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Lik-Sang Back Online, Minus Modchips
DrEldarion writes "Lik-Sang is back, and it turns out that it wasn't just Microsoft that filed the lawsuit - Sony and Nintendo both joined in. The end result is that the modchips are gone."
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Nintendo has more products then the Game Cube. Lik-Sang also sold things like Game Boy Advance flash carts.
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
USB mod's exist for the PS2..
Yes they do. However they STILL require soldering at least one connection in the PS2 itself. The only solderless MOD for hte PS2 is internal and bridged between some ribon cables.
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
None of this has anything to do with pirated games. It has to do with pirated BIOS. The chips contained derivative works of Microsoft's and Sony's, and Nintendo's BIOSes. The functionality of the modification (e.g. getting around region problems), is totally irrelevant. This isn't about vicarious or contributory infringement, it's about direct infringement.
As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
Also note that they DO NOT SPIN BACKWARDS. They are WRITTEN outside-in, but still spin clockwise.
If you're a homebrew GBA developer, you can still get flash carts from various sources listed in the replies to this message. Don't pirate software.
Will I retire or break 10K?
Lik Sang was the only supplier of the Open Xbox PCBioxx chips. They're a LPC modchip which is flash upgradable via a LPT port without removing the cover of the xbox. A useful feature. From my understanding, LikSang actually bought Open xbox, so they were the sole first-level distributer... there may be other retailers who purchased large quantities and are still selling them. Freakin
An awesome site for those interested in setting up their own MP3Car system is the Forums on http://www.mp3car.com ~m
Many of the modchip kits out (e.g. the Matrix Xbox modchip) have included "burner" (or more appropriately "flasher") hardware.
Stick burner on your parport, fire up software, flash on some BIOS, you're done. This is how Easybuy2000 is still selling modchips.
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
This is not correct... PSX/PS2 modchips have never used Sony BIOS to accomplish protection defeating; they modify the protection data as it is transmitted across the system bus.
The gamecube mod that exists is also a microcontroller mod.
Xbox is only a copyright infringement case because they are using a cracked BIOS to defeat the copy protection. Not that anyone is selling the chips with the code on it, but because they are apparently marketing the blank flash devices for that purpose.
LRC, the best-read libertarian site on the web
The parallel port & USB flash ROM tools also appear to be gone. This has nothing to do with BIOS, by the way. These are tools that allow you to upload binaries (either copied or original code compiled with GCC and other tools) to a flash ROM and run it on any GBA. These products are likely offensive to Nintendo because:
1) consumers could pirate games with them
2) smalltime and wannabe developers could create demos and games with them without forking out big money for the official GBA dev hardware
I'm sure #1 is the main concern for Nintendo. But they've really done a disservice to the GBA demo scene and developers & students that want to get their feet wet with a really great platform.
If you're unfamiliar with #2 (developing your own demos/games/apps for GBA), please take a look at some GBA developer scene links:
GBADEV
GBAEMU
Yahoo GBADEV Group
GBA Dev'rs
You're almost correct about what's "wrong" with the MS X-Box modchips.
"A" (it contains proprietary/copyrighted MS code) is correct.
"B" doesn't apply to modchip BIOS's - all modchip BIOS's are just 'patched' versions of the MS BIOS. They weren't compiled/linked using the XDK (although some info on APIs may have been learned via the XDK).
Non-game applications (X-Mame, for example) are built using an illegal XDK, which is why those binaries are illegal.
- ozpaulb
Yup, that's true...
Except that other companies have access to fabrication plants too.
For example, Blaze and Datel make discs which play on unchipped PlayStation 2's (Blaze's boot every time, Datel's can be finicky) such as their Xploder 2 and Action Replay 2 discs. Both are unlicensed by Sony, and both are completely legal.
And Sony hates both of them, but can do nothing about it because they take great care to stay completely legal. They'll still be legal even after EUCD (inevitably, sadly) passes (well, except for the DVD deregioning and degreenscreen, but they might fight that in court - someone has to).
Yes, the Xbox is a much harder prospect for that thanks to the stronger signature on binaries - that's why the bounty for running unlicensed (_not_ pirate, unlicensed - correctly pressed pirate discs would be duplicates of valid ones and therefore their signature would verify, and indeed I have silvers - well, okay, beiges - that work on unchipped Xboxes) software on an Xbox without in any way modifying the hardware is still out there.
But hey, it's Microsoft. There'll be a bug somewhere, and there's a huge bounty for exploiting it.... besides which, the bounty would pay for a well funded operation to physically swipe the master signing keys, which could masquerade as a subtle cryptographic attack - or hey, even a random brute force attempt which 'got lucky', which couldn't really be refuted.