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XBox (Games) Hardware

The Xbox 360 Motherboard Exposed 30

Posted by Zonk from the off-the-back-of-a-truck dept.
MaxConsole writes "The Xbox hacking group smartXX has managed to unofficially get their hands on three Xbox 360 development kits. As if this wasn't enough, they have completely dissected the inner workings of the Xbox 360 dev kits, showing exactly how the Xbox 360 will work revealing all the details on the various hardware components."
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The Xbox 360 Motherboard Exposed More

The Xbox 360 Motherboard Exposed

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  • Last time I checked, whenever there's publicized info on unreleased Microsoft stuffs, people get into trouble. Remember what happened with that bunch of people who posted screenies of Longhorn [slashdot.org]?

  • Wow! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Chokai ( 10224 ) on Sunday August 28, 2005 @03:57PM (#13422376)
    And the reason we didn't photoshop out all the serial numbers on the pictures is what? To make it as easy as possible for MS to potentially backtrack how you got your hardware and eliminate your source or possibly cost them thier job/contract? Smart.

    • Re:Wow! (Score:3, Informative)

      by Anm ( 18575 )
      What are you talking about? The serial numbers are blocked out:
          Power adapter serial tag [teamxbox.com]
          Back of box tag [teamxbox.com]

      Anm

      • Re:Wow! (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Chokai ( 10224 ) on Sunday August 28, 2005 @04:46PM (#13422634)
        Um hello. You need to block out more than that. Most remaining numbers are part#s but there are several that are likely unique identifiers for the part. Anything not easily identified as a general part # needs to be removed. Notably the SIS chip for example.

        Microsoft if they are smart (and they are) for quality purposes is going to know the serial num/batch number whatever of every part that goes into that box. It helps them quickly identify bad batches which saves them money. It's all in the name of quality but it has wonderful secondary uses. :-) Now that said I will admit here is a chance they aren't doing this for the pre-production boxes yet though.

        • Re:Wow! (Score:4, Insightful)

          by chrysrobyn ( 106763 ) on Sunday August 28, 2005 @06:34PM (#13423190)
          Um hello. You need to block out more than that. Most remaining numbers are part#s but there are several that are likely unique identifiers for the part. Anything not easily identified as a general part # needs to be removed.

          Agreed. It is easy to imagine a database that tracks all the serial numbers together. Query against just one of those [teamxbox.com] and you have the rest. Once you have the box's serial number, look up who got the machine and assess the need to punish the developer for violating the NDA.

          I'd bet these machines were not cheap to Microsoft. Hardware before launch is exceptionally valuable, certainly more valuable than the cost to develop simply because your factories aren't up to speed yet. One developer, as pictured, decided to take Microsoft's investment offline, away from game development and take some pictures. Maybe it's a 2 hour expedition that's to be done "off-hours" by employees on personal time so no project was impacted, but more likely the effects will last into development time-- it took longer than expected or something broke. Either way, it's an unnecessary pile of risks that tells Microsoft how much they value the machine and the NDA they signed.

      • What are you talking about? The serial numbers are blocked out:

        Not all of them, try this one. [teamxbox.com]

        Who has dev kit #X806033-001 1792 // XEDK-1 Rev.A ... ?

    • Unless Microsoft is also "SmartXX" and is officially condoning mod chips this time round....

      hmmm i think i smoked bad shit last night....

    • Re:Wow! (Score:5, Funny)

      by NanoGator ( 522640 ) on Sunday August 28, 2005 @04:34PM (#13422573) Homepage Journal
      "And the reason we didn't photoshop out all the serial numbers on the pictures is what? To make it as easy as possible for MS to potentially backtrack how you got your hardware and eliminate your source or possibly cost them thier job/contract? Smart."

      Yeah, I'm sure Microsoft's going to come down on the dudes for giving them a free blast on Slashdot. "Oh no! People have seen the motherboard! They'll know.... uh... to the Lawyer Cave!"

      • Re:Got list? (Score:1, Redundant)

        by __aailob1448 ( 541069 )
        Hahaha, funny!
      • Yeah, I'm sure Microsoft's going to come down on the dudes for giving them a free blast on Slashdot.

        Where there is one violation there is probably more. When the XBox 360 is hacked it will not be due to some hacker working in a "clean room" environment. It will be hacked in cooperation with developers who have a legitimate copy. It would be prudent for Microsoft to be very concerned when any inappropriate access is granted to hardware or documentation. Microsoft merely needs to "make an example" of one
  • Either these guys are in cahoots with Microsoft, or they are a bunch of idiots. The serial numbers are even left unobscured in the pictures. Perhaps both their budget for legal matters and stock of high-profile lawyers trump that of Microsoft's. Surely.

    I want to mod my Xbox 360, but I can imagine this will be one chip we won't be seeing anytime soon now.

  • Maybe I'm Cynical (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 28, 2005 @09:10PM (#13423920)
    But I tend to believe that they've done this at the behest of microsoft marketing department.

    I don't know that Bill wouldn't be smart enough to recognise the fact that the mod industry is far from hurting him but making his console more popular.

    Not really wanting to bring this debate up again thanks though, I am well aware of what others thinks on this matter.

    Back to the whole marketing thing. Think about it, slashdot has been inundated by 360 reports lately and things are drying up, so they release just a tad bit more information to keep people coming back.

    • Re:Maybe I'm Cynical (Score:4, Insightful)

      by forkazoo ( 138186 ) <wrosecrans AT gmail DOT com> on Monday August 29, 2005 @01:13AM (#13425074) Homepage
      Or, maybe the motherboard design isn't finalised. They want the mod chip community to start taking notes, and coming up with prototype designs now, so that when the real-box comes out, they will have wasted lots of money and effort only to be able to mod the dev kits.
    • Back to the whole marketing thing. Think about it, slashdot has been inundated by 360 reports lately and things are drying up, so they release just a tad bit more information to keep people coming back.

      Based on the pathetic amount of comments on this article obviously it isn't working.

      Seriously though I doubt MS wants this info released this far out from ship, where the design possibly isn't finalized (as someone else observed). Heck it isn't even time for Christmas marketing for a few weeks yet! :-P

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