How To: Burn activate.iso on Mac OS X
At the request of one of my readers, I am making a short tutorial on how to burn activate.iso on Mac OS X. This is a fairly simple process, however I will cover it in as much detail as possible.
Tools Needed:
The activate.iso file ( Download )
Disk Utility ( Applications -> Utilities -> Disk Utility )
A Blank Dual Layer DVD
The Tutorial:
Download the activate.iso file from the above list of tools. Once downloaded, you need to extract it, since it will be in a compressed zip format.
Open Disk Utility ( Applications -> Utilities -> Disk Utility ) – you should see a screen similar to the below
Disk Utility
Click on Burn, you will see a browse window similar to the image below, browse to the location where you downloaded and extracted the activate.iso file. Highlight activate.iso, then click on Burn.
Disk Utility - Browse
After clicking on Burn, the browse dialog will disappear and you will see a new window, similar to the following image. At this point you will need to insert your disk. When Disk Utility recognizes that a blank dual layer disk has been inserted, it will enable the Burn button. All you need to do now is click Burn.
Disk Utility - Burn
After the burn has completed you will most likely need to reboot your Mac to remove the disk since for me anyway OS X did not recognize that there was a disk in the drive after the burn completed and therefore did not let me eject the disk while I was in the operating system. So what you need to do is reboot your Mac and eject the disk using the eject button before your Mac boots back up completely.
So that’s it for the tutorial, nothing special, just use good old Disk Utility to burn and you’re all set.
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thanks..lol i didnt know it was that simple
I did everything you said and when I put it into my Xbox it comes up with the white screen saying “You must put this disc in an Xbox to use”, which is normal, but then just stays there, it never says anything about “Pressing A to play a DVD”… Any thoughts??!?!?!!
Adam,
You do have your 360 flashed with iXtreme 1.6 right ?
Chris
Chris,
I get the exact same message that Adam gets about” You must put this disc in an Xbox to use” my 360 is flashed with iXtreme 1.6. Any ideas…..?
Ariel,
Honestly, come to think of it, that’s all its supposed to do, after you get that screen, hit the eject button and then put in the wave 4 game and it should load right up.
Let us know if that works for you.
Chris
Ok just tried it again and played the DVD a green screen flashes really quickly then I get a white screen reading in several different languages, “To play this disc, put it in an Xbox 360 console. I then eject the game the xbox goes back to the home display and put in the wave 4 game and i am sitting at the XBOX360 logo with nothing else…..
Thanks
Ariel
Sounds like you are doing it right, in either case here are the steps I take.
1. Turn on the Xbox 360 and wait for the Dashboard to come up.
2. Put in the activation disc, it should auto play and then go to the white screen
3. Eject the activation disc, wait for the dashboard to come up.
4. Put in the wave 4 game and play
Is that what you are doing ?
Yup, thats exactly what I am doing, now when you get that white screen do you get the same message that I received? I am going to try and reburn the iso file tomorrow and give it a shot again. Thanks for all your help.
Ariel,
Tried it just now to verify, and yes I do get the same white screen. Just out of curiosity, which game is it ? and are you sure you have version 1.6 of ixtreme
Chris
Yup absolutely positive I have 1.6 of iXtreme. The game is call of duty MW2. I tired other wave 4 games with the same result.
Its very odd.
It’s odd indeed, the only thing I can offer you is, you can ship the disc that you burned to me and I can test it out ? If it doesn’t work for me then I guess I could sell you one, for $5.00 if you want.
The same problem here, the xbox 360 just plays the file like it’s an video dvd.
When i eject, the home screen returns.
So i guess something is not right about your tutorial.
There is nothing wrong with the tutorial, its supposed to return to the home screen when you eject the activation disc, after it returns to the home screen is when you are supposed to put your wave for game in.
Hey Guys,
Same issues as some of the above.
PROBLEM:
Cannot play the following Wave 4 burned Games on xbox360:
MODERN WARFARE 2 & DRAGON AGE ORIGINS
Config:
Drive: Samsung / Ben-Q – 1.6 (banned from live)
System: Mac OSX (Snow Leopard)
ISO Source: Downloaded via Zarth (xbox360iso.com)
Tools Used: ABGX360(ver 1.0.2), iburn360, OSx360, RARMachine1.1.3, JDownloader, mac disk utility.
DVD: Verbatim DVD+R DL (burned at 2.4x)
Steps:
Downloaded Both Games from xbox360is.com (via jdownloader)
-Extracted using RARMachine
Ran ISO’s Through ABGX360(no errors everything green and good)
Followed Chris Fletchers tutorial on burning activate.iso
Tried burning Dragon Origins via iburn360 – didn’t work
Then Tried burning Modern Warfare2 via OSx360 – still didn’t work
Placed activate.iso into 360, pressed A to play the DVD and get the proper load screen, then when I swap the disc to the WAVE 4 Game, get the same SCREEN on both Games, (BIG WHITE SCREEN THAT SAYS XBOX 360, then stuck there with no further progress).
Am I missing something? I am a total NOOB, any further assistance would definitely be appreciated! thanks
Side Notes:
activate.iso process:
-appears to have been burned correctly as per tutorial
-Used Mac Disk Utility (although I am weary of this because other tutorials say you have to set the recording to single layer instead of dual layer… i’m not sure how disk utility handles this by default).
when iburn360 failed to load the game, i tried osx360 but still failed to load the 2nd wave 4 game
All other games work fine that are not WAVE 4
Exactly the same problem here. But I just youtubed it and found out that this guy on youtube went to his settings put autostart off, so that the game doenst start when u put it in but just remains on the homescreen. Then when it loaded the disk and says press a to play dvd u eject the activation disc and put in ur game, then it loads it and says press a to play game. Press a and be happy
looks good to me but I can’t try it rite now cuz Im in school.. I’ll try it as soon as I’m home and then I’ll let u know if it worked. Can’t wait to plaz mw2 =)
Hey guys, not sure if this might make a difference but what version of OS X is everyone that’s having problems using ?
worked for me..thanks
Hey Dan,
I tried disabling the auto start but still no luck
I am on OSX v 10.6.2 (snow leopard)
the only possibilities I can think of for this not working is
A) I may not have the right firmware.
B) I need to re-download and re burn the activate.iso from this site (I had previously downloaded it from xbox360iso
C) Get my friend on PC to burn the activate.iso & Modern Warfare for me, so I can further diagnose the exact issue.
Thanks anyways everyone, and if any one has any further luck please post! thanks
PS. Thanks Chris for posting these tutorials either way, and trying to help out! Much Appreciated!
Same problems here. Though I’ve burned the game using iBurn 360, and noticed that I didn’t changed anything in my layer break ( which should not be the usual 1913760 I suppose? )
Like someone above me allready said: I’ts the best to disable the auto-play settings, in the settings menu of your Dashboard.
I’m about to try again using Disk Utility, but I don’t get any confirmation here that this will do right…
But thanks for the help anyway..
( don’t know how to say that 
)
I’ll let you guys know if it works..
Xcuse me for my English, it’s not my mother-langue
Grizz,
There have been a few that have confirmed that its working, I can also confirm that this works.
Please let us know your findings.
Chris
i too have a 1.6 flashed 360. and i get the frozen xbox screen after doing this tutorial. 3 different wave 4 games to not play.
This worked for me! Thanks for this! I appreciate the fact that people actually take the time to make these.. I’M SO HAPPY RIGHT NOW!! AHHH! I just played Modern Warfare 2… amazing.
works for me and mw2.
benQ 1.6
thanks buddy
You’re welcome, thanks for sharing the info
You’re welcome.
Ariel, have THE EXACTLY SAME PROBLEM, ou solved it ?! dont know what do do anymore ;(.
Thanks a ton, man! I had NO idea how to go about this, as simple as it may have been. My heart sunk after I saw that Assassin’s Creed 2 wasn’t working, but now…
If this worked for you would please tell us what version of OS X you’re using? I’m wondering if SnowLeopard is a problem.
I’m on Snow Leopard 10.6.1
Works like a charm! Didn’t think it would be this simpe, thank’s Chris your the man!
worked!
liteon 1.6
verbatim media
osx SL 10.6.2
tested with tekken 6
Works great for me on LiteOne 1.6
Thanks
Issue was resolved, I tested all the files in this tutorial on a friends XBOX and it worked great!
-so the problem is with my xbox
because I have a BENQ drive, I had my xbox modded down to the oldest possible firmware, I can now play wave 4 games with no problems (no need for activate.iso)
hope that information helps anyone else who was having the same problem as myself.
I have the same problem as everybody else with this problem. That is, I put in my activate.iso disc, eject after it has loaded and then insert my wave 4 game. Also the other method, with auto-start on. Still doesn’t work.
Lite-On with ix 1.60.
10.5.8 Leopard.
Maybe this doesn’t work for some 360’s, is it possible?
Thanks //
Hi leo can u plz explain exactly how u got it fixed i think i have the same problem also..
I followed these directions to a T and I’m still getting Unplayable Disc. 2 Verbatim coasters down.
Thanks! Great tutorial.
Mac makes life alot easier
I have Liteon 1.6
twas the night before xmas…….AND THIS WORKED PERFECTLY!
Arcade xbox with liteon drive updated to fw iX 1.6. This saved my bacon! Thanks Chris!!!!!!!
Uncanny,
You’re welcome, glad you found it useful.
Chris
Thank you so much for this, it seems now finally my xbox 360 reads Assassin’s Creed 2! (hopefully it will keep on working xD)
Btw, I have liteon, ixtreme v 1.6
Prisca
Prisca,
Thanks for sharing,
Chris
This is to help anyone who cannot seem to get the .iso disc to work.
First time I attempted to use this guide, I followed directions exactly and ended up with an activation disc that seemed to not be able to work. I inserted disc into xbox360 and the screen flashed and I came up with “please insert into xbox screen”. I attempted all I could with this disc, different load intervals, different buttons. This was all to no avail. I, for one, know that my Wave 4 game (MW2) is good, it’s just not passing the security check, as a screen pops up that says something along the lines of, “Update or you can’t play”. My xbox isn’t connected to the internet. Even so, I’ve tried pressing update and that did nothing but “show” that it was updating and reloaded the xbox. The same security screen came up. I’ve deemed the first activate disc as a coaster. This .iso i downloaded from T.P.B. Probably corrupted it in the process of unpacking it.
Second disc, downloaded from a new source. Risked a second disc and burned the exact same method (make sure you burn on 2.4x, by the way. Your picture says 4.0, but that’s prone to mistakes). Got it to work, my heart stopped and the world stood still.
Thanks for the guide,
Yaroslav
Yaroslav,
Thank you for the detailed instructions. I would appreciate it if anyone having problems would give this a try and let the rest of us know how it worked.
Chris
I tried everything above autostart off activate iso burn at 2.4 I put the activate disk in says to play dvd hit a then the white screen comes up please put in xbox to play hit the eject button and then put in mass effect 2 and then it just says open tray… Wasted 3 disks and looking for help
liteon drive
flashed with ixtreme 1.7 I was told