Free60: Do NOT Update XBox 360, Full Homebrew Exploit Coming!

[PS3 News]

Today some of the top XBox 360 hackers at Free60 have warned NOT to update your XBox 360 with the http://majornelson.com/archive/2009/08/11/xbox-360-system-update-now-available.aspx, as a FULL homebrew exploit is coming!

To quote: Dangerous Xbox 360 Update Killing Homebrew

On Tuesday, Microsoft has released an Xbox 360 software update that overwrites the first stage bootloader of the system. Although there have been numerous software updates for Microsoft's gaming console in the past, this is the first one to overwrite the vital boot block.

Any failure while updating this will break the Xbox 360 beyond repair. Statistics from other systems have shown that about one in a thousand bootloader updates goes wrong, and unless Microsoft has a novel solution to this problem, this puts tens of thousands of Xboxes at risk.

It seems that this update is being done to fix a vulnerability already known to the Free60 Project. This vulnerability has been successfully exploited to run arbitrary code, and a complete end user compatible hack has been in development for some time and is planned to be released on free60.org shortly.

It will allow users to take back control of their Xboxes and run arbitrary code like homebrew applications or Linux right after turning on the console and without the need of a modchip, finally opening up the Xbox 360 to a level of hacking as the original Xbox.

Because of the dangerousness of the update and the homebrew lockout, the Free60 Project advises all Xbox 360 users to not update their systems to the latest software version. The Project website at http://free60.org/ will provide the latest information on this ongoing topic, including the final hack software.

Free60 (http://www.free60.org) is a project that aims to enable Xbox 360 users to run homebrew applications and operating systems like Linux on their consoles. The effort is headed by Felix Domke and Michael Steil, who have a background in dbox2, Xbox and GameCube hacking, and who have spoken at various conferences about their findings.

Two years ago, Free60 released a hack that allowed arbitrary code execution using a game ("King Kong Hack") as well as an adapted version of Linux, but this possibility has been disabled by Microsoft in subsequent updates of the Xbox 360 software.

Felix and Michael have repeatedly argued that game console manufacturers should open up their platforms to Linux and homebrew, similar to what Sony has done with the PlayStation 3.

Summer update notes from Major Nelson:

• While you can browse and purchase Avatar items and full Xbox 360 games in the console with this update, the ability to add these items your Xbox 360 download queue from Xbox.com will be available this Thursday.
• Xbox LIVE integration with Twitter, Facebook and Last.FM will be available later this year.
• Zune Video Marketplace will also ship later this fall when it will replace the current Video Marketplace.


More PlayStation 3 News...

[JeffJ]

wonderful all of my console have the preview update on them since i was accepted to the program. wish i would have known this sooner..... lame, im impressed with the project, but how lame is it to warn people the day of the update....

[PS3 News]

Well, I can see where they are coming from though... if the homebrew block wasn't included in the update then they wouldn't have needed to cry wolf, so they had to wait until Microsoft released it to check before making the announcement.

[JeffJ]

Well, I can see where they are coming from though... if the homebrew block wasn't included in the update then they wouldn't have needed to cry wolf, so they had to wait until Microsoft released it to check before making the announcement.

indeed, however they could have at least posted the possibility... i stop in there on occasion. it most definitely would have stopped me from updating all 5 of my consoles :S

crying wolf wouldn't have had any ill effects i think. because if ms was going to patch it, the community being ignorant of the exploit or not wont change there decision on patching the known hole.

im hoping the preview didn't have the boot strap in it..... as soon as they release notes on the exploit i will be trying it on my 120 gb regardless.

[veetvujagig]

Prepare for the biggest banhammer yet...

[JeffJ]

Prepare for the biggest banhammer yet...

well obviously a hacked box wouldn't be on live. for the reason that it would require you to update to the latest boot strap to connect anyways.

[ajanmol]

being the n00b i am.. thoguht id ask anyways.. could this possibly lead us to a usbloader .. i mean i know the xbox only recognizes fat32 but miracles have happened which may let us do ntfs and have a whole 7 gb image on there?

Anything that could happen?

thanks

[JeffJ]

being the n00b i am.. thoguht id ask anyways.. could this possibly lead us to a usbloader .. i mean i know the xbox only recognizes fat32 but miracles have happened which may let us do ntfs and have a whole 7 gb image on there?

Anything that could happen?

thanks

xbox 360 ISO's will never load via usb loader. as fat 32 file system cannot have files over 4 gb and most game data is at least 6GB. full iso is 7.5GB.

[Fignutz32]

indeed, however they could have at least posted the possibility... i stop in there on occasion. it most definitely would have stopped me from updating all 5 of my consoles :S

crying wolf wouldn't have had any ill effects i think. because if ms was going to patch it, the community being ignorant of the exploit or not wont change there decision on patching the known hole.

im hoping the preview didn't have the boot strap in it..... as soon as they release notes on the exploit i will be trying it on my 120 gb regardless.

i think the update that rolled out Saturday night was the final

[DMagic1]

xbox 360 ISO's will never load via usb loader. as fat 32 file system cannot have files over 4 gb and most game data is at least 6GB. full iso is 7.5GB.

Well considering the 360 already reads HFS+ which doesnt have 4gb size limitations, anythings possible.