Prevent HDD Crippling After Ban - NAND write protect diagram

GodzIvan strikes again, this time with a diagram which simply write protects the NAND flash in the Xbox 360 by connecting WP to ground pin (if the flash type has different pinout, just find the datasheet to locate WP). This modification does not stop the ban from M$, but it prevents deletion of the HD installation certificates required by games which means you can still install them on the hard drive. In order to update the kernel this mod must be disabled; a simple switch solution comes to mind.

 

Great find and tutorial. A couple questions for you though.
If you are already banned and have been using your hdd on your banned xbox will this then allow you to regain the ability to play from hdd?
And will this prevent corruption of data when transfering to a live xbox?

 

No this is just preventing it by write protecting the nand chip so therefore it is not going to reverse the effects caused by Microsoft.

 

well its interesting but personally i think its just easier not to connect to live ...

dashboard updates can be done via thumb drive ... assuming they never decide to include a banned console list in the thumb drive update... i'm not sure they even could cause it would be millions of console id's long...

 

Sweet, just what I was looking for. Not to good at the old soldering though, might have to get a mate to do it for me.

 

not to sound dumb, but what is a WP?

 

Write Protect

 

but it looks like a device?

 

if i understood this, i would do it lol

 

id do this if i didnt suck at soldering.

someone should make a type of clip on mod with a switch. it would prob make some easy money.

 

haha, post of the day

 

There is no soldering required. All you have to do is find the lead for WP and cut it.

Of course this will disable you from getting the updates you might actually want to get in the future as well. If you can solder, a switch wouldn't be a bad idea.

 

well you would not want to cut it because you do need the updates to continue to play on live. a switch would be ideal since you can turn it on for the update and imediatly shut it off after in case you get banned.

 

Well let's say that every firmware/dashboard update in the future comes with a 'black list' of banned consoles, and when those banned consoles receive the update, it cripples their firmware. In that case, you couldn't update anyway unless you somehow were able to modify the firmware to erase the blacklist.

However, just for peace of mind, I would want a switch on it anyway. Soldering wires to chip legs and lead wires can be a real PITA, though. Make sure you use plenty of hot glue to hold your wires down so you won't rip out the WP lead.

EDIT: Actually, reading more closely, it appears that this flash chip does not store all of the firmware data on it... only certificates and such. In that case you could still get future firmware updates without worry.

 

so cutting it would be best?

 

I don't know exactly how certificates work on the 360, or what they are used for. You might be able to cut it and never look back. Or, at some point in the future, you may need to re-enable it for something else. I am not sure.

The cut is a must to do this mod. The switch is the optional part.

It's cool and all, but I have yet to hear any confirmation of this mod working (though the theory is good) and I would personally wait it out a while longer still for other solutions to start presenting themselves.

 

well i understand what it does,kind of how it works,but i would never do it unless i had a video tut or something cause i'd prob just cut through the mobo knowing me

 

The WP is a leg on that chip. Its EXTREMELY tiny. Good luck cutting it.

Also your supposed to connect it to ground, not cut it.

WP stands for write protect which is a mode that does exactly what it sounds like, protects the certs from being changed/deleted/altered (or written to)

 

Yep. It's a leg on the chip. However, it might also have a lead coming off of it, which would be possible to cut.

The photo was a bit unclear. In one picture it shows the WP being connected to ground (which I now realize is the electronic symbol for a switch -- duh). In the other, it shows the WP being disconnected from ground. I assumed the latter was what you would need to do.

I think your interpretation is correct, and you need to ground the WP pin. That actually makes things a bit easier, because it creates the possibility of having a "clip on" piece that would make contact with that one pin and perhaps have an alligator clip connected to ground coming off of the clip.

Even if you soldered it, it wouldn't be impossible. Anyone else ever modded a Wii before there were softmods for it?

 

Can you not just somehow solder or some thin wire to tie it around then solder it to the case?