Xbox Modchip Featuring Onboard Operating System

Cool! by assassingod · 2004-09-26 08:32 · Score: 0

Finally, the Penny-Arcade dream comes alive!!

Re:Cool! by wed128 · 2004-09-26 09:16 · Score: 0, Flamebait

theyve been running linux on xbox for a while, i mean IIRC it's x86 for gods sake. this is just a new way of doing it, that's all.
Re:Cool! by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 12:18 · Score: 0

The Xenium is an overpriced piece of shit, these guys have been hyping this for 6 months now and it isnt even anything that hasnt been done before.

If anyone is contemplating purchasing a Xenium I would suggest you wait a week and buy the Xecuter3 mod which is far more advanced.

Utility computing by ddent · 2004-09-26 08:33 · Score: 4, Interesting

So, people are always wanting to use these things as general purpose computing devices. Is the math still such that it is a good decision (as compared to purchasing standard PCs).

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SSL Certificate

Re:Utility computing by SeaDour · 2004-09-26 08:35 · Score: 4, Insightful

I think people want to mod their XBOXes less for the value factor and more for the cool factor.
Re:Utility computing by gl4ss · 2004-09-26 08:43 · Score: 4, Insightful

the ease and versatility of it is what makes it a good choice now. of course, this being the real world, people also play copied games.

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world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
Re:Utility computing by Vash_066 · 2004-09-26 08:47 · Score: 2, Informative

I think most people do it just to strike back at M$...149 bucks for a file server or even web server? hells yeah...
Re:Utility computing by G27+Radio · 2004-09-26 08:56 · Score: 4, Interesting

My X-box is hooked into my entertainment center, so it'd be handy to be able to use it to play music and video off my linux server. Being able to ssh into it (or control it otherwise) from my workstation or notebook is an additional bonus.

Other than that, there is the cool factor you mentioned.
Re:Utility computing by zakezuke · 2004-09-26 09:08 · Score: 3, Interesting

So, people are always wanting to use these things as general purpose computing devices. Is the math still such that it is a good decision (as compared to purchasing standard PCs).

You would get more bang for the buck with a true blue PC. This is true, can't argue this. The only xbox benifit is that it's small, and has good tv output.

A laptop is also small, often has TV output, but would likely cost you $300-$400 or so on e-bay for the same CPU class as xbox.

The x-box I believe is $150 new.

Someone else will have to find prices for things like the shoebox sized flex-atx style PCs, but for a new device the x-box is still reasonably priced.

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There is no sanctuary. There is no sanctuary. SHUT UP! There is no shut up. There is no shut up.
Re:Utility computing by NMerriam · 2004-09-26 09:49 · Score: 5, Insightful

You would get more bang for the buck with a true blue PC. This is true, can't argue this. The only xbox benifit is that it's small, and has good tv output.

I would argue it pretty hard. The main advantage to the Xbox is that it's a ubiquitous, standard hardware platform that has a standard software layout.

If you want to add a remote control to a homebrew PC, you have a dozen different choices with 3 or 4 different technologies, some of which are supported directly by your software and some of which require extensive configuration. Some will never work at all, though you have no way of knowing this until you've spent $$ and hours of your time.

If you want to add a remote control to an Xbox, you go to Target, pay $30, and buy the remote. Plug in the IR reciever and all of the modded software is usable by remote -- you can use it to navigate through any third-party launcher, file manager or media player. No configuration, no setup, no troubleshooting.

When the guys work on the Xbox player software, they know exactly what hardware its going to run on. It's going to be a certain processor with a certain amount of RAM, etc. So they can tune the heck out of it, and if it runs choppy they know they need to work on the code, not just tell people to buy more RAM.

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Recursive: Adj. See Recursive.
Re:Utility computing by zakezuke · 2004-09-26 10:26 · Score: 1

If you want to add a remote control to a homebrew PC, you have a dozen different choices with 3 or 4 different technologies, some of which are supported directly by your software and some of which require extensive configuration. Some will never work at all, though you have no way of knowing this until you've spent $$ and hours of your time.

Call me silly, but I just use a wireless keyboard and mouse. $50 on the closeout circuit and do the job quite well.

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There is no sanctuary. There is no sanctuary. SHUT UP! There is no shut up. There is no shut up.
Re:Utility computing by abresif · 2004-09-26 10:34 · Score: 5, Interesting

I just bought a refurb xbox from EB, with the intention of modding it. The primary reason I want to do this is to run xbmc (http://www.xboxmediacenter.de/). I really just want access to my media (photos, movies, music) from my living room. Earlier this year, I bought the Go Video D2730 Networked DVD Player for $120 from eCost. It works fine, but doesn't support every codec I want - and can't play media from disk (cd/dvd). I also purchased the Philips DVP 642 ($75) from Best Buy. The Phillips unit is not a networked unit, but it does play DIVX/XVID from disc. Nevertheless, after tinkering with these two units, I decided that I wanted something a little more extensible. The obvious solution is to grab an Xbox and mod it. With xbmc, I can do everything these other players can, plus more (games, emulaters, etc). The total cost will be under $200 - I'll throw in an old 40GB HD and access all the media through the network. The alternative is to build a dedicated machine for this purpose, which would cost much more. However a dedicated machine could support PVR/burining a la MythTV (http://www.mythtv.org/) or the like. I don't intend to pirate games, although that'd be one use for the system. I think you get a lot of bang for the buck even without the games.
Re:Utility computing by calica · 2004-09-26 11:10 · Score: 1

Do you also play games? Would you do it if you had zero interest in XBox games. Regarding MythTV, once Tivo goes out of business. Can't leave the ease of use and don't mind the somewhat closed system.
Re:Utility computing by Have+Blue · 2004-09-26 11:23 · Score: 2, Insightful

The vast majority of mod chips are used to allow pirating Xbox games and emulating ROMs with a real controller and TV screen. After that, it's probably to turn them into media players- they can read any CD or DVD media, and stream movies over the built-in Ethernet port, and they're designed to be hooked up to a TV or stereo. Using them as "real" computers is pretty far down the list of reasons people mod.
Re:Utility computing by ShadeARG · 2004-09-26 11:48 · Score: 1

How about having 5.1, DTS and HD capability? That's way useful for such an inexpensive box. IMHO, screw the cool factor.
Re:Utility computing by drinkypoo · 2004-09-26 11:54 · Score: 1

I use mine for the same thing, but also play emulated consoles (rom-type only) on the thing. However I took the all-Xbox software route, as opposed to running some other OS on it. I have a 1.1 with the samsung dvd-rom, with the flash unlocked and TSOP flashed with executer2 bios. My dashboard is avalaunch and my media player is XBMC, with the exception that I play DVDs with the actual microsoft DVD player, for which I do have the dongle and microsoft official remote :P It's the only media player I use in the bedroom. Hell it's even got a shoutcast browser in XBMC. Good stuff, mang. Of course basically all the software is illegal...

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"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Re:Utility computing by drinkypoo · 2004-09-26 12:00 · Score: 1

It depends on what you're looking for. For less than $200-250 for everything you'll need to use an Xbox for a general purpose computing device aside from a television or compatible display, including having a game pad and the remote, a late celeron 733 with pretty nice TV out is not a bad setup. I'm talking about an advanced AV dongle like composite or s-video, it's got digital audio output, it has an 8 gig disk which is enough for your lesser purposes, it's got 100 meg ethernet, the video card is really quite good, you'll even have USB. For those willing to do a little hacking you can add some additional USB ports, too. It's really a quite good price for what you get.

I do intend to hook up linux on the system so I can websurf, at which point it'll do everything I want it to do. I understand you can now put the OS on a CD and boot it from a loader, so I'm going to give that a shot. A web browser will get me email (I have imap webmail on https) and that's basically the last thing I want the Xbox to do that it doesn't do now.

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"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Re:Utility computing by divesnob · 2004-09-26 13:00 · Score: 1

I disagree about modding it for the cool factor. I have found that ripping your games and putting them on the harddrive has a faster load time. Additionally, all the various media apps out there make entertainment a bit more enjoyable.

Don't get me wrong, there is something to be said about streaming a movie (or music) from my server to the xbox wirelessly.
Re:Utility computing by OneDeeTenTee · 2004-09-26 13:09 · Score: 3, Funny

Now all we need to do is figure out how to get our money back for the operating system we're not using.

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Stop the world; I need to get off.
Re:Utility computing by Yolegoman · 2004-09-26 13:47 · Score: 1

If I had mod points, I'd mod you up another notch.

I've wanted an Xbox forever. My parents don't find video games the best way to spend my time, so I've been stuck to the education kiddy games that we buy for school; and, of course, the Halo Combat Evolved Trial, which resides on my laptop. However, the PC version of Halo as opposed to Xbox is like comparing an Atari to a Nintendo 64.

Anyway, our entertainment center is on just the other side of the wall that our router for our network lies on. Have dad drill one hole, and we are all set to hook the Xbox up to the network.

The way my parents are appealed to this is that if we purchased the Xbox, modchip, and a, say, 60ish gig hd, we could store all of our many CDs, play DVDs, and send our current DVD player up into my parents bedroom.

I plan to do more research, but another major selling point:

Would it be feasibly possible to use an Xbox + Modchip as a TiVo?
Re:Utility computing by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 14:25 · Score: 0

Dude ... I can get a celeron TWICE as fast for about $200. PCI slots are a nice bonus too...
Re:Utility computing by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 14:30 · Score: 3, Informative

Would it be feasibly possible to use an Xbox + Modchip as a TiVo?

Yes.
Re:Utility computing by Yolegoman · 2004-09-26 14:31 · Score: 1

Thank you. You are my hero.
Re:Utility computing by Reteo+Varala · 2004-09-26 18:54 · Score: 1

Your typical midrange PC is still in the vicinity of 2-4 hundred dollars. An XBox is about $150.

An XBox is much smaller than an average computer and has built-in hookups to a TV and sound system. With this operating system, you can actually reduce the size of your entire media center to a single small box.

Add network remote control and SSH connectivity to it, and it's any geek's dream.

Oh yeah, and it plays video games, too!

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The Penguin Producer
Re:Utility computing by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 21:13 · Score: 0

possible yes, but there is no way to add a tv tuner to the xbox so im not sure how you would watch or record tv shows with MythTV on the X-Box
Re:Utility computing by javax · 2004-09-26 21:14 · Score: 1

If you only need a cheap computer with an ethernet interface, the xbox is unbeatable!
Over here in Europe, the xbox is now sold for just Euro150.
Re:Utility computing by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-27 00:27 · Score: 0

You would get more bang for the buck with a true blue PC. This is true, can't argue this. The only xbox benifit is that it's small, and has good tv output.

Wrong. The only Xbox benefit is that it will play Halo 2.
Re:Utility computing by Yolegoman · 2004-09-27 03:32 · Score: 2, Informative

Yes, I've done a bit more research, and it seems that what is lacking is a TV Tuner for an Xbox... I mean, hell, we already have Linux running on the Xbox... what it lacks is an Input port, unfortunately.

I'm not yet convinced that it isn't possible: It merely hasn't been done. We have a computer with Linux and 4 USB ports... there must be some way, albeit maybe feasibly requiring a modchip with an Input Port?
Re:Utility computing by a_ghostwheel · 2004-09-27 08:09 · Score: 1

Don't forget that for extra $25 you also get HDTV-out capability (480p, 720p, 1080i). Which was a selling point for me.
Re:Utility computing by TheBot · 2004-09-27 20:24 · Score: 1

"Hi everyone, This is an emergency alert for everyone who took part in the Save Betamax call-in day: Today, Orrin Hatch will be trying to line up enough votes to get the INDUCE Act (S. 2560) through to the Senate floor. Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee need to hear from you right now. At the bottom of this message is a list of Senators to call. Please take the time to call two of them, before 5 PM EST today. The bill is scheduled for mark-up on Thursday, so it's very important that you make these calls today. We need to stop this bill, and we can. Because the INDUCE Act is such a radical departure from two decades of tech policy (set in place by the Betamax decision), a truly unprecedented coalition has formed to stop it. Heavyweights of the technology and electronics sectors are joining public interest groups in fighting hard against the extremely well-connected entertainment industry lobbies (the RIAA and MPAA). Right now there's something of a stalemate-- insiders all say that INDUCE has a 50/50 shot at becoming law. That's why it's extremely important that Senators hear what you have to say. This email is going out to the over 5,000 people who participated in the Save Betamax call-in day. Tomorrow (Wednesday) the EFF will be running a call-in day for their members, using the software we made for Save Betamax. In just two days Senators could be hearing from tens of thousands of constituents. But we need you to make these phone calls, and spread the word (i.e. on your blog, or in an email to friends) that right now is the time to act. SENATORS TO CALL Please call two of these Senators, and if you have time feel free to make more calls. Make sure to look down the list to see if any Senators represent your state. Every phone call counts, but calls from constituents will carry more weight, so make sure to let them know if you're a constituent. Also, the RIAA likes to pretend that all musicians support their breed of copyright extremism. We know that's not true, so if you're a musician make sure to mention that as well. Orrin Hatch UTAH 202-224-5251 Patrick Leahy VERMONT 202-224-4242 Charles E. Grassley IOWA 202.224.3744 Edward M. Kennedy MASSACHUSETTS 202-224-4543 Arlen Specter PENNSYLVANIA 202-224-4254 Joseph R. Biden, Jr. DELAWARE 202-224-5042 Jon Kyl 202) 224-4521 ARIZONA Herbert Kohl WISCONSIN (202) 224-5653 Mike DeWine OHIO (202) 224-2315 Dianne Feinstein CALIFORNIA 202-224-3841 Jeff Sessions ALABAMA 202) 224-4124 Russell D. Feingold WISCONSIN 202/224-5323 Lindsey Graham SOUTH CAROLINA (202) 224-5972 Charles E. Schumer NEW YORK 202-224-6542 Larry Craig IDAHO 202/224-2752 Richard J. Durbin ILLINOIS 202) 224-2152 Saxby Chambliss GEORGIA (202) 224-3521 John Edwards NORTH CAROLINA (202) 224-3154 John Cornyn TEXAS 202-224-2934 NOTES FOR YOUR CALL On the new INDUCE Act drafts: The INDUCE Act has already been through several revisions, as Hatch et al. attempt to appease some of their most powerful opponents. But none of these revisions cut it; all of them make industries liable for infringement they don't commit or even profit from, and all of them would give the entertainment industry veto power over new technology (say, the wireless iPod). For more information on the latest draft, see the following article in Wired: http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,65084,00 .html?tw=wn_tophead_2 On Republicans and Democrats: Like many tech law issues, this one cuts across party lines (most powerful members of both parties are on the wrong side). If you're calling Republican Senators, emphasize that this legislation would create a huge new legal liability (which means bogus litigation) against American high tech companies. Tell them that the Heritage Foundation and the American Conservative Union both oppose the bill. And check out an ACU flyer here: http://www.boingboing.net/images/acu-inducead-fina l.pdf If you're calling Democrats, emphasize that the Betamax decision was sound policy and that the entertainment compa

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Flat Screen TV for F
Re:Utility computing by Efinel · 2004-09-27 21:06 · Score: 1

this may be cool, but also easy. It would have been the same if M$ put some blinking leds upon the mother board saying "Insert your modchip here" : never seen any console that has a special modchip port, with such an easy access and easy soldering way.

Slashdotted already! by tajmorton · 2004-09-26 08:34 · Score: 3, Funny

Hope they're not running the website off this! If so, that's a bad sign ;).

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Tell the truth and you won't have so much to remember.

Re:Slashdotted already! by Kogase · 2004-09-26 10:02 · Score: 1

I don't get these "jokes". What kind of machine and/or bandwidth would you need to handle ~100,000 simultaneous connections, anyway?
Re:Slashdotted already! by Jicksta · 2004-09-26 10:39 · Score: 3, Informative

Shallax, creator and leader of the xbox Gentoox linux project runs his website on a legally hacked xbox.

This is an option more people should really consider when shopping for a capable machine to run a dedicated server. The total cost of a first-rate modchip (like the Xenium or, better yet, the brand new Xecuter3) and an xbox bought on ebay could easily be under $200.

The xbox comes with an 8GB HDD, so, unless you'll host media, this is perfect. Why pay more for a bigger HDD if it'll never be used? The front xbox controller ports are standard USB 1.1 with different plugs, so it's very easy to fashion your own xbox linux keyboard and mouse.

As a very proud owner of an xbox, I'd recommend one to anyone.
Re:Slashdotted already! by ccharles · 2004-09-26 12:39 · Score: 1

This is an *XBOX*, folks. It shouldn't be surprising if it can't handle a /.ing. Jokes like this don't make sense on less-than-powerful hardware.

LOL, OMG... your watch can't host websites worth a darn!

A new way to fight piracy by Lord+Graga · 2004-09-26 08:34 · Score: 5, Funny

Slashdot the webpage with the links to the shops so that no-one can order anything!

Web Server by with_him · 2004-09-26 08:34 · Score: 3, Interesting

Good I have been looking for a cheap file server and since I don't have time to play my XBOX much anymore it can do the job.
Suppose I switch between XBOX gaming and file serving?

Re:Web Server by CatDogLordOfTheRoot · 2004-09-26 08:40 · Score: 0

It is very easy to run your xbox as a file/web server once you have applied the MechInstaller Patch, Then Install Xebian.

After that all you would have to do is apt-get install apache ftp

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In the end we are ALL disconnected....

Google Cache by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 08:34 · Score: 5, Informative

Google Cache

Switch by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 08:35 · Score: 3, Interesting

I'm interested in modding up my Xbox, but curious as to whether any chip allows the mod chip to be turned off via something like dashboard(for the purposes of using Live!), rather than a physical switch.

Re:Switch by CatDogLordOfTheRoot · 2004-09-26 08:43 · Score: 5, Informative

This table should be helpful in answering that question...

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In the end we are ALL disconnected....
Re:Switch by Intocabile · 2004-09-26 09:29 · Score: 1

This chip actually always boots into the on-chip OS. From there you can choose if you want to boot into the original Xbox bios.
Re:Switch by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 09:43 · Score: 0

With the Xenium, you can actually just load the bios of the XBOX... and therefore it works like a charm.. That's the best part is that you just run the BIOS of your choice.. and you're not tied into anything legal or illegal.
Re:Switch by Jicksta · 2004-09-26 13:18 · Score: 2, Interesting

To save yourself the time looking it up, I'll spend my time explaining it. :)

Microsoft has spent millions on detecting illegit xboxes on their networks for obvious reasons - they don't want people hacking game physics/item counts or, more importantly, potentially crashing the Live server software from unexpected requests sent from modified clients. (this is Microsoft, remember?)

Live's protectection first creates a hash of your BIOS, so if you try to connect and don't have the official xbox bios, you get your MAC address banned and you'll be buying another xbox if you want Live again.

Live also checks to see if your HDD is locked or not. This is a little scheme Microsoft uses to keep people from connecting an xbox HDD to a PC and fooling with saves. A modded xbox must use an unlocked hard drive, otherwise it wouldn't be writable. It's possible to easily lock a hard drive again once unlocked.

There are a few newer mod chips (X3 for example) that allow you to deactivate the d0 redirection for a legit booting, but you'll also need to physically replace the hard drive you've bought for your hacked xbox with the original locked hard drive. This may seem like a pain to do frequently, but a solution is to keep your xbox cover off. Personally, I NEVER put my xbox cover back on for a number of reasons. (1) I'm always tinkering in it, (2) I'm always hiding crap in it (who would think to look there?), and (3) a coverless xbox is very much less likely to be stolen in the case of a break-in.

If you're not a lazy bastard, you can deactivate/reactivate all modifications on your xbox in five minutes. The use of once-hacked xboxes on Live is really not as big a hassle one would assume.
Re:Switch by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 14:37 · Score: 0

Um, no it doesn't.
Re:Switch by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 22:55 · Score: 0

xenium does yes, it has 1mb onboard to load different bioses into - i have the Xecuter2 bios and the Retail Kernel on my Xenium, if you turn it on with the eject button, it boots to xeniumOS and i can pick between xecuter2 and retail-kernel, if i turn it(xbox) on with the power button, it goes straight to the default kernel (i've set that to xecuter2)

theres a status LED that changes colour (configurable) depending on the currently loaded bios.

pretty cool,

apparently you can load the retail kernel and play xbox live, but i worry that M$ would detect the 160GB hard drive i've put in it and ban me so i've not tested out xbox live with it at all.

I've had no trouble with the Solderless kit, rediculously easy to install, but i do know of one person whos solderless chip came loose while carrying their xbox home in their bag (too much bouncing), again out with the torks and alls good.

really good modchip anyway, but most the xbox modchip tutorials out there are very bad, most are aimed at people with no computing skill apparently, so where you are looking for hardcore techincal details on something, usually the author of the howto decides to descend into telling you how to use an ftp client or configure your netmask or dhcp or whatever, stuff thats best left to independant tutorials, its just hard to seperate the useful data from the ftp tutorials is all i'm saying :D certainly its do-able because success was achieved.

can watch movies on it, back up games to hdd which also speeds up loading times massively, (makes fable much more fun), xenium has built in ftp/smb which is quite cool, mame/n64/snes emulators on it - playing snes MarioKart on your xbox is very cool, oh yeah its region free dvd playback too so good for the imports etc.
Re:Switch by JofCoRe · 2004-09-27 03:23 · Score: 1

I'm interested in modding up my Xbox, but curious as to whether any chip allows the mod chip to be turned off via something like dashboard(for the purposes of using Live!), rather than a physical switch

Yes, actually the Xenium (the one in the story) can do this. You boot into the Xenium OS, and then you can pick the "stock kernel", which will boot the boxx of the MS kernel and turn off the mod. Then you can go on live.

Reboot, and you're back to running a non-stock / modded kernel..

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Place sig here.
Re:Switch by JofCoRe · 2004-09-27 03:25 · Score: 1

(2) I'm always hiding crap in it (who would think to look there?)

Okaaaay... yes, true, probably nobody would look there. But I can't help but wonder what you manage to "hide" in your xbox... don't know about you, but there isn't really a whole lot of room in mine :)

Not to mention that you're probably messing w/the box's ability to cool properly... but then if the cover is off all the time maybe that's making up for it..

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Place sig here.
Re:Switch by Jicksta · 2004-09-27 04:15 · Score: 1

In my xbox, I hide condoms and my fake drivers license saying I'm over 21.

I'm not worried about the condoms restricting airflow because they're not in there long. I tend to burn through them rather quickly :)
Re:Switch by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-27 05:43 · Score: 0
"I'm not worried about the condoms restricting airflow because they're not in there long. I tend to burn through them rather quickly :)"
- What's the lucky guy's name?
Re:Switch by gwynevans · 2004-09-27 21:26 · Score: 1

Not entirely correct - a modded box doesn't need an unlocked hard drive. (My understanding is that modified bioses unlock locked ones on boot in the same way the original bioses do).
Either way, you don't need to physically replace a modified HDD with the original if you want to use Live, you just need to boot to the original bios, unless your replacement HDD is one that's not able to be locked, as the original BIOS will expect a locked HDD. Some can, some can't - I don't know the split.
With the Xenium modchip, deactivating the mod is just a different option in the menu on boot (choosing the original bios), so no significant time at all!

applications such as Linux by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 08:35 · Score: 5, Funny

"... unlock the power of the xbox and run applications such as Linux ..."

I better get me an OS, I'm running an application without one!

Re:applications such as Linux by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 10:37 · Score: 0

GNU is a good OS that a lot of people are running Linux with
Re:applications such as Linux by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 11:19 · Score: 1, Funny

I can't think of a better preposition to end that sentence with.
Re:applications such as Linux by zakharin · 2004-09-26 11:31 · Score: 1

Shouldn't that be the other way around? As far as I know you don't run "Linux" on top of GNU HURD. You can certainly run GNU on top of the Linux kernel. Now you can argue whether you are running GNU or Linux or GNU/Linux as the "OS" in the above scenario, but you are definitely not running a linux "Application" with Linux "OS"
Re:applications such as Linux by hesiod · 2004-09-27 05:50 · Score: 1

I can't think of a better site to discredit your pompous, pedantic bullshit with.
Re:applications such as Linux by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-27 08:01 · Score: 0

"discredit"? "pedantic bullshit"?
Sounds like somebody has a case of the Mondays.
Re:applications such as Linux by unixdad · 2004-09-28 03:15 · Score: 1

Although I will not dispute the belief that grammer is sometimes pedantic, the site you referenced does not refute anything. It only points out the silliness of some grammer rules.

Showing that something is silly is not the same thing as refuting it.
Re:applications such as Linux by hesiod · 2004-09-28 04:47 · Score: 1

> the site you referenced does not refute anything

Okay, then, what about this one, then? It's still not a "rule" of the English language, just some stupid idea some rich jerks thought up to try to make themselves sound smart. I stand by my assholishness.

But... by darkmeridian · 2004-09-26 08:36 · Score: 0, Redundant

...why not just buy a computer?

You can say it's cheaper because you can get an X-Box used, etc., but you can say the same for hardware. This is especially true about the case, cd-rom, floppy, screen, fans, keyboard, mouse, hard drive, etc. People just need to buy an Athlon 64, a graphics card, a motherboard, and RAM.

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A NYC lawyer blogs. http://www.chuangblog.com/

Re:But... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 08:40 · Score: 0

It's one of those things you do simply because you can.
Re:But... by kryptkpr · 2004-09-26 08:40 · Score: 3, Insightful

Your comparison is terrible..an athlon64 CPU alone would cost more then a whole xbox system.

Besides..which video cards have component outputs? Which sound cards have digital audio outputs? Support AC3, Dolby, DTS? Where do I get a nice interface that you can navigate with controller, keyboard, or remote? This is all pretty much standard once you drop your xbox off to someone who knows what they're doing for a couple hours.. after that, it's plug in and go.

And oh.. on more thing.. it plays some killer games. (*drool*Fable*drool*)

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DJ kRYPT's Free MP3s!
Re:But... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 08:46 · Score: 0

If you want you can rent a movie or game and copy it to you HD.. it also plays mp3's and divx... just a few of the reasons to chip that box...
Re:But... by Gadzinka · 2004-09-26 09:00 · Score: 1

People just need to buy an Athlon 64, a graphics card, a motherboard, and RAM.

And while XBox in Europe runs 149eur, from the necessary parts you enumerated, only RAM falls below this price. Well, maybe also motherboard, if it's not too good.

Robert

--
Bastard Operator From 193.219.28.162
Re:But... by Zebbers · 2004-09-26 09:09 · Score: 0, Offtopic

Fable is decent but disappointing. I would have liked to see a better blend of FFX and Morrowind. For a so-called freeform game it's way too linear.

That guys games are always over hyped. Like black and white...was decent but not the be all end all. Sometimes revolutionary isn't good.

But yah, it's decent. And besides, all the other xbox games make up for it...especially the 20 dollar ESPN franchise that is mopping everything up :)
Re:But... by AndyChrist · 2004-09-26 09:46 · Score: 1

I'd like to see a better blend of FFX and Morrowind and used diapers in a landfill. Ugh!
Re:But... by Lord+Kano · 2004-09-26 10:12 · Score: 1

Your comparison is terrible..an athlon64 CPU alone would cost more then a whole xbox system.

Your point is valid, but the details are a bit off you can get a new Athlon 64 2800+ for less than the cost of a new ZBox.

An Athlon 64 + Motherboard combo will be more expensive than a new XBox.

LK

--
"Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
Re:But... by Tim+C · 2004-09-26 10:12 · Score: 2, Informative

That guys games are always over hyped.

I assume you're too young to have played Populous then. It's not many people who invent a whole new genre...

--
It's official. Most of you are morons.
Re:But... by ScrewMaster · 2004-09-26 11:09 · Score: 2, Insightful

The X-Box is heavily subsidized by projected game sales. And that is the reason why Microsoft hates people using their hardware to do anything but play Microsoft games ... they don't make anything on the deal. Does anyone remember that Internet appliance that came out a couple years ago, which was promptly hacked with the addition of a hard disk and used to run Linux? Sure, that makes a lot of sense for the end user (cheap Linux box) but kills any business model that depends upon subscriptions or future sales to cover the costs of the hardware. That said, I hope this mod proves popular.

--
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
Re:But... by KermitJunior · 2004-09-26 15:55 · Score: 1

Only on /. would you see this.

Person1: Xbox is cheap.

Person2: ALL you need is athlon 64, ram, cdrom, case

Person1: athlon 64 is more expensive

Person2: no. athlon 64 chip is cheaper

Person1: Um, given you need OTHER components: Xbox is cheap.

--
There is a Universal Life Value Check it
Re:But... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 19:50 · Score: 0

You seem to think that "inventing a whole new genre" and "over-hyped" are mutually exclusive. Populus may have been the first in its league and while I personally liked it for the first couple of days, it doesn't preclude the possiblity that the game was hyped above and beyond its merit.
Re:But... by Lord+Kano · 2004-09-27 15:17 · Score: 1

Look again, I'm "Person:3".

LK

--
"Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano

Well that didn't take long... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 08:37 · Score: 0

Fatal error: Call to undefined function: message_die() in /home/xodusweb/TX/html/db/db.php on line 88

Oh, you want the PS2 mod chip. by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 08:37 · Score: 0

Homer: Ohhhhawwwweeeeewww, I'll take the crab juice.

Re:Oh, you want the PS2 mod chip. by sqrt(2) · 2004-09-26 08:42 · Score: 1

OT, but Wasn't the other option Mountain dew? IIRC it was, may have been Pepsi though.

--
If you build it, nerds will come. Soylentnews.org
Re:Oh, you want the PS2 mod chip. by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 08:50 · Score: 0

Mountain Dew.
Re:Oh, you want the PS2 mod chip. by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 08:55 · Score: 0

It was Mountain Dew.

"applications such as Linux"??? by demon_2k · 2004-09-26 08:38 · Score: 0

"applications such as Linux"

What's that mean? Is linux the operating system used with it? Or does it mean that it can be installed over current operating system?

Sounds damn good thought, wireless... Well done to the people behind this.

All links dead.. by kagaku · 2004-09-26 08:39 · Score: 5, Insightful

All links in the story are dead. Any chance the Slashdot editors could put a little notice on the submit page saying something to the effect of "If you think this page will be slashdotted, check this box to make all links point to the Coral Cache"", then it would append ".nyud.net:8090" to all links in the story, or a [Cache] link: "Check out blah blah's site [cache] for more info".

This would take care of the 'Slashdot can't cache stories because it would rob people of ad profits' thing, because it'll give the submitted the option to cache the pages, and it would still provide an uncached link.

--
everyday is another shooter.

Re:All links dead.. by tigersaw · 2004-09-26 09:00 · Score: 1

That's a darn good idea. I was thinking that the /. editors should go a step further and contact the owners of linked sites for the OK before posting. Bandwidth sure ain't cheap. Of course, it's possible that they do this already behind the scenes....

--
In Soviet Russia, all our base are belong to you!
Re:All links dead.. by damiam · 2004-09-26 09:06 · Score: 1

You really want all /. stories to be a few days later than they already are?

--
It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.
Re:All links dead.. by tigersaw · 2004-09-26 09:23 · Score: 1

Yeah, good point. But I don't really mind stories arriving a little later on slashdot than on direct news services. After all it's the dicussion that's interesting. At least in theory.

--
In Soviet Russia, all our base are belong to you!
Re:All links dead.. by Solder+Fumes · 2004-09-26 09:38 · Score: 2, Funny

It will never happen, because, as CmdrTaco stated several years ago in the FAQ, it would require some thought.
Re:All links dead.. by batkiwi · 2004-09-26 09:53 · Score: 1

All it would take is for slashdot to announce that they now look for a meta tag called "allowcaching: true" or the like. I don't think I'll EVER have anything on my server posted on slashdot, but I'd sure as hell take the 20 seconds to add that tag to my base template.
Re:All links dead.. by pjt33 · 2004-09-26 09:54 · Score: 1

Surely it would be better to have the default state being that a cache link is provided, and you have to opt out when providing links to sites like the BBC which can handle the load?
Re:All links dead.. by Malor · 2004-09-26 10:12 · Score: 2, Insightful

So in the interest of speed, it's okay to take down remote sites?

Slashdot's refusal to cache sites is stupid. Their reasons to the contrary (it's too slow, ad revenue) are bogus. VERY few stories on Slashdot are all that time-critical. If they hold a story for a day or two to get permission, it's not like it's the end of the world. The stuff that actually IS urgent, like security patches, is practically always hosted on big sites that don't need caching. And the ad revenue doesn't matter if a site goes down.

Hey, I know.... why not just ASK the remote site if they think they can handle the load? It's not like hearing about an Xbox mod chip on Tuesday instead of Sunday is going to ruin anyone's lives.

The REAL reason, of course, is that figuring out a good caching policy would take thought and work, which don't seem in much supply for the last couple years.

And the advent of Coral takes care of all the infrastructure, leaving only the ad revenue as a possible problem. So here's an easy, albeit mildly unattractive solution: put the links in twice. Do it the normal way, then append Coral links at the end of the story, and make sure that Coral has it preloaded before posting. If the site stays up, most folks hit Link 1. If it goes down, Coral can take care of it. They get all the ad revenue they can handle, and we can still read the story.

With the advent of Coral, continuing to do things the way they have been doing them is essentially a deliberate DOS attack against small sites.

I have been a subscriber for seveal years, now. I am not going to give them any more money unless and until they fix this.
Re:All links dead.. by javaguy · 2004-09-26 11:47 · Score: 1

A lot of people behind corporate firewalls can't connect to port 8090.
Re:All links dead.. by Talez · 2004-09-26 13:10 · Score: 2, Interesting

The REAL reason, of course, is that figuring out a good caching policy would take thought and work, which don't seem in much supply for the last couple years.

The reason is that the subscription business model of "see it before the crowds turn the server into molten sludge" would disappear.

If I had a huge bandwidth bill because of slashdot herding 250K+ people to my website for fun and profit you sure as hell better believe I'll sue their asses to recover the bandwidth bills.
Re:All links dead.. by kagaku · 2004-09-26 14:42 · Score: 1

And how is that different then when a site is slashdotted? At least the majority can visit it said site.

--
everyday is another shooter.
Re:All links dead.. by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 19:21 · Score: 0

Good point.

What about giving quick direct linkage for the tolerable amount of Subscribers, and then slightly delayed Google/Coral caches for the Slashdotting masses?

This looks way too good to be okay. ;-)
Re:All links dead.. by Mechanik · 2004-09-26 22:55 · Score: 1

Hey, I know.... why not just ASK the remote site if they think they can handle the load?

I think therin lies the real problem with your idea. This system either requires a) that article submitters also submit a "contact email" that goes with every link they put in their story, or b) that the editors follow every link, and then dig around for who knows how long trying to find a contact. The second is definitely not practical.

In fact, neither are practical. Even IF you can find such an email, most of the various "webmaster@foo.com" emails NEVER get checked (or at least not in a timely fashion) because they are deluged with inane emails from the dregs of the internet, spam, etc. If you find one that does get checked, chances are your request is going to churn through managerial hell while the sysadmin, his 6 bosses, and the company's lawyers pass the buck amongst themselves trying to get permission to accomodate your request.

And then, there are just the gazillion people that won't be bothered to respond to you, not even to say "No".

Face it, what you propose would just never work. Slashdot would grind to a halt. Besides, webpages are like cars... if you're willing to put one out there running, you better be able to handle the traffic, or have enough sense to get off the road and park that sucker in the garage if things get too intense for you.

Mechanik
Re:All links dead.. by nacturation · 2004-09-27 06:52 · Score: 1

If I had a huge bandwidth bill because of slashdot herding 250K+ people to my website for fun and profit you sure as hell better believe I'll sue their asses to recover the bandwidth bills.

I'd want to sue as well, but who would you sue? Is slashdot liable for bandwidth usage simply by posting a link to your site? What if slashdot linked to a Yahoo directory and said "click on the link to XYZ for info"... would Yahoo be liable? It's an interesting concept -- would I be liable if I let 1000 people know that the local store is giving away samples of their food in the hopes that you then make a purchase? In slashdot's case, most people who click through don't really intend to do any shopping, much like my 1000 people would only go to get some free food and the majority wouldn't want to make a purchase.

In the end, I think people who put up websites should definitely consider that they may face a lot of traffic and have either a means of limiting that traffic or a means of making money from the traffic. Just as the store owner should consider what would happen if they had a bunch of freeloaders who only show up for the free sample.

--
Want to improve your Karma? Instead of "Post Anonymously", try the "Post Humously" option.
Re:All links dead.. by Talez · 2004-09-28 21:42 · Score: 1

I would sue the editors of slashdot. Straight out.

Their business model depends on my misery. They refuse to add things like caching or even policies to deal with the large amounts of users hitting a defenceless server. Not only is it negligent but it borders on malicious.

I have no problem with people linking to my site in a "Whoops. I didn't know that many users would hit your site" way. I do have a problem with people putting up a link to my page under a "pay us before we send this to oblivion" style system.

Slashdot is a leech on the internet. And if they try to leech off me I'm going to smack them off with a very large cigarette butt of a lawsuit.
Re:All links dead.. by Anonymous Coward · 2004-10-01 00:35 · Score: 0

From Coral FAQ here

"The use of port 8090 is largely a relic of our beta deployment on PlanetLab, given that it is a shared test-bed. We hope to switch to using port 80 as soon as possible. Sorry for any inconvenience; in the short-term, if you can't access port 8090 due to a local firewall and still wish to use Coral, try finding an open web proxy running on port 80. For example, Google for the search term "cgiproxy start"."

1.35 million lines of code? by 21st+Century+Peon · 2004-09-26 08:39 · Score: 5, Funny

That's two-thirds of the Jurassic Park system! "This is an Xbox system! I know this!"

--
"Knowledge, sir, should be free to all!"
~Harcourt Fenton Mudd

Re:1.35 million lines of code? by Chess_the_cat · 2004-09-26 08:55 · Score: 2, Funny

From the book:
"Arnold was unhappily aware that the complete Jurassic Park program contained more than half a million lines of code, most of it undocumented, without explanation."
Not sure about the movie though.

--
Support the First Amendment. Read at -1
Re:1.35 million lines of code? by 21st+Century+Peon · 2004-09-26 09:03 · Score: 2, Informative

" 'Keycheck space minus 0, keychecks off, safety space minus 0.' He's turning the safety systems off. He doesn't want anybody to see what he's about to do. Now, look at this next entry. It's the kicker. 'White rabbit object'. It did it all, but with the key checks off, the computer didn't file the keystrokes. The only way to find them is to go through the computer's lines of code one by one."
"How many lines of code are there?"
"About two million."
"Two million?"
"Yeah."

--
"Knowledge, sir, should be free to all!"
~Harcourt Fenton Mudd

CRUNCH! by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 08:39 · Score: 1, Interesting

Here's a mirror through the Coral web cache:

http://www.teamxodus.com.nyud.net:8090/

(...but the mirror contents is of the broken web server. ;)

/. really oughtta have a script that does a quick Coral cache population of all the links in a story before posting them... once the site's already been destroyed, it ain't going to be cached.

Re:CRUNCH! by toggles · 2004-09-26 10:32 · Score: 0

aw c'mon, mod the parent up, thats too bloody funny!

What a minute? by Billly+Gates · 2004-09-26 08:41 · Score: 4, Informative

So Linux is not an os but an application that runs on the operating system?

Anyway, I would love to install WindowsXP Media Center in addition to Linux on mine. If I could also run Xbox games it would be a pure orgasm.

Does anyone know if you can add additional hard drives or bigger ones?

If I were Billly gates I would port Windows Media center to the Xbox2 and turn it into a PVR/Video game system. PS/2 and Nintendo would have their asses majorily kicked in!

--
http://saveie6.com/

Re:What a minute? by kaosrain · 2004-09-26 08:46 · Score: 2, Informative

Yes, I have an 80GB drive in mine. Seagate drives are popular due to their compatibility and quietness.
Re:What a minute? by CatDogLordOfTheRoot · 2004-09-26 08:48 · Score: 0

Does anyone know if you can add additional hard drives or bigger ones?

Guide to adding a bigger hard drive with software exploits only.

--
---------
In the end we are ALL disconnected....
Re:What a minute? by The+Hobo · 2004-09-26 08:49 · Score: 1

The Xbox uses straight off the shelf hard disks, I saw a video of a guy opening one, it had an off-the-shelf 10 GB Maxtor hard disk drive in there. Replace with a WD 250 GB JB and voila.

--
There is another kind of evil which we must fear most, and that is the indifference of good men. -- Boondock Saints
Re:What a minute? by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 08:52 · Score: 0

Yes, you can -- and the newer chips such as this one support LBA48 so you can have pretty much whatever size you want (250gb etc..). Some have even went as far as running a raid array.
Re:What a minute? by Efinel · 2004-09-26 09:03 · Score: 1

There exists some piece of software that would make you happy. And the base skin looks pretty like WinXP Media Center, I think...
Re:What a minute? by Stevyn · 2004-09-26 09:18 · Score: 3, Informative

Not entirely true. The hard drives that ship with xbox are locked when they are turned off. When you turn on an xbox and you see the green blob on the screen, that is when the hard drive is unlocked.

That is why you can't just pop these hard drives into a computer and modify the contents of them. There is a trick where you turn on the xbox, it unlocks the hard drive, and then you unplug it while the xbox is still on and then plug it into a computer and you can gain access to it. It's very risky though and not something I'd recommend.

However, you're right that you can replace the xbox hard drive with a larger one and the mod chip won't have any problems seeing it.
Re:What a minute? by lpret · 2004-09-26 09:44 · Score: 1

I have a 200GB harddrive in mine. There are several programs that are better than XPMC. The beauty for me is that I can stream Divx from computer. Instead of having to deal with DVDs every time I want to play them, I just navigate to the My Movies folder on my computer and I'm good to go.

--
This is my digital signature. 10011011001
Re:What a minute? by DanglingDongle · 2004-09-26 10:09 · Score: 4, Informative

There really is no reason to use WindowsXP Media Center on it (which you can't) unless you need to play DRM'd music/movies which the much better Xbox Media Center can't play. http://xboxmediacenter.de/
This player will play almost any format you can throw at it, and in addition, will play/record shoutcast streams, can connect to SMB/Samba servers, and various other networked devices for streamed media. Hell, it even gives you a weather forecast at the click of a button, and the ability to check the IMDB database about a movie before you view it. Also you can use sync correction for any files that are slightly out of sync. All of these things are just off the top of my head, but there are many more such as HDTV support, etc. And all you need to do is add a on/off switch to the modchip and you can play any xbox games, including on Xbox Live.
To answer your question about larger harddrives, the xbox can handle any size hard drive you want to throw at it. It was once limited to 137GB but this has since been corrected in the newer bioses.
Other good resources for information: http://xbox-scene.com/ http://www.xbox-linux.org/
Now please clean up your mess ;)
DD
Re:What a minute? by Billly+Gates · 2004-09-26 10:13 · Score: 1

Not the player

I am talking about using it like a Tivo in addition to an entertainment device.

XPMC has listings on all your channels and you can program it to do stuff like skip commericals or watch one show while another is recorded.

With XPMC I dont have to pay a monthly fee either unlike TIvo.

--
http://saveie6.com/
Re:What a minute? by Agret · 2004-09-26 10:16 · Score: 1

You run linux as an XBE (application) which uses a rootfs file on your hard drive to contain it's file system so your XBOX hard drive stays in-tact :)

Yes you can replace the hard drive with a bigger one there are tutorials for this and more at http://www.xbox-scene.com/

--
Have you metaroderated recently?
Re:What a minute? by DanglingDongle · 2004-09-26 12:03 · Score: 1

ahh ok. It just seemed like you were wishing for this ability with the next xbox, and asking about functionality of the current one. Since I'm not that familiar with PVR (just don't have one yet), I don't have much to say about that. But with current announcements pertaining to the next xbox, it would not seem unlikely that it will have XPMC or something similar built in. They are already saying that all periphrials for the next xbox will work on the pc without the need for modification, and people are speculating that games will be playable on both pc and xbox2(or whatever it will be called: Xenon, XboxNext, NextBox,...) DD
Re:What a minute? by hgiddens · 2004-09-26 12:11 · Score: 1

So Linux is not an os but an application that runs n the operating system?
It can be.
Re:What a minute? by Jicksta · 2004-09-26 13:38 · Score: 2, Interesting

So Linux is not an os but an application that runs on the operating system?

Actually, the xbox uses its own filesystem: FATX. In order to linux on it, the linux root partition is stored in a (by default) 3GB file located on the root of either the E or F partitions. This file contains all linux data in a sort of emulated reiserfs filesystem (assuming you use Gentoox).

The xbox kernel was ported to the xbox and wrapped in an .xbe (XBox Executable) to work as a bootloader. The kernel mounts the F:/rootfs and F:/swap files as folders; this is much like mounting an iso in linux using "mount -t iso9660 -o loop FILE.iso /LOCATION".

Now, if you flash a legal linux BIOS on your modchip and boot it, you'll need to have formatted your xbox with a supported linux filesystem such as fat32, ext2, ext3, reiserfs, etc. In this case, linux does not run from an "application ... on the operating system" but normally, as a PC would.

Hope this makes sense.
Re:What a minute? by Billly+Gates · 2004-09-26 13:52 · Score: 1

The next Xbox will be run on powerpc970 processors (same as the G5 powermacs) and will be smp I think.

So no it wont be playable on the pc.

Why did Microsoft do this?

My guess is they have FX(NT 4 code that enabled alpha's to run x86 NT apps) and connetix so they will emulate the old xbox in a similiar fashion with a ppc version of Windows2k embedded.

It would have been cheaper to keep using x86 processors and hell of alot easier but it was Microsoft's deciscion.

I am just saying PVR abilities in addition to playing games would convince alot of nerds and people with families to purchase an Xbox2 over a ps/3 or gamecube2.

Not to mention ms has webtv and wants to be the hub of the home of the future.

Included all of this in the next xbox might make Microsoft's vision a reality and would kill the competitors like WindowsCE is killing palm and Linux in the PDA world.

--
http://saveie6.com/
Re:What a minute? by nathanh · 2004-09-26 14:25 · Score: 1

So Linux is not an os but an application that runs on the operating system?

No, Linux runs directly on the Xbox hardware. There is a tiny application that boots up Linux. It is 100% analogous to LOADLIN.EXE that people once used to bootstrap Linux from DOS. Once the Linux kernel is running that application is not used anymore (it is overwritten in memory).
Re:What a minute? by John+Betonschaar · 2004-09-26 23:18 · Score: 1

Now, if you flash a legal linux BIOS on your modchip and boot it, you'll need to have formatted your xbox with a supported linux filesystem such as fat32, ext2, ext3, reiserfs, etc.

You can also do both (like I did) making use of the 137G HD limit older bioses had. You format everything 8G the way the stock xbox does it (C:,E:,X:,Y:,Z:) for xbox system/game data, then format 8G-137G as a FATX partition (F:) for your own data and use the remainder of the disc for creating linux partitions. This way you can access videos/mp3's etc. from both the xbox (XBMC) as linux (whatever you like).

Because old bioses do not go beyond the 137G limit your linux partitions are safe and can be formatted with reiser, ext3 etc. If you have a dual-bank modchip booting linux is just a case of flipping the bank switch.

You have to create and edit a partition table that linux can use yourself though, which can be tricky, but not using a loopback fs on a FATX partition gives significantly faster disk access, and is *a lot* safer than using the FATX filsystem, which is in my experience still quite buggy (unusable even on 2.6 kernels) and has absolutely no error correction or recovery (there is no fsck.fatx or something).
Re:What a minute? by JofCoRe · 2004-09-27 03:30 · Score: 1

To answer your question about larger harddrives, the xbox can handle any size hard drive you want to throw at it. It was once limited to 137GB but this has since been corrected in the newer bioses.

Technically it's still limited. It's just that the limit now is 2TB, and since we don't even have hard drives that big (yet), you can put pretty much any (current) hard drive into it :)

--

Place sig here.

Er.. by Fwongo · 2004-09-26 08:42 · Score: 1

My question is, why write a new OS? XBox is pretty much the same platform as any PC, so what special needs does it have that Linux doesn't fulfill anyway? (And no I didn't RTFA because it's slashdotted)

Re:Er.. by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 08:51 · Score: 0

the modchip has its own native os.. Thats the key part, instead of just being a loader for linux, or being a modified 'ms' bios that lets you load linux, its an entire platform that can run regardless (hypothetically) of the state of the hard drive, dvd drive..
Re:Er.. by paradizelost · 2004-09-26 11:43 · Score: 1

because this way M$ can't sue them for illegally modifying their copyrighted software under the DMCA.

--
"In a world without walls and fences, who needs Windows and Gates?"

Solderlessly... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 08:42 · Score: 1, Funny

The mod can be installed Solderlessly and will allow...

Bah, soldering is the fun part of installing a modchip ;-)

Re:Solderlessly... by Intocabile · 2004-09-26 09:36 · Score: 1

Not when it's a version 1.6 Xbox, which is what all new Xbox's are. If your thinking of doing this do yourself a favor and buy a used Xbox. The first solder install I ever did was on a 1.6 and it took me around an hour to do. You have to solder around 6 more wires then an older box, most of which only require one wire.
Re:Solderlessly... by omglolbah · 2004-09-26 17:21 · Score: 1

And you cant use the solderless way with the new 1.6 Xbox version.

Thank $deity!

Solderless chips were putting me out of business ;)
I live in norway... where modchips are legal.

Because... by kaosrain · 2004-09-26 08:43 · Score: 1

You can play Xbox games on it? Oh, and it's cheaper.

Re:Because... by kaosrain · 2004-09-26 09:06 · Score: 1

It's hard to explain, but believe me...it will still play Xbox games. I've been in the Xbox hacking scene for 2-3 years.
Re:Because... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 09:09 · Score: 0

you have no idea what you're talking about.
Re:Because... by demon_2k · 2004-09-26 09:11 · Score: 0

Really??? So the interface to play XBox games is hardware based? I stand corrected.

Google cache by b0lt · 2004-09-26 08:43 · Score: 1, Redundant

Google cache here

--
got sig?

Solderless is not the way to go by kaosrain · 2004-09-26 08:51 · Score: 5, Informative

You do not want to use a solderless modchip, they suffer from the same problem they did back in the Playstation days: They WILL eventually get bumped out of where they need to be. Then you need to shut everything down, open up your Xbox, realign all of the points, and close it again. It is well worth the price to get an installer to install a soldered modchip. You can find installers at the forums on xbox-scene.com

Re:Solderless is not the way to go by Stevyn · 2004-09-26 09:12 · Score: 2, Informative

I disagree. I purchased a Xenium mod chip a few months ago. I bought the solderless adapter for an extra $15. It was a little tricky to install because you have to screw it on the board so the contacts press against the pins. Then you have to bend this little wire so it rests on another pin. It's tricky because unless you put a piece of paper on one side, there isn't enough leverage for all the contacts to press firmly on the board. However, the risk to damaging the system is a lot less than if you soldered it.

I probably could have been very careful and soldered it properly, but for $15 compared to $150 for a new xbox, I didn't want to take the risk. Soldering would require taking the motherboard out and then you're setting yourself up for more problems.

I haven't had any trouble with the solderless adapter moving off the contacts. I have moved it a few times, but I'm always careful. Since it has a hard drive in it, I'm careful anyway.

We use this primarily to play movies and music that I stream over a small lan and it works fine. A modded xbox really makes for a great centerpiece for an entertainment system on the cheap.
Re:Solderless is not the way to go by dfn_deux · 2004-09-26 09:31 · Score: 3, Informative

I also have a "modded" xbox, however I simply jumpered the write protect on the onboard bios and reflashed it by utilizing a buffer overflow exploit in an older game.... The xbox is definately the cheapest multi-purpose piece of equipment in my entertainment center, also it's ability to stream video/audio over my lan using several different protocols including samba means that it easily extends both my GF and my music and video collection to the living room from our office. The MAJOR flaw with the XBOX IMHO though is that the fans on it are god awful loud, making it a far cry from an ideal solution for HiFi applications. I often find myself watching movies at ridiculously loud volumes on 5.1 system because the fan tends to drown out the dialogue from the fron 3 channels..... But, I must say, if that is it's only major flaw then it is definatly the best 149.00 addition to a home entertainment center that I can think of...

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-*The above statement is printed entirely on recycled electrons*-
Re:Solderless is not the way to go by gl4ss · 2004-09-26 10:02 · Score: 2, Informative

installed one for a friend. the pins have some small springs inside them, and fitted tightly.

what you want to do is to clean it properly before installing(they had some lube inside them, which can be a problem as it seeps down).

the chips attach _tightly_ to the board with a screw. no fucking way it's moving unless you drag it by the usb cable connector that's handy to leave outside the box(oh yeah, to be extra safe one of those chips with usb flasher built in rock)..

(the guy i modded one for with a solderless modchip moves his xbox between his gf's place and his own home all the time, quite violently)

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world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
Re:Solderless is not the way to go by t0shstah · 2004-09-26 11:20 · Score: 2, Informative

Of course, you can always install a dashboard like Avalaunch and change the voltage on the fan to slow it down and reduce the noise a bit, although i'm not sure what happens when you boot into XBMC or whatever. I don't bother because my 250Gb HD is probably louder, and my sound system even more so :-)

Of course, you could just replace the fan if you are that bothered - if I remember correctly they are just standard 80mm PC fans. Maybe something from Quiet PC or similar?
Re:Solderless is not the way to go by JofCoRe · 2004-09-27 03:32 · Score: 1

They WILL eventually get bumped out of where they need to be. Then you need to shut everything down, open up your Xbox, realign all of the points, and close it again

Actually, last time my chip stopped working, I unplugged all the wires from my xbox, and dropped it a few times on each side on my bed.

Plugged it back in and it works again! :)

(I have one of the ooooooold matrix chips -- the first solderless xbox chip... )

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Place sig here.
Re:Solderless is not the way to go by Anonymous Coward · 2004-10-03 12:06 · Score: 0

Not if you cover it in hot glue.

Lemme Guess... by immel · 2004-09-26 08:52 · Score: 2, Funny

"...reviewed by HomeCinemaChoice whereby they declared the Xenium 'The creators of the easiest Xbox modification - the complete package.'"

I'm guessing HomeCinemaChoice is not affiliated with Microsoft?

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10 Bits= $.25
100 Bits= $.50
110 Bits= $.75
1000 Bits= 1 byte

I actually have one of these..... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 08:58 · Score: 5, Informative

I got it hot off the presses... and it even has a cool little LED light on it that changes colors with the different BIOS's that you can choose.

It has an awesome FTP program out of the box... and plans to run BIO's straight from the harddrive instead of from the TSOP.

The only downside to the whole thing is that it seems the website for xodus is not currently up anymore, so lord knows if the improvements will actually come through... and the little solderless adaptor has been a horrible pain as it doesn't really sit well on the board, and so I had to keep opening it up over and over until I got a bigger screw to hold the thing down. Other than that it's been a total boat.

My xbox now just has become my own personal media center... and houses a 40 GB harddrive, all my mp3 albums, runs Slayer's Evox install, and comes with loads of great apps for doing just about everything a XBOX could do; but microsoft was too whipped by the industry to include.

Best part? Playing DVD's without a remote... something the xbox should have been able to do in the beggining.

I still get a kick out the the glow my xbox emits letting me know that it's running my favorite *legal* bios.

Re:I actually have one of these..... by cfuse · 2004-09-26 20:13 · Score: 1

I still get a kick out the the glow my xbox emits letting me know that it's running my favorite *legal* bios.
Legal - Not for long if your government has anything to say about it.

Re:Solderless is *now* the way to go by DitchTheUserGuide · 2004-09-26 08:58 · Score: 5, Informative

The new Xenium adapter that allows you to connect the chip to the board is a much better design than the PS or even older Xbox ones. It can take a little more punishment and still remain connected. This is the real deal for those ham-fisted soldering iron amateurs who want to run unsigned code on the xbox.

--
After 3 beers and 3 espressos, there's a 20-minute period where you can climb anything.

Legal issues? by BillyBlaze · 2004-09-26 09:01 · Score: 4, Insightful

It will be very interesting to see if Microsoft tries to shut this down. On the one hand, it damn well ought to be legal - there's absolutely no reason why it shouldn't be, not even some form of copyright infringement on the firmware. But on the other hand, Microsoft is selling XBoxes very cheaply to push games, so they don't want people using them as general purpose machines. I fear this will prove my pessimistic theory that only money matters in court, but i hope not.

Re:Legal issues? by CatDogLordOfTheRoot · 2004-09-26 09:05 · Score: 0

If this faced legal issues, don't you think XBox-Linux and the whole Xebian (Commonly used Xbox OS) team would have been sued by now?

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In the end we are ALL disconnected....
Re:Legal issues? by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 09:41 · Score: 0

I fear this will prove my pessimistic theory that only money matters in court, but i hope not.

What a brilliant theory! Why didn't I think of that?
Re:Legal issues? by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 10:16 · Score: 0

It isn't necessarily legal in all places. I suspect that since it uses a modchip it is illegal in the UK and Australia.
Re:Legal issues? by yuri+benjamin · 2004-09-26 14:04 · Score: 1

It isn't necessarily legal in all places. I suspect that since it uses a modchip it is illegal in the UK and Australia.

I suspect it falls under interoperability exemptions under most DMCA-type laws.
As long as its main purpose is to enable linux to run and not to run bootleg copies of games, then there is no legal reason to ban it.

--
You make the mistake of thinking you can educate the fundamental stupidity out of people. You can't.
Re:Legal issues? by Alsee · 2004-09-26 23:41 · Score: 1

DMCA... interoperability

I think you wildly overestimate that interoperability exception, at least under the actual US-DMCA. That exception is effectively useless.

The only exemption it grants is to decriminalize the act of decrypting software, and only for studying that software for certian purposes. It is still illegal to alter or disable anything, it is still illegal to decrypt data other than software, and it is still illegal to do anything DMCA-related outside of the study phase.

It only helps you write software that is ultimately not going to have anything to do with the DMCA anyway. The only effect is so that people can't abuse the DMCA by encrypting software to prevent you from writing non-DMCA related sofware.

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- - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.

Xeniums aren't the greatest by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 09:07 · Score: 5, Informative

I have modified a few XBoxes in my time, and the Xeniums are very expensive compared to other chips, and I must say, the coding standards of these guys is rather low.

In particular, they have done something weird with the hard drive partitioning/copying utils, and hard drives made using the Xenium tools actually *prevent* the XBox being used to play original games.

The way to remedy this situation is to format the hard drive using EvoX, and build the file system from scratch again.

GG guys, release a modchip with tools that prevent the original legal purpose...

I would suggest going for a far cheaper modchip, and not having to put up with the strange behaviour the Xenium brings about.

Re:Xeniums aren't the greatest by DarkElf109 · 2004-09-26 09:52 · Score: 5, Informative

Actually, with the release of XOS 2.0.0, this has been fixed. On top of that, it includes a repair utility to undo the problem on HDD's that had been previously formatted with OS 2.0 Beta 1

--
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
-Arthur C. Clarke
Re:Xeniums aren't the greatest by gwynevans · 2004-09-27 21:32 · Score: 1

Hmm, a bit harsh, as that only applied to a beta of their 2.0 OS.
The big advantage of the Xenium is the way it has a significant amount of utility on the mod-chip itself, such that you don't need to physically change dip-switches, etc, to enable/disable the mod, select different bioses or flash new bioses, as all that can be done via the GUI, including picking the new bios from the HDD or the CD drive.

Slashdot needs by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 09:07 · Score: 2, Funny

a "-1, Stoned" rating.

Re:Slashdot needs by BaCkBuRn · 2004-09-27 10:49 · Score: 1

Yep :)

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PRINT "Signature line broken."
GOTO 1

I dunno about that... by Rooked_One · 2004-09-26 09:09 · Score: 4, Funny

Some people might want to mod their xbox's for the highly illegal factor. Say, for instance, a person wanted to try out the game Fable - which was very hyped up, and excited a lot of people. And then say, none of their friends had the game so as the person could try it out first hand. But, what if the person had a mod'ed xbox and downloaded a "trial" version from the internet, played the game for a couple hours and decided that the lack-luster storylines, hack and slash bordom, and horendous loading times - even when loaded from the hard drive - as a "trial version" would be loaded, were just too intolerable for said person to actually justify paying 50 dollars for?

Oh wait a second... I was saying why "some people" mod their xbox. For... uh... someone I know, its much more of a value factor than a cool factor, especially.. uh... when the person I know doesn't know anyone else with xbox's.

AND SO WHAT IF I'VE GIVEN MY XBOX A CUSTOM PAINT JOB??!?!?! ITS ONE OF A KIND DANGIT AND ITS COOL!!!!!! ;)

Re:I dunno about that... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 10:47 · Score: 0

Actually, I did mod my xbox to solely to play videos and mame games. Yes, apparently I could "trial" out download games, but big whoop. I wanted a HD media center. XBMC is the only reason I've modded my xbox. I've connected it via a HD adapter to my Sony WS and the ability to play every format movie I have. And yes it still plays the original games I own. And if MS tries to force upgrade the box with new games I won't be buying any new ones. {Don't demo the new Battlefront game from the DVD set}

If MS would allow the XBMC to "legally" exist as signed code and I could buy it or some other MS "legal" mdeia center. They'd sell xbox in droves.

AND SO WHAT IF I'VE GIVEN MY XBOX A CUSTOM PAINT JOB
Why? My xbox is the Extreme Green version. The one with the translucent green case and controller. Very nice.

So for $229.00 CDN$ plus $35 for the HD adapter or ~$135 US I have a HD media center PC/game console. And with the ability to connect to my shares or other media devices, TIVO & Replay, who needs a big HD in it.
Re:I dunno about that... by erasmus_ · 2004-09-27 01:18 · Score: 3, Insightful

Maybe this person should have legally rented a copy of the game from Blockbuster for $4 or GameFly, or actually read reviews from trusted sources that told the person whether or not the game is worth buying? I'm pretty sick of justifying piracy with the "I needed to try it" excuse. As far as I can tell, no one who actually likes a pirated game on their modded Xbox runs out and buys it. It becomes more of a "I'll get around to buying it eventually" thing, which of course never happens.

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Please subscribe to see the more insightful version of th
Re:I dunno about that... by djdavetrouble · 2004-09-27 02:09 · Score: 1

Ok, FINE FINE. I downloaded it because I am an amoral criminal and also a communist. I am EVIL and will go straight to HELL!
I see a lot of fancy robots here today. Made of real shiny metal. But that don't impress the Robot Devil, no sir!
No sir!
Cos if you're a sinner, he's gonna plug his infernal modem in the wall belchin' smoke and flame. Amd he's gonna download ya straight to Robot Hell!
Straight to hell!

--
music lover since 1969
Re:I dunno about that... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-27 02:30 · Score: 0

So you painted it orange with a Confederate flag?
Re:I dunno about that... by rpillala · 2004-09-28 05:05 · Score: 1

I think the grandparent is not so much justifying piracy as explaining that for many people, the utility of having a mod chip lies in lots of highly illegal activites such as you describe. So it's not just the cool factor, it's the money savings (and maybe convenience) you can get from pirating a game rather than renting it or buying it. I do agree with you though that money isn't a compelling justification for piracy.

Also I defy you to find a trusted source for reviews anymore.
Ravi

--
When the axe came to the forest, the trees said, "Look out - the handle was once one of us."

this isn't new by ginotech · 2004-09-26 09:09 · Score: 4, Informative

modchips have been out for a while. team xodus hasn't done anything new. in fact, when the Xecuter 3 is release this week their chip will be the best, not Xodus'. http://www.teamxecuter.com.nyud.net:8090/ check them out.

Re:this isn't new by EvilGoodGuy · 2004-09-26 10:25 · Score: 2, Insightful

Indeed, it would almost appear that this review was specifically to draw the attension of those who do not yet know about the Xecuter 3 modchip that is comming out very soon. I would recomend to all out there that do not know much about this but would like to read up on it to check out Xbox-Scene
Anything you wish to know you can find there.
Re:this isn't new by michrech · 2004-09-26 12:15 · Score: 1

I, and many others, have already pre-ordered this chip. When I first decided to start looking for a mod chip for my xbox, I had no idea which to go with. I started reading through forums, reading all the reviews I could find, etc. The one chip that kept coming up were the Xecuter chips (2.3 in it's various forms). Seeing that X3 was coming out, I decided to order that one; if for no other reason that to have the latest one.

I've had too many of my movies get ruined by other people (That'll teach me for being so nice) so I've decided that I'm going to store the 50 or so that I own onto my xbox. Once done, I can put them into a safe storage place where they can't be hurt. If something happens to the xbox, I can pull out my still intact origionals and put them back onto a replacement.

I don't own any games for my xbox. The only games I had any fun playing were a couple of the person vs person 'fighting' games (of wich I can't remember the names). It's sole purpose from the day it's modified untill the day it fails will be for playing movies.

Besides, compared to just about everyone I know, my movie collection is rather small. Even at somewhere around 50 movies, I hate looking at all of them -- all the time -- every day.

Now, I'm not typing all this to say that I don't believe the modchips are being used for piracy. I'm sure that is a major use of it. I think this is the one case where MS, MPAA, and game producers SHOULD sue people cought using this illegally. I don't know how they would find out, but that is an excersize left to them. I certianly don't know anyone that's going to admit to it..

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bork bork bork!

Here's a mirror by niteice · 2004-09-26 09:10 · Score: 5, Funny

Games: Xbox Modchip Featuring Onboard Operating System

Posted by timothy on Sunday September 26, @04:30PM
from the that-and-a-pawnshop-visit dept.
An anonymous reader writes "A group of talented coders known as TeamXodus, have released an xbox modification chip with a difference, the 'Xenium' is a modchip which features a fully legal operating system that was coded by the team from scratch. The mod can be installed Solderlessly and will allow the end user to unlock the power of the xbox and run applications such as Linux on their Xbox. The onboard Operating system currently stands at version 2.0 and features a massive 1.35 million lines of code and was recently reviewed by HomeCinemaChoice whereby they declared the Xenium 'The creators of the easiest Xbox modification - the complete package.'"

( Read More... | 52 of 53 comments | games.slashdot.org )

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ROMANES EUNT DOMUS

This has been out for a WHILE (but it does rock) by Gregoyle · 2004-09-26 09:12 · Score: 5, Interesting

This chip isn't new, it's been out for a long time. I got mine about 6 months ago and it had been out for a few months then.

But it still does rock. You can do things right out of the box that normally take a lot of searching and downloading with other chips, e.g. format an enormous hard drive to FATX and copy over all the old partitions and information, all with one push of a button.

As a bonus it includes Cromwell in its own memory bank on the chip. This is the BIOS that's usually used to start linux distros. I use it for my MythTV XBOX. To tell the truth I've never even had to add an extra BIOS to it, because all I use the XBOX for is for MythTV and to VNC for Linux apps.

Oh, it's also really easy to turn off so you can use your XBOX for xbox-live, if that's your bag.

--

"He's more machine now than man, twisted and evil."

Since When by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 09:17 · Score: 0, Troll

The mod can be installed Solderlessly and will allow the end user to unlock the power of the xbox and run applications such as Linux on their Xbox.

Since when is Linux an application? I smell bullshit.

Re:Since When by tigerknight · 2004-09-26 09:52 · Score: 1

It's not bullshit. I have a xenium. Unfortunately this article presents it as new when the chip is at almost a year old.

Calling linux an app is also dumb. You need to run a particular bios that can be loaded into the chip's memory (with various configurations and possible loadouts), cromwell I think, and then you can load a linux distribution that has been built for xbox.

I mean come on - what is xbox but a legacy free PC?

http://www.xbox-linux.org/
Re:Since When by kabdib · 2004-09-26 10:14 · Score: 1

Ha. Remember when stuff that ran on IBM mainframes were "Problem programs?" (Well, maybe only the stuff in user mode...).

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Any sufficiently advanced technology is insufficiently documented.

Will it run Windows? by rsilvergun · 2004-09-26 09:18 · Score: 1

No joke. These could make nice 'break mes' for when I'm studying for Certs (which in turn provides a convient excuse to buy an Xbox :) ).

--
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/

Re:Will it run Windows? by CatDogLordOfTheRoot · 2004-09-26 09:22 · Score: 2, Informative

From Xbox-Linux.org

Can I run VMware in Xbox-Linux?

Yes. You can run MS-DOS and Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000 on an Xbox on top of VMware in Linux. If configured correctly, the guest operating system can have up to 48 MB of RAM (on a 64 MB Xbox; up to 112 MB on a 128 MB Xbox). Performance is very good (even playing DivX in Windows works flawlessly). Windows 3D games will not work because the VMware Tools SVGA II driver (4.5.2) emulates only 2D video hardware with 16MB video RAM.

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In the end we are ALL disconnected....
Re:Will it run Windows? by Stevyn · 2004-09-26 09:24 · Score: 1

You can run linux and then run vmware and run windows. I've read about this being done sucessfully, however there there is only 64 mb of ram and so it would be painfully slow. And even if you could run windows without going through that, you're still stuck with 64mb of ram.

Hire those guys! by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 09:19 · Score: 0, Troll

> operating system that was coded by the team from scratch
> [...]
> The onboard Operating system [...] features a massive 1.35
> million lines of code

These guys must have started way before the XBox was released to write an OS that size.

Re:Hire those guys! by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 09:30 · Score: 0

What? Doesn't everyone put 100,000 new lines at the end of each source file?
Re:Hire those guys! by ginotech · 2004-09-26 12:33 · Score: 1

they said themselves in their original post that most of the code is of the boilerplate pre-made type. i read it before it was even slashdotted, i'm so special ;)

TIAJ by pjt33 · 2004-09-26 09:58 · Score: 3, Funny

Actually the space bar on the lead developer's keyboard is broken, so he had to use newlines to separate tokens.

Word of warning by Intocabile · 2004-09-26 10:00 · Score: 2, Informative

If you're thinking of getting a Xbox to use as a cheap mediacenter do yourself a favor and get a used one. While this chip is compatible with the newest version of the Xbox (1.6) it doesn't work without a fair bit of motherboard modification. There are those of you who like that thing so don't let me deter you, all you need is an afternoon and a steady hand.

Re:Word of warning by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 10:52 · Score: 0

I myself modded my 1.6 xbox with the Xenium ICE chip. Went flawless, and I had previously had no soldering experience at all. My $150 investment now runs Linux, plays games, plays movies streamed via SMB from my computer (an iBook which is too slow to play them itself ;)), play music, including web radio, view pictures, run apps, etc. I love my xbox :-)
Re:Word of warning by filenabber · 2004-09-27 00:29 · Score: 1

I used the Xenium Ice on my v1.6 and it works flawlessly. YMMV.

--
Are you a Candy Addict?

Coded from scratch? by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 10:12 · Score: 2, Interesting

According to a rival modchip maker, after 10 minutes of reverse engineering, XOS2 is based on OsKit (http://www.cs.utah.edu/flux/oskit/) - though this may just be a slanderous claim so I can't say whether this is the case or not. I KNOW that certain parts of the OS are based on Xbox-Linux's Cromwell efforts (the Recovery mode uses Cromwell for sure, along with the Xbox-Linux video drivers), but wheres the source? Nowhere. Would be nice to get some seasoned hackers to do some reverse assembly here.

Re:Coded from scratch? by MemoryDragon · 2004-09-27 03:58 · Score: 1

I was asking that myself. 1.3 mio loks of system code in a low level language in 1-2 years of development. This is close to impossible unless you have a code monkey factory and lousy code, or you use some kinde of code generator, who does that job and you just alter the thing.

Dubious, Am I by Nom+du+Keyboard · 2004-09-26 10:15 · Score: 5, Insightful

a fully legal operating system that was coded by the team from scratch..features a massive 1.35 million lines of code

Dubious, am I, of such an achievement. I speak from the experience of writing code myself for many years. That is just a whole lot of code simply for the purpose of selling a mod chip to a soon-to-be obsolete product. Any coding team this good could be making a lot of money working for any major software vendor.

I would accept that they modified a block of existing, open source code, and be impressed by that achievement alone. But that's not what the summary says.

As for what the article says, well, I'll have to read that directly after the /. tsunami passes.

--
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."

Re:Dubious, Am I by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 10:35 · Score: 0

maybe some people just don't want to work for a major software vendor, with all the crap work space politics that it would involve with it, and instead prefer to work for a smaller company?
Re:Dubious, Am I by wibwib · 2004-09-26 11:24 · Score: 1

Hmm, it must be TacOS running on my XBox now. This is VERY old news. I have been running version 2 (beta) for at least 3 months.

It is pretty cool, but needs a lot of tidying up. The integrated FTP, and flash programs are good though

--
"Everything louder than everything else"
Re:Dubious, Am I by liloconf · 2004-09-26 11:33 · Score: 0, Informative

On a side note, we recently did a count of the lines of code in our CVS repository for Xenium OS, and were surprised to find that the current count is over 1.35 million lines of code! As much as we would love to say we wrote all of that from scratch, much of it is library code. Regardless, this should show you how much technology and complexity we have put into this product.

RTFWP
Re:Dubious, Am I by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 13:52 · Score: 0

Fair enough, but if any of this is GPL code, surely it must be released since linking means all code must be GPL'ed.
Re:Dubious, Am I by SmittyTheBold · 2004-09-26 15:11 · Score: 1

The final 2.0 release just happened, hence the fanfare.

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± 29 dB
Re:Dubious, Am I by Alsee · 2004-09-26 23:57 · Score: 1

1.35 million lines of code
Dubious, am I, of such an achievement
Why
.
is
.
that
.
hard
.
to
.
believe?
-

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- - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.

The original Xenium OS by fozzmeister · 2004-09-26 10:32 · Score: 2, Informative

Was built on Cromwell (Linux Kernel), This is a full OS which they made and they are hyping like nothing else, apparently its going to let them do loads of cool stuff that would be very difficult with linux . And this made the front of Slashdot because it has a onboard OS (Oh X-Ecuter have one with 3.0 (just released), Smart-XX also do. and Xenium (the one which started it) used to have an Open Source OS (and have just moved to closed source)

Re:The original Xenium OS by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 14:00 · Score: 0

Wrong wrong wrong, team Xodus did not start it... if anyone started this whole OS business on modchips it was SmartXX TOGETHER with team Xodus (they had a rather spectacular split up which neither party has fully gotten over) but my opinion is it was more SmartXX since the guy who owns and operates SmartXX is also an Xbox-Linux (Cromwell) developer... but even before this, I believe team Xecuter were distributing Cromwell with their chips for the sole purpose of reflashing the chip after purchase. It is amusing to see people posting stuff on here who really dont actually seem to know the politics behind it all. The original Xenium OS was directly based on Cromwell, yes... but even so, full sources were not released as they claimed that only the bootloader was Cromwell, which is rubbish - their OS looked and handled identically to Cromwell. So then they moved to XOS2, which allegedly uses OSKit - more GPLed code, but their "Recovery" system still uses Cromwell and there are no sources released for it. Now I'm not saying team Xodus are the only people to be breaking the GPL like this, reverse assembly has been done on SmartXX's OS only to find Grub code and various Linux drivers embedded within. Just recently, Xecuter (as you said) released their new Flashbios... go find the sources to that one too.. you'll find ones that dont include the webserver or IP stack ;)

I guess its the nature of the industry.
Re:The original Xenium OS by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 14:03 · Score: 0

I should also set the record straight that there is barely a trace of the linux kernel in Cromwell (other than things such as USB drivers and Xbox-Linux's video drivers).

Just installed mine this week.... by Superfreaker · 2004-09-26 10:35 · Score: 2, Informative

I spent $60 to get teh chip after my friend installed one of their solder chips. His newer xbox won't accept the solderless chip as the d0 wire is under the mobo.

The box came apart easily and the chip went in easily enough, though it did not boot the first time. After nudging teh chip back and forth a few times, i got it to boot to the xenium screen (almost instant startup). The FTP client was already running and had acquired an ip from my router. I was able to ftp the evolutionx front end over an voila! it works. Less than an hour.

I went back to play a game later to find the ms front end come up with an error. I realized that the chip had become unseated. I had to take it completely apart and nudge it again. After that it worked. Once it stopped working again, i cut a hole in the side of my xbox to allow my finger in the side to press it down. I've only had to do that once or twice so far. Actually well worth it.

Re:Just installed mine this week.... by Skuld-Chan · 2004-09-26 18:14 · Score: 1

Why not just solder the thing in place?

Thats what I never could get btw (with these solderless mod chips) - were geeks - we should know how to solder - once its in its in and there's no question about how good its electrical contact is.
Re:Just installed mine this week.... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 18:25 · Score: 0

I actually had to do the same thing with the solderless adaptor... I just got a bigger screw(one with some serious threads) and screwed that sucker down. It's not going anywhere... works like a charm, and I haul the thing all around down.. It's a virtual party machine.

No solder required... and if a game completely requires no modchip, I don't have to worry, I can just pull the chip off.

Site Is Down Due To Slashdotting No Doubt by Master+of+Transhuman · 2004-09-26 10:40 · Score: 1

Can't find the review on the magazine site, either.

Real helpful links we've got here.

--
Richard Steven Hack - This sig is TOO GODDAMN SHORT TO DO ANYTHING USEFUL WITH! MORONS!

This is cool except... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 10:49 · Score: 5, Interesting

when recently, a couple of weeks ago, this female customer returns an X-Box to Wal-Mart (I work in electronics) and said she couldn't get it to play any games. She said this weird menu kept coming up and she couldn't get it to do anything useful.

So we fired it up there in the store and lo and behold this menu comes up for Xenium by TeamXodus. I knew it was a modded X-Box but didn't know why she would have one or why she would want to return it. Apparently she had purchased it from another Wal-Mart and someone returned the modded X-Box there.

She kept asking me why someone would do this and I tried to explain the coolness factor of being able to control your own X-Box. She wasn't getting it. So, she returned it and got a regular ol' X-Box that does what she wants.

However, I'm confused as to why someone would successfully mod an X-Box and then return it! Is this Xenium thing not all that its cracked up to be? Was it too powerful for someone to handle and they had to bring it back? I don't know, but it really makes me wonder...

Re:This is cool except... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 12:57 · Score: 0

Probable Scenario:
High-schooler mods his/her brand-new X-Box, gets busted for something serious or neglects their school work and the parents punish them by taking it back to Wal-Mart.
Re:This is cool except... by geminidomino · 2004-09-26 22:13 · Score: 1

However, I'm confused as to why someone would successfully mod an X-Box and then return it! Is this Xenium thing not all that its cracked up to be? Was it too powerful for someone to handle and they had to bring it back? I don't know, but it really makes me wonder...

Ripped off?

I never knew hell was in Poland by gelfling · 2004-09-26 10:49 · Score: 1

I'm sure though some of my relatives would agree.

Re:I never knew hell was in Poland by Gadzinka · 2004-09-26 23:38 · Score: 1

Naaah... They must have referred to ``Polish Hell'' ;)

Robert

--
Bastard Operator From 193.219.28.162

Ignore Parent by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 10:50 · Score: 0

BS. I have an old Matrix chip in my Xbox 1.0 and installed a newer Chameleon in a friend's. Neither has "bumped out" of place - mine's been operating for at least a couple of years now. With solderless chips you have less change of permanently damaging your Xbox. They are definitely the way to go.

Re:Ignore Parent by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 14:15 · Score: 0

This is true. I have a Matrix modchip in my Xbox and I have never had a problem with moving it around (although I don't move it often at all). But my friend has the exact same setup and he moves his Xbox between his and his neighbors house all the time (to copy media around, etc), as well as dumbass people kicking the xbox or tripping over the cables, but he has never once had a problem with the chip losing its alignment. As long as you screw the chip well in place when aligning it the first time, you should never have any problems.

Of course one might have other issues if using a different modchip, but the Matrix works great as a solderless chip.

Hardware? We don't need no stinkin' hardware. by Ashinberry · 2004-09-26 11:00 · Score: 3, Informative

In the midst of all this discussion, I must mention that a modchip isn't needed to run unsigned code. A few enterprising coders have exploited various buffer overflows and gaps in the trusted computing nature of the xbox to allow this. Called the "Ultimate Dashboard Exploit" (UDE) and some related projects (UDE2, PBL, nkpatcher), it is possible to buy an xbox, take it home, insert a memory card with a save from a friend who's already done the procedure (there are several alternatives if you don't have friends), load up a certain game, and voila, open xbox.

The only hardware changes I've made to my xbox are a larger hard drive and an ATA/133 cable, but using the UDE it boots to linux on power-on for a nice, low-cost set top entertainment center.

For more pertinent information, see:
http://xbox-linux.org/
http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=2 43341
http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=2 43893
http://forums.xbox-scene.com/

--
I have no .sig

Re:Hardware? We don't need no stinkin' hardware. by ginotech · 2004-09-26 11:30 · Score: 1

yes, but if you mess up the procedure your box is done for. and you can't get as many features as you can with a chip.
Re:Hardware? We don't need no stinkin' hardware. by Ashinberry · 2004-09-26 15:23 · Score: 1

Well, seeing as the Phoenix BIOS Loader simply replaces the shadowed ROM with a BIOS of your choice, you can choose which modchip to run, so features equivilent there. As for hardware mess ups, the UDE installer that is most popular includes a recovery mode that you can activate by powering on the system with the eject button. It allows you to start a mini linux which you can telnet into and fix whatever you messed up with, or even restore the system partition from an image it creates before installing. Quite safe.

--
I have no .sig
Re:Hardware? We don't need no stinkin' hardware. by Mildog · 2004-09-29 05:06 · Score: 1

This may be true for older xboxen. But, unfortunately for us with 1.6 version xboxes, a modchip is required.

1.35 MILLION lines of code? by ScrewMaster · 2004-09-26 11:04 · Score: 2, Insightful

Something tells me these guys have too much time on their hands. I don't suppose the DMCA has any anti-circumvention prevention exemptions that make your mod legal if you have lots of lines of code in it.

Besides, if these guys are that good they should be coding a real operating system and throw it in the mix with Linux and Windows.

--
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.

Overhyped... again by flat235 · 2004-09-26 11:09 · Score: 5, Informative

Sorry, this is overhyped crap.. a.) Mod chips have been around for a long time. They've been solderless for a long time. b.) We've been able to run Linux on our xboxes for a long, long time. c.) The "Onboard OS" is an *application* stored on the chip's flash, which allows users to flash different bios images. It is an OS in that is does not require the stock xbox kernel. No more. This is absolutely nothing new. Recent Xecuter bios images have supported packing .xbe files into the bios (simple ftpd was a good example). Looks like your admins have been duped by an "anonymous" poster from the company who make this. As for those of you who talk about wanting to use the MS media center thing and stream from Linux - check out XBMC (sourceforge) - it is one of the best pieces of "homebrew" software ever created. TD

Re:Overhyped... again by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 14:06 · Score: 0

AMEN! Said it all.

Xenium ICE Chips by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 11:28 · Score: 0, Informative

Hi there, we have been speaking with Team Xodus and their webserver should be back up shortly.

You can get the Xenium ICE Chips @ http://www.xbox-modchips.com/xenium.htm
And Xenium Solderless @
http://www.xbox-modchips.com/xenium-solderless.htm

Re:Xenium ICE Chips by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 14:35 · Score: 0

Yeah but why would people want to overpay at your store when they can get it at mine's cheaper www.jandaman.com ;p

Stupid Slashdot... by Lurgen · 2004-09-26 11:39 · Score: 2, Informative

These have been around for ages now. I've had one in my XBox for close to half a year! NEWS means current info, not ancient bloody history. Pogo installations aren't "news", they're ancient history. The Xenium chips aren't "news", they're just another mod chip that has been around for ages.

Man I hate Slashdot lately. Duplicate posts on the front page, uninformed MS bashing at random, borderline "infomercial" posts about products that don't deserve the screen real-estate... get your act together people, Slashdot is losing face.

Since forever. by mewphobia · 2004-09-26 12:32 · Score: 1

Since when is Linux an application?

It depends what you define an application to be. Something that is loaded by an OS? Well if this is an OS, and it lets you load linux, then by that definition it's an application.

Maybe a better question - Is DOSEMU an application? Are any emulators applications? Is Wine an application (No I know it's not an emulator)?

How do you define an operating system? It's all code. Linux can also be run as a BIOS - does that mean all bios's are operating systems? (Just not very good at it)

I smell bullshit.

Maybe you should get away from the bull.

cool by Crystalmonkey · 2004-09-26 12:35 · Score: 1

I wonder when Microsoft is going to sue them. Oh well, it could be worse. Think "Blue Screen of Death box"

Why site is /.ed? by Mostly+a+lurker · 2004-09-26 12:42 · Score: 2, Funny

Could this be the explanation?

Changelog for Xenium OS 2.0.0:
+Webserver up and running, but still some minor bugs to be worked out.

(emphasis added)

DMCA Take down letters? by nurb432 · 2004-09-26 12:59 · Score: 1

Wonder how long this will last, until Microsoft sends them a nice cease and desist letter..

Got to love the DMCA.... Instantly made all your hardware you buy... not yours..

--
---- Booth was a patriot ----

Still waiting for SMB access to the XBox by webagogue · 2004-09-26 13:36 · Score: 1

I installed a SmartXX - the soldering was much easier than I had thought. I could turn my XBox into a true media hub if only I could access files (through XBMC or my dash) from the network. That way I could store all of my digital media on my XBox and tab into it from wherever I may be. XBMC et. al. only allow you to access shares from the XBox, but not the other way around. Adding that functionality would be an upgrade I would get excited about. Anyone know any differently or have an elegant workaround?

--

Knowledge is valuable. Ignorance is dangerous. Censorship is unacceptable. http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10

Re:Still waiting for SMB access to the XBox by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 19:04 · Score: 0

What's wrong with FTP?
You already have XBMC on the xbox, so just use ftpfs, "Web Folders" or similar (depending on your OS).
-rylin
Re:Still waiting for SMB access to the XBox by Bad+Ad · 2004-09-27 15:30 · Score: 1

wrong, you can access Samba shares and some "crazy-cool" new protocols that have been designed for use with XBMC.

these new protocols have a program that will run as a service/daemon (windows/linux)

except that.. by t35t0r · 2004-09-26 13:50 · Score: 1

pre-flashed modchips are illegal in the US and UK.

Don't waste your time or money on mod chips! by Jagasian · 2004-09-26 15:34 · Score: 2, Informative

Rent or borrow one of the following games:
1. 007 AUF
2. MechAssault
3. Splinter Cell

Rent or borrow an Action Replay for the Xbox, or some other USB Xbox save cart dongle.

Then use this software xbox modding method:
http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?sh owtopic=2 27528

It is just as good as a mod chip. You can boot directly into Xbox Media Center, from which you can launch custom software, downloaded Xbox games, burned Xbox games, movies, music, etc.

Far cheaper, far easier, so why buy a mod chip?

Re:Don't waste your time or money on mod chips! by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 15:46 · Score: 0

1) New version patched
2) New version patched
3) Probably patched by now

Why bother with modchips? Clock loops. Also, if anything goes wrong with your C: partition, you will NEED a modchip to fix it.
Re:Don't waste your time or money on mod chips! by Jagasian · 2004-09-28 04:35 · Score: 1

Newer versions of the first two games have been minted, but as long as you use an older copy of the game everything works fine. The patches can't retroactively change the data on already minted DVDs.

The Ultimate Dash Exploit that I linked to as no clock loop problems, and it also has a builtin rescue method that is activated by booting with the tray open. Making a UDE exploited Xbox unbootable is just about as easy as making a mod-chipped Xbox unbootable, i.e. you have to be a serious retard that actively tries to make their Xbox unbootable.

Last but not least, if you actually made your Xbox unbootable, you can still boot using one of the aforementioned games, which allows you to get an FTP server up and running on your Xbox. So you can still fix an unbootable Xbox without a Mod-chip.

Also, with a press of a button, a UDE exploited Xbox can be returned to a factory fresh state, which cannot be said for Mod-chips, which require breaking labels on the case to open up the Xbox and install the chip.

So I will say it again, why buy a mod chip? The UDE software exploit is easier, safer, less invasive, does not permanently alter your Xbox, and it costs far far less... assuming you know someone with one of the aforementioned games and flash card dongles, then you can mod your Xbox for free using the UDE software exploit. The mod-chip method still costs at least $50.
Re:Don't waste your time or money on mod chips! by Mildog · 2004-09-29 05:08 · Score: 1

and the software exploits do NOT work on version 1.6 xboxes...
Re:Don't waste your time or money on mod chips! by Jagasian · 2004-09-29 11:17 · Score: 1

That is not true at all! The UDE installer works on 1.6 Xboxes. I used it on my older brother's Xbox and a friend's Xbox just this past week. You do not know what you are talking about.

Xbox Modchip story.. by HSD.X-scene.com · 2004-09-26 16:08 · Score: 1

This is a reply to the Xodus Chip story.

Yes.. www.teamxodus.com is temporarily down. It wasn't when the story was posted however.

Is this a new chip? no.

But they've released a new OS for it, which has pleased it's current users, and should attract new ones I suspect.

With this chip, it;s current OS, and with an easy to find hacked bios an Xbox can easily be turned into an excellent media center.

Networked with a pc, it can stream all manner of audio and video and pictures from a pc to the xbox to be displayed where and when you wish.

This same modded xbox, can also be used to surf the web with native clients like Linksbox, or linux in many flavours can be installed to accomplish the same feat.

People weighing the value of a modchipped xbox, need to consider their entertainent needs. For some, this is an incredible investment.

For more info on Modded Xbox' check out http://www.xbox-scene.com/, and to find out more about this specific modchip contact their site at http://www.teamxodus.com/

Just to clear some things up.... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 16:16 · Score: 4, Informative

Just to clear up a few misconceptions and false statements that people have made here....

1.35 million lines of code for an operating system, including kernel, drivers, libraries, applications, etc etc etc... is not at all unbelievable. And, like they said, that includes library code. Pull in SDL, there's quite a chunk of code for 5 minutes work. Pull in some other libraries, and there's more big chunks of code, and so on. Considering they must have drivers for all of the hardware, as well as lots of various libraries for their networking, UI, httpd, etc... i'm suprised the number isn't higher. I'd be interested to see a count of the lines of sourcecode that go into a small linux distribution, including everything from kernel to user space apps, just for comparison.

Also... yes, linux is an OS, of course... Their wording was a bit poor. However, to run Linux on the xbox, the user *must* run an application... the loader, whether that be cromwell, xromwell, or xbeboot.

The claim that XOS2 is based on OsKit is rather ill founded, and goes back to some discussions about a year ago. I happen to know one of the Team Xodus developers, and he tells me that although Oskit was considered for the project, it was quickly decided against.

These "rival modchip makers" need to find some better reverse engineers, who stop making assumptions based on political and social forces.

Also, the source for all of the components which were based on cromwell (the old "os") are available for download from their site.

It has also been stated here that this is "nothing new"... that smartxx and x3 and x-chip all have OSes too. Well, smartxx's "os" is based on cromwell, a GPL platform, and they have not released any source, or made any efforts whatsoever to comply with GPL, and have even publicly said that they would not do so. X3 and X-chip's "OS"es are both based on illegally modified and redistributed microsoft kernels. Really, the big acheivement here is the first and only LEGAL os, written from scratch, for the specific purpose of xbox modding. Yes, IMHO that is quite an acheivement, and worth of /.

Finally...
"Besides, if these guys are that good they should be coding a real operating system and throw it in the mix with Linux and Windows. "

Who ever said they havn't? Most of these programmers work on embedded platforms besides the xbox, as well.

Re:Solderless is *now* the way to go by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 20:50 · Score: 0

ham-fisted soldering iron amateurs

I prefer the term, gay hackers who refuse to wear a tool belt because they're not fashion forward and yet also frequent the goatse website, you insensitive clod!

Actually, my uncle borrowed my soldering iron. Swear to God. And he's in Philly right now. The place, not the sandwich. Umm, where was I?

xenium information and pictures + solderless kit by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 22:58 · Score: 0

http://www.consoleadvance.com/acatalog/Linux_Impor t_Programming.html

Xenium Ice Solderless
Availability: IN STOCK NOW
Manufacturer: Team Xodus
Compatibility: V1.0 / V1.1 / V1.2 / V1.3 / V1.4 / V1.5

* 2 Meg memory (mulitple programmable banks)
* Multiple bank switching
* Xenium OS
* No Dip Switches
* Emergency Recovery System
* Simple install using pin header or direct solder
* Mod disable via power / eject buttons
* Supplied with pin header
* Multi coloured operation LED
* Includes the OFFICIAL Solderless Adapter for the Xenium & Xenium Ice. It will turn your Xenium into a solderless upgrade, easier to install. This official adapter is, like all ozXodus products, a high quality piece of hardware, made to last!

Fan is 70mm but it's possible to change that :-) by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 23:07 · Score: 0

Nope, at least in my 'box it was a custom-fitted 70mm fan. That didn't stop me from replacing it with a silent 80mm fan though. BUT - it takes some violent modding of the case (cutting of the plastic pins that holds the original fan in place), even more aggresive violence on the fan's corners with a sharp knife (basicaly I was able to chop away 10 mm of the lower corners, to make it "almost fit" between the stubs left from the plastic case pins)
Finally, cut up a slightly larger opening in the box's RF-shield, and glue the fan to the original plastic stubs.

Oh yeah, you'll also have to go all Butchery with the knife on the plastic HD/DVD-drive to make some more room. So yeah, I've chopped up my box pretty good, but it's silent and cool - the 80mm is ofcourse more efficient than the original, so you'll also be able to run it slower, i.e. even more silent!
(tip: clean it out entirely before you start - that means remove the motherboard and everything. That way you'll get good access, and be able to slip with the knife without destroying something)

Clearly the most painful hard-work mod I've done on my Box, but also the most rewarding. It was worth every hour!

Re:Fan is 70mm but it's possible to change that :- by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-26 23:10 · Score: 0

the plastic HD/DVD-drive
The plastic HD/DVD-drive CAGE that is. The plastic frame-stuff that the drive is attached in.

Site Impervious To Slashdotting by wild_berry · 2004-09-27 01:10 · Score: 1

The magazine is not free-as-in-beer. They sell paper copies of their journalistic work and the only way you can get a copy of the magazine article is to invest in this proprietry news-format.

I know, it's upsetting. My penguin's crying too, mate.

(and dear, moderators, please don't miss the sarcasm in this post.)

Take care.
Ken.

Re:Solderless is *now* the way to go by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-27 02:11 · Score: 0

I have one of the first solderless chips and it has never needed realignment, works flawlessly

MOD because new games don't work by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-27 13:59 · Score: 0

I'm one of those people that got stuck with a early XBOX that has a Thomson DVD drive which has trouble reading newly pressed discs. These DDE errors are well documented at the xbox fourms sites, but since I am out of warranty, it will cost me $$$ to get it fixed.

If I have to spend $$$, I just might get a mod chip like this to put use back into by XBOX. If I got a free repair, I might just stay fat, dumb and happy playing $50 games.

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