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Ayanami III
07-08-2002, 07:32 AM
READ
http://xbox-linux.sourceforge.net/index.php



News
6 July 2002: The first Xbox program created without the Xbox SDK is available. Look at the photos here and here and here. Download the source here and a zip file with the CD image here. This is the first legal homebrew application! Of course you will need a modded Xbox. Microsoft, could you please sign this application?

Hugh_Jass
07-08-2002, 10:23 AM
Running Linux on the XBOX makes far more sense than it does on a PS2, both for economic and performance reasons. However, the whole project seems ridiculous to me.

Spaztic
07-08-2002, 11:20 AM
yep I agree with Hugh_Jass this is stupid!

stang46
07-08-2002, 03:03 PM
How can you say its stupid when for $199 you would have a pretty nice computer running Linux thats internet ready(plus tons of free apps you could get). If you ask me thats a good deal and most likely the reason they are pursuing it. Maybe you people should open up your eyes sometimes...

Knight
07-08-2002, 10:10 PM
And to get it working your going to have to buy a mod chip for $80!! I hope they make it so any moded XBox can't play on XL!!

Batman2372
07-09-2002, 11:06 AM
Originally posted by Knight
And to get it working your going to have to buy a mod chip for $80!! I hope they make it so any moded XBox can't play on XL!!

#1 They are also working on a way to do it on a non-modded Xbox. Just pop in a CD-rom/DVD-rom and you're on your way.

#2 Why the hate? Just because they don't use their Xbox in the same way that you do, doesn't mean they're either stupid or evil. They want to make their Xbox do something different. I can guarantee that the vast majority of those working to do this aren't doing it for a paycheck, but BECAUSE THEY ENJOY DOING IT. Just like you enjoy Halo. But to berate and ridicule people solely because they enjoy using their Xbox differently than you do is just being small-minded. It's that kind of thinking that keeps innovation from growing.


Now, I don't condone stealing the Xbox SDK from Microsoft to reverse engineer it and I'm not going to go and mod my Xbox so that I can do this, but if they can get a non-modded Xbox to run Linux (which I'm guessing they will), you bet I'm going to try it and mess with it.

Knight
07-09-2002, 11:39 AM
Originally posted by Batman2372


#2 Why the hate? Just because they don't use their Xbox in the same way that you do, doesn't mean they're either stupid or evil. They want to make their Xbox do something different. I can guarantee that the vast majority of those working to do this aren't doing it for a paycheck, but BECAUSE THEY ENJOY DOING IT. Just like you enjoy Halo. But to berate and ridicule people solely because they enjoy using their Xbox differently than you do is just being small-minded. It's that kind of thinking that keeps innovation from growing.


Now, I don't condone stealing the Xbox SDK from Microsoft to reverse engineer it and I'm not going to go and mod my Xbox so that I can do this, but if they can get a non-modded Xbox to run Linux (which I'm guessing they will), you bet I'm going to try it and mess with it.

The same people that will be modding there XBox are the ones that will be pirateing XBox games!! So XL should ban all Modded XBox because there the ones with pirated XBox games!! The only Modded XBox'es that microsoft should let play on XL are the ones using mod chips that don't let you run pirated XBox games!!

Crazy Joe
07-09-2002, 11:42 AM
i wouldn't be surprised if once Live gets up and running if Microsoft periodically fries mod chips, like the satellite people do to illegal satellite chips.

Knight
07-09-2002, 11:46 AM
Originally posted by Gortholomew
i wouldn't be surprised if once Live gets up and running if Microsoft periodically fries mod chips, like the satellite people do to illegal satellite chips.

Good I hope they do, XBox pirates have no right to play on XL!!

Hugh_Jass
07-09-2002, 12:46 PM
First of all, I would be very surprised if any effort was made to make this anything but a dedicated Linux solution. This means you will no longer be able to run XBOX games after you load Linux. And since MS loses $200 (or whatever) on each console it does absolutely no good to encourage anyone to develop Linux for the XBOX. If they don't buy XBOX games Microsoft will never recover the investment for that sale. Furthermore, it lowers our console to game sales ratio, which discourages game developers.

If they make it only run off the CD (no permanent storage of data) then it won't be very useful for anything but a novelty.

If they make it run as a dual-boot solution it will take away storage space needed by your XBOX. The last time I looked a full Red Hat distro comes on four CDs. That's 2.4G of compressed data. I have no idea how that would expand once uncompressed. The XBOX hard drive is only 8G. I bet at least half of that space would have to be repartitioned to EXT3 (or some other Linux file system) for the system to be useful. This may not sound too important right now because I bet nearly everyone still shows 50,000+ blocks free, but once games like BLINX start to take advantage of the hard drive I think dual-boot Linux users will be crying.

I'm not a Linux hater. I just don't see the point. It either hurts the future of the XBOX or you get a half-@ssed Linux box. Why bother? If you want to learn or use Linux there are far better ways to do so.

Batman2372
07-10-2002, 09:18 AM
Originally posted by Knight


The same people that will be modding there XBox are the ones that will be pirateing XBox games!! So XL should ban all Modded XBox because there the ones with pirated XBox games!! The only Modded XBox'es that microsoft should let play on XL are the ones using mod chips that don't let you run pirated XBox games!!

Omigosh.... that's ridiculous. That's like saying that everyone that owns a gun are the ones committing murders so all guns should be outlawed. Give me a break.

You're not going to be able to run ANY of the games if you're going to get the box to boot into Linux, so the pirating question is null and void on that one. In Linux now, to run any Windows program, you have to run a translator first (the one most widely used is WINE), and the Xbox just doesn't have the capacity to be able to get Linux up and running, get WINE running, and THEN crack the X-box coding.

I'll agree with you, Knight. The pirates that are using mod chips solely for the purpose of running illegally burned rips should be locked up. But the Linux guys aren't doing that.

I don't think you guys are getting the point. Hugh, you're probably right, it's not going to be a very good Linux box. These guys aren't trying to build a Beowulf cluster to do serious number crunching on the thing. They're doing it FOR THE SAKE OF DOING IT. Like I said earlier, these guys are doing because they want to. So they mess up there X-box... it's theirs do whatever they want to it. To me, this is no different than the guy that takes his X-box apart and cuts & paints & lights it up.

BTW... the latest version of Redhat is 7.3, and it's on 3 cds if you do the full installation. There are two more cd's of the source rpms if you want to compile the rpms yourself. But you can make a linux installation on one CD that can do the basics of linux without every server, daemon, bell and whistle on it.

Dre
07-10-2002, 12:07 PM
Hugh_Jass, if you take out the source code and useless programs (Linux gives you lots of options.. sometimes you have 5-10 programs that are different but accomplish the same task) then HD space isn't as much of an issue anymore.

If Linux can make Xbox think its a game, then you don't need to repartition the hard-drive. Maybe program binaries can be on a disc and all you really need on the HD would be a file-manager of some sorts.. I dunno.. there are tons of ways to make it work.

Hugh_Jass
07-10-2002, 01:18 PM
Yes, but making it work and making it useful are two different things.

Sure, you could strip everything out and turn the XBOX into a firewall or a low-volume web server. You can do the same thing with a throw-away 486 or first generation Pentium.

I wouldn't use the XBOX as a Linux workstation or a development environment.

I guess I'm just too much of a fan of applied and practical science than theory.

Dre
07-10-2002, 01:26 PM
Nobody said anything about it being useful :)

Actually, I've read quite a few articles that show you how to run Linux on things like arcade machines all the way to a cash register. I think its more "the challenge" that interests the "hackers" that are working on this sort of thing. That and pi55ing MS off.

Snoopy7548
07-10-2002, 02:32 PM
dude. have u ever seen the screensavers on techtv?? i was looking what would be on the next show, and it said that its gonna tell you how to install windows xp on the xbox! lol