Marriage Theory 101, what it is, how it works, and what to do Options

[JuniorFan]

I've sent a message to vader bout this but I'll post it here also.

I had Xbox Live and my account on an untouched xbox (never open, modded, hdd change, nothing). Then I got it modded, and upgraded the hdd a week later. The guy who did it for me says if I put in the new eeprom and signed on to the account I made before I did anything to my box it will ban me.

I asked him if I switch the eeprom's, then make a new account if I could do that and he didn't know....so obviously...is the first assumption true, and if so is the second possible? There has to be a way to get back on live.

[omg0t]

wut if my xbox has had a few xbox live accounts, but when it got banned it was only on one of them? (the other accounts expired before it got banned) are the other accounts flagged or banned or wut?

This post has been edited by omg0t: Dec 11 2005, 08:06 AM

[ferrari_rulz_02]

I had Xbox Live and my account on an untouched xbox (never open, modded, hdd change, nothing). Then I got it modded, and upgraded the hdd a week later. The guy who did it for me says if I put in the new eeprom and signed on to the account I made before I did anything to my box it will ban me.

ok, to take all the confusion out of this...

you have upgraded the hard drive, and havent touched the eeprom, yes? and you havent been on line yet, have you?

well then all you need to do is get a virgin eeprom, and load that into your xbox, then you will be fine to go on live. just make sure you get the same version eeprom as what your xbox is.

wut if my xbox has had a few xbox live accounts, but when it got banned it was only on one of them? (the other accounts expired before it got banned) are the other accounts flagged or banned or wut?

the other gt's will be fine

[carguy9696]

Ok I have read every post, I just got xbl played it once and somehow got banned. I got a new eeprom, I have an old hd from a non working box. Is there anything I need to do to get the stock hd to work with the new eeprom. Do I have to change a password or anything?

Thanks

[Wolf12886]

I have some information that may be of use. Ive modded 3 xboxes succesfully, the most recent one my own, I modded a spare 40 gig drive and replaced mine with that one, retaining the other to use on live. I play on live now and then, and had never had trouble. Then the other day my friend tried to play his copy of halo 2 (which i had never played since i moded my box), it wouldnt log in, then after troubleshooting revealed that it belived the software or hardware had been modified. I have a few theories based on what ive read about this on the forums.

1. Live detected the remanents of the soft mod i used to origionally get my eeprom (the gamesave)
Note: this one is unlikly because i play on live often

2. Halo 2 had somthing to do with live detecting the remenants of the mod
Note: I probly had the remenants there before and didnt get banned

3: My friend earlier could have tried to access live with my modded drive, flagging the eeprom because of the different hard drive
Note: this seems less likely to me because no gamer tag even resides on the upgraded drive

Any Ideas would be appreciated, though it should be noted that i don't really play live any more and dont need to get back on it, i just want to find out why i got banned

[lordvader129]

when was the last time you had played Live before this? and what did you do then?

i ask because bans dont usually come up that fast, when you get th emodified software/hardware error that usually means the bannable offense happened several days earlier and the ban just now kicked in

[Tracksol]

I've got an Xbox 1.0 that I messed up when installing a pin header. I ordered a new MB/HD combo, placed it into a Halo LE case, transfered over the P/S, DVD and everything else into it.

Now I've bought the parts needed to make a complete xbox out of my old MB. It boots up with a modchip and I'm about to reflash the TSOP since I think it's corrupt.

Anyway, the last time I was on Live with my original MB was the latest July 2004. I've never been banned as it was a completely stock Xbox. If I'm able to fix this MB by flashing the TSOP and upgrade the HD, can I go on Live without being banned, since they didn't start the marriage check till November?

Also, this Xbox will be sold, so if it goes on Live it will be with a new Gamertag. So from what I've read, if it would be banable with the original eeprom and new HDD, if I get a new eeprom at the time of the larger HDD installed it should be okay, right?

This post has been edited by Tracksol: Jan 10 2006, 06:16 PM

[lordvader129]

Preface: When Did All This Start?

Marriages seem to have been made since July 2004 or so, the bans started circa November 9th 2004.

from the very top of the first post, if i were you i wouldnt risk it, since your right there where they started the marriages

[Tracksol]

Really, I don't know when was the last time specifically I logged on to Live with the old Xbox. Thinking back I think it was earlier than that since at my last apartment I didn't even have cable internet. But for $10 for a new eeprom, it'd rather buy the assurance of peace of mind.

Oh yeah, with the "new" xbox in the LE case, I logged onto live succesfully AFTER the HD upgrade with my old Gamertag.


Thanks lordvader.

[JuniorFan]

Ok, I've tried with a eeprom my installer gave me from Zodiiak, and one he took out of an Xbox that was never on Live.....and I can't connect to Live at all.

Using an xecutor 3 chip I go into the settings and allow hardrive unlocking, or disable hdd locking, I forget what it is....then go into Admin through FTP and transfer the new eeprom. Then I go to the Xbox and accept the overwrite of the old one.....yet when I go to connect to Xbox-Live it never makes the connection even though all the steps (ISP, DNS, etc.) are alright.

[franchiseplayer]

ok, to take all the confusion out of this...

you have upgraded the hard drive, and havent touched the eeprom, yes? and you havent been on line yet, have you?

well then all you need to do is get a virgin eeprom, and load that into your xbox, then you will be fine to go on live. just make sure you get the same version eeprom as what your xbox is.
the other gt's will be fine

Sorry, but that's incorrect.

I recently did that exact method and ended up with a ban a day later.

[T-H-M]

Hi,

I messed up and got myself banned for the very first time... Now I have a question on getting back on XBL.

If your EEPROM has been banned (together with your HDD), and then you swap the HDD, and after that you connect to XBL (XBox is still banned at this point), you get the "Can't connect" message. Is the new harddrive now also tagged by MS? Or would I be able to just flash the EEPROM and then connect with a new account?

I ask this because I don't want to waste my new EEPROM, but I also don't want to buy another HDD if it is not necessary. Strictly taken, MS has seen the new drive.

[lordvader129]

Sorry, but that's incorrect.

I recently did that exact method and ended up with a ban a day later.

it would be nice if you told us what happened and why you think the current theories need to be revised

Hi,

I messed up and got myself banned for the very first time... Now I have a question on getting back on XBL.

If your EEPROM has been banned (together with your HDD), and then you swap the HDD, and after that you connect to XBL (XBox is still banned at this point), you get the "Can't connect" message. Is the new harddrive now also tagged by MS? Or would I be able to just flash the EEPROM and then connect with a new account?

I ask this because I don't want to waste my new EEPROM, but I also don't want to buy another HDD if it is not necessary. Strictly taken, MS has seen the new drive.

well you arent going to be able to use the same HD you got banned with on Live anymore, and if you want to keep your gamertag you need to use a stock HD

if you swapped HDs but not eeproms then tried to go on again (getting the banned error) then your new HD should be fine, since it was never fully logged in to Live

[T-H-M]

if you swapped HDs but not eeproms then tried to go on again (getting the banned error) then your new HD should be fine, since it was never fully logged in to Live

OK, I understand. But I did some further reading, and I saw in topic http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=436434

* Ban = Banned eeprom + Banned hdd + Flagged GamerTag
...
...
* Married banned eeprom + Single unbanned upgrade hdd + Flagged GT = (Live Not Found) + Ban
...
...

I believe that the case I quoted reflects my situation, at the time when I first tried to access XBL with my new HDD (EEPROM was already banned at that point, GT was flagged, since I did not make a new account). Bo33b's post states that my new harddrive also ends up banned.

Should I just test it, or is there anyone who has tried it before?

[VinnySem]

Lordvader, I have something to add to your marriage theory, as I was banned this passed weekend.

I believe MS is now performing some sort of HD firmware scan. I have an Xbox that I never took onto Live before I modded it. It has a Maxtor 100G HD. I did a clean boot directly to the Retail TSOP, created a brand new Live account (first time ever on Live, wanted to check out Battlefield 2) and was promptly banned with the "modified hardware" message. Perhaps MS is scanning the HD firmware and comparing manufacturer & model information to those of original equipment? I know Avalaunch can read the HD firmware, it wouldn't be much of a leap for Live to do the same.