Gaming XBL on modded 360 question...

[The_Hulkster]

Hey!

This might sound as a weird question to some because this might be a well known fact, but I have not been able to find an answer for this yet.

Ok, so here's the thing...

It's a widely known fact that playing on XBL with a modded 360 can get you banned. Is being signed into XBL the same as "playing online"?
I mean, is it just as bad and will it heighten the chance of being caught?

By the way, is there a difference in having a legal and illegal copy in your 360 while signed into XBL? (not playing)

And would it be wise to wait for iXtreme 1.5.1 before having my 360 modded?

As a final question, is it possible to play a backup on your 360 while not being signed in and still getting your achievements and having them added to your account?

Thanks in advance for your replies!

 

[Armadillo]

It's a widely known fact that playing on XBL with a modded 360 can get you banned. Is being signed into XBL the same as "playing online"?
I mean, is it just as bad and will it heighten the chance of being caught?

Same thing. Live does the same checks on the disc whether you are playing online or just connected to live.

By the way, is there a difference in having a legal and illegal copy in your 360 while signed into XBL? (not playing)

Same checks are done on both the original and copy.

And would it be wise to wait for iXtreme 1.5.1 before having my 360 modded?

No , don't even think there is a date for 1.5.1 , just flash now and upgrade later if another firmware comes out.

QUOTE(The_Hulkster @ Jan 24 2009, 06:08 PM)

As a final question, is it possible to play a backup on your 360 while not being signed in and still getting your achievements and having them added to your account?

Yes , you can get achievements offline. They won't be dated though and they won't show up on any of the online gamercard sites untill you connect to live.

 

[Zerrix]

iXtreme 1.6 is sheduled to be released soon. The developers mentioned to invert a function which lets you read your original x360 games to your pc at once from your x360-console. So no need for the 126D-Drives anymore etc.

 

[Moose13]

iXtreme 1.6 is sheduled to be released soon. The developers mentioned to invert a function which lets you read your original x360 games to your pc at once from your x360-console. So no need for the 126D-Drives anymore etc.

I'm kinda new tothis, and I did flash my own lite-on drive.
What do you mean by this? You can play games via the PC? What's the 126-D drive? Or is it that you can read any original 360 game with any ordinary PC DVD drive, instead of using a "special" drive (126-D)?

 

[754boy]

iXtreme 1.6 is sheduled to be released soon. The developers mentioned to invert a function which lets you read your original x360 games to your pc at once from your x360-console. So no need for the 126D-Drives anymore etc.

I'm kinda new tothis, and I did flash my own lite-on drive.
What do you mean by this? You can play games via the PC? What's the 126-D drive? Or is it that you can read any original 360 game with any ordinary PC DVD drive, instead of using a "special" drive (126-D)?

I think it means that you'd be able to rip your own 360 originals to your PC using your 360 instead of needing a Kreon drive.

 

[The_Hulkster]

This has all been very educational, thank you all for your replies!

So here's another question...
Does MS check the firmware or the discs?

Because now I'm thinking that it could be safe to unplug the LAN cable before inserting a backup and plugging it back in when I want to play an original game. Is this true or is it still just as dangerous?

Anyway, thanks again for your previous and future replies!

 

[War]

It's still dangerous. If you are connected to Live, YOU ARE IN DANGER.

 

[triassic911]

The current ixtreme's stealth is undetectable by m$ at this point, so just mod it now. When you mod your 360, you are running a huge risk, but if all discs are properly patched and you don't play games before there release date, you're all good.

 

[FAST6191]

Truth be told nobody really knows how MS bans people; if I was MS I would randomly ban suspected people so as to make comparing impossible and possibly seed misinformation. Anyone who claims to know exactly what goes is either misinformed or works for MS and knows what goes (have not seen too many of them around these days).

Generally though it comes down to two things:
hardware.

Firmware detection- widely considered impossible with current methods and I would be inclined to agree.
As an aside it may be possible to time loading to detect users of hacked drives that use slower speeds (it was removed from the latest release if I am not mistaken).

Some have argued that those with cheap (as in they do not pay the ridiculous prices MS ask for a bit of ancient hardware) third party hard drives who use the key floating around rather than ripping their own may also be affected.

Modification detection- hardware checks are part of any decent bootup sequence. No end user should have their disc drive removed unless it is to mod it (how many of you used the power from the 360 instead of making/buying an adapter). Some have argued if you take power for extra fans the same thing can happen but I am not convinced of this (resistance measurement as "modchip" detection is nothing new at all) but such a measure would be extremely callous of MS as in and of itself it shows no wrongdoing.

software.
This would be bad burns and/or bad rips. This I am guessing is the most likely cause for most people.

Some also cite playing games before release date, not only do the early rips have a good chance of being bad we can not verify until the release date (or shortly before....). Live may or may not play a part in this and there is also the possibility of it being an actual review copy (and "signed" differently) rather than someone passing it off in the pressing plant/similar. Your console has a unique set of keys (see unbanning of the 360) and it would not be too hard to compare the signature to the list of reviewers. If we are going to go all conspiracy theorist a company/MS could leak their own game (it will happen anyway, might as well take someone down with you). Know that many of these early copies originate in the p2p realms and entry requirements are not exactly steep there (scene releases are sometimes rebadged p2p too, see nuke reasons on abgx).

Banning tends to come in waves, we have no idea if the data is stored and sent or sent live (this would be whether you take your cable out or not). Some of it is encrypted though (a few people have hooked up a packet scanner when the 360 does what it needs to, then again there is nothing to stop it from phoning home a week ahead of time) and if you can break it then your decryption skills will be able to earn you enough money to buy many new 360s (or more likely catch a bullet).

To this end the paranoid (and I mean that in a good way) people mod their drive with a different power source (if necessary, some can be flashed without powering the drive), use up to date mods, rip their own games several times (errors should be random and should not be repeated) using confirmed methods (some of the earlier methods left a bit to be desired) and check their burns.

 

[caffeinekid]

Truth be told nobody really knows how MS bans people; if I was MS I would randomly ban suspected people so as to make comparing impossible and possibly seed misinformation.

If I were MicroSoft I would come to sites like this and take a note of the GamerTags of people who discuss piracy and ban them - lots of people here talk about playing pirate xbox games and have their tags in their sigs, which seems a pretty silly thing to do, to me personally anyhow.

 

[Santee]

i dont think they would be allowed to do that cuase they never know if were lying

 

[Santee]

cool dump games from xbox does it make it harder to detect from MS and do 360 need modchips to play backups i dont want a guide just that i've heard of flashing you drive? damn double post how do i mearge post?

 

[FAST6191]

A backup is good assuming it is done in the correct way whatever method you use.

Modchips, there are a few for the earlier consoles/drive types and there are some special ones for homebrew (not that far advanced and only available on older models).
However flashing the drive is the most common method and is no worse than chipping (quite in fact you will have to make some effort to make a chip as good as a flashed drive).

Earlier drives only need a special sata card* (see the various guides for the models, textbook's guide is the one people start with).
* There are some methods you can use to dodge this but frankly if it is the choice between opening up the drive and messing with microelectronics or a $15 card which I can use later I know which one I would pick.
The newer liteon drives ( http://www.360drives.com/list ) need a special device for ripping the firmware (although there are rumours of a new version that avoids the need for this device). You can buy one for a small sum or you can build one (it is a few transistors and resistors). Either way you will need a serial port.