C4evaSpeaks: Fall 2011 Preview Dash Update and Answer to WTF is Up wit Options

[Xbox-Scene]

C4evaSpeaks: Fall 2011 Preview Dash Update and Answer to WTF is Up with MW3 Posted by XanTium | November 23 21:21 EST | News Category: Xbox360

From c4evaspeaks.com: [QUOTE] Microsoft has rolled out yet another update to the Xbox 360 Fall 2011 Preview Dash, this time bringing it to version 2.0.14696.0. During the preview thus far, backups of MW3, for example, have been observed to flip states between working and not working — twice over. The same has been found with several other games. It’s no surprise that many are wondering just WTF is going on. Contrary to recent rumors, however, MS has not been reverting the dae.bin change/silent update. In actuality, following the silent update of the dae.bin on retail dash 13604, it was quickly determined that MS has been issuing a series of TitleUpdates for certain games (e.g. MW3) alongside the dash updates and dae.bin changes. These TUs appear to be testing the ability for Microsoft to enable/disable triggering of AP2.5 challenges against the disc via the multi-table dae.bin. This is accomplished by patching the default.xex executable with patch files (“.xexp”s) in the TU which patch in or out the Disc ID within the xex header. When the Disc ID is present, and the game has an associated entry in the dae.bin tables, the AP2.5 challenges are triggered. Conversely, when the ID is missing, the system will not be able to find an associated entry in the dae.bin tables, and therefore no AP2.5 checks are performed. This accounts for the success of “TU trick” that people have been using to temporarily bypass the updated AP2.5 challenges (clearing the cache of existing/newer TUs and tricking the 360 into using an older TU that doesn’t patch the Disc ID into the xex). Being ranked at #1 for Xbox LIVE activity according to the latest charts, MW3 makes an ideal candidate for these types of tests by offering the largest possible test group. Based on this, Microsoft have shown that they now have two methods by which to control whether a game is AP2.5-active. A title may be AP2.5-activated either through the addition of associated entries in the dae.bin tables, and as it now stands, by way of TitleUpdates patching in or out the Disc ID. Now, you may be asking yourself why MS would want to deactivate AP2.5 on a game. A team member suggested that this may be to allow MS a method for easily disabling AP2.5 for a particular game if it causes issues on retail consoles (this may coincide with the reports of retail copies failing AP2.5 challenges and showing “Disc Unsupported” errors). Purely speculating here, but testing of these TitleUpdates may also be a sign that Microsoft is preparing to issue AP2.5-enabling TUs for some of the more popular older XGD2 games beyond the original six affected (Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, Call of Duty: Black Ops, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Fable III, Halo Reach, and Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit). *UPDATE* [2011-11-23 11:37AM UTC] As an added note in response to questions we’ve received, the usage of TitleUpdates in (de)activating AP2.5 in no way affects c4eva’s “silver bullet” solution being implemented in iXtreme LT+ v3.0. C4eva noted in private earlier that with his solution, all current and future effort put into AP2.5 by MS is all for nothing. [/QUOTE] News-Source: c4evaspeaks.com

[tomgreen99200]

beat you to it

[rwcottrell]

as an unhappy owner of an xkey i say bring on the silver bullet.cfw all the way go c4eva.man has microsoft gotten sneaky with this stuff thankfully all for not cause the silver bullet is coming.

beat you to it

LOL

[Clingker]

as an unhappy owner of an xkey i say bring on the silver bullet.cfw all the way go c4eva.man has microsoft gotten sneaky with this stuff thankfully all for not cause the silver bullet is coming.
LOL

Why are you unhappy with the Xk3y? Just wondering cause I was thinking of getting one.

[rwcottrell]

Interesting, didn't know that. A little off topic but interesting.

neither did i until i wasted 100 bucks on the thing.im considering calling the better business bureau.i feel ripped off.flushing 100 bucks down the drain makes me angry and no im not gonna buy a new system when mine works flawlessly.

This post has been edited by rwcottrell: Nov 24 2011, 05:22 AM

[Bassie Von Adriaan]

Wich suggest they will and cannot ban for failed AP.25 challenges.

[evildereck]

as an unhappy owner of an xkey i say bring on the silver bullet.cfw all the way go c4eva.man has microsoft gotten sneaky with this stuff thankfully all for naught cause the silver bullet is coming.
LOL

Fixed it for ya

[rwcottrell]

Fixed it for ya

[scorpionrecords]

So the ban can't happen?

[Chan163]

What will happen to JTAG/glitchhacked 360s if such a title update with Disc ID is applied to a game as "just the files in a folder" on HDD? Will the game start anyways? What about GODs created from NXE installs with NXE2GOD? Anyone tried that already?

Ok, for now it's not a big deal since we can simply deactivate that specific TU (or just delete it), but what if they later add this DiscID to really necessary updates (like bug fixes etc.) of a game?

[foolkiller]

So the ban can't happen?

No way will their be a banwave, I would bet my money on it. M$ does NOT have a concrete solution for detecting backup copy's. We know this because of all the hardware and security changes M$ has and is implementing. When they have a 100% method(if ever) then expect a banwave. No way will M$ risk another shit storm this late in the game. You will only get band/suspended if you use "bad rips", cheat online, market place theft, and mod your profile. Now I don't recommend intentionally flagging your self, but an accidental flag here and there I would not worry to much about. I don't have any proof to back this up and Im not psychic this is just my opinion from my experience and research. Take it as you will.

[iAmMasterF]

No way will their be a banwave, I would bet my money on it. M$ does NOT have a concrete solution for detecting backup copy's. We know this because of all the hardware and security changes M$ has and is implementing. When they have a 100% method(if ever) then expect a banwave. No way will M$ risk another shit storm this late in the game. You will only get band/suspended if you use "bad rips", cheat online, market place theft, and mod your profile. Now I don't recommend intentionally flagging your self, but an accidental flag here and there I would not worry to much about. I don't have any proof to back this up and Im not psychic this is just my opinion from my experience and research. Take it as you will.

... no my friend we are all banned. The method of detecting an ap25/xgd3 was simply by changing it on dae.bin through TU's since the ONLY ones were effecting were backups because we have a fixed ap25 challenges on the disc, the original copies don't have that, dnt u remember when we had to update & reburn our ap25 games?

anyways consoles are dirt cheap so i do think c4e's silver bullet will sure keep us safe till the end of 360s

[pinkerton]

Seems my patience has paid off, as I have stayed away from AP2.5 completely. Roll on LT3.0.

[pditty]

Question... With all this talk... Is it worth flashing my box to lt 2.0 with 3.0 coming out any day now... I'm currently running 1.9... so my box had not been silently updated b/c I have not logged on to live since July? Thanks and Happy Turkey Day...

[rwcottrell]

dude its gonna be a month or two or heck maybe even 3 before lt 3.0 is releasedits best to get it right and not rush things.