HSDEMONZ.com

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iXtreme firmware 1.0 for TS-H943 Xbox 360
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Media Stealth, Disc-Jitter, Disc-Lockon, FirmGuard, Xbox 360 backup firmware modification!

Updated Xtreme Boot Maker v0.5.3 definition file: http://caster420.360mods.net/iXtremedef.rar

Features
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(v1.0) Defeats all current and some future Xbox Live detection attempts
(v1.0) Boots ONLY Stealth Xtreme Xbox 360 backups
(v1.0) Boots ONLY Stealth Xtreme Xbox 1 backups
(v1.0) Boots all Xbox 360 originals
(v1.0) Boots all Xbox 1 originals on Xbox 360

Use on Xbox Live at own risk

Technical details
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Defeats all current and some future Xbox Live detection attempts.

Thanks to everyone on #FW, Xboxhacker.net , Xbox-Scene.com, Maxconsole.com and Xbins.Org for their support. Keep up the good work everyone.
Commodore4Eva@gmail.com

Source: http://www.xbins.org/nfo.php?file=xboxnfo1596.nfo

…. and so.. it begins again folks. I send you out as sheep amongst the Wolves…

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Well, with the recent news that the Price of the Wheel is about to drop to reasonable levels with the release of Forza Motorsport® 2, I can finally start considering buying one. In Canada this week, I saw the price go from 159.99$ cdn plus 14% tax to 89-99$ + taxes. not bad.

The price was the only real thing holding me back from buying it. That, and the fact that it comes with PGR, which, I’ve gotten bundled with just about ever 360 that has come my way. I have so many copies of PGR (which I hate) that I can use them as coasters and not be concerned.

Now I have a decision to make.. buy a wheel, and probably Forza 2. Or, don’t buy it, and… pfft. I should just buy it.

My thoughts for the night.

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About an hour ago commodore4Eva posted that on IRC to the #fw channel on Efnet. Once done of course, he’ll need to test it. the following are key questions answered, and comment that Commodore4eva was able to provide. I’ve removed anything not related to c4eva’s comments, and in some cases altered the post order to make it more readable tying Questions to their Answers as provided by c4eva.
(07:56:09) (+c4eva) fw is 95% done, one section to go, then testing begins

(08:00:42) (+c4eva) going from 5.3 to iXtreme was a code massacre! but much more secure and safe for all

(08:01:54) (diggyz) c4eva: so there will be a hitachi with media stealth aswell?

(08:02:01) (+c4eva) yes

(08:02:47) (Mangoo) is spoofing going to be possible with the new firmware ?

(08:03:38) (+c4eva) mangoo:spoofing is always more of a risk

(08:03:42) (ak47) so c4eva the new firmware will only play games if they are stealthed? what about my non stealthed burns they are waste?

(08:04:00) (+c4eva) ak47:yes, or use on old fw

(08:04:06) (tech_) am i better off using a hitachi rather then spoofing a sammy to a hitachi?

(08:04:41) (+c4eva) tecK:ok at present

(08:06:14) (+c4eva) the bannings has certainly made all those who doubted stealth very quiet

(08:06:09) (baphomet) c4eva: will you support the older style firmware, or are you going to move on to maintaining the live-capable firmware?

(08:07:18) (+c4eva) baphomet:live only

(08:09:59) (tech_) c4eva: your opinion on the subject matter? I have virgin xb360.. with hitachi and brand new samsung drive… should i just wait on your new fw for hitachi or should i swap/spoof and use sammy fw?

(08:10:36) (+c4eva) tech:no i would stay with the sammy for now

(08:12:53) (+c4eva) helo:we are getting daily logs now of live disk checks

(08:13:50) (+c4eva) so we will know from now on if anything changes in disk checks

(08:15:16) (heloWorld) c4e: with this foul swoop of banning, are you anticipating a quickish response from ms, or do you believe you’ve got the bases completely covered ?

(08:15:45) (heloWorld) c4e: i mean, nobody has a crystal ball, but it sounds like you’ve nearly got backups replying exactly the same as originals when stealthed correctly

(08:16:03) (+c4eva) heloworld:it will take some time i think

(08:15:39) (jas0nuk) c4e do microsoft have a way of detecting spoofed drives?

(08:16:43) (+c4eva) jas0nuk:yes, it is more risky

(08:16:51) (heloWorld) c4e: well if it is in fact true that ms aren’t detecting alterations in the firmware directly, sounds like this iXtreme will give people a good run on live b4 m$ come up with another detection method

(08:17:58) (+c4eva) helo:yes, a long time i hope, MS are running out of options

(08:20:32) (HolyRoses) c4eva: any ideas why some are banned and others not?

(08:21:08) (+c4eva) holy:stealth disks

(08:21:53) (Antman_) c4eva: How would we know if any backups have corrupted ss.bin or dmi or pfi? is it possible to check this on the disc. As I saw mentioned some ripped with other drives than samsung are not correct

(08:22:31) (+c4eva) antman:yes iXtreme will not boot these

(08:29:36) (+c4eva) my only regret was not ENFORCING stealth earlier, would have saved many sammys

(08:33:14) (+c4eva) there comes a point, hopefully with iXtreme, that there are no more options left for detection, or too risky for MS

(08:34:25) (+c4eva) now that we have gone done the secure path, it actually makes it easier and clearer

(08:34:35) (|sanchez|) c4eva i got a question for you or anyone else on the legal aspects of this TOS and Firmware modding, because i have heard a lot of discussion people saying M$ cant legally Brick a 360 if its modded ? any insight ?

(08:35:23) (+c4eva) sanchez:inncorrect, error 66

.fin

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For awhile now, a part of the XS community have enjoyed the benefits of the work the Firmware Modding side of the community had done, including work by GaryOPA, Commadore4Eva, The Specialist and others. Their continued work, has allowed countless thousands to make and enjoy backups of their original retail games. In many countries, (not all) you have a right to make and maintain a backup of your investment. Some however, use this as a method to simply pirate any and every game in the Xbox360 Library.

A shame really. Most of these pirates that amass such a library rarely do more than play a few levels and then stop. (assuming they get that far) There was a time when I did the same with some of my downloading habits, burning each and every game or app that came down the pipe. Readers of my blog know I more or less stopped this behavior a while ago.

When I say I make backups now, I can say it with a straight face and a sincere heart. Not many in my inner circle can or bother to pretend to say the same. Many of which, have taken to not buying games much anymore, since they’ve been able to play their “backups” on LIVE without issue or consequence.

Last week, on the day of the Halo Beta, or the day after (memory fails me) the lights went out for the modders. For some, it was immediate. For others, many hours passed without consequence. Then Poof!

No LIVE info. No Network Connection to LIVE. Further investigation showed the dreaded screen showing the ban. IRC, especially the #FW channel on Efnet lit up like a Christmas tree. The operators of that channel had little choice but to restrict conversation at times, as the flurry of sends to the channel was out of control.

Generally, the chatter covers most of the following..

“I’ve been banned, do I need to buy a new Xbox360?”

“I think I’ve been banned, can I flash back to stock firmware and get unbanned?”

“I have a modded firmware but have not added the most recent update, am I banned (yet?)”

“I have a modded firmware but have never inserted a backup/pirate game disk, am I banned (yet?)”

“I have a modded firmware, and have booted the xbox without the drive being connected, am I banned (yet?)”

“I’m modded, but have NEVER used a backup. Ever. I’m banned now.. how do I get unbanned..”

Last I checked, the consensus is still what was reported on the XS news page. What I haven’t seen, or have missed in my ignorance is when people think this check/logging began, whether it was with the most recent or with the previous updates. Regardless, MS is now fighting back, the bannings are happening and people are pretty upset.

Should they be upset? Not at all. This was Expected. In fact, I’m personally surprised we haven’t had our collective asses kicked sooner. The timing was incredible if it wasn’t planned, as that day of Halo Beta had a lot of people online. Some people are talking class action lawsuit. Others are simply cursing MS and claiming to never buy Xbox stuff again, etc.

I don’t buy that to be honest. Anyone with a LIVE account, knows that the EULA pretty much gave MS all they needed to ban you. A modified box is a modified box. We still don’t know much about the bannings, and still.. not everyone with a modded box is banned. It almost seems there is no rhyme or reason to the bannings, and some who are flagrant pirates, are still on LIVE now. Others, who rarely, or haven’t pirated, are banned.

So it’s pretty Clear, at least from my narrow and probably ignorant perspective that the fact the box is modified at all, regardless of the habits after the modification are what MS is banning for. Some people, with mo backups ever used, have done little more than add a firmware, and boot the box without the drive connected, and are now banned.

My first concern with all of the bannings was the USED console market. It’s about to get real shitty real fast. Ebay, XS’s BST, and other sources of Used consoles are about to get one hell of a shakeup with people dumping their consoles left right and centre. With LIVE apparently banning the Console and not the LIVE accounts, they’ve more or less made those particular XBOX units useless if you’ve enjoying anything about the LIVE experience.

Now I expect people to start selling their banned boxes, and not report as part of the sale the fact their box with it’s console ID is now banned from LIVE, and is useless as a LIVE enabled Xbox. Hopefully, not too many people do this, and we won’t have to limit or restrict the sales of used consoles on XS.

Something else I’ve been seeing is the number of people who are abdicating or plotting a variation on the Walmart Swap. Many of you probably have or had extended warranties. Your banned boxes are modded, but some of you were creative when removing stickers, and could reapply them. For you, the option is to make your box DEAD. Your Console ID dies with the dead box, then you hope you either fool Walmart or Bestbuy or whoever you plan to defraud. Let us be clear, it is fraud. Whatever moral ground you stand on while making backups.. that’s one thing. The swap scams, that’s a whole other dark area that is FRAUD, pure and simple.

I’m pretty sure Xantium said in a public post that people should NOT buy open Xbox’s from retailers. Make doubly sure that ANY console you buy is in a pristine carton. Every retailer, if not already, then soon, will be on the lookout for mass returns of 360’s. Some in Canada are already changing policy to reflect the bans. Word is many in the US are doing the same.

It could easily get to a point where NO retailer will accept a console (360) return, and direct you to Xbox Tech Support for an RMA. If it gets to that, no one will be fooling anyone. That could get pricey. I foresee a time where MS will ship you a return Mailer carton to send your dead box to them, but once they have it, and find its modified, charge you heavily to fix, or charge you just to ship it back not fixed. It’s going to get ugly if that happens. However, if MS wants to really be honest, and stick to this no modified console policy, they need to NOT even allow an option where they will fix a clearly modified console, forcing people to buy new ones.

In the past, MS has replaced modded consoles for $140+ bucks or more. I know. Some with modified and buggered LED boards have come back good as new. Usually, the returned box in those modified situations have been new, or at least different (ie. refurbished) consoles with new Console ID’s. That would be enough to get people back online and on LIVE. Others though, haven’t had that kind of luck and have had bad mod attempts returned to them untouched and useless.

I do feel for the handful of modders, who haven’t yet even put a backup, much less a pirate game on their box. Many of those people have a decent collection of LIVE enabled games, etc that they can’t use on LIVE. Before the bannings, the new ELITE black 360 was easy to find in stores. I suspect as with each new day and people discovering that they are banned, we’ll soon see them fly off the shelves.

Now, the firmware channel’s topic is warning people to not play burns/backups/pirate games on your Xbox if you aren’t currently banned ON or OFFLINE until a new modified firmware is released. (Course, even then, there are no guarantees) we might see the second coming with the proposed Online Xtreme firmware promised in the coming days/weeks. We might also find that MS is now serious, and won’t back down from the current stance.

I personally feel we’re back to where we were mid-late session on the original Xbox. It’s simply better to have one modded Xbox if you must have your backups, and on for LIVE. That’s expensive, sure.. but not if you take into account what MOST people are doing with a modded 360. The money they are potentially saving on just a few titles would pay for the second box.

I don’t think MS is concerned about some of the modders not buying a new box, nor are they concerned about possible lost revenue from LIVE pay content. LIVE was a success long before the modded firmware was an issue.

I personally could care less if we ever see backups playable on LIVE ever again. The DVD drive firmware modding was cool for what it was, but isn’t what I want in this scene on this box. With so many boxes now limited to OFFLINE mode now.. (least not on LIVE) I’m ready for homebrew, alternate dashboards and OS on the 360. Bring it on.

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Everyone everywhere can easily find an Elite 360 in a carbon grey/black box on store shelfs featuring the latest and greatest iteration yet of the 360. HDMI is going to please those of you who truly value the best output possible, especially if you have, or intend to invest in some sweet TV’s.

The 120Gb Hard Drive doesn’t appeal to me at all. Being in Canada, has a big part to do with feelings towards a 120Gb drive. LIVE still doesn’t offer Canada all of the new video marketplace content/rentals etc that the US now enjoys. Until it does, the 20GB is more than adequate in my opinion. Hell, given that the 20gb unit is chopped up into a 40/60 split for backwards compatibility and that I have never filled the usable part of the drive, I think for the next year or so I can safely say I won’t miss having the new 120GB Hard Drive.

One thing I did like is the black look of the Elite. Every time I go into the XS forums and see case modders with new paint jobs and mods.. it’s the black variants that get me the most excited. Maybe it’s because the black ones fit into most home theater setups the best. Least that’s my take.

So, what is one to do when his 360 are white/cream and his older modded original boxes are all in goofy colored XCM cases? Krylon.

/hsdemonz/Elite_Xbox_and_X360/DSCF0203.JPG

A lot of time was spent cleaning, prepping and spraying 7 layers to give a nice even look. For 6 bucks I moved my rainbow assortment of cases to a classic black look. Gotta admit, it felt funny to paint a translucent blue modded Xbox with an X3 plate to match back to classic Black.

(yes.. I chose Gloss Black. I could have gone for flat, or something in between, but I like the shiny wet look. Glossy Black stands out far less then MS cream or XCM blue.)

Least I still got No Remorse’s mad-modder.com Jewel on the original Xbox. Still sweet looking.

For all of the new Xbox owners playing on their new elite, I hope you’ll enjoy the experience and the community you are joining. See you on Live.

The Elite. It’s a nice box.. it’s a nice XBOX.

Enjoy.

P.S. Hope everyone is enjoying the new dashboard update today. So far I am.

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