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[dfroot]

yup, heinrich figured it out. Thats y people with the french version were banned b4.

Now it makes you wonder, Did M$ Leak Halo 2 on purpose?

[eh.]

IMHO, it seems to be the possible cause for most of the chipped box bans I've read about though (whereas for softmods I think a non-XBL compliant xboxdash.xbe is an even more likely possibility) eh...

[Dra60nSlayer]

He signed up on live with another disk than the one he has now.

Edit: We are both from Sweden

[Dra60nSlayer]

0x0041158C, "XboxHardwareInfo"
0x00411594, "XboxKrnlVersion"
i think this info in the halo2. XBE is for determing if it will launch the "dashupdate.xbe" needed to play this new game

0x00411770, "HalDiskSerialNumber"
0x00411774, "HalDiskModelNumber"
And this information to determin if it was this Xbox who had payed for this "downloadeble content"

Just a Teory... did anyone check other game XBE for simular information?

[Gumba]

QUOTE (dfroot @ Nov 10 2004, 06:15 AM)

I am apparently an exception to every rule then. I have a xecuter 2.2 and all kinds of shit on my box. now I have NEVER changed my harddrive, and I have a version 1.1 xbox. I got banned. now factor that into your theory.

You probably weren't running a Live Blocking bios and some game went onto XBL while you had your modchip enabled.

[Gumba]

QUOTE (Psykomantis00 @ Nov 10 2004, 06:21 AM)

That theory is bullshit because I made a brand new gamertag not even 3 days ago just for halo 2, never signed into it other than the day I made it, and I was banned. I think it has something to do with the french game saves.

Its not about gamertags, its about Xboxes and XBL

Did you Xbox *ever* go on XBL with a different HD to one it has now?

[Fofer]

QUOTE (Heykrop @ Nov 10 2004, 05:39 AM)

I believe that the early boxes v1.0 through maybe 1.3 were not having the HDD serial and corresponding EEPROM data recorded at the factories.  After much of the modding and such became prevelent it was made known that M$ had started scanning HDD serials on login to LIVE. This was not the case with the original release of LIVE as far as I know. SO here is my thought.  With those older boxes the first time they logged in to LIVE ,when the HDD serial scans started, they began creating a database of what EEPROM and HDD Serial were associated with  the gamertag and that was an OK thing as they did not know what the serial for the drive should have been for that EEPROM on those older boxes. Escentially giving those boxes a free pass on the larger hard drive bans.  NOW at the same time as this they were releasing the newer 1.4 and higher. These boxes may have been having HDD Serial and EEPROM registered before they left the factory. This could explain how some people are getting banned immediately now when connecting with a different hard drive than was shipped and also why people that are changing EEPROM and HDD after a ban are getting RE Banned as the replacement EEPROM has alredy been tagged at the factory as being paired with a stock drive with serial XXXXXXX.   If this is in fact the case then it would seem that anyone in a situation like mine ,where the larger drive is the one that got registered , would not be able to go back to the stock drive as it would then look as though there was a drive change. Eventhough it was going back to the original. I do believe at least one person has posted here that they got banned after going back to stock. This would tend to support my idea.

I think this is a pretty good addition to the theory of HD tracking.  This would explain why some old timers (in the unique subset of never having been on XBL, pre-mod) are still not banned.

The irony is such that most old timers know to test the box for everything (including XBL connectivity) before cracking the case and doing the mod.  Now it seems like those who didn't test first, and just bit the bullet, modded first and THEN went on XBL, are escaping the ban.

For now.  

And I'd agree with you that that latest Xboxes like 1.6 are probably having their EEPROM and HDD serial linked and recorded at the factory.  So those boxes are pretty much screwed from XBL the moment the end user swaps an HD.

For earlier boxes, M$ probably did NOT keep track, and instead took a snapshot of these two the first time the box logged in to live.  If at any point later on (like, this week) the same box logged in with a different HDD serial number... it knew that some funny business had occurred, and knew to ban the box.



Quite frankly M$ could do anything they wanted here - I suppose they could have these boxes "phone home" even if you DON'T have an XBL account installed!  And before you say, but I can pull the plug, they can cache data to transmit on next connect, or they could scan HD contents when the cable is connected again.  They're aggressive and smart (and pissed) enough to also alter the way it connects, so XBL-aware chips like the Xecuter 2.3+ wouldn't be able to protect anything.

Oh well, I hardly ever play on XBL anyway.  I get plenty of use out of the mod though.  (XBMC alone is worth it all.)

The second ironic thing is that all this will result in will be hardcore Xbox fans no longer buying Xbox Live retail titles, and reverting to some serious "backing up" of games to their modded Xboxes.    If the box is banned, what's the point of buying those games?

Hell, I could get another clean Xbox if I wanted to, just for XBL play... it's not about the money for me.  It's just the fact that I like my setup now, my AV rack is nice and clean (and filled) and I really don't feel like swapping cables just for the occasional (frustrating) online game.

Oh well, this still will be interesting to pick apart and decipher.  The cat-and-mouse game continues...

[Gumba]

QUOTE (dzv @ Nov 10 2004, 05:20 PM)

This happened to me.  Halo 2 has never been in my Xbox, and I was banned on the 9th.  So, in my case, it had nothing to do with Halo 2.  I'm 99% sure it was because I swapped HDDs after loggin into XBL for the first time.

Lots of positive confirmations for the HD+EEPROM marriage theory in this thread

http://forums.xbox-s...dpost&p=1984331

[misfits138]

[spinr34]

QUOTE (Kamakazie @ Nov 10 2004, 06:30 AM)

I dunno about the French game saves, thats never been a problem for me with other games such as Burnout 3. What we need is to find someone without Halo 2 to try logging on to Live to see if he gets banned.

it isn't halo 2 live's feature, cause i don't have the real retail copy of halo 2 and i'm banned.  logged into the mech assault the other night and tried tonight to get on rallisport challenge 2 just to see the message that i have a modded xbox.  now this doesn't rule out the possiblity of saves, note that i said i don't have the "real retail copy of halo 2"  i need another xbox and need to mod it and connect to see if it is the saves or the hardware that fucks it, anyone willing to donate

also i never logged into live with the mod on, so it isn't that.

[spinr34]

QUOTE (misfits138 @ Nov 10 2004, 06:51 PM)

Damn I'm afraid to check Xbox Live to see if I'm banned. lol I got my Xbox when it was first released and also got Xbox Live when it was first released, modded my Xbox and changed to a 120GB HD around my join date to these forums 26-May 03 and have been on Live with the 120GB ever since. If they are just checking for changes in HD's I wonder when they started keeping record of your current HD. Gonna have to check sooner or later so I just signed onto Xbox Live using network settings and I'm fine so far... I'll be getting Halo 2 on friday so I'll update on my status then. Oh and my C and E are not clean... I have apps on E and evox files in C. PS: This sucks...

you might as well just try live now before you go out and spend the $50 or $55 on halo 2.  i mean what is the point in buying it if you are already banned?

[prplehz]

I was using a 160 gig hd since I signed on live and I got banned so beware..