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[DaCocoBrova]

Why are there no real cheat devices for the XBOX?

I've always wondered that...

 

[The Shadow]

actually, banning so close to halo 2 is genius...

I've suspected this would happen for the longest time. Satallite providers do that around big TV events which is why I assumed it would happen around Halo 2. It was naive to believe just flipping off the mod chip would make it safe to play on Live!. If you've replaced the HDD in your Xbox, there's very little preventing it from being detected. Heck, most if not all swapped HDD have to have a hacked dash of some kind. What's stoping MS from scanning and detecting a second .XBE file in the C: drive that's not supposed to be there?

The Xbox is your hardware, but XBL is a community system. I'd rather have MS being heavy handed and closing as many doors to hackers as possible rather than trying to accomadate a handful innocent modders.

I agree completely. I modded my Xbox but in doing so, I accepted the risks in doing that and getting banned from Live!. Regardless what people say and the "legitimate" excuses, modding a console is a legal grey area with or without piracy. Anyone who mods shouldn't expect not to get banned from Live!. That's just stupid.

Again, cheating HOW? I don't mean playing online with a copied game, I mean actual in-game cheating. How has that been done...it seems impossible to do on Live.

It happened with Rainbow Six 3 back when I actually used to play it. People would alter the files in the cache drives and alter the net code. People would throw grenades and they would act like molitive cocktails and burn people to death on Live! Cheating does happen and it's all because of the direct access to the HDD that a mod chip allows.

 

[Blimblim]

Why are there no real cheat devices for the XBOX?

I've always wondered that...

Simple, there is no way to load an executable from a media without a modchip (or the media being 100% legit). On PS2 and NGC Datel and others found how to make them boot without having to have Sony's and Nintendo's approval (and of course it helped tremendously in finding how to create a boot disc on dreamcast...). Xbox may have been cracked by some other means, but the protection on the games themselves is almost impossible to duplicate (very big encryption key).
If MS fixes all the faults in the console bios and first step loader for Xenon, they will have a very hard to crack system. But then knowing MS...

 

[borghe]

so by that logic, would that mean it's okay to download a game that's only licensed in japan?

sorry.. forgot to add that fansubbed anime is technically covered under fair use as well.. it is illegal to download an unlicensed game because it is stealing being you never paid for it to begin with. when you download a show that was recorded off of TV, it is covered under fair use being the show was never charged for in the first place.

and yes, downloading a fansubbed DVD is in actuality illegal, even if it is unlicensed. However in that case most Japanese studios won't make a big deal about it until it is licensed.

If you want to hear something even more screwed up, today's anime licensers actually PAY ATTENTION to the fansub scene to determine what to bring over. there have actually been a number of seemingly bizarre choices licensed for the US that were based solely on fansub and P2P activity.

 

[The Shadow]

Looking at some of those posts, it looks like my guess is correct.

i got banned today

I've havent changed my hdd or anything like that. I've never used a copied game or dvd etc, I only chipped the xbox a few days ago, and only ever played xbox live with the chip off. It worked last night, it dont work today :/

:\evoxdash.xbe
E:\Apps\XBMC-1.1


i only modded the xbox so i could watch .avis from my pc using network

 

[Yusaku]

sorry.. forgot to add that fansubbed anime is technically covered under fair use as well.. it is illegal to download an unlicensed game because it is stealing being you never paid for it to begin with. when you download a show that was recorded off of TV, it is covered under fair use being the show was never charged for in the first place.

and yes, downloading a fansubbed DVD is in actuality illegal, even if it is unlicensed. However in that case most Japanese studios won't make a big deal about it until it is licensed.

If you want to hear something even more screwed up, today's anime licensers actually PAY ATTENTION to the fansub scene to determine what to bring over. there have actually been a number of seemingly bizarre choices licensed for the US that were based solely on fansub and P2P activity.

Uhhh, it's fair use to record a show on your TV. It's something else entirely to download something someone else recorded. I think you need to read up on copyright law there.

 

[Nerevar]

when you download a show that was recorded off of TV, it is covered under fair use being the show was never charged for in the first place.

Actually, that is illegal. You can legally record an analog broadcast yourself and view it later ("time shifting"), but you can't get it from someone else. Furthermore, under the DMCA, once we go to digital TV, you won't legally be allowed to use "time shifting" methods to view that signal (i.e. digital VCR-type devices will be illegal - including TiVo, unless it licenses decryption technology from the broadcaster). The constant erosion of fair use is very real and happening very quickly in American culture. I doubt most people even realize how little rights they have under the newest legislation.

 

[The Faceless Master]

~

 

[Nerevar]

well, with PGR2, if you are playing online with a copied game, you can modify the gear ratios etc... as seen by people who play on Xlink/XBC with modified cars... of course, the tricky part is getting on LIVE with a copied game...

A large amount of the data is cached. What cheaters do is load the game into cache and modify the files there, then reboot the system with the modchip off. The system sees the files in cache, so it doesn't reload them, then uses those files to give cheaters an unfair advantage online. Thankfully MS seems to be taking action against this, as it's pretty annoying to deal with - as was noted earlier in the thread with games like Rainbow Six.

 

[pj]

well, with PGR2, if you are playing online with a copied game, you can modify the gear ratios etc... as seen by people who play on Xlink/XBC with modified cars... of course, the tricky part is getting on LIVE with a copied game...

You cannot get on live with a copied game. Changing gear ratios in pgr2, I'd assume, is very similar to changing the weapons in Rainbow Six 3. You just modify config files which are cached on the xbox's hdd. Then you turn the modchip off, the modified config files remain, and can be used on live.

 

[Drexon]

Looking at some of those posts, it looks like my guess is correct.

:eek

 

[Ecrofirt]

I have a modded Xbox.

I, however, have never bought anything for Xbox Live, nor do I know exactly what I need to buy to play on live.

Do my games still try to connect to Live, even though I don't have the software installed on my Xbox?

Am I gonig to be banned as soon as I buy Live for myself?

 

[Yusaku]

^^ You're fine as long as you dont click on any Live tabs in games or in the MS Dashboard.

 

[Ecrofirt]

I don't.

But without Live installed on my system, how could it even connect to Live?

 

[mrklaw]

I think you'll be OK. I think most people with switchable mods are likely to be OK. Sounds like they are going after people who's HDD ID doesn't match the bios. Likely only people who have replacement bioses (I should warn my friend, he has one)

Still, I don't see the point of two xboxes. Why not use the first until/if you get banned, then buy a 2nd? You might never need to.

Why would you be running two Xbox systems at the same time?

I'm buying a 2nd for XBMC. I could be streaming a TV program from my Tivo to XBMC in the spare room while my wife is listening to mp3s streamed from our PC.

 

[yodathesoda]

I have a modded Xbox.

I, however, have never bought anything for Xbox Live, nor do I know exactly what I need to buy to play on live.

Do my games still try to connect to Live, even though I don't have the software installed on my Xbox?

Am I gonig to be banned as soon as I buy Live for myself?

Dont know if this has been mentioned but you can turn off the auto sign in on your MS dashboard.

 

[Yusaku]

I don't.

But without Live installed on my system, how could it even connect to Live?

Unless you have a horribly out of date dashboard (which means you've somehow managed to avoid every single Live enabled game) you have Live on your system.

 

[MASB]

Am I missing something? Why does The Faceless Master have about 10 posts with nothing but '~' in them?

 

[atomsk]

so i've got the stock HD, and the original bios...

i'm still tempted to run evo-x and my other apps off a cd now...

i run all my emu off dvd as is...

 

[DJ Sl4m]

Call me paranoid, but this is precisely the reason why I bought a separate Xbox for modding. There's no way I would try to go online with a modded machine, regardless of how stealthy the chip is supposed to be.

Absolutely, I couldn't agree more, as I did the exact same thing.

 

[Wario64]

Hmm, running Evox and apps from a DVD/CD doesn't sound like a bad idea. Not sure how to get that working though...I'm a noob when it comes to Xbox stuff

 

[atomsk]

Hmm, running Evox and apps from a DVD/CD doesn't sound like a bad idea. Not sure how to get that working though...I'm a noob when it comes to Xbox stuff

it's not hard, i do the same thing i'd do for my emu. but with something that small, you need a dummy 'junk' file, name it abc.123 or some shit. make sure its about 100mb or so, and then use (insert xbox iso compiler here...not hard to find) to compile an iso with the dummy file and evo-x

cd-rw should do the trick if your xbox can read them

i'm wiping evo-x and dvd-x and xbmc (which is all i keep on the drive) tomorrow. take no chances.

gonna wait a bit to sign on live still, see how things get sorted out

if it turns out they can really read the LPC... well, fuck

 

[Deleted member 1235]

I'll just go test it tonight, from what I have read here, it looks like I have all the criteria for another banning.

Also Lyte edge, how many times have you logged into live since this business all started? you may find that if you have copped a banning it won't happen till next time you try log in. My banning went like this.

1. Put in Burnout 3 with mod chip on
2. wonder why it's taking so long to connect
3. i. look at switch and see it's on
ii.Shit pants
4. turn off xbox real fast, turn off modchip switch reboot and log in successfully to live.
5. believe everything is fine until the next night when I try again and see I'm banned.

Microsoft definately records your details when it spots you and then cleans you up in a sweep an unknown (but less than 24 hours) amount of time later.

 

[atomsk]

My theory is XBOX live new updates are BANNING machines with
"invalid" SAVE entrys on the E: drive, even from PAL games or
unreleased games or "HOMEBREW" software like DVD2XBOX, UnleashX, etc.

that sounds pretty viable also. i'll have to go clean some of those save files out...

 

[Nester]

I'm glad I decided not to mod my Xbox.

 

[Wario64]

Probably through MS dashboard. I assume there's a program out there that allows you to extract game saves, though. Is there a way to store save files on another drive and load it from that spot?

 

[Yusaku]

that sounds pretty viable also. i'll have to go clean some of those save files out...

I don't believe it's possible to tell the difference between a "real" game save and one from a homebrew app. Saves are not signed for a paritcular region or anything.

 

[ShadowRed]

Probably through MS dashboard. I assume there's a program out there that allows you to extract game saves, though. Is there a way to store save files on another drive and load it from that spot?

Can't you use a memory card? Anyhow I have a moded Xbox with a different HD than the one itcame with. Did MS record all the serials of all the HDs and are now scanning for HD serials that doesn't show in their list, or have they recently started recording HD serials and Eeproms and matching the serial to the Eeprom so if you get banned and get a new Eeprom it shows that the Hd serial and the new Eeprom doesn't match and bounce you again. If it's the later then I'm screwed. I can't test it though because I'm away from home.

 

[Deleted member 1235]

everyone at X-S is referring to 16-10-04 as B Day, that seems around the time when the new measures took place. The best theory so far is that now HDD serial number, which doesn't change with a new eeprom is being recorded when you connect.

So from after that date, if you get banned, then get a new eeprom, you will be fine for a day until the sweep is done again and your already banned HDD is re-banned. It's a rinse and repeat procedure you could just keep doing everytime you got a new eeprom.

I was banned prior to the 16th, so the theory is currently that I should not be banned now if I take care of the modchip. I have logged into live 1 time since getting a new eeprom (more than 3 days ago) so I'm either safe, or banned already. If I'm banned now my idea (which is the main theme posted at X-S at the moment) is that

Serial number and eeprom are recorded when you log onto live.
If you are banned and you get a new eeprom (which used to work) you will be re-banned in 24 hours due to the HDD serial # being flagged.

Other plausible ideas

Checks for game saves of "that game"
checks HDD size
checks homebrew apps.

Some theories that to me seem like horseshit

Gamer tag is banned - Although it could be flagged for closer scrutiny I would think that they will be applying the same level of checking to everyone. I mean, it can't be to taxing on the servers to just check everyone fully.

IP is banned - Just no way. They would be banning entire campus/households.

 

[Burger]

Whatever it is, MS would have to have a surefire way of knowing. They set pretty high certification & standards procedures for this type of stuff.

For instance, a developer could not write his own copy protection that say, checked to see if the game loaded faster than it could off a DVD drive, as this would break cert.

 

[atomsk]

i'm growing more concerned about the possibility of it being an LPC scan...

thats the only thing that would fuck me over at this point.

man, this is making me paranoid

 

[Deleted member 1235]

i'm growing more concerned about the possibility of it being an LPC scan...

thats the only thing that would fuck me over at this point.

man, this is making me paranoid

LPC Being what now?

 

[The Shadow]

LPC Being what now?

It's one of the pins you have to connect a wire to when you mod an Xbox. Even with the switch set to "Off", power is still going through the mod chip (my LED dims but it's still on) and it's been suggested that MS can detect the mod through that LPC pin even when it's off.

 

[Mashing]

This is precisely the reason I haven't bought Xbox Live, too. If they're gonna force us to choose between modding and online play, my mind is SO made-up.

yeah, how DARE microsoft protect their intellectual property (I have nothing against emulation, but being pissed at microsoft for trying to stop theft of their IPs is ridiculous).

 

[Deleted member 1235]

It's one of the pins you have to connect a wire to when you mod an Xbox. Even with the switch set to "Off", power is still going through the mod chip (my LED dims but it's still on) and it's been suggested that MS can detect the mod through that LPC pin even when it's off.

and now I have to buy new shorts.

 

[Burger]

Wrong ?

To have power to the modchip, you need to have power thru the LPC point (usually soldered) plus a connection to the ground.

Most switches bridge the ground connection. No ground, no power to chip.

 

[atomsk]

but my mod is solderless... i wonder if that makes a difference

 

[Burger]

You will be using pogo pins then ? With a small metal bracket that goes to one of the screws on the motherboard ? Do you have a switch ? If so it bridges the chip, and the ground point.

 

[The Shadow]

but my mod is solderless... i wonder if that makes a difference

If it's using the LPC port, it doesn't matter how it's connected.

That's assuming they're detecting it that way. I still suspect it's the HDD, whether they're scanning for files that shouldn't be in the C: drive or the serial number.

 

[Dynamite Shikoku]

Yeesh. I was gonna mod soon - I think I'll wait a while...

 

[atomsk]

You will be using pogo pins then ? With a small metal bracket that goes to one of the screws on the motherboard ? Do you have a switch ? If so it bridges the chip, and the ground point.

pogo pins already on the chip actually. x2.2l+ i think is the chip i have... august 03

i'm hoping it's just a HD scan. i can keep things clean much easier if it is.

i havent been on live since september though. so who knows, i could already be banned. but i doubt it. so i want to take all proper precautions before signing back in again. (my xbox isnt normally plugged into my DSL unless i want to play it)

 

[Project Midway]

weren't you the dude with the big ass halo 2 review on opa-ages? yeah, STFU then.

LOL!

Anyway, I'm going to get that Crystal Xbox bundle for my Live needs. Its only 199€, crystal xbox, 2 crystal controllers, Halo 2 and 2 month live coupon. I need Halo 2 and extra controllers anyways....and Halo 2 and two new controllers alone would cost something like 110-120€, so I will get a new, cool crystal Xbox for 80 euros. =) Smart move MS, another Xbox sold...heh.

 

[Lyte Edge]

I'll just go test it tonight, from what I have read here, it looks like I have all the criteria for another banning.

Also Lyte edge, how many times have you logged into live since this business all started? you may find that if you have copped a banning it won't happen till next time you try log in. My banning went like this.

If the banning started on October 16th, then plenty of times in the last two weeks. I was just on this afternoon without a problem either. I have also never had my Xbox chip turned on when going onto Live by accident, so I've never been banned. I usually also make it a habit to unplug the network cable whenever I'm not on Live.

 

[Takuan]

Avalaunchers being banded?

 

[aerofx]

Avalaunchers being banded?

Nopers. I use avalaunch and I'm not banned.

 

[Deleted member 1235]

Ok so I copped another banning. heres what I know

1. I got banned roughly about the 16 or very slightly before, when did halo 2 french ver get pirated? It was around that time (unrelated, not that stupid)

2. I got a new eeprom and successfully logged into live about 3-4 days ago.

3. banned now again, definately no mod chip on.

4. running unleashx with on a 1.1 version xbox.

fuck time to get a new xbox just for live. I swore I would never do that. oh well, microsoft just lost 20 bucks I guess.

 

[aerofx]

So far it looks like if you've been banned before you will get banned again even if the modchip is off.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

weren't you the dude with the big ass halo 2 review on opa-ages? yeah, STFU then.

SNAP!

 

[Wario64]

Any new discoveries about these new bannings, or anyone here get banned yet?

 

[The Shadow]

I logged on a day or two ago and then logged on just now. Not banned even though I still have my big HDD in the box.

Granted, I didn't actually play any games but just logged onto live for a little bit.

A common theme is previous bans. If you were banned before and you've gone around getting it unbanned by using the GT on a different XBox or the same xbox with a new EPROM, you're at risk.