[PLUG] XBOX Linux...

[m0gely]

plug_0 at robinson-west.com wrote:
> Has anyone here modified the original XBOX to run Linux?

Eh, it's a 733MHz Celeron.  IMHO this machine is not worth the hassle 
for running Linux.  Much less resistance just getting an older HP or 
something.

> How does 
> Microsoft's XBOX Live online system know that you've altered a unit?

I have not personally subscribed to Live, but from what I have read you 
should not until you're done making the mods, as people have reported 
it's the change in the system that can trigger a ban.

My mod chip has a feature that allows you to run the xbox with the mod 
chip disabled.  Not sure if it can still be detected, but my intention 
was for media.  I don't plan on paying MS for Live.  And you can get 
purely software based mods done, but then I think you remove the ability 
to get back into the stock xbox environment.

> What is a modchip?  Does going the modchip route really allow someone 
> to hide that their XBOX is Linux ready from Microsoft?  How does an 
> ITX form factor Celeron compare to the XBOX as far as: running quietly 
> and taking up very little space?

The xbox is a PC.  Intel CPU, NVIDIA gfx, standard IDE hard drive and 
slightly proprietary DVD drive.  The BIOS however is proprietary, and 
only allows digitally signed code to run.  Copying a DVD game doesn't 
get the digital sig.  This is why you cannot play copied games.

The mod chip is a component you install that allows you to bypass the MS 
BIOS and thus run unsigned code.  You must solder several wires onto the 
motherboard (unless you buy the more expensive solderless adapter) to 
complete the installation.  This is not for the unexperienced person. 
The one I use (Xecuter 3) provides a LED panel and DIP switch that are 
connected to the outside of the box.  The DIP switches allow you to use 
different banks of the BIOS for different firmwares.  This helps in 
testing or when you flash to a new firmware you can switch back if you 
hose the install.

The xbox runs a very stripped Win2K kernel for the underlying OS.  The 
operating environment is called a Dashboard (Windows on top of DOS?). 
This is what most people replace with something new, like XBox Media 
Center (XBMC), but there are others.

However now that you have this ability, you use the xbox's internal hard 
drive to run XBMC and not bother with a DVD each time.  Mine boots up to 
XBMC, but I can still boot stock easily.  This leads to "why not put 
lots more on the hard drive" mentality.  Especially when you realize you 
can get a torrent for several hundred NES, SNES, Genesis, & N64 games 
and just have all that stored on your xbox hdd.  But why stop there 
right?  Install a larger drive and store all your xbox games too and 
bypass the need to get your DVD's out at all.  You may as well put some 
movies on there too eh?  Or just access files over the network via SMB. 
  Maybe you're starting to get the picture.

> Why is XBOX so popular if it's nothing more than a low end PC that has 
> been hardware modified so that it can run the XBOX operating system only?

Because a ~$200 PC can't do all that and play xbox games too.  I dunno. 
  Building a PC to sit under my TV and do what my xbox does would cost 
more than that, and would be butt ugly.  An xbox 360 can't hold a candle 
to mine.  Outside of playing 360 games mine does much more.  The 360 
won't do DivX or XviD, et al.

> Why modify an XBOX to run Linux instead of going with a Micro-ATX
> or ITX form factor PC?  Isn't buying one encouraging the rage over
> these things by giving them resale value?

As I started out saying it's not.  Get a PC.  But I felt I had to give 
some background in why people do this, and what the process is about to 
help make the point.  Knowing why people do this may help you know if 
you want to.

> On the other hand, there must be some reason why there are instructions
> online on how to make these things run Linux.

People waste too much time making everything run some OS.  But to each, 
their own. :)

-- 
- m0gely
http://quake2.telestream.com/
Q2 | Q3A | Counter-strike