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No-Solder Modchip For The Xbox

Posted by timothy on from the play-as-you-please dept.

toothfish writes "There's a review of the latest generation of Xbox modchip over at xbox hacker- no solder, flashable BIOS, 15 min. install, etc. Stuff like this should make it easier for the average Xbox user to run emulators, Linux, and such. No word if it does or does not work in the latest iteration of Xbox though. Anyone from australia order one of these guys yet?"

11 of 183 comments (clear)

  1. Why not get a real PC? by g4dget · · Score: 4, Insightful

    For $200 you can get a PC with Linux pre-installed: 800MHz, CD-ROM, 10G disk, 128M. If you want to run Xbox games, get an Xbox, but for everything else, a real PC is probably cheaper and better.

    1. Re:Why not get a real PC? by cscx · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Because "we are ripping off Micro$haft!!!! LOLOL!!!"

      The hilarious part about all that is that the XBox is now in profitability, and Microsoft isn't taking a cut anymore.

    2. Re:Why not get a real PC? by g4dget · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You are right: Microsoft shouldn't be losing money on it, since the WalMart PC already offers better specs for the same amount of money. Even if they were losing money on it, there is little point in giving Microsoft good marketing numbers. Given their cash reserves, they could easily give the Xbox away to millions of people if it didn't erode trust in the platform--what they want is actual purchases.

    3. Re:Why not get a real PC? by arbitrary+nickname · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The XBox will turn out to be very profitable, in the much longer term, when MS deploy future DRM systems based upon lessons learned from it

      The XBox is being used as an experiment in locking-down PCs. It's like a honeynet for hardware hackers - people *will* try to hack it - either to pirate games, play MP3s, or run Linux. MS will learn from each hack, to build a more secure system, before releasing a system that really matters... in future generations of Windows and PC hardware

    4. Re:Why not get a real PC? by pomac · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Xbox is avail in europe, Walmart isn't.

    5. Re:Why not get a real PC? by Nogami_Saeko · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The assumption here of course is that there will be something so irresistable in future generations of Windows and PC hardware that will force people to upgrade even though all their rights are taken away.

      Time will prove they are wrong. As soon as my right to do whatever I want with my own hardware declines, I'll stop buying new hardware (until it can be hacked to recover those rights).

      --
      "Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence." - Charles de Gaulle
    6. Re:Why not get a real PC? by bogado · · Score: 4, Insightful

      This $200 box does not have a NVidia GeForce4 bundled. I guess this is a very compealing reason to hack a XBox. :-)

      --
      []'s Victor Bogado da Silva Lins

      ^[:wq

  2. it _will_ run windows anyway by jukal · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Here's a scenario: Once the xboxes have populated the homes, in no time at all Microsoft will start shipping Microsoft XB to run in the device. This will happen especially if they notice that a competing open source OS has already penetrated their territory. This is just what Microsoft needs to overcome legal battles related to doing it (combining hardware and operating system) and selling it to large public and to win monopoly accusations related to doing it.

  3. Why are we wasting time on Hacking into the X by haplo21112 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What we really should be doing is figuring out how to use my existing PC to Play Xbox games...that woul be a much more interesting hack...

    --
    Power Corrupts,Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely, leaving one person(group)in charge is absolutely corrupt.
    1. Re:Why are we wasting time on Hacking into the X by janda · · Score: 2, Insightful

      They go hand-in-hand. It's a lot easier to hack the xbox first, so you can figure out how the encryption/lockout stuff works. Then, you write a driver, hack, or whatever in software/hardware as needed for the general PC population.

      --
      Karma: Food Fight (Mostly affected by Date Plate).
    2. Re:Why are we wasting time on Hacking into the X by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Why are we wasting time on Hacking into the X

      What we really should be doing is figuring out how to use my existing PC to Play Xbox games...that woul be a much more interesting hack...

      We? What exactly are you doing to hack the XBox? and Why don't you just stop hacking the XBox and start working on the PC-playing-Xbox-games hack?

      One hacks to scratch one's itch. It sounds like you want the hackers to scratch your itch. Scratch it yourself!