An Alternative Live! Network, For dist. of homebrew content as DLC Options

[AngryCamel]

We are currently working towards developing an application that will allow a virgin xbox to connect to a non-M$ Live! network for the purpose of distributing unofficial downloadable content or homebrew game content.

This does not mean that there will be cheating on Live!, this means that there will be an alternative network. It will not ever leave your home network actually (follow the link for more detailed information). Our first goal is to get a handshake between the Live! server (our Live! server) and the xbox title attempting to connect to the Live! service.

If you have got any skills and would like to lend a hand programming, testing or researching then please contact me. You can PM me here for more details.

Here is the thread: (Notice it is locked to prevent spam.... there is a link inside it to the development thread for posting comments or information regarding the project)

http://www.hxbdev.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=3781

[AngryCamel]

What no interest at all?

[Heykrop]

Interested. Keep the info coming.

[wasting]

very intresting good luck

[-Gadget-]

yes its of high interest ..

maybe the people of Xlink/XBC could give help/advice etc ..

and IF the spoofing of the network coud be done/managed
Maybe it will lead into a alt. server that could be formed ! ...
to support the games with ONLY live capabilities(and no System Link)
dso not only content that can be shared, but !live gaming

now that would be cool !!

Mick ..

[shanafan]

Hmm, I wonder what legal aftermath will result from this when people can download content for free, in which you are legally supposed to pay for. Seeing how torrent sites have been dropping like flies recently due to similar matters, I can't see your Live alternative working.

It is like you are breaking into XBL, and getting the content for free. Hence, illegal

[AngryCamel]

I am used to seeing your rather predictable and cautious posts around here, Shanafan, but it is aparent that you did not read the thread on the subject. Since the large whitepaper thread may be a little daunting I can understand your hesitation, but try to understand that this project is not intended to allow for the illegal distribution of Live! content. It is quite the contrary.

I am a rather involved member of the Halo modding community (NMP, CXE, AC's Conv) specifically working in the realm of distribution. I went as far as to create an automated installer with the help of another modder that installed the 'MapPacks' as you may remember some of them being posted on the front page of this and many other xbox related websites. Just like thenI am trying to improve on the current methods ofdistribution. Currently I would like to bring the distribution capabilities of the built in Live! functions (now in Halo 2) to all the Halo modders so that getting new homebrew maps for the game installed wont require a professional skillset in the technology. Basically the same idea that drove the development of the the Live! distribution network in the first place. To make it easy and at your fingertips

With any good there is also a bad, so if people use this distribution network to give out copies of pay content (they would have to get around the signatures) then so be it. I do not condone this nor will I support it. Besides one could just as easily distribute the pay content on the internet with a link to a tutorial on how to install it hosted by this very site.

[AngryCamel]

Also just to clarify for -Gadget-, currently the scope of the project does not include supporting game play or matchmaking or anything of that sort. It will only allow for the download of custom homebrew AutoUpdates or Content Packages.

In the future if someone wishes to build upon our base then they would be more than welcome to... the first people that come to mind would be the kai developers.


NOTE: Check back to the link in the first post often... I am constantly updating it with the newest information. It also has a change log in the first post, so you do not have to read through everything.

[nemesis123321]

What no interest at all?

i'm extremely interested just not great with that kind of stuff.......
my email...... goatman123321@gmail.com
-dave-

[GordonNL]

so, that we can go on ''xbox live'' without xbox live

I hope it doesn't go via system link ...

if its as fast as xbox live I don't mind paying for it...

[AngryCamel]

Well when you say "as fast as live" do you mean for playing the games? Like I said above, it wont allow you to 'play' against any other xbox's only download content.

It will be a free appplication, don't worry. lol

[AngryCamel]

Latest news:

Found MrFish's post on hacking the xbe for PGR2 to skip the contentmeta.xbx sig check. It did not work for PGR2, but sure enough it did work for Halo 2. This means you can use AutoUpdates from another xbox. The target audience is people who would like to use the AutoUpdate from thier virgin box on a modded box for lans and such.

We also found the signature/hash that ties the content to a sepcific xbox bases its algorithm on the HDD Serial and the individual content hashes in contentmeta.xbx.

For the Live! server emulation we have started work on it but need sniffed packets for research. Specifically we need the packets from the signon process. If anyone can help us out in getting these sniff logs, please let me know.

Last thing is pretty easy but we learned that the Live! servers send the DLC unsigned and the signing happens on the xbox once the DLC has arrived. It occurs all in one function call process inside the title or downloader.xbe. This is good news because it means once we get Live! server emulation we do not have to reverse the impossible hash values or signatures. We can simply suppply the server with the unsigned content packages then allow the xbox to download it as it would from Live! and sign it accordingly.

[Dawg605]

Wait, are you saying that you are creating a network that only modded Xbox's can go on? And that when you click on Xbox Live from within a game, it will connect to your service? If so, that is fucking sweet!

This post has been edited by Dawg605: Jan 9 2005, 01:42 AM

[The Juggler]

Wait, are you saying that you are creating a network that only modded Xbox's can go on? And that when you click on Xbox Live from within a game, it will connect to your service? If so, that is fucking sweet!

He's not really talking about a service for playing games tho. Only downloading new content.

I think what you are talking about doing is a fantastic idea. It would be great to download new homebrew maps/characters (etc..) just by going to the live tab in the game.

I'm guessing this is a PC app (or router config), since the downloader.xbe is probably different for each game, and writting a different patch for each game would be troublesome.
Also, those of us with idiot-proof-live-blocking hacked bioses would have to modify or change the bios to NOT block the live ports anymore.

If you are able to find a way to get content packages from XBL without being signed, than that would also be a good breakthrough in transfering XBL DLC from a non-modded box to a modded one. We'd just need some app to sign the DLC once it's added to the appropriate box. (which is conveniently built into the games ATM)

[AngryCamel]

If you are able to find a way to get content packages from XBL without being signed, than that would also be a good breakthrough in transfering XBL DLC from a non-modded box to a modded one.   We'd just need some app to sign the DLC once it's added to the appropriate box. (which is conveniently built into the games ATM)

Well this is what I said in the last post I made above:

We can simply suppply the server with the unsigned content packages then allow the xbox to download it as it would from Live! and sign it accordingly.

I guess I didnt really explain but you can easily make it unsigned, just by deleting the signature in the header of the contentmeta.xbx file. So this is no problem at all.