Hacking Banning while playing original 360 discs

[dexter222]

Can my flashed xbox 360 still get banned from xbox live even if I only play actual discs while on xbox live?

 

[FAST6191]

"while on xbox live"

If by this you mean the old classic "only use copies offline" method although there has not been a banwave in a long time (if the new dash beta is anything to go by MS are probably ramping up for one) I believe the advice is still "make efforts to check things with the likes of ABGX360, do not play games before street dates (or street dates somewhere in the case of region free) and generally play it safe but you can never be certain of avoiding a ban.
Some people did do some research around the time we got JTAG machines to see if indeed anything did happen to the NAND and it looks like nothing does unless you actually trip something like an AP2.5 check. This means there might be something to be said for a no Live (or more accurately no internet access) on a 360 so to this end enjoy it however you will- if you get banned at least you can say you enjoyed it and there is still offline and system link after that.


Equally if you go reading old threads asking the same thing you might come across "jitter" which here was people wondering if a real disc which reads far more nicely than a burned disc ( http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/column..._dvd_technology has some nice pictures that illustrate why although note the scales) could be used to compare and contrast. For my money it is far too weak a test to do anything with (dirty discs, dodgy laser and loads more can cause similar results).

 

[dexter222]

Thanks for such a quick and detailed answer... but was that a "yes" or a "no"?

 

[Blue-K]

Thanks for such a quick and detailed answer... but was that a "yes" or a "no"?

You can always get banned with a custom Firmware, that's the risk you're taking, even when only playing the retail games online. One simple Update, and you could be gone from XBL. Right now, if you aren't on LT or LT+, you are probably already flagged (Flag=Banned when Microsoft starts a new Banwave, nothing you can do against this). Same goes for not verified games, always verify them with ABGX360, I would recommend to only play games which are 100% verified, otherwise you have a higher chance to be banned.

The AP2.5-Checks are also really nasty, right now they don't seem to be used that much (only for a handfull of games), but it should be possible for Microsoft to update them via an Game-Update (they also can update them via Dash-Updates). Right now, LT+ should protect you from a ban/flag if the checks fail.

Tl;Dr: If you always update to the latest Firmware, don't apply Updates without searching first if they are safe, and always verify your games with ABGX360 (and only play the 100% verified games), you are as safe as possible. That doesn't mean that Microsoft won't/can't ban you though. Nothing is ever 100%-XBL safe, only Retail-Games and a retail Firmware.

The tool XVal 2.0 should be able to tell you if you're already flagged or not, btw.

 

[dexter222]

Thanks for all the info.

When I flashed these xboxes I had planned to never subscribe to xbox live... why pay for something playstation gives away?

well... I guess you get what you pay for. Playstation network is STILL down or I wouldn't even be asking.

 

[Devante]

I'd like to reiterate that no one, not even C4EVA, understands completely how Microsoft does their checks for banning people so whatever you do will always be risky.

That said, I played burned games (Call of Duty, Gears of War, Army of Two, etc) online for at least a year and never got banned a couple of years ago.

Now I don't think I'd risk it.