hack-proof Xbox DVD drive

[LouCipherr]

some interesting news I found: Now hackers and system owners are reporting of a new drive, sourced from Hitachi with the model number GDR-3120L and v0078FK version tag, that makes it much harder for the console to be hacked. Owners on the forums of the infamous Xbox hacking site 'Xbox-Scene' are noting various changes and problems: *Black hard glue/resin has been added covering all the chip pins and the controller pins *Removing the flash chip to externally be read will destroy the drive due to the new black resin *Wiring in a patching-on-the-fly mod would be very hard, again due to the resin *The firmware dump program used for all the other drives, 'memdump', no longer works, so a totally new program re-write is needed to dump the firmware for inspection/hacking *Chip type has been changed to a 39VF020, so new flashing (previously 'flashsec') program needed *External debug triggering into 'ModeB' has been removed which is used for re-writing the firmware Originally, it seems these drives were appearing in Australian territories, but others have spotted the same drive model and version in the UK - so expect them worldwide very soon. Looks like Microsoft has thrown down the gauntlet... lets see what action the Internet community takes on this one. I know someone, somewhere will find a way around this, but it's interesting news to say the least. M$ fighting back, but i'm sure fighting a losing battle. LC

[Cody]

your a loser if u have time to hack into a x-box my opinion.

[Danny]

why would you hack a games console? the mind doth boggle

[LouCipherr]

Have you guys never heard of mod chips for the PS2 & Xbox and what they allow you to do with these systems?

[DeadJonas190]

why would you hack a games console? the mind doth boggle Hacking into the xbox allows people to play a lot of older console games on their xbox, they can save games to their hard drives, and if you are a hardcore gamer with lots of saves, you can get a bigger hard drive for it. As for hacking a console, I had a mod chip in one my many original playstations so I could play some of the Japanese import games that were not released here. Fun stuff.

[Danny]

*wags finger vincent vega style*, now see, i dont count that as hacking a console just chipping it to play imports and copys is now big deal, i mean the ones who try to screw around with its core programming, inevitable ****ing up a 400 pound console just to see if they can, hence the whole mind boggling bit.

[LouCipherr]

Well, chipping a console is basically a 'mod' or a 'hack', right? I mean, you are modifying the machine itself, so technically..... I understand what you mean about messing with the core programming though, but even that has its advantages if you don't go too far with it. I like the idea we can play with the insides of the Xbox (haven't messed with the P$2 as far as modding is concerned). I mean, an xbox is nothing more than a PC smashed into a small box - so why not exploit it for everything you can? We paid enough $ for it, that's for sure. There's a mass of things that can be done with it that most don't know about... but in order to use that power, ya have to mod it. Now, I'm not sure what this un-hackable DVD drive for the X360 is all about, but apparently Micro$oft is getting pretty mililtant against the people who like to play with such things. Interesting tactic - although I bet that drive doesn't stay "un-hackable" for long.. My question is, if I paid for the machine, why can't I do with it as I please? If I paid $200 for the console and I wanna mess it up by soldering a bunch of chips and wires to the motherboard, why can't I be allowed to do that? Oh, that's right, 'cause we'll cheat Micro$oft out of a few hundred dollars. Hell, that might put them outta business!