Hey everyone, I saw al the "normal" posts (normal in the sense they were bound to start appearing) of all users complaining, and crying about the ban, and giving opinions that don't really add much to this...

Now, I think it would be a good idea to try to determine exactly how M$ is doing this ban.

In my personal case, I have a modded 360, but I have never connected it to the internet yet, so I think it's pretty safe to say that if I revert it, nothing would happen to me personally, as M$ couldn't have been getting info from my console at any time yet.

Now the thing would be to determine exactly how they find out you have a modded console... is it really with the new update? Could they know before with previous updates? Could the updates have nothing to do with it and they just knew all along and only decided to start banning at this moment?

If it's "thanx" to an update... is it the update that checks and reports? Is it the update that has the ability to check at any moment from that point on? Does the update use or install a feature that flags your console as modified somewhere and this flag can be detected anytime?

In my case, I was thinking that since if I restore I should have no problem, to restore, and from that point on, flash whenever I want backups and restore when I want to go only. Yeah, I know it'd be a pain, but at least it would be a solution.

However, since we don't really know how the detection works, I can't be 100% that when I have it flashed, even being offline my console isn't "flagged" somehow and "tattled" to M$ when I go on live again even though I restore my drive before going to live....

So what do you guys think?

P.S.: Don't you think it's a good opportunity to start making xlink communities grow even larger and just wave bye-bye to M$ ?

all i know is that i have not put a single backup in my console since the last major update so i dont think they can detect the backups. it must be something else.

There have been confirmed reports that playing offline with backups gets you banned when you connect.

like i said, i have not but a single backup in my 360 since the last update, i havent updated the hacked firmware either.

There already lots of threads in the technical section of people trying to figure what happened, how it happend and why it happened. People are crying because 95% of the people here don'd know how to find out how it's done. Rest assured, the small part of the populous that knows what to look for began working on it the moment it happened, long before this thread was made.

And your little comment at the bottom saying bye bye to MS just proves what you really are. You say bye bye to them you say bye bye to games getting made. Time to pay up.

this is just my 2 cents , if have not been banned yet and are thinkin of flashing back to orginal firmware i would also format the HDD and only then try and connect to xbox live ...

True, except even though we don't know how/when the ability to flash was implemented. if it WAS through an update, my console would not have it, since I never connected/updated. Also, come to think about it, it doesn't sound logical either, being that it has been widely reported that people with banned consoles have taken their hdd to non-banned consoles and conected without problems, so nithing would be on the hdd, or so it seems...

One theory states that since the Fall update they have been collecting data with jitter detection and are now banning. Something tells me you might be able to take a fresh console, mod it with anti-jitter FW and play no problem.

Hmm sounds familier, kinda like the first xbox...deja vu. Should always cite your sources!

http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=603903

I actually modded my 360 with a Samsung ms28 for the first time the day when the bans started. I played for a little while on live but I didn't have any backups. Once I found out they were banning 360s I unmodded my drive. I have no problems connecting to live right now.

Just a thought why some people still playing backups and didn't get banned while some people were banned.Maybe people who wasn't banned didn't play any backup WITHOUT stealth patch since the spring update.We can try to get info from some users to see if this theory is a fact.I wasn't banned yet and since the spring update I only played Spiderman 3(stealth patched).

I can't give full advice to what console I have but I know it's a Hitachi one and I know it had the firmware going back to November 2006. The reason I don't know full details is because someone patched it for me.

Anyhows, I went on live with my modded 360 yesterday for 4 hours, I downloaded the Forza demo and the Shrek demo. Both downloads completed and both played, not once did I get disconected from live and I'm currently not banned, which leaves me to think that it is one of two things.

1 It's definately the back up disks but I'm not going to put one in as of yet to test that theory.

or

2. They can tell who have changed their firmware since they started collecting the information, I myself have not changed it, updated, etc.

Wow so you basically said either the patch works or it doesnt ... hehe

Somebody put in a burned game into an unmodded or unflashed 360

see what happends, i wonder what word came from the guys that are using xbox linux on 360

I havent got a modded 360, and guess what Ive been banned, phoned xbox live up and they told me that I was in violation of the user agreement....I dont play the live content of the games anyway, I like to download the demos. Ive got a mate who has got a modded console and hes happily playing along on his modded console. Ive cancelled my xbox live and in no incertain terms told them I am not paying for something I cannot use.

i updated a hitachi 47, 4 days ago.
i put 16s firmware on it and ive been using it on live with no problems.
but if a ban happens to me ,i dont really care as i can still play my backups.and m$ will have yet another account canceled.

i updated a hitachi 47, 4 days ago.
i put 16s firmware on it and ive been using it on live with no problems.
but if a ban happens to me ,i dont really care as i can still play my backups.and m$ will have yet another account canceled.

ok heres my story ..... flashed hitachi drive with the 5.2 .... i updated the dashboard with no disc in console .... since the update i only went online with ORIGINAL discs ..... Never a back up online .... so people are saying they are detecting burned discs ?????? i never had a back up in mine after the update so unless they were gathering data before the update how did they rumble me .... must be an other way of detecting modded boxes ....i look forwards to someone giving us the answer

has anyone thought that M$ could have sent a firmware update (like how your routers and mobile phones do) on the sly and if your f/w didn't match one on their list you got banned, if so it could be the case of getting a virgin 360 fully updating it THEN flashing as the f/w update would have already been passed? i know if i flash my router with a haxord f/w it will not update i just get an error.

hmm yeah. Well one of my mates has all the same firmware and stuff i do and he also didnt play a backup in his console after the update. I did though. He isnt banned and i am. Strange im really looking forward to answers as well it will be very interesting...

You don't have to have a modded box to feel the force of the BAN.
People who signed up on false region details etc are also in the firing line.
Pal Europe console with US Marketplace will go , for example.

Does the country you sign up fore have to match the country you bought the console in? I for example live in Argentina (no official MS distribution), and I know people that play online. My console what bought in the US. Should I choose US to avoid problems, or could I have them anyway? (IF I ever actually do connect to live after all this... )

It's not the backed up discs I have four or five freinds that have their 360 modded with a specific chip (I don't want to mention which chip because I don't want M$ to crack that as well) and they are still able to go Live with backed up discs. I played TigerWoods 07 Live on a backup this morning.

what if.... the newer games had unique ids and sent the info to ms.... it would look strikingly odd if billy was playing off of "the same disc" as 600 other people. I for one played a scene release backup of crackdown and that is the only one I played.

Heres my info if it helps anyone..

Premium 360 bought december 06 with a 28 drive. Flashed in January with firmware 4.2. Then when 5.3 was released re-flashed (Before the update).

Thursday afternoon downloaded halo3 demo (not played) but live was working fine. Friday morning the ban hammer hits..

Now heres the strangest part... I just repaired June 06 console with 3RROD, it also has a flashed drive but no idea what version. What I do know is that its not been connected to the net for weeks due to it being in the dead state.. (Repaired for a friend with the removal of the x-clamps, worked a treat!)

Now I connect my HD to it, when booting it says it needs to update. (No net cable in at this point) Then it restarts. Everything looks fine so connect to the lan and try to connect - No joy.. Its looks as though it didnt even check or attempt to connect to live. (There was no disk in the drive)

Its very confusing... I was going to go out and buy a new core system but now I cant be sure that even that will work.. Any idea's???? (One pointer - I connect my xbox through a lan cable with internet connection sharing on the PC which is inturn connected to a wireless router..)

Also if I get another system can I transfer all my paid for arcade over to it?? (On the repaired box it just comes up with the trial versions..)

Its because of the Halo 3 Beta, it was serialized between crackdown disks meaning, say you rented crackdown to get the beta, but someone already made a copy of it, and they downloaded the beta before you did, it is locked to them, meaning anyone who tries to get the halo 3 beta with the same disk, will get banned even though it is the real one.

Wow, you sound at peace even after they banned a legitimate user like you.
Which leads me to believe you had your system modified at one point.

Wow you sure are the critic for you just joining and this being your 1st post!

Well I would be furious and demanding my money back/have my xbox unbanned if they did something like that to me.
I guess some people are content with taking it up the arse without much fuss.

All people react differently to different situations. You never know he could have been stoned while he wrote the post. LOL

you still can't play on live due to your greed ... So how many of us have played a backup of crackdown downloaded or ripped?

WE dont all download games YOU do, So don't categorize US all as pirates as piracy is not tolerated here on the scene!

i had a chat with a friend who has NEVER been on live he flashed his firmware recently and he is gonna let me recover my gt on his console and take it on live to see if i get banned, im going with the "finger print" theory, i will post back and let you know the outcome.

ive noticed that after the spring update, every game i put into my 360 DEMANDS an update to play on xbl, could this be checking for downloaded games

my 2 cents

Hi im still on xbox live ive still got my firmware from about a year ago,im using a memory card as storage,so fingers crossed i will not be banned.

its got nothing to do with Halo, i nevr got it and still got banned

if thats the case its in the updates for the games, I was going by theory since my friend got banned after useing the beta when I already had it.

and the way it seems most people that have played the beta from crackdown have been banned

If thats the case why would they ban unmodded consoles, well at least that is what they say.

My friend managed to get them say if you bought a new console, it would be just fine so I dont think it would have anything to do with the HDD

strange thing...

I wasn't banned, then after 3 days ... bang banned, without playing a single game !!!

Games Recently Played on Live?

No games played on live

only tested a few games.

It was a new console, only had it for 2 months

Flashed with xtreme 5.2c before creating or adding my gametag
-> never played online
-> only played a few games for like 20mins max
-> only played : Virtua tennis 3, nba live 2006,spiderman 3 pal, c&c3, only played a few only ones

I wasn't banned the first few days of when the banning began..; after 3 days, AND I DIDN't PLAY A SINGLE GAME SINCE !!!

So I guess microsoft detects the firmware...

ok ive not been banned yet and heres my stats
xbox 360 ms28 drive
xtreme fw 5.3a
flashed before latest patch
and never played crackdown on my profile or xbox
hope this adds a bit of help to finding a solution

Yup i also got banned like many of you, I'm not complaining though. I was expecting this since the day I modified my 360 about 6 months ago. I decided to take this risk and it happened.

I have a sammy ms28 with Xtreme firmware v.5

I was thinking though, Do you think you'll get another (un-modified) xbox 360 banned from online if you actively use the same profile one it? The profile on which you made all your violations?

What if you load the same gamer profile in a modified and un-modified console via memory card?

I'm just thinking about this because I hear some people with non-modified consoles are getting banned.




Julio C.

cant seam to backup vegas??? so i been playing GOW with the new maps, the only problem is now im gonna have to get myself another 360 cause i forgot how great live actually was after the death of my true blue (r.i.p.)

sorry i know there was no point in posting that??

LOOK, ssssh. Over the weekend i've been tossing up spend £170 on a new Core to play. I ACTUALLY played with orignals online, but ofcourse as i flashed the drive i was banned, my fault ofcourse. Anyway, i'm trying to get along without lovely...lovely live so don't remind me of its greatness!!!

Here is how I got banned from Live, hope it helps:
*Downloaded the Spring update and installed it without problems. PGR3 were in the dvd drive.
*Downloaded Forza Motorsport 2 demo and played that for a while, no problems.
*2 weeks after (today) I started the xbox offline to take out the PGR3 game and then i pluged the internet connection.
* BANNED!
Used Hitachi Birdy 2,2 firmware and played online alot with gold membership.

hi guys id like to put my two penneth in if i may
it seems everyone is focused on when you flashed your firmware IE b4 going on xbl and it almost holds water except it fails people who have flashed b4 live have been banned obviosly for playing backups !

people who flashed mid live (whilst on it ) are still on live imo it isnt when you flashed.

could it be stealthed maybe its stealth f/w tied into when you flashed

my opinion is the above steath tied into when you flashed and what back ups if any you have played on xbl
if you look on a proper xbox 360 dvd near the middle edge youl see bar codes (anti piracy measures )
whilst m$ havent implemented this in the past tie that into the spring update
the xbox now read dvds tells you the name of the game whats in the tray.
so obviosly how xbox reads a game had changed how hard would it be for m$ to drop in a code to see if your backup has a barcode enabled disc in . ?

further more people being banned arnt giveing a list of what back up games have been played maybe the anti piracy checkup bar code thing is only done on top tenb titles ? i founfd it odd there seemed to always be a dam update for a game all the time graw being 1 of them .

id like to ask for a new thread being made thats locked to titled post

post 1:did you flash b4 live with stealth and been banned what 5 back ups games was most played
post 2: did you flash b4 live unstealthed and not banned what 5 back ups games was most played
post 3: did you flash b4 live unstealthed not played back ups and still on live
post 4: did you flash b4 live steathed not played back ups and banned
post 5: did you flash mid xbl stealthed and not played back ups and still on live
post 5: did you flash mid xbl stealthed and played back ups and still on live
and the list goes on lock the thread once done and only allow post to be made in the new topics !

suggestion to admin lock new sign ups to stop spread of missinformation

hope this helps

btw i have a friend who flashed mid xbl never played a back up and still on as of 5 hours ago
i belive its anti piracy and there looking at a list of top 10 games for now
hope this post helps and works out trawling through random ban of how they got banned in 1 post is tireing

From irc:
c4eva: Xtreme Online fw to come - DO NOT ASK ETA & ONLY for NEW or NOT BANNED boxes

OK
1st 360
hitachi47d with f/w 2.3 flashed at xmas
played loads of games inc tested backup of crackdown
flashed during mid term of xbl.
banned

2nd 360
ms28 f/w 5.3 flashed 8thMay07
played backups graw2 and b/o revenge only
flashed before signing up for xbl
NOT banned yet

so for me its either the crackdown game
OR mod before joining xbox live

I think the theory of that the ban is game-specific is a good possibility. Every other theory has been disproven so far.

I'm still not banned and own only 3 back-ups. Never played a back-up on live.

But the thing is; it will be impossible to find out which games will trigger a ban and which games don't.

I have not been banned yet, I havnt played Halo 3 beta, but now most of my back ups dont work after upgrding to 5.3 firmware and downloading spring update, most come up unrecognized disk, all worked fine with 4.2 firmware and before spring update and one with similar problems

I ordered a core system from Boots online for £150 delivered yesterday. Been dusting of the originals today.

well heres my story.

i got my xbox360 (premium) used from half.com and it was previously on xbox live from the previous owner (i could tell cause of the stuff on the hard drive etc) ... but anyways, after i got it i deleted all his stuff from the hard drive and then BEFORE getting on xbox live at all i flashed the Samsung MS28 dvd-rom drive with Xtreme 5.2A firmware (which at the time was the newest firmware out for my MS28 drive) and then roughly a couple weeks after that i made a xbox live account which was made about 1-2weeks ago and everything was fine. then i downloaded spring update and everything was still working good after that. then when the ban hit i was not on at that time for atleast a couple days before the ban, then just recently (within the last 24 hours or so) i signed onto xbox live to see if i was banned and "so far" im still not banned.

also i have never played anything on xbox live so far (i just downloaded the forza 2 demo and a demo of a xbox live arcade game and thats it)... i only started up Need For Speed : Most Wanted since after the spring update but i never played it on live but i was connected to live at the time the game started up.

bottom line = im still not banned as of writing this.

Okay, listen guys, I have an X-Box 360, and mine is modded, but I took out my network because I heard of people getting banned, so I have NOT been banned yet, so I got 2 questions:

1. Is it the Halo BETA that bans you, or when you start playing games (ex: Gears Of War) online you get banned too?

2. How do they know it's modded?