Hacking the Xbox: An Introduction to Reverse Engineering [Paperback]

Andrew Huang (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1593270291 | ISBN-13: 978-1593270292 | Publication Date: July 2003 | Edition: Unlimited Ed

This hands-on guide to hacking begins with step-by-step tutorials on hardware modifications that teach 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 also confronts the social and political issues facing today's hacker by looking forward and discussing 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.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com 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.

Review

"A piece of simple, succint eloquence, this has fast become one of the most treasured books we own." -- PopularMechanics.com

"Although it's a technical book, it unfolds like a spy novel." -- Peter Wayner, Slashdot.org, June 26, 2003

"If you are interested in programming or even hacking, you’re going to love this book." -- Cosmos Gaming, December 19, 2004 http://www.cosmosgaming.com/reviewother.php?subaction=showfull&id=1103512869&archive=&start_from=&ucat=9&

"an elegant, smart, and accessible introduction to hacking that happens to use the Xbox as a learning tool" -- San Francisco Bay Guardian, September 17, 2003

An introduction to copyright law in the digital age -- The New York Times, July 10, 2003

I recommend this book even to those who don't want to hack an Xbox...an interesting and informative read. -- About.com

If you are interested in hardware, software hacking and reverse engineering - this book should be on your shelf. -- E. Jonathan Hardy, Host, TechWeek TV!, August 2003

Teaches readers to think like hardware hackers, using the game console the way a med school teacher uses Gray's Anatomy -- SecurityFocus, July 2003

[Huang's] account of how he cracked the Xbox is fascinating and his perseverance is awesome. -- Personal Computer World, UK, August 21, 2003

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: No Starch Press; Unlimited Ed edition (July 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1593270291
• ISBN-13: 978-1593270292
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #225,121 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

52 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gentlemen, Start Your Soldering Irons..., January 23, 2004

By 

Marc Ruby™ "The Noh Hare™" (Warren, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Hacking the Xbox: An Introduction to Reverse Engineering (Paperback)

I bought this book, probably as most people do, out of an interest in getting into my Xbox from a software viewpoint. I wound up enjoying it from an entirely different viewpoint - the insights into the obscure process of hardware hacking that people like Andrew Huang love to do. In the process I gained considerable respect for Microsoft's ability to protect their investment in what has become the number two console in the game world.

To put this in context, the Xbox is really a full fledged PC, repackaged and sealed up with security to prevent game copying and to stop buyers from turning in into the ultimate cheap computer. Microsoft sells the Xbox considerably below manufacturing cost, using it as a loss leader to sell games. The last thing they want is for everyone to turn the Xbox into $150 computers. Hackers like Huang saw the opportunity to do exactly that and began the ultimate adventure a trip into the devious mind of Microsoft's engineers. Every bit as exciting as the latest game disk.

This is both the story of that effort - the creation of a fully functional Linux computer and a fascinating training manual on what actually goes into the hardware hacking process. Huang understands full well the danger that he might go over the heads of his readers and makes every effort to explain exactly what is going on. He has a lucid, self-effacing style that is like a geek chat session. For someone like me, who started out with a pile of 'chips' and a breadboard, and then graduated to 16 Kilobyte memory boards it is pure fun to see what has happened in the past 40 years.

I also was astonished at the ingenious subterfuges Microsoft used to hide the Xbox's innards from casual observers. For those who always are critical of Microsoft's capabilities, this is a lesson in hubris. Huang proves that the time honored traditions of hacking as a way to learn and grow still exist, and that not everyone with a soldering iron is out to bring the Internet down. This is probably the most technically informative book I've read in the past 10 years. If you are a 'gotta know' kind of person, this is a must have book.

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Also a great diary of reverse engineering!, June 26, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Hacking the Xbox: An Introduction to Reverse Engineering (Paperback)

I got this book mainly out of curiousity. I don't have much background in computers, especially not when it come to how they work, other than a firm belief that it's all done with magic.

The great thing about this book is that it reads like a buddy explaining something to you. It's not a sterile textbook about AD-SRAM 511 chips or whatever, it's a book about a guy who tinkered with something he bought, and kept a log about it. Even when it gets technical, it's easy to skim over those parts and still know what he was doing. A great mix of extremely informative but at the same time not overwhelming. Reading what he thought and the struggles he and others have gone through just for the *right to talk* (or 'Freedom of Speech', as I've heard it called somewhere...) about what they want is as interesting as the xbox motherboard itself.

If you're looking for instructions about modchips and playing copied games, this *isn't* the book for you. On the other hand, if you've ever wondered how these systems work, and how people are ever able to figure this stuff out in the first place, then you'll never find a better book.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Soldering techniques, debugging tips, and much, much more, September 15, 2003

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hacking the Xbox: An Introduction to Reverse Engineering (Paperback)

Hacking The Xbox: An Introduction To Reverse Engineering is, quite literally, the book that Microsoft (makers of the popular Xbox video game console) does not want you to read. Individual chapters comprehensively addresses in depth how to modify this gaming console for one's own ends, from physically opening it (and voiding the Microsoft warranty) to installing a blue LED, replacing a broken power supply, reverse engineering Xbox security, developing software for the Xbox on Xbox-Linux, soldering techniques, debugging tips, and much, much more. A knowledgeable and technically detailed instructional, Hacking The Xbox offers specific, authoritative, accessible information about reverse engineering a specific device, as well as basic principles that can be generalized to other reverse engineering hardware projects.