Xbox 360 HD DVD Drive Exposes Volume ID

The hackers and crackers sure are persistent when it comes to the war on AACS encryption. This time the target was the Xbox 360 HD DVD add on. Geremia on Doom9 forums has started a thread on how he has obtained the Volume ID without AACS authentication. With the aid of others like Arnezami they have managed to patch the Xbox 360 HD DVD add on. The drive in question is the Toshiba SD-S802A or better known as the Xbox360 HD DVD Drive. Remember that recently AACS released a patch for WinDVD, HD DVD and BD players that caused a revocation to the keys used to decrypt HD DVD and BD disc. The update requires that you update your software/hardware or you will never be able to watch newly manufactured HD DVDs or Blu-Ray disc. While this patch isn’t vital yet for those that want to backup their HD DVD collection, it could soon provide the hackers as well as private individuals with the key needed to decrypt the newly manufactured HD DVDs or Blu-Ray disc.

Most people will want to know why this important. I have posted some common questions and answers to make more sense as to why this would benefit you.

Q. What does patching the Xbox 360 HD DVD drive do exactly for me?

A. Patching the HD DVD drive allows us to get the Volume ID of that disc when the disc is inserted in the the HD DVD drive without the need of a special key (called a Host Private Key).

Q. How would flashing my 360 HD DVD drive benefit me?

A. If in several weeks when the new discs are released that contain new Volume IDs, this may be one of the few ways to get the Volume ID which is needed to decrypt/backup your discs.

Q. Do i need to patch my HD DVD drive now?

A. No, but when the new HD DVD disc are released you could patch your drive to obtain the new Volume ID to make backups like before.

Update.

It appears that XT5 has released a application that allows the Volume ID to be read without the need to rewrite the firmware. This would mean that anyone could simply plug in the HD DVD drive and obtain the Volume ID from any HD DVD without the hassle of flashing it. Good work XT5

Source Doom9

Xbox 360: now with H.264, MPEG-4, PlaysForSure

Microsoft has snuck in some great new additions to the upcoming Spring Dashboard release. Beginning the week of May 7, 2007, the Xbox 360 Spring Update will provide Xbox 360 owners worldwide with access to Windows Live Messenger features, broadening the communication options on the Xbox Live social network. Including the ability to streaming MPEG-4 Part 2 video support Up to 8 Mbps, H.264 up to 15Mbps, and PlaysForSure WMV videos (and, as we understand it, PlaysForSure audio as well). You may not even notice all the new features, but they are all designed to enhance your Xbox Live experience.

Some of the other features in this upgrade include:

• The name of game in tray is now displayed in the dashboard.
• When the user is in the dashboard and an Xbox 360 game is in the console then the name of the game is displayed in the tray icon of the dashboard. If the user highlights the tray icon then achievements and gamer score are displayed for that game based on the signed in user. Xbox1 games show the name and image of the game.
• Integrated support for the new Xbox 360 text input device. Note that this device includes a new wired headset.
• Playback progress bar indicates download completion.
• Switchable aspect ratio now available during video playback (Auto to Letterbox, Zoom, Stretch, Native).
• Player and friends lists now quickly show session presence information for quick identification of users that are joinable.
• H.264 video support: Up to 15 Mbps, Baseline, Main, and High (up to level 4.1) Profiles with 2 channel AAC LC and Main Profiles.
• Added MPEG-4 Part 2 video support: Up to 8 Mbps, Simple Profile with 2 channel AAC LC and Main Profiles.