The X-Box Media Centre Project III: Roadblocks
My latest project was steaming along quite nicely, but last night I hit a couple of roadblocks.
1: No controller
Still don’t have that second controller. Not a big problem – I’ll borrow one on the weekend.
2: The Big Bad Wolf
Microsoft really really don’t want people to be doing this. Gaming consoles are typically sold at a loss, with the companies making a fortune from the licencing fees associated with the games you buy. As soon as people start using these things exclusively as a PC, with free software, Microsoft starts losing money.
The first exploit was in the Microsoft game “MechAssault”. As soon as this was discovered, Microsoft fixed the bug in subsequent editions. The check which version you have, you have to look at the laser etching on the back of the disc. The original says “MS02301L”, while the patched version is “MS02308L”. Unfortunately, I have the patched version. Looks like I’ll need another visit to EB.
The second exploit was in the “Dashboard” – the software that loads in your X-Box when you don’t put a disc in the drive. After this was discovered, Microsoft patched the Dashboard. Then, it was discovered that you can downgrade Dashboard to an unpatched version. Microsoft put a stop to that as well. Basically, if you have version 4920 or less, you’re fine. If not, you need to have a kernel version below 5713, and you can downgrade Dashboard 4920. As long as you don’t buy a brand new X-Box, you should be in this boat. If you have an X-Box with a kernel version 5713 or above, you can’t do a dual-boot with Linux and the X-Box software, you need to rip open your X-Box and go straight to the BIOS flashing stage.
Luckily, I have kernel version 4817 – my X-Box was one of the first off the production line. Dashboard has been upgraded by X-Box Live to version 5960, but I can downgrade.
As promised, pictures of my adapter and controller:
USB -> X-Box adapter
X-Box USB controller
July 20, 2007 10:12 am 2 Comments
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By frog
, July 21, 2007 @ 6:40 pm
you’re installing linux?… have you not seen the XBMC project?
its a really nice media centre, more so than anything i’ve seen on linux (fortunately they’re porting it to linux soon…)
http://www.xboxmediacenter.com/
By Stephen
, August 24, 2007 @ 9:04 am
Hey, I am interested in doing the Linux mod to my Xbox as well. I have run into the same problem you had; my Dashboard has been updated to version 5960, through Xbox Live. I am wondering how you downgraded your Dashboard to a previous version (did you go down to 4920?). I found this file off a website which was about 73mb and it is supposedly the 4920 but reading the Linux project article it said I need a 500 mb file (is that a dummy file) in order to downgrade? Does a 73 mb file for installing the old Dashboard make sense? Thanks for your help, this has been keeping me on the computer all day, googling the subject for hours! I also sent you an e-mail. – Stephen