The following are some software-based tools for eliminating the signature
checking on an Xbox. These tools will likely need to be
properly signed themselves since these are
likely to be used before the signature checking is eliminated. The great
part is, though, is that any software run after these tools is not likely
to be needing any special signature built into the XBE file, and that is
why using these methods are widely hailed as the most convenient.
Methods
Installation Recommendation: Use XSelect 0.9
Running the programs that perform these tasks can be problematic. Some
versions of programs don't work on some Xboxes, and other programs need
data files in the correct locations. A minimal installation of
soft-modding an Xbox would have a hack run one of these programs directly,
although I highly recommend instead having the hack run XSelect 0.9. One
fabulous use of XSelect is as a safety measure. There are a few reasons
for this.
-
XSelect seems to be more compatible on different Xboxes than at least
some of the other solutions. This software, being simpler, is less
likely to break with the release of newer Xboxes the way PBL has been
known to do on multiple occasions.
-
If XSelect works, you can know that your hacking process is working at
least up to that point.
-
If the sequence of events fails after XSelect loads, then one can
easily choose a different course of action without worrying about
making things work with, or worse yet: breaking, anything that happens
prior to XSelect loading. For example, if modifying a configuraton
file for PBL which is run after XSelect, breaking or failing to fix
PBL won't cause you to wonder if the problem is with somehow breaking
the XBE Hack that ran XSelect.
Using XSelect is like adding the ability to press F8 to run a bare
boot-up in DOS or Safe Mode in Windows, which can be a nice comforting
thought long-term and can most definitely be useful in the short term
while installing the hacks.
The reason I recommend this at the top of this page is because this step
is one where something can easily go wrong.
This is not just theoretical: A friend of mine actually kept the ability
to run unsigned code only because he followed my advise of using
XSelect. Installing the new version of PBL did not work as well as
expected. Without having a commercial game to re-install the hacks if
needed, he actually would have been unable to fix the situation that
night if XSelect 0.9 wasn't sitting in his boot sequence before the
problem occured. The end result, though, is that things were able to
be fixed that very same night.
In fact, since I have been known to test different BIOS Loaders and also
I have been known to upgrade dashboards, I actually run XSelect
twice with different configuration files in the different directories
where I run XSelect: I load a hack which runs XSelect which runs
something that disables signature checking which runs a copy of
XSelect located at C:\EvoxDash.XBE which will then run my preferred
dashboard. When I first started hacking, before XSelect 0.9 was
released, I did not have XSelect as part of the boot sequence, and
when something went wrong as I installed a new version of the hack I
was using (so that I would no longer need an audio CD), fixing it was
a task involving re-installing the hacks. Life is so much better now
with this little jewel of a program.
-
When installing UDE2, I didn't need to worry about if the file I
copied to E:\exploit would load the BOOT.CFG file that I thought it
would, or find the BIOSes in the spot I thought it would look at. I
just ran XSelect, and had that run PBL from the already-installed
location.
-
Trying out nkpatcher6 for the first time was a fearless experience,
because if it didn't work exactly as I expected, I could just have
XSelect use the working PBL instead of nkpatcher.
-
I can feel confident in upgrading my dashboard, and if the new
version somehow breaks, I still have an easy way to run a
known-to-work copy of some other dash with an FTP server.
Patch the kernel
This can be done with
nkpatcher
(latest version as of this writing is nkpatcher6), which modifies what
BIOS is in RAM
-
Not sure how well this will work on different BIOSes, but this has
been tested and found to work successfully with multiple
versions of Microsoft's official BIOS without problems.
- Compatibility differs from the other common solution of
loading a BIOS file.
-
Easier to install: No configuration files, no considerations with
EEPROM Keys, etc., and no worries about where the BIOS files
are placed so they can be loaded.
-
Reportedly works faster than loading a BIOS.
Download:
I'm not sure what nkpatcher6 is signed with when obtained from the
main download location. I suspect it is a randomly (egad!) signed
file, since it seems to be not-Habibi signed (Habibi signing it
gives a different output file) and its creator, rhmenhal, used the
Habibi signature in the UDE(2) hacks. See directions on
how to Habibi-sign a file.
nkpatcher, after doing its thing to the kernel, will run C:\EvoxDash.XBE
Load a BIOS
Signature checking can be eliminated by loading a BIOS other than
Microsoft's official BIOS.
Mod chip users will be loading these using the Mod Chip. (I believe the
phrase "flashing the BIOS" likely just means loading a new
BIOS into the mod chip.
Xbox users can use software to load a "Bootable From Media" BIOS
to become the active kernel.
Choosing a BIOS
- Cromwell (a.k.a. Xromwell)
-
Runs Linux, does not run commercially produced games that
Microsoft has approved the distribution of. Designed to be
100% free of any Microsoft code. Created by the Xbox-Linux
team. This should be able to run Linux.
- Modified versions of Microsoft's BIOS
-
These may contain some code from the original Microsoft BIOS,
and therefore distributing them is not highly recommended.
Overview of common characteristics:
-
Due to their containing of official Microsoft code, these
BIOSes are generally very compatible with any official
Microsoft title (but there are some exceiptions, such as
Crimson Skies which was found to have troubles by those
using PBL 1.4.1).
-
Most if not all of the commonly distributed alternate BIOS
files will disable signature checking. In the event that
an Error 21 is generated (such as if a program tries to
launch a non-existing file) the BIOS will generally just
re-load an executable at one of the pre-defined locations
such as C:\EvoxDash.XBE
-
These files should not be used with the "Xbox
Live!" service, as Microsoft is well known amongst
users of such alternate BIOSes to ban any account on
that service that is detected to have an unauthorized
BIOS in effect.
-
Some BIOSes may have some other features.
-
There is no particular advantage to using a 1MB BIOS
instead of a 256K BIOS (at least for those loading the
BIOS using software on the Xbox).
-
X-S BIOS page
now moved to X-S BIOS page, tells of many different BIOSes, mostly lots of X2 and EvoX versions.
This chart is a great resource for quickly identifying what
BIOSe support what features, especially the all-important
feature of compatibility with certain Xbox versions.
-
Be sure to get a BIOS compatible with the XBox you are trying
to use:
-
Xbox 1.6: Evo-X M8 (designed for version 1.6)
-
Xbox versions prior to 1.6: Use one of the other BIOSes
-
Evo-X M8 (version designed for Xboxes versions 1.0-1.5)
-
Evo-X M7 or earlier
-
Xecuter2
Beyond ensuring the correct Xbox compatibilty, there is little
compelling reason to use one BIOS over another unless there
is a feature that you find interesting in one of the BIOS
versions. Features which may be interesting include:
-
IGR: In-Game Reset. Some combinations of button presses
will cause the BIOS to re-load the XBE file that is
launched on start-up
-
I believe the TATX Debug BIOSes (at /XBOX/bios/bootable from media/debug/ of "Usual
Places has the ability to save screenshots of any
program (including any commercial games) run on the Xbox.
/XBOX/bios/bootable from media/debug/TATX_Debug_VGA_BFM.rar
-
X2 4978 has the ability to load an embeded XBE file. As an
example, this is commonly distributed with an FTP server
built in. This was considered fluff, though, since people
can just run FTP server software on an Xbox, and so this
ability seems to have been removed from X2 4979.
- Official Microsoft BIOS
-
Should be 100% compatible with all games that have an official
license from Microsoft. The "Xbox Live!" service
is not likely to be banning people just because of the
detection of this BIOS. Signature checking is in full
effect and so the BIOS will perform the standard
Error 21 sequence upon detecting
any code that Microsoft hasn't pre-authorized for running on
an Xbox.
Methods of loading a BIOS
- RC4 Key
-
Obtainable from locations listed on this page where the EEPROMKey1_1 can
be found.
- EEPROM Key
-
This depends on what version of an Xbox you have. One should only
require one key on any Xbox, but programs may support storing multiple
keys in a configuration file so that the program can read whichever
key is needed.
- EEPROMKey1_0
- Use on version 1.0 Xboxes. Obtainable from locations listed on this
page where the EEPROMKey1_1 can be found.
- EEPROMKey1_1
-
Use on Xboxes that are versions 1.1 through 1.5.
Obtainable from:
-
Where the EEPROMKey1_6 can be found.
- /XBOX/bios/bios tools/Phoenix Bios Loader/_signed_packages/_old/Signed_Phoenix_Bios_Loader_V1.3.rar
- /XBOX/bios/bios tools/Phoenix Bios Loader/_signed_packages/PBL1.3.5i_signed_audio_exploit.zip (note: usage of the audio key is not recommended)
- /XBOX/bios/bios tools/Phoenix Bios Loader/_signed_packages/PBL1.3.5i_signed_font_exploit.zip (note: usage of the font key is generally only used with older
font hacks that are generally not recommended)
- Verison 1.6
-
Apparently version 1.6 Xboxes use a new key, based on the
documentation of FBL 1.0 RC2.
Obtainable from "Usual Places" at
/XBOX/bios/bootable from media/hacked/evox/metoo-m8pack-v1.0.zip
Requires a way to load a BIOS
-
Mod-Chip
-
Software
Installation instructions: Check the documentation with the
package. Here are some hints:
Keys may be needed. Be sure the configuration file has any
necessary keys. Be sure the BIOS is named xboxrom.bin if
the version of PBL expects the BIOS to be named that. Be
sure the BIOS is in the current directory if that is where
it needs to be, or in the BIOS\ subdirectory if that is
where it needs to be. Be sure the video settings are set
correctly (if things aren't working in PBL 1.4.1, try
disabling any advanced video mode like 480P, at least long
enough to see if that helps). Be sure the version of the
software will work on your Xbox: Anything listed here will
work on an Xbox originally shipped with Kernel 4817 and
PBL MeToo edition will work on any Xbox, but PBL 1.3 will
not work on an Xbox with Kernel 5530.
- Phoenix BIOS Loader
-
Phoenix BIOS Loader was the original software widely used to
load "Bootable From Media" (BFM) BIOSes from the
hard drive.
There are multiple versions of Phoenix BIOS Loader and its
derivatives. One cause of this is features being added
to the program. Another cause is that revisions made by
Microsoft to the Xbox architecture has, on multiple
occasions, resulted in some or all of the
already-released versions of PBL failing to work on
Xboxes created using Microsoft's newer design process.
Do not be too disenheartened upon reading of problems
with PBL on the same type of Xbox you possess, but
rather look to see if a newer version of PBL solved the
problem.
Software includes:
-
Frosted BIOS Loader
-
Designed to make everybody happy, this is meant to have
numerous features. Named after "the icing of the
cake" (a.k.a. frosting).
-
Phoenix BIOS Loader Me-Too Edition
-
The first BIOS Loader which could load Evo-X's M8 BIOS
which was the first BIOS that could load on version 1.6
Xboxes, as well as any Xboxes using kernel versions 5530
or later (kernels 5530, 5713, and 5838 were out at the
time).
-
/XBOX/bios/bootable from media/hacked/evox/metoo-m8pack-v1.0.zip
-
Habibi signed. (Yay.)
-
I suppose this is
"rmenhal's metoo m8 package"
-
Beta 3 pointed to by X-S
- PBL-Lite
-
Created by ldots (that is a lowercase L at the beginning
of his name) to be very fast in its operation, the
software does not work on kernels later than versions
5530 and the creator seems to have little interest in
fixing it as he says
"I
myself consider PBL-Lite obsolete."
- Phoenix BIOS Loader 1.4.1
-
The contribution that put the French group Gueux in the
spotlight, this added support for the Focus chipset.
- Phoenix BIOS Loader 1.3.5i
- A leaked version of PBL, the "i" stands for
"internal". Phoenix apparently did not object
to the distribution of the software once it was released,
though. This version added the feature to choose from
different BIOSes from within the program, rather than
needing to edit a text file any time one wished to use
a different BIOS. Another change made from the previous
version was that the program used text mode, which was
okay when the software was released but later turned out
to be a disasterous change for people who obtained newer
Xboxes that were made using something other than the
Conexant video encoding chip.
- Phoenix BIOS Loader 1.3
- Last version released on the home page of
Team Phoenix.
What's new in this version: Fixes EEPROM issues.