XBOX

Xbox News For June 2002

Pandora Diagrams Ready + More
Posted by Sin-Tex at 8:13 AM

News Source Pandora

Well pandora have now posted the diagrams for the chip & the surprise i mentioned a few days ago is that the chip will be 11 wires not 12 as originaly said. Also as already mentioned the Reset Function works fine.

I hope to be getting some samples soon for testing.

You can pick up a pandora mod chip at Easybuy2000 only $59 / £38.67 approx

Dextrose Xbox site opens up!
Posted by HyperG at 18:28 PM

Dextrose team has decided to start development on the xbox. They show off the new n64 emulator called Daedalus for Xbox. Check out the site here.

Xtender X Mod Chip (special promotion price)
Posted by Sin-Tex at 10:23 AM

LikSang have currently got a (Special Promotion Price) on Xtender Xbox Mod Chips.

"Usually ships within 24 hours - $29.00 USD ~ £19.91 GBP.

For details click here


Thanks to rob1309 in our Forums for the news.

End of MAME-X development
Posted by HyperG at 1:20 AM

Earlier today binaries were taking down, and tears were sheding.

Now we lose opcode, one that brought us MAME on Xbox. This is the e-mail I receieved from opcode.

"After thinking about his all day, I have decided to cease any more MAME development. The mame.net guys have also decided not to host xbox.mame.net either. I'm throwing in the towel, don't want to make the bear any angrier than it already is. Sorry to say I'm done with xbox development for good, it was fun while it lasted.

opcode"

Let's just hope a solution comes out for homebrew developers, and that not being linux. If you wish to mess around with MAME-X, we have the beta 4 source code available.

X-Ecuter News
Posted by LyonHrt at 21:56 PM

x-ecuter have updated their site regarding how their mod will be the best out there, including a incredably easy to fit "user-friendly" module at a very competitive price, which will be fully featured:

Bad Things Happen When You Dev With The XDK...
Posted by [][]T-MONEY[][] at 19:43 PM

Source: M.A.M.E. X Official Site

Goodbye binaries at 17:27 GMT by JiggaLigga
Well opcode feared for the worst, microsoft went straight to the web-admin of mame.net, and down went the MAME-X binary downloads.
Finally got through to the admin, so now it is officially over. No binaries are allowed to be posted here. Specifically built with the XDK though!!! If you decide on putting it up on your sites, good luck because we don't have any responsibilty for your faults if microsoft contacts you, and we simply warn you not to even try.
So if you have downloads up on your site right now, go on and remove them, unless you want microsoft on your tails about it.
However, we'll post source code differences whenever the code changes and has new features.

Well hopefully this will show developers that programming on the official kit will not go by Microsoft lightly. Hopefully this will prompt developers in the scene to start on their own free (and legal) libraries and tools.

Well Sin-Tex does not want the site being shut down so for now he has removed the binaries from the site. You can still download the source code for beta 4 if you want.

Pandora Mod Chip "NOW FOR SALE"
Posted by Sin-Tex at 18:56 PM

You can pick up a pandora mod chip at Easybuy2000 only $59 / £38.67 approx

Features:

Plays all Xbox backups, compatible with CDR/CDRWDVDR/DVDRW
Plays all original import games
Universal design, Plays on PAL/US/JAP consoles
All Modied XBE code and custom code can boot
Macrovision Disabled
No Patch Hacks added

The diagrams will be up tomorrow & there will be a little surpise in store for you :)

Not only that but unlike the Final Enigmah & the Extender 1.1 the Pandora will allow you to use the Eject without Reset Hack.

MAME-X beta 4 released!
Posted by HyperG at 1:44 AM

opcode has released beta 4 of MAME-X, here is what's new/changed.

• Fixed scratchy sound in that occurred some games sound should be 100% correct now (well on par w/ MAME anyway).
  
  
• Mapped all speakers in a 5.1 stereo system (i.e. all left channel goes to left channel speakers (Front and Back) and likewise w/ right channel, mono I think plays in all channels), this sounds a LOT better IMHO on nice stereo systems.
  
  
• Mapped MAME's Config Menu to the XBox White button. With this you should be able to configure button mappings and anything else you can configure through this menu. NOTE: as of this release nothing is saved so you will have to reconfigure games every time you start them.
  
  
• Mapped MAME's pause key to the XBox Black button.
  
  
• Fixed the game list to read available games from the roms directory no matter what case they are in they will show up as available as long as the rom is named correctly.
  

Daedalus on Xbox - WIP !
Posted by HyperG at 22:12 PM

StrmnNrmn has posted news on their web-site about a port of Daedalus for Xbox. Here is what was said.

"A few months ago I was a bit bored after work and I thought I'd have a go porting Daedalus to run on the Xbox. Initially I was expecting it to take a couple of weeks, but I managed to get it up and running within a couple of hours (most of the time was just spent stripping out Windows specific code). Since then I've added a couple of cool features to take advantage of the Xbox's hardware: namely a couple of directly defined pixel shaders that precisely simulate the N64's combiner and blender. I've also managed to get fogging to work correctly for the first time, as well as the second detail texture that's used for certain special effects. I'm now looking at adding these features to the PC version of Daedalus too."

You can check out the pictures of the emulator on their web-site located here. Thanks to bgnome from efnet for the news.

Enigmah X "UPDATE"
Posted by Sin-Tex at 8:07 AM

Well there is still some good news, engimah page updated to say thay will still be releasing the free software titles.

"PS: The software guys of enigmah team will still be doing free software titles for everyone - and as far as we know china is making enigmah chips for you to buy - just not us any more."

Thanks to Smeagol, for the e-mail.

MAME-X beta 3 released!
Posted by HyperG at 3:40 AM

Opcode has fixed/changed the following in the latest installment.

• Fixed crash when returning to game selection menu from a game then trying to load another game. This means you can play as many games as you like from your media without rebooting.
  
  
• The game list now displays ALL games that you have roms for in the roms directory on the disk. This should either clutter the screen less (if you have less than a full set of roms) or more since now clones WILL be displayed if you have the clone roms.

The end for Enigmah?
Posted by LyonHrt at 23:56 PM

On a very solum, untitled main webpage, Enigmah have posted this:
After speaking to lawyers we feel that we must not do this project anymore.

There are many other chips and methods for guys to play with anyway so have fun and good luck to everyone out there.

This news has come to a shock and supprise, whether they will give any more info on this i don't know, but it is sad news indeed.

Thanks to Smeagol, in the #xboxemu irc chatroom for the news.

W32.Yaha.F@mm Running Rampant
Posted by [][]T-MONEY[][] at 17:22 PM

I (as well as other newsposter here at Xbox Emu) recieved 3 emails with this virus in it... if you have this virus, i hate you. Please people, update your virus software, and do not open attachment... good lord... anyways, this attachment is supposed to be a screensaver and is signified by green hearts around the file icon. Please update your virus software and run a full system check. So for those who have us on their contact lists or address books, please, check your computer for viruses.

Here is the W32.Yaha.F@mm Information Page.

XLauncher Utility Updated
Posted by [][]T-MONEY[][] at 16:45 PM

Source: Xbox Hacker Forums
fIREwIRE2k has updated his XLauncher tool. What the XLauncher tool does, is allows end users to have multiple applications, emulators and such on a single disk. Here is a snip from the thread:

ok .... i've ready with the new one, sorry for this late update but i haven't enough time the last week
thx to RUNTiME for helping me out
have fun
the XBOX Part is done to 99%, PC Tools coming as fast as possible.

fIREwIRE2k did a similar tool called the Xbox App/Game Selector, but he simply changed the name this time around. Anyways, acceptance on the forums seems to be great so if you decide to give this a try, please post your experiences with it, over on our forums. To visit the thread for more information, and download mirrors, click this link here.

New OpenBox Features
Posted by [][]T-MONEY[][] at 16:33 PM

Thanks to Cu Steven for the email. It seems as if now with the new OpenBox chip, you can either start up with the original BIOS or program your own without the aid of a special button or jumper. To start your own BIOS (i.e. Xtender v1.1), press the eject button, or for the original Xbox BIOS, simply press the power button. For more info, check out the OpenBox Forums here, or head over to the official product page right here.

Xtender 1.3 vertified a fake!
Posted by HyperG at 0:03 AM

Xtender 1.3 is now vertified a fake, it works, but does not perform what it says in the nfo file. No knowing what harm it may cause. This has been vertified by the many xbox hackers on efnet in #xboxhacker , and also vertified by the people over at xtender.

Xtender 1.3 BIOS Released
Posted by [][]T-MONEY[][] at 23:32 PM

Souce: Konsole.net
Xtender released their 1.3 BIOS unto the net today. For all of you who have made your own mod chips with the Xtender BIOS and use the XBMediaPlayer, this upgrade will probally be a good idea. Here is a copy paste from the article:
Partydude writes "here is a straight copy of the .nfo file.
xtender13.bin, what is this? Well its the full featured xtender code with no patches needed and macrovision disabled... and with a little nice extra feature!!... Permanently removed the reset on eject thing.

So all you divx lovers can go nuts...

- Xtender, cause we care, about the people more than the profits
Since I've not tested this etc."

Since neither Konsolle.net nor I have tested this yet, we can not vouche for this. But, we will keep you posted on any news concerning so. And, if you have tried the new 1.3 BIOS, please, feel free to post your experience with them in our forums.

MAME-X beta 2 source code released!
Posted by HyperG at 22:08 PM

Opcode was hurried to release the source code, so he released the differences to the MAME source. Get it over at his site located here.

MAME-X beta 2 released!
Posted by HyperG at 18:38 PM

Opcode has been busy adding in a few things, here is what's new.

• Move the direction controls to the DPAD by request supposely 8 way games didn't work with the analog stick and they will with the dpad (again thats what I was told, not confirmed).
  
  
• Added Reset key combo (White+Black buttons) this helps a lot in williams games (defender and joust to name a couple) that stick at testing when they do this press the White+Black buttons and it will reset the game and then work.
  
  
• Added return to game seletion menu (Back+Start buttons). NOTE: You can select another game but when you play it it will load the roms then lock up, I don't know why yet.

MAME-X beta 1 Released!
Posted by HyperG at 4:48 AM

Opcode has released MAME-X beta 1! You can find a download located over at his site here. He has been beta testing it all day, and has found that anything above 29 megs doesn't work on the xbox. Read the release notes included in the download, and make sure you follow the instructions accordingly. Thanks to opcode for the news in the Xbox Hacker chat room and this fine port for Xbox!! If you need help with it talk in our forums.

You can download Mame-X beta 1here

Ziki Updates His XStream Server Application
Posted by [][]T-MONEY[][] at 4:23 AM

Ziki has updated his great XStream server and now includes these great features:
What's new:

- Playlist (with recursive directories ability)
- Ability to move up/down items in the playlist
- Directories exclusions
- Fixed some bugs like "Socket Error 10053"

Read here for more info, and download mirrors

New Website Design
Posted by Sin-Tex at 21:40 PM

Well it was time to get rid of that old gloomy looking style & update it a little.

Major thanks goes out to ElPed2k owner of PS2-Emulation for creating two excellent designs for me that i eventualy got around into merging into one final cool design.

Also a big thanks to LyonHrt for letting me use some of his gfx & code for the site design.

Well hope you like it.

XTender 1.1 Chip Doesn't Support Eject Trick?
Posted by [][]T-MONEY[][] at 8:42 AM

Source: XboxHacker.net (#xboxhacker IRC Chat Room)

We should all know by now that the Enigmah Final does not support the eject trick (beta does) It has just been confirmed that the Xtender 1.1 doesn't support "disable reset on eject" either, but 1.0 does. Guesses are the the "no patch hack" that are programmed in the mewer mods are preventing this option to work. Let's hope there is a new method or a work-around soon for these mods...

If anyone can confirm this, please post in our forums, maybe it is just a localized problem, or it could be just what BIOS they were flashed with (if you created your mod chip with either the official XTender 1.1 BIOS or the Mr. Sporty BIOS). Much thanks goes out to ShadoLnk for sending an e-mail with this.

Another Xbox Media Player Coming Soon?
Posted by [][]T-MONEY[][] at 3:22 AM

Source: The Magic Box

"X B O X
- UNCONFIRMED: A Taiwan firm announced they have developed a Video CD player for Xbox called Xbox Media Player, which enable you to watch VCD movies on the system. The application is able to bypass the Xbox bios specification to read and decode data on regular CD-ROM and VCD discs."

Well this is great news and shows that there are quite a few developers getting their hands down and dirty with the Xbox hardware. Again, this is unconfirmed, but we at Xbox-Emulation will keep you up to date with any sort of news pertaining to this.

Xbox Media Player Status
Posted by [][]T-MONEY[][] at 3:12 AM

d703g4q posted this over in the Xbox Hacker Forums today explaining where his media playerstands, here is just a quick blip from the status report.
A/V asynchronous demultiplexing. -- In Progress
Prebuffering -- In Progress
Playback control (Pause, FF, REW) -- In Progress
Bookmarking -- In Progress
Improved plugin architecture -- In Progress
SSE decoding optimizations -- Done, Tested
HDTV support -- Done, Not Tested
Audio/Video Sync -- Done, Not Tested
From the looks of it, he has quite a few interesting things up his sleeve! d703g4q also stated that RUNTiME and himself haven't merged codebases yet since d703g4q lacks a modded Xbox at the moment. But they are planning to do so in the future and are still coordinating feature so they won't duplicate the effort.

Xbox Iso tool xISO v0.7.1
Posted by LyonHrt at 11:05 AM

A new tool has been released by Yursoft which is a Xbox ISO manipulation tool.

Here's what he said on the Xbox Hacker forums:
Hi all, I finally decided to release my private tools, with some modifications...., xISO v0.7.1.

xISO can handle XBOX ISOs, Reading and Creating it, Inject file, patching XBE devkit files for working in a retail modded xbox.

The reading can be done from a Image or directly from a CD/DVD (ripped, not original).

Xbox Media Player News
Posted by LyonHrt at 10:33 AM

The Xbox Media Player site has finally been updated after a week, with some good and bad news:

Long time no update. Good news is that we almost have the donations to get the premodded xbox. I’m excited. The bad news is that my HD died yesterday taking with it a couple days o work worth of code. I’m getting it going again, though. The new A/V demultiplexing code is coming right along. This is going to perfect the audio/video sync. We’ll also be doing some buffering that ought to improve things such as networking and other possibly higher latent devices.

Pandora Mod chip released!
Posted by HyperG at 8:00 AM

News taken straight from Consolevision.

"The Pandora Mod folks have relocated and finished the final design of their chip which is now officially on sale to resellers. Here's the official feature list:

- Only 12 Wires to Solder
- Plays all Xbox backups, compatible with CDR/CDRWDVDR/DVDRW
- Plays all original import games
- Universal design, Plays on PAL/US/JAP consoles
- All Modied XBE code and custom code can boot
- Macrovision Disabled
- No Patch Hacks added
For more information, head over to Pandora Mod. If possible, we'll try to get a hold of a sample to review for CV readers!"

Thanks again to Huma for the news. Hopefully we be able to test out the mod also, as I'm sure some of us here at Xbox-Emulation.co.uk haven't gotten our Xbox's modded yet.

MAME for Xbox WIP update!
Posted by HyperG at 2:08 AM

Opcode from the Xbox Hacker forums has posted what's new to his port of MAME for Xbox. Earlier we had posted the news where opcode didn't have rendering working properly, now tonight he results with great results! Thanks to T-Money for pointing it out over at Consolevision.com!

"Good news I got rendering working. I had to render to a temporary buffer addressed in linear mode then swizzle that buffer onto my texture and everything is a go, and the graphis look great (only tried puckman so far). Now on to fixing the sound, but first I'm gonna try MetalSlugX just to see if a beefy game works."

The rest of the news can be found here.

Posted by [][]T-MONEY[][] at 6:11 AM

Source: Xbox-Hacker Front Page
"Finally, it seems that the LPC has been figured out; at least enough to reflash the Flash ROM that is on the motherboard from data sent to it by a PC. Hopefully, visor and crew can beat the OPENXBOX people to it so that we can have a more "open" solution."
If you don't totally understand what this means, feel free to check out the rather large discussion going on over at Xbox Hacker.

Openbox Correction
Posted by [][]T-MONEY[][] at 0:35 AM

Hello, seemed to be an error in the translation of yesterdays post. The unit costs 59 Euro (A tad bit over $56 dollars US). Sorry about any confusion there. And with this news, it seems this chip will give both the XTender and Enigmah a run for its money with its ease of upgrades, and the switch to turn back to original Xbox BIOS. Thanks goes out to the guys from Mugenn.de and Stephan who both emailed me with the correction.

JXStream Released
Posted by [][]T-MONEY[][] at 22:26 PM

JKW from the XBoxhacker forums has released his JXStream 0.9 server (Java implementation). It is to use the same features as the .NET version as well. He has tested it on windows, and has built installers for various platforms.
"The following platforms have installers specifically built for them:
Windows 95-XP
Mac OS 8.1 - 9.X
Mac OS X
Linux
Solaris
AIX
HP-UX"
Sounds great! Check the forum thread here for download links and release information.

Another Xbox Streaming Utility Released
Posted by [][]T-MONEY[][] at 22:17 PM

Beardballz has released another XStream server. This time the server is implemented in Python. Appearantly he hasn't had the chance to try it for real, so if you do go and get it, please post your experience with it here. Just a snip of his forum post:
"Some of the advantages with my version
* cross platform (you need a python interpreter)
* added security (checks that path & ext is OK + checks IP address of connecting machine)
* network code and strings are much easier handled in python than C (and I guess C# and java?), and therefore easier to maintain and develop
* two new extensions! SEEK allows the client to fast forward or rewind, and "TELL" where it is currently positioned. Since the XBPlayer not yet supports this, it is more an example of how easy it is to extend
* python is cool

and maybe some disadvantages
* single threaded, only one client at a time (but can easily be made to handle more, 1-10 lines of extra code)
* needs a python interpreter -- usually installed on linux systems, but maybe not on windows (www.activestate.com)"

Flashing Program Picture For Openbox
Posted by [][]T-MONEY[][] at 18:27 PM

I Found this over at X-Box Scene early this morning. So cheers to them for posting it. Heres a snippit from their front page:
"You won't need any special hardware for flashing this mod (or maybe just a special cable). You connect the chip to the ltp port (printer port) of your pc and load the new BIOS image with a windows program. It *could* be used for possible homebrew BIOS images. (maybe for the xbox linux project)."
If you would to read the full article, and check out the image of the Windows program, head on over to Xbox-Scene.com. Again, thanks to Xbox-Scene for posting this.

New Windows XBServer
Posted by [][]T-MONEY[][] at 7:16 AM

Ziki has posted on the Xbox Hacker Forums that he has created a new Windows XBServer tool that doesn't require Microsoft's .NET like RUNTiME's XStream tool does. From everyones response on the forum, it seems to be pretty decent. Check out the thread here for info and a download mirror.

A New Mod Chip On The Horizon?
Posted by [][]T-MONEY[][] at 7:00 AM

A new chip seems to be on the horizon. Its been called "OpenBox" that will basically have the same core functions of the Enigmah and XTender chips. There are a few differences though, one being that the chip has a switch that will enable the user to switch back to the XBox's original BIOS so that if Microsoft ever does develop a means to see who is modding their boxes, they won't be able to see that your XBox is chipped. Another perk of this chip is its appearant ability to be upgraded very easily by means of a serial or printer port and a Win32 program. The chip is expected to hit the net within 3 weeks and carries a price of approximately $142 (US Dollars). Here is the article in German. You should probally use this link though if you can't read German. Sounds like a great chip, now let see if they will bring the price down some.

Enigmah Beta Chip Sales
Posted by Fett at 14:33 PM

News Source Enigmah

Some people are selling the BETA SAMPLES of Enigmah as the final chip. It makes no difference if the chip is a bare chip or made on PCB it is a BETA chip. It has no macrovision hack, does not have the no-patch hack and is sloppy code. You will find all new games having many problems with this BETA chip (as reported on many sites). Do not be fooled into buying this chip - it was given out for free for people to have a play with. You will find that the FINAL correct mod is being sold for close to the same price as the BETA so don't waste your time.

New Online Xbox Tool
Posted by [][]T-MONEY[][] at 6:06 AM

Shadolnk has just sent me in this tidbit of news.

Source from:
XBoxPluggedIn.com
Just check out all the features of this xbox online networking program. It has the speed of XBconnect and the usability of GameSpy.
Also, anyone can use it - even if you are behind a firewall! This is great news from those who play their Xbox games online. This is what you have been waiting for. Read up on it at www.xboxpluggedin.com!
Not many people have been aware of this development because the publicity has been low."

Sounds great! I have yet to try it, but it seems to work. Thanks goes out to Shadolnk for the news.

XBPlayer Build4/ XStream Build1
Posted by [][]T-MONEY[][] at 6:00 AM

Well its finally released, the XBPlayer build that has network support meaning you can watch videos saved on your PC, through your Xbox. Here is what RUNTiME had to say about the new version.

"Build 4 XBPLAYER and Build 1 XSTREAM are out
Check with Ice2k for download mirrors; I'll have a 100Mbit hosting
courtesy of Bumax tomorrow.
Package:
About 500kb for XBPlayer - no longer contains any demonstration clips. Instructions included.
About 10kb for XStream. Instructions included.
Now if you don't mind I'm gonna collapse on my bed!!"

So head over here to check out the post and for mirrors.

Reset On Eject Now Disabled!
Posted by [][]T-MONEY[][] at 4:11 AM

From The Xbox Hacker front page.
"In good news for DivX player authors out there, a method of preventing the Xbox from rebooting when you eject the disk was found. There is no known way to *turn off* this mechanism, but it can be stopped from turning on in the first place. Using Visual Studio, go to "Xbox Image" in Project Options and add the following switch: /testmediatypes:0x80000007 . The Xbox will no longer reboot in this instance. It is the presence of the 80000000 bit that enables this.
Basically, if the 0x80000000 bit of an XBE's media type is set, the kernel doesn't turn on reset-on-eject mode."
Read it for yourself at www.xboxhacker.net

This is really good news for RUNTiME and his XBPlayer if he can get this implemented in an upcoming release.

Xbox Media Player Makes News On Gamepro.com
Posted by [][]T-MONEY[][] at 5:00 AM

Here is a short article about the Xbox media player that was posted on Gamepro.com today. Check it out right here.

New Newsposter
Posted by [][]T-MONEY[][] at 0:46 AM

Hello all, this is T-MONEY. You probally know me from when I was with DCEmu.com, but most of you know me from either ConsoleVision.com or the covers site I run at Boob! Covers Central. Anyways, I just wanted to introduce myself and tell you how much of a pleasure its going to be to bring you guys up to date with all the great news about emulators and homebrew software that is coming to the Xbox. Cheers all!

XB Connect 1.3 Released
Posted by Sin-Tex at 18:23 PM

News Source XB Connect

1.3 is ready and available for download. Many bug fixes and enhancements. Ladder is fully functional.

You can download it here

XBox Gameselector V0.3 Alpha
Posted by Sin-Tex at 17:46 PM

fIREwIRE a coder from the old amiga days has stepped up to become what will hopefully one day be a long list of homebrew coders for xbox apps/games.

So far it only has support for 4 apps/games, will upload it later.
fIREwIRE also plans to make this app open source at some stage.

XBOX fREAKS
\/ \/ \/-fW
_ \ _ _ _ _\ \__\ \_\ | --- ---- ------[Presents]-----------------


[ Title: XBox Gameselector V0.3 Alpha (early Stage) ]
[ Date: 16.06.2002 ]
[ Platform: XBox Game System ]
[ Code: fIREwIRE ]
[ Gfx: fIREwIRE ]
[ Contact: find out ]

Thanks goes out to [][]T-MONEY[][] for the heads up.

XPad Site Update.
Posted by Sin-Tex at 19:55 PM

News Source Xpad

Mr XPad has posted news with the current developments with the XPad project.

"Hello all, We have got some good news and bad news for you.
In the past few weeks l have been in discussions with Lord Victory and he has decided to move on to more challenging projects, so he has given the Xpad team the source to his driver and by combining his knowledge and skills of driver programming and all the Xpad information that our team has gathered.

We will create the ultimate driver for the Xbox Controller."

"Also l have recieved ideas to release a convertor also for the project. I have been doing research and email's to M$ and others and it is in the works.
You might even see in the future the XPAD Adaptor on the shelves in your local PC shop. We'll see how it goes..... :)

The new version of the driver is now in the works and will be available soon.

Regards Mr XPad"

"Xbox hackers release media player "
Posted by Sin-Tex at 17:33 PM

News Source CNET News.com

News By David Becker

"The first homemade software to take advantage of new hacker add-ons for the Xbox has started to dribble onto the Internet, including a media player that purportedly runs DivX video files.

To read full story click here

Thanks goes to [][]T-MONEY[][] for the heads up.

XBOX OVERTAKES GAMECUBE IN JAPAN
Posted by Squirt at 14:49 PM

From CVG :
Microsoft's console finally stamps some authority on the Far East and Nintendo struggles to convince gamers to part with cash for GameCube

Looks like a tasty price cut must have appealed to Japanese gamers in a way Microsoft didn't anticipate. New hardware figures from Japan show that for the week ending May 26, Xbox actually outsold GameCube by 2,945 units.

Microsoft managed to push 6,447 consoles into the hands of the Japanese game-playing public, up from a pitiable 834 the week before, while Nintendo sold a piffling 3,502 GameCubes in the same week, down from 5,862 in the previous week.

Although the lead is unlikely to last, Microsoft Japan will obviously be buoyed by the news after a woefully slow start in the region.
While Nintendo and Microsoft duke it out for third place, PS2 looks to be on the slide in Japan, dropping more than 11,400 machines to 55,764.
While PlayStation 2's lead in Japan looks unassailable, the situation in Britain is looking decidedly tenuous for the machine. Sony's console is now selling 11,500 a week with GameCube knocking up its rear with 9,500. Xbox is holding steady with around 6,700 sold per week.

Enigmah Video Mode Select v2.0 Released
Posted by Fett at 17:09 PM

News Source Enighmah

We are also pleased to announce the Enigmah Video Mode Select CD. This disc will convert any NTSC console to PAL and vice versa - so no black and white problems and no need for RGB cables. This will be released free of charge. Note: when set to PAL you can also change between PAL50 and PAL60 - so you can record your Region 1 NTSC films to any PAL VCR :)

v2.0 Update: Now automatically resets the DVD region in your eeprom if it was locked before the Enigmah was fitted.

You can download it here

XBPLAYER FOR XBOX Build 3 Released
Posted by Wraggster at 15:27 PM

RUNTiME And d703g4qnd have today released build 3 of the very exciting XBPLAYER FOR XBOX heres a snippitt of whats new :

This release is an early alpha, build 3, it supports VCD, DivX 3.x and DivX 4.x.
The release contains four test clips: two Enterprise VCD clips, The Matrix and Episode II DivX clips.

Mega cool news from Runtime himself in IRC Chat.

To see more and download this player go to his new website at this address http://xbox.bumax.dk/

Please tell us your findings in the forums here.

Updated XBPlayer Cover
Posted by Wraggster at 9:52 AM

T-Money has updated his Covers Site with this news:

I updated my XBPlayer cover as promised. I included a DVD inlet and a CD label. So hopefully you all enjoy this cover, I personally like it more then some of my artwork I've done in the past.

Check it out at the link above.

XBPlayer DVD Cover
Posted by Wraggster at 7:15 AM

A good friend of mine called T-Money has released a DVD cover for the recently released XBPlayer, heres what he says:

I went and created a cover for XBPlayer. I only have a DVD cover now, but in the next day or two, I will have an insert and CD label done. I recommend using CoverXP to print this cover (if you print it) simply becuase Photoshop was having troubles downsizing the image. So I hope you guys like, and I look forward to the submissions you all are sending in! To take a gander at the new XBPlayer cover, click here.

Check out his site Here

Linux Partition Support
Posted by Fett at 11:40 AM

SpeedBump has posted the following at XboxHacker BBS.

Ive posted a patch for 2.4.18 to support the xbox's partitioning method. You will still need the fatx filesystem to mount a (manually) unlocked drive under linux. You can find the fatx filesystem beta code at the xbox-linux site.

I'm still working on the code to automatically unlock the drive (assuming you know the password), and any help from those knowledgable in the linux ide drivers would be appreciated.

I tried to post the to the xbox-linux lists and it's either *very* slow, or it doesn't allow attachments.

YMMV, use at your own risk.

Good luck and happy hacking
-SpeedBump

So visit Xbox Hackers's forums Here for the post.

Enigmah Video Mode Selector v2.0
Posted by Fett at 11:32 AM

News Source Xboxmods.co.uk

I can 100% confirm that the reported problems of the "DVD RESET BUG" were in fact consoles that were already region locked before the mod was fitted. The Enigmah (and Xtender) simply freezes the region to its state as at the time of chipping (i.e. if it is in its non-region virgin state - it will stay that way - therefore any dongle can be used). Now the only fix for this has been to fit the free 5 wire DVD reset mod as released by Techno Devices. This was a nice little mod (thanks to Tom and Brad) - but we have now been given a tool that makes all that unnecessary.

Enigmah are proud to announce their further commitment to FREE homebrew development of the XBOX by releasing the Enigmah Video Mode Selector v2.0. Not only does this disc set your console to either PAL or NTSC mode, but now also resets your DVD region to its virgin state - so then the Enigmah can do its job of making sure it stays that way. (This disc will also work no problem with the Xtender and we assume the upcoming MessiahX).

I do believe this is also a bold statement to say that the Enigmah Team are not simply chip makers or hardware hackers - but also talented software engineers - well done guys !

Xbox Linux New Documents
Posted by Fett at 21:25 PM

The Xbox-Linux Homepage have posted two new documents.

Bootstrap Idea for Linux - 2
Xbox Boot Process

So visit Here for the documents.

Please note they are very thankful for additions, corrections, as well as new documents, either written by yourself or anyone else on the net

DVD Reset Bug "UPDATE"
Posted by Sin-Tex at 20:05 PM

News Source Xboxmods

Xboxmods have been doing some investigations into this so called bug & have found some very interesting findings.

"The DVD Reset thing bugged me so I checked again on another machine - and it works just fine. The only thing I can think of with the people having problems is that they had put in the DVD dongle BEFORE having the machine chipped. Then of course the region will be locked. The only way to unlock would be to fit the free code released by Techno devices."

So word to the wise people, if you want to swap dongles to play different region dvd's make sure you mod your xbox first.

Or you will have to use the mod by TechnoDevices

DVD Reset Bug
Posted by Fett at 14:31 PM

News Source Xboxmods

It seems that the Xtender and Enigmah both have the same DVD reset bug.

If it is an issue for you - simply use the FREE code released by Technodevices.com - this hacks the serial eeprom directly .. Remember I've tested consoles myself working fine - but you can't ignore these reports so at least there is a solution for you if required.

XBPLAYER For X-Box Released!
Posted by Wraggster at 18:15 PM

Major News :)

RUNTIME the author of the excellent PS2 emulator BeeBem has released his XBPLAYER for the X-Box, this news from the XboxHacker BBS :

"Hi folks,

I've just gotten my XBOX media player to a point where it warrants feedback from you guys. This first release has both video and sound, both are in sync and should play at the right speed.

I'd appreciate it if you can download and test, I'm grateful for any feedback (and/or mirroring of this release)."

A good friend of mine informed me that it runs VCD and DIVX movies. We shall wait and see :)

Tell us your findings in our forums Here

You can download it here. ( Approx 9meg )

A Welcome From Your New News Poster
Posted by Wraggster at 17:54 PM

Hi im the wraggster and ill be helping out here with news etc. You maybe have seen me around quite a few websites and now this is a new home of mine, get ready for the news :)

ModChip Tutorial
Posted by Fett at 11:40 AM

News Source Modshack

This tutorial will help you take advantage of the recently released bios image by MrSporty. We will explain the cheapest and easiest solution for you to mod your xbox by yourself :)

Here's what you need:

- XBOX Bios / Xtender v1.1 Bios *CRACKED* - MrSporty
- an eprom programmer
- an eprom (27C2001/27C020 or bigger) or flashrom (29F020 or bigger)
- wire
- soldering equipment
- soldering skills

Well worth a read if you have the required skills to make and mod yourself.

New Seagate's hard drive for the Xbox
Posted by Fett at 11:23 AM

News Source Team Xbox

Seagate Technology, the world's leading hard drive supplier, today unveiled U Series X, the first hard drive designed specifically for the needs of non-traditional markets. U Series X addresses very cost-sensitive applications that require the best reliability, virtually silent operation, and sufficient capacity — applications like the Xbox™ video game system from Microsoft, audio jukeboxes, copiers, retail point-of-sale (POS) systems and low-cost PCs. With just one read/write head and a 25 percent thinner profile to improve system airflow, it combines low cost, fast performance, and rugged durability for alternative applications. U Series X adds to the broad set of Seagate products available to PC makers and to Consumer Electronics and other non-traditional markets. U Series X will begin shipping this month to key customers.

Xbox DivX build 4 Released: ( Working )
Posted by Sin-Tex at 12:23 PM

News Source XboxHacker BBS

d7o3g4q has released build 4 of his DivX Player for Xbox & several people have confirmed this build does work.

"The matrix plays back, with one minor bug.

Download it, have fun!
More features are coming!"

This version only runs DivX 3.11 encoded video.

If you've got good internet connection download the iso here. ( Only 16.4meg )

Or you can download the three 5meg rar files below & extract them:
( Make sure you have WinRar installed, download the 3 files then double click the file xboxdvx4.rar to extract into the xboxdvx4.iso )

File 1 - File 2 - File 3

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