360 Bannhammer

I just got the new console update last night. I was worried that they were going to detect/block my modded 120GB HDD with it since there was a news post by Major Nelson about a new update blocking "unauthorized storage devices". But I guess they were referring to memory cards, not HDDs since my HDD still worked fine after the update. If they try to force me to buy their ridiculously over-priced accessories by blocking "unauthorized" ones, then I will seriously consider selling my 360. Maybe if they didn't price gouge the shit out of their customers on their proprietary accessories, they wouldn't have that problem in the first place.
 
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How can a HDD be unauthorized? They are only protecting their firmware. If you take the firmware, place it on a hard drive, and in no way, shape or form do you modify that firmware to do anything other than what it was designed to do, then how are you violating anything? There is nothing illegal about copying files, putting them on another hard drive, and using that one for the same purpose as an original.

If you modify the firmware in any way to do something different, then you are most definitely in violation, and they have every right to ban you.
 
FatStackSeeker said:
How can a HDD be unauthorized? They are only protecting their firmware. If you take the firmware, place it on a hard drive, and in no way, shape or form do you modify that firmware to do anything other than what it was designed to do, then how are you violating anything? There is nothing illegal about copying files, putting them on another hard drive, and using that one for the same purpose as an original.

If you modify the firmware in any way to do something different, then you are most definitely in violation, and they have every right to ban you.
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Well it's not the firmware that gets your in trouble. The only reason you need to flash the HDD firmware is because the guys that made hddhackr didn't want to write custom firmwares for the many different HDDs out there for this hack to work on. Because you need to write the "hddss.bin" file to a specific sector of the HDD (sector 16) and it will only copy right on that exact firmware. What's illegal about it is copying the "hddss.bin" file that's copyrighted off of the legit MS HDDs and putting it on an "unauthorized" HDD. That's how they get you. But since it's a totally legit file, I don't see any way they could detect that an "unauthorized" HDD over their legit proprietary drives.
 
xbox360iso.com forums have exploited with people reporting being banned.
this seems to be world wide.
 
m3ta1head said:
as well as people with modded hard drives. Just in time for holiday sales...
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Where'd you hear this at? I'm reading different on other forums just googling around.

Here on the last post.

And everywhere else I've read this was only for unauthorized memory cards, not HDDs. I just get a new system update last night, was that not it? My modded BEVS drive still works though.
 
Always makes me laugh. People with chipped machines get cocky for a while and then shit themselves when it turns out that their mods might not be quite as stealthed as they thought they were.
 
Psychotext said:
Always makes me laugh. People with chipped machines get cocky for a while and then shit themselves when it turns out that their mods might not be quite as stealthed as they thought they were.
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The people who mod the 360's don't do so with chips, they do so with a drive firmware flash to play backups.

XBOX 360 has a problem with scratching discs, which is why I modded to play backups.
 
Psychotext said:
Always makes me laugh. People with chipped machines get cocky for a while and then shit themselves when it turns out that their mods might not be quite as stealthed as they thought they were.
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I've never acted "cocky". :rolleyes:

I'm not nervous about it either as I'm sure there will be another work around for it after the update. I don't mind ripping the HDD out and getting a new hddss.bin file for it if I need to. I rarely use my 360 anymore anyways, so I can wait it out. One thing is for sure though, MS isn't getting my money for their ridiculously priced HDDs. If anything, I'll get a used 120GB of Craigslist or Gamestop just so they won't get my money for it.
 
TheGuyOnTheCouch said:
The people who mod the 360's don't do so with chips, they do so with a drive firmware flash to play backups.
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It's a term TGOTC... I don't specifically mean you do it like you did the old xbox or the PS2.

@T4rd: I'm not really talking about you. You see any number of people laughing at those of us honest enough to actually buy our games, and you know what... sometimes it's nice to laugh back. There's nothing wrong with flashing a HDD, and I really don't think they can detect that as the firmwares should be identical (unless they can actually tell when it was flashed, or what with).
 
m3ta1head said:
Yes, people with iXtreme 1.51, 1.6, 1.61 as well as people with modded hard drives. Just in time for holiday sales...
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False.

SOME people have been banned, and likely those people who were previously flagged for playing games before they released or unverified ISOs.
 
Psychotext said:
@T4rd: I'm not really talking about you. You see any number of people laughing at those of us honest enough to actually buy our games, and you know what... sometimes it's nice to laugh back. There's nothing wrong with flashing a HDD, and I really don't think they can detect that as the firmwares should be identical (unless they can actually tell when it was flashed, or what with).
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Ahh, my bad then. Thought you were referring to me since you posted right after I did. It's cool, I guess I would feel the say way if I were you. But I can't even conceive of letting MS blowing that big of a load in my ass, lol.
 
lol...

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TheGuyOnTheCouch said:
The people who mod the 360's don't do so with chips, they do so with a drive firmware flash to play backups.

XBOX 360 has a problem with scratching discs, which is why I modded to play backups.
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So I take it you have never downloaded a game or copied a game you did not own? I can not believe this. Just bullshit reasons for piracy.
 
Psychotext said:
lol...

untitled-3.jpg
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Haha, that's fuggin crazy. That asshole moderator, Bootblack, in that forum replies to every post with only that retarded link to XBL policies on console suspensions. I know he prolly doesn't care to sympathize with these people for breaking the rules, but I'm sure some of those people are legitimately confused and he's not doing anything to answer their questions. I wanted to call him out in one of those threads, but he just posts that link and locks the thread like a douche. Someone needs to moderate him to get him to do his damn job and not be as vague as possible.
 
so waitt 1.61 is out? i just a modded xbox i believe a hitachi drive..will flashing be easier since its already been flashed?
 
T4rd said:
Haha, that's fuggin crazy. That asshole moderator, Bootblack, in that forum replies to every post with only that retarded link to XBL policies on console suspensions. I know he prolly doesn't care to sympathize with these people for breaking the rules, but I'm sure some of those people are legitimately confused and he's not doing anything to answer their questions. I wanted to call him out in one of those threads, but he just posts that link and locks the thread like a douche. Someone needs to moderate him to get him to do his damn job and not be as vague as possible.
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lol
 
T4rd said:
Where'd you hear this at? I'm reading different on other forums just googling around.

Here on the last post.

And everywhere else I've read this was only for unauthorized memory cards, not HDDs. I just get a new system update last night, was that not it? My modded BEVS drive still works though.
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I just scanned through Xbox Scene and read banned console configurations.

theNoid said:
False.

SOME people have been banned, and likely those people who were previously flagged for playing games before they released or unverified ISOs.
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Never said everyone was getting banned. I'm running iXtreme 1.6 and I'm still fine.
 
LOL, I was reading those threads on the Xbox.com forums. F-U-C-K-I-N-G hilarious.
 
T4rd said:
Haha, that's fuggin crazy. That asshole moderator, Bootblack, in that forum replies to every post with only that retarded link to XBL policies on console suspensions. I know he prolly doesn't care to sympathize with these people for breaking the rules, but I'm sure some of those people are legitimately confused and he's not doing anything to answer their questions. I wanted to call him out in one of those threads, but he just posts that link and locks the thread like a douche. Someone needs to moderate him to get him to do his damn job and not be as vague as possible.
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yeah the mod is an asshole because at the top of the forum is a stickey regarding their inability to respond to reasons why console was banned. You're pure genius
 
TheGuyOnTheCouch said:
The people who mod the 360's don't do so with chips, they do so with a drive firmware flash to play backups.

XBOX 360 has a problem with scratching discs, which is why I modded to play backups.
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Sure, because you can't install the full game to the hard drive...
 
I don't know why people even bother trying to mod Xbox 360. It just isn't worth losing access to Live services, which are some of the best features the console has to offer.
 
you guys should relax, all those idiots you see are getting banned for playing p2p iso's on xbl that were clearly in distro before release date. I would hope that people here were smart enough not to do that.
 
T4rd said:
Well it's been worth it for me for the last year to have a 120GB HDD for $45 which is less than 1/3 of the price for MS's "Official" 120GB HDD. Even if they catch my HDD and block it, they're not going to
idhitit.gif
me like that and force me to pay for something that has no business costing that much. If they ban my console, then that'll just be one less customer they'll have. XBL is awesome, but with Netflix coming to PS3 and most games I play being cross-platform, I won't miss it that much. I'm banking on a work-around though to re-enable my HDD after the update if it gets caught though.
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When 99 percent of people who mod their Xboxes have or do use it to play copied video games I could care less about losing those customers.
 
nightwalker said:
eh well they deserve to be banned for not using their brains
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Eh, If it is just having a bigger hard drive by copying that ISO I totally sympathize with them. If they had a console that was used for pirated games though that is a different story. Also, you bet your ass a lot of those bans are people who bought a console from someone with a modded hard drive and to them they think they were unjustly banned which sucks for them.
 
roaf85 said:
When 99 percent of people who mod their Xboxes have or do use it to play copied video games I could care less about losing those customers.
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I agree, I could care less about them losing customers that are pirates too. That percentage is way off though, because I'd say over half the people who mod a 120GB HDD to work in their 360 only do it for the extras storage (like me). It doesn't allow me to play copied games or act any differently than an official MS HDD. Which is one of the reason I'm I'm not really worried about it. I don't think MS is going to go out of their way to find these modded HDDs that are logically identical to a legit drive. This update is only for unauthorized memory cards, which are a lot easier to detect and block.
 
I mean, people get pissed the MS brand accessories are so expensive, so they do what MS clearly stated you cannot do and remain a user of Live. then they get pissed that they get banned. then they're surprised that they do it right before the holidays.

of COURSE they do it before the holidays. they want you to get a new harddrive and hack it. why? so you'll keep being stupid and keep trying to hack them. the more smug you are about how easy it is to hack; the more indignant you are that MS has the gall to ban you, the more likely you are to do it again, and MS makes more money off of you.

i modded my original xbox, and i pirated plenty of games, but i don't anymore because i enjoy live and don't mind supporting the developers by actually buying games
 
Dome said:
I mean, people get pissed the MS brand accessories are so expensive, so they do what MS clearly stated you cannot do and remain a user of Live. then they get pissed that they get banned. then they're surprised that they do it right before the holidays.

of COURSE they do it before the holidays. they want you to get a new harddrive and hack it. why? so you'll keep being stupid and keep trying to hack them. the more smug you are about how easy it is to hack; the more indignant you are that MS has the gall to ban you, the more likely you are to do it again, and MS makes more money off of you.

i modded my original xbox, and i pirated plenty of games, but i don't anymore because i enjoy live and don't mind supporting the developers by actually buying games
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I wouldn't be pissed if they blocked my HDD since it is against their policy. I'm just severely annoyed that they have the gall to charge multiple times over what they should be for their HDD and some other accessories. In my case, if they do somehow block my HDD, I can guarantee they're not going to get any money out of me. I'll either mod my HDD again to get around the update, get a used HDD somewhere else, or just stop using my 360. I have every other platform and with the PS3 getting Netlfix and picking up their slack in online features, I'll be happy with it and my PC. But again, this is an irrelevant discussion now because they're not blocking HDDs, just 3rd part memory cards. So I should be alright with my $45 120GB WD BEVSs drive.

/thread. This debate is getting really old now.
 
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T4rd said:
Umm.. wtf are you talking about? Read some of the stickies right below that and you'll find this:



"You're pure genius"
oldroll.gif


Regardless, there's no reason to insult people even if they missed something... asshat.



Well it's been worth it for me for the last year to have a 120GB HDD for $45 which is less than 1/3 of the price for MS's "Official" 120GB HDD. Even if they catch my HDD and block it, they're not going to
idhitit.gif
me like that and force me to pay for something that has no business costing that much. If they ban my console, then that'll just be one less customer they'll have. XBL is awesome, but with Netflix coming to PS3 and most games I play being cross-platform, I won't miss it that much. I'm banking on a work-around though to re-enable my HDD after the update if it gets caught though.
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I get hacking the hard drive (which I don't think they'll be able to catch you for as long as you're using the same model of hard drive as they do, simply flashed with the 360 appropriate firmware), but I mean hacking other components of the system.

On that note, I got the official MS 120GB drive on clearance at Target a year ago for $69 :)
 
Microsoft, without a question, greatly overcharges for their accessories, particularly the Wifi adapter and the hard drive.

That said, consumers have nobody to blame but themselves. If we'd refuse to buy, they'd drop the price, guaranteed. The fact that they haven't dropped prices indicates only one thing: We're willing, en masse, to suck it up and eat the cost.

That's our own stupidity.
 
Why bitch?

4 games = a new console

They prolly have spindles and spindles of games

just buy another one!
 
T4rd said:
Umm.. wtf are you talking about? Read some of the stickies right below that and you'll find this:



"You're pure genius"
oldroll.gif


Regardless, there's no reason to insult people even if they missed something... asshat.



Well it's been worth it for me for the last year to have a 120GB HDD for $45 which is less than 1/3 of the price for MS's "Official" 120GB HDD. Even if they catch my HDD and block it, they're not going to
idhitit.gif
me like that and force me to pay for something that has no business costing that much. If they ban my console, then that'll just be one less customer they'll have. XBL is awesome, but with Netflix coming to PS3 and most games I play being cross-platform, I won't miss it that much. I'm banking on a work-around though to re-enable my HDD after the update if it gets caught though.
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I guess you missed this one eh?

http://forums.xbox.com/28650360/ShowPost.aspx

at the very top of the account suspension forum

at the very bottom it states

Why won't my post about a console ban appear on this forum?

Moderators are specifically told to delete posts regarding console bans since they will not be answered by the Enforcement Team.

For more information about Console Bans, consult http://www.xbox.com/en-us/consoleban.


need i go on or do you get the point now? so before you go calling another forum moderator and ass hat, you might want to learn how to read first, and then after that actually go though their FAQ (you know the one at the top right under your nose).
 
YeuEmMaiMai said:
I guess you missed this one eh?

http://forums.xbox.com/28650360/ShowPost.aspx

at the very top of the account suspension forum

at the very bottom it states

Why won't my post about a console ban appear on this forum?

Moderators are specifically told to delete posts regarding console bans since they will not be answered by the Enforcement Team.

For more information about Console Bans, consult http://www.xbox.com/en-us/consoleban.


need i go on or do you get the point now?
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lol, dude.. my point is that both of those stickies (the one you just linked to and this one like 5 stickies down by that exact moderator) are contradicting each other, so you're point, as well as that sticky at the top, is invalidated, so it doesn't matter. What's the point in that forum though if people can't find out why they were banned? If all that mod is going to do is post a link to the policy page, then they should just lock the forum up and make that policy page a sticky.

My statement stands; that mod is a giant douche.

Either way
bfd2.gif
, I don't really care. I just thought it was funny.
 
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TheGuyOnTheCouch said:
XBOX 360 has a problem with scratching discs, which is why I modded to play backups.
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This is a laughable excuse. The X360 doesn't scratch disk unless you tilt the console while the disc is spinning. It doesn't take an idiot to figure out you shouldn't do this after you make the mistake once. People hack the DVD drive so they can pirate games. Its not like XBOX 1 where it had a bunch of useful homebrew apps like XBMC. You can pirate at your own risk, but there's no need to kid yourself or others. Hell look how popular bit torrent is.
 
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