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Operating Systems Software XBox (Games)

Xbox Modchip Featuring Onboard Operating System 235

Posted by timothy from the that-and-a-pawnshop-visit dept.
An anonymous reader writes "A group of talented coders known as TeamXodus, have released an xbox modification chip with a difference, the 'Xenium' is a modchip which features a fully legal operating system that was coded by the team from scratch. The mod can be installed Solderlessly and will allow the end user to unlock the power of the xbox and run applications such as Linux on their Xbox. The onboard Operating system currently stands at version 2.0 and features a massive 1.35 million lines of code and was recently reviewed by HomeCinemaChoice whereby they declared the Xenium 'The creators of the easiest Xbox modification - the complete package.'"
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Xbox Modchip Featuring Onboard Operating System More

Xbox Modchip Featuring Onboard Operating System

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  • Utility computing (Score:5, Interesting)

    by ddent ( 166525 ) on Sunday September 26, 2004 @03:33PM (#10356652) Homepage
    So, people are always wanting to use these things as general purpose computing devices. Is the math still such that it is a good decision (as compared to purchasing standard PCs).

    • Re:Utility computing (Score:5, Insightful)

      by SeaDour ( 704727 ) on Sunday September 26, 2004 @03:35PM (#10356669) Homepage
      I think people want to mod their XBOXes less for the value factor and more for the cool factor.

      • Re:Utility computing (Score:5, Interesting)

        by G27 Radio ( 78394 ) on Sunday September 26, 2004 @03:56PM (#10356798)
        My X-box is hooked into my entertainment center, so it'd be handy to be able to use it to play music and video off my linux server. Being able to ssh into it (or control it otherwise) from my workstation or notebook is an additional bonus.

        Other than that, there is the cool factor you mentioned.

        • Re:Utility computing (Score:5, Interesting)

          by abresif ( 549258 ) on Sunday September 26, 2004 @05:34PM (#10357285) Homepage
          I just bought a refurb xbox from EB, with the intention of modding it. The primary reason I want to do this is to run xbmc (http://www.xboxmediacenter.de/). I really just want access to my media (photos, movies, music) from my living room. Earlier this year, I bought the Go Video D2730 Networked DVD Player for $120 from eCost. It works fine, but doesn't support every codec I want - and can't play media from disk (cd/dvd). I also purchased the Philips DVP 642 ($75) from Best Buy. The Phillips unit is not a networked unit, but it does play DIVX/XVID from disc. Nevertheless, after tinkering with these two units, I decided that I wanted something a little more extensible. The obvious solution is to grab an Xbox and mod it. With xbmc, I can do everything these other players can, plus more (games, emulaters, etc). The total cost will be under $200 - I'll throw in an old 40GB HD and access all the media through the network. The alternative is to build a dedicated machine for this purpose, which would cost much more. However a dedicated machine could support PVR/burining a la MythTV (http://www.mythtv.org/) or the like. I don't intend to pirate games, although that'd be one use for the system. I think you get a lot of bang for the buck even without the games.
        • How about having 5.1, DTS and HD capability? That's way useful for such an inexpensive box. IMHO, screw the cool factor.

        • I use mine for the same thing, but also play emulated consoles (rom-type only) on the thing. However I took the all-Xbox software route, as opposed to running some other OS on it. I have a 1.1 with the samsung dvd-rom, with the flash unlocked and TSOP flashed with executer2 bios. My dashboard is avalaunch and my media player is XBMC, with the exception that I play DVDs with the actual microsoft DVD player, for which I do have the dongle and microsoft official remote :P It's the only media player I use in t

      • I dunno about that... (Score:5, Funny)

        by Rooked_One ( 591287 ) on Sunday September 26, 2004 @04:09PM (#10356853) Journal
        Some people might want to mod their xbox's for the highly illegal factor. Say, for instance, a person wanted to try out the game Fable - which was very hyped up, and excited a lot of people. And then say, none of their friends had the game so as the person could try it out first hand. But, what if the person had a mod'ed xbox and downloaded a "trial" version from the internet, played the game for a couple hours and decided that the lack-luster storylines, hack and slash bordom, and horendous loading times - even when loaded from the hard drive - as a "trial version" would be loaded, were just too intolerable for said person to actually justify paying 50 dollars for?

        Oh wait a second... I was saying why "some people" mod their xbox. For... uh... someone I know, its much more of a value factor than a cool factor, especially.. uh... when the person I know doesn't know anyone else with xbox's.

        AND SO WHAT IF I'VE GIVEN MY XBOX A CUSTOM PAINT JOB??!?!?! ITS ONE OF A KIND DANGIT AND ITS COOL!!!!!! ;)

        • Re:I dunno about that... (Score:4, Insightful)

          by erasmus_ ( 119185 ) on Monday September 27, 2004 @08:18AM (#10361580)
          Maybe this person should have legally rented a copy of the game from Blockbuster for $4 or GameFly, or actually read reviews from trusted sources that told the person whether or not the game is worth buying? I'm pretty sick of justifying piracy with the "I needed to try it" excuse. As far as I can tell, no one who actually likes a pirated game on their modded Xbox runs out and buys it. It becomes more of a "I'll get around to buying it eventually" thing, which of course never happens.
          • Ok, FINE FINE. I downloaded it because I am an amoral criminal and also a communist. I am EVIL and will go straight to HELL!
            I see a lot of fancy robots here today. Made of real shiny metal. But that don't impress the Robot Devil, no sir!
            No sir!
            Cos if you're a sinner, he's gonna plug his infernal modem in the wall belchin' smoke and flame. Amd he's gonna download ya straight to Robot Hell!
            Straight to hell!

    • Re:Utility computing (Score:5, Insightful)

      by gl4ss ( 559668 ) on Sunday September 26, 2004 @03:43PM (#10356723) Homepage Journal
      the ease and versatility of it is what makes it a good choice now. of course, this being the real world, people also play copied games.

    • Re:Utility computing (Score:2, Informative)

      by Vash_066 ( 816757 )
      I think most people do it just to strike back at M$...149 bucks for a file server or even web server? hells yeah...

    • Re:Utility computing (Score:4, Interesting)

      by zakezuke ( 229119 ) on Sunday September 26, 2004 @04:08PM (#10356850)
      So, people are always wanting to use these things as general purpose computing devices. Is the math still such that it is a good decision (as compared to purchasing standard PCs).

      You would get more bang for the buck with a true blue PC. This is true, can't argue this. The only xbox benifit is that it's small, and has good tv output.

      A laptop is also small, often has TV output, but would likely cost you $300-$400 or so on e-bay for the same CPU class as xbox.

      The x-box I believe is $150 new.

      Someone else will have to find prices for things like the shoebox sized flex-atx style PCs, but for a new device the x-box is still reasonably priced.

      • Re:Utility computing (Score:5, Insightful)

        by NMerriam ( 15122 ) <NMerriam@artboy.org> on Sunday September 26, 2004 @04:49PM (#10357048) Homepage
        You would get more bang for the buck with a true blue PC. This is true, can't argue this. The only xbox benifit is that it's small, and has good tv output.

        I would argue it pretty hard. The main advantage to the Xbox is that it's a ubiquitous, standard hardware platform that has a standard software layout.

        If you want to add a remote control to a homebrew PC, you have a dozen different choices with 3 or 4 different technologies, some of which are supported directly by your software and some of which require extensive configuration. Some will never work at all, though you have no way of knowing this until you've spent $$ and hours of your time.

        If you want to add a remote control to an Xbox, you go to Target, pay $30, and buy the remote. Plug in the IR reciever and all of the modded software is usable by remote -- you can use it to navigate through any third-party launcher, file manager or media player. No configuration, no setup, no troubleshooting.

        When the guys work on the Xbox player software, they know exactly what hardware its going to run on. It's going to be a certain processor with a certain amount of RAM, etc. So they can tune the heck out of it, and if it runs choppy they know they need to work on the code, not just tell people to buy more RAM.
        • If you want to add a remote control to a homebrew PC, you have a dozen different choices with 3 or 4 different technologies, some of which are supported directly by your software and some of which require extensive configuration. Some will never work at all, though you have no way of knowing this until you've spent $$ and hours of your time.

          Call me silly, but I just use a wireless keyboard and mouse [logitech.com]. $50 on the closeout circuit and do the job quite well.

      • It depends on what you're looking for. For less than $200-250 for everything you'll need to use an Xbox for a general purpose computing device aside from a television or compatible display, including having a game pad and the remote, a late celeron 733 with pretty nice TV out is not a bad setup. I'm talking about an advanced AV dongle like composite or s-video, it's got digital audio output, it has an 8 gig disk which is enough for your lesser purposes, it's got 100 meg ethernet, the video card is really q

    • Re:Utility computing (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Have Blue ( 616 )
      The vast majority of mod chips are used to allow pirating Xbox games and emulating ROMs with a real controller and TV screen. After that, it's probably to turn them into media players- they can read any CD or DVD media, and stream movies over the built-in Ethernet port, and they're designed to be hooked up to a TV or stereo. Using them as "real" computers is pretty far down the list of reasons people mod.
    • Your typical midrange PC is still in the vicinity of 2-4 hundred dollars. An XBox is about $150.

      An XBox is much smaller than an average computer and has built-in hookups to a TV and sound system. With this operating system, you can actually reduce the size of your entire media center to a single small box.

      Add network remote control and SSH connectivity to it, and it's any geek's dream.

      Oh yeah, and it plays video games, too!

  • Slashdotted already! (Score:3, Funny)

    by tajmorton ( 806296 ) on Sunday September 26, 2004 @03:34PM (#10356656) Homepage
    Hope they're not running the website off this! If so, that's a bad sign ;).
    • Shallax, creator and leader of the xbox Gentoox linux project runs his website [shallax.com] on a legally hacked xbox.

      This is an option more people should really consider when shopping for a capable machine to run a dedicated server. The total cost of a first-rate modchip (like the Xenium or, better yet, the brand new Xecuter3) and an xbox bought on ebay could easily be under $200.

      The xbox comes with an 8GB HDD, so, unless you'll host media, this is perfect. Why pay more for a bigger HDD if it'll never be used? Th

  • A new way to fight piracy (Score:5, Funny)

    by Lord Graga ( 696091 ) on Sunday September 26, 2004 @03:34PM (#10356662)
    Slashdot the webpage with the links to the shops so that no-one can order anything!

  • Web Server (Score:3, Interesting)

    by with_him ( 815684 ) on Sunday September 26, 2004 @03:34PM (#10356663)
    Good I have been looking for a cheap file server and since I don't have time to play my XBOX much anymore it can do the job.
    Suppose I switch between XBOX gaming and file serving?

  • Google Cache (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 26, 2004 @03:34PM (#10356664)
    Google Cache [216.239.41.104]

  • Switch (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 26, 2004 @03:35PM (#10356668)
    I'm interested in modding up my Xbox, but curious as to whether any chip allows the mod chip to be turned off via something like dashboard(for the purposes of using Live!), rather than a physical switch.

    • Re:Switch (Score:5, Informative)

      by CatDogLordOfTheRoot ( 778170 ) on Sunday September 26, 2004 @03:43PM (#10356726) Homepage
      This [xbox-scene.com] table should be helpful in answering that question...

    • Re:Switch (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Jicksta ( 760596 )
      To save yourself the time looking it up, I'll spend my time explaining it. :)

      Microsoft has spent millions on detecting illegit xboxes on their networks for obvious reasons - they don't want people hacking game physics/item counts or, more importantly, potentially crashing the Live server software from unexpected requests sent from modified clients. (this is Microsoft, remember?)

      Live's protectection first creates a hash of your BIOS, so if you try to connect and don't have the official xbox bios, you get y
      • (2) I'm always hiding crap in it (who would think to look there?)

        Okaaaay... yes, true, probably nobody would look there. But I can't help but wonder what you manage to "hide" in your xbox... don't know about you, but there isn't really a whole lot of room in mine :)

        Not to mention that you're probably messing w/the box's ability to cool properly... but then if the cover is off all the time maybe that's making up for it..
    • I'm interested in modding up my Xbox, but curious as to whether any chip allows the mod chip to be turned off via something like dashboard(for the purposes of using Live!), rather than a physical switch

      Yes, actually the Xenium (the one in the story) can do this. You boot into the Xenium OS, and then you can pick the "stock kernel", which will boot the boxx of the MS kernel and turn off the mod. Then you can go on live.

      Reboot, and you're back to running a non-stock / modded kernel..

  • applications such as Linux (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 26, 2004 @03:35PM (#10356671)
    "... unlock the power of the xbox and run applications such as Linux ..."

    I better get me an OS, I'm running an application without one!

  • All links dead.. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by kagaku ( 774787 ) on Sunday September 26, 2004 @03:39PM (#10356689)
    All links in the story are dead. Any chance the Slashdot editors could put a little notice on the submit page saying something to the effect of "If you think this page will be slashdotted, check this box to make all links point to the Coral Cache"", then it would append ".nyud.net:8090" to all links in the story, or a [Cache] link: "Check out blah blah's site [cache] for more info".

    This would take care of the 'Slashdot can't cache stories because it would rob people of ad profits' thing, because it'll give the submitted the option to cache the pages, and it would still provide an uncached link.
    • It will never happen, because, as CmdrTaco stated several years ago in the FAQ, it would require some thought.
      • All it would take is for slashdot to announce that they now look for a meta tag called "allowcaching: true" or the like. I don't think I'll EVER have anything on my server posted on slashdot, but I'd sure as hell take the 20 seconds to add that tag to my base template.
    • Surely it would be better to have the default state being that a cache link is provided, and you have to opt out when providing links to sites like the BBC which can handle the load?

  • 1.35 million lines of code? (Score:5, Funny)

    by 21st Century Peon ( 812997 ) on Sunday September 26, 2004 @03:39PM (#10356691)
    That's two-thirds of the Jurassic Park system! "This is an Xbox system! I know this!"
    • From the book:

      "Arnold was unhappily aware that the complete Jurassic Park program contained more than half a million lines of code, most of it undocumented, without explanation."

      Not sure about the movie though.

      • " 'Keycheck space minus 0, keychecks off, safety space minus 0.' He's turning the safety systems off. He doesn't want anybody to see what he's about to do. Now, look at this next entry. It's the kicker. 'White rabbit object'. It did it all, but with the key checks off, the computer didn't file the keystrokes. The only way to find them is to go through the computer's lines of code one by one."
        "How many lines of code are there?"
        "About two million."
        "Two million?"
        "Yeah."

  • What a minute? (Score:5, Informative)

    by Billly Gates ( 198444 ) on Sunday September 26, 2004 @03:41PM (#10356701) Journal
    So Linux is not an os but an application that runs on the operating system?

    Anyway, I would love to install WindowsXP Media Center in addition to Linux on mine. If I could also run Xbox games it would be a pure orgasm.

    Does anyone know if you can add additional hard drives or bigger ones?

    If I were Billly gates I would port Windows Media center to the Xbox2 and turn it into a PVR/Video game system. PS/2 and Nintendo would have their asses majorily kicked in!

    • Re:What a minute? (Score:3, Informative)

      by kaosrain ( 543532 )
      Yes, I have an 80GB drive in mine. Seagate drives are popular due to their compatibility and quietness.
    • I have a 200GB harddrive in mine. There are several programs that are better than XPMC. The beauty for me is that I can stream Divx from computer. Instead of having to deal with DVDs every time I want to play them, I just navigate to the My Movies folder on my computer and I'm good to go.

    • Re:What a minute? (Score:4, Informative)

      by DanglingDongle ( 798400 ) on Sunday September 26, 2004 @05:09PM (#10357149)
      There really is no reason to use WindowsXP Media Center on it (which you can't) unless you need to play DRM'd music/movies which the much better Xbox Media Center can't play. http://xboxmediacenter.de/ [xboxmediacenter.de]

      This player will play almost any format you can throw at it, and in addition, will play/record shoutcast streams, can connect to SMB/Samba servers, and various other networked devices for streamed media. Hell, it even gives you a weather forecast at the click of a button, and the ability to check the IMDB database about a movie before you view it. Also you can use sync correction for any files that are slightly out of sync. All of these things are just off the top of my head, but there are many more such as HDTV support, etc. And all you need to do is add a on/off switch to the modchip and you can play any xbox games, including on Xbox Live.

      To answer your question about larger harddrives, the xbox can handle any size hard drive you want to throw at it. It was once limited to 137GB but this has since been corrected in the newer bioses.

      Other good resources for information: http://xbox-scene.com/ [xbox-scene.com] http://www.xbox-linux.org/ [xbox-linux.org]

      Now please clean up your mess ;)

      DD

      • Not the player

        I am talking about using it like a Tivo in addition to an entertainment device.

        XPMC has listings on all your channels and you can program it to do stuff like skip commericals or watch one show while another is recorded.

        With XPMC I dont have to pay a monthly fee either unlike TIvo.

    • Re:What a minute? (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Jicksta ( 760596 )
      So Linux is not an os but an application that runs on the operating system?

      Actually, the xbox uses its own filesystem: FATX. In order to linux on it, the linux root partition is stored in a (by default) 3GB file located on the root of either the E or F partitions. This file contains all linux data in a sort of emulated reiserfs filesystem (assuming you use Gentoox).

      The xbox kernel was ported to the xbox and wrapped in an .xbe (XBox Executable) to work as a bootloader. The kernel mounts the F:/rootfs
    • So Linux is not an os but an application that runs on the operating system?

      No, Linux runs directly on the Xbox hardware. There is a tiny application that boots up Linux. It is 100% analogous to LOADLIN.EXE that people once used to bootstrap Linux from DOS. Once the Linux kernel is running that application is not used anymore (it is overwritten in memory).

  • Solderless is not the way to go (Score:5, Informative)

    by kaosrain ( 543532 ) <<moc.niarsoak> <ta> <toor>> on Sunday September 26, 2004 @03:51PM (#10356767) Homepage
    You do not want to use a solderless modchip, they suffer from the same problem they did back in the Playstation days: They WILL eventually get bumped out of where they need to be. Then you need to shut everything down, open up your Xbox, realign all of the points, and close it again. It is well worth the price to get an installer to install a soldered modchip. You can find installers at the forums on xbox-scene.com

    • Re:Solderless is *now* the way to go (Score:5, Informative)

      by DitchTheUserGuide ( 789498 ) on Sunday September 26, 2004 @03:58PM (#10356802)
      The new Xenium adapter that allows you to connect the chip to the board is a much better design than the PS or even older Xbox ones. It can take a little more punishment and still remain connected. This is the real deal for those ham-fisted soldering iron amateurs who want to run unsigned code on the xbox.
    • I disagree. I purchased a Xenium mod chip a few months ago. I bought the solderless adapter for an extra $15. It was a little tricky to install because you have to screw it on the board so the contacts press against the pins. Then you have to bend this little wire so it rests on another pin. It's tricky because unless you put a piece of paper on one side, there isn't enough leverage for all the contacts to press firmly on the board. However, the risk to damaging the system is a lot less than if you so
      • I also have a "modded" xbox, however I simply jumpered the write protect on the onboard bios and reflashed it by utilizing a buffer overflow exploit in an older game.... The xbox is definately the cheapest multi-purpose piece of equipment in my entertainment center, also it's ability to stream video/audio over my lan using several different protocols including samba means that it easily extends both my GF and my music and video collection to the living room from our office. The MAJOR flaw with the XBOX IMHO
        • Of course, you can always install a dashboard like Avalaunch [teamavalaunch.com] and change the voltage on the fan to slow it down and reduce the noise a bit, although i'm not sure what happens when you boot into XBMC or whatever. I don't bother because my 250Gb HD is probably louder, and my sound system even more so :-)

          Of course, you could just replace the fan if you are that bothered - if I remember correctly they are just standard 80mm PC fans. Maybe something from Quiet PC [quietpc.com] or similar?
    • installed one for a friend. the pins have some small springs inside them, and fitted tightly.

      what you want to do is to clean it properly before installing(they had some lube inside them, which can be a problem as it seeps down).

      the chips attach _tightly_ to the board with a screw. no fucking way it's moving unless you drag it by the usb cable connector that's handy to leave outside the box(oh yeah, to be extra safe one of those chips with usb flasher built in rock)..

      (the guy i modded one for with a solde

  • Lemme Guess... (Score:3, Funny)

    by immel ( 699491 ) on Sunday September 26, 2004 @03:52PM (#10356771)
    "...reviewed by HomeCinemaChoice [homecinemachoice.com] whereby they declared the Xenium 'The creators of the easiest Xbox modification - the complete package.'"

    I'm guessing HomeCinemaChoice is not affiliated with Microsoft?

  • Legal issues? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by BillyBlaze ( 746775 ) <tomfelker@gmail.com> on Sunday September 26, 2004 @04:01PM (#10356820)
    It will be very interesting to see if Microsoft tries to shut this down. On the one hand, it damn well ought to be legal - there's absolutely no reason why it shouldn't be, not even some form of copyright infringement on the firmware. But on the other hand, Microsoft is selling XBoxes very cheaply to push games, so they don't want people using them as general purpose machines. I fear this will prove my pessimistic theory that only money matters in court, but i hope not.

  • Xeniums aren't the greatest (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 26, 2004 @04:07PM (#10356845)
    I have modified a few XBoxes in my time, and the Xeniums are very expensive compared to other chips, and I must say, the coding standards of these guys is rather low.

    In particular, they have done something weird with the hard drive partitioning/copying utils, and hard drives made using the Xenium tools actually *prevent* the XBox being used to play original games.

    The way to remedy this situation is to format the hard drive using EvoX, and build the file system from scratch again.

    GG guys, release a modchip with tools that prevent the original legal purpose...

    I would suggest going for a far cheaper modchip, and not having to put up with the strange behaviour the Xenium brings about.

  • this isn't new (Score:4, Informative)

    by ginotech ( 816751 ) on Sunday September 26, 2004 @04:09PM (#10356856)
    modchips have been out for a while. team xodus hasn't done anything new. in fact, when the Xecuter 3 is release this week their chip will be the best, not Xodus'. http://www.teamxecuter.com.nyud.net:8090/ [nyud.net] check them out.

    • Re:this isn't new (Score:2, Insightful)

      by EvilGoodGuy ( 811015 )
      Indeed, it would almost appear that this review was specifically to draw the attension of those who do not yet know about the Xecuter 3 modchip that is comming out very soon. I would recomend to all out there that do not know much about this but would like to read up on it to check out Xbox-Scene [xbox-scene.com]
      Anything you wish to know you can find there.

  • Here's a mirror (Score:5, Funny)

    by niteice ( 793961 ) <icefragment@gmail.com> on Sunday September 26, 2004 @04:10PM (#10356862) Journal
    Games: Xbox Modchip Featuring Onboard Operating System

    Posted by timothy on Sunday September 26, @04:30PM
    from the that-and-a-pawnshop-visit dept.
    An anonymous reader writes "A group of talented coders known as TeamXodus, have released an xbox modification chip with a difference, the 'Xenium' is a modchip which features a fully legal operating system that was coded by the team from scratch. The mod can be installed Solderlessly and will allow the end user to unlock the power of the xbox and run applications such as Linux on their Xbox. The onboard Operating system currently stands at version 2.0 and features a massive 1.35 million lines of code and was recently reviewed by HomeCinemaChoice whereby they declared the Xenium 'The creators of the easiest Xbox modification - the complete package.'"

    ( Read More... | 52 of 53 comments | games.slashdot.org )

  • This has been out for a WHILE (but it does rock) (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Gregoyle ( 122532 ) on Sunday September 26, 2004 @04:12PM (#10356871)
    This chip isn't new, it's been out for a long time. I got mine about 6 months ago and it had been out for a few months then.

    But it still does rock. You can do things right out of the box that normally take a lot of searching and downloading with other chips, e.g. format an enormous hard drive to FATX and copy over all the old partitions and information, all with one push of a button.

    As a bonus it includes Cromwell in its own memory bank on the chip. This is the BIOS that's usually used to start linux distros. I use it for my MythTV XBOX. To tell the truth I've never even had to add an extra BIOS to it, because all I use the XBOX for is for MythTV and to VNC for Linux apps.

    Oh, it's also really easy to turn off so you can use your XBOX for xbox-live, if that's your bag.
  • No joke. These could make nice 'break mes' for when I'm studying for Certs (which in turn provides a convient excuse to buy an Xbox :) ).
    • From Xbox-Linux.org

      Can I run VMware in Xbox-Linux?

      Yes. You can run MS-DOS and Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000 on an Xbox on top of VMware in Linux. If configured correctly, the guest operating system can have up to 48 MB of RAM (on a 64 MB Xbox; up to 112 MB on a 128 MB Xbox). Performance is very good (even playing DivX in Windows works flawlessly). Windows 3D games will not work because the VMware Tools SVGA II driver (4.5.2) emulates only 2D video hardware with 16MB video RAM.
    • You can run linux and then run vmware and run windows. I've read about this being done sucessfully, however there there is only 64 mb of ram and so it would be painfully slow. And even if you could run windows without going through that, you're still stuck with 64mb of ram.

  • Word of warning (Score:2, Informative)

    by Intocabile ( 532593 )
    If you're thinking of getting a Xbox to use as a cheap mediacenter do yourself a favor and get a used one. While this chip is compatible with the newest version of the Xbox (1.6) it doesn't work without a fair bit of motherboard modification. There are those of you who like that thing so don't let me deter you, all you need is an afternoon and a steady hand.

  • Coded from scratch? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    According to a rival modchip maker, after 10 minutes of reverse engineering, XOS2 is based on OsKit (http://www.cs.utah.edu/flux/oskit/) - though this may just be a slanderous claim so I can't say whether this is the case or not. I KNOW that certain parts of the OS are based on Xbox-Linux's Cromwell efforts (the Recovery mode uses Cromwell for sure, along with the Xbox-Linux video drivers), but wheres the source? Nowhere. Would be nice to get some seasoned hackers to do some reverse assembly here.

  • Dubious, Am I (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Nom du Keyboard ( 633989 ) on Sunday September 26, 2004 @05:15PM (#10357182)
    a fully legal operating system that was coded by the team from scratch..features a massive 1.35 million lines of code

    Dubious, am I, of such an achievement. I speak from the experience of writing code myself for many years. That is just a whole lot of code simply for the purpose of selling a mod chip to a soon-to-be obsolete product. Any coding team this good could be making a lot of money working for any major software vendor.

    I would accept that they modified a block of existing, open source code, and be impressed by that achievement alone. But that's not what the summary says.

    As for what the article says, well, I'll have to read that directly after the /. tsunami passes.

  • The original Xenium OS (Score:3, Informative)

    by fozzmeister ( 160968 ) on Sunday September 26, 2004 @05:32PM (#10357277) Homepage
    Was built on Cromwell (Linux Kernel), This is a full OS which they made and they are hyping like nothing else, apparently its going to let them do loads of cool stuff that would be very difficult with linux [66.102.9.104]. And this made the front of Slashdot because it has a onboard OS (Oh X-Ecuter have one with 3.0 (just released), Smart-XX also do. and Xenium (the one which started it) used to have an Open Source OS (and have just moved to closed source)

  • Just installed mine this week.... (Score:3, Informative)

    by Superfreaker ( 581067 ) on Sunday September 26, 2004 @05:35PM (#10357291) Homepage Journal
    I spent $60 to get teh chip after my friend installed one of their solder chips. His newer xbox won't accept the solderless chip as the d0 wire is under the mobo.

    The box came apart easily and the chip went in easily enough, though it did not boot the first time. After nudging teh chip back and forth a few times, i got it to boot to the xenium screen (almost instant startup). The FTP client was already running and had acquired an ip from my router. I was able to ftp the evolutionx front end over an voila! it works. Less than an hour.

    I went back to play a game later to find the ms front end come up with an error. I realized that the chip had become unseated. I had to take it completely apart and nudge it again. After that it worked. Once it stopped working again, i cut a hole in the side of my xbox to allow my finger in the side to press it down. I've only had to do that once or twice so far. Actually well worth it.
    • Why not just solder the thing in place?

      Thats what I never could get btw (with these solderless mod chips) - were geeks - we should know how to solder - once its in its in and there's no question about how good its electrical contact is.
  • Can't find the review on the magazine site, either.

    Real helpful links we've got here.

  • This is cool except... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 26, 2004 @05:49PM (#10357366)
    when recently, a couple of weeks ago, this female customer returns an X-Box to Wal-Mart (I work in electronics) and said she couldn't get it to play any games. She said this weird menu kept coming up and she couldn't get it to do anything useful.

    So we fired it up there in the store and lo and behold this menu comes up for Xenium by TeamXodus. I knew it was a modded X-Box but didn't know why she would have one or why she would want to return it. Apparently she had purchased it from another Wal-Mart and someone returned the modded X-Box there.

    She kept asking me why someone would do this and I tried to explain the coolness factor of being able to control your own X-Box. She wasn't getting it. So, she returned it and got a regular ol' X-Box that does what she wants.

    However, I'm confused as to why someone would successfully mod an X-Box and then return it! Is this Xenium thing not all that its cracked up to be? Was it too powerful for someone to handle and they had to bring it back? I don't know, but it really makes me wonder...
    • However, I'm confused as to why someone would successfully mod an X-Box and then return it! Is this Xenium thing not all that its cracked up to be? Was it too powerful for someone to handle and they had to bring it back? I don't know, but it really makes me wonder...

      Ripped off?

  • Hardware? We don't need no stinkin' hardware. (Score:3, Informative)

    by Ashinberry ( 622188 ) on Sunday September 26, 2004 @06:00PM (#10357417)
    In the midst of all this discussion, I must mention that a modchip isn't needed to run unsigned code. A few enterprising coders have exploited various buffer overflows and gaps in the trusted computing nature of the xbox to allow this. Called the "Ultimate Dashboard Exploit" (UDE) and some related projects (UDE2, PBL, nkpatcher), it is possible to buy an xbox, take it home, insert a memory card with a save from a friend who's already done the procedure (there are several alternatives if you don't have friends), load up a certain game, and voila, open xbox.

    The only hardware changes I've made to my xbox are a larger hard drive and an ATA/133 cable, but using the UDE it boots to linux on power-on for a nice, low-cost set top entertainment center.

    For more pertinent information, see:
    http://xbox-linux.org/ [xbox-linux.org]
    http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=2 43341 [xbox-scene.com]
    http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=2 43893 [xbox-scene.com]
    http://forums.xbox-scene.com/ [xbox-scene.com]

  • 1.35 MILLION lines of code? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by ScrewMaster ( 602015 ) on Sunday September 26, 2004 @06:04PM (#10357433)
    Something tells me these guys have too much time on their hands. I don't suppose the DMCA has any anti-circumvention prevention exemptions that make your mod legal if you have lots of lines of code in it.

    Besides, if these guys are that good they should be coding a real operating system and throw it in the mix with Linux and Windows.

  • Overhyped... again (Score:5, Informative)

    by flat235 ( 724288 ) on Sunday September 26, 2004 @06:09PM (#10357461)
    Sorry, this is overhyped crap.. a.) Mod chips have been around for a long time. They've been solderless for a long time. b.) We've been able to run Linux on our xboxes for a long, long time. c.) The "Onboard OS" is an *application* stored on the chip's flash, which allows users to flash different bios images. It is an OS in that is does not require the stock xbox kernel. No more. This is absolutely nothing new. Recent Xecuter bios images have supported packing .xbe files into the bios (simple ftpd was a good example). Looks like your admins have been duped by an "anonymous" poster from the company who make this. As for those of you who talk about wanting to use the MS media center thing and stream from Linux - check out XBMC (sourceforge) - it is one of the best pieces of "homebrew" software ever created. TD

  • Stupid Slashdot... (Score:3, Informative)

    by Lurgen ( 563428 ) on Sunday September 26, 2004 @06:39PM (#10357616) Journal
    These have been around for ages now. I've had one in my XBox for close to half a year! NEWS means current info, not ancient bloody history. Pogo installations aren't "news", they're ancient history. The Xenium chips aren't "news", they're just another mod chip that has been around for ages.

    Man I hate Slashdot lately. Duplicate posts on the front page, uninformed MS bashing at random, borderline "infomercial" posts about products that don't deserve the screen real-estate... get your act together people, Slashdot is losing face.

  • Why site is /.ed? (Score:3, Funny)

    by Mostly a lurker ( 634878 ) on Sunday September 26, 2004 @07:42PM (#10358235)
    Could this be the explanation?
    Changelog for Xenium OS 2.0.0:

    +Webserver up and running, but still some minor bugs to be worked out.
    (emphasis added)
  • Wonder how long this will last, until Microsoft sends them a nice cease and desist letter..

    Got to love the DMCA.... Instantly made all your hardware you buy... not yours..

  • Don't waste your time or money on mod chips! (Score:3, Informative)

    by Jagasian ( 129329 ) on Sunday September 26, 2004 @10:34PM (#10359497)
    Rent or borrow one of the following games:
    1. 007 AUF
    2. MechAssault
    3. Splinter Cell

    Rent or borrow an Action Replay for the Xbox, or some other USB Xbox save cart dongle.

    Then use this software xbox modding method:
    http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?sh owtopic=2 27528

    It is just as good as a mod chip. You can boot directly into Xbox Media Center, from which you can launch custom software, downloaded Xbox games, burned Xbox games, movies, music, etc.

    Far cheaper, far easier, so why buy a mod chip?

  • Just to clear some things up.... (Score:4, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 26, 2004 @11:16PM (#10359743)
    Just to clear up a few misconceptions and false statements that people have made here....

    1.35 million lines of code for an operating system, including kernel, drivers, libraries, applications, etc etc etc... is not at all unbelievable. And, like they said, that includes library code. Pull in SDL, there's quite a chunk of code for 5 minutes work. Pull in some other libraries, and there's more big chunks of code, and so on. Considering they must have drivers for all of the hardware, as well as lots of various libraries for their networking, UI, httpd, etc... i'm suprised the number isn't higher. I'd be interested to see a count of the lines of sourcecode that go into a small linux distribution, including everything from kernel to user space apps, just for comparison.

    Also... yes, linux is an OS, of course... Their wording was a bit poor. However, to run Linux on the xbox, the user *must* run an application... the loader, whether that be cromwell, xromwell, or xbeboot.

    The claim that XOS2 is based on OsKit is rather ill founded, and goes back to some discussions about a year ago. I happen to know one of the Team Xodus developers, and he tells me that although Oskit was considered for the project, it was quickly decided against.

    These "rival modchip makers" need to find some better reverse engineers, who stop making assumptions based on political and social forces.

    Also, the source for all of the components which were based on cromwell (the old "os") are available for download from their site.

    It has also been stated here that this is "nothing new"... that smartxx and x3 and x-chip all have OSes too. Well, smartxx's "os" is based on cromwell, a GPL platform, and they have not released any source, or made any efforts whatsoever to comply with GPL, and have even publicly said that they would not do so. X3 and X-chip's "OS"es are both based on illegally modified and redistributed microsoft kernels. Really, the big acheivement here is the first and only LEGAL os, written from scratch, for the specific purpose of xbox modding. Yes, IMHO that is quite an acheivement, and worth of /.

    Finally...
    "Besides, if these guys are that good they should be coding a real operating system and throw it in the mix with Linux and Windows. "

    Who ever said they havn't? Most of these programmers work on embedded platforms besides the xbox, as well.

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