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[shanafan]

January 9, 2005

LordVader129 has posted a great topic about the current state of XBL bannings. Read it!

http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=335984

January 6, 2005

I figured it was time for an update. Based on what topics are here, and what people have discovered, the only way to use XBL on a modded Xbox, is to access XBL and create your gamertag AFTER upgrading the HD. If you have already accessed XBL, and then upgraded the HD, you will most likely be banned. This union between your XBL account and the HD is called the "Marriage Theory". Now, there are a lot of side questions to this. For one, can I use my account on other Xbox? To answer that question, yes.

But, for the first modded Xbox, this "Marriage Theory" pertains to the Xbox's EEPROM and the gamertag, and the knowledge of what HD is in the Xbox. If this HD information is changed, like with an upgraded HD, that Xbox will be banned.

November 12, 2004

Wow, where should I start? Well, not far from the finish line. As you can see, there are a lot, a lot of threads. People are banned with an upgraded HD, while others play fine. Some post tutorials on how to avoid the 'new' ban, but others discount such methods. It is hard to judge what the hell is really going on, besides the fact that using an upgraded or even possibly modified stock HD is a gamble on Xbox Live. All I can say is have fun going through the topics..

A good topic is posted below. Check it out  

BTW, best way to avoid a ban? Get a second Xbox. Hell, only $150, and the new ones come with two great games!

PS. Don't bother PM me anymore..

November 9, 2004

Ever since Xbox Live came out officially, people who accessed Xbox Live with their modchip on were banned. Live detected the modified BIOS that was loaded, and the Xbox's EEPROM (the unique identity of each Xbox) was banned. However, their Xbox Live account was still safe. So, these banned users got a different EEPROM from various sources, and they were back onto Xbox Live.

That has been the way for a long time, and was the way to get banned, unless you used a Xbox Live cheat or was a disruptive gamer.

However, until recently, it seems MS is taking extreme measures to stop people with modified Xboxes from accessing Xbox Live, even with their modchip off. It appears now that MS is banning modders who changed their HD from the way it was when their XBox was stock, to a larger HD or whatever. MS is detecting a change in the HD, and thus banning the Xbox. However, again, the modder's gamertag is fine, just that their Xbox is banned.

Any way around this? Well, as always, the best way to avoid a Xbox ban from Xbox Live is to get a new Xbox just for Xbox Live.

That is the current state of Xbox Live, as I have gathered from the mounds of threads here.

Here is what I think MS is still NOT doing:
- MS is not scanning HDs for what is on the HD. So, I assume a stock HD, even though the XBox is modded, will still work fine on Xbox Live. Just, as always, access Live with the modchip off.
- MS is not banning Xboxes with a replaced DVDROM. So, if you swapped a Thomson with a Samsung, you will still be fine.

This post has been edited by shanafan: Jan 9 2005, 10:42 PM

[shanafan]

This is a good topic, with good finding by pane2k.

http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=305025

That seems to be an extremely possible method.

The conclusion I gather is that Live, in layman terms, checks to see a modchip is present on the Xbox motherboard. Even though it may be disabled, it finds it.

So, you can play on Xbox Live with any non-banned HD, but no physical modchip present, and be safe. Of course, having a 120 GIG HD and not getting any use out of it is pointless, but oh well. There is always the softmods..

This post has been edited by shanafan: Nov 12 2004, 11:50 AM