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.

Comments

no mods?

[alwsn]

What you'll need:

"Soldering Iron + Solder (and torx screw drivers)

Now you must open up your Xbox *which I don't think I need to explain how to do*, take out the motherboard, and solder the 2x2 jumpers. Now put everything back together, but leave the case top off, and keep the Xbox near your pc!

While this method might not require you to use a mod chip, it definately requires you to mod the xbox in that you have to take it apart, and solder stuff. The only think that will make me run linux on my xbox is if I can install a working system withou touching a screw driver.

Re:no mods?

[orn]

You flash the TSOP so you can put on the hacked BIOS to play pirated (excuse me, "legitimate backups").

I know that stealing is a common reason people are doing this... but personally I like the idea of trying to get MythTV running on the beast. Once again - a single box that combines as many forms of entertainment as possible. The _mythical_ TV.

That's legitimate. Maybe M$ should just release a version of linux, properly encyrpted and all that jazz, for the X-Box.

Wouldn't that be a hoot.

Re:no mods?

[John Hurliman]

Why so focused on pirating games? I'm going to buy an XBox because of this, so I can turn my XBox in to a media center that plays DVDs, MP3s/OGGs/WAVs, DivX/Xvids/AVIs/MPEGs, view images and more with a nice remote to control it for $150. I can also work on the open source software myself and add my own changes in there.

I want a single interface to watch all the DVDs I buy, all the amateur skateboarding/snowboarding movies I make, listen to all the music CDs I buy, and look at all the pictures I take with my digital camera. Corporate America isn't able to come up with a solution that isn't completely bogus, and certainly not for under $200, so I'll build it myself. Two soldering points and a single ROM flash doesn't seem like too much work.

I still hope

[sielwolf]

The guy who came up with the 007 method gets whatever rewards were for booting Linux first on an Xbox. Yeah, this seems more like what "people want". But that wasn't the challenge. It was to boot Linux.

I'm sorry but the fuss around the backdoor-ness of the 007 method was blown way out of proportion.

Re:I still hope

[Ikeya]

At a bare minimum, he earns my respect as a hacker. Holes like this can often lead to great developments. Look at the TI calculators. Holes were found in the ROMS in order to get to the Z80 assembly layer and produce some of the greatest games (and useful applications) that have been published on calculators.
This was so much a success that TI eventually starting allowing access to the Assembly layer natively (ala the TI86 and TI89/92+)
Besides, it's so much fun hearing about all of these cool holes and backdoors. Like the TI82 was cracked through the Matrix variable named "Q" (which doesn't really exist).
Anyway, kudos to all involved!
ikeya

Still need 007.....

[Another AC]

with nothing but an Xbox and Linux PC

Um, no!

It's true you don't need a memory card, but you still need 007 Agent Under Fire to do this.

I think it's less work and easier to do it with a memory card though. This method requires hooking the xbox drive up to your pc and a lot of recompiling kernel stuff.. the other way just requires you putting some files on a memory card (you can do it with a previously modded xbox or a couple of other ways) and that's it. Once you've got that memory card you can reuse it on each xbox you want to mod too. It takes about 90 seconds to get an unmodded-xbox to run linux with the memory card:

• Turn on xbox with no cd in drive, but with memory card in controller.
• Use the MS dashboard to copy the 007 save game to the harddrive.
• Put in 007 Agent Under Fire and reboot.
• Wait for lots of annoying intro stuff.
• Choose "Load Mission", pick the game off the hard drive.
• Linux boots!

Why I'm doing this

[BigDish]

The most common question here seems to be why? Well, for my, XBMP is the answer. Few months ago, I installed a mod chip in a friend's Xbox. One of the first things he did was get XBMP running. Wow, all I can say is XBMP is the killer application for the Xbox. Just to run XBMP, I picked up a used Xbox and DVD remote just before the initial exploit was discovered, and I grabbed 007 off ebay for like $10. Though when trying to bridge the 2 resistor pads, I knocked another resistor off the board, so I need to obtain a replacement resistor (soldering iron I was using was WAY too big) to finish this project Really though, if you haven't seen XBMP, look at it. It is a killer app-ESPECIALLY for college students. For $150 or so I have a box that will play damn near any media file I through at it, off CD, DVD, or SMB share, and is designed to be hooked to the TV, with an interface designed for it too. To me, the Xbox with XBMP is the media PC Microsoft has been trying to create.

Re:Because

[stratjakt]

a powerful processor

A mobile celeron 733 powerful? A 1 gig tualitin celeron would be 40 bucks, with another 30 or so for a mobo.

enough memory

What's 64 megs of SDRAM worth? 10 bucks? I bet most of us have a DIMM collecting dust we could use. I know I have a dozen of 'em.

dvd drive

A crappy dvd drive, on which recordable media support is somewhere between terrible and none, depending on your luck.

high-end graphics card

To be fair, it's a GeForce 3 with another pixel shader. And with no real driver support past a plain-jane framebuffer. And I sincerly doubt nVidia is going to pony up some drivers for the xGPU any time soon.

and more

Yes, an 8, 10 or maybe 20 gig HDD depending once again on luck. A terrible (from a general use PC standpoint) bus configuration. No way to do key/mouse input without sacrificing a $40 control pad.

Seriously.

Cheap case + PSU = 40 bucks

mobo, 733mhz celeron, ram = 100 bucks

Crappy DVD drive = well, you cant buy one as crippled as the xboxes. But lets say 25 bucks for a used 8x.

Cheapest, smallest HDD you can get = 30 bucks.

Sound card and video = spend as much as you want. You can get xbox-linux functionality on anything with a framebuffer. But hey, spend the 10 bucks on a Riva TNT2 and you're already smoking X-linux. But I'll say 50 bucks for a SB PCI card and a cheapo video card with TV-out.

100+40+30+25+50 = 245 bucks for a similarly configured home-built machine.

Xbox would be the price of the box (200) + a memory card (40) + a copy of 007 (20?).

What about running Windows?

[Rinikusu]

Why isn't anyone trying to get Windows to run on one of these things, as well? Sure, Linux is nifty and all, but some of us actually *prefer* using Windows. Just curious.

Dreamcast $50

[FatalTourist]

Your example defeats your point! A new DC costs $50, you can probably get a keyboard (or adapter, or make one) for $10, $5 RF adapter, and then get a crappy TV from a yard sale for $5. Customize NetBSD for yourself and you have a fun little server. Cram it anywhere! Put it on the network at the office and hide it in the ceiling!
I'd like to see Walmart try and sell me a server for less than $100.
And of course when you get bored you can take the server down and play some sweet games on it (they sell for peanuts now).

Conspiracy Theory

[riclewis]

Just thought of this...

Has the fellow who first figured out the 007 hack come forward with his real identity yet? Seems like awfully good fortune to find this vulnerability lurking around.

<Conspiracy Theory>
I can't help but wonder if Microsoft didn't plant this 'hack'. Follow me out here--MS doesn't really care if Linux runs on XBox. Sure it's a black eye, but it doesn't hurt their bottom line. But--all of a sudden there's a flaw in the closed system, and it's in --gasp-- a program written by someone other than MS. Now when future software is released for the Xbox (or Palladium) MS can use this 'incident' as an excuse to call for complete code disclosure from 3rd parties

I can hear Microsoft saying "You need to show us all your code so we can test it--otherwise how can we be sure it won't break our 'perfect' security system?"...
</Conspiracy Theory>

I don't mean to say this to take away from the guy who came up with this, but it's just an interesting, plausible scenario.