Hacking the Xbox: An Introduction to Reverse Engineering - Softcover

Huang, Andrew

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0974057509 ISBN 13: 9780974057507

Publisher: Xenatera Press, 2003

Synopsis

This hands-on guide to hacking was cancelled by the original publisher, Wiley, out of fear of DMCA-related lawsuits. Now, "Hacking the Xbox" is brought to you directly by the author, a hacker named "bunnie". The book begins with a few step-by-step tutorials on hardware modifications that teaches basic hacking techniques as well as essential reverse engineering skills. The book progresses into a discussion of the Xbox security mechanisms and other advanced hacking topics, with an emphasis on educating the readers on the important subjects of computer security and reverse engineering. Hacking the Xbox includes numerous practical guides, such as where to get hacking gear, soldering techniques, debugging tips and an Xbox hardware reference guide.

"Hacking the Xbox" confronts the social and political issues facing today's hacker. The book introduces readers to the humans behind the hacks through several interviews with master hackers.

"Hacking the Xbox" looks forward and discusses the impact of today's legal challenges on legitimate reverse engineering activities. The book includes a chapter written by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) about the rights and responsibilities of hackers, and concludes by discussing the latest trends and vulnerabilities in secure PC platforms.

Hurry and get "Hacking the Xbox" before Microsoft does!

About this title

Review

This--this being the attitude encapsulated in Andrew "bunnie" Huang's Hacking the Xbox--is why a lot of people got into the computer industry in the first place. These people liked taking things apart and figuring out how they worked, then making them serve purposes they weren't originally designed for and sharing the new discoveries with others of like mind. Sure, Huang's book is about how to how to turn Microsoft's game console into a high-performance, general-purpose personal computer with a small price tag, and it contains lots of details about the how the heavily advertised gizmo is put together. But you can get the technical material on the Web. What's valuable about Huang's work is that he communicates the pure joy of taking the Xbox apart, figuring out how it works--despite its many designed-in anti-hacking features--and making it do new things. This book reads like the journal of a seventeenth-century voyage of discovery.

There's a wealth of information in these pages about how to disassemble and reverse-engineer electronics, and Huang is careful to show you what tools you need, and how to use them (don't worry if you don't know how to use a soldering iron--that's covered here). There also are step-by-step guides (complete with photos) to a couple of projects, and interviews with key figures in the Xbox-hacking community. --David Wall

Topics covered: How to enjoy a Microsoft Xbox game console without the mindless tedium of playing video games. This book shows you how to open an Xbox, make modifications to it (from a cosmetic LED color change, to putting in a new power supply, to adding a USB connector), and make the changes needed to get Linux running on it. In the process, readers get an education in reverse engineering electronic circuits, as well as in basic electronic techniques (soldering, crimping, etc) and in the intellectual property law that governs hacker activity.

About the Author

Andrew "bunnie" Huang graduated with his PhD in Electrical Engineering from MIT in June 2002. His research area was advanced computer architecture. He authored an original paper on flaws in the Xbox security system that was first released in May 2002.

Edition details

• Publisher: Xenatera Press
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0974057509
• ISBN 13: 9780974057507
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 288