So apparently there are some tutorials floating around that show you how to convert wave 4 games to wave 3 games. What most of them don’t tell you is that by doing this, you are setting yourself up to get banned from Xbox Live.

Patience truly is a virtue here. I know everyone is eager to play Tekken 6 and a few of the other wave 4 releases. I honestly don’t see problem with it as long as you play those games offline. Is it really worth the risk of getting banned ?

For those of you that absolutely must play wave 4 games, I have listed the tutorial for you below on how to convert wave 4 games to wave 3 games, but again please don’t play on Live with these games because there is a very good chance that you will get banned. What this hack does is it uses a wave 3 video file and since the sizes between the wave 4 and wave 3 video files differ, you will receive CRC errors in abgx360.

Here’s the tutorial:

You’ll need the following software:

• Xbox Backup Creator 2.9 ( Download Windows )
• abgx360 ( Download Mac | Download Windows )
• The wave 3 to wave 4 pack ( Download )

NOTE: You can use either Xbox Backup Creator or abgx360 to patch the wave 4 game to a wave 3 game. I’ve put together 2 tutorials. One using Xbox Backup Creator to patch and then abgx360 for verification. The other one is at the bottom and uses abgx360 for both patching and verification.

Using Xbox Backup Creator

1. Under Action, change it from extract to inject
2. Click on PFI Sector and choose the ISO of the game and then choose the PFI file provided with the wave 4 to wave 3 packs.
3. Click on Video Section and choose your game ISO and then choose the provided video file
4. That’s it for Xbox Backup Creator

Using abgx360

1. Open your ISO
2. Put check marks in the following on the Options Tab
   Check/Create .dvd file
   Check Stealth
   Verify is Stealth Passes
   Check/Fix Video padding
   Use Colors
   Check for updates
   Check Game Partition CRC when needed
3. On the Manually Patch or Extract Files Tab make sure nothing is selected.
4. On the AutoFix Tab Check Mark the following
   Adjust angle 359 for iXtreme < v1.4
   Fix C/R Table if data is invalid
   Adjust angles that deviate more than 3 degrees from their CCRT targets
   AutoFix Threshold – Level 3
5. On the Misc Tab
   SplitVid: Add it if it doesn’t exist or isn’t valid
   Images: Extract images when using HTML output
6. Click on Launch
7. abgx360 will most definitely present you with CRC errors because the game is no longer stock.
8. When abgx360 has completed you can go ahead and burn your game using the regular burning method

Using Only abgx360 to perform the hack and verify

1. Open your ISO
2. Put check marks in the following on the Options Tab
   Check/Create .dvd file
   Check Stealth
   Verify is Stealth Passes
   Check/Fix Video padding
   Use Colors
   Check for updates
   Check Game Partition CRC when needed
3. On the Manually Patch or Extract Files Tab do the following
   Check Patch even if stealth passes
   Check Patch even if these files are invalid
   Check Patch Video
   Check Patch PFI
4. Still on the Manually Patch or Extract Files Tab, next to Patch Video you should see an empty text box and a gray button with 3 dots, click on that button and choose the Video File from the pack. Do the same thing for Patch PFI and choose the PFI file from the pack
5. On the AutoFix Tab Check Mark the following
   Adjust angle 359 for iXtreme < v1.4
   Fix C/R Table if data is invalid
   Adjust angles that deviate more than 3 degrees from their CCRT targets
   AutoFix Threshold – Level 3
6. On the Misc Tab
   SplitVid: Add it if it doesn’t exist or isn’t valid
   Images: Extract images when using HTML output
7. Click on Launch and wait for abgx360 to finish patching the ISO when abgx360 reads Press any key to exit … then it has completed patching.
8. You can now close abgx360 and re-open it to verify that the ISO is indeed a wave 3 now.

I myself haven’t tried this particular tutorial, I just placed it here from gathering bits and pieces online. I would urge you to do this as a last resort and remember not to play these modified / downgraded to wave 3 games on Live.

So… Microsoft just recently went through a wave of banning a small percentage of modded Xbox 360’s from Xbox Live. After receiving feedback from several of my readers, whose consoles have been banned recently, I thought I would share some valuable information with the rest of my readers.

Here is some information about the XBox 360’s from the feedback I received:

Lite-On Drives A0A1
iXtreme 1.51

To the best of my knowledge, the games that were played were correctly stealth patched and not pre-releases of any major game titles.

So, my suggestion is, DO NOT play any backups on XBox Live. If you absolutely must play a game on Xbox Live, make sure that it is an original game. That is the best advice I can offer in regards to not being banned from Xbox Live. If anyone is questioning if it is possible to reverse the ban of a banned Xbox 360, I am here to inform you that as of today there is no way to reverse a ban.

The following information is for informational purposes only and may be considered illegal in some states or countries. Please use this information at your own risk and do not ask me for any help or further information.

A few friends of mine have successfully been able to obtain a new XBox 360 after theirs has been banned. What they did is go to K-Mart or Wal-Mart and purchased a new XBox 360. They then opened the box, took out the new 360 and replaced it with their banned one and then took it back to the store for a refund. The only thing that MUST be done to do this successfully is switch the serial numbers of the 2 XBox 360’s so that the banned one matches the serial number on the box and sometimes on the receipt as well.

Like I said above, I do not encourage this method, I do not endorse this method, I have never used this method but know that it works. Do this at your own risk, I will not be held responsible in case something bad happens to you for doing anything mentioned above.

Hopefully this post has been educational and I wish you all the best of luck with not getting banned from Xbox Live. Have a good weekend everyone.

At this time I’d like to welcome anyone that has a broken or damaged / non-working XBox 360 to send it to me. XBox 360’s I receive will be used for testing purposes, for releasing new software, etc…

If I receive enough working / non- working / damaged XBox 360’s I will try to get some of them to work by swapping parts from other systems. I hope to have some systems working by Christmas time and on Christmas day I will have a drawing that people can enter to win modded XBox 360’s and will include a little certificate listing every person that donates either a used one, a non-working one or just parts.

This is just me wanting to help out and give back during the holiday’s. Times are rough for a lot of people right now including me and it would be nice to be able to give back to the community.

I’d like to thank everyone in advance for their donations and promise that I wont let your donations go to waste. It’s for a good cause.

Please contact me for shipping details and any other questions you might have.

As many of you may have noticed, Wave 4 games have started surfacing and if you have a previously flashed Lite-On drive with iXtreme 1.51 or lower, you will not be able to play any Wave 4 games.

However, using iXtreme 1.6 together with a special Activation disk, you can play all of the new Wave 4 titles. I have personally tested this and it does work, playing a backup of Tekken 6 as I write this post. I have previously flashed drives for several of my readers, any drive I have previously flashed, was flashed with iXtreme 1.51.

For anyone that has had their drive flashed by me, I am offering a $25.00 firmware update and will also include the activation disk when shipping the drive back. For anyone that has not had their drive flashed by me, I am offering for a limited time a firmware upgrade with activation disk for $30.00. Contact me for instructions.

If you have a drive that has not been modded and would like to play backups then I will continue to offer my services for $50.00 per mod for all Lite-On A0A1, BenQ, and Hitachi Drives.

A second generation of Lite-On Drives has started surfacing, A0A2 83850C. These drives require a different procedure for flashing. I am charging $60.00 for modding these drives. Please check on your drive lid for your HWVer and FWVer.

Note: As of today any drives that are shipped to me for modding will be flashed using iXtreme 1.6. If you would like your drive modded please contact me for more information.

Let’s face it, without a spoiler, your car just looks, well… naked. If you’ve thought about getting a spoiler for your car, you should definitely check out carid.com

carid.com will take extra special care to match you with the perfect spoiler, not to just match your car but also your style. So if you want to get yourself a spoiler click here, spoilers

This tutorial should work no matter which operating system you are on, however I am writing it with more emphasis on how to do it on a Mac, since there isn’t any software that will help with backing up original Wii Games on a Mac.

The best thing about this Guide is that if your Wii has a mod chip installed and you have an SD card and a home network, then you wont have to spend any money on any additional hardware. So on to the guide.

Prerequisites:

• Wii with a mod chip
• Wii with Version 3.2 ( If your version is higher then 3.2 then you must downgrade )
• Wii connected to your network
• A Mac connected to your network
• An SD Card ( Must be less then 2GB )

Required Software:

• WiiOSx Tool - A custom application I developed to aid the process and make life easy. WiiOSx Tool will format your SD Card to the proper specifications, prepare your SD card to install the Homebrew Channel, prepare your SD card to install custom IOS and the Wii HTTP server. Finally, WiiOSx will make it easy to download your ISO. Go ahead and download WiiOSx Tool, install and launch it and then proceed to Step 1.NOTE: Only works on OS X 10.5 ( Leopard ) 

 

Step 1: Preparing Your SD Card

The first thing we need to do is prepare the SD card. We will need to format the SD card with FAT16 and then add the necessary applications to it. To do this follow the steps below:

Formatting Your SD Card:

1. Launch WiiOSx Tool
2. Click the Format SD Card Tab
3. Select your SD Card from the Drop Down
4. Enter A New Name for your SD Card ( It can be the same name as the current card name )
5. Click Format SD Card

Preparing the SD Card for Homebrew Channel Installation:

If you already have the Homebrew Channel installed, you can skip this part and go on to Step 2

1. In WiiOSx Tool click on the BannerBomb Hack Tab
2. Select your SD Card from the Drop Down
3. Choose a version from the Drop Down ( Start with the first and work your way down until one of them works )
4. Make sure Erase Card is checked.
5. Click Make BannerBomb SD Card
6. Take the SD Card and put it into your Wii’s SD Card Slot
7. Press (Wii), Data Management, Channels, SD. It should either pop up Load boot.dol/elf? or freeze. If it freezes then repeat steps 1 through 5 and choose a different version.
8. Click Yes and Install Homebrew Channel

 

Step 2: Checking Your Wii’s Current Version

The first thing we need to do is check which menu version your Wii currently uses. To do this follow the steps below:

1. Turn on your Wii
2. On the bottom left hand corner of the Wii menu you should see the Wii Logo. Click on it
3. Then Click on Settings
4. On the top left corner of the screen you should see your version
5. If your version is higher then 3.2 then continue to Step 3.
6. If your version is 3.2 then continue to Step 5.

 

Step 3: Fixing Your Wii

This is a step you need to take if your version is above 3.2 before we begin, we need to prepare the SD Card with the necessary files. If you haven’t formatted your SD Card yet, then follow the beginning of the tutorial. If your SD card has been formatted already then all you need to do is as follows:

• Launch WiiOSx Tool
• Click on the Additional Apps Tab
• Select your SD Card from the Drop Down
• Make sure Erase Card is selected
• Then click on Add Applications
• Wait for it to finish and then insert your SD Card into the Wii’s SD Slot

Follow the steps below to Fix your Wii (This fix will enable WAD’s to run properly on your Wii)

1. Update your Wii to the latest version. 
2. Using “The Homebrew Channel”, open “WAD Manager”.
3. Press “A” on the Wii Remote once. The Wii should detect a SD Card. Press “A” again to see a list of WADs on the SD Card. Use the “D-Pad” to select “IOS16-64-v257-prod.wad”. Press “+” to install the WAD. Once installed, press the “Home” button, to restart you Wii.
4. Using “The Homebrew Channel”, open “Custom Manager”. Using the same method as in “Step 3″, install the “cIOS_Fix.wad”. Once installed, press the “Home” button, to restart you Wii.
5. Using the ‘Homebrew Channel’, open ‘IOS Downgrader’. Just follow the instructions on the screen and wait until it finishes installing the necessary IOSs.
6. Using “The Homebrew Channel”, open “Install Shop IOS51″. Use the “D-Pad” to select “Yes”, and install “IOS51″, by pressing “A”. Use the “D-Pad” to select “Yes”, and install the IOS Patch, by pressing “A”. Use the “D-Pad” to select “No”, and DO NOT install the “Wii Shop Channel”.
7. Using the ‘Homebrew Channel’, open ‘WAD Manager ’. Install ‘WAD MANAGER 1.3’. 
8. The Wii is now able to install WADs and Homebrew Apps should work properly now. 

 

Step 4: Downgrading Your Wii To 3.2

1. Using “The Homebrew Channel”, open “Firmware Downgrader”.
2. Press the ‘A’ button on the Wii Remote. You should be presented with a list of different firmware versions. Select and press ‘A’ on one of the following:
   - 3.2J = Japan Firmware
   - 3.2U = American Firmware
   - 3.2E = Europe Firmware
3. Press the “Home” button on the Wii Remote to restart the Wii. 
4. Using “The Homebrew Channel”, open “Install Shop IOS51″.
5. Use the “D-Pad” to select “Yes”, and install “IOS51″, by pressing “A”. Use the “D-Pad” to select “Yes”, and install the IOS Patch, by pressing “A”. Use the “D-Pad” to select “Yes”, and install the “Wii Shop Channel”
6. Using “The Homebrew Channel”, open “Mii Channel Updater”.
7. Use the “D-Pad” to select “Yes”, and install “Updated Mii Channel”, by pressing “A”.
8. You are now on the Wii Firmware 3.2X and can use the Mii Channel and Shop Channel. 

 

Step 5: Installing cIOS249

1. Start the Homebrew Channel
2.  Launch the Custom IOS249 Installer. 
3. It should only take a few seconds before the IOS is installed.

 

Step 6: Starting The HTTPD Server

1. Start the Homebrew Channel
2. Launch the WiiHTTP Dumper
3. Once it loads, it will connect to your network, and display the IP address of the Wii.
4. Insert the Wii Game that you want to backup!

 

Step 7: Downloading Your ISO

1. Launch WiiOSx Tool
2. Click on the ISO Tab
3. Type the Wii IP Address that is displayed from the HTTPD server into the Wii IP Address box
4. Click on Save ISO To, to select a location to save your ISO to.
5. Select the type of ISO you are creating, the choices are do-wii-sl.iso (Wii Single Layer Disc), do-wii-dl.iso (Wii Dual Layer Disc), do-gamecube.gcm (Game Cube Disc).
6. Click Save ISO, the process can take anywhere from 1.5 to 5 hrs. depending on your connection speed.

 

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I will not charge for WiiOSx Tool but I’m hoping that I’ll at least receive some donations for my hard work. You can use the form below to donate any amount you wish.

[donateplus] [donorwall title='Donor Recognition Wall']

So I went out and bought an XBOX 360 the other day and the first think I did after opening the box of course, is, I took it apart to have a look at the guts. I purchased the Arcade version of the 360 which came with a Lite-On DVD drive, and so the search began.

Being new to the whole XBOX community I had no idea how to go about modding it so that I can play backup’s and the tutorials on the internet are not very descriptive for a new comer. So I found a few sites with some good information and found all the tools I needed after hours of searching.

So now I’d like to give back to the community and write a very simple easy to understand tutorial, as well as providing you with all of the necessary tools and show you how to flash mod the xbox 360 to play copied games. It should be noted that this is an xbox 360 liteon drive mod and wont work for any of the other DVD drives.

This mod is considered a soft mod for the XBOX 360 and will allow you to mod the xbox 360 without a mod chip. This is done by flashing the firmware of your xbox 360 dvd-drive.

Required Software:

• ixtreme_15.rar – Download this file, it has everything we need in it. Thanks to ixtreme we can save ourselves a lot of time.

Required Hardware:

• A PC with an available SATA port as well as a COM ( DB-9 / Serial ) port.
• TX Probe, Scroll down for a schematic on how to build one, or pay me $20.00 and I’ll send you one.

Prerequisites:

• Disassemble the XBOX 360 and take out the DVD Drive – Look for a tutorial on YouTube

There are 4 Steps to this tutorial, they are:

1. Building The TX Probe ( approximately 30 min. depending on experience )
2. Preparing Your XBOX 360 DVD Drive ( approximately 15 min. depending on experience )
3. Key Dumping ( approximately 5 min. depending on experience )
4. Flashing ( approximately 5 min. depending on experience )

Total Time:

• Disassemble XBOX 360 — 30 min
• Follow My Tutorial — 55 min
• Reassemble XBOX 360 — 20 min
• Playing Any Game You Want — Timeless !!

Building The TX Probe:

For your convenience I have hyperlinked all the parts back to their respective Radio Shack links.

Parts List:

• 1 x 10K Ohm Resistor
• 1 x 1K Ohm Resistor
• 1 x NPN Transistor (2N2222)
• 1 x Female DB-9 Connector
• 1 x Male Molex Connector
• 1 x Probe, from a multimeter would be fine.

Tools List:

• Soldering Iron
• Solder
• Flux
  

Optional ( To Make It Look Nice ):

• Enclosure
• PC Board

(All of these parts should be readily available at Radio Shack)

Note: Don’t want to build one yourself ? or can’t seem to do it right ? Purchase one from me. I’m selling them for $40.00 each.

Click The Button to add it to the cart [wp_eStore:product_id:5:end]

Preparing The XBOX 360 DVD Drive:

Before we can do anything else we need to make sure that the XBOX 360’s DVD drive is half open. To do this push the eject button on the XBOX and after the drive is fully open remove the connection cable from the back of the drive and then push the tray until it is half open. DO NOT RECONNECT THE CABLE YET.

Before we reconnect the cable we need to remove pin 3. This pin controls the opening / closing of the tray. With this pin removed the XBOX will not be able to eject or close the drive tray.

Now that we have the DVD drive set the way we want we can move on to the next step.

Key Dumping:

Connect your XBOX 360’s DVD drive via the SATA cable to your computers SATA port and power on your drive. If you are powering your drive from the XBOX 360, then make sure that you removed Pin 3 from the connection cable before turning the 360 on.

Assuming that you’ve already downloaded ixtreme_1.5.rar we can move right along and open up jungleflasher.exe which you can find in the JungleFlasher .26 BETA folder within the folder that has the extracted contents of ixtreme_1.5.rar

• Go to the DVDKey32 tab and go through the I/O ports until you see the info for your liteon drive under drive properties.
• Make sure your drive is ejected and pushed in half way. Select your COM port, connect your TX Probe and probe to the Tx (R707) point while pressing the Get Key Button.
• Save all the files to a folder

Note: If you get an error saying your hardware isn’t working. check over the adapter make sure everything is correct. try testing it with a multimeter. If all else fails, you may need to buy/build a “proper” max232/max3232 adapter.

If the above step worked, dump the key another two times just to be sure you get the same key! and SAVE ALL THE BIN FILES TO A DISK OR USB STICK – THIS IS YOUR BACKUP LIFELINE.

• Go to the FirmwareTool32 tab and click Load From Dump Files.
• Select the files you saved previously, and chose where to save the dummy.bin
• Click Open Target Firmware and select ix15-liteon.bin which you extracted from ixtreme_1.5.rar. It should show YOUR KEY in the box
• Press Spoof Source to Target and save your CFW.bin

You should now have the keys dumped, and your new firmware spoofed. We can now proceed to the next and final step.

Flashing:

Now that we have everything prepared, we can flash the firmware of the DVD drive. Up until now we have not modified anything on the DVD drive. If you want you can put your XBOX 360 back together right now and it will still work.

Although its almost impossible to brick your drive with this method, there’s still that 1% chance that something can go wrong. Please know that I am not responsible for what happens to your 360. If you don’t feel comfortable doing it yourself then scroll down to the bottom and read my instructions for sending me your XBOX 360 so that I can do the mod for you.

• Turn your DVD drive off and then back on, then go to the MTK Flash 32 tab. select the sata port which displays the info for your liteon.
• Press Lite-On-Erase.
• Once you see the “…” quickly turn your drive off and back on.
• When that’s finished it should display xx72 and some flash information. this means your drive is ready to be flashed!
• Click the Write button. It should flash and verify all 4 sectors. if all goes well you are done!

Hopefully just as with my other tutorials, you have enjoyed this one or at least found it useful or helpful. Well as always if I left something out or there’s something I could simplify then leave me a comment and I’d be happy to edit the tutorial.

Purchase TX Probe:

$40.00 is all it will cost you, the TX Probe is required for Flashing Lite-On DVD drives since the drives keys need to be dumped and spoofed.

Just click the Add To Cart Button and checkout. [wp_eStore:product_id:5:end]

Purchase XBOX 360 Mod:

$50.00 Flat Fee To Mod ANY Version of the XBOX 360

Price Includes, MODDING of 360’s DVD Drive, CD containing your DVD Drives Orginal Firmware, Key, Identify and Inquiry .bin files, and one (1) backup game of your choice!

NOTE: Your Xbox360 will have to be opened to apply the hack which WILL VOID your Warranty if you have one, or you can take the Warranty sticker off under the faceplate (some are small and silver, others are a big white/green square)

I offer no compensation or guarantee for you voiding your warranty while trying to take it off, by getting me to mod your console you accept that your warranty(If still valid and not removed) WILL BE VOIDED!

How To Order:

Leave me a comment with your e-mail address and I’ll send you a payment link with a ship to address and instructions.

XBOX 360 Modding FAQ:

Q: Can my 360 be flashed back to its original unmodded state?
A: YES! When you get your 360 flashed by me, I will give you a CD which contains the DVD drives original Firmware for that very reason! Please keep the CD safe and don’t lose it.

Q: Do you offer a guarantee or replace my 360 if you break it?
A: No I offer no guarantee, but if your 360 gets messed up while flashing, I will replace it free of charge.

Q: Once my xbox 360 is modded, is there any way I can accidentally brick, break or ruin my xbox 360 or the MOD(or hack) will mess up or ruin my xbox 360?
A: NO. The MOD (or hack) is applied to the DVD drive itself, nothing inside the 360(Mainboard, CPU, GPU, etc) is touched. The MOD is a “Firmware” hack and its physically impossible for it to ruin/brick/mess up your Xbox 360.

Q: Can I play on Xbox LIVE without getting banned?
A: YES! The latest hacked firmware (iXtreme 1.51) offers excellent protection from getting banned from Xbox LIVE. There is always a risk of getting banned, but the chances are very low. You can safely play Wave 3 games now without worry of being banned! There is always a risk of getting banned, but the chances are very low. You can only be banned from playing an improperly burned game or someone who is inexperienced and flashed your xbox wrong.

Q: Do you offer compensation if I get banned from Xbox LIVE?
A: NO. I offer no guarantee/compensation of ANY kind if you get banned from XB LIVE.

Q: Is this LEGAL?
A: YES. Having backups of games is LEGAL if you own the original copy. See legal Disclaimer below…

Legal Disclaimer-

Copying or downloading games that you have not legally purchased or own is illegal in all countries. This violates not only laws in your own country, but international copyright laws as well. The purpose of the firmware hack is for making backup copies of games that you legally own. Software piracy is illegal carries a huge penalty if convicted, is ethically wrong, and hurts the game companies. Support the game developers by purchasing the games you play. You wouldn’t work for free would you? I am offering a SERVICE to those who cannot make backups of the games they legally own. I am not charging money for the game, but for materials, wear and tear on our dvd burners and for making the backup. Chris Fletcher is not affiliated with ANY of the companies, Microsoft, Xbox 360 or any others.

I recently came across a site advertising an easy way to unlock your iPhone to work with other carriers that use sim cards. The site is http://www.unlockanyiphone.net

This company has come up with an easy plug and play solution. Basically they sell you a modified sim card that your sim card connects to. Think of it as a mod chip for your iPhone, it couldn’t get any easier, and as for the price, $37.95. I think its a small price to pay to be able to use your iPhone with other services.

Below are some of the features:

• Full Unlock, Use your iPhone on ANY Network. Worldwide!
• Safe iPhone Unlock: No warranty void, Fully reversible!
• No knowledge required, Easy Plug and Play Solution!
• Works on any iPhone, Version 2.2.1 Included!
• No Signal Loss – like other Unlocks Available!
• Lifetime Updates and Unlimited Support!
• ALL Functions on your iPhone Working!
• Enable SMS/MMS & Instant Messengers!
• Access to 1000’s of Free iPhone Applications! 
• Satisfaction GUARANTEED!

 
If you want a free way to do it, I found a great article at PCWorld that should help you accomplish this. Here is the link 

http://www.pcworld.com/article/137223/how_to_unlock_an_iphone.html