility appears to be somewhat more involved. Since the arrival of the beta version of the new dashboard, hackers have been reverse-engineering it and finding a number of surprising additions never seen before in previous upgrades.
Firstly, this new release is the first that will actually see the drive firmware being rewritten by the Xbox 360 itself. Any one using a current hacked DVD drive will find that updating to the new dash instantly kills their ability to run pirate software, with the hacked code completely expunged from the DVD drive. Microsoft has employed a wide range of DVD drives in its machines from launch - the best guess is that not all of them can be flashed directly, necessitating a swapped console.
This new firmware doesn't just open up the additional 1GB of space previously set aside for the outdated, compromised security scheme - it features a completely brand new anti-piracy mechanism. In the past, previous attempts to foil piracy (such as AP 2.5) only worked on certain drives, with the feature disabled if you had older hardware. With the new system, it seems that the anti-piracy measures are so deeply embedded that they cannot simply be skipped in the same way.
We've also heard a number of reports that the new security protocols go beyond simply updating the dash. Multiple developer sources have told us that Microsoft has upped its game here significantly, and is now calling on studios to help get involved in combating Xbox 360 game piracy. According to this information, new APIs are being worked on that programmers can add to their titles which perform additional scans of the DVD during gameplay, not just when the game is booted as is currently the case.
Burned copies of Xbox 360 games are not 100 per cent identical to the originals, so hacked DVD drive firmware masks the differences with on-the-fly patching. Microsoft's hope is that in-game checks will be far harder to isolate and patch, and with control of these features in the developer's hands, pirate copies of games could even be "downgraded" into playable demos - for example, they could become non-functional after a couple of levels' play.
XDG3 is clearly a big deal for Microsoft - as evidenced by the company effectively giving away free Xboxes to ensure compatibility for all its userbase - but whether its new anti-piracy measures will be enough remains to be seen. The firm's last effort - AP2.5 - was dispensed with in a matter of days, and already drive firmware hacker "commodore4eva" is claiming that he has defeated the new countermeasures introduced in the beta dash...
Breaking News
Team Xecuter: New Dash Update Info and 0225 Unlock Update
>> From team-xecuter.com:
For many weeks a dedicated team has been hard at work in preparation for the release of the new dash which started to roll out today (2.0.13146).
Although we have been quiet in recent weeks, work has been ferocious with a large group of talented, and very well known scene individuals, busting their asses to make sure that the work of the 360 scene keeps on rolling.
So now that the rollout has started, the team can actually start to implement much of the work into releases for public consumption.
Here are some things of note so you have a clue of what’s coming:
* After the update the drive fw is also updated with a new stock fw, rendering the drive unable to play backups (for now).
* When the drives are flashed back again with LT fw the previous AP2.5 patched titles are no longer booting (expected and will be updated with new XBC and 0800)
* It seems that the first update has only been sent to Liteon DG-16D2S and Liteon DG-16D4S drives (Unconfirmed)
* The key location on phat models is now in a different area, so a new JF will be released to accommodate this change which was already anticipated in advance.
* There has been EXTENSIVE progress with all the new AP2.5 challenges. New 0800 BENQ fw is almost ready.
* There is a new XBC (Xbox Backup Creator) that has been designed alongside the new 0800 ripping fw – you’ll love it
* There will be new LT fw’s for all of the new versions that have been released.
* XGD3 progress is being made and there will be an update on this soon.
* We have received unverified reports that after the update to a 9504 slim drive the write protect was enabled like the 0225 drives (Unconfirmed)
* All the slim key read and slim write routines have changed also (again fully anticipated). Easily fixed with new JF
We will also confirm that we have a solution to all unlock all 0225 drives so you can write the firmware. This has been 100% verified and working and we are producing the addons as we speak and will have them available as soon as possible. We will release 2 versions, a kit for pro modders to offer as a service and also a DIY mod type device that users can install themselves. There is a LOT going on so we are working as fast as possible on all projects.
So in the next few days/weeks you can expect new Lt firmwares for 0225 and others, a new Jungle Flasher, a new 0800 fw with new Ap2.5 support, a new Xbox Backup Creator and an addon to unlock 0225 and 0401 Liteon DG-14DS drives (which will also work on 9504 drives too if they become locked out)
untill further notice.. im sure it wont take long though before we are back up and running 
