The missing xbox server



  • http://windowsitpro.com/article/articleid/50428/the-website-is-down-because-someone-removed-the-x-box.html

     

    Found this article on digg, figured you guys would appreciate it. Ignore me if it has already been posted before. 



  • This never would have happened if they'd been running Linux.



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    This never would have happened if they'd been running Linux ColdFusion.

    CFTFY



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    This never would have happened if they'd been running Linux.

     

    Linux sucks, BSD is much better. The BSD chicks are much better as well.



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    This never would have happened if they'd been running Linux.

     

    From first paragraph:

    " A couple of years back, an X-Box with some variant of Linux installed had been put in the server room to support a subject designed to teach computer-illiterate Philosophy students how to build their own web pages"

    [Edit] And it didn't crash after all, some manager just took it home, WTF?

     



  • @lonewolf said:

    And it didn't crash after all, some manager just took it home, WTF?

    It wouldn't have been stolen if it was running Linux! 



  • Again, from first paragraph:

    " A couple of years back, an X-Box with some variant of Linux installed had been put in the server room to support a subject designed to teach computer-illiterate Philosophy students how to build their own web pages"



  • @stordoff said:

    Again, from first paragraph:

    " A couple of years back, an X-Box with some variant of Linux installed had been put in the server room to support a subject designed to teach computer-illiterate Philosophy students how to build their own web pages"

    Hmmm.. must have been part of some M$ campaign of FUD to scare people into thinking their computers will be stolen if they run Linux.  That's just shameful. 



  • @stordoff said:

    Again, from first paragraph:

    " A couple of years back, an X-Box with some variant of Linux installed had been put in the server room to support a subject designed to teach computer-illiterate Philosophy students how to build their own web pages"

     Let me explain it to you: I am sure you know too that the XBox is a Micro$oft product. It is running a modified Windows 2000 kernel, not Linux. Now, Microsoft, as usual, does not publish patches for its bug-ridden product, that's why that particular XBox was hacked in the first place. The whole design is just a failure.

    The last Windows version I've used was Windows 98, after that, I've moved to Ubuntu and I will never look back.



  • @DrJokepu said:

     Let me explain it to you: I am sure you know too that the XBox is a Micro$oft product. It is running a modified Windows 2000 kernel, not Linux. Now, Microsoft, as usual, does not publish patches for its bug-ridden product, that's why that particular XBox was hacked in the first place. The whole design is just a failure.
     

    First of all, a couple of the software exploits for the original Xbox take advantage of holes in specific 3rd party software (games), which is not necessarily developed by Microsoft.  (How do you think people ran the Linux installer in the first place?  You cannot just run arbitrary code on an unmodded Xbox.)

    Secondly, Microsoft did update its Xbox Dashboard software in an attempt to prevent users from running Linux (and "backup" games), so your assertion that MS did not patch the Xbox is wrong:

     http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/Preventing_the_Forced_Dashboard_Online_Update

    On September 11th 2003, Microsoft started updating the Dashboard of all Xboxes connected to the internet, even those not registered with Xbox Live, and disabled the possibility of adding the "BOOT LINUX" item to the dashboard - without asking (http://www.xbox-linux.org/docs/remotedelete.html)! Although we complained by making telephone calls, writing emails and informing the press, Microsoft could not provide us any other solution than disconnecting the Xbox from the internet in order to prevent the unwanted update.

     http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/Software_Method_HOWTO#Is_your_Xbox_compatible.3F

    Is your Xbox compatible?

    The Software Method takes advantage of a flaw in the Microsoft dashboard to make your Xbox Linux-compatible. Unfortunately this flaw has been fixed in newer versions of the dashboard. A Dashboard version of 4920 or below is required.

    • <font color="#ff0000"> If your Dashboard version is greater than 4920 and your kernel version less than 5713 then it is possible to downgrade your Microsoft Dashboard to 4920. </font>
    • <font color="#ff0000"> If your kernel version is 5713 or later, then it is not possible to downgrade to a 4920 dashboard, and you will be unable to use the Software Method. ALL 1.6 Xboxes (see Versions HOWTO to determine the version number of your Xbox) have >=5713 kernels, and so cannot be made Linux compatibile using the Software Method.</font>

    Even if your kernel version is 5713 or later, not all is lost: it is still possible to run the Emergency Linux mini distribution included with the MechInstaller. You could use this to telnet into your Xbox and get info such as your HD key and unique HD password which can allow you to do other things.

    BTW, many other non-MS game consoles have been victimized by hardware and software hacks, so I don't really see the point of singling out MS.  In fact, rumor has it the only reason PS3 supports Linux out of the box is that a hacker group threatened to publicize a PS3 exploit (for running "backup" games) otherwise.  Supposedly a hacker group tried the same thing with the original Xbox, but MS refused to open up the Xbox for Linux, so they went ahead and released the exploit details.



  • DrJokepu, not to start a flamewar:

    I'm a big fan of Ubuntu too, but I'm not a fanboy.  Honestly, pre-Win2000 and XP versions of Windows sucked (not that other OS's didn't have their own serious problems at the time - Macs didn't even have proper multitasking, meaning anything could hang the system as long as it wanted, and Linux was a huge pain to install and much harder to use than now) so I can see how you got a bad impression, but Windows has actually gotten a lot better since those days.  XP and Vista obviously aren't perfect, but then again, no OS is - they all have their own problems.

    Also, why do you say that Microsoft doesn't publish patches "as usual"?  Again, I'm not an Microsoft fanboy either, but just being realistic.  They have Windows Update, and on an XP machine that my family runs, and on the laptop where I dual-boot with Vista and Ubuntu, there's a new security patch (or in the case of Vista, Windows Defender definition set - yes, I know they don't have the same purpose) every week or two.  Even though they leave the vulnerabilities in the first place (as with just about everything but OpenBSD), at least they fix them in a reasonable time.  I get Windows security updates about as frequently as Ubuntu security updates.



  • @CodeSimian said:

    First of all...



  •  @morbiuswilters said:

    Another joke ruined by CodeSimian.

    Whoops, if I had read the whole thread carefully, I would've realized DrJokepu was kidding.  Oh well. 



  • @CodeSimian said:

    @morbiuswilters said:

    Another joke ruined by CodeSimian.

    Whoops, if I had read the whole thread carefully, I would've realized DrJokepu was kidding.  Oh well. 

    It doesn't bother me, it's actually the reaction we were going for.  I think TDWTF Forums have become a sociological experiment of sorts to me.  It's interesting to see how people react to misinformation, flawed logic and flat-out bias and how frequently they will propagate those same things themselves once the floodgates have been opened.  The great part will be when we can relive this all over again in 2 months when some n00b bumps this thread to the top with a comment like "i got linux on mai xbox it was hard lol" or "The mistake had nothing to do with the OS running on the hardware."  Ahh.. 



  • @CodeSimian said:

    Whoops, if I had read the whole thread carefully, I would've realized DrJokepu was kidding.  Oh well. 

     

     

    Ah, I'm sorry, that was my fault too.  Without remembering what people have said in the past (and knowing how extreme some fanboys on all sides can get) it's hard to know whether someone's just faking it or not.



  • Here's an excellent video from google talks explaining exactly why the software mod method is so easily possible and how MS fucked up again and again.

    Deconstructing The Xbox Security System – 1:02:19
    — Google

    As always last minute changes to the system destroyed much of the security.



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    @CodeSimian said:

    @morbiuswilters said:

    Another joke ruined by CodeSimian.

    Whoops, if I had read the whole thread carefully, I would've realized DrJokepu was kidding.  Oh well. 

    It doesn't bother me, it's actually the reaction we were going for.  I think TDWTF Forums have become a sociological experiment of sorts to me.  It's interesting to see how people react to misinformation, flawed logic and flat-out bias and how frequently they will propagate those same things themselves once the floodgates have been opened.  The great part will be when we can relive this all over again in 2 months when some n00b bumps this thread to the top with a comment like "i got linux on mai xbox it was hard lol" or "The mistake had nothing to do with the OS running on the hardware."  Ahh.. 

    Um, the problem had nothing to do with the OS on the XBox. It was running Linux after all. LOL n00bs.



  • @CodeSimian said:

    In fact, rumor has it the only reason PS3 supports Linux out of the box is that a hacker group threatened to publicize a PS3 exploit (for running "backup" games) otherwise.
    Given thatLinux was released for the PS2 long after the console's original release and 'cracking', I doubt that's true. Sony wouldn't have gone to the trouble of allowing the PS3 to run Linux just to appease a hacker group's blackmail, and anyway the PS3 Linux is limited - notably, it's unable to use the full power of the graphics chip, meaning one cannot develop commercial quality games running on PS3 Linux. Rather allowing the PS3 to run Linux was a natural thing for Sony to do given they'd done it with the PS2. IPlus it's one way to set themselves in opposition to the XBox 360. And it's also a nice way to demonstrate the possibilities of the Cell - PS3 Linux uses one of the 8 'sub-cores' (I forgot the proper name) to run Sony's hypervisor, leaving the Linux kernel able to use the other 6 and the main Power core (the 8th sub-core is deactivated, to increase chip yields by allowing a chip with one broken core to still be used)


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