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[Blackfly1976]

Will I get banned from live for playing NTSC games on a PAL TV, if my EEPROM is set to PAL output/US region/ DVD region0?
The following should provide some background info:
I have a smartXX (3333) modded box, running X2 4981.67 BIOS.
It was originally an NTSC v1.0 (no live in msdash) with a bust PSU (replaced with switchable). This xbox is in Scotland, where locally sourced games are PAL and EU region.
I have an unmodded xbox in FL, almost all my games are US NTSC.
Recently, I signed up for a 2 month live trial using my xbox in FL. I soon transfered this to my modded box in Scotland using account recovery.
Whilst using my Dads 1/4HDTV projector playing NTSC StarWars Battlefront, Live dashboard updated to latest version.
Right now I need to use a PAL only TV, but I'm worried that if I try to use Live whilst playing my NTSC games in PAL output I'll be banned.

[Blackfly1976]

Hmmm...kinda dissapointed at the response on this issue, as I couldn't find a solution on this board.
Another forum has told me that the video output mode wouldn't be picked up by live at all. I was also surpised to learn that some games are region free and most can be output in any video std without problems.
But I thought further on my problem and realised a more important issue:
If I have connected to xbox live with my region set to US, then try to connect with my region set as EU later on - will Live pick up on this and ban my xbox as modified?
I really would appreciate a response on this, as even Live themselves haven't got back to me regarding whether the account I created on a US NTSC xbox can be used on a UK PAL xbox.

[Gumba]

QUOTE("tcohed")

I have an european PAL XBox and as you might know, we are not supposed to use 480p/720p/1080i. So, my Box is modded and I can use it if i switch the Videomode to NTSC. It is even possible to change the Videomode, turn off the Chip and use an european original Game and play.
I'm going Live since Halo 2 came out without a problem, but i've always been there with Videomode PAL. My TV broke a couple of Days ago, but i have a 22" CRT Monitor here and a X2VGA Adapter. So I Have to change to NTSC to play. I want to go back online, but i don't know if i get banned, if i do, because i've always been Live PAL.
I know that the Videomode is saved in the Eeprom, but i couldn't acknowledge if M$ only reads the serialnumber of it or the whole Eeprom Data.
What i don't know too, if i'm allowed to sign in to Live in europe in NTSC.

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I've been to some UK Forums and just tried it after what i could acknowledge.
I'm not banned by now. I'll go back online later this to look if i'm still allowed to play Live.
Some people changed their Region too and haven't been banned, but i won't test this by myself, because i don't really need to and i hope i'm still able to play Live.

Okay, let me know after 72hrs have passed

just wanted to tell you, that i'm still allowed to play Live. I'm not banned [after 72 hours].

[Blackfly1976]

Thanks, looks safe then.
I hope M$ don't read this, it would be a pretty simple way to ban ppl playing imported games etc through a mod chip.

[Gumba]

QUOTE(Blackfly1976 @ Feb 25 2005, 12:05 PM)

Thanks, looks safe then.

[feet14]

QUOTE(badmonkey @ Feb 26 2005, 03:21 PM)

Don't you need the modchip turned on in order to play an imported game?

[Blackfly1976]

Gumba - an imported game on an imported console (likely requiring a transformer) is as legitimate as playing a region 1 DVD in Europe, an imported game on a domestic console would typically require a modded xbox.

My concerns were along the same lines as feet14  
eg; having NTSC video output on a PAL region console would require a modchip/EEPROM hack, which could be detected.
Also, the serial number is region specific, and either the game region or video setting not matching the serial number would indicate the EEPROM had been altered from it's virgin state.

[feet14]

QUOTE(Blackfly1976 @ Feb 28 2005, 03:26 AM)

My concerns were along the same lines as feet14 

[Blackfly1976]

Not sure if I'm missing something, but how do you change your EEPROM settings whilst still being connected to Live (and therefore using MS BIOS and dashboard).
I use smartXX, so I'm not so familiar with software exploits.

I accept that the issues I've raised are not yet a danger for getting banned from Live - I was just pointing out that they could be quite easily if M$ decided to implement a zero tolerance policy on non factory std units.
All that would have to be done is
1) Check the game region against the EEPROM serial number
2) Check the game region against the video mode used
3) Check the video mode against the game region

It seems that right now these factors are unchecked, but I wonder if someone endowed with more technical prowess could ascertain whether such a check would be possible (could M$ "see" the EEPROM settings for video output mode and game region if they so desired?).

[alsybub]

Take my situation, I have an LE jap xbox which i modded to US region with US NTSC (different to japanese for some reason) output  i removed the chip and then used a jap copy of xbox live starter kit and i am using this frankenstein of the xbox world in the UK and never ever have i had a problem, the main thing is that it doesnt matter what you have done to your xbox eeprom or hdd so long as after you register on live you dont change any of it. - Oh yeah and when i registered on live i even said i was in the US and it didnt cause any probs.

So to recap:

Jap xbox
US region
US NTSC
Jap xbox live starter kit
In the UK

No probs!!

[feet14]

QUOTE(Blackfly1976 @ Mar 1 2005, 02:07 AM)

Not sure if I'm missing something, but how do you change your EEPROM settings whilst still being connected to Live (and therefore using MS BIOS and dashboard).

[Blackfly1976]

Terrible right now, on a TV that possibly older than me (PAL only, din inputs) where the picture doesn't all fit on the screen (all pictures, not xbox specific)

[Penfoldian]

I am too concerned for I have a NTSC Xbox and I live in the UK and I used to play US Orginal games all the time till I found out I could change the Region Code to 4 (EUR) to make UK games work, now I save money on imports.

But I still have US Live games I want to play now since the Halo 2 Ban apademic!

I want to know also if I can change it back to Region 1 (US)

What I cannot understand is that no one really knows about this stuff. I mean there has been a program out for years that allowed us to change the codes.

Config Magic allows you to edit the Region Code from 0 - 7 (not sure how many)
So why you people getting it confused with the Video Code? NTSC and PAL?
That will not help the game situation. We need direct info on the REGION CODE situation.

Thankyou just need to get that straight!.

[Gumba]

Why don't you test it and let us know?

I suspect you will be fine.

[Blackfly1976]

Penfoldian
I agree that this issue doesn't seem to have been discussed enough in banning threads, but who exactly is confusing region and video mode issues?
It seems that the lack of discussion on the subject has led to a lack of std nomenclature on the issue.
If you read my posts above you'll see that I say US NTSC (US region, NTSC video mode).

As already discussed, changes in these modes after you have connected to Live (or changes compared to your xbox's state when you signed up/used account recoverey) could easily be picked up and used to identify a modded xbox.
But it seems that the lack of discussion is because no one seems to have been banned because of this yet.
I guess it doesn't involve the use of signed M$ code in a program, so isn't strictly illegal?
I have a mixture of UK PAL and US NTSC games, but only my US NTSC games are Live ones.

Gumba
I really should pop down Blockbuster and rent UK PAL Halo 2 or something to run a test.

I can say that I've used Live often with US NTSC games using PAL video output, whilst switching region to play UK PAL games offline regularly and occasionally changing video mode to NTSC to play with my Dads HDTV projector (online & offline).
Comments so far indicate that there is no evidence for a ban based on these issues, so we are safe so far. If I'm correct on the signed M$ code issue there will likely never be a ban based on this, but I could be wrong.