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XBox Linux HOWTOs
killmenow writes "Following up this slashdot story from a few days ago, today The Register is reporting that the XBox Linux folks have released a HOWTO for getting SuSE 8.0 running. Cool...I may have to go buy an X-Box now." There's also a HOWTO for Debian if that's your style. All of these require an XBox with modified hardware... There's also a story about the XBox online gaming service that implies Microsoft will be scanning your machine to make sure you haven't modified it, but we can't link to it since silicon.com has some sort of stupid registration requirement. Anyone find the story elsewhere? Ah, News.com has a story about XBox Live.
If I recall correctly wasn't some Anonymous Coward running a $250k award to the first group to get this done?
[Somehow, it worked for me before it started asking for a passwd. maybe they're blocking /. referrer tags?]
Microsoft makes Xbox U-turn
'You know we said we wouldn't be scanning your console to see what you've been up to... well...'
By David Becker
Microsoft has backtracked on an earlier pledge not to use its Xbox Live online gaming service to crack down on modified chips which enable the console to run copied game discs and unlicensed software.
A 14-page user agreement and privacy notice included with the first Xbox Live kits sent to beta testers specifies that Microsoft reserves the right to revoke Xbox Live privileges for anyone with a chipped Xbox and to scan consoles on the network to enforce its rights.
A handful of grey-market Xbox mod chips have gone on sale in the past few months. Once soldered onto the Xbox's main circuit board, the chips disable various copy protection measures, allowing the machines to run legally or illegally copied discs, imported games and unlicensed software. Numerous hacking projects have emerged to use the chips to adapt Xbox units for use as media players and Linux boxes.
Although Microsoft has said it will take legal action against any modifications that infringe on its intellectual property, a representative for the software giant said last month that Xbox Live, the upcoming online service for the console, would not be used to detect modified consoles.
Yet language in the initial Xbox Live user agreement appears to allow Microsoft to do exactly that. It states: "Xbox Live may only be accessed with an unmodified, except for Microsoft authorised repairs and upgrades, Xbox video game console. Any attempt to disassemble, decompile, create derivative works of, reverse engineer, modify, further sublicense, distribute or use for other purposes either the hardware or software of this system is strictly prohibited."
The agreement further states: "Microsoft may retrieve information from the Xbox used to log on to Xbox Live as necessary to operate and protect the security of Xbox Live, and to enforce this Agreement."
The privacy statement accompanying the agreement says information collected about specific consoles connected to Xbox Live will be used to update the console's software, protect the network's security and "protect and defend the rights or property of Microsoft."
David Becker writes for News.com
Uh, the dreamcast has already been done.
>but good luck finding ANY chip compared to the ubiqituous modchips available for the PS1.
Let me help with that.
And don't give me the line about how every xbox sale is a loss to microsoft. A sale is a sale on a quarterly earnings report, which is all the stockholders care about anyways.
For less than the price of an xbox you can get a really nice little motherboard Via technologies is putting out now for $130 or less.
http://www.via.com.tw/en/Products/eden.jsp
Now sure it doesn't have a 10 gig hard drive ($20 bucks?) or a dvd drive (+$40) or ram (128 +$20) or a case (+20) but so far for an Eden based system we're at $200, far less than the $270 you would expect to pay for a modded xbox.
Since UltraHLE i've never bought a console system. Why? If I put that $200 into my system, in a couple of years someone will write an emulator that can play it.
If you really want M$ to lose money, figure out a way around their copy protection, write an emulator, and watch how fast ISO images of the games start floating around IRC and p2p networks. Don't feed the beast by buying another xbox please!
--toq
Software can be considered intellectual property, and in the warped system the U.S. uses, companies can use so-called "shrink wrap" licenses on customers. As common as these are, however, many feel they would not hold up in court due to first sale doctrine, and due to the fact that the customer did not sign a contract. UCITA states are the exception here.
Hardware, on the other hand, is not intellectual property. A company may rent or lease this hardware to you, or they may sell it to you. Whichever one it is must be spelled out clearly at the time of the transaction. There's none of this grey-area crap that you see with software.
So go ahead and mod the XBox all you want.
The restriction from the DMCA comes in if you are modifying it to circumvent copy protection measures. But that has little to do with Microsoft. They are taking advantage of it by adding copy control measures, but it isn't part of some license that they wrote.
Funny, I've heard the opposite.
FUD. The PS3 is at least two years out from now, if not more. Sony is simply trying to do to Microsoft what they did to Sega (ie, when the Dreamcast started doing well, they began flooding the media with PS2 announcements, even though you wouldn't see the console for another year and some months).
And yet, the XBox library is growing quite well. The first run of games (Halo, Gotham, Amped, DOA3, etc) did quite well, with a number of them topping sales of 1 million. The next round was mostly filler (like all consoles, there is always a lot of filler -- even more so if the console is looking to increase its library size. the PSX has a bunch of filler crap, as does the PS2), with a few gems like Rallisport, Gunvalkyrie, and Crazy Taxi 3. There are a number of great games being released this month now, too. Sega GT 2002, Sega Soccer Slam (yes, a Gamecube port), the next rev of sports titles (NFL Fever 2003 in August, Madden 2003, NFL 2K3, etc), Dead to Rights, Quantum Redshift, and more. What's my point? A console can develop a great library even if it doesn't have the benefit of being backwards-compatible with something else. Hell, the SNES did quite well, even though it wasn't backwards-compatible with the NES. Same for the Genesis and SMS (though there was an adaptor there). And of course the PSX did quite well, even though it was Sony's first machine (after Square decided to get on board, of course).
You just like making stuff up, right? Did you forget the 10+ years of backwards compatibility in Windows? The backwards compatibility in Office (new Office versions can read old Office files)? The simple truth is, Microsoft has proven that they value backwards compatibility in their other products, so why would you even think that they wouldn't with the XBox and theoretical XBox2?
First off, there's absolutely nothing wrong with being "100% anti-Linux". It's simply not comparable to being "anti-competitive". (hell, for Microsoft to be anti-linux, that means they're acting competitively, so they can't be both anti-linux and anti-competitive, right? anti-competitive != anti-competition, since the goal of being competitive is to wipe our your competition.) Anyway, once again you've failed to apply past evidence to your argument -- namely, Microsoft generally uses the courts as a very last resort (unlike some other companies *cough*ORACLE*cough*, *cough*SUN*cough*, *cough*NETSCAPE*cough* who run to court if Microsoft bats an eyelash at them). In other words, I doubt you'll see Microsoft taking anybody to court over Linux on the XBox unless things start to get really bad.
It simply amazes me that you can call Microsoft "the man" while at the same time praising Sony. Sony is just as "bad" as Microsoft, if not worse, but because their name isn't "Microsoft", I guess that doesn't really matter, does it?
CPU: P3 733MHz with SSE
Graphics Processor: 250Mhz nVIDIA X-Chip
Total Memory: 64MB
Memory Bandwidth: 6.4Gb/sec
Polygon Performance: 125million/sec
Audio: 3D Audio Processor
Network: 10/100Mbps Ethernet
Media: 2-5x DVD
Hard disk: 10GB
(honestly not meaning to advertise a seller, but it's the only link I had handy)
From the description:
9 wires only
Full BIOS update possible
Works with all import games (US, JAP and PAL)
Original BIOS remains unmodified
Works with online games
Import games works with standard AV cable in full color
The only "ModChip" 100% safe for future upgrades
Allows to use home-made software on the Xbox
Parallel port built-in - upgrade BIOS anytime without soldering
Play Import games
Play Backup games
There's discussion on the Xbox mod forums about all of this. Some people seem to think this is a good solution. For $60, I'd give it a shot.