Microsoft Banning Modded Xboxen

An anonymous reader writes "Since the release of Halo 2 (ed: and just before), Microsoft has been banning modified Xboxes from Xbox Live. Some have even been banned with their mod-chips turned off. Previously many users had been able to use Xbox Live provided they disabled their mod-chip. There are a few theories floating around as to how MS is doing this: from scanning the hard-drive for non-MS material to being able to check if the DVD-drive/Hard-disk serial number is from stock or not."

Comments

xbox connect

[Strokke]

Although I am a faithful user of xbox live, there is an alternative for people who get banned.

http://www.xbconnect.com/

Xbox connect is supposedly improving constantly and adding a lot of features to make it more new user friendly. My friend has a modded xbox and says that it works fine. I think it lacks the useful interface options and stat tracking of xbox live....however if you do get banned (and I know theres a big percentage of users on this site who have modded xboxs), give it a try

same with socom2 on ps2

[apostrophesemicolon]

afaik, Sony PS2 uses the DNAS (Dynamic Network Authentication System) to scan whether the game CD is authentic sony product and then checks if the PS2 have been modded..
the result is (at least for me, using Messiah2) is real difficulty in logging in with modchip turned off..

Re:same with socom2 on ps2

[DroopyStonx]

There are patches for the DNAS (and have been for a while).

You generally find them on the alt.binaries.cd.image.playstation2 groups, but there's a small ISO (diskidutil) that you boot up your modded PS2 with. You put in the original game and a screen appears with the game's unique ID along with your playstation's machine ID.

Then you extract the DNAS file (dnasxxx.img) from the disc, use a utility to patch it with the matching nip file (dnasxxx.nip), input the disc ID you got from the discidutl:

"diskid3 dnas271.nip dnas271.img CC:1F:06:30:54"

Re-insert the dnasxxx.img file into the ISO, burn, enjoy!

What's great about this is you can use dnas files across different games. I rented Resident Evil Outbreak and patched it using THPS4's DNAS file and it works like a charm.

the meaning of the word XBOXEN

[apostrophesemicolon]

Source: Urban Dictionary

xboxen

n. pl. The plural form of xbox.

Re:the meaning of the word XBOXEN

[drewmca]

The urban dictionary is wrong. xbox is a special kind of box, and the plural for box is "boxes", not "boxen". The use of the word "xboxen" is an irritating attempt by people to be clever. If Microsoft released a new form of hay cart transportation based on the ox, and called it the xb-ox, then its plural would be xboxen.

Re:the meaning of the word XBOXEN

[k98sven]

It's only wrong if you don't know your geek-etymology.

Long ago there was a machine from Digital Equipment Corporation named the VAX ("Virtual Address eXtension").

The plural of VAX became informally 'VAXen', for reasons unknown but probably simply because it sounds nicer than 'VAXes'.

Later, people started referring to any computer as a 'box'. And in reference to the VAX tradition the plural of 'box' was 'Boxen'.

The Xbox name, in turn, played on the slang term 'box' for computer.. so in turn referring to the Xbox in plural form as 'xboxen' is completely in line with computer slang traditions.

Re:I can't comment on how they're detecting mods..

[llevity]

It doesn't ban based on the mac address. It bans based on a unique number stored in the Xbox's EEPROM. Based on that, you can get someone else who never plans to play on Xbox live to use a utility to get the data out of their EEPROM, send it to you, and you can reflash your xbox with this. This will get you back on Live. Unfortunately, unless you figure out how they banned you in the first place, they'll just ban this new EEPROM. It was a useful trick when the only way to get banned was to forget to switch off your modchip prior to hopping on Live, but no longer.

A better solution

[MobyDisk]

It looks like Halo 2 checks the model # and serial # of the hard drive. Will someone tell me why Microsoft cares what hard drive you have in the system? Instead, why don't they check the serial # of Halo 2 game itself? That way, they are detecting piracy rather than modded X-boxes. Seems more fair to me.

Not that it matters. Now that we know what they check and how, it should be easy to disable the check or to spoof it.

(Next thing you know, they will have a camera checking to see if you have illegal stickers on the side of it. Error: XBOX Banned - GameCube detected in same room. :-) )

I Guess No One Here Knows any German...

[Anonymous Coward]

If you've ever studied German at all, you might be aware that the plural form of many words in that language is formed by adding the suffix "-en" to a word.

It seems obvious to me that using the plural form "Xboxen" is an example of playful imitation of this linguistic behaviour.

Re:I Guess No One Here Knows any German...

[Anonymous Coward]

Or if 1 is an Ox and multiple are Oxen one is a box multiple should be boxen.

Re:Reply to my own post...

[ajd1474]

Its not physically banned. You are still physically able to connect to Xbox Live, you just cant play any games. It is a software ban... effectively a failed login attempt, not a banned device as such.

Re:This should come as a surprise to no one.

[Anonymous Coward]

But it works both ways. Microsoft owns the Live Network - and if they say "No Modded XBoxes", that's what it means.

Well, then thank god for the people at XBConnect (for PC) and Aquaduct2 for Mac. I downloaded a copy of both of these last night and gave them a shot. They both work on the same network, so I can hook up with my friends who use PC using my Mac. Great clients! And a great free alternative to XBox Live!.

I recently moved away from an apartment complex where we had a 4 apt network of XBoxes. 2 of us hooked up over the phone last night using XBConnect, added each other to our friends lists and were online playing like we never left the complex.

I do not have anything to do with either of these sites, just endorsing their great products. I buy my games, but modded my XBox for trickery and Emulators. (I'm a sucker for old NES and SNES games!) I was annoyed at least to find that I could not play Halo2 against other players. By night I had XBConnect up and running and was online playing against other people.

Excuse the grammar and all, I know it's horrible but I'm thinking impaired at the moment. ;)