Hacking the Xbox: An Introduction to Reverse Engineering

by Andrew Huang

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.

Genres: Nonfiction, Computer Science, Hackers, Technology, Programming, Technical, Science

ebook

First published May 27, 2003

Reviews

[Kam Yung Soh]

Ebook released for free in honour of Aaron Swartz.

[Miguel Seguame · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of the info provided is no longer relevant, but the way he got to break the system is an entertainign anecdote of the days before system got very sofisticated

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun and Easy

This was a really fun book.

I found it was really well written, and made hacking the Xbox very easy.

I am so glad I got a hold of this book.

Would very much recommend this to anyone wanting to get into hardware hacking.

hack the w0rld

4.0/5

[Sandy Maguire · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately, this book is crippled by legal issues. It's clearly censored from what Huang wants to say, alluding to how much trouble he could be in if he actually talks about how to hack the xbox. So the best you're going to get here is how to install an LED, and some theoretical ideas about how one might go about hacking an xbox. I was hoping to see the nuts and bolts behind how this was done, hoping to extrapolate the technique to other domains. But there is no technique, and most of the book is filler on computational complexity, interviews with other people, and a big 20% chapter on the legality of doing any of this in the first place (written by someone else.)

[Colin Szechy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful and inspirational introduction to the world of not only reverse engineering, but the basics of modern-day tinkering (with our more advanced and precise digital electronics versus the radios and alarm clocks of previous decades). bunnie combines very useful, practical advice (from cheap equipment/tools recommendations) and stories around forming hacker communities. However, I wish he had touched more upon hacker communities and some of their structural issues (maybe for another book).

Check out the free ebook!

[A.M.A · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a good book for hardware tinkering and hacking, starts with very basic steps to take off the XBOX cover until being able to sniff XBOX PCB bus traces between the south-/north-bridge using custom digital designs on FPGA's.
The book is also not that intense when it comes to the number of pages.

In general, I really suggest that book for whoever likes low level tinkering and thinking outside the box when it comes to hardware and digital circuits hacks.

[Robert · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bunch of the websites in it are outdated (obviously, being a decade+ old). And a lot of it was way over my head in terms of technicalities, but it really didn't go too "into" hacking the actual box. Just a few side-projects on hardware hacking (Bunnie/Haung's specialty) and a few projects (at the time of writing) that were getting off the ground. But actually "hacking" the X-box wasn't too focused on.

Hard to explain.

[Stephen Wellbow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic and historically significant exploration of how the original XBox's security was defeated, while doubling as a "how-to" guide for novice XBox modding enthusiasts. The book also provides a glimpse into the methodology and processes of hardware hacking and the caveats of patent/copyright law.

[Todd Martinez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhat dated, since Microsoft has changed the Xbox architecture to thwart hacking attempts. But very interesting walkthrough and a good read for any budding hackers. There is still useful information on how to read circuit boards, why circuit traces do not always follow shortest distance paths, hints about disassembly and use of oscilloscopes to snoop the bus, etc.

[Paresh Chouhan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for every console hacker out there, understanding all of the things mentioned in there will require understanding of Electronics Engineering.

[Sabrina Punjani · Rating 3 out of 5]

a bit outdated now but I'm sure it was good at the time, still interesting and glad it exists as hacking books are very hard to publish.

[Jarek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Principles and introduction to working with hardware are awesome. In 2017, the legal and political bits are unfortunately a bit dated, and exclusively about the USA.

(Do you remember when people were worried about manufacturers forcing hardware lockdown with TPMs and Palladium? Not surprisingly, making lock-down appealing is much more effective...)

[Tom Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Obviously the specific subject matter is a bit dated, but this still seems like the best way, in 200 pages, to introduce someone to the concepts behind hardware hacking and, not coincidentally, a solid explanation of the reasons why current intellectual property law (and the DMCA in particular) are problematic.

Chapters 1-5 are accessible and cover an impressive amount of territory (I didn't expect a volume this slim that includes topics like dissolving chip packaging with ACID and overclocking FPGAs to bother with "what's a capacitor?"-type discussions, but it does and does so well). Chapter 6 begins to lay out the general conceptual plan of attack in a way that made sense to me, chapter 7 lays out some cryptographic material that's useful and then eye-glazing, and 8 through 10 were well over my head -- I understood generally what Bunnie was doing (something brilliant to make an FPGA snoops traffic from a brilliantly-identified interprocessor bus, which then was subject to an analysis notable for its brilliance) but the details were too much for me to keep up with. From 11 on, though, the book returns to more comprehensible topics, including some quick hacker anthropology and a valuable discussion of IP law.

Bunnie's a solid, approachable writer, and he's done a good job of organizing this book. Highly recommended for anyone interested in reverse engineering or the laws surrounding it.

[Hugh Smalley · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Michael Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Andrew Huang's Hacking the XBox is a modern book on computer science. The topic is surprisingly dramatic: breaking into a closed platform, stealing its secrets, and giving them for free to the public. (In this story, Robin Hood is here your average MIT doctoral graduate and the public is perhaps geekish rather than starving farmers.) I just loved this book. The chapter on the structure of XBox is one of the best I've read in any computer organization book, the discussion about copyright (infringement) and subsequent involvement of the Free Software Foundation is spot on, and the numerous tips and tricks on hacking are delicious. Overall, thumbs up (for the latent geek in you.) Sharing is caring!

[Dan Watts · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my second attempt at reading the book. The first time I knew little about electronics, and got very little out of it. I'm now a fairly experienced electronics hobbyist, and discovered a great many nuggets of useful information, despite the fact that the subject matter is 13 years out of date and I've never owned an Xobx. So, I think this is a 5-star read for those with experience in electronics hardware, but not recommended for those with only a general interest.

[Levent Pekcan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Çok az kişiye hitap eden ama çok güzel bir çalışma. Orijinal (2001 yılında çıkan model) Xbox ile bir ilginiz yoksa bile, donanım ve geri mühendislik konularında kolay bulamayacağınız bu bilgiler işinize yarayabilir . Satır aralarında devre tasarımı ve hatta lehimleme vs. konularda da yararlı bilgiler var.

[John A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book for techies. Fascinating what a bunch of smart folks can do. And it is *not* a bad thing that they do, but beneficial.

[Milesamallow · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is very informative it covers not only hacking the Xbox but hacking in general, printed circuits and what hacking really is. I highly recommend This book

[Jimmy]

HACKER

[Mikey Sklar · Rating 5 out of 5]

The ultimate guide for newbs who want to get into hardware hacking. This should be required reading material for High School.

[Jami]

http://bunniefoo.com/nostarch/Hacking...

[Saurabh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nice book for those interested in electronic hardware. Some parts were very interesting, others not so much, at least for me.

[Robbie Crossfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book can put you on the track to working with hardware, and creating mods

[Ananthch · Rating 4 out of 5]

MIT style of writing that is a joy to read.

[Eric S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hacked the xbox, but not like this helped, only if you wanted to get heady about it

[Rachel Palmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I've ever read.

[Russ Painter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting look inside the security of the original XBox.

[Codejedi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book that I got in a humble bundle.