So, in the same week that Sony yanks features away from legit owners of stock, un-modded, PS3 systems Microsoft turns around and RESTORES features to owners of modded and banned Xbox 360s. If you had a banned system from last fall, MS invalidated the security key of the system so that it could no longer sign any trusted content. This was quite arguably 100% legal as hard drives and memory cards still worked, by any profiles and/or saves that were touched by the banned system would forever be stuck on the banned system. They could never move back to a "legit" system. Thing is the "Install to Hard Drive" feature relied on the same signing mechanism, so banned consoles were no longer able to use that feature. The newest retail system update (9199) which was released last night restores the "Install to Hard Drive" feature on the modded/banned consoles. Profiles are still prevented from moving to a legit system, but owners of banned hardware now have an additional feature available to them. -hl718
Or lawsuit prevention. The "Install to Hard Drive" feature wasn't a Live feature but it relied on the same security system. So it died when the consoles were banned and the security keys revoked. To re-enable that feature would have required specific programming effort on Microsoft's part. As in, it wouldn't just happen via happenstance. My guess? They realized that while they could defend the move in court if they were sued, it was easier to restore it and not give anyone an opening to complain about it. -hl718
That's really weird. I'd test if I could, but I sold my banned box on eBay when the bannings first occurred. How would you update if you were banned?
In b4 new hacks and file explorers pop up to hack this new feature to enable... piracy among otherthings...
1) Grab the SU cache file off an existing updated drive (or just take a hard drive or memory unit off an already updated console and plug it into a banned one) 2) Download the 9199 update from Xbox.com as soon as it is posted (what most people will do) 3) Use a game with the 9199 update on the disc to update your banned system. MS has always made the updates available on Xbox.com for those users who aren't connected to Live. All banned systems are already on 8xxx and JTAG blocked. So no "new hax" with this. The systems are still banned, it just means that the owners of said systems can once again use the install to hard drive feature. They still can't run homebrew of any sort. -hl718
I've yet to read a single substansiated instance anywhere on the 'net of an "incorrect banning" over the pirated Forza 3 copies. Lots of folks made the claim, but curiously no one could ever produce a receipt. Even if there were, this doesn't "unban" the console in question so it would not be a remedy of any sort for someone banned incorrectly. An incorrect ban could be fixed with a flip of the switch at Microsoft. It wouldn't need a firmware update. -hl718
My cousin was affected by the forza 3 banning. He bought it from the local tesco which sold them i think it was nearly a week early. He has provided a receipt and is still yet to be unbanned
