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Linux On Unmodded Xbox, Improved
An anonymous reader writes "It looks like pSyCo from XEmulation.com Has found a way to boot Xbox Linux Live on an unmodified Xbox with nothing but an Xbox and Linux PC (no memory card of any kind, etc). Also a guide to using this method to flash your Xbox's onboard TSOP with the bios of choice, making the Xbox modded without an actual mod-chip. $5 to rent 007 to mod my xbox sounds nice =) Check it out at: XEmulation.net Forum or XboxHacker.net BBS. *Wonder what the DMCA would think about this...*" This builds on the "007"-based method discussed earlier. Update: 04/15 01:11 GMT by T : XEmulation.com, not .net. Sorry.
The previous method that they're talking about involved a buffer overflow in the savegame handling from 007:Agent Under Fire.
You were able to execute code (in most cases, a BIOS flash to flash the internal TSOP) tacked on to the end of your save game.
Hopefully this comes as a lesson to ALWAYS ALWAYS sanity check ANY USER INPUT, even if it comes in the form of a file that you THINK you know the layout of.
Prevent linux based DDOS's!
http://linux.denialofservice.org/
I tried the NetBSD on Dreamcast thing a while back (much simpler process -- burn a disc and boot) but kind of wondered what the point was after getting it to boot. Walmart sells $200 Lindows machines with more functionality, particularly factoring in the hard drive, so why do folks sink lots of time and effort into this?
Try not. Do or do not, there is no try.
-- Dr. Spock, stardate 2822-3.
Wouldn't this be self defeating? To get a Linux PC you need..a Linux PC? :> Although I guess the XBox is smaller, and it has the cool factor going for it.
is that I believe the goal of the whole boot linux on your xbox without a modchip was to make it so you don't have to void your warranty. Also, this sounds like it has tons of potential for a bad solder and then some kind of power surge thus frying your xbox. I think I'll stick with my matrix.
NJ Local Music Scene
This wonderful example shows how even hardware-enforced media protection schemes aren't going to work, as long as there are any vulnerabilities in the "trusted" software.
:)
e.g. say you have a DVD player program that is "trusted" and prevents you from taking a screenshot or recording anything from a DVD. If you can find a buffer overflow or any other kind of exploit in the program, you can just have it execute your own code (rip the whole DVD) at its super-trusted privilege level.
Given that MS has a hard time keeping its HTTP server secure, I don't think buffer overflows will be too hard to find in typical razzle-dazzle media player programs
Actually, it just may. If the price goes down to $150 (as the rumors are claiming) then I've just saved a boat load of money on my "media PC" that I've been meaning to build (but have been too lazy to actually get around to). A good box with TV out, sound and ethernet to stream my 10K+ mp3 collection. This def. saves me time and money.
a powerful processor
enough memory
dvd drive
high-end graphics card
and more
All for only $200. You can't get a PC with the same specs for near that price.
Did you vote?
Be glad we have to physically remove the jumbers to write the flash. It also means Microsoft can't "upgrade" BIOSes when connecting to Xbox Live. :-)
Reasons to do so:
#1. Because I can.
#2. Because it's cheap hardware and I want to find a use for it after I beat Halo and Fatal Frame.
#3. Because it's a form factor that looks nice next to my TV and makes a decent media center, playing network available MP3's and movies.
#4. Because I can, it's my damn XBox and this is another way to prove laws like the DMCA are pure bullsh*t.
Mostly though, it's all about 'because I can.' People want to boot this OS that boots on so many platforms on one more, just to say they did. After that, maybe people will find a use for that platform running Linux. It's all good.
the cop says: "I want body armor the size of a handkerchief that can stop a howitzer."
the fireman says: "i want a firehose that weighs less than a pound that can fight fires 250 feet away."
the scuba diver says: "i want an oxygen tank that holds 10 hours of air, and fits in my back pocket - those backpack tanks are HEAVY!"
the hot rodder says: "i want a car that goes from 0-60 in 1 second with a top speed of 400mph in the quarter mile and i don't want to spend over $500."
the alwsn says: "i want to make some electronic equipment i own do something it was never intended to do without opening the case, changing anything, and i want it to work flawlessly every time."
ALL RIDICULOUS.
Yeah, though I thought it was Thin-line Soldered On Package or some such.
The xbox' bios is a TSOP eeprom.
You'll also note they talk about burning an "ISO of Halo", when of course, the filesystem they're burning is anything but ISO 9660 (either UDF or Xboxes native system)
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
This is not piracy, this is the true art of hacking. Getting something to work in a way it was not intended.
Walmart sells $200 Lindows machines with more functionality, particularly factoring in the hard drive, so why do folks sink lots of time and effort into this?
I swear this question gets asked each time the Xbox-Linux topic comes up.
Because it's there!
Why did people used to buy Heathkit TV's when you could buy a pre-built similar TV for less money?
Why should some kid build a linux-workalike when there were already other OSes that ran on his hardware?
Why build a motorized car out of lego bricks when you can buy a ready made motorized car for less?
Why do people do pointless things? Model railroading? Build their own automobile from a kit? Fix their own car? Why does a kid with a soldering iron to spend $30 bucks on parts to build his own radio, when he could have bought a ready made transistor radio for $5? Why does my straight cute neighbor build all kinds of things out of wood when he could purchase ready made items? (Mailbox, Playhouse, Swingset) Why would someone spend many hours learning to program a simple no-frills text editor for the millionth time when many people already have notepad pre-installed?
I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.
This is meant to be an honest question, not a flame: What's the point of running Linux on your Xbox? Linux runs fine on a PC. Is it just the "because we can" factor, or are there any really useful things you can do with Linux on an Xbox that you can't do on a PC?
Unless you got really lucky and found one a while back, you will not be getting ethernet on your Dreamcast. While the DC might be cheap, the broadband adapter is as reare as hen's teeth.
Boobies never hurt anyone. - Sherry Glaser.
Anyways. Dont think the majority of the chatter on these forums is really about running linux. It's about using linux as a "legal" front to getting a hacked bios on the box that allows warezed to be played. There are "fair use" backups, sure. You can use linux, sure. But 99.999999% of the posts on the forums are of the nature of "how do u copy renterd gamez?"
/. users actually do want to run linux on their Xboxes. It may be a front, but it's a front that benefits alot of us around here (spare computer, multi-use DVD player, file storage etc.) and it'd be unfortunate if people thought that ALL modders simply wanted to playe warez.
You're right, I'm sure, for the sites that this was originally posted on, but I would think that most
It may be a lot simpler to USE a mod-chip, but the effort required to actually OBTAIN a mod-chip in the first place can be substantial, unless you are lucky enough to know where you can obtain one without resorting to international mail order, which is often subject to inspection.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
Microsoft has crushed sun from it very powerfull days. Microsoft could end the xbox project any time they like just place a way for open source linux to run on it. Number one linux prides it self of being able to run on almost any thing. That is hand helds to mainframes. PS2 and Dreamcast can be made run linux.
IBM and Sun are American companys are you say that they are wrong. Sun run the open office project the most useful open source project to date in my opion. IBM runs many small open source projects too.
Basicly wake up microsoft has made enemys it is now paying the piper.
And the game has not began yet just see some time gnome will come to windows then the war will be on.
Basicly this is war with IBM and SUN and other companys supporting linux the battle will only get stronger.
And you call it RIGHTFUL profit. What about ripping Netscape off and destory them. Basicly it is come back to them. You undermine someone else proft just because they are not prepare to give up there product. If any american company is truely great it is cisco if anyone can beat what they have they allow the company to use there brand name ie for a fee of course.
And if any IT company is a Saddam with thugs it is Bill Gates and Microsoft.
Basicly the Microsoft Thug acts are long and harmful. Breaking global aggrements, keep secrets and being pig headed. Yep Microsoft has done all of the above.
Now you are just as fool who belives what you are told with out finding the truth.
There was an old quote on l0pht a while back, before they went corporate and scrubbed the site with the wire brush of PC-ness, that went something like:
.45 will put a hole in one side, a bigger hole in the soft squishy thing in the middle, and a bigger hole in the back. The bulletproof vest will stop it, and probably only leave you with a big briuse and possibly a cracked rib or 3. The vest cost less than 1/10th of the armor, weighs about 1/100th of the weight, and is more readily available.
"That problem is strictly theoretical" -Microsoft
"L0pht, making the theoretical possible since...."
What you are decrying is innovation, not MS style word corruption, but the real thing. My parents bought a building in the 70's. It was ~75,000 sq feet, 30 foot ceilings, and a HUGE air conditioner, but almost no heater. It was built in the 1950s to house a computer. I shudder to think what it cost, much less cost to run. Today, my $27 timex wristwatch has over 10x the computing power of that HUGE computer, runs for about 3 years on a button battery, and never breaks, can work under water to 100m, survive heat, cold shock, and me beating it.
Looking down the list of 'rediculous' things you mention, that is far and away 'more rediculous' than any of the things you mention.
For another example, my roommate has a bullet proof vest. Another friend makes plate mail armor. The plate costs ~$2500 and takes months to build. A
Rediculous!
So, what is your problem with innovation. The very best things that you use came from the same spirit that the people doing XBox hacks have. I mean, why bother with things like transistors, antibiotics, lasers, nuclear power, and CIA mind control lasers. Oops, you aren't supposed to know about that one.
Rediculous!
Before you decry cool stuff that others do, I suggest you try the following in order.
1) Take a deep breath.
2) Try ignoring things that bother you.
When that fails
3) Don't bitch at people doing things you don't like.
4) Move out of your mother's basement
5) Do something usefull yourself.
Rediculous!, I know.
Seriously, the world needs more cool things, be they useful or frivolous. Strange things come from seemingly random events, and noone tends to see the next killer app ahead of time. Don't be a roadblock.
-Charlie
everyone seems to have also failed mentioning that you get a fully functional on the fly dolby digital encoding chipset... note that the nforce by nvidia which is the only one that will do it will cost u as much as the xbox, this one just also happens to come with a tweaked to the max gaming system with modified geforce4 with writable hardware effects, hdtv ready out, and ir in...
if u cant see the point, then u obviously are too lazy and non-observant to do this, why are you here wasting your time...
Mr.Big
Take a look at Buttercup. It's getting a GeForce 4MX 440SE 64MB with 64MB DDR. It has 512MB RAM, the highest an i815 motherboard can go up to. And it will probably do much, much more than anything a modded XBox can do. And even though the case is a bit bigger than an XBox, it isn't much bigger than a VCR or an audio receiver. Put a TV tuner card in there with MythTV and you have a TIVO.
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.