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

beat you to it

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.

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.

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

Fixed it for ya

So the ban can't happen?

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?

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

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

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...

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.

Wow seriously? I just missed this silent update and been offline since. its already killing me, waiting 3 months will be a nightmare.

If you can't wait that long to play online then flash the stock firmware and buy some games.

I haven't had any CFW in my console for a half year back.
When 2.0 came out I was going to flash it again. But when I got hold of a ihas drive the dea.bin was updated :-P.
Just have to wait for 3.0. But no rush for me. I have the originals that I can play.

C4eva is a hacking god.

If that was the case their would have been a banwave already. Black Ops and Halo 3 are AP25, can you imagine how many people got flagged just for those two games alone. I personally know about 30 people that got flagged by Black Ops, and none of them got banned to this day. So no i don't believe AP25 wad good enough of a method, if it was why bring XGD3 and the new security checks?

We'll all get banned once the next gen XBox 720/loop/whatever it's called is released, then all the pirates will buy it. When it comes to making money, few know better than Microsoft.

Lol For some reason didnt even think of that. nice 1

like that has been said already it doesn't hurt to have 2 360's

Do you have any information stating its going to be out any day now? Per c4eva's initial announcement, it was going to take some time.

"Though c4eva noted that it will take some development time as it’s not a quick fix, both he and the team will now be putting their full efforts behind bringing this solution to life in the form of new versions of iXtreme LT+, Xbox Backup Creator, and abgx360."

IOW, unless you have some other source of information, it could take a while. Like LT+ 2.0 and 1.1 before it, "it will be ready when its ready".

MW3 purchased at game stop, NEW liteon 9 series phat laser, new 60gb hdd, STOCK firmware. Dirty disc errors randomly constantly!!! WTF IS UP WITH THAT!? All other games play 100% perfect, my mw3 brand new disc works on all other consoles perfect. Please does someone have an answer?

This is exactly why M$ can't ban you.

i play mw3 backup disc on xbox live all day long even was playing it when silent update hit i just use tu update thingy and on my way everyday lol

(works in other consoles? laser prolly needs re-calibrating .. try to get it done by a pro.. it'll last longer, If it's on HDD then delete/re-install some games seem to self-corrupt since 13604 ;-)

Manufacturing error/tolerances AP2.6 and CIV seem to have issues, I've noticed some interesting behavior on a 14xx preview console(Falcon/BenQ), it actually won't stop ejecting originals sometimes !! It reads, looks good for about a second(play game etc) and then BAM! disc ejects! (about when the disc would be carrying-out chex on HDD-installed game <installed on 13xxx>) Can't remember if we rolled it back from LT+2.0 for the update (usually do) at any rate it's only ever run originals (backups only if/when needed.. so far never needed! or so I'm told).... Very interesting (New dash is frickn awesome BTW, very happy with their latest efforts, cloud game saves etc.. wish they had let me in)

Given the 'dirty-disc' and SS failures going back to Halo3 bans that stemmed from manufacturing flaws on original discs/FW's... and given the need for some level of accuracy in AP2.5 .... Plus add-in the 'random-generated/serial-XOR'd (or whatever they are trying to bring-in personalising challenges-wise, obviously not random or XOR'd serial just my crappy example ;-) ..... anyway you get the idea... complex stuff creates complex issues

I think there's a lot more to it (M$ more than likely NOT triggering ther usual pre-Xmas ban-wave/cheap sales-boost) than what has been mentioned in this topic. There would be a number of reasons now .... Besides if they are doing their job then it will stop a pirated disc booting (but allow a privately ripped one to boot ;-)

It has nothing to do with backup copies having bunk AP 2.5 data. People have been failing AP 2.5 challenges because of a weak lasers and scratched up disks, and from my understanding, there is no differentiation between failures from either disk.

Just recently, MS also mistakenly banned a number of legitimate stock firmware users due to a "bug" in the software they used for banning. Microsoft is not going to risk banning legitimate users to weed out the CFW user base on a large scale unless they sure as hell have a full proof anti-piracy system. They're not there yet with AP 2.5.

Ms has no problems with backups from booting offline, just that they don't want it online. As it violates the TOS and the COC.

How do you do it? You mean clearing the cache? That didn't work for me.

you are joking right? m$ hates copies of any kind and cfw the only reason youre not all banned is that their system is not reliable YET! the FEW who got banned accidentaly have just caused m$ to be carefull i've no doubt once they are ready there WILL BE A BAN WAVE you can count on that!
m$ say ALL COPIES ARE VIOLATION EITHER OF T/C OR COC
even if you buy a dedicated copying drive you still have to hack the drive at least play them so actually
THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A LEGAL BACKUP!
M$ WONT CARE IF YOU RIPPED THEM OR A PIRATE DID WHEN THEY ARE READY THEY WILL BAN YOU!

Well I really think that depends which country you live in - most countries have different copyright laws.

I know that currently in Australia backups are illegal as creating them would involve the circumvention of TPMs... the only exception being if the game is region-locked - in that specific case Australian laws explicitly allow you to circumvent That's why the only people ever found guilty in Australian courts since 2005 were some company selling Nintendo DS mods (because the DS games had no region locks) and another guy who uploaded his backup copy of New Super Mario Bros a week prior to its official release! No one else has ever been taken to court.

Many European countries have legal backups, as well. In the case of 360 (or more specifically, how we make backups for it), there's a large grey area as to whether or not they're legal in countries like the US - because the actual mod is to really just allow the game to run from a different media type (recordable discs), and the security and authentication process still occurs, and must pass in order to boot the game. Even patching AP2.5 data involves the user having the proper data copied from the disc, so there's really not much grounds to say that it falls under circumvention laws. Of course, this is in reference to making your own backups, and not downloading or purchasing them (even if you already own the original).

Why is he announcing this, it gives MS time to get a response sorted out.
Don't bignote yerself, either do it or don't do it.

Anyway, is it really worth the hassle people? If you want to play online, get a stock box and pay for the games. If you like them enough to play them online, then you should pay for them, programmers need to eat too.

If you are offline, then glitch or jtag your 360 and play everything off the HDD and don't have the hassle.