New Xbox 360 Hypervisor exploit (software based)

[Blythe93]

Will update the 360 hack pack later today. This is great news. Basically completed all of Fallout 3 on it and that game is known to crash/bug out and reapplying the exploit previously has been a hassle on my Winchester. Thanks for everyone’s feedback on this update!

Thanks for making the initial pack, very useful for a person like me who doesn't have much experience with XBOX 360 hacking scene. ^^ Keep up the good work!

 

[alexfree]

Thanks for making the initial pack, very useful for a person like me who doesn't have much experience with XBOX 360 hacking scene. ^^ Keep up the good work!

Thanks! I made it also for myself because who wants to watch 4 YouTube videos and download all these things from 6 different websites then rename folders and then edit text files to set your default launcher?

Also it makes updating your USB drive very easy, and is reminiscent of the old school ps2 hack packs and whatnot which is very much needed now for the 360 with this being so usable as a daily driver now with the increased reliability it seems. I was still using it with the 30% success rate as such tho.

 

[Blythe93]

Thanks! I made it also for myself because who wants to watch 4 YouTube videos and download all these things from 6 different websites then rename folders and then edit text files to set your default launcher?

I had to do more than that and by chance stumbled upon a BadUpdate article on ConsoleMods linking to your pack and went to check it out and see what's what. Pretty decent stuff in there, I've only removed the firmware update as I didn't need it and updated the BadUpdate exploit. That was it, worked without issue. Love to see that you included a read-only version of the Simple 360 NAND flasher as well. Now I just need to figure out how to install DLCs for certain games. I've seen some of your recent posts so I'll go through them tomorrow and hopefully figure it out.

Also it makes updating your USB drive very easy, and is reminiscent of the old school ps2 hack packs and whatnot which is very much needed now for the 360 with this being so usable as a daily driver now with the increased reliability it seems. I was still using it with the 30% success rate as such tho.

You were really patient with the 30% success rate version. I had a very bad luck with it back when I tried it out. I remember doing more than 10 tries before I finally succeed. With the latest update, most of the time the exploit takes a minute or two, which is pretty damn good.

 

[alexfree]

I had to do more than that and by chance stumbled upon a BadUpdate article on ConsoleMods linking to your pack and went to check it out and see what's what. Pretty decent stuff in there, I've only removed the firmware update as I didn't need it and updated the BadUpdate exploit. That was it, worked without issue. Love to see that you included a read-only version of the Simple 360 NAND flasher as well. Now I just need to figure out how to install DLCs for certain games. I've seen some of your recent posts so I'll go through them tomorrow and hopefully figure it out.


You were really patient with the 30% success rate version. I had a very bad luck with it back when I tried it out. I remember doing more than 10 tries before I finally succeed. With the latest update, most of the time the exploit takes a minute or two, which is pretty damn good.

I can definitely help with the DLC/Disc 2 stuff, reach out in a DM if you have questions about something. I’ve been meaning to post something about how to do that stuff on console mods wiki because IIRC info on that is not there yet.

I’ve played through the main quest line, most side quests, and all DLC except one with my bad update Winchester for fallout 3 since it came out on very hard mode. I had a few straight up crashes that where so bad even aurora dash ‘es ‘crash intercepted’ notification would freeze, that’s impressive. I had encountered a known bug where it was literally impossible to progress unless you rebooted the console too, loading an old save didn’t save you with that. And trust, I don’t delete/overwrite a single save on that game. It’s another level tho when you have to bad update your console again after these crashes tho!

My first ever play through of the game like 10 years ago I had to restart my character because I was naive and only had one save, and some quest bugged out and I couldn’t progress the story. That happened a lot too this time (can u feel the nostalgia?) but I’m at like save #492 or something so I’ve had plenty of saves to go back to and workaround all the bugs the game is known for. I actually have around 250 hours in the game so far, bugs and all it’s still one of my favorites and I’m so glad bad update allowed me to experience it again.

Besides that I’ve been playing through GTA V again for the first time in nearly a decade to get ready for GTA 6, so I’m familiar with how to ‘install’ disc 1 via extracted XISOs too.

I just realized we got an Xbox 360 soft mod before GTA 6!

Post automatically merged: Aug 9, 2025

This bad update update is a good update wow like 5 seconds on first attempt no joke !

 

[Blythe93]

Github page: https://github.com/32BitKlepto/BadStick/

Hey everyone!

I’m excited to finally share BadStick, a USB tool designed specifically for the Xbox 360 BadUpdate exploit. BadStick is a USB configuration tool that will format the USB and install the BadUpdate exploit payload, a copy of Rock Band Blitz and XeXMenu V1.2 to a Fat32 compatible USB device, as well as whatever else the user may want to install alongside the exploit. This is currently a beta release, and I have not yet implemented all of the available homebrew applications or emulators, but I will have those set and ready in the coming days.

Key Features:​

• Easy USB Formatting: Quickly format your USB drive to FAT32
• Automated Exploit Setup: Install all necessary files for the BadUpdate exploit with just a few clicks
• Selective Installation: Choose exactly what packages to install
• Reliable & User-Friendly: Designed to be stable for everyone
• Lightweight & Portable: No heavy dependencies or complicated setup

Why BadStick?​

• Simplifies the whole exploit setup process
• Saves time and frustration by automating tedious steps
• Supports latest BadUpdate payloads and packages
• Saves time instead of scouring the internet for all plugin/homebrew needs

Planned​

• Stealth Server Selection
• Emulator Selection
• Fixing UI Format (some components get squished together after compiling for some odd reason)

If you want to give it a spin, check out the GitHub repo here: 32BitKlepto/BadStick
BadStick is completely open source for people to learn from. However, you do NOT have my permission to redistribute or implement this anywhere else without my explicit permission.

Again, I will be updating this in the coming days. Expect bugs and/or other issues while using BadStick. It is in beta. Please report any issues to me on the GitHub, or via my Discord. Have fun everyone! <3

Source.

 

[THYPLEX]

Three questions:

1 : Can i transfer the exploit from the USB drive to the Xbox 360's internal hard drive without needing the USB to load the exploit anymore ?

2 : Is there a compatibility list of Xbox 360 games only that i can play with this exploit with or without patching them ?

3 : how can i install/play multi disc games that have the game divided in two discs (and not one disc with the game and the other disc with only dlcs) ?

 

[Blythe93]

2 : Is there a compatibility list of 369 games only that i can play with this exploit with or without patching them ?

Other than Halo 3, I haven't tested any other game yet. Halo 3 + update + DLC worked without any additional patching. I've been using @alexfree's pack (XeUnshackle version): https://alex-free.github.io/360-hack-pack/

3 : how can i install/play multi disc games that have the game divided in two discs (and not one disc with the game and the other disc with only dlcs) ?

Probably in a ways similar to the one disc games: Extract the ISO and merge the folders.
I've checked some of the recent posts made by alexfree in this thread, this post in particular. For Halo 3, I've personally used this tool: https://digiex.net/threads/xbox-360...siest-xdg3-extraction-tool-with-gui-ftp.9711/

 

[alexfree]

Three questions:

1 : Can i transfer the exploit from the USB drive to the Xbox 360's internal hard drive without needing the USB to load the exploit anymore ?

2 : Is there a compatibility list of 369 games only that i can play with this exploit with or without patching them ?

3 : how can i install/play multi disc games that have the game divided in two discs (and not one disc with the game and the other disc with only dlcs) ?

1. Maybe? I never tried, but this **might** work, if you were to i.e. move Rock Band Blitz there.
2. "Patching" has been obsolete since FreeMyXe Beta 4 (and XeUnshackle never required it in any version)
3. It's sort of game specific. For example GTA V you need to move the files from disc 1 (INSIDE OF DISC 1 is a 'content/000000000' folder with these files) into a 00000002 folder you create inside of the extracted Disc 2 ISO:

 

[THYPLEX]

1. Maybe? I never tried, but this **might** work, if you were to i.e. move Rock Band Blitz there.
2. "Patching" has been obsolete since FreeMyXe Beta 4 (and XeUnshackle never required it in any version)
3. It's sort of game specific. For example GTA V you need to move the files from disc 1 (INSIDE OF DISC 1 is a 'content/000000000' folder with these files) into a 00000002 folder you create inside of the extracted Disc 2 ISO:
View attachment 521673

It's Better freemyxe or xeunshackle for playing backups ?
And i don't have to patch homebrews anymore neither ?

 

[SylverReZ]

Xbox 360 S (Trinity, PAL, date code 26-07-2010)

First attempt: 2m 45s
Second attempt: 3m 16s (instant crash)
Third attempt: 0m 59s

First attempt went real fast over waiting 5 minutes for a successful attempt, but the third attempt was the closest to a quickest glitch - and dare I say, a world record. Now I don't have to painstakingly wait 1/2 hours to constantly retry just to get the exploit to work. This is, by far, a massive milestone to improving the stage timing.

And i don't have to patch homebrews anymore neither ?

Not anymore you do not.

 

[alexfree]

Xbox 360 S (Trinity, PAL, date code 26-07-2010)

First attempt: 2m 45s
Second attempt: 3m 16s (instant crash)
Third attempt: 0m 59s

First attempt went real fast over waiting 5 minutes for a successful attempt, but the third attempt was the closest to a quickest glitch - and dare I say, a world record. Now I don't have to painstakingly wait 1/2 hours to constantly retry just to get the exploit to work. This is, by far, a massive milestone to improving the stage timing.


Not anymore you do not.

yea not since like late march has patching been necessary... this is the problem with these "youtube" tutorials they just keep linking back to in new posts about how "bad update is way faster and usable now" (it always was, yall never had patience) but they say "this is how you use it" and give you 48 steps including patching ISOs from march 2025.

 

[Blythe93]

It's Better freemyxe or xeunshackle for playing backups ?

As far as I know, either one will do just fine. I personally use XeUnshackle. Check out alexfree's pack: https://alex-free.github.io/360-hack-pack/ The only thing you might need from it are the firmware files.

1. Maybe? I never tried, but this **might** work, if you were to i.e. move Rock Band Blitz there.

This would be great if possible, one less USB device attached to the console. Thankfully I have one of these tiny USB flash drives that I plugged into one of the rear ports. Got it with one of the XBOX consoles where the seller said that the console may or may not have an HDD storage. At first I thought he was lying because I didn't get any internal HDD but instead it was the tiny USB in the rear.

 

[THYPLEX]

yea not since like late march has patching been necessary... this is the problem with these "youtube" tutorials they just keep linking back to in new posts about how "bad update is way faster and usable now" (it always was, yall never had patience) but they say "this is how you use it" and give you 48 steps including patching ISOs from march 2025.

But to your knowledge do i still need to patch the Xbox 360 backups as well (default.xex) in order to play them ?

 

[Blythe93]

But to your knowledge do i still need to patch the Xbox 360 backups as well (default.xex) in order to play them ?

Nope. At least, few games that I've tried worked without patching, title updates, DLC and everything.

 

[Afeohtan]

I figured it could be sped up. Never say never.

Anyway, hopefully this will motivate people to develop more homebrew programs.

 

[alexfree]

Nope. At least, few games that I've tried worked without patching, title updates, DLC and everything.

But to your knowledge do i still need to patch the Xbox 360 backups as well (default.xex) in order to play them ?

xeunshackle and freemyxe “patch” them for you now essentially on the fly, which is why this is no longer required

 

[EvilJagaGenius]

Anyway, hopefully this will motivate people to develop more homebrew programs.

I have been tempted but am not sure where to start. Quick research found me the Xbox 360 Neighborhood and SDK, but I'm not sure how that turns into porting stuff over... I did not see an SDL2 implementation for the 360. Though I read SDL2 can use DirectX 9 as a backend. Maybe it'd be possible to make it work?

I think it'd be cool (and I'm curious if the 360 would have the power for it) to port a GBA emulator that would allow for 4-way splitscreen. Whenever I think of the 360, I think of couch multiplayer, using it for 4-way Sonic Battle or Zelda Four Swords sounds like a perfect fit. VBA-M and mGBA depend on SDL though.

Anybody know any good places to learn DirectX 9?

 

[alexfree]

I have been tempted but am not sure where to start. Quick research found me the Xbox 360 Neighborhood and SDK, but I'm not sure how that turns into porting stuff over... I did not see an SDL2 implementation for the 360. Though I read SDL2 can use DirectX 9 as a backend. Maybe it'd be possible to make it work?

I think it'd be cool (and I'm curious if the 360 would have the power for it) to port a GBA emulator that would allow for 4-way splitscreen. Whenever I think of the 360, I think of couch multiplayer, using it for 4-way Sonic Battle or Zelda Four Swords sounds like a perfect fit. VBA-M and mGBA depend on SDL though.

Anybody know any good places to learn DirectX 9?

I would get the leaked XDKs from archive.org, pretty sure they have some docs in them. AFAIK DX9 is DX9, so PC reference is still pretty useful. Also here’s a good example https://github.com/Swizzy/XDK_Projects

 

[THYPLEX]

xeunshackle and freemyxe “patch” them for you now essentially on the fly, which is why this is no longer required

Which Is Better for playing OG XBOX and XBOX 360 games ?
Freemyxe or unshackle ?

 

[PopperTop]

Is anyone else having trouble with Aurora title updates?

From what I understand, Aurora gets them from XboxUnity, so I double-checked and manually downloaded the correct updates for the matching Title ID. However, when I enable them in Aurora or place them in the correct folder under /Content/, the games stop booting.

Are these just bad updates, or am I doing something wrong?

I'm trying to update Forza Motorsport 4, Forza Horizon 1, and Forza Horizon 2.