Xbox Modchip Featuring Onboard Operating System

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

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

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

--
---------
In the end we are ALL disconnected....

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...

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...

--
-*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)

--
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?

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: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.

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

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

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: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.

--
---------
In the end we are ALL disconnected....

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: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.

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)

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: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.

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

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

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: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

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.

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.

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?

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: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?

Slashdot Mirror

Xbox Modchip Featuring Onboard Operating System

33 of 235 comments (clear)