[Gllug] xbox linux

[Richard Cohen]

On Sun, 17 Oct 2004 18:17:35 +0100, Sean Burlington
<sean at uncertainty.org.uk> wrote:
> Hi all,
>         has anyone here got experience of setting up linux on the Xbox ?
> 
> I've recently been using www.mythtv.org - it's fantastic and now I
> really want Linux in the living room.
> 
> XBox linux looks like the cheapest option - and I quite like the idea of
> a MicroSoft discount  :)
> 
> This - www.xbox-linux.org - is quite informative - but I'd love to hear
> from someone who has actually done it.
> 
> If I do go ahead with this it looks like I need a specific game and
> homebrew cable - I don't suppose anyone here has these items and would
> be willing to loan them ?
> 
> Does anyone know how noisy an XBox is ?
> 
> I was originally planning to go the mini-itx route which would be silent
> but much more expensive.

I've done it...

I bought a second-hand xbox and a remote (which I've not used yet)
earlier in the year, to use as a media station - not so much for TV,
since I've got a TiVo for that, more for downloaded stuff, since I
download a lot of TV nowadays :-)

There are two levels of Linux on the xbox - the software level and the
hardware level.  The software level involves using a hole in an xbox
game (or the built-in software, but that hole has been fixed, AIUI) to
load arbitrary code from a signed binary, to get around the fact that
the BIOS will only boot signed code.  The arbitrary code used is, of
course, a Linux bootloader which then loads a full Linux system - the
xbox can read off-the-shelf USB memory thingies as 'memory cards' with
the right adapter, so you can just put a carefully-crafted save game
on a USB thingy and exploit the hole in the game.  That lets you boot
Linux, but each time you reboot the machine, you're back in the xbox
world.

The hardware level involves soldering a couple of tiny wires onto the
motherboard, to activate the flashing chips of the on-board BIOS chip,
booting into Linux using the software method, and replacing the BIOS
with one which will boot Linux.  At that point, you just put in a
(special - since it still needs a slightly tweaked kernel) install CD
and off you go.  The only real downside of this level is that you
can't play xbox games on it any more - I don't know if you plan to
play games on it, but I didn't...

To get to the hardware level, there are a few obstacles:  getting the
right game; getting the specially-crafted save file to exploit the
hole in the game; getting an adapter to plug a USB thingy into the
xbox; possibly getting a USB thingy; opening up the machine and
soldering the wires on the board.  Most of these things don't fit into
my idea of fun, so I took a short-cut :-)  There is a long list on the
xbox-linux page of developers around the world who will help out new
users and who have the tools and experience to do what needs to be
done - and one of them is in Hatfield, which is about a 15-minute
drive from my home...  I took him a bag of beer to thank him, he did
the stuff, and I came home with a 'fixed' xbox.  If you're going to go
the hardware route - and I suggest you do, if you want to use it as a
media player - I'd really suggest finding the nearest helpful
developer and asking for physical help with it - I don't know how far
Hatfield is from you, but I know the guy there did a good job for me. 
Once it's been fixed, it's just a software thing, and that's easy...

If you just want to go the software route, you'll need to get the
right game and the save-game file, but I've got a USB to xbox adapter
you could borrow.

As for the noise, it's not quiet.  It's not modern-powerful-PC loud,
but it's not fanless-quiet.  If you have it on and playing something
on TV, you probably won't notice the noise, but if there's nothing
else in the room making a noise, you'll notice it.

Oh, and I haven't followed up on it, since I've been a little busy
recently, but I did ask the bloke in Hatfield if he fancied coming to
GLLUG to talk about this sometime - possibly do a demo install and
stuff.  He did say probably :-)

Hmm... long mail...

Cheers
Richard
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