Modchipless XBox Linux

March 31, 2003 8:52 AM

102

Well, here's your big console news of the day.. it looks like someone has finally figured out how to load Linux onto an X-Box without having to use any special "illegal" mod chips. They use everyone's favorite buffer overflow exploit to execute their own code due to a "bug" that exists in a few X-Box titles. The game used in particular is Agent Under Fire, although the "bug" exists in several titles according to the author. From XBoxhacker:

This "exploit," "hack," or "bug" as some are calling it stems from a seemingly, at the time of this article, simple "hack attack" known as a buffer overflow. Essentially overfilling the cup which is the memory process management of the operating system and slipping in your own piece of code right under its nose without it ever realizing

You can read about this on XBox-Linux and XBoxHacker.

Steve Gibson

Steve Gibson is the cofounder of Shacknews.com. Originally known as sCary's Quakeholio back in 1996, Steve is now President of Gearbox Publishing after selling Shacknews to GameFly in 2009.

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UTSD3DSUCKS

 reply
March 31, 2003 8:54 AM

K, now the question is WHY?
- Q-ball
  
   reply
  March 31, 2003 8:59 AM
  
  BECAUSE!!!!!...ummm thats all i got
- [deleted] 836040652
  
   reply
  March 31, 2003 9:02 AM
  
  [deleted]
- Aubrey Philipsz
  
   reply
  March 31, 2003 9:14 AM
  
  This is why:
  The XBox is sold for less than it costs to manufacture. The money is made by selling the games. The linux community wants to hack the XBox so they can use it for clusters and damage Microsoft. Hatred, envy and criminal intentions can be a very powerful mix.
- fragsausen
  
   reply
  March 31, 2003 9:16 AM
  
  The Xbox is cheap. I think it's cross-subsidized (right word?) by selling licenses to game developers. With a real OS on it, you don't need to buy a more expensive/louder/bigger/uglier computer.
  - UTSD3DSUCKS
    
     reply
    March 31, 2003 9:30 AM
    
    So let me get this straight, an X-box which is a 800Mhz CPU with less than 256MB of ram, no harddrive, no expandability is a great way to run Linux? Hmm....
    
    I think someone has issues, wants public attention, and probably has skills that could be put to much greater use than getting linux on the X-box for no reason, but OK.....
    - Steve Gibson
      
       reply
      March 31, 2003 9:32 AM
      
      it does have a hard drive...
      - larcho
        
         reply
        March 31, 2003 9:36 AM
        
        And it's only 64mb ram, if I ain't wrong.
        
        Fred Garvin
        
         reply
        March 31, 2003 9:37 AM
        
        64MB shared RAM.
        
        larcho
        
         reply
        March 31, 2003 9:37 AM
        
        Really ? ... didn't knew that. Shared for video too ?
        
        Fred Garvin
        
         reply
        March 31, 2003 9:41 AM
        
        Yes, the RAM is shared across all program, video and audio. It has the most RAM of any console, but it's still quite low.
        
        marvelouscain
        
         reply
        March 31, 2003 9:41 AM
        
        not to mention sound, animation, ai.. not exactly the dream development environment
        
        larcho
        
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        March 31, 2003 9:42 AM
        
        How will doom3 do in a Xbox ?
        
        Steve Gibson
        
         reply
        March 31, 2003 9:43 AM
        
        according to carmack, "pretty good"
        
        larcho
        
         reply
        March 31, 2003 9:46 AM
        
        That is something I still don't understand. A GF4 P4 2.4ghz can still be slower than a 733hz GF3 console in games. I know that the xbox os is different and stuff, still, it's a biiiig diference.
        
        Carnivac
        
         reply
        March 31, 2003 9:50 AM
        
        Because it's a fixed hardware platform, don't have to worry about how an effect will work on thousands of different combinations of hardware.
        
        crash3087
        
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        March 31, 2003 4:43 PM
        
        also the resolutions arent gonna be as high
        
        you can tweak everything for just that one machine
        
        although its gonna look like ass compared to the pc version
        it'll have like the same texture and same audio sample for every monster due to lack or ram or something...heh
        
        Fred Garvin
        
         reply
        March 31, 2003 9:46 AM
        
        All consoles are hard to code for, some are just less evil.
        
        ease_one
        
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        March 31, 2003 1:04 PM
        
        exactly, but still it has more memory than ANY other console. But its not insainly more powerful, thats for sure. But its still WAY better than the ps2 to develop for. It is a toss up between GC and xbox though for dev enviroment, depending on who you ask. If you ask an artist, they will tell you Xbox always
        
        UTSD3DSUCKS
        
         reply
        March 31, 2003 10:02 AM
        
        I said less than....I was not sure but I knew it was not 256 so.... Thanks anyway...
        
        I still do not see the attraction to this action.....
      - UTSD3DSUCKS
        
         reply
        March 31, 2003 9:39 AM
        
        Sorry, I'm not into consoles, so it does have a HD, how big?
        
        larcho
        
         reply
        March 31, 2003 9:40 AM
        
        8gb .... or was it 10gb ?
        
        Carnivac
        
         reply
        March 31, 2003 9:41 AM
        
        Eight to 10 gig depending on the HD supplier I believe, although whether all of the 10gb ones is available I'm not sure. Still that's a hell of a lot of memory cards.
        
        Fred Garvin
        
         reply
        March 31, 2003 9:44 AM
        
        8GB. That's why you can download new content and copy CDs on to it.
- krazy_yak
  
   reply
  March 31, 2003 9:35 AM
  
  I've heard that people can use it as a media center kind of device. Once it is hacked you can throw on a pvr, divx player, and mp3 player, in addition to watching dvds and playing games.
- batkiwi
  
   reply
  March 31, 2003 9:37 AM
  
  The reason I want this to work:
  A small, quiet, non-ugly HTPC with dolby digital and component output.
  
  I've got the nforce2 shuttle right now, and it rocks, but I'd love to have a lighter weight solution using an xbox and XBMP, but I don't want to hack an xbox and have it possibly not work/etc in the future.
  - Rapid 99
    
     reply
    March 31, 2003 10:00 AM
    
    non ugly?
    :-)
- ariakaz
  
   reply
  March 31, 2003 9:49 AM
  
  it's quite a decent little server for $199.
- SlimJim
  
   reply
  March 31, 2003 4:48 PM
  
  I want to use my Xbox as an FTP server. Maybe even a web server too.