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How the Xbox 360 knows if your hard drive is genuine

eaton-works.com

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Re: How the Xbox 360 knows if your hard drive is genuine

#41
post #15

May the logo have been included so that the security sector could not be distributed under copyright law?

That was my thought upon reading that as well. I think Nintendo pioneered this strategy with the Gameboy - if the cartridge didn't start by showing the Nintendo logo, the Gameboy would not boot. And if you used the Nintendo logo without licensing it, it was trademark infringement. Clever way to prevent un-licensed third-party cartridges.

That was (of course?) eventually defeated: https://dhole.github.io/post/gameboy_custom_logo/

Re: How the Xbox 360 knows if your hard drive is genuine

#42
post #27

Regular blog posts about x360? The statute of limitations is over, it's time to revel in nostalgia :D Eaton's gonna be spoiling us, dude has always been an overachiever. By the way, you DID save my original 20gb security partition - I never told you, I don't think, but I had the original MS backup cable and your software right as that was figured out. Can't wait for the ultimate "KV.bin" write-up... >>:"Why would MS…

[deleted]

Re: How the Xbox 360 knows if your hard drive is genuine

#43
post #15

May the logo have been included so that the security sector could not be distributed under copyright law?

That was my thought upon reading that as well. I think Nintendo pioneered this strategy with the Gameboy - if the cartridge didn't start by showing the Nintendo logo, the Gameboy would not boot. And if you used the Nintendo logo without licensing it, it was trademark infringement. Clever way to prevent un-licensed third-party cartridges.

This didn't work though, as courts don't like it when you (ab)use copyright/trademark like that.

Re: How the Xbox 360 knows if your hard drive is genuine

#44
post #15

May the logo have been included so that the security sector could not be distributed under copyright law?

That was a tactic Nintendo used with the gameboy. The courts eventually decided that the logo, when used as an access token like that, no longer qualified for the creative component required for copyright protection.

Interesting, I was not aware of this. It appears this was the case:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sega_v._Accolade

Re: How the Xbox 360 knows if your hard drive is genuine

#45
post #15

May the logo have been included so that the security sector could not be distributed under copyright law?

Seems plausible, since otherwise it would be fairly simple for a third-party accessory vendor to create compatible drives that could legally sell in all the usual places you can buy console accessories.

Trademark isn't going to stop modders, but it would have been effective against legitimate accessory vendors and retailers.

Re: How the Xbox 360 knows if your hard drive is genuine

#46

stuff like this is outrageous. i got a steam deck a few weeks ago and decided to grab the base model and an $80 512GB NVMe drive on newegg. the install was easy and i saved a ton of money. that's how hardware should work, especially stuff as easy as drives/RAM.

I love how hackable they made the Steam Deck, you can easily find replacement parts as well. I even remember someone got an external graphics card working on one by using the NVME slot and an adapter to connect it. Of course, that kinda defeats the whole purpose of the Steam Deck lol

Repairability and general hackability are core design goals of the Steam Deck compared to other devices. On the software side, they don't hide the desktop Linux core.

Re: How the Xbox 360 knows if your hard drive is genuine

#48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

However, it would have been effective at preventing people from selling modified HDDs commercially.

It really wouldn't. Courts don't like it when you misuse copyright like that.

It would seem so. But, it doesn't cost anything to try.

Re: How the Xbox 360 knows if your hard drive is genuine

#49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That was my thought upon reading that as well. I think Nintendo pioneered this strategy with the Gameboy - if the cartridge didn't start by showing the Nintendo logo, the Gameboy would not boot. And if you used the Nintendo logo without licensing it, it was trademark infringement. Clever way to prevent un-licensed third-party cartridges.

That was (of course?) eventually defeated: https://dhole.github.io/post/gameboy_custom_logo/

According to legend at least this was defeated pretty early with Argonaut Software submitting a GB proof of concept that bypassed the boot screen (and was also 3D!). This ended up becoming the game "X".

Re: How the Xbox 360 knows if your hard drive is genuine

#50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It really wouldn't. Courts don't like it when you misuse copyright like that.

It would seem so. But, it doesn't cost anything to try.

Sega tried and lost in court, so in that sense it did cost them to try as they had to pay for counsel which ultimately wasn't even successful.
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