Xbox 360 Hacked! – Backup Discs Now Playable!

PSP homebrew developer Nytrix, from our forums, has confirmed an earth shattering breakthrough in the Xbox 360 hacking scene today. As you know, we earlier, reported on the issue of backup games being playable on the Xbox 360. The author of the video was unwilling to give out the technique that he used to accomplish this feat. However, Nytrix has gone above and beyond and determined the methods used and claims to have duplicated the procedure, along with providing more information on exactly how and why this is possible. Apparently this is only applicable (at this time) on the Hitachi drives that come with the Xbox 360, however we expect to see breakthroughs in all drives very soon. Here is a quote from our forums from Nytrix.

I have figured out how it was done in the video. (the video of the guy playing the PGR3 backup) here’s the instructions, I am currently playing Full Auto (Backed up).

It’s a modified firmware of the Xbox 360 DVD-ROM drive. As you (should) know, all Xbox 360 executables (XEX files) are signed by Microsoft (with a private key only MS has). This means that if you try to change anything to the XEX file, the signature will be wrong and the file will not boot.

Now … to protect from booting an exact 1:1 copy of a game from a DVD-+R, microsoft gave each XEX file a ‘mediaflag’. This mediaflag tells the Xbox 360 from which media (cd-r, dvd-r, dvd+r, dvd-rw, hdd, dvdxbox, dvdxbox360, …). Changing this mediaflag in XEX is not an option as it’ll break the signature (see above), so … what’s done in this firmware hack is breaking the detection of the disc.

As you can see, he has found the flaw in Microsoft’s self professed “bullet proof security” by simply modifying the firmware of the DVD drive to allow backup copies of official games to boot. Now as simple as this may sound, it does require some advanced soldering skills, and will probaby not be within the means of the average person. However, with this astonishing breakthrough, we do fully expect to see Xbox 360 DVD ROM’s for sale on ebay with the hacked firmware soon.

Check out our previous coverage of this topic with a video of it in action [here].

[While we do not support piracy here at QJ.NET, we will always cover the news. Reporting on something is not the same as encouraging it – just like reporting a murder on the 10 o’clock news does not encourage you to kill people. A member of our forums has confirmed what was shown in the previously released video and shared the resources he used to do duplicate it – without giving an indepth “how-to” that might be construed as encouraging the piracy of Xbox games. It is our belief that this breakthrough is the first step in getting unsigned code and homebrew programs to be executed on the Xbox 360 and is a valuable piece of information that could positively benefit the Xbox 360 Community.]
PSP homebrew developer Nytrix, from our forums, has confirmed an earth shattering breakthrough in the Xbox 360 hacking scene today. As you know, we earlier, reported on the issue of backup games being playable on the Xbox 360. The author of the video was unwilling to give out the technique that he used to accomplish this feat. However, Nytrix has gone above and beyond and determined the methods used and claims to have duplicated the procedure, along with providing more information on exactly how and why this is possible. Apparently this is only applicable (at this time) on the Hitachi drives that come with the Xbox 360, however we expect to see breakthroughs in all drives very soon. Here is a quote from our forums from Nytrix.

I have figured out how it was done in the video. (the video of the guy playing the PGR3 backup) here’s the instructions, I am currently playing Full Auto (Backed up).

It’s a modified firmware of the Xbox 360 DVD-ROM drive. As you (should) know, all Xbox 360 executables (XEX files) are signed by Microsoft (with a private key only MS has). This means that if you try to change anything to the XEX file, the signature will be wrong and the file will not boot.

Now … to protect from booting an exact 1:1 copy of a game from a DVD-+R, microsoft gave each XEX file a ‘mediaflag’. This mediaflag tells the Xbox 360 from which media (cd-r, dvd-r, dvd+r, dvd-rw, hdd, dvdxbox, dvdxbox360, …). Changing this mediaflag in XEX is not an option as it’ll break the signature (see above), so … what’s done in this firmware hack is breaking the detection of the disc.

As you can see, he has found the flaw in Microsoft’s self professed “bullet proof security” by simply modifying the firmware of the DVD drive to allow backup copies of official games to boot. Now as simple as this may sound, it does require some advanced soldering skills, and will probaby not be within the means of the average person. However, with this astonishing breakthrough, we do fully expect to see Xbox 360 DVD ROM’s for sale on ebay with the hacked firmware soon.

Check out our previous coverage of this topic with a video of it in action [here].

[While we do not support piracy here at QJ.NET, we will always cover the news. Reporting on something is not the same as encouraging it – just like reporting a murder on the 10 o’clock news does not encourage you to kill people. A member of our forums has confirmed what was shown in the previously released video and shared the resources he used to do duplicate it – without giving an indepth “how-to” that might be construed as encouraging the piracy of Xbox games. It is our belief that this breakthrough is the first step in getting unsigned code and homebrew programs to be executed on the Xbox 360 and is a valuable piece of information that could positively benefit the Xbox 360 Community.]

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