New firmware prevents modders from being banned

by Dustin Burg { May 30th 2007 at 4:30PM }

A few weeks ago Microsoft dropped their ban hammer on any modded Xbox 360, but the modding community has quickly adapted. A new firmware version has just been released for all 360s with the TS-H943 DVD drive preventing against any Xbox Live detection attempts and allowing the 360 to play all "backup" game copies. This firmware update ultimately prevents Microsoft from "seeing" the modded 360 thus not allowing them to ban the console from Xbox Live. Now we'll just have to wait and see if Microsoft can counter the modding community's left hook with a jab of their own. Let the fists fly!

[Via Xbox-Scene]

Tags: ban, firmware, hack, mod, xbox live, XboxLive

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Parvin @ May 30th 2007 5:15PM

Haha, Modders 2 - Microsoft 1

razer @ May 30th 2007 5:16PM

As these modders and MS go back and forth I fear the more complicated the detection process is the more innocent people are going to end up being banned with absolutely no recourse. I can see this getting to the point where if you aren't having 3 Red Lights or having your discs scratched to hell you are being banned. At what point is it just too much risk to invest in a 360, games, peripherals, etc because at any point your investment could be worthless.

Sean @ May 30th 2007 5:27PM

"(v1.0) Defeats all current and some future Xbox Live detection attempts
(v1.0) Boots ONLY Stealth Xtreme Xbox 360 backups
Use on Xbox Live at own risk!!"

'some' meaning not ALL. It will be detectable, and the modder knows this, that's why he hasn't guaranteed it will always work. Even then, the firmware will only boot backups from Stealth Xtreme... which I'm assuming is a ripping community. It doesn't prevent them being banned. It's just stalling it.

DjDATZ @ May 30th 2007 5:34PM

lol...big corporations can't win against small individuals...

aka adobe with their verification of software...mircosoft with this...you just cant win...LOL

Ikke2003 @ May 30th 2007 5:37PM

Why would you post this? To promote chips? Nah, Xbox360 is the first console in a long time that I'm not planning on chipping.

Even better, people that are banned for playing with a modded xbox on live should be charged another 400$ =)

Bernice Andrus @ May 30th 2007 7:03PM

This is getting ridiculous! Why cant people just play games the way they are meant to be played and stop trying to get over on the system. Is playing on a modded box that great!?

incrediblebulk92 @ May 30th 2007 7:52PM

I think that the idea is not to completely stop anyone from ever getting a modded 360 online or whatever, but to stop the vast majority of people, Its a lot of hassle to update you 360 every time MS releases an update and it might be to late for the update then as far as I know. I think the overall idea is to stop xbox modding being as popular as PS1, PS2 and xbox1 modding was

Sleaze @ May 30th 2007 8:00PM

I like how the folks who chime in the most are typically the ones who apparently haven't even looked into modding the 360.

For the uninformed:
1. You don't "chip" it. You flash the DVD firmware.
2. Xtreme Stealth backups are 1:1 copies of the original 360 discs. They're a bit harder to create.
3. The fact that the new firmware will block any *future* live detection attempts at all seems pretty damn impressive to me.
4. As far as I know, it's impossible to make changes to the "backups" to cheat while playing on XBL.
5. Some folks mod to play backups of the original retail games, most mod to play pirated games. Region codes still apply, so it's not an import thing.

Hockle @ May 30th 2007 8:57PM

5. Some folks mod to play backups of the original retail games, most mod to play pirated games. Region codes still apply, so it's not an import thing.

I don't know about "some folks", that's being way too generous. If worldwide the # of people who mod ONLY to play a purchased legal copy of a game they already own without ever playing a pirated version is more than 500 people I'd be blown away. I'm not attacking the modders, but the "I mod to play my copied games" defense is ridiculous at best.

AoE @ May 30th 2007 8:58PM

Dustin, I would just like to thank you for employing the correct verbiage. I think this may be the first time I've seen a non-scene related blog/news outlet/what have you refer to modders as modders instead of hackers. Kudos!

AoE @ May 30th 2007 9:15PM

@razer, don't stress, if you don't have a modded system, outside of reading the occasional post on gaming sites, you'll never be affected in any way by the squable between Modders & MS. I mean, did you have issues with your Xbox or PS2? Both consoles were heavily modded, and both companies fought tooth and nail with the modders, did you notice?

@Sean, Stealsh Xtreme isn't a community, it's a method. And obviously this new firmware is just a patch/stall; unless MS suddenly decides to give up the battle this back and forth with new firmwares and whatnot will exist until the next generation of consoles. MS can never fully defeat modders, and modders can never fully defeat MS.

@Bernice Andrus, Yes, yes it is.

AoE @ May 30th 2007 9:18PM

@Bernice Andrus, also don't confused modders with cheaters, which you seem to be. Granted there are modders who like to cheat, but they're in the minority. Just modding a console doesn't imply cheating when playing games.

puhssy liquors @ May 30th 2007 9:35PM

If I knew how to do this(which I once found a guide) I'd play pirated games. I'm just.. Not willing to risk my 360 breaking to do it..

O B McCracken @ Feb 15th 2008 10:01PM

This could all be a big marketing scam, people were always afraid to mod incase they were being banned from xbox live, so now they release the patch that says you CAN play on live without being banned, so more modders buy the xbox. I'm a f*Cking genius! MS, I have unravelled your plan :P

Tom @ May 30th 2007 11:24PM

It sure would be nice to use this to undo the latest GOW update that makes you stick to every f***ing wall like you're covered in glue! Grrr!

xamado @ May 31st 2007 2:55AM

This has bugged me for a while because there's too many rich kids here bashing the modding community as a whole because they cheat, so I'm gonna take a stance, bash me if you want.

Modding DOES NOT mean cheating. In many ways, modding gives you the freedom to improve things. Or now are you going to say that Linux is worse because it's done by a bunch of kids trying to imitate windows and windows is better because it has all that counterfeit protection? Cmon...

In my personal case, I modded my xbox because I was curious, I was at first afraid to break it, so I didn't do it for a while... but then my xbox360 started giving me problems reading my discs (original discs with my non-modded console) it would sometimes say open tray, or sometimes it would play the "put this disc on an xbox 360 console to play". Since I thought I would have to buy a new one anyway I went ahead and flashed my console (3.2 version at the time in a Samsung drive). What happened? My console started working again, not only with backups but also with the originals! It read them!

The modified firmware not only lets you read backups, but it also improves on the reading quality, laser tuning, and some other interesting features, which in the end made my console work again.

Also with the fact that lots of people have been trying to trade in copies of scratched disks (remember when GOW was first released?) the possibility of making a backup and skip the risk of your disk being scratched is a good point. Lot's of people i've talked to in the modding community really make backups, because they have kids that usually play with the discs if you leave them for them to reach, sure you could be more careful with your discs.... or you can make BACKUPS!

As to the cheating, you are taking the whole wrong approach at the issue, you are bitching to modders because people are cheating in a game, wrong! You should bitch at Epic because they allow a client side modification to their game change the gameplay! That's plain wrong, they assumed too much the console was uncrackable. You don't assume that on PC games, where the client always has access to the files, and you implement better security to avoid such issues, that's what they should do with GoW in a small patch, better checking of file hashes and other stuff to not allow clients with modified copies of the game to even connect to the server.

Stealth Xtreme is not a modding community, it's a way of copying the disks including all security sectors from the original discs. The theory of how microsoft is detecting modded consoles is that they dont detect the firmware (because IT IS impossible) but they detect wrongly copied disks, which sometimes ommit some security sectors since they aren't checked (or WEREN'T checked until now).

The new firmware makes a great step forward in terms of not letting you boot badly made copies... making a stealth xtreme 1:1 copy is kinda hard and involves lots of steps so it's easy to forget some of them and end getting banned.

As to the guy saying it prevents *some*, he said it prevents some FUTURE checks, it's impossible to know what they will implement in the future so you can't be 100% sure. It surely avoids all current detections though, so it's safe... for now.

Regards!!

ccc @ May 31st 2007 4:47AM

I went over a buddie's house who had a modded 360.
I watched him play GOW.
I watched him mode the game so he couldnt die.
I watched him mode the game so he had unlimited boom shot.
I watched him mode the game so every shot he made with the long shot was a direct hit on the closest enemys head whether he was facing them or not.
I watched him get banned and he deserved it.
Mode your shit if you want but stay off live.

Viridium @ May 31st 2007 8:54AM

Get off of Live, you goddamn modding assholes!

titus pullo @ May 31st 2007 10:09AM

most retail stores offer a warranty for $2 in most cases that will insure your game. if it gets broke scratched for any reason your covered so $2 and you don't have to use the excuse your not stealing your backing up. i'm not rich i'm just saying if you modded your 360 and got banned too bad. read the TOS next time it's that thing that's few pages long when you agree to it you sealed your own fate.
$2 for each game to save $400 for a new 360. but the truth is most people that mod are stealing games.

tearsinurbeers @ Jun 22nd 2007 10:17AM

It really doesn't seem like a big deal to me. I have a modded 360 and I managed not to get banned last month. But if I do get banned, I lose XBL. Big fucking deal.... I guess that means I won't have the pleasure of 10 year old kids talking shit through my TV screen. And I guess I don't get to parade my gamer points for the world to see. But I will still get the hour or so a day of entertainment that I bought the 360 for. All for the price of one 360 and a stack of blank media. The next time you get called a cocksucker by some kid who's balls haven't dropped, think of all the money you spent so that beautiful moment could take place.

cockbeard @ Jun 5th 2007 7:37AM

Saying that no-one but modders gets affected is naive to say the least, there are plenty of people who have been banned for no good reason, and it seems that there is no recourse.
Guilty until proven innocent seems to be MicroSofts policy. If you have been banned unfairly then please contact me at unfairly.banned@ntlworld.com, thanks

pc1443 @ Jun 30th 2007 11:37AM

Just out of interest if I modded my 360 can i still play original games on xbox live without getting banned?

J-Man @ Jul 18th 2007 3:04PM

In light and despite of legitimacy...I will share the following:

I bought my 360 Dec 2006, I had "red rings". Mocosoft at first said it was my fault...I paid to fix. Then received money back from "extended warranty" deal. Up until 2 weeks ago...did I notice my games getting scratched. My Gears is F**ked. I called, yet again Mocosoft blaming me for the damaged game, additionally...pay for a replacement $20...my GOW game (not including movie DVD's) will cost me $80 (original $60 when released + x-tra $20). I just have joined the Florida guy who is suing Mocosoft for $5 million. When I hear of the achievements from hacking community for creating "back-ups", I feel f**king proud...why, I always make every effort to be legit but Sh*t like the problems I have been having, getting blamed for and having to pay over top of retail prices for manufacturer negligent defects...are not worth having to deal with. Honestly...you get less problems hacking and modding than keeping legit and cost less. We will see how far I can tolerate...if I have to pay extra down the line for company device problems...a f**king hacked 360's back ups would be the most satisfying solution. I hope no one else has these problems..nice and dandy when you 360 is working as it should but when you get a bad one...consider asking from the manufacturer to at least send you Vaseline free of charge.