maxconsole wrote:

"In rather huge news, wee have received an email from the respected developers of the Free60 project who indicate that users should NOT update their 360's with the Summer update. Despite the update being dangerous as it overwrites the first stage bootloader, it will also block out a homebrew hack that the team are planning to release. So DON'T UPDATE!!!

Here is the email wee received:

Dangerous Xbox 360 Update Killing Homebrew

On Tuesday, Microsoft has released an Xbox 360 software update that   overwrites the first stage bootloader of the system. Although there  
have been numerous software updates for Microsoft's gaming console in  the past, this is the first one to overwrite the vital boot block. Any  failure while updating this will break the Xbox 360 beyond repair.  

Statistics from other systems have shown that about one in a thousand   bootloader updates goes wrong, and unless Microsoft has a novel  
solution to this problem, this puts tens of thousands of Xboxes at risk.

It seems that this update is being done to fix a vulnerability already  known to the Free60 Project. This vulnerability has been successfully  exploited to run arbitrary code, and a complete end user compatible  hack has been in development for some time and is planned to be  released on free60.org shortly. It will allow users to take back  control of their Xboxes and run arbitrary code like homebrew  applications or Linux right after turning on the console and without  the need of a modchip, finally opening up the Xbox 360 to a level of  hacking as the original Xbox.

Because of the dangerousness of the update and the homebrew lockout,  the Free60 Project advises all Xbox 360 users to not update their  systems to the latest software version. The Project website at http://free60.org/ will provide the latest information on this ongoing topic, including  the final hack software.

Free60 (http://www.free60.org) is a project that aims to enable Xbox 360  users to run homebrew applications and operating systems like Linux on  their consoles. The effort is headed by Felix Domke and Michael Steil,  who have a background in dbox2, Xbox and GameCube hacking, and who  have spoken at various conferences about their findings. Two years  ago, Free60 released a hack that allowed arbitrary code execution  using a game ("King Kong Hack") as well as an adapted version of  Linux, but this possibility has been disabled by Microsoft in  
subsequent updates of the Xbox 360 software.

Felix and Michael have repeatedly argued that game console  manufacturers should open up their platforms to Linux and homebrew,  similar to what Sony has done with the PlayStation 3."


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