XBox Chip With Legal BIOS

Lours writes "OzXChip, an Australian company, has a new Xbox chip which comes preinstalled with the new (Cromwell Linux BIOS. Previous chips came without (or simplistic) BIOS for obvious legal and hardware-related (HD-key) reasons you had to go through a lot of manipulations in order to install a patched version of the original Microsoft BIOS or ask the vendor to do it which obviously he was not willing to do for free (when he was willing to). Since the new Cromwell BIOS is fully open source it can be shipped with the chip without any legal risks, gaining you a lot of time, sweat and money. Plus the chip has a very useful feature: by using software based on Andy Green's -- one of the maintainers of the XBox Linux project -- Raincoat, it lets you flash a new BIOS very easily: burn the BIOS file onto a blank CD, put it in the Xbox, boot and you are done. With such beasts there is not much left in the way of want-to-be Linux Xbox hackers who might have been affraid until now to have to deal with delicate hardware intricacies or reluctant to run the whole town for a vendor willing to mod their Xbox at the smallest fee. With important linux distributions also incoming (Debian and Mandrake are underway if not completed) it won't be long before everyone can write code for (and on!) the machine only a few minutes after receiving the chip in his mailbox. Hopefully we are going to see a zillion things running on the machine that Microsoft would only have dreamt of making (and selling)." Update: 01/23 16:07 GMT by T : The company's name is actually OzXChip, rather than OzChip (as originally rendered); thanks to reader Michael Muir for pointing this out.

Good for MS

[tobes]

This will be great for MS in the long run. They will have wider adoption since there will be a large selection of open source software. Plus, they'll make bank since everyone will still buy the bad ass xbox games.

Build it, the (apps) will come?

[Linux Freak]

> Hopefully we are going to see a zillion things running on the machine that Microsoft would only have dreamt of making (and selling)."

I hope so too, but I thought the same thing when I picked up my Sony PS2 Linux kit. Not too many useful projects have come out of THAT yet. (All I really wanted was the ability to play mpeg video on my TV at a decent speed...but SDL hasn't been optimized yet, so that's not yet possible.)

Punctuation, Lours

[Anonymous Coward]

You might want to look into it.

Let me get this straight....

[trotski]

So I buy an X-BOX, buy the chip, and then install a linux based bios.... on what amounts to a shitty celeron based machine? I don't know... seems kind of weird.

I'd rather get a good machine, install linux... and NOT pay microsoft 300 bucks for sub-standard equipment.

I'm gussing most people who do this sort of thing are the types who would love to see Microsoft fall... if that is the case, don't give them your money.... no matter how cool your modded X-BOX will be.

Re:Good for MS

[mezzin]

Not really because they lose money on every x-box sold and if we can run free software on it nobody wants to buy the expensief x-box games...

X-box games are very expensief to cover the losses on the machine sels

Re:Build it, the (apps) will come?

[b0r1s]

There's no good reason why a majority of the people would want this. There is a small minority who will do it just to show that it can be done, the rest either:

1. Will buy an X-Box to play games and DVDs ONLY
2. Will not buy an X-Box, but instead will buy a dedicated machine to do whatever you might want to hack into a linux-running X-Box

Why? Because as a computing platform, the X-Box isn't that impressive, especially for $200. The graphics are nice, indeed, but you can buy a P4 tower from Dell for $400 [dell.com] these days, or a Tivo/PVR for a few hundred, a DVD player for $99 [vstore.com], you'd have to be really dedicated to mod a perfectly good X-Box (which voids the warranty).

Yea, it's a nice hack for those who really want to see linux running on everything. For everyone else, another dedicated box is a better option.

Re:Let me get this straight....

[f97tosc]

So I buy an X-BOX, buy the chip, and then install a linux based bios.... on what amounts to a shitty celeron based machine? I don't know... seems kind of weird. I'd rather get a good machine, install linux... and NOT pay microsoft 300 bucks for sub-standard equipment. I'm gussing most people who do this sort of thing are the types who would love to see Microsoft fall... if that is the case, don't give them your money.... no matter how cool your modded X-BOX will be I think you missed the point. Like everyone in the business, MS loses money on each console they sell. The business plan is to get it back in games.

Someone who buys an XBox and mods it to a computer gets a great deal. The equipment may not be state of the art, but it has been significantly subsidied by MS and is thus cheaper than regular hardware with similar performance. It also follows that they are not 'giving' their money to MS, quite the contrary. MS will have to give more money to the hardware vendors. Tor

Re:Let me get this straight....

[Anonymous Coward]

That's not true. An XBox sold is better than an XBox shelved.

So how is everyone going to react...

[SensitiveMale]

when the next 'leaked' halloween memo states that the original Xbox strategy was

(1) to test different types of security and see which ones were easily hacked

(2) to test different types of licensing agreements for their real hardware push into the living rooms of America

(3) to find a way to willing have people buy ms boxes to replace the failed WebTV fiasco

(4) to use open source people to boost the sales of Xbox above Sony's PS2s.

I dont understand the point.

[NynexNinja]

Besides the "kewl" factor, what is the point of ever modifying an Xbox? Games that once ran on the Xbox will not longer run. TuxRacer is fun, but come on.

Outside Australia?

[imperator_mundi]

That's great for aussie, but I fear that this stuff will never leave the southern emisphere because I can easily figure out gangs of M$ lawyers ready to rumble as soon as a company try to sell it outside Australia.

The price of the Xbox will rise

[Max Romantschuk]

MS makes money on the Xbox one way, and one way only: Games. The Xbox itself is sold at a loss, but the profit gained from selling games evens this out.

Now, a marginal group hacking Linux on the Xbox doesn't really matter, but what if someone wanted to buy 10000 Xboxes to build a super-cheap rendering cluster?

If doing this becomes easy enough MS isn't going to sell the Xbox for a loss forever...

Going Overboard

[evilviper]

People are going a little overboard with the XBox modding. Sure, have fun, do something new with it, but for the same price, you can get a faster PC, with expansion slots where you can plug in any device you might want, and less expensive than xbox accessories.

Then, you'll be supporting the PC industry, instead of a Monopoly that makes propritary, overpriced, devices.

Re:What wrong with you?

[terrencefw]

What's the fun part in running anything on an x-box? Have you forgotten that it's made by microsoft? It's like saying that it's cool to run programs in windows, which it obviously isn't. Stop the madness!

Well, that's exactly the point: It's made by Microsoft. They can shut us out of their software with their "screw-yew" EULAs, but they've tried to shut us out of the hardware as well, and the xbox modders have proved that they can't do that, neither technologically or legally. Bet they've got their best monkeys scratching their heads to work out how to close their platform legally, but when it comes down to it, it's hardware, I've bought it, not licensed it and I can do what I damn well like with it. If I want to hack my fridge to run Linux, then I will. Same goes for the Xbox, and there's not a damn thing they can do about it.

Re:Let me get this straight....

[Anonymous Coward]

It's not like Bill Gates writes out a $50 check everytime someone buys a XBox.

What people can't seem to grok is that's an average based on aggregate costs and sales predictions.

A large portion of the "loss" is $million in sunk costs like advertising, R&D, game development and so on. That money is already spent. Everytime an XBox is sold, MS makes a little of it back.

No good reason?

[fredistheking]

Gee since It's half the price of the PC you are pricing, I WOULD consider that a great reason to buy an XBOX. Also, with the XBox media player you can watch SVCD/VCD/DIVX, etc. Try building a computer with TV out that will do that for any where near $200.

--

What is the goal?

[zebtron]

I am waiting for a "real" X-Box.

I would be very happy if I could get an X-box to be a 'good file player' that could play DVD, VCD, and everything else I play on my PC (QT, AVI, DIVX, VOB, blah blah... I admit, a big bag), and some basic network functionality without compromising the ability to play legal X-box games.

Within the community, we seem to have several counter-productive lines of progression.

There are the folks that want to play around with their X-box and add functionality (the most interesting and productive pursuit) and the people who want to buy a M$-subsidized device and use it for Linux-only purposes.

Realistically, the latter are better served to craft their own boxes w/o M$ at all (we all know what has happenned w/ HW prices).

Does it make any sense to buy an X-box and use it as a Linux box? It did months ago, but, with the way the market is progressing, you will gain far less in HW $ than you get is SW time...

I am all for EXTENDING the abilities of the X-Box, but you get much beyond that and it ends up being a gesture motivated not my innovation, but by spite for M$.

-Z
M$ XP user (3 PCs) w/ a SUN Solaris, MacOS, and a lil TiVo on the SDA LAN.

Re:Let me get this straight....

[lingqi]

On the other hand, maybe if the demand wanes then they will just not produce so many?

But that's really stupid to be talking about it anyway - because there are 8.2 million Xboxes out there. I don't care how big you think the potential X-box mod-to-run-linux-only crowd is, you have to admit that percentage wise it is statistically neglegable and would have absolutely no impact on microsoft financially whatsoever.

Microsoft can just hire one less Booth-babe in the next trade-show to make back all the money that they ever lost to the "buy box but not games" crowd. Don't dwell on this too much.

Re:Going Overboard

[Cryptnotic]

Try building a PC with TV out, audio out, dvd-rom drive, ethernet, and a game controller for $200. Oh yeah, see if you can make it look sort of cool too. And I want it to look cool next to my TV. And I don't want to spend more than 2 hours on it (the time it would take to mod and set up a hacked Xbox).

Re:Why this is interesting

[dreamchaser]

Reusing Microsoft's copyrighted BIOS code and patching it to mod the box is a copyright infringement. A 'clean' BIOS that uses no MS code doesn't face this problem.

It has nothing to do with how you use the device you bought, and everything to do with hacking someone else's copyrighted code.

This is a good developement for those who want to legally use alternate BIOSes on their XBox.

Note to the submitter

[p3d0]

I'm sorry, this is one of the most confusing submissions I have ever read. Almost every sentence is a run-on sentence, and phrases like "gaining you a lot of time, sweat and money" make me wonder just why I would want to gain a lot of sweat.

Writing is like coding: keep it simple. Spend some time on it, and have pity on your poor readers. There's more to writing than just spelling and grammar.

(My appologies if you are not a native English speaker---your spelling and grammar are good enough that it's hard to tell.)

Re:Good for MS

[baptiste]

Not really because they lose money on every x-box sold and if we can run free software on it nobody wants to buy the expensief x-box games...

Sure - but lets be realistic - if you buy an XBOX and mod it - woudln't you still want to play some of the games> MS will break even at worst overall among mod chippers I'd think.

Re:yes but

[op00to]

It's a fraction of the machine my laptop is.
I'm assuming your laptop has a kickass 3d card, a dvd drive, component out, kickass controllers (laptop keyboards BLOW for gaming), and almost no OS overhead. Don't fall into the (pretty closedminded) belief that the XBox is just another shitty msft project. The Xbox is as much a regular computer as the new BMW 7 series, which is built with similar off-the-shelf parts and a MSFT OS.

Re:Check the links

[Anonym0us Cow Herd]

Someone going on about microsoft, and using microsoft products to do so?

Agreed. This is outrageous. There should be a law or something. You should not be able to use a company's products to disparage that company. Better yet, you should not be able to disparage a company if you have ever merely heard of that company before. Especially if the things you say are mere facts that are embarrasing. Yeah, that's it! Write your congresscritters! Maybe they can get it introduced this session.


I`m sure most of the posts here slagging off microsoft are performed using internet explorer.

Maybe it is a testament to the power and control that Microsoft has.


thats because most of the posters here are major league assholes.

After seeing your post, I would have to agree that this remark has an element of truth to it.

Why bother?

[RatBastard]

Why bother? As a console the XBox is a very impressive system. As a PC it's a piece of crap!

1. Can you upgrade it? No. You can't.
2. What happens when you hit the eject button on the DVD-ROM drive? The silly thing reboots.
3. Does it support VGA/XVGA/SVGA? Nope.

That's just the limitations coming out of the box! Then there is the cost and labor. After all is said and done the price jumps to about $300.00 not including labor and the chance of destrying your motherboard due to a botched solder job, probably jump the price to $400.00 to get some other guy to mod your box for you.

Great. For $400.00 you have a computer that can never be upgraded, has to be attached to a TV and requires home-made adapters to get the mouse and keyboard to work. You can get a better deal at Wal Mart.

If you want to mod your XBox becuase it makes your inner nerd all giddy go ahead and do it. Have fun! If you are trying to turn an XBox into a cheap and crappy PC please save your money and time.

You are a fool

[Daetrin]

Microsoft doesn't care if you buy the XBox and don't get any games, it's still good to them. They want the PR, they want to be able to show that they've trounced the GameCube and are catching up with the PS2. The way to do that is with number of consoles sold. When they publish those numbers, how many people stop to ask how many games were sold per console? Not many.

If Microsoft was able to toss XBoxes into a trash compacter at $150 loss each (one of the numbers I've heard proposed for how much they lose per console) but get away with telling everyone that they'd sold them, they would gladly spend $150 million to "sell" a million consoles and be able to use that marketing info to convince developers to make more games for the XBox. Even with no hope of _ever_ being able to recoup the losses from those particular XBoxes.

Microsoft said they planed to lose a billion dollars for the first few years. Clearly their goal is not short term economic gains, but long range plans for getting a firm place in the market. Every XBox that gets sold helps that goal, even if the buyer turns it into a Linux box and never buys a single game.

Re:yes but

[2logic]

I'm assuming your laptop has a kickass 3d card, a dvd drive, component out, kickass controllers (laptop keyboards BLOW for gaming), and almost no OS overhead

The XBox's GPU is derived from the nFORCE platform and is comparable (fill rate, etc.) to the GeForce 4. DVD drives are pretty much standard nowadays at on a laptop AND you don't need to buy a cheap remote to use it for movies! The controllers SUCK. They're way to big for any normal human being's hands and finally, the XBox uses the Win2K kernel. You think they changed anything in the code? I doubt it very much. Why do you think they opted for a PC architecture? They only had to change/add a few things : XFS for the hard drive's partition, the USB drivers for the controllers and IDE interface so no one (almost no one) would be able to change the HD.

The XBox does have some advantages.
First, it's closed hardware, so developers know what they are working on. They do not need to support 100 different video adapters and sound cards. They can optimize their code a lot more than for a PC game.

Secondly, the audio/video components are nice. The component out is a nice feature for those that are mad about image quality (although component only reduces the bandwith used to transmit video). The optical audio also is nice. Having a game run with optical Dolby Digital 5.1 is really cool.

Lastly, consoles output to a TV, not a computer screen. XBox games run at 640x480x32 because anything higher is useless on a TV monitor. When was the last time you played a game at such a low resolution on your computer? This fact gives the developers another chance to optimze their code and add more features since they have more memory to work with.

So, it is not closeminded to see the XBox as a PC, because it IS a PC. It simply provides a platform on which game developers can maximize their talent and not worry about compatibility issues and the like.

I'm the first to admit that the games are nice, but I think it is closeminded to think that the XBox is an incredible innovation. It is not. It's a PC with just enough modifications to make it proprietary. It's like a Mac with crapy parts so that anyone can buy one. It's the Microsoft Way(tm).