Xaminor
12-06-2002, 01:06 PM
Ofcourse I got this from that Nintendo fanboy site at Nightly and ofcourse it is the hot topic there, lol.
Source: soundcicuit.com
I recently had the chance to interview the famous Xbox hacker from MIT, Andrew Shane Huang (aka "bunnie"). Andrew almost single handedly cracked the Xbox. He was the first one to dump the BIOS image from the Xbox, and continued to perform several other Xbox hacks and modifications. This is his story....
You're a computer guru. You've got a PhD in Computer Science from MIT. What inspired you to go the distance and get the best education possible? Were you tech savvy growing up?
Well, a lot of my choices were influenced by factors outside my control. When I was in high school, I applied one year early for college. Of the schools I applied to, MIT was one of the only ones willing to take me a year early. So, I went there partially because that was my only choice, partially because I really wanted to go there, and partially because I had some outside scholarships. I graduated in five years with a masters of engineering (a pretty standard thing to do these days), and went to work at SGI, thinking I'd never turn back...that was in 1997. I was very excited to work at SGI; their realty engine machines were legendary and it was a dream come true to be able to work with the people behind the product. Unfortunately, SGI subsequently took a big nose-dive, which was pretty disillusioning. Fortunately I had previously applied to the PhD program and deferred my admission to MIT "just in case". Under a year after I started, I left a fairly dark and depressing SGI, gutted of its prestige and employees (who, incidentally, all went to start or work for companies like ATI, 3dfx, and nVidia). I returned to MIT to find myself, and to further develop my skills and do things that I loved, namely, high performance computer architecture research. My PhD years were some of the best years of my life; total freedom to think, explore and build, to share ideas and to hang out with really smart people. Curious about how to build a walking robot? Take a month out and learn about it. Oh, and the guy who pioneered the field works down the hall. It was really cool. I did a lot of growing up during those years as well. Even though I passed up opportunities during the dot-com boom that would have allowed me to retire by now, I think it's all worth it: you can't put a price on personal happiness. Plus, I'm thinking that working in the real world just isn't a good intellectual environment. It's just hard to find the resources and opportunities to really stretch yourself in industry. Shareholders are breathing down your back to make a profit yesterday, not to advance the state of the art...and it's really hard to meet women in the work place. Bars and clubs just don't have the same depth and energy of a university campus. I'm very lucky to have met my girlfriend Nikki while I was at MIT. So...why did I get my PhD? Personal growth, intellectual freedom, and a better dating environment.
As for if I were tech savvy as a kid, I guess you could say I was. I think my tech savvy is more of an old-school savvy, though. Very nuts-and-bolts, solder-and-assembly kind of stuff. I think my curiosity began when I was maybe 10 or so; my dad brought home an Apple II clone from Taiwan that was actually a kit in pieces. It was so cool! The colors, the smells--the shiny chips with the Hitachi "bull-eye" logo were my favorite. They got me a 200-in-1 kit from Radio Shack, and I played with that a lot. By the time I was in junior high, I was capable of wire wrapping add-in cards for my Apple II, cobbled together with parts from Radio Shack and a small order from Jameco. My first real project was a voltmeter that would tell you voltage readings using a voice synthesizer for my Apple II. I used the SPO256 from General Instruments and an ADC0809 from National Semi along with some 8255's (I think) from Intel. It was all downhill from there
What's a typical day for you?
Well, I'm just getting adjusted to the whole working for a company thing. Back when I was a student, I would get up around 1 or 2 PM, open my laptop and check email in bed; think about what would be interesting to do that day, and then get out of bed and do it. Sometimes I'd have a group meeting or have to go into lab for work. Around 4PM or so I'd get my "lunch"...work some more, and then I'll catch my friends coming home from school and socialize a little bit in the evening. I'll get a beer and burger with some buddies around 8 or 9PM, and the real work starts after 10 at night...I'll usually hack until 6 or 7 AM--whenever the sun rises--and hit the sack.
Now that I'm working for a company, life has been a lot more boring and less flexible. The concept of "face time" in companies is a little bit frustrating; it seems that managers just like to be able to *see* you more than they like results from you. It's remarkable, I feel like I have less money and less time now that I'm in the "real world".
What operating system do you use?
I generally use Windows 2000. Windows XP is a crock. I'm getting pretty fed up with Win2k though; it if weren't for the fact that all the good hardware design tools are only available under windows, I'd be a Mac OS X user right now. Mac OS X is like nirvana for me; it combines my favorite OS, NeXTstep, with the best of the vanilla unix world and great hardware. Let me say that again: great hardware. A really elegant, quality machine. And oh--the iPod--it is really compelling. I'm saving up for a dual G4 these days...
What's your favorite computer-related project you have done?
That's a really tough question. I think my favorite project is almost always the one I'm working on today, maybe by definition. Perhaps the most useful project I had ever done was the SH-1 *****ded workhorse. It was a 32-bit SH-RISC microcontroller (a Hitachi product) that fit in the footprint of a business card. Its versatile analog and digital I/O features found it a home in everything from lego robots, to an autonomous underwater submarine, to home automation control. I am hoping to someday build a follow-up design that provides 10x the processing power yet fits in about the same footprint, runs RT-linux and has mass storage and wireless communication capabilities. A long-term interest of mine is prosthetic limb development, and this plus a derivative of the SH-1 workhorse would form the processing core of such a project.
How did you get involved with the Xbox?
I've always taken apart video game consoles...in particular, my PhD advisor encouraged his students to learn from the design of game consoles. They represent, in many ways, the pinnacle of high performance, low cost computing. My work on the Xbox is pretty much just routine hacking, but it really got interesting because of the tight security implemented in its design. It's like one of those finger puzzles that you play with for hours--trying to get the ball out of the cage, or what not, except it's trying to get your code to run on the Xbox. I hardly play any games on my video game consoles-- the most challenging and addictive game for me is hacking them. When I do want to play a game, I usually turn on my gamecube or GBA...and sometimes my PC.
What inspired you to hack the Xbox?
I was "inspired" by the challenge it presented in its security system. It was like choosing the red pill and seeing how far down the rabbit hole things went...every time a new part of the Xbox security was mapped out, everyone would look at each other and be like, man, they were really paranoid!
Were you challenged by the Xbox in any way?
Again, see above...the Xbox security was pretty challenging. And the bigger the challenge, the more interesting it is. I haven't really hacked on the gamecube much, or the PS2, because they don't present the same level of challenge or personal satisfaction. Well, the PS2's security has already been cracked, and the gamecube...I think its security is more practical, although less cryptographically sound. The little I know about it indicates that the gamecube uses less crypto and more hardware obscurity to make it more difficult to hack. This is, in my opinion, a superior approach for consoles because the goal is not to create a floating castle with spires and gilded doors, but just a dirt berm high enough to make any illegal operation non-profitable.
What do you think of Microsoft's attempt to modify the Xbox to prevent people like you from cracking it again?
Well, now that their v1.1 security has been cracked by Andy Green & co in under a week, I think Microsoft's attempt was pathetic. First, they cost nVidia untold millions of dollars in scrapped chips, and then they go ahead and implement a hash using an algorithm that is explicitly not suitable for hashes! I'm infuriated because I *know* they know better than to do this. I like nVidia, and I hate seeing a good hardware company being ground into the dirt by careless engineers at Microsoft. If they are going to spin the silicon, do it right. I saw with my own two eyes blank space on the MCPX die that could have been used to grow the boot overlay ROM so that it could accommodate a more complicated hash function. I mean, the new security system from Microsoft doesn't even require the current modchip vendors to change their hardware--just a reflash of the ROM is all that's required. What a waste!
Source: soundcicuit.com
I recently had the chance to interview the famous Xbox hacker from MIT, Andrew Shane Huang (aka "bunnie"). Andrew almost single handedly cracked the Xbox. He was the first one to dump the BIOS image from the Xbox, and continued to perform several other Xbox hacks and modifications. This is his story....
You're a computer guru. You've got a PhD in Computer Science from MIT. What inspired you to go the distance and get the best education possible? Were you tech savvy growing up?
Well, a lot of my choices were influenced by factors outside my control. When I was in high school, I applied one year early for college. Of the schools I applied to, MIT was one of the only ones willing to take me a year early. So, I went there partially because that was my only choice, partially because I really wanted to go there, and partially because I had some outside scholarships. I graduated in five years with a masters of engineering (a pretty standard thing to do these days), and went to work at SGI, thinking I'd never turn back...that was in 1997. I was very excited to work at SGI; their realty engine machines were legendary and it was a dream come true to be able to work with the people behind the product. Unfortunately, SGI subsequently took a big nose-dive, which was pretty disillusioning. Fortunately I had previously applied to the PhD program and deferred my admission to MIT "just in case". Under a year after I started, I left a fairly dark and depressing SGI, gutted of its prestige and employees (who, incidentally, all went to start or work for companies like ATI, 3dfx, and nVidia). I returned to MIT to find myself, and to further develop my skills and do things that I loved, namely, high performance computer architecture research. My PhD years were some of the best years of my life; total freedom to think, explore and build, to share ideas and to hang out with really smart people. Curious about how to build a walking robot? Take a month out and learn about it. Oh, and the guy who pioneered the field works down the hall. It was really cool. I did a lot of growing up during those years as well. Even though I passed up opportunities during the dot-com boom that would have allowed me to retire by now, I think it's all worth it: you can't put a price on personal happiness. Plus, I'm thinking that working in the real world just isn't a good intellectual environment. It's just hard to find the resources and opportunities to really stretch yourself in industry. Shareholders are breathing down your back to make a profit yesterday, not to advance the state of the art...and it's really hard to meet women in the work place. Bars and clubs just don't have the same depth and energy of a university campus. I'm very lucky to have met my girlfriend Nikki while I was at MIT. So...why did I get my PhD? Personal growth, intellectual freedom, and a better dating environment.
As for if I were tech savvy as a kid, I guess you could say I was. I think my tech savvy is more of an old-school savvy, though. Very nuts-and-bolts, solder-and-assembly kind of stuff. I think my curiosity began when I was maybe 10 or so; my dad brought home an Apple II clone from Taiwan that was actually a kit in pieces. It was so cool! The colors, the smells--the shiny chips with the Hitachi "bull-eye" logo were my favorite. They got me a 200-in-1 kit from Radio Shack, and I played with that a lot. By the time I was in junior high, I was capable of wire wrapping add-in cards for my Apple II, cobbled together with parts from Radio Shack and a small order from Jameco. My first real project was a voltmeter that would tell you voltage readings using a voice synthesizer for my Apple II. I used the SPO256 from General Instruments and an ADC0809 from National Semi along with some 8255's (I think) from Intel. It was all downhill from there
What's a typical day for you?
Well, I'm just getting adjusted to the whole working for a company thing. Back when I was a student, I would get up around 1 or 2 PM, open my laptop and check email in bed; think about what would be interesting to do that day, and then get out of bed and do it. Sometimes I'd have a group meeting or have to go into lab for work. Around 4PM or so I'd get my "lunch"...work some more, and then I'll catch my friends coming home from school and socialize a little bit in the evening. I'll get a beer and burger with some buddies around 8 or 9PM, and the real work starts after 10 at night...I'll usually hack until 6 or 7 AM--whenever the sun rises--and hit the sack.
Now that I'm working for a company, life has been a lot more boring and less flexible. The concept of "face time" in companies is a little bit frustrating; it seems that managers just like to be able to *see* you more than they like results from you. It's remarkable, I feel like I have less money and less time now that I'm in the "real world".
What operating system do you use?
I generally use Windows 2000. Windows XP is a crock. I'm getting pretty fed up with Win2k though; it if weren't for the fact that all the good hardware design tools are only available under windows, I'd be a Mac OS X user right now. Mac OS X is like nirvana for me; it combines my favorite OS, NeXTstep, with the best of the vanilla unix world and great hardware. Let me say that again: great hardware. A really elegant, quality machine. And oh--the iPod--it is really compelling. I'm saving up for a dual G4 these days...
What's your favorite computer-related project you have done?
That's a really tough question. I think my favorite project is almost always the one I'm working on today, maybe by definition. Perhaps the most useful project I had ever done was the SH-1 *****ded workhorse. It was a 32-bit SH-RISC microcontroller (a Hitachi product) that fit in the footprint of a business card. Its versatile analog and digital I/O features found it a home in everything from lego robots, to an autonomous underwater submarine, to home automation control. I am hoping to someday build a follow-up design that provides 10x the processing power yet fits in about the same footprint, runs RT-linux and has mass storage and wireless communication capabilities. A long-term interest of mine is prosthetic limb development, and this plus a derivative of the SH-1 workhorse would form the processing core of such a project.
How did you get involved with the Xbox?
I've always taken apart video game consoles...in particular, my PhD advisor encouraged his students to learn from the design of game consoles. They represent, in many ways, the pinnacle of high performance, low cost computing. My work on the Xbox is pretty much just routine hacking, but it really got interesting because of the tight security implemented in its design. It's like one of those finger puzzles that you play with for hours--trying to get the ball out of the cage, or what not, except it's trying to get your code to run on the Xbox. I hardly play any games on my video game consoles-- the most challenging and addictive game for me is hacking them. When I do want to play a game, I usually turn on my gamecube or GBA...and sometimes my PC.
What inspired you to hack the Xbox?
I was "inspired" by the challenge it presented in its security system. It was like choosing the red pill and seeing how far down the rabbit hole things went...every time a new part of the Xbox security was mapped out, everyone would look at each other and be like, man, they were really paranoid!
Were you challenged by the Xbox in any way?
Again, see above...the Xbox security was pretty challenging. And the bigger the challenge, the more interesting it is. I haven't really hacked on the gamecube much, or the PS2, because they don't present the same level of challenge or personal satisfaction. Well, the PS2's security has already been cracked, and the gamecube...I think its security is more practical, although less cryptographically sound. The little I know about it indicates that the gamecube uses less crypto and more hardware obscurity to make it more difficult to hack. This is, in my opinion, a superior approach for consoles because the goal is not to create a floating castle with spires and gilded doors, but just a dirt berm high enough to make any illegal operation non-profitable.
What do you think of Microsoft's attempt to modify the Xbox to prevent people like you from cracking it again?
Well, now that their v1.1 security has been cracked by Andy Green & co in under a week, I think Microsoft's attempt was pathetic. First, they cost nVidia untold millions of dollars in scrapped chips, and then they go ahead and implement a hash using an algorithm that is explicitly not suitable for hashes! I'm infuriated because I *know* they know better than to do this. I like nVidia, and I hate seeing a good hardware company being ground into the dirt by careless engineers at Microsoft. If they are going to spin the silicon, do it right. I saw with my own two eyes blank space on the MCPX die that could have been used to grow the boot overlay ROM so that it could accommodate a more complicated hash function. I mean, the new security system from Microsoft doesn't even require the current modchip vendors to change their hardware--just a reflash of the ROM is all that's required. What a waste!