182w ago - There's been a discussion about a way to uncripple your XBox 360 harddrive AFTER you got banned.

As you know Microsoft decided to 'remove' some HDD features (like play games from HDD, etc) when your console gets banned.

Microsoft does this by modifying data in the secdata.bin on the NAND (that's why write-lock the NAND was a way to prevent HDD-crippling).

But people found out the NAND has older (backup?) copies of secdata.bin stored on the NAND as well. Now the hack consists in making your Xbox 360 use an old version of the secdata.bin.

All secdata.bin are tagged with a date stamp so you can easily find out which one is newer or older. As your console is already banned, it does not really matter if MS can detect this or not.

Thwack wrote a good tutorial with a method to do this (below).

This is pure HEX editing in the NAND image, no CPU-key or whatever is needed. However, for those new in dumping the Xbox 360 NAND... if you do via LTP with nandpro, make sure to dump it a few times and check to make sure your image is good.

Before wild stories go around... this does NOT unban your console from LIVE.

To start with,...

183w ago - As a follow-up to the recently posted Guide on unnbanning 8955 XBox 360 consoles from Live comes another countermeasure against HDD crippling.

Godzivan has made available an XBox 360 NAND write protection diagram which simply write-protects the NAND Flash in the XBox 360 by connecting WP to a ground pin.

To quote: "While this modification will certainly be against the terms of service and get you banned if you perform it, you wont be hit as hard as the 1,000,000 users that have had their boxes and respective HDD units rendered useless.

This modification does not stop Microsoft from banning a console but only prevents the deletion of the HD installation certificates required by games which means you can still install them on the hard drive.

Note: In order to update the kernel this mod must be disabled; a simple switch solution comes to mind."

184w ago - Update: As expected, Microsoft has defended their stance on banning modified XBox 360 consoles.

Reports now indicate that the fresh wave of Microsoft bans on modified consoles has resulted in systems not only being banned from XBox Live, but also removing the ability to install games to the HDD, forbidding the use of Windows Media Centre extender, and not allowing the retrieval of achievements from backups without corrupting profiles.

Thus far, Microsoft has disabled 600,000 accounts (up to 1 million according to MSNBC) in the US and Canada.

To quote from Kushan: - What does this mean for you and what can you do about it?

Firstly, and most obviously, you cannot connect to Xbox Live on this console any more. This means no more game updates (aka title updates), XBLA games, marketplace content, netflix/sky player and so on. There is no way around this, all online capabilities are now disabled PERMANENTLY.

In all likelihood, your gamertag has NOT BEEN BANNED. When...

185w ago - Today GamesOnSmash.com (linked above) managed to get their hands on Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 for Sony's PlayStation 3 console and have confirmed that the title does not require any PS3 HDD installation.

However, they do report that upon receiving the game users will be prompted to download a 15MB update for it.

To quote: "Well today I got an early copy of Call Of Duty MW2. I put the disc in, and well the bad news is it requires a 15MB update but does no require any install whatsoever. So gamers can pretty much jump in and play on the PS3 version of the game.

Hmm.. makes me wonder if other developers can follow suit and at least make it optional."

185w ago - Assassin's Creed II is set to be released on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in North America on November 17, 2009 and in PAL regions on November 20, 2009.

The Windows version of the game was originally scheduled to be released at the same time, however Ubisoft later announced that it would be delayed until the first quarter of 2010.

BrutalGamer.com (linked above) reports today that the game will require 2GB of data to be installed on the PlayStation 3's hard drive, meaning the PS3 HDD installation time will total approximately five to six minutes.

To quote: "In our upcoming hands-on feature with Assassin's Creed 2, courtesy of Ezio's best mate Keats, it is revealed that the final version of of the game for the PS3 will have around a 2 GB install.

Speaking with the Ubisoft PR rep at the Eurogamer Expo 2009 he confirmed it would take roughly 5 or 6 minutes to install."