Sunday, December 27, 2009

And now for something a bit different

Recently, a way to run unsigned code on the XBOX360 has been discovered. The hack involves having your XBOX360 hack itself (you heard right), and flashing a modified 8955 kernel which gets you the following benefits:
  • An ability to run unsigned code.
  • Convert XBOX Live! demos to Full.
  • Run games from anywhere (even a USB drive).
  • Use any SATA 2.5' drive you want.
(Maybe this will also lead to an XBOX360 XBMC, who knows)

There are a few caveats though:
  • Your XBOX must be with a dashboard version pre-89XX (ie: 7344)
  • You need to open your case (duh!)
  • You  need to have some good soldering skills.

In any case, and since I have a launch model box (XENON) that was banned around 2 years ago. I've decided to go for it.

I followed a great guide on www.xbox-scene.com forums, the guy there had a pretty nifty idea of doing everything in way that it will be later possible to re-do without re-opening your case again.

Before you begin, you'll need the following tools:

  • A 35W-60W Fine Tipped Soldering Iron.
  • Soldering Flux.
  • Female <-> Female RJ45 Connector
  • Some colored wires
  • A pretty good cutter
  • DB25 Connector and housing
  • An RJ45 cable
  • Hot glue gun
  • 2x 1N4148 Diodes
  • 5x 100ohm resistors

Here's how to do it:

  • You need to enable the JTAG hack (http://www.free60.org/JTAG_Hack).
    It should look something like this (Remember: this is for my XENON board, if you have a different one, the connections are not the same):