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For all those of you who hate Microsoft...
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View this Thread in Original format
| da_MynDLesS_one |
(from ZDNet UK News)
Hackers make Xbox into a Windows PC
12:49 Monday 30th September 2002
Matthew Broersma
The Xbox has been made to run Microsoft's own operating system, turning it into an ordinary desktop workstation, courtesy of some Linux trickery. The accomplishment is a comment on the insecurity of secure hardware
A group of Linux enthusiasts have managed to gain such control over the innards of Microsoft's Xbox video game console that they can now boot Windows 2000 on the machine. This accomplishment, announced last week, effectively turns Microsoft's heavily-subsidised console into an inexpensive desktop workstation.
The Xbox Linux Project, as the group of volunteers calls itself, is attempting to circumvent the security built into the gaming console to allow it to be used as a normal PC. In the process, it is demonstrating the limitations of today's secure hardware -- a version of which Microsoft, Intel and others are planning to eventually build into ordinary PCs.
The programmers said that they used Mandrake Linux 9.0 as a host operating system and ran Windows 2000 within a virtual PC environment within Linux. The project first managed to get various flavours of Linux running on the Xbox weeks ago.
Germany-based Michael Steil, who acts as project leader, said the programmers decided to boot Windows 2000 as a way of making sure that an Xbox running Linux was fully PC-compatible.
"On a PC, it's easy to run Windows 2000 inside Linux using PC virtualisation software, and so it is on an Xbox (as well)," he said.
The box supports full networking capabilities and can use any standard USB peripherals, such as a keyboard and mouse. The performance appears to have improved somewhat since SuSE Linux was first booted on the machine: at that time, the game TuxRacer could only display 1 frame per second, but the project said that Windows running within Linux is now fast enough to play MPEG-4 movies in full-screen mode.
It is possible to run Linux directly on the Xbox because Linux's licence terms allow users to modify the underlying programming code, or source code. Linux is based on an open-source licence, which allows modification and redistribution of the software, as long as the modifications are returned to the community. Users aren't allowed to modify Windows 2000's source code.
The Xbox is built on standard PC hardware, including an Intel processor and USB and Ethernet connectors, but there are slight modifications that must be tracked down before that hardware can be exploited, Steil said: "The Xbox is 99 percent PC-compatible.. but it takes quite some time to find that 1 percent."
Steil said that besides showing that secure hardware can be defeated, the project also aims to give users access to a cheap introductory PC. The project ultimately aims to produce a CD-ROM that will load the Linux operating system onto an unmodified Xbox.
The developers want "to simplify the start into the world of computers and into the world of Linux, for people who only have a gaming console," Steil said.
Microsoft's "Palladium" project will create a specially secured area on a PC for storing files that need extra security, such as copy-protected media.
Microsoft recently introduced an Xbox with a slightly different hardware configuration, which is not compatible with the hacks currently used by the Xbox Linux Project. The project claims its activities are legal under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. |
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| a-aplz |
| Well duh...Xbox is just a computer in disguse. It isnt to hard to make that happen if you know what you're doing. |
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| ali92 |
| quote: | Originally posted by a-aplz
Well duh...Xbox is just a computer in disguse. It isnt to hard to make that happen if you know what you're doing. |
This is actually pretty cool because u can have a fully functional workstation that runs one of the best OSs around for about 200 USD (in USA). My question is: Will the final product be a CD that u can just insert into the X-Box and just install Linux right there? Also, will you still be able to play X-Box games on it? |
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| DJ El Kay Dee |
SO WHERE CAN WE DOWNLOAD THE OPERATING SYSTEMMMMMMMMMMM
Mike..full details please |
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| ali92 |
| quote: | Originally posted by DJ El Kay Dee
SO WHERE CAN WE DOWNLOAD THE OPERATING SYSTEMMMMMMMMMMM
Mike..full details please |
http://xbox-linux.sourceforge.net/
You can download the whole thing from there. U need a modified X-Box to use Linux on it and if u still want to play games, you need to use the boot method that lets you (READ THEIR FAQ PAGE FIRST!!!). |
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| Illusion |
| NEWS FLASH!!!!: Xbox runs the Window 2000 Kernel(Core operating system) to begin with! |
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| DJ El Kay Dee |
ok how bout a reverse solution?? to use Xbox games on the PC??
remember there was bleem for PS games????how bout PS2 games or Xbox games on pc??:conf: |
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| ali92 |
| quote: | Originally posted by DJ El Kay Dee
ok how bout a reverse solution?? to use Xbox games on the PC??
remember there was bleem for PS games????how bout PS2 games or Xbox games on pc??:conf: |
My friend has an X-Box emulator and runs games on his PC. PS2 emulation is just not possible yet (hardware limitations being the main problem). |
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| DJ El Kay Dee |
| quote: | Originally posted by ali92
My friend has an X-Box emulator and runs games on his PC. PS2 emulation is just not possible yet (hardware limitations being the main problem). |
any links???:conf: |
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| biznology |
| quote: | Originally posted by ali92
My friend has an X-Box emulator and runs games on his PC. PS2 emulation is just not possible yet (hardware limitations being the main problem). |
yah last time i checked my PC doesnt run with 2 processors| |
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| DJ Cubano |
| I hate Windows :) But it's the only thing that works for me |
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| DJ Cubano |
| actually what would be cool is turning a technics turntable into a computer :D |
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