xboxdevwiki - User contributions [en]

Xbox Linux Issues

2022-07-09T09:29:55Z

VannevarKush: /* IDE to SATA Adapter Issues with Cromwell */

Here is a list of issues that are blocking general functionality on [[Linux|Xbox Linux]].

==Cromwell incompatibility with OpenXenium==
This is overall a minor issue, in that Xromwell ([[Cromwell]] as an xbe) works fine as a workaround. However, booting into Cromwell directly on Xbox boot would be (very) convenient for Xbox Linux development, and it would allow the user to easily boot into Linux from the OpenXenium BIOS menu.

"VERY IMPORTANT: As of 2004/10/27, v1.0 Xboxen with Xenium ICEs can only use Cromwell BIOS 2.30 and BELOW. This limits you to using 2.4 verison kernels. Cromwell 2.31 and higher changed the memory map so that 2.6 BIOSs can be be used. The problem with the Xenium on v1.0 boxes is believed to be a CPLD issue. The problem shows up when trying to start the 2.31+ BIOS. The box will power cycle twice, and then FRAG (Flashing Red And Green eject button). This may or may not be fixable. If you have a v1.1 or higher XBox, you won't have to concern yourself with this issue."

(is this only on 1.0 Xboxes?)

==IDE to SATA Adapter Issues with Cromwell==
The SATA to IDE adapters are sensitive to electromagnetic interference (Startech and the "PATA TO SATA" ones were tested), and these can be unreliable with Cromwell. They might work when the cable is in one position, and not when it's in another position. This may account for reported issues with Chimp where it simply refuses to run on an Xbox.

The difficulty here is that Xbios environment can be completely stable, but Cromwell and its variants freeze, fail to load, or work unreliably. Is this an issue with DMA mode detection? It should probably be fixed, although it is avoidable by following some best practices..

The solution for users is to use shorter cables (possibly placing the hard drive in the DVD area), and to try adjusting the cable position.

==Cromwell Initramfs Limitations==
If too big of an initrd file is passed, the kernel boot freezes while "Starting Linux" is displayed. (Cromwell may be freezing here.) The current largest initramfs file that worked in Cromwell was about 7125kb. The reason for this is curerntly unknown; Cromwell provides about 34MB in its memory layout to be used for loading the initramfs.

It is also currently unclear if initramfs files of >4MB are properly being parsed by the kernel.

==Native Boot Partition Filesystem Compatibility with Cromwell==
When booting a "native" install, Cromwell scans the MBR and looks for partitions that are flagged as bootable. If the partition is bootable, Cromwell attempts to determine the filesystem, and load linuxboot.cfg. If the user launches that instance, the kernel and the initrd will then be loaded from that partition. (The presence of initrd and kernel is not checked until launching)

When setting up a native install, a boot partition formatted with ext2 worked fine as formatted by historical X-DSL. The linuxboot.cfg was detected, and Cromwell presented a hard drive icon to load the native install.

When formatting the same partition using a modern distro, Cromwell does not detect the linuxboot.cfg, but it does detect the ext2 filesystem and attempts to read it without errors. (This has been tested by formatting on Gentoo, Debian, and from a Gentoo liveCD on the Xbox.)

Something about the way these ext2 partitions are being formatted by modern tools is preventing the Xbox from reading files on them. Turning off the new ext2 features using mkfs.ext2 /dev/sdb1 -O ^resize_inode,^dir_index,^large_file,^ext_attr did not make a difference.

Formatting this partition from modern Linux with vfat and no options also did not work.

Formatting as Fat32 in Windows with EaseUs Partition Master did work.

Note that Cromwell is able to read the root partition and get linuxboot.cfg from there even for larger root partitions (tested up to 80GB); a reserved boot partition is not strictly needed, but Cromwell still needs to be able to load the kernel and initrd.

So the main question here is, what kind of partitions does Cromwell support? How can at least one kind of these partitions be reliably formatted using a terminal command in Linux?

Or, can Cromwell be easily updated to support new filesystem developments? Since a boot partition is only needed for Cromwell to load the kernel and initrd, it would be acceptable for a more archaic filesystem configuration to be used as the boot partition, which would still give users the freedom to format the root partition with the kernel-supported filesystem of their choice (which is basically the point of a boot partition.) Ext2 is not necessarily the only option here either.

==XBPartitioner Table and MBR Incompatibility==

This issue is relevant to native Linux installs. In a native Linux install, the user formats empty regions of their hard drive and adds an MBR to the hard drive, which is used by Cromwell to access the Linux boot partition and subsequently load linuxboot.cfg, the kernel, and the initrd. The way that Cromwell is currently set up, it can't find Linux partitions without the MBR.

The MBR partitioning/boot scheme uses a 512 byte record at the beginning of the drive. Since the actual boot data isn't needed on Xbox, the first 440 bytes are filled with zeroes when using fdisk, and can be considered unused here. [[http://www.sharetechnote.com/html/Linux_MBR.html MBR layout information]]

The [[FATX]] filesystem has a config area of 1024 sectors (512K) starting at the beginning of the drive. The first 48 bytes are officially used, the rest can be zeroes, but later in the config area is where XBLA information is stored. On a stock-formatted Xbox hard drive, the contents of the early config area don't seem to matter much to ind-BIOS (tested), although Insignia may use the later XBLA regions in the future. If a stock FATX config area has its first 512 bytes overwritten by an MBR, it is not known to cause problems with any other Xbox functionality. (based on the fact that native Linux installs have been run in this way for years)

The problem arises with the XBPartitioner table, a custom partitioning scheme for Xbox hard drives that was never officially supported by Xbox Linux. It is common on Xboxes with larger hard drives. The XBPartitioner table provides 14 partition "slots" for FATX partitions, and it allows users to format their Xbox hard drive with additional FATX partitions. The partition table is written into unused space in the FATX config area, immediately after the initial stock data. XBPartitioner wipes the remaining bytes of the config area when writing a partition table including any MBR contents; other tools are untested so far. And fdisk overwrites the first 512 bytes of the FATX config area with an MBR, replacing the first 440 bytes with zeroes.

Another issue arises in that the two partitioning schemes overlap, even if only the necessary data were written for both XBPartitioner table and MBR; that is if they didn't write the zeroes.

This struct shows the layout of the config area, followed by the partition entry struct. From the unofficial XBPartitioner patches for the old Xbox kernel:

<syntaxhighlight lang="c">
// Temporary struct used to load XBPartitioner data directly from disk.
typedef struct {
char magic[16];
char reserved[32];
XBPartitionerTableEntry partitions[FATX_XBPARTITIONER_PARTITIONS_MAX];
} XBPartitionerTable;

// Temporary struct used to load XBPartitioner data directly from disk.
typedef struct
{
char name[16];
u32 flags;
u32 start;
u32 size;
u32 reserved;
} XBPartitionerTableEntry;
</syntaxhighlight>

The XBPartitioner table entries start at 48 bytes, and each partition's entry is 32 bytes in size. With 14 partitions, the XBPartitioner table ends at 496 bytes, and overwrites a good chunk of the relevant MBR content, which starts at 440 bytes. So tool modification alone can't make these schemes compatible.

The XBPartitioner table has no metadata, only partition entries, and has no known way of redefining the number of available partitions. However, if the XBPartitioner table only had 12 partitions, the partition table would end at 432 bytes and the two schemes could coexist.

===Possible Solutions===
====F Takes All====
This was the typical scheme used by historical Xbox Linux. The area after E would be used for Linux partitions. With larger hard drives available, there is a need for Xbox Linux to coexist with other content on the user's drive. This is okay when the user doesn't want to later modify the partition layout of their hard drive using XBPartitioner, and they want to reserve that hard drive primarily for Linux.

====A 12 partition XBPartitioner Table====
This would involve attempting to get general acceptance of changing the XBPartitioner spec to 12 partitions, so it doesn't overlap with MBR. Or providing a custom set of tools and bioses that support this.
'''Pros'''
* Cromwell would not need to be modified significantly
* The 512 byte boundary could be considered the starting point for future config area modifications
* Very few users have more than 7, much less 14 partitions on their Xbox which provide little practical use
* Any Linux PC can easily mount the Linux partitions

'''Cons'''
* Lots of software would need to be updated, including BIOSes, partitioning tools, and disk formatting tools in Xbox Linux and on PC. There might be a more elegant solution.

====Using the XBPartitioner Table To Define Linux Partitions====

'''Pros'''
* No partitioning scheme incompatiblity management
* No dual partitioning scheme; both Linux and Xbox tools would have awareness of the full drive partition table, to avoid accidentally creating overlapping partitions
* Unused per-partition flags in the XBPartitioner table could be used to mark partitions as Linux as a future standard
* Scripts utilizing dd to read the XBPartitioner table could be used as a stopgap before full kernel support is developed

'''Cons'''
* The Cromwell Grub code would need to be modified to use the XBPartitioner table in place of MBR (this may not be overly complicated)
* Scripts, tools, or kernel support will be needed in order to mount these partitions in Linux, both on the Xbox and on other PCs
* Any tools used to mount Linux partitions and edit their characteristics would have to be updated to support it, primarily apps that mount non-FATX partitions. This could be simple
* FATX kernel support would need to be ported for a long term performant solution. (fatxfs performance still needs to be evaluated on Xbox, as an alterative option)
* The user is limited to 14 total partitions; with F and G they have 7 partitions which is enough for 3 Linux installs (3 boot partitions, 3 data partitions, and shared swap). It would be workable though for most use cases.

====Using Contiguous Files Allocated on FATX as a Filesystem====
This was proposed by mborgerson, as an option to avoid dealing with partition tables at all. Since coexistence of Linux filesystems with FATX is desired, and there are incompatibilities in the current partition table schemes, and correcting this would take a great deal of effort, it was suggested to contain the raw partition data on FATX partitions. A FATX Linux utility could scan a FATX partition for contiguous available space. It could then allocate several 4GB files (the FATX file size limit) across that range of space. Then, the entire range of sectors could be formatted a Linux partition or group of partitions by sector range, and a distribution installed there.

'''Pros'''
* This avoids modifying partition tables at all, so we don't have to worry about changing existing standards.
* The tool fatxfs provides a starting point for interacting with the FATX filesystem without kernel FATX support. FATX partitions only need to be temporarily accessed as such, and once the contiguous files are created and their sector range is known, Linux can work with that area of the disk directly. After starting up and mounting any partitions, Linux does not strictly need any knowledge of FATX.
* Contiguous files can be checked for contiguity before mounting to avoid overwriting other data
* Users could reserve a FATX partition for Linux in XBPartitioner and then use Linux to fill it with contiguous files, the end result should be equivalent to formatting a partition and using MBR to access it, although the mounting process would differ.
* Swap could be shared between Linux installs as long as some kind of common file/directory name or other method is used to detect shared swap on a FATX partition.
* Users can place the kernel and intitrd on FATX partitions and launch using existing Cromwell functionality for loading from FATX, so no boot partitions are needed here
* This could also address the issue of [[Xbox Linux Issues#Lack of FATX Kernel Support|kernel support being needed to mount loop devices]]. But see the "cons" section about FTP-ing images to the hard drive

'''Cons'''
* A custom tool would be needed to access and mount these partitions, both on the Xbox and outside of it. This is still much simpler to address than the issues in the previous proposals.
* The user's filesystem may be fragmented in about the same manner as a FAT filesystem. In order to create space for contiguous files, defragmentation may be needed, especially on partitions which have seen a lot of use and re-use.
* If a user downloads these contiguous files and FTPs them to their Xbox, these files may become fragmented. (It is not fully understood in what situations the BIOS decides to fragment a file.) In order for FTP to work for sharing these files, a utility would have to be able to "defragment" an image and place the data in the right order on the hard drive, without gaps. This could take some time for larger images. One option would be to defragment the drive first and then have Linux handle the FTP part to make sure it gets transferred correctly.

===Mounting a Range of hda as a Loop Device===
(fill out)

==Lack of FATX Kernel Support==

Loop devices are a common method of packaging Xbox Linux installations, in order to avoid modifying the partition table on the Xbox hard drive. A loop device is a filesystem image that can be mounted from within another filesystem. When put on a FATX partition, they allow Xbox Linux to be run from the hard drive without modifying the user's partition table at all. These setups can be used to bundle Linux builds and other apps for easy distribution. (XMugen, for instance.)

The current Xbox Linux patches don't port over the support for mounting the FATX filesystem in Linux. This is because the underlying code has changed significantly in a few places since then. [[User:VannevarKush]] is working on porting the old FATX code to the kernel for native support, but it is a work in progress.

The lack of native FATX support means that mounting loop devices can't be done. Right now, native install and live CDs are the current available boot options for Xbox Linux.

The FUSE based fatxfs [https://github.com/mborgerson/fatx code by mborgerson] may be usable as a stopgap, although its performance hasn't been evaluated yet on an Xbox.

==Advanced Video Support==
The Xbox Linux kernel currently only uses the most basic video support available (defined by CONFIG_FRAMEBUFFER_SIMPLE in the kernel config). More advanced support may be needed to run desktop environments and to run graphical applications with better performance. Does code need to be merged over from the original sources for xbox video?

==See Also==
*[[Xbox Linux Tips and Tricks]]
*[[Xbox Linux]]

Xbox Linux Issues

2022-07-09T08:54:20Z

VannevarKush:

Here is a list of issues that are blocking general functionality on [[Linux|Xbox Linux]].

==Cromwell incompatibility with OpenXenium==
This is overall a minor issue, in that Xromwell ([[Cromwell]] as an xbe) works fine as a workaround. However, booting into Cromwell directly on Xbox boot would be (very) convenient for Xbox Linux development, and it would allow the user to easily boot into Linux from the OpenXenium BIOS menu.

"VERY IMPORTANT: As of 2004/10/27, v1.0 Xboxen with Xenium ICEs can only use Cromwell BIOS 2.30 and BELOW. This limits you to using 2.4 verison kernels. Cromwell 2.31 and higher changed the memory map so that 2.6 BIOSs can be be used. The problem with the Xenium on v1.0 boxes is believed to be a CPLD issue. The problem shows up when trying to start the 2.31+ BIOS. The box will power cycle twice, and then FRAG (Flashing Red And Green eject button). This may or may not be fixable. If you have a v1.1 or higher XBox, you won't have to concern yourself with this issue."

(is this only on 1.0 Xboxes?)

==IDE to SATA Adapter Issues with Cromwell==
The SATA to IDE adapters (Startech and the "PATA TO SATA" ones) are sensitive to electromagnetic interference, and these can be unreliable with Cromwell. They might work when the cable is in one position, and not when it's in another position. This may account for reported issues with Chimp where it simply refuses to run on an Xbox.

The difficulty here is that Xbios environment can be completely stable, but Cromwell and its variants freeze, fail to load, or work unreliably. Is this an issue with DMA mode detection? It should probably be fixed, although it is avoidable by following some best practices..

The solution for users is to use shorter cables (possibly placing the hard drive in the DVD area), and to try adjusting the cable position.

==Cromwell Initramfs Limitations==
If too big of an initrd file is passed, the kernel boot freezes while "Starting Linux" is displayed. (Cromwell may be freezing here.) The current largest initramfs file that worked in Cromwell was about 7125kb. The reason for this is curerntly unknown; Cromwell provides about 34MB in its memory layout to be used for loading the initramfs.

It is also currently unclear if initramfs files of >4MB are properly being parsed by the kernel.

==Native Boot Partition Filesystem Compatibility with Cromwell==
When booting a "native" install, Cromwell scans the MBR and looks for partitions that are flagged as bootable. If the partition is bootable, Cromwell attempts to determine the filesystem, and load linuxboot.cfg. If the user launches that instance, the kernel and the initrd will then be loaded from that partition. (The presence of initrd and kernel is not checked until launching)

When setting up a native install, a boot partition formatted with ext2 worked fine as formatted by historical X-DSL. The linuxboot.cfg was detected, and Cromwell presented a hard drive icon to load the native install.

When formatting the same partition using a modern distro, Cromwell does not detect the linuxboot.cfg, but it does detect the ext2 filesystem and attempts to read it without errors. (This has been tested by formatting on Gentoo, Debian, and from a Gentoo liveCD on the Xbox.)

Something about the way these ext2 partitions are being formatted by modern tools is preventing the Xbox from reading files on them. Turning off the new ext2 features using mkfs.ext2 /dev/sdb1 -O ^resize_inode,^dir_index,^large_file,^ext_attr did not make a difference.

Formatting this partition from modern Linux with vfat and no options also did not work.

Formatting as Fat32 in Windows with EaseUs Partition Master did work.

Note that Cromwell is able to read the root partition and get linuxboot.cfg from there even for larger root partitions (tested up to 80GB); a reserved boot partition is not strictly needed, but Cromwell still needs to be able to load the kernel and initrd.

So the main question here is, what kind of partitions does Cromwell support? How can at least one kind of these partitions be reliably formatted using a terminal command in Linux?

Or, can Cromwell be easily updated to support new filesystem developments? Since a boot partition is only needed for Cromwell to load the kernel and initrd, it would be acceptable for a more archaic filesystem configuration to be used as the boot partition, which would still give users the freedom to format the root partition with the kernel-supported filesystem of their choice (which is basically the point of a boot partition.) Ext2 is not necessarily the only option here either.

==XBPartitioner Table and MBR Incompatibility==

This issue is relevant to native Linux installs. In a native Linux install, the user formats empty regions of their hard drive and adds an MBR to the hard drive, which is used by Cromwell to access the Linux boot partition and subsequently load linuxboot.cfg, the kernel, and the initrd. The way that Cromwell is currently set up, it can't find Linux partitions without the MBR.

The MBR partitioning/boot scheme uses a 512 byte record at the beginning of the drive. Since the actual boot data isn't needed on Xbox, the first 440 bytes are filled with zeroes when using fdisk, and can be considered unused here. [[http://www.sharetechnote.com/html/Linux_MBR.html MBR layout information]]

The [[FATX]] filesystem has a config area of 1024 sectors (512K) starting at the beginning of the drive. The first 48 bytes are officially used, the rest can be zeroes, but later in the config area is where XBLA information is stored. On a stock-formatted Xbox hard drive, the contents of the early config area don't seem to matter much to ind-BIOS (tested), although Insignia may use the later XBLA regions in the future. If a stock FATX config area has its first 512 bytes overwritten by an MBR, it is not known to cause problems with any other Xbox functionality. (based on the fact that native Linux installs have been run in this way for years)

The problem arises with the XBPartitioner table, a custom partitioning scheme for Xbox hard drives that was never officially supported by Xbox Linux. It is common on Xboxes with larger hard drives. The XBPartitioner table provides 14 partition "slots" for FATX partitions, and it allows users to format their Xbox hard drive with additional FATX partitions. The partition table is written into unused space in the FATX config area, immediately after the initial stock data. XBPartitioner wipes the remaining bytes of the config area when writing a partition table including any MBR contents; other tools are untested so far. And fdisk overwrites the first 512 bytes of the FATX config area with an MBR, replacing the first 440 bytes with zeroes.

Another issue arises in that the two partitioning schemes overlap, even if only the necessary data were written for both XBPartitioner table and MBR; that is if they didn't write the zeroes.

This struct shows the layout of the config area, followed by the partition entry struct. From the unofficial XBPartitioner patches for the old Xbox kernel:

<syntaxhighlight lang="c">
// Temporary struct used to load XBPartitioner data directly from disk.
typedef struct {
char magic[16];
char reserved[32];
XBPartitionerTableEntry partitions[FATX_XBPARTITIONER_PARTITIONS_MAX];
} XBPartitionerTable;

// Temporary struct used to load XBPartitioner data directly from disk.
typedef struct
{
char name[16];
u32 flags;
u32 start;
u32 size;
u32 reserved;
} XBPartitionerTableEntry;
</syntaxhighlight>

The XBPartitioner table entries start at 48 bytes, and each partition's entry is 32 bytes in size. With 14 partitions, the XBPartitioner table ends at 496 bytes, and overwrites a good chunk of the relevant MBR content, which starts at 440 bytes. So tool modification alone can't make these schemes compatible.

The XBPartitioner table has no metadata, only partition entries, and has no known way of redefining the number of available partitions. However, if the XBPartitioner table only had 12 partitions, the partition table would end at 432 bytes and the two schemes could coexist.

===Possible Solutions===
====F Takes All====
This was the typical scheme used by historical Xbox Linux. The area after E would be used for Linux partitions. With larger hard drives available, there is a need for Xbox Linux to coexist with other content on the user's drive. This is okay when the user doesn't want to later modify the partition layout of their hard drive using XBPartitioner, and they want to reserve that hard drive primarily for Linux.

====A 12 partition XBPartitioner Table====
This would involve attempting to get general acceptance of changing the XBPartitioner spec to 12 partitions, so it doesn't overlap with MBR. Or providing a custom set of tools and bioses that support this.
'''Pros'''
* Cromwell would not need to be modified significantly
* The 512 byte boundary could be considered the starting point for future config area modifications
* Very few users have more than 7, much less 14 partitions on their Xbox which provide little practical use
* Any Linux PC can easily mount the Linux partitions

'''Cons'''
* Lots of software would need to be updated, including BIOSes, partitioning tools, and disk formatting tools in Xbox Linux and on PC. There might be a more elegant solution.

====Using the XBPartitioner Table To Define Linux Partitions====

'''Pros'''
* No partitioning scheme incompatiblity management
* No dual partitioning scheme; both Linux and Xbox tools would have awareness of the full drive partition table, to avoid accidentally creating overlapping partitions
* Unused per-partition flags in the XBPartitioner table could be used to mark partitions as Linux as a future standard
* Scripts utilizing dd to read the XBPartitioner table could be used as a stopgap before full kernel support is developed

'''Cons'''
* The Cromwell Grub code would need to be modified to use the XBPartitioner table in place of MBR (this may not be overly complicated)
* Scripts, tools, or kernel support will be needed in order to mount these partitions in Linux, both on the Xbox and on other PCs
* Any tools used to mount Linux partitions and edit their characteristics would have to be updated to support it, primarily apps that mount non-FATX partitions. This could be simple
* FATX kernel support would need to be ported for a long term performant solution. (fatxfs performance still needs to be evaluated on Xbox, as an alterative option)
* The user is limited to 14 total partitions; with F and G they have 7 partitions which is enough for 3 Linux installs (3 boot partitions, 3 data partitions, and shared swap). It would be workable though for most use cases.

====Using Contiguous Files Allocated on FATX as a Filesystem====
This was proposed by mborgerson, as an option to avoid dealing with partition tables at all. Since coexistence of Linux filesystems with FATX is desired, and there are incompatibilities in the current partition table schemes, and correcting this would take a great deal of effort, it was suggested to contain the raw partition data on FATX partitions. A FATX Linux utility could scan a FATX partition for contiguous available space. It could then allocate several 4GB files (the FATX file size limit) across that range of space. Then, the entire range of sectors could be formatted a Linux partition or group of partitions by sector range, and a distribution installed there.

'''Pros'''
* This avoids modifying partition tables at all, so we don't have to worry about changing existing standards.
* The tool fatxfs provides a starting point for interacting with the FATX filesystem without kernel FATX support. FATX partitions only need to be temporarily accessed as such, and once the contiguous files are created and their sector range is known, Linux can work with that area of the disk directly. After starting up and mounting any partitions, Linux does not strictly need any knowledge of FATX.
* Contiguous files can be checked for contiguity before mounting to avoid overwriting other data
* Users could reserve a FATX partition for Linux in XBPartitioner and then use Linux to fill it with contiguous files, the end result should be equivalent to formatting a partition and using MBR to access it, although the mounting process would differ.
* Swap could be shared between Linux installs as long as some kind of common file/directory name or other method is used to detect shared swap on a FATX partition.
* Users can place the kernel and intitrd on FATX partitions and launch using existing Cromwell functionality for loading from FATX, so no boot partitions are needed here
* This could also address the issue of [[Xbox Linux Issues#Lack of FATX Kernel Support|kernel support being needed to mount loop devices]]. But see the "cons" section about FTP-ing images to the hard drive

'''Cons'''
* A custom tool would be needed to access and mount these partitions, both on the Xbox and outside of it. This is still much simpler to address than the issues in the previous proposals.
* The user's filesystem may be fragmented in about the same manner as a FAT filesystem. In order to create space for contiguous files, defragmentation may be needed, especially on partitions which have seen a lot of use and re-use.
* If a user downloads these contiguous files and FTPs them to their Xbox, these files may become fragmented. (It is not fully understood in what situations the BIOS decides to fragment a file.) In order for FTP to work for sharing these files, a utility would have to be able to "defragment" an image and place the data in the right order on the hard drive, without gaps. This could take some time for larger images. One option would be to defragment the drive first and then have Linux handle the FTP part to make sure it gets transferred correctly.

===Mounting a Range of hda as a Loop Device===
(fill out)

==Lack of FATX Kernel Support==

Loop devices are a common method of packaging Xbox Linux installations, in order to avoid modifying the partition table on the Xbox hard drive. A loop device is a filesystem image that can be mounted from within another filesystem. When put on a FATX partition, they allow Xbox Linux to be run from the hard drive without modifying the user's partition table at all. These setups can be used to bundle Linux builds and other apps for easy distribution. (XMugen, for instance.)

The current Xbox Linux patches don't port over the support for mounting the FATX filesystem in Linux. This is because the underlying code has changed significantly in a few places since then. [[User:VannevarKush]] is working on porting the old FATX code to the kernel for native support, but it is a work in progress.

The lack of native FATX support means that mounting loop devices can't be done. Right now, native install and live CDs are the current available boot options for Xbox Linux.

The FUSE based fatxfs [https://github.com/mborgerson/fatx code by mborgerson] may be usable as a stopgap, although its performance hasn't been evaluated yet on an Xbox.

==Advanced Video Support==
The Xbox Linux kernel currently only uses the most basic video support available (defined by CONFIG_FRAMEBUFFER_SIMPLE in the kernel config). More advanced support may be needed to run desktop environments and to run graphical applications with better performance. Does code need to be merged over from the original sources for xbox video?

==See Also==
*[[Xbox Linux Tips and Tricks]]
*[[Xbox Linux]]

Xbox Linux Issues

2022-07-09T06:03:16Z

VannevarKush: /* Cromwell incompatibility with OpenXenium */

Here is a list of issues that are blocking general functionality on [[Linux|Xbox Linux]].

==Cromwell incompatibility with OpenXenium==
This is overall a minor issue, in that Xromwell ([[Cromwell]] as an xbe) works fine as a workaround. However, booting into Cromwell directly on Xbox boot would be (very) convenient for Xbox Linux development, and it would allow the user to easily boot into Linux from the OpenXenium BIOS menu.

"VERY IMPORTANT: As of 2004/10/27, v1.0 Xboxen with Xenium ICEs can only use Cromwell BIOS 2.30 and BELOW. This limits you to using 2.4 verison kernels. Cromwell 2.31 and higher changed the memory map so that 2.6 BIOSs can be be used. The problem with the Xenium on v1.0 boxes is believed to be a CPLD issue. The problem shows up when trying to start the 2.31+ BIOS. The box will power cycle twice, and then FRAG (Flashing Red And Green eject button). This may or may not be fixable. If you have a v1.1 or higher XBox, you won't have to concern yourself with this issue."

(is this only on 1.0 Xboxes?)

==IDE to SATA Adapter Issues with Cromwell==
It was found testing on a stock and a 1.4 GHz Xbox, that there may be issues with IDE to SATA adapters. The PATA to SATA adapters tended to work, with or without a DVD drive, but did not work with a CF card on HDB. (this does work if hda is an IDE drive.) Cromwell never got to the boot menu with the Startech adapter.

The quickness of the failure seemed to depend on the adapter and drive used. With one SSD, Cromwell would boot to a black screen, but not always, and it would sometimes detect an SSD before freezing.

It appears there may be some kind of synchronization issue, but the nature of it is currently unclear. The main practical issue is supporting Startech adapters as they are faster and more reliable than the cheaper ones.

Also, it was found that two adapters together (one on hda and one on hdb) in any combination did not work with Cromwell.

==Native Boot Partition Filesystem Compatibility with Cromwell==
When booting a "native" install, Cromwell scans the MBR and looks for partitions that are flagged as bootable. If the partition is bootable, Cromwell attempts to determine the filesystem, and load linuxboot.cfg. If the user launches that instance, the kernel and the initrd will then be loaded from that partition. (The presence of initrd and kernel is not checked until launching)

When setting up a native install, a boot partition formatted with ext2 worked fine as formatted by historical X-DSL. The linuxboot.cfg was detected, and Cromwell presented a hard drive icon to load the native install.

When formatting the same partition using a modern distro, Cromwell does not detect the linuxboot.cfg, but it does detect the ext2 filesystem and attempts to read it without errors. (This has been tested by formatting on Gentoo, Debian, and from a Gentoo liveCD on the Xbox.)

Something about the way these ext2 partitions are being formatted by modern tools is preventing the Xbox from reading files on them. Turning off the new ext2 features using mkfs.ext2 /dev/sdb1 -O ^resize_inode,^dir_index,^large_file,^ext_attr did not make a difference.

Formatting this partition from modern Linux with vfat and no options also did not work.

Formatting as Fat32 in Windows with EaseUs Partition Master did work.

Note that Cromwell is able to read the root partition and get linuxboot.cfg from there even for larger root partitions (tested up to 80GB); a reserved boot partition is not strictly needed, but Cromwell still needs to be able to load the kernel and initrd.

So the main question here is, what kind of partitions does Cromwell support? How can at least one kind of these partitions be reliably formatted using a terminal command in Linux?

Or, can Cromwell be easily updated to support new filesystem developments? Since a boot partition is only needed for Cromwell to load the kernel and initrd, it would be acceptable for a more archaic filesystem configuration to be used as the boot partition, which would still give users the freedom to format the root partition with the kernel-supported filesystem of their choice (which is basically the point of a boot partition.) Ext2 is not necessarily the only option here either.

==XBPartitioner Table and MBR Incompatibility==

This issue is relevant to native Linux installs. In a native Linux install, the user formats empty regions of their hard drive and adds an MBR to the hard drive, which is used by Cromwell to access the Linux boot partition and subsequently load linuxboot.cfg, the kernel, and the initrd. The way that Cromwell is currently set up, it can't find Linux partitions without the MBR.

The MBR partitioning/boot scheme uses a 512 byte record at the beginning of the drive. Since the actual boot data isn't needed on Xbox, the first 440 bytes are filled with zeroes when using fdisk, and can be considered unused here. [[http://www.sharetechnote.com/html/Linux_MBR.html MBR layout information]]

The [[FATX]] filesystem has a config area of 1024 sectors (512K) starting at the beginning of the drive. The first 48 bytes are officially used, the rest can be zeroes, but later in the config area is where XBLA information is stored. On a stock-formatted Xbox hard drive, the contents of the early config area don't seem to matter much to ind-BIOS (tested), although Insignia may use the later XBLA regions in the future. If a stock FATX config area has its first 512 bytes overwritten by an MBR, it is not known to cause problems with any other Xbox functionality. (based on the fact that native Linux installs have been run in this way for years)

The problem arises with the XBPartitioner table, a custom partitioning scheme for Xbox hard drives that was never officially supported by Xbox Linux. It is common on Xboxes with larger hard drives. The XBPartitioner table provides 14 partition "slots" for FATX partitions, and it allows users to format their Xbox hard drive with additional FATX partitions. The partition table is written into unused space in the FATX config area, immediately after the initial stock data. XBPartitioner wipes the remaining bytes of the config area when writing a partition table including any MBR contents; other tools are untested so far. And fdisk overwrites the first 512 bytes of the FATX config area with an MBR, replacing the first 440 bytes with zeroes.

Another issue arises in that the two partitioning schemes overlap, even if only the necessary data were written for both XBPartitioner table and MBR; that is if they didn't write the zeroes.

This struct shows the layout of the config area, followed by the partition entry struct. From the unofficial XBPartitioner patches for the old Xbox kernel:

<syntaxhighlight lang="c">
// Temporary struct used to load XBPartitioner data directly from disk.
typedef struct {
char magic[16];
char reserved[32];
XBPartitionerTableEntry partitions[FATX_XBPARTITIONER_PARTITIONS_MAX];
} XBPartitionerTable;

// Temporary struct used to load XBPartitioner data directly from disk.
typedef struct
{
char name[16];
u32 flags;
u32 start;
u32 size;
u32 reserved;
} XBPartitionerTableEntry;
</syntaxhighlight>

The XBPartitioner table entries start at 48 bytes, and each partition's entry is 32 bytes in size. With 14 partitions, the XBPartitioner table ends at 496 bytes, and overwrites a good chunk of the relevant MBR content, which starts at 440 bytes. So tool modification alone can't make these schemes compatible.

The XBPartitioner table has no metadata, only partition entries, and has no known way of redefining the number of available partitions. However, if the XBPartitioner table only had 12 partitions, the partition table would end at 432 bytes and the two schemes could coexist.

===Possible Solutions===
====F Takes All====
This was the typical scheme used by historical Xbox Linux. The area after E would be used for Linux partitions. With larger hard drives available, there is a need for Xbox Linux to coexist with other content on the user's drive. This is okay when the user doesn't want to later modify the partition layout of their hard drive using XBPartitioner, and they want to reserve that hard drive primarily for Linux.

====A 12 partition XBPartitioner Table====
This would involve attempting to get general acceptance of changing the XBPartitioner spec to 12 partitions, so it doesn't overlap with MBR. Or providing a custom set of tools and bioses that support this.
'''Pros'''
* Cromwell would not need to be modified significantly
* The 512 byte boundary could be considered the starting point for future config area modifications
* Very few users have more than 7, much less 14 partitions on their Xbox which provide little practical use
* Any Linux PC can easily mount the Linux partitions

'''Cons'''
* Lots of software would need to be updated, including BIOSes, partitioning tools, and disk formatting tools in Xbox Linux and on PC. There might be a more elegant solution.

====Using the XBPartitioner Table To Define Linux Partitions====

'''Pros'''
* No partitioning scheme incompatiblity management
* No dual partitioning scheme; both Linux and Xbox tools would have awareness of the full drive partition table, to avoid accidentally creating overlapping partitions
* Unused per-partition flags in the XBPartitioner table could be used to mark partitions as Linux as a future standard
* Scripts utilizing dd to read the XBPartitioner table could be used as a stopgap before full kernel support is developed

'''Cons'''
* The Cromwell Grub code would need to be modified to use the XBPartitioner table in place of MBR (this may not be overly complicated)
* Scripts, tools, or kernel support will be needed in order to mount these partitions in Linux, both on the Xbox and on other PCs
* Any tools used to mount Linux partitions and edit their characteristics would have to be updated to support it, primarily apps that mount non-FATX partitions. This could be simple
* FATX kernel support would need to be ported for a long term performant solution. (fatxfs performance still needs to be evaluated on Xbox, as an alterative option)
* The user is limited to 14 total partitions; with F and G they have 7 partitions which is enough for 3 Linux installs (3 boot partitions, 3 data partitions, and shared swap). It would be workable though for most use cases.

====Using Contiguous Files Allocated on FATX as a Filesystem====
This was proposed by mborgerson, as an option to avoid dealing with partition tables at all. Since coexistence of Linux filesystems with FATX is desired, and there are incompatibilities in the current partition table schemes, and correcting this would take a great deal of effort, it was suggested to contain the raw partition data on FATX partitions. A FATX Linux utility could scan a FATX partition for contiguous available space. It could then allocate several 4GB files (the FATX file size limit) across that range of space. Then, the entire range of sectors could be formatted a Linux partition or group of partitions by sector range, and a distribution installed there.

'''Pros'''
* This avoids modifying partition tables at all, so we don't have to worry about changing existing standards.
* The tool fatxfs provides a starting point for interacting with the FATX filesystem without kernel FATX support. FATX partitions only need to be temporarily accessed as such, and once the contiguous files are created and their sector range is known, Linux can work with that area of the disk directly. After starting up and mounting any partitions, Linux does not strictly need any knowledge of FATX.
* Contiguous files can be checked for contiguity before mounting to avoid overwriting other data
* Users could reserve a FATX partition for Linux in XBPartitioner and then use Linux to fill it with contiguous files, the end result should be equivalent to formatting a partition and using MBR to access it, although the mounting process would differ.
* Swap could be shared between Linux installs as long as some kind of common file/directory name or other method is used to detect shared swap on a FATX partition.
* Users can place the kernel and intitrd on FATX partitions and launch using existing Cromwell functionality for loading from FATX, so no boot partitions are needed here
* This could also address the issue of [[Xbox Linux Issues#Lack of FATX Kernel Support|kernel support being needed to mount loop devices]]. But see the "cons" section about FTP-ing images to the hard drive

'''Cons'''
* A custom tool would be needed to access and mount these partitions, both on the Xbox and outside of it. This is still much simpler to address than the issues in the previous proposals.
* The user's filesystem may be fragmented in about the same manner as a FAT filesystem. In order to create space for contiguous files, defragmentation may be needed, especially on partitions which have seen a lot of use and re-use.
* If a user downloads these contiguous files and FTPs them to their Xbox, these files may become fragmented. (It is not fully understood in what situations the BIOS decides to fragment a file.) In order for FTP to work for sharing these files, a utility would have to be able to "defragment" an image and place the data in the right order on the hard drive, without gaps. This could take some time for larger images. One option would be to defragment the drive first and then have Linux handle the FTP part to make sure it gets transferred correctly.

===Mounting a Range of hda as a Loop Device===
(fill out)

==Lack of FATX Kernel Support==

Loop devices are a common method of packaging Xbox Linux installations, in order to avoid modifying the partition table on the Xbox hard drive. A loop device is a filesystem image that can be mounted from within another filesystem. When put on a FATX partition, they allow Xbox Linux to be run from the hard drive without modifying the user's partition table at all. These setups can be used to bundle Linux builds and other apps for easy distribution. (XMugen, for instance.)

The current Xbox Linux patches don't port over the support for mounting the FATX filesystem in Linux. This is because the underlying code has changed significantly in a few places since then. [[User:VannevarKush]] is working on porting the old FATX code to the kernel for native support, but it is a work in progress.

The lack of native FATX support means that mounting loop devices can't be done. Right now, native install and live CDs are the current available boot options for Xbox Linux.

The FUSE based fatxfs [https://github.com/mborgerson/fatx code by mborgerson] may be usable as a stopgap, although its performance hasn't been evaluated yet on an Xbox.

==Advanced Video Support==
The Xbox Linux kernel currently only uses the most basic video support available (defined by CONFIG_FRAMEBUFFER_SIMPLE in the kernel config). More advanced support may be needed to run desktop environments and to run graphical applications with better performance. Does code need to be merged over from the original sources for xbox video?

==See Also==
*[[Xbox Linux Tips and Tricks]]
*[[Xbox Linux]]

Xbox Linux Issues

2022-07-09T06:02:05Z

VannevarKush: /* IDE to SATA Adapter Issues with Cromwell */

Here is a list of issues that are blocking general functionality on [[Linux|Xbox Linux]].

==Cromwell incompatibility with OpenXenium==
This is overall a minor issue, in that Xromwell ([[Cromwell]] as an xbe) works fine as a workaround. However, booting into Cromwell directly on Xbox boot would be (very) convenient for Xbox Linux development, and it would allow the user to easily boot into Linux from the OpenXenium BIOS menu.

"VERY IMPORTANT: As of 2004/10/27, v1.0 Xboxen with Xenium ICEs can only use Cromwell BIOS 2.30 and BELOW. This limits you to using 2.4 verison kernels. Cromwell 2.31 and higher changed the memory map so that 2.6 BIOSs can be be used. The problem with the Xenium on v1.0 boxes is believed to be a CPLD issue. The problem shows up when trying to start the 2.31+ BIOS. The box will power cycle twice, and then FRAG (Flashing Red And Green eject button). This may or may not be fixable. If you have a v1.1 or higher XBox, you won't have to concern yourself with this issue."

==IDE to SATA Adapter Issues with Cromwell==
It was found testing on a stock and a 1.4 GHz Xbox, that there may be issues with IDE to SATA adapters. The PATA to SATA adapters tended to work, with or without a DVD drive, but did not work with a CF card on HDB. (this does work if hda is an IDE drive.) Cromwell never got to the boot menu with the Startech adapter.

The quickness of the failure seemed to depend on the adapter and drive used. With one SSD, Cromwell would boot to a black screen, but not always, and it would sometimes detect an SSD before freezing.

It appears there may be some kind of synchronization issue, but the nature of it is currently unclear. The main practical issue is supporting Startech adapters as they are faster and more reliable than the cheaper ones.

Also, it was found that two adapters together (one on hda and one on hdb) in any combination did not work with Cromwell.

==Native Boot Partition Filesystem Compatibility with Cromwell==
When booting a "native" install, Cromwell scans the MBR and looks for partitions that are flagged as bootable. If the partition is bootable, Cromwell attempts to determine the filesystem, and load linuxboot.cfg. If the user launches that instance, the kernel and the initrd will then be loaded from that partition. (The presence of initrd and kernel is not checked until launching)

When setting up a native install, a boot partition formatted with ext2 worked fine as formatted by historical X-DSL. The linuxboot.cfg was detected, and Cromwell presented a hard drive icon to load the native install.

When formatting the same partition using a modern distro, Cromwell does not detect the linuxboot.cfg, but it does detect the ext2 filesystem and attempts to read it without errors. (This has been tested by formatting on Gentoo, Debian, and from a Gentoo liveCD on the Xbox.)

Something about the way these ext2 partitions are being formatted by modern tools is preventing the Xbox from reading files on them. Turning off the new ext2 features using mkfs.ext2 /dev/sdb1 -O ^resize_inode,^dir_index,^large_file,^ext_attr did not make a difference.

Formatting this partition from modern Linux with vfat and no options also did not work.

Formatting as Fat32 in Windows with EaseUs Partition Master did work.

Note that Cromwell is able to read the root partition and get linuxboot.cfg from there even for larger root partitions (tested up to 80GB); a reserved boot partition is not strictly needed, but Cromwell still needs to be able to load the kernel and initrd.

So the main question here is, what kind of partitions does Cromwell support? How can at least one kind of these partitions be reliably formatted using a terminal command in Linux?

Or, can Cromwell be easily updated to support new filesystem developments? Since a boot partition is only needed for Cromwell to load the kernel and initrd, it would be acceptable for a more archaic filesystem configuration to be used as the boot partition, which would still give users the freedom to format the root partition with the kernel-supported filesystem of their choice (which is basically the point of a boot partition.) Ext2 is not necessarily the only option here either.

==XBPartitioner Table and MBR Incompatibility==

This issue is relevant to native Linux installs. In a native Linux install, the user formats empty regions of their hard drive and adds an MBR to the hard drive, which is used by Cromwell to access the Linux boot partition and subsequently load linuxboot.cfg, the kernel, and the initrd. The way that Cromwell is currently set up, it can't find Linux partitions without the MBR.

The MBR partitioning/boot scheme uses a 512 byte record at the beginning of the drive. Since the actual boot data isn't needed on Xbox, the first 440 bytes are filled with zeroes when using fdisk, and can be considered unused here. [[http://www.sharetechnote.com/html/Linux_MBR.html MBR layout information]]

The [[FATX]] filesystem has a config area of 1024 sectors (512K) starting at the beginning of the drive. The first 48 bytes are officially used, the rest can be zeroes, but later in the config area is where XBLA information is stored. On a stock-formatted Xbox hard drive, the contents of the early config area don't seem to matter much to ind-BIOS (tested), although Insignia may use the later XBLA regions in the future. If a stock FATX config area has its first 512 bytes overwritten by an MBR, it is not known to cause problems with any other Xbox functionality. (based on the fact that native Linux installs have been run in this way for years)

The problem arises with the XBPartitioner table, a custom partitioning scheme for Xbox hard drives that was never officially supported by Xbox Linux. It is common on Xboxes with larger hard drives. The XBPartitioner table provides 14 partition "slots" for FATX partitions, and it allows users to format their Xbox hard drive with additional FATX partitions. The partition table is written into unused space in the FATX config area, immediately after the initial stock data. XBPartitioner wipes the remaining bytes of the config area when writing a partition table including any MBR contents; other tools are untested so far. And fdisk overwrites the first 512 bytes of the FATX config area with an MBR, replacing the first 440 bytes with zeroes.

Another issue arises in that the two partitioning schemes overlap, even if only the necessary data were written for both XBPartitioner table and MBR; that is if they didn't write the zeroes.

This struct shows the layout of the config area, followed by the partition entry struct. From the unofficial XBPartitioner patches for the old Xbox kernel:

<syntaxhighlight lang="c">
// Temporary struct used to load XBPartitioner data directly from disk.
typedef struct {
char magic[16];
char reserved[32];
XBPartitionerTableEntry partitions[FATX_XBPARTITIONER_PARTITIONS_MAX];
} XBPartitionerTable;

// Temporary struct used to load XBPartitioner data directly from disk.
typedef struct
{
char name[16];
u32 flags;
u32 start;
u32 size;
u32 reserved;
} XBPartitionerTableEntry;
</syntaxhighlight>

The XBPartitioner table entries start at 48 bytes, and each partition's entry is 32 bytes in size. With 14 partitions, the XBPartitioner table ends at 496 bytes, and overwrites a good chunk of the relevant MBR content, which starts at 440 bytes. So tool modification alone can't make these schemes compatible.

The XBPartitioner table has no metadata, only partition entries, and has no known way of redefining the number of available partitions. However, if the XBPartitioner table only had 12 partitions, the partition table would end at 432 bytes and the two schemes could coexist.

===Possible Solutions===
====F Takes All====
This was the typical scheme used by historical Xbox Linux. The area after E would be used for Linux partitions. With larger hard drives available, there is a need for Xbox Linux to coexist with other content on the user's drive. This is okay when the user doesn't want to later modify the partition layout of their hard drive using XBPartitioner, and they want to reserve that hard drive primarily for Linux.

====A 12 partition XBPartitioner Table====
This would involve attempting to get general acceptance of changing the XBPartitioner spec to 12 partitions, so it doesn't overlap with MBR. Or providing a custom set of tools and bioses that support this.
'''Pros'''
* Cromwell would not need to be modified significantly
* The 512 byte boundary could be considered the starting point for future config area modifications
* Very few users have more than 7, much less 14 partitions on their Xbox which provide little practical use
* Any Linux PC can easily mount the Linux partitions

'''Cons'''
* Lots of software would need to be updated, including BIOSes, partitioning tools, and disk formatting tools in Xbox Linux and on PC. There might be a more elegant solution.

====Using the XBPartitioner Table To Define Linux Partitions====

'''Pros'''
* No partitioning scheme incompatiblity management
* No dual partitioning scheme; both Linux and Xbox tools would have awareness of the full drive partition table, to avoid accidentally creating overlapping partitions
* Unused per-partition flags in the XBPartitioner table could be used to mark partitions as Linux as a future standard
* Scripts utilizing dd to read the XBPartitioner table could be used as a stopgap before full kernel support is developed

'''Cons'''
* The Cromwell Grub code would need to be modified to use the XBPartitioner table in place of MBR (this may not be overly complicated)
* Scripts, tools, or kernel support will be needed in order to mount these partitions in Linux, both on the Xbox and on other PCs
* Any tools used to mount Linux partitions and edit their characteristics would have to be updated to support it, primarily apps that mount non-FATX partitions. This could be simple
* FATX kernel support would need to be ported for a long term performant solution. (fatxfs performance still needs to be evaluated on Xbox, as an alterative option)
* The user is limited to 14 total partitions; with F and G they have 7 partitions which is enough for 3 Linux installs (3 boot partitions, 3 data partitions, and shared swap). It would be workable though for most use cases.

====Using Contiguous Files Allocated on FATX as a Filesystem====
This was proposed by mborgerson, as an option to avoid dealing with partition tables at all. Since coexistence of Linux filesystems with FATX is desired, and there are incompatibilities in the current partition table schemes, and correcting this would take a great deal of effort, it was suggested to contain the raw partition data on FATX partitions. A FATX Linux utility could scan a FATX partition for contiguous available space. It could then allocate several 4GB files (the FATX file size limit) across that range of space. Then, the entire range of sectors could be formatted a Linux partition or group of partitions by sector range, and a distribution installed there.

'''Pros'''
* This avoids modifying partition tables at all, so we don't have to worry about changing existing standards.
* The tool fatxfs provides a starting point for interacting with the FATX filesystem without kernel FATX support. FATX partitions only need to be temporarily accessed as such, and once the contiguous files are created and their sector range is known, Linux can work with that area of the disk directly. After starting up and mounting any partitions, Linux does not strictly need any knowledge of FATX.
* Contiguous files can be checked for contiguity before mounting to avoid overwriting other data
* Users could reserve a FATX partition for Linux in XBPartitioner and then use Linux to fill it with contiguous files, the end result should be equivalent to formatting a partition and using MBR to access it, although the mounting process would differ.
* Swap could be shared between Linux installs as long as some kind of common file/directory name or other method is used to detect shared swap on a FATX partition.
* Users can place the kernel and intitrd on FATX partitions and launch using existing Cromwell functionality for loading from FATX, so no boot partitions are needed here
* This could also address the issue of [[Xbox Linux Issues#Lack of FATX Kernel Support|kernel support being needed to mount loop devices]]. But see the "cons" section about FTP-ing images to the hard drive

'''Cons'''
* A custom tool would be needed to access and mount these partitions, both on the Xbox and outside of it. This is still much simpler to address than the issues in the previous proposals.
* The user's filesystem may be fragmented in about the same manner as a FAT filesystem. In order to create space for contiguous files, defragmentation may be needed, especially on partitions which have seen a lot of use and re-use.
* If a user downloads these contiguous files and FTPs them to their Xbox, these files may become fragmented. (It is not fully understood in what situations the BIOS decides to fragment a file.) In order for FTP to work for sharing these files, a utility would have to be able to "defragment" an image and place the data in the right order on the hard drive, without gaps. This could take some time for larger images. One option would be to defragment the drive first and then have Linux handle the FTP part to make sure it gets transferred correctly.

===Mounting a Range of hda as a Loop Device===
(fill out)

==Lack of FATX Kernel Support==

Loop devices are a common method of packaging Xbox Linux installations, in order to avoid modifying the partition table on the Xbox hard drive. A loop device is a filesystem image that can be mounted from within another filesystem. When put on a FATX partition, they allow Xbox Linux to be run from the hard drive without modifying the user's partition table at all. These setups can be used to bundle Linux builds and other apps for easy distribution. (XMugen, for instance.)

The current Xbox Linux patches don't port over the support for mounting the FATX filesystem in Linux. This is because the underlying code has changed significantly in a few places since then. [[User:VannevarKush]] is working on porting the old FATX code to the kernel for native support, but it is a work in progress.

The lack of native FATX support means that mounting loop devices can't be done. Right now, native install and live CDs are the current available boot options for Xbox Linux.

The FUSE based fatxfs [https://github.com/mborgerson/fatx code by mborgerson] may be usable as a stopgap, although its performance hasn't been evaluated yet on an Xbox.

==Advanced Video Support==
The Xbox Linux kernel currently only uses the most basic video support available (defined by CONFIG_FRAMEBUFFER_SIMPLE in the kernel config). More advanced support may be needed to run desktop environments and to run graphical applications with better performance. Does code need to be merged over from the original sources for xbox video?

==See Also==
*[[Xbox Linux Tips and Tricks]]
*[[Xbox Linux]]

Xbox Linux Issues

2022-07-09T06:00:14Z

VannevarKush:

Here is a list of issues that are blocking general functionality on [[Linux|Xbox Linux]].

==Cromwell incompatibility with OpenXenium==
This is overall a minor issue, in that Xromwell ([[Cromwell]] as an xbe) works fine as a workaround. However, booting into Cromwell directly on Xbox boot would be (very) convenient for Xbox Linux development, and it would allow the user to easily boot into Linux from the OpenXenium BIOS menu.

"VERY IMPORTANT: As of 2004/10/27, v1.0 Xboxen with Xenium ICEs can only use Cromwell BIOS 2.30 and BELOW. This limits you to using 2.4 verison kernels. Cromwell 2.31 and higher changed the memory map so that 2.6 BIOSs can be be used. The problem with the Xenium on v1.0 boxes is believed to be a CPLD issue. The problem shows up when trying to start the 2.31+ BIOS. The box will power cycle twice, and then FRAG (Flashing Red And Green eject button). This may or may not be fixable. If you have a v1.1 or higher XBox, you won't have to concern yourself with this issue."

==IDE to SATA Adapter Issues with Cromwell==
It was found testing on a stock and a 1.4 GHz Xbox, that there may be issues with IDE to SATA adapters. The PATA to SATA adapters tended to work, with or without a DVD drive, but did not work with a CF card on HDB. (this does work if hda is an IDE drive.) Cromwell never got to the boot menu with the Startech adapter.

The quickness of the failure seemed to depend on the adapter and drive used. With one SSD, Cromwell would boot to a black screen, but not always, and it would sometimes detect an SSD before freezing.

It appears there may be some kind of synchronization issue, but the nature of it is currently unclear.

==Native Boot Partition Filesystem Compatibility with Cromwell==
When booting a "native" install, Cromwell scans the MBR and looks for partitions that are flagged as bootable. If the partition is bootable, Cromwell attempts to determine the filesystem, and load linuxboot.cfg. If the user launches that instance, the kernel and the initrd will then be loaded from that partition. (The presence of initrd and kernel is not checked until launching)

When setting up a native install, a boot partition formatted with ext2 worked fine as formatted by historical X-DSL. The linuxboot.cfg was detected, and Cromwell presented a hard drive icon to load the native install.

When formatting the same partition using a modern distro, Cromwell does not detect the linuxboot.cfg, but it does detect the ext2 filesystem and attempts to read it without errors. (This has been tested by formatting on Gentoo, Debian, and from a Gentoo liveCD on the Xbox.)

Something about the way these ext2 partitions are being formatted by modern tools is preventing the Xbox from reading files on them. Turning off the new ext2 features using mkfs.ext2 /dev/sdb1 -O ^resize_inode,^dir_index,^large_file,^ext_attr did not make a difference.

Formatting this partition from modern Linux with vfat and no options also did not work.

Formatting as Fat32 in Windows with EaseUs Partition Master did work.

Note that Cromwell is able to read the root partition and get linuxboot.cfg from there even for larger root partitions (tested up to 80GB); a reserved boot partition is not strictly needed, but Cromwell still needs to be able to load the kernel and initrd.

So the main question here is, what kind of partitions does Cromwell support? How can at least one kind of these partitions be reliably formatted using a terminal command in Linux?

Or, can Cromwell be easily updated to support new filesystem developments? Since a boot partition is only needed for Cromwell to load the kernel and initrd, it would be acceptable for a more archaic filesystem configuration to be used as the boot partition, which would still give users the freedom to format the root partition with the kernel-supported filesystem of their choice (which is basically the point of a boot partition.) Ext2 is not necessarily the only option here either.

==XBPartitioner Table and MBR Incompatibility==

This issue is relevant to native Linux installs. In a native Linux install, the user formats empty regions of their hard drive and adds an MBR to the hard drive, which is used by Cromwell to access the Linux boot partition and subsequently load linuxboot.cfg, the kernel, and the initrd. The way that Cromwell is currently set up, it can't find Linux partitions without the MBR.

The MBR partitioning/boot scheme uses a 512 byte record at the beginning of the drive. Since the actual boot data isn't needed on Xbox, the first 440 bytes are filled with zeroes when using fdisk, and can be considered unused here. [[http://www.sharetechnote.com/html/Linux_MBR.html MBR layout information]]

The [[FATX]] filesystem has a config area of 1024 sectors (512K) starting at the beginning of the drive. The first 48 bytes are officially used, the rest can be zeroes, but later in the config area is where XBLA information is stored. On a stock-formatted Xbox hard drive, the contents of the early config area don't seem to matter much to ind-BIOS (tested), although Insignia may use the later XBLA regions in the future. If a stock FATX config area has its first 512 bytes overwritten by an MBR, it is not known to cause problems with any other Xbox functionality. (based on the fact that native Linux installs have been run in this way for years)

The problem arises with the XBPartitioner table, a custom partitioning scheme for Xbox hard drives that was never officially supported by Xbox Linux. It is common on Xboxes with larger hard drives. The XBPartitioner table provides 14 partition "slots" for FATX partitions, and it allows users to format their Xbox hard drive with additional FATX partitions. The partition table is written into unused space in the FATX config area, immediately after the initial stock data. XBPartitioner wipes the remaining bytes of the config area when writing a partition table including any MBR contents; other tools are untested so far. And fdisk overwrites the first 512 bytes of the FATX config area with an MBR, replacing the first 440 bytes with zeroes.

Another issue arises in that the two partitioning schemes overlap, even if only the necessary data were written for both XBPartitioner table and MBR; that is if they didn't write the zeroes.

This struct shows the layout of the config area, followed by the partition entry struct. From the unofficial XBPartitioner patches for the old Xbox kernel:

<syntaxhighlight lang="c">
// Temporary struct used to load XBPartitioner data directly from disk.
typedef struct {
char magic[16];
char reserved[32];
XBPartitionerTableEntry partitions[FATX_XBPARTITIONER_PARTITIONS_MAX];
} XBPartitionerTable;

// Temporary struct used to load XBPartitioner data directly from disk.
typedef struct
{
char name[16];
u32 flags;
u32 start;
u32 size;
u32 reserved;
} XBPartitionerTableEntry;
</syntaxhighlight>

The XBPartitioner table entries start at 48 bytes, and each partition's entry is 32 bytes in size. With 14 partitions, the XBPartitioner table ends at 496 bytes, and overwrites a good chunk of the relevant MBR content, which starts at 440 bytes. So tool modification alone can't make these schemes compatible.

The XBPartitioner table has no metadata, only partition entries, and has no known way of redefining the number of available partitions. However, if the XBPartitioner table only had 12 partitions, the partition table would end at 432 bytes and the two schemes could coexist.

===Possible Solutions===
====F Takes All====
This was the typical scheme used by historical Xbox Linux. The area after E would be used for Linux partitions. With larger hard drives available, there is a need for Xbox Linux to coexist with other content on the user's drive. This is okay when the user doesn't want to later modify the partition layout of their hard drive using XBPartitioner, and they want to reserve that hard drive primarily for Linux.

====A 12 partition XBPartitioner Table====
This would involve attempting to get general acceptance of changing the XBPartitioner spec to 12 partitions, so it doesn't overlap with MBR. Or providing a custom set of tools and bioses that support this.
'''Pros'''
* Cromwell would not need to be modified significantly
* The 512 byte boundary could be considered the starting point for future config area modifications
* Very few users have more than 7, much less 14 partitions on their Xbox which provide little practical use
* Any Linux PC can easily mount the Linux partitions

'''Cons'''
* Lots of software would need to be updated, including BIOSes, partitioning tools, and disk formatting tools in Xbox Linux and on PC. There might be a more elegant solution.

====Using the XBPartitioner Table To Define Linux Partitions====

'''Pros'''
* No partitioning scheme incompatiblity management
* No dual partitioning scheme; both Linux and Xbox tools would have awareness of the full drive partition table, to avoid accidentally creating overlapping partitions
* Unused per-partition flags in the XBPartitioner table could be used to mark partitions as Linux as a future standard
* Scripts utilizing dd to read the XBPartitioner table could be used as a stopgap before full kernel support is developed

'''Cons'''
* The Cromwell Grub code would need to be modified to use the XBPartitioner table in place of MBR (this may not be overly complicated)
* Scripts, tools, or kernel support will be needed in order to mount these partitions in Linux, both on the Xbox and on other PCs
* Any tools used to mount Linux partitions and edit their characteristics would have to be updated to support it, primarily apps that mount non-FATX partitions. This could be simple
* FATX kernel support would need to be ported for a long term performant solution. (fatxfs performance still needs to be evaluated on Xbox, as an alterative option)
* The user is limited to 14 total partitions; with F and G they have 7 partitions which is enough for 3 Linux installs (3 boot partitions, 3 data partitions, and shared swap). It would be workable though for most use cases.

====Using Contiguous Files Allocated on FATX as a Filesystem====
This was proposed by mborgerson, as an option to avoid dealing with partition tables at all. Since coexistence of Linux filesystems with FATX is desired, and there are incompatibilities in the current partition table schemes, and correcting this would take a great deal of effort, it was suggested to contain the raw partition data on FATX partitions. A FATX Linux utility could scan a FATX partition for contiguous available space. It could then allocate several 4GB files (the FATX file size limit) across that range of space. Then, the entire range of sectors could be formatted a Linux partition or group of partitions by sector range, and a distribution installed there.

'''Pros'''
* This avoids modifying partition tables at all, so we don't have to worry about changing existing standards.
* The tool fatxfs provides a starting point for interacting with the FATX filesystem without kernel FATX support. FATX partitions only need to be temporarily accessed as such, and once the contiguous files are created and their sector range is known, Linux can work with that area of the disk directly. After starting up and mounting any partitions, Linux does not strictly need any knowledge of FATX.
* Contiguous files can be checked for contiguity before mounting to avoid overwriting other data
* Users could reserve a FATX partition for Linux in XBPartitioner and then use Linux to fill it with contiguous files, the end result should be equivalent to formatting a partition and using MBR to access it, although the mounting process would differ.
* Swap could be shared between Linux installs as long as some kind of common file/directory name or other method is used to detect shared swap on a FATX partition.
* Users can place the kernel and intitrd on FATX partitions and launch using existing Cromwell functionality for loading from FATX, so no boot partitions are needed here
* This could also address the issue of [[Xbox Linux Issues#Lack of FATX Kernel Support|kernel support being needed to mount loop devices]]. But see the "cons" section about FTP-ing images to the hard drive

'''Cons'''
* A custom tool would be needed to access and mount these partitions, both on the Xbox and outside of it. This is still much simpler to address than the issues in the previous proposals.
* The user's filesystem may be fragmented in about the same manner as a FAT filesystem. In order to create space for contiguous files, defragmentation may be needed, especially on partitions which have seen a lot of use and re-use.
* If a user downloads these contiguous files and FTPs them to their Xbox, these files may become fragmented. (It is not fully understood in what situations the BIOS decides to fragment a file.) In order for FTP to work for sharing these files, a utility would have to be able to "defragment" an image and place the data in the right order on the hard drive, without gaps. This could take some time for larger images. One option would be to defragment the drive first and then have Linux handle the FTP part to make sure it gets transferred correctly.

===Mounting a Range of hda as a Loop Device===
(fill out)

==Lack of FATX Kernel Support==

Loop devices are a common method of packaging Xbox Linux installations, in order to avoid modifying the partition table on the Xbox hard drive. A loop device is a filesystem image that can be mounted from within another filesystem. When put on a FATX partition, they allow Xbox Linux to be run from the hard drive without modifying the user's partition table at all. These setups can be used to bundle Linux builds and other apps for easy distribution. (XMugen, for instance.)

The current Xbox Linux patches don't port over the support for mounting the FATX filesystem in Linux. This is because the underlying code has changed significantly in a few places since then. [[User:VannevarKush]] is working on porting the old FATX code to the kernel for native support, but it is a work in progress.

The lack of native FATX support means that mounting loop devices can't be done. Right now, native install and live CDs are the current available boot options for Xbox Linux.

The FUSE based fatxfs [https://github.com/mborgerson/fatx code by mborgerson] may be usable as a stopgap, although its performance hasn't been evaluated yet on an Xbox.

==Advanced Video Support==
The Xbox Linux kernel currently only uses the most basic video support available (defined by CONFIG_FRAMEBUFFER_SIMPLE in the kernel config). More advanced support may be needed to run desktop environments and to run graphical applications with better performance. Does code need to be merged over from the original sources for xbox video?

==See Also==
*[[Xbox Linux Tips and Tricks]]
*[[Xbox Linux]]

Xbox Linux Issues

2022-07-08T21:06:51Z

VannevarKush:

Here is a list of issues that are blocking general functionality on [[Linux|Xbox Linux]].

==Cromwell incompatibility with OpenXenium==
This is overall a minor issue, in that Xromwell ([[Cromwell]] as an xbe) works fine as a workaround. However, booting into Cromwell directly on Xbox boot would be (very) convenient for Xbox Linux development, and it would allow the user to easily boot into Linux from the OpenXenium BIOS menu.

"VERY IMPORTANT: As of 2004/10/27, v1.0 Xboxen with Xenium ICEs can only use Cromwell BIOS 2.30 and BELOW. This limits you to using 2.4 verison kernels. Cromwell 2.31 and higher changed the memory map so that 2.6 BIOSs can be be used. The problem with the Xenium on v1.0 boxes is believed to be a CPLD issue. The problem shows up when trying to start the 2.31+ BIOS. The box will power cycle twice, and then FRAG (Flashing Red And Green eject button). This may or may not be fixable. If you have a v1.1 or higher XBox, you won't have to concern yourself with this issue."

==Native Boot Partition Filesystem Compatibility with Cromwell==
When booting a "native" install, Cromwell scans the MBR and looks for partitions that are flagged as bootable. If the partition is bootable, Cromwell attempts to determine the filesystem, and load linuxboot.cfg. If the user launches that instance, the kernel and the initrd will then be loaded from that partition. (The presence of initrd and kernel is not checked until launching)

When setting up a native install, a boot partition formatted with ext2 worked fine as formatted by historical X-DSL. The linuxboot.cfg was detected, and Cromwell presented a hard drive icon to load the native install.

When formatting the same partition using a modern distro, Cromwell does not detect the linuxboot.cfg, but it does detect the ext2 filesystem and attempts to read it without errors. (This has been tested by formatting on Gentoo, Debian, and from a Gentoo liveCD on the Xbox.)

Something about the way these ext2 partitions are being formatted by modern tools is preventing the Xbox from reading files on them. Turning off the new ext2 features using mkfs.ext2 /dev/sdb1 -O ^resize_inode,^dir_index,^large_file,^ext_attr did not make a difference.

Formatting this partition from modern Linux with vfat and no options also did not work.

Formatting as Fat32 in Windows with EaseUs Partition Master did work.

Note that Cromwell is able to read the root partition and get linuxboot.cfg from there even for larger root partitions (tested up to 80GB); a reserved boot partition is not strictly needed, but Cromwell still needs to be able to load the kernel and initrd.

So the main question here is, what kind of partitions does Cromwell support? How can at least one kind of these partitions be reliably formatted using a terminal command in Linux?

Or, can Cromwell be easily updated to support new filesystem developments? Since a boot partition is only needed for Cromwell to load the kernel and initrd, it would be acceptable for a more archaic filesystem configuration to be used as the boot partition, which would still give users the freedom to format the root partition with the kernel-supported filesystem of their choice (which is basically the point of a boot partition.) Ext2 is not necessarily the only option here either.

==XBPartitioner Table and MBR Incompatibility==

This issue is relevant to native Linux installs. In a native Linux install, the user formats empty regions of their hard drive and adds an MBR to the hard drive, which is used by Cromwell to access the Linux boot partition and subsequently load linuxboot.cfg, the kernel, and the initrd. The way that Cromwell is currently set up, it can't find Linux partitions without the MBR.

The MBR partitioning/boot scheme uses a 512 byte record at the beginning of the drive. Since the actual boot data isn't needed on Xbox, the first 440 bytes are filled with zeroes when using fdisk, and can be considered unused here. [[http://www.sharetechnote.com/html/Linux_MBR.html MBR layout information]]

The [[FATX]] filesystem has a config area of 1024 sectors (512K) starting at the beginning of the drive. The first 48 bytes are officially used, the rest can be zeroes, but later in the config area is where XBLA information is stored. On a stock-formatted Xbox hard drive, the contents of the early config area don't seem to matter much to ind-BIOS (tested), although Insignia may use the later XBLA regions in the future. If a stock FATX config area has its first 512 bytes overwritten by an MBR, it is not known to cause problems with any other Xbox functionality. (based on the fact that native Linux installs have been run in this way for years)

The problem arises with the XBPartitioner table, a custom partitioning scheme for Xbox hard drives that was never officially supported by Xbox Linux. It is common on Xboxes with larger hard drives. The XBPartitioner table provides 14 partition "slots" for FATX partitions, and it allows users to format their Xbox hard drive with additional FATX partitions. The partition table is written into unused space in the FATX config area, immediately after the initial stock data. XBPartitioner wipes the remaining bytes of the config area when writing a partition table including any MBR contents; other tools are untested so far. And fdisk overwrites the first 512 bytes of the FATX config area with an MBR, replacing the first 440 bytes with zeroes.

Another issue arises in that the two partitioning schemes overlap, even if only the necessary data were written for both XBPartitioner table and MBR; that is if they didn't write the zeroes.

This struct shows the layout of the config area, followed by the partition entry struct. From the unofficial XBPartitioner patches for the old Xbox kernel:

<syntaxhighlight lang="c">
// Temporary struct used to load XBPartitioner data directly from disk.
typedef struct {
char magic[16];
char reserved[32];
XBPartitionerTableEntry partitions[FATX_XBPARTITIONER_PARTITIONS_MAX];
} XBPartitionerTable;

// Temporary struct used to load XBPartitioner data directly from disk.
typedef struct
{
char name[16];
u32 flags;
u32 start;
u32 size;
u32 reserved;
} XBPartitionerTableEntry;
</syntaxhighlight>

The XBPartitioner table entries start at 48 bytes, and each partition's entry is 32 bytes in size. With 14 partitions, the XBPartitioner table ends at 496 bytes, and overwrites a good chunk of the relevant MBR content, which starts at 440 bytes. So tool modification alone can't make these schemes compatible.

The XBPartitioner table has no metadata, only partition entries, and has no known way of redefining the number of available partitions. However, if the XBPartitioner table only had 12 partitions, the partition table would end at 432 bytes and the two schemes could coexist.

===Possible Solutions===
====F Takes All====
This was the typical scheme used by historical Xbox Linux. The area after E would be used for Linux partitions. With larger hard drives available, there is a need for Xbox Linux to coexist with other content on the user's drive. This is okay when the user doesn't want to later modify the partition layout of their hard drive using XBPartitioner, and they want to reserve that hard drive primarily for Linux.

====A 12 partition XBPartitioner Table====
This would involve attempting to get general acceptance of changing the XBPartitioner spec to 12 partitions, so it doesn't overlap with MBR. Or providing a custom set of tools and bioses that support this.
'''Pros'''
* Cromwell would not need to be modified significantly
* The 512 byte boundary could be considered the starting point for future config area modifications
* Very few users have more than 7, much less 14 partitions on their Xbox which provide little practical use
* Any Linux PC can easily mount the Linux partitions

'''Cons'''
* Lots of software would need to be updated, including BIOSes, partitioning tools, and disk formatting tools in Xbox Linux and on PC. There might be a more elegant solution.

====Using the XBPartitioner Table To Define Linux Partitions====

'''Pros'''
* No partitioning scheme incompatiblity management
* No dual partitioning scheme; both Linux and Xbox tools would have awareness of the full drive partition table, to avoid accidentally creating overlapping partitions
* Unused per-partition flags in the XBPartitioner table could be used to mark partitions as Linux as a future standard
* Scripts utilizing dd to read the XBPartitioner table could be used as a stopgap before full kernel support is developed

'''Cons'''
* The Cromwell Grub code would need to be modified to use the XBPartitioner table in place of MBR (this may not be overly complicated)
* Scripts, tools, or kernel support will be needed in order to mount these partitions in Linux, both on the Xbox and on other PCs
* Any tools used to mount Linux partitions and edit their characteristics would have to be updated to support it, primarily apps that mount non-FATX partitions. This could be simple
* FATX kernel support would need to be ported for a long term performant solution. (fatxfs performance still needs to be evaluated on Xbox, as an alterative option)
* The user is limited to 14 total partitions; with F and G they have 7 partitions which is enough for 3 Linux installs (3 boot partitions, 3 data partitions, and shared swap). It would be workable though for most use cases.

====Using Contiguous Files Allocated on FATX as a Filesystem====
This was proposed by mborgerson, as an option to avoid dealing with partition tables at all. Since coexistence of Linux filesystems with FATX is desired, and there are incompatibilities in the current partition table schemes, and correcting this would take a great deal of effort, it was suggested to contain the raw partition data on FATX partitions. A FATX Linux utility could scan a FATX partition for contiguous available space. It could then allocate several 4GB files (the FATX file size limit) across that range of space. Then, the entire range of sectors could be formatted a Linux partition or group of partitions by sector range, and a distribution installed there.

'''Pros'''
* This avoids modifying partition tables at all, so we don't have to worry about changing existing standards.
* The tool fatxfs provides a starting point for interacting with the FATX filesystem without kernel FATX support. FATX partitions only need to be temporarily accessed as such, and once the contiguous files are created and their sector range is known, Linux can work with that area of the disk directly. After starting up and mounting any partitions, Linux does not strictly need any knowledge of FATX.
* Contiguous files can be checked for contiguity before mounting to avoid overwriting other data
* Users could reserve a FATX partition for Linux in XBPartitioner and then use Linux to fill it with contiguous files, the end result should be equivalent to formatting a partition and using MBR to access it, although the mounting process would differ.
* Swap could be shared between Linux installs as long as some kind of common file/directory name or other method is used to detect shared swap on a FATX partition.
* Users can place the kernel and intitrd on FATX partitions and launch using existing Cromwell functionality for loading from FATX, so no boot partitions are needed here
* This could also address the issue of [[Xbox Linux Issues#Lack of FATX Kernel Support|kernel support being needed to mount loop devices]]. But see the "cons" section about FTP-ing images to the hard drive

'''Cons'''
* A custom tool would be needed to access and mount these partitions, both on the Xbox and outside of it. This is still much simpler to address than the issues in the previous proposals.
* The user's filesystem may be fragmented in about the same manner as a FAT filesystem. In order to create space for contiguous files, defragmentation may be needed, especially on partitions which have seen a lot of use and re-use.
* If a user downloads these contiguous files and FTPs them to their Xbox, these files may become fragmented. (It is not fully understood in what situations the BIOS decides to fragment a file.) In order for FTP to work for sharing these files, a utility would have to be able to "defragment" an image and place the data in the right order on the hard drive, without gaps. This could take some time for larger images. One option would be to defragment the drive first and then have Linux handle the FTP part to make sure it gets transferred correctly.

===Mounting a Range of hda as a Loop Device===
(fill out)

==Lack of FATX Kernel Support==

Loop devices are a common method of packaging Xbox Linux installations, in order to avoid modifying the partition table on the Xbox hard drive. A loop device is a filesystem image that can be mounted from within another filesystem. When put on a FATX partition, they allow Xbox Linux to be run from the hard drive without modifying the user's partition table at all. These setups can be used to bundle Linux builds and other apps for easy distribution. (XMugen, for instance.)

The current Xbox Linux patches don't port over the support for mounting the FATX filesystem in Linux. This is because the underlying code has changed significantly in a few places since then. [[User:VannevarKush]] is working on porting the old FATX code to the kernel for native support, but it is a work in progress.

The lack of native FATX support means that mounting loop devices can't be done. Right now, native install and live CDs are the current available boot options for Xbox Linux.

The FUSE based fatxfs [https://github.com/mborgerson/fatx code by mborgerson] may be usable as a stopgap, although its performance hasn't been evaluated yet on an Xbox.

==Advanced Video Support==
The Xbox Linux kernel currently only uses the most basic video support available (defined by CONFIG_FRAMEBUFFER_SIMPLE in the kernel config). More advanced support may be needed to run desktop environments and to run graphical applications with better performance. Does code need to be merged over from the original sources for xbox video?

==See Also==
*[[Xbox Linux Tips and Tricks]]
*[[Xbox Linux]]

Historical Xbox Linux

2022-07-06T03:48:55Z

VannevarKush: Undo revision 7264 by VannevarKush (talk)

When it was announced that the specifications of the Xbox were known to be very similar to an X86 PC, Xbox Linux was quickly considered as a possibility for getting getting cheap Linux PCs into the hands of the masses. The first Xbox exploits were created to make Xbox Linux possible, and were quickly repurposed by modders, while Linux remained a more niche application on the original Xbox. In the years while the Xbox was still being manufactured, it could function as a cheap daily driver Linux PC, and some users modded the controller ports into permanent USB ports, and even installed a VGA connector. But, as with all PCs they eventually became obsolete as cheaper, smaller hardware became available with similar processing power.

Xbox Linux reached a point of stable releases [https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/6704 around 2003], and the development continued thereafter, providing support for 1.4 Xboxes and their Focus encoder chip, and even support for 1.6 Xboxes and their changes. The 2.4 kernel was primarily used for Xbox Linux. The 2.6 kernel patches that were developed appear stable and quite usable, but scattered functionalities from the 2.4 kernel were never ported over.

==Timeline==
[https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''November 15, 2001''' - Microsoft Xbox released in United States
* '''c. [https://web.archive.org/web/20021013204521/https://www.xenatera.com/bunnie/proj/anatak/xboxmod.html 2001-2002 (when?)]''' - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Huang_(hacker) Bunnie Huang] [https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''February 22, 2002''' - Xbox released in Japan
* '''March 14, 2002''' - Xbox released in Europe and Australia
* '''May 23, 2002''' - Xbox Linux project founded by Michael Stiehl
* '''July 2, 2002''' - Michael Robertson, CEO of Lindows.com, offered two $100,000 prizes for accomplishment of Xbox Linux goals by January 1, 2003. (He was coincidentally being sued at the time by Microsoft, for use of the name "Lindows") One of the prizes offered was for a demonstration of Linux running on an Xbox (with a $55,000 "subprize" for writing a bootloader) The other prize was for an exploit capable of getting Xbox Linux to run without hardware modification, ideally by using just a CD-ROM.
* '''August 13, 2002''' - First kernel boot
* '''October 7, 2002''' - First graphical desktop environment (KDE)
* '''October 9, 2002''' - Mandrake Linux 9 released for Xbox. Users had to replace or flash the TSOP.
* '''December 17, 2002''' - [[Cromwell]] BIOS/bootloader ready. The first of the $100,000 prizes was claimed, for running Linux on Xbox and developing a bootloader before January 1, 2003.
* '''December 31, 2002''' - [https://www.theregister.com/2003/01/02/xbox_linux_donor_extends_prize/ Michael Robertson extends the prize deadline for the remaining prize.]
* '''March 29, 2003''' - The second prize was claimed for the [[Exploits#007:_Agent_Under_Fire|007 hack]] by Habibi_xbox. (the game Frogger Beyond was initially hacked, but it wasn't released in Europe) This launched a minilinux via an exploit from a hacked savegame on an Xbox memory card, technically accomplishing the goal of using Linux on the Xbox without hardware modification. However, users had to start Linux via the hacked game save every time.
* '''July 4, 2003''' - The [[Exploits#Font_hacks|font exploit]] is discovered, demonstrating the ability to run Linux from the hard drive with no modchip, a true "softmod". (but also opening Pandora's box of piracy, which Xbox Linux wanted to avoid association with.) The dashboard audio exploit was discovered soon afterwards.
* '''July 7, 2003''' - A [https://www.mail-archive.com/bugtraq@securityfocus.com/msg11923.html official security release] is made about newly discovered Xbox security vulnerabilities, as responsible hackers should do
* '''August 11, 2003''' - The Mechassault exploit was released by Jeff Mears, with full softmod conversion. Efforts were made to obfuscate the source to prevent uses for piracy

More details [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Presentations/20th%20Chaos%20Communication%20Congress/ here]

==Historical Distros==
A number of distributions were released, built around the Xbox Linux-patched kernel.

*'''[https://gentoox.shallax.com GentooX]''' - GentooX, unlike vanilla Gentoo, provided precompiled binaries to the user via a custom repository. These were binaries compiled specifically for the Xbox. GentooX had both Home and Pro editions, the Home edition built around a desktop environment and the Pro edition built around the CLI. GentooX was a popular and developed Xbox Linux distro. The website is [https://web.archive.org/web/20220328101921/https://gentoox.shallax.com/ still being archived], although it appears broken in Chrome. The latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Home/ GentooX Home] is 7.1, and the latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Pro/ Pro] was 5.1, in 2009. Tested and working. Works from DVD. The pro version attempts to boot from the CD into GentooX loader, so be sure set your BIOS not to boot from CD if booting from CD doesn't work from you. Try Xromwell if GentooX loader doesn't work.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20050510000924/http://www.x-dsl.org/ X-DSL]''' - Based on Damn Small Linux, X-DSL was a lightweight Linux build. It used Knoppix patches to be able to boot to a desktop environment from small (<100MB) loop devices from FATX. It can also make a "native" install to the hard drive, or install to a larger loop device for a permanent setup. X-DSL is an easy version of historical Linux to try out today, since it can be launched and run entirely from drive E and that avoids some incompatibilities of Xbox Linux with larger hard drives. (if your hard drive is 3TB in order to get that extra .1TB of space, it may not work). The latest official version of X-DSL is 0.6, although there is an unofficial 0.7 floating around, among various other unofficial builds. X-DSL 0.6 can be found [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/X-DSL/X-DSL%20v0.6/ here]. The contents of the zip file can be copied to the root of E (so that linuxboot.cfg is in the root) and launched with Cromwell or GentooX, with no CD. The iso is also tested and working.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060529005204/http://www.dynebolic.org:80/ Dyne:bolic Linux]''' - This is Rasta software! Dynebolic Linux is a multimedia creation, editing, and streaming focused distro that could boot as a liveCD on many systems, including original Xbox. Original Xbox support was ended in Dyne:bolic 2.x, but that uses the 2.6 kernel so it could theoretically be supported if someone felt like it. The latest version compatible with the Xbox is 1.4.1, [https://osarchive.sda1.eu/dyne-bolic available here]. This distro has a lot of toys and is fun to check out. Also, it works from DVD! (it does seem to have a low color depth in the desktop though...)
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20100617005832/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/XUbuntu xUbuntu]''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "xUbuntu". "xUbuntu is based on Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy Badger) distribution without graphical environment. xUbuntu linux system can be run from CD or installed to a PC or Xbox hard drive. The install process, the kernel, the kernel modules and the desktop are customized for PC and Xbox (i386)." The latest version is 0.9.0, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/xUbuntu/xUbuntu%200.9.0/ available here]. It needs to be burned to a CD instead of a DVD.
*'''Ed's Xebian''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "Xebian". Does not appear to have a website. From the original Xbox Linux wiki, "With superb flexibility and ease of use, it can run off CD/DVD or it can be installed onto the Xbox hard drive in either the free space or the saved game area. The OS includes support for all versions of the Xbox, including those with Xcalibur video chips. Based on Debian stable (Sarge) with backports for newer software." The latest version is 1.1.4, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Ed_s%20Xebian/Xebian/ available here], which boots to desktop as a liveCD. It seems to require burning to a CD instead of DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060630100324/http://www.keckstar.com:80/nuke/html/index.php sXb]''' - Slackware for the Original Xbox. The versioning is a little unclear, but the most recent ISO on sourceforge is in the iso.gz file [https://sourceforge.net/projects/sxb/files/Sxbnew/SXBNEW-iso--dfb-xdirectfb/ here]. May need to be burned to CD. Reported "controller jammed" messages at startup, but one of my controller ports is busted.
*'''Mandrake''' A Mandrake 9 was released and claimed to be the first full distribution on the Xbox, but apparently was not continued or supported. No known Web site. Does anyone have a copy of the original Xbox Linux Mandrake iso for archival purposes? It appears a 2005 "special edition" with the Xbox patches can be found [http://ftp.twaren.net/Linux/Mandrake/official/iso/10.1/i586/10.2/ here]. (Mandrake Linux was renamed to Mandriva Linux in 2005). Requires composite cable, at least on this 1.0 Xbox. Appears to require burning to a CD, instead of a DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060713072515/http://www.not404.com:80/cgi-bin/trac.fcgi/wiki/XFedora4 xFedora]''' A port of Fedora Core to the Xbox; essentially Fedora Core with Xbox patches. The latest version is 0.7.41, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Fedora/ available here]. I am unsure how to run it.
*'''SuSE 8''' - There's a dead download link on the old wiki. Seems to have been abandoned
*'''old xbox-linux iso''' The xbox-linux team released some preliminary ISOs during the development of Xbox Linux.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20051106185529/http://article.gmane.org/gmane.linux.ports.xbox.devel/5736 live-linux]''' An early Linux that 007 hack users tried; it booted from CD but could also boot from the hard drive. It was released up to 0.3, no known website, but here is [https://sourceforge.net/p/xbox-linux/mailman/message/10300266/ the announcement]. The latest image is [https://legacy.downloads.diomtec.com/homebrew/xbins/Console%20Based%20Applications/Operating%20Systems/linux/distributions/live-linux/live-linux.0.3.iso.bz2 available here]. The file boot/boot.cfg on the iso needs to be renamed to linuxboot.cfg. The video became garbled launching with both composite and component cables. (may need an old version of Cromwell; untested) This is a very basic minilinux distro, essentially a proof of concept. The linuxrc is a symlink to busybox. It comes with a 9MB image.
*'''ltools''', a minilinux used in Xbox game save hacks, first designed to install Linux, but later repurposed to softmod the Xbox. (is this right?)
*'''[https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ xboxhdm]''' is a tool made by Idotsfan for softmodding locked Xbox hard drives, it's a PC-based CD-bootable set of Linux tools
*'''XMugen''' packaged Mugen for Linux using a busybox in an initramfs, and used swap and game character data files located on FATX. It currently has issues with anything other than "F takes all" schemes.
*'''Chimp''' is a tool for cloning and basic partitioning on Xbox hard drives. It runs from an initramfs.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20051214030132/http://nexus.il.fontys.nl:80/ FreeBSD/Xbox]''' - Not Linux per se, but it's a port of FreeBSD to the Xbox. It was officially integrated into FreeBSD as a set of optional patches. A NetBSD setup can be found [ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/misc/jmcneill/xbox/ here] but it requires the rootfs mounted on NFS. There might be a self contained ISO out there?

==Installing Old Distros==
These liveCDs above should all be safe to try on your Xbox, but installation to your hard drive is more risky. It can be fine if you take the proper considerations. Here are the installation methods usually presented by the installers:

'''Native Install'''

This may not be compatible with softmods! '''Don't mess around with native installs on a locked hard drive or a hard drive that's not backed up! Flash your TSOP or hardmod first!'''

This may wipe your hard drive, format it for Linux, and expect you to put Cromwell on your BIOS. It may also mean just formatting F and booting into it from Xromwell on FATX. So make sure you know which one it is! (the installer should tell you, if it's installing to F you should be fine) Any native install with a boot partition (launched via a hard drive icon in Cromwell/Xromwell) is NOT compatible with the XBPartitioner table, and installing it will overwite the XBPartitioner table. So "F takes all" is preferred here, for allowing coexistence with the stock partitions.

'''If you have a native install, DO NOT USE XBPARTITIONER unless you want to remove Linux. Any XBPartitioner format will break Linux by wiping out the MBR that Linux uses to find its partitions.''' You can't have custom FATX partitions alongside a Linux native install. (So use a spare hard drive for a native install)

'''Loopback Install'''

This installs Linux to a file on the FATX filesystem. Your Linux filesystem will be contained within that file. This means that no repartitioning of your hard drive is necessary. This is a safer install method, if you have space for a small install on E, or if you are using an "F takes all" scheme with an Xbox partition on F. Drive F must end below the 137GB boundary, if doing a loopback install to it. (is that right?) XBPartitioner-defined partitions are not supported by official versions of Xbox Linux, it only looks for the stock partitions plus "F takes all". I am unsure of the behavior if the drive is bigger than F can be. Loopback installs should be safe if your FATX drive F is detected by Xbox Linux.

In general, using a <137GB hard drive avoids these issues, although loopback installs can still be done on larger drives.

It is not advisable to make changes on the FATX filesystem more than you have to in Xbox Linux. Mounting and reading FATX partitions is fine, but doing complex write operations should be avoided, just in case. The 2.4 kernel FATX support is thought to be more stable than in the 2.6 kernel. If you need to copy lots of files to your Xbox, do it via an Xbox dash using FTP. Simple operations on FATX should be fine, and the FATX support is not seriously unstable, but better to be safe. Loopback installs are considered to be stable, even though the files exist on FATX.

==Historical links==
Much of the old Xbox Linux information now lives on archive.org. It is helpful if you come across anything useful, to add it here!
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/ The latest Xbox Linux repository on sourceforge.] The mailing list archives can help answer esoteric questions about xbox linux, sometimes. The files section contains various Xbox Linux software and historical distribution isos.
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ The xboxhdm repository.] It contains source and executables for many Xbox tools created and modified by Idotsfan. The X-DSL directory contains some information on the original Xbpartitioner table patches.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100617000252/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/Main_Page The "New" Xbox Linux wiki], which was online until 2011.
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20050307163352/http://wiki.xbox-linux.org:80/ The original "Old" xbox linux wiki]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050724003648/http://xbox-linux.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/moin.cgi/FrontPage the "Old" xbox wiki on SourceForge.]
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20040419204220/http://xbox-linux.org:80/ The "Old" xbox-linux website], before the website was replaced with the "new wiki".
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20030204023051/http://sourceforge.net:80/project/showfiles.php?group_id=54192 The original Xbox Linux downloads page] on SourceForge. Distros are removed as they become unmaintained, so time travelling can be useful here to see all distros. The download links aren't archived, though; mainly it's useful for seeing the filenames.

==See Also==
*[[Xbox Linux]]

Historical Xbox Linux

2022-07-06T03:46:51Z

VannevarKush:

When it was announced that the specifications of the Xbox were known to be very similar to an X86 PC, Xbox Linux was quickly considered as a possibility for getting getting cheap Linux PCs into the hands of the masses. The first Xbox exploits were created to make Xbox Linux possible, and were quickly repurposed by modders, while Linux remained a more niche application on the original Xbox. In the years while the Xbox was still being manufactured, it could function as a cheap daily driver Linux PC, and some users modded the controller ports into permanent USB ports, and even installed a VGA connector. But, as with all PCs they eventually became obsolete as cheaper, smaller hardware became available with similar processing power.

Xbox Linux reached a point of stable releases [https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/6704 around 2003], and the development continued thereafter, providing support for 1.4 Xboxes and their Focus encoder chip, and even support for 1.6 Xboxes and their changes. The 2.4 kernel was primarily used for Xbox Linux. The 2.6 kernel patches that were developed appear stable and quite usable, but scattered functionalities from the 2.4 kernel were never ported over.

==Timeline==
[https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''November 15, 2001''' - Microsoft Xbox released in United States
* '''c. [https://web.archive.org/web/20021013204521/https://www.xenatera.com/bunnie/proj/anatak/xboxmod.html 2001-2002 (when?)]''' - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Huang_(hacker) Bunnie Huang] [https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''February 22, 2002''' - Xbox released in Japan
* '''March 14, 2002''' - Xbox released in Europe and Australia
* '''May 23, 2002''' - Xbox Linux project founded by Michael Stiehl
* '''July 2, 2002''' - Michael Robertson, CEO of Lindows.com, offered two $100,000 prizes for accomplishment of Xbox Linux goals by January 1, 2003. (He was coincidentally being sued at the time by Microsoft, for use of the name "Lindows") One of the prizes offered was for a demonstration of Linux running on an Xbox (with a $55,000 "subprize" for writing a bootloader) The other prize was for an exploit capable of getting Xbox Linux to run without hardware modification, ideally by using just a CD-ROM.
* '''August 13, 2002''' - First kernel boot
* '''October 7, 2002''' - First graphical desktop environment (KDE)
* '''October 9, 2002''' - Mandrake Linux 9 released for Xbox. Users had to replace or flash the TSOP.
* '''December 17, 2002''' - [[Cromwell]] BIOS/bootloader ready. The first of the $100,000 prizes was claimed, for running Linux on Xbox and developing a bootloader before January 1, 2003.
* '''December 31, 2002''' - [https://www.theregister.com/2003/01/02/xbox_linux_donor_extends_prize/ Michael Robertson extends the prize deadline for the remaining prize.]
* '''March 29, 2003''' - The second prize was claimed for the [[Exploits#007:_Agent_Under_Fire|007 hack]] by Habibi_xbox. (the game Frogger Beyond was initially hacked, but it wasn't released in Europe) This launched a minilinux via an exploit from a hacked savegame on an Xbox memory card, technically accomplishing the goal of using Linux on the Xbox without hardware modification. However, users had to start Linux via the hacked game save every time.
* '''July 4, 2003''' - The [[Exploits#Font_hacks|font exploit]] is discovered, demonstrating the ability to run Linux from the hard drive with no modchip, a true "softmod". (but also opening Pandora's box of piracy, which Xbox Linux wanted to avoid association with.) The dashboard audio exploit was discovered soon afterwards.
* '''July 7, 2003''' - A [https://www.mail-archive.com/bugtraq@securityfocus.com/msg11923.html official security release] is made about newly discovered Xbox security vulnerabilities, as responsible hackers should do
* '''August 11, 2003''' - The Mechassault exploit was released by Jeff Mears, with full softmod conversion. Efforts were made to obfuscate the source to prevent uses for piracy

More details [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Presentations/20th%20Chaos%20Communication%20Congress/ here]

==Historical Distros==
A number of distributions were released, built around the Xbox Linux-patched kernel.

*'''[https://gentoox.shallax.com GentooX]''' - GentooX, unlike vanilla Gentoo, provided precompiled binaries to the user via a custom repository. These were binaries compiled specifically for the Xbox. GentooX had both Home and Pro editions, the Home edition built around a desktop environment and the Pro edition built around the CLI. GentooX was a popular and developed Xbox Linux distro. The website is [https://web.archive.org/web/20220328101921/https://gentoox.shallax.com/ still being archived], although it appears broken in Chrome. The latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Home/ GentooX Home] is 7.1, and the latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Pro/ Pro] was 5.1, in 2009. Tested and working. Works from DVD. The pro version attempts to boot from the CD into GentooX loader, so be sure set your BIOS not to boot from CD if booting from CD doesn't work from you. Try Xromwell if GentooX loader doesn't work.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20050510000924/http://www.x-dsl.org/ X-DSL]''' - Based on Damn Small Linux, X-DSL was a lightweight Linux build. It used Knoppix patches to be able to boot to a desktop environment from small (<100MB) loop devices from FATX. It can also make a "native" install to the hard drive, or install to a larger loop device for a permanent setup. X-DSL is an easy version of historical Linux to try out today, since it can be launched and run entirely from drive E and that avoids some incompatibilities of Xbox Linux with larger hard drives. (if your hard drive is 3TB in order to get that extra .1TB of space, it may not work). The latest official version of X-DSL is 0.6, although there is an unofficial 0.7 floating around, among various other unofficial builds. X-DSL 0.6 can be found [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/X-DSL/X-DSL%20v0.6/ here]. The contents of the zip file can be copied to the root of E (so that linuxboot.cfg is in the root) and launched with Cromwell or GentooX, with no CD. The iso is also tested and working.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060529005204/http://www.dynebolic.org:80/ Dyne:bolic Linux]''' - This is Rasta software! Dynebolic Linux is a multimedia creation, editing, and streaming focused distro that could boot as a liveCD on many systems, including original Xbox. Original Xbox support was ended in Dyne:bolic 2.x, but that uses the 2.6 kernel so it could theoretically be supported if someone felt like it. The latest version compatible with the Xbox is 1.4.1, [https://osarchive.sda1.eu/dyne-bolic available here]. This distro has a lot of toys and is fun to check out. Also, it works from DVD! (it does seem to have a low color depth in the desktop though...)
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20100617005832/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/XUbuntu xUbuntu]''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "xUbuntu". "xUbuntu is based on Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy Badger) distribution without graphical environment. xUbuntu linux system can be run from CD or installed to a PC or Xbox hard drive. The install process, the kernel, the kernel modules and the desktop are customized for PC and Xbox (i386)." The latest version is 0.9.0, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/xUbuntu/xUbuntu%200.9.0/ available here]. It needs to be burned to a CD instead of a DVD.
*'''Ed's Debian''' -
*'''Xebian''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "Xebian". Does not appear to have a website. From the original Xbox Linux wiki, "With superb flexibility and ease of use, it can run off CD/DVD or it can be installed onto the Xbox hard drive in either the free space or the saved game area. The OS includes support for all versions of the Xbox, including those with Xcalibur video chips. Based on Debian stable (Sarge) with backports for newer software." The latest version is 1.1.4, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Ed_s%20Xebian/Xebian/ available here], which boots to desktop as a liveCD. It seems to require burning to a CD instead of DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060630100324/http://www.keckstar.com:80/nuke/html/index.php sXb]''' - Slackware for the Original Xbox. The versioning is a little unclear, but the most recent ISO on sourceforge is in the iso.gz file [https://sourceforge.net/projects/sxb/files/Sxbnew/SXBNEW-iso--dfb-xdirectfb/ here]. May need to be burned to CD. Reported "controller jammed" messages at startup, but one of my controller ports is busted.
*'''Mandrake''' A Mandrake 9 was released and claimed to be the first full distribution on the Xbox, but apparently was not continued or supported. No known Web site. Does anyone have a copy of the original Xbox Linux Mandrake iso for archival purposes? It appears a 2005 "special edition" with the Xbox patches can be found [http://ftp.twaren.net/Linux/Mandrake/official/iso/10.1/i586/10.2/ here]. (Mandrake Linux was renamed to Mandriva Linux in 2005). Requires composite cable, at least on this 1.0 Xbox. Appears to require burning to a CD, instead of a DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060713072515/http://www.not404.com:80/cgi-bin/trac.fcgi/wiki/XFedora4 xFedora]''' A port of Fedora Core to the Xbox; essentially Fedora Core with Xbox patches. The latest version is 0.7.41, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Fedora/ available here]. I am unsure how to run it.
*'''SuSE 8''' - There's a dead download link on the old wiki. Seems to have been abandoned
*'''old xbox-linux iso''' The xbox-linux team released some preliminary ISOs during the development of Xbox Linux.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20051106185529/http://article.gmane.org/gmane.linux.ports.xbox.devel/5736 live-linux]''' An early Linux that 007 hack users tried; it booted from CD but could also boot from the hard drive. It was released up to 0.3, no known website, but here is [https://sourceforge.net/p/xbox-linux/mailman/message/10300266/ the announcement]. The latest image is [https://legacy.downloads.diomtec.com/homebrew/xbins/Console%20Based%20Applications/Operating%20Systems/linux/distributions/live-linux/live-linux.0.3.iso.bz2 available here]. The file boot/boot.cfg on the iso needs to be renamed to linuxboot.cfg. The video became garbled launching with both composite and component cables. (may need an old version of Cromwell; untested) This is a very basic minilinux distro, essentially a proof of concept. The linuxrc is a symlink to busybox. It comes with a 9MB image.
*'''ltools''', a minilinux used in Xbox game save hacks, first designed to install Linux, but later repurposed to softmod the Xbox. (is this right?)
*'''[https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ xboxhdm]''' is a tool made by Idotsfan for softmodding locked Xbox hard drives, it's a PC-based CD-bootable set of Linux tools
*'''XMugen''' packaged Mugen for Linux using a busybox in an initramfs, and used swap and game character data files located on FATX. It currently has issues with anything other than "F takes all" schemes.
*'''Chimp''' is a tool for cloning and basic partitioning on Xbox hard drives. It runs from an initramfs.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20051214030132/http://nexus.il.fontys.nl:80/ FreeBSD/Xbox]''' - Not Linux per se, but it's a port of FreeBSD to the Xbox. It was officially integrated into FreeBSD as a set of optional patches. A NetBSD setup can be found [ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/misc/jmcneill/xbox/ here] but it requires the rootfs mounted on NFS. There might be a self contained ISO out there?

==Installing Old Distros==
These liveCDs above should all be safe to try on your Xbox, but installation to your hard drive is more risky. It can be fine if you take the proper considerations. Here are the installation methods usually presented by the installers:

'''Native Install'''

This may not be compatible with softmods! '''Don't mess around with native installs on a locked hard drive or a hard drive that's not backed up! Flash your TSOP or hardmod first!'''

This may wipe your hard drive, format it for Linux, and expect you to put Cromwell on your BIOS. It may also mean just formatting F and booting into it from Xromwell on FATX. So make sure you know which one it is! (the installer should tell you, if it's installing to F you should be fine) Any native install with a boot partition (launched via a hard drive icon in Cromwell/Xromwell) is NOT compatible with the XBPartitioner table, and installing it will overwite the XBPartitioner table. So "F takes all" is preferred here, for allowing coexistence with the stock partitions.

'''If you have a native install, DO NOT USE XBPARTITIONER unless you want to remove Linux. Any XBPartitioner format will break Linux by wiping out the MBR that Linux uses to find its partitions.''' You can't have custom FATX partitions alongside a Linux native install. (So use a spare hard drive for a native install)

'''Loopback Install'''

This installs Linux to a file on the FATX filesystem. Your Linux filesystem will be contained within that file. This means that no repartitioning of your hard drive is necessary. This is a safer install method, if you have space for a small install on E, or if you are using an "F takes all" scheme with an Xbox partition on F. Drive F must end below the 137GB boundary, if doing a loopback install to it. (is that right?) XBPartitioner-defined partitions are not supported by official versions of Xbox Linux, it only looks for the stock partitions plus "F takes all". I am unsure of the behavior if the drive is bigger than F can be. Loopback installs should be safe if your FATX drive F is detected by Xbox Linux.

In general, using a <137GB hard drive avoids these issues, although loopback installs can still be done on larger drives.

It is not advisable to make changes on the FATX filesystem more than you have to in Xbox Linux. Mounting and reading FATX partitions is fine, but doing complex write operations should be avoided, just in case. The 2.4 kernel FATX support is thought to be more stable than in the 2.6 kernel. If you need to copy lots of files to your Xbox, do it via an Xbox dash using FTP. Simple operations on FATX should be fine, and the FATX support is not seriously unstable, but better to be safe. Loopback installs are considered to be stable, even though the files exist on FATX.

==Historical links==
Much of the old Xbox Linux information now lives on archive.org. It is helpful if you come across anything useful, to add it here!
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/ The latest Xbox Linux repository on sourceforge.] The mailing list archives can help answer esoteric questions about xbox linux, sometimes. The files section contains various Xbox Linux software and historical distribution isos.
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ The xboxhdm repository.] It contains source and executables for many Xbox tools created and modified by Idotsfan. The X-DSL directory contains some information on the original Xbpartitioner table patches.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100617000252/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/Main_Page The "New" Xbox Linux wiki], which was online until 2011.
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20050307163352/http://wiki.xbox-linux.org:80/ The original "Old" xbox linux wiki]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050724003648/http://xbox-linux.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/moin.cgi/FrontPage the "Old" xbox wiki on SourceForge.]
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20040419204220/http://xbox-linux.org:80/ The "Old" xbox-linux website], before the website was replaced with the "new wiki".
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20030204023051/http://sourceforge.net:80/project/showfiles.php?group_id=54192 The original Xbox Linux downloads page] on SourceForge. Distros are removed as they become unmaintained, so time travelling can be useful here to see all distros. The download links aren't archived, though; mainly it's useful for seeing the filenames.

==See Also==
*[[Xbox Linux]]

Historical Xbox Linux

2022-07-06T02:41:28Z

VannevarKush: /* Historical links */

Xbox Linux

2022-07-06T01:27:00Z

VannevarKush: /* Inspiration */

The first Xbox Linux releases were in 2003, and Xbox Linux reached its peak of popularity in 2003-2006. To read more about it, see '''[[Historical Xbox Linux]]'''. Today, Xbox Linux has more of a hobbyist appeal.

The former kernels of 2.4 and 2.6 were woefully out of date. To save the day, haxar has patched a modern kernel (5.8) with everything needed to run a terminal-based instance of Xbox linux. This kernel can be used as the basis for setting up modern Xbox Linux distributions.

It would be possible to use Xbox Linux to bundle Linux setups and individual Linux applications, once the proper functionality is set up. Linux also has applications as a platform for investigating the Xbox hardware.

==Current Status==
A CD-installable distro is currently being worked on.

For a list of the current issues that are blocking functionality on Xbox Linux, see '''[[Xbox Linux Issues]]'''.

For some guides and information that might help you get Xbox Linux up and running, see '''[[Xbox Linux Tips and Tricks]]'''.

==Links==
* [https://github.com/haxar/xbox-linux Haxar's modifications] to the 5.8 kernel
** [https://github.com/XboxDev/xbox-linux-initramfs A basic initramfs] for use with that kernel
** [https://github.com/XboxDev/xbox-linux-busybox The busybox setup] used in that initramfs
* [https://github.com/mborgerson/fatx mborgerson's FATX library], including a FUSE driver for FATX support in Linux
* [https://github.com/alexwinger/ubuntu-cosmic Ubuntu Cosmic with FATX, DON'T USE THIS], there is no actual FATX code in this repo. It appears to be just a starting point for a FATX implementation in Linux. Posted here to save you the time of figuring that out for yourself.

==Inspiration==

* [https://www.ridemybike.org/command1.pdf In the beginning... Was the Command Line] by Neal Stephenson
* [https://www.usenix.org/system/files/1311_05-08_mickens.pdf The Night Watch] by James Mickens
* [https://web.mit.edu/~simsong/www/ugh.pdf The UNIX Hater's Handbook] Some catharsis, from before the dawn of time
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rG74rG_ubs kill -9 by Monzy] (parental advisory: explicit content)

==See Also==

* [[17_Mistakes_Microsoft_Made_in_the_Xbox_Security_System|17 Mistakes Microsoft Made in the Xbox Security System]] by Michael Steil, the founder of the Xbox Linux team

Xbox Linux

2022-07-06T01:26:16Z

VannevarKush:

The first Xbox Linux releases were in 2003, and Xbox Linux reached its peak of popularity in 2003-2006. To read more about it, see '''[[Historical Xbox Linux]]'''. Today, Xbox Linux has more of a hobbyist appeal.

The former kernels of 2.4 and 2.6 were woefully out of date. To save the day, haxar has patched a modern kernel (5.8) with everything needed to run a terminal-based instance of Xbox linux. This kernel can be used as the basis for setting up modern Xbox Linux distributions.

It would be possible to use Xbox Linux to bundle Linux setups and individual Linux applications, once the proper functionality is set up. Linux also has applications as a platform for investigating the Xbox hardware.

==Current Status==
A CD-installable distro is currently being worked on.

For a list of the current issues that are blocking functionality on Xbox Linux, see '''[[Xbox Linux Issues]]'''.

For some guides and information that might help you get Xbox Linux up and running, see '''[[Xbox Linux Tips and Tricks]]'''.

==Links==
* [https://github.com/haxar/xbox-linux Haxar's modifications] to the 5.8 kernel
** [https://github.com/XboxDev/xbox-linux-initramfs A basic initramfs] for use with that kernel
** [https://github.com/XboxDev/xbox-linux-busybox The busybox setup] used in that initramfs
* [https://github.com/mborgerson/fatx mborgerson's FATX library], including a FUSE driver for FATX support in Linux
* [https://github.com/alexwinger/ubuntu-cosmic Ubuntu Cosmic with FATX, DON'T USE THIS], there is no actual FATX code in this repo. It appears to be just a starting point for a FATX implementation in Linux. Posted here to save you the time of figuring that out for yourself.

==Inspiration==

* [https://www.ridemybike.org/command1.pdf In the beginning... Was the Command Line] by Neal Stephenson
* [https://www.usenix.org/system/files/1311_05-08_mickens.pdf The Night Watch] Some inspiration
* [https://web.mit.edu/~simsong/www/ugh.pdf The UNIX Hater's Handbook] Some catharsis, from before the dawn of time
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rG74rG_ubs kill -9 by Monzy] (parental advisory: explicit content)

==See Also==

* [[17_Mistakes_Microsoft_Made_in_the_Xbox_Security_System|17 Mistakes Microsoft Made in the Xbox Security System]] by Michael Steil, the founder of the Xbox Linux team

Xbox Linux

2022-07-06T01:24:21Z

VannevarKush: /* See Also */

The first Xbox Linux releases were in 2003, and Xbox Linux reached its peak of popularity in 2003-2006. To read more about it, see '''[[Historical Xbox Linux]]'''. Today, Xbox Linux has more of a hobbyist appeal.

The former kernels of 2.4 and 2.6 were woefully out of date. To save the day, haxar has patched a modern kernel (5.8) with everything needed to run a terminal-based instance of Xbox linux. This kernel can be used as the basis for setting up modern Xbox Linux distributions.

It would be possible to use Xbox Linux to bundle Linux setups and individual Linux applications, once the proper functionality is set up. Linux also has applications as a platform for investigating the Xbox hardware.

==Current Status==
A CD-installable distro is currently being worked on.

For a list of the current issues that are blocking functionality on Xbox Linux, see '''[[Xbox Linux Issues]]'''.

For some guides and information that might help you get Xbox Linux up and running, see '''[[Xbox Linux Tips and Tricks]]'''.

==Links==
* [https://github.com/haxar/xbox-linux Haxar's modifications] to the 5.8 kernel
** [https://github.com/XboxDev/xbox-linux-initramfs A basic initramfs] for use with that kernel
** [https://github.com/XboxDev/xbox-linux-busybox The busybox setup] used in that initramfs
* [https://github.com/mborgerson/fatx mborgerson's FATX library], including a FUSE driver for FATX support in Linux
* [https://github.com/alexwinger/ubuntu-cosmic Ubuntu Cosmic with FATX, DON'T USE THIS], there is no actual FATX code in this repo. It appears to be just a starting point for a FATX implementation in Linux. Posted here to save you the time of figuring that out for yourself.

==See Also==
* [[17_Mistakes_Microsoft_Made_in_the_Xbox_Security_System|17 Mistakes Microsoft Made in the Xbox Security System]] by Michael Steil, the founder of the Xbox Linux team
* [https://www.ridemybike.org/command1.pdf In the beginning... Was the Command Line] by Neal Stephenson
* [https://www.usenix.org/system/files/1311_05-08_mickens.pdf The Night Watch] Some inspiration
* [https://web.mit.edu/~simsong/www/ugh.pdf The UNIX Hater's Handbook] Some catharsis, from before the dawn of time
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fow7iUaKrq4 kill -9 by Monzy] (parental advisory: explicit content)

Historical Xbox Linux

2022-07-06T01:15:15Z

VannevarKush: /* Historical Distros */

When it was announced that the specifications of the Xbox were known to be very similar to an X86 PC, Xbox Linux was quickly considered as a possibility for getting getting cheap Linux PCs into the hands of the masses. The first Xbox exploits were created to make Xbox Linux possible, and were quickly repurposed by modders, while Linux remained a more niche application on the original Xbox. In the years while the Xbox was still being manufactured, it could function as a cheap daily driver Linux PC, and some users modded the controller ports into permanent USB ports, and even installed a VGA connector. But, as with all PCs they eventually became obsolete as cheaper, smaller hardware became available with similar processing power.

Xbox Linux reached a point of stable releases [https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/6704 around 2003], and the development continued thereafter, providing support for 1.4 Xboxes and their Focus encoder chip, and even support for 1.6 Xboxes and their changes. The 2.4 kernel was primarily used for Xbox Linux. The 2.6 kernel patches that were developed appear stable and quite usable, but scattered functionalities from the 2.4 kernel were never ported over.

==Timeline==
[https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''November 15, 2001''' - Microsoft Xbox released in United States
* '''c. [https://web.archive.org/web/20021013204521/https://www.xenatera.com/bunnie/proj/anatak/xboxmod.html 2001-2002 (when?)]''' - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Huang_(hacker) Bunnie Huang] [https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''February 22, 2002''' - Xbox released in Japan
* '''March 14, 2002''' - Xbox released in Europe and Australia
* '''May 23, 2002''' - Xbox Linux project founded by Michael Stiehl
* '''July 2, 2002''' - Michael Robertson, CEO of Lindows.com, offered two $100,000 prizes for accomplishment of Xbox Linux goals by January 1, 2003. (He was coincidentally being sued at the time by Microsoft, for use of the name "Lindows") One of the prizes offered was for a demonstration of Linux running on an Xbox (with a $55,000 "subprize" for writing a bootloader) The other prize was for an exploit capable of getting Xbox Linux to run without hardware modification, ideally by using just a CD-ROM.
* '''August 13, 2002''' - First kernel boot
* '''October 7, 2002''' - First graphical desktop environment (KDE)
* '''October 9, 2002''' - Mandrake Linux 9 released for Xbox. Users had to replace or flash the TSOP.
* '''December 17, 2002''' - [[Cromwell]] BIOS/bootloader ready. The first of the $100,000 prizes was claimed, for running Linux on Xbox and developing a bootloader before January 1, 2003.
* '''December 31, 2002''' - [https://www.theregister.com/2003/01/02/xbox_linux_donor_extends_prize/ Michael Robertson extends the prize deadline for the remaining prize.]
* '''March 29, 2003''' - The second prize was claimed for the [[Exploits#007:_Agent_Under_Fire|007 hack]] by Habibi_xbox. (the game Frogger Beyond was initially hacked, but it wasn't released in Europe) This launched a minilinux via an exploit from a hacked savegame on an Xbox memory card, technically accomplishing the goal of using Linux on the Xbox without hardware modification. However, users had to start Linux via the hacked game save every time.
* '''July 4, 2003''' - The [[Exploits#Font_hacks|font exploit]] is discovered, demonstrating the ability to run Linux from the hard drive with no modchip, a true "softmod". (but also opening Pandora's box of piracy, which Xbox Linux wanted to avoid association with.) The dashboard audio exploit was discovered soon afterwards.
* '''July 7, 2003''' - A [https://www.mail-archive.com/bugtraq@securityfocus.com/msg11923.html official security release] is made about newly discovered Xbox security vulnerabilities, as responsible hackers should do
* '''August 11, 2003''' - The Mechassault exploit was released by Jeff Mears, with full softmod conversion. Efforts were made to obfuscate the source to prevent uses for piracy

More details [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Presentations/20th%20Chaos%20Communication%20Congress/ here]

==Historical Distros==
A number of distributions were released, built around the Xbox Linux-patched kernel.

*'''[https://gentoox.shallax.com GentooX]''' - GentooX, unlike vanilla Gentoo, provided precompiled binaries to the user via a custom repository. These were binaries compiled specifically for the Xbox. GentooX had both Home and Pro editions, the Home edition built around a desktop environment and the Pro edition built around the CLI. GentooX was a popular and developed Xbox Linux distro. The website is [https://web.archive.org/web/20220328101921/https://gentoox.shallax.com/ still being archived], although it appears broken in Chrome. The latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Home/ GentooX Home] is 7.1, and the latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Pro/ Pro] was 5.1, in 2009. Tested and working. Works from DVD. The pro version attempts to boot from the CD into GentooX loader, so be sure set your BIOS not to boot from CD if booting from CD doesn't work from you. Try Xromwell if GentooX loader doesn't work.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20050510000924/http://www.x-dsl.org/ X-DSL]''' - Based on Damn Small Linux, X-DSL was a lightweight Linux build. It used Knoppix patches to be able to boot to a desktop environment from small (<100MB) loop devices from FATX. It can also make a "native" install to the hard drive, or install to a larger loop device for a permanent setup. X-DSL is an easy version of historical Linux to try out today, since it can be launched and run entirely from drive E and that avoids some incompatibilities of Xbox Linux with larger hard drives. (if your hard drive is 3TB in order to get that extra .1TB of space, it may not work). The latest official version of X-DSL is 0.6, although there is an unofficial 0.7 floating around, among various other unofficial builds. X-DSL 0.6 can be found [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/X-DSL/X-DSL%20v0.6/ here]. The contents of the zip file can be copied to the root of E (so that linuxboot.cfg is in the root) and launched with Cromwell or GentooX, with no CD. The iso is also tested and working.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060529005204/http://www.dynebolic.org:80/ Dyne:bolic Linux]''' - This is Rasta software! Dynebolic Linux is a multimedia creation, editing, and streaming focused distro that could boot as a liveCD on many systems, including original Xbox. Original Xbox support was ended in Dyne:bolic 2.x, but that uses the 2.6 kernel so it could theoretically be supported if someone felt like it. The latest version compatible with the Xbox is 1.4.1, [https://osarchive.sda1.eu/dyne-bolic available here]. This distro has a lot of toys and is fun to check out. Also, it works from DVD! (it does seem to have a low color depth in the desktop though...)
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20100617005832/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/XUbuntu xUbuntu]''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "xUbuntu". "xUbuntu is based on Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy Badger) distribution without graphical environment. xUbuntu linux system can be run from CD or installed to a PC or Xbox hard drive. The install process, the kernel, the kernel modules and the desktop are customized for PC and Xbox (i386)." The latest version is 0.9.0, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/xUbuntu/xUbuntu%200.9.0/ available here]. It needs to be burned to a CD instead of a DVD.
*'''Ed's Xebian''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "Xebian". Does not appear to have a website. From the original Xbox Linux wiki, "With superb flexibility and ease of use, it can run off CD/DVD or it can be installed onto the Xbox hard drive in either the free space or the saved game area. The OS includes support for all versions of the Xbox, including those with Xcalibur video chips. Based on Debian stable (Sarge) with backports for newer software." The latest version is 1.1.4, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Ed_s%20Xebian/Xebian/ available here], which boots to desktop as a liveCD. It seems to require burning to a CD instead of DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060630100324/http://www.keckstar.com:80/nuke/html/index.php sXb]''' - Slackware for the Original Xbox. The versioning is a little unclear, but the most recent ISO on sourceforge is in the iso.gz file [https://sourceforge.net/projects/sxb/files/Sxbnew/SXBNEW-iso--dfb-xdirectfb/ here]. May need to be burned to CD. Reported "controller jammed" messages at startup, but one of my controller ports is busted.
*'''Mandrake''' A Mandrake 9 was released and claimed to be the first full distribution on the Xbox, but apparently was not continued or supported. No known Web site. Does anyone have a copy of the original Xbox Linux Mandrake iso for archival purposes? It appears a 2005 "special edition" with the Xbox patches can be found [http://ftp.twaren.net/Linux/Mandrake/official/iso/10.1/i586/10.2/ here]. (Mandrake Linux was renamed to Mandriva Linux in 2005). Requires composite cable, at least on this 1.0 Xbox. Appears to require burning to a CD, instead of a DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060713072515/http://www.not404.com:80/cgi-bin/trac.fcgi/wiki/XFedora4 xFedora]''' A port of Fedora Core to the Xbox; essentially Fedora Core with Xbox patches. The latest version is 0.7.41, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Fedora/ available here]. I am unsure how to run it.
*'''SuSE 8''' - There's a dead download link on the old wiki. Seems to have been abandoned
*'''old xbox-linux iso''' The xbox-linux team released some preliminary ISOs during the development of Xbox Linux.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20051106185529/http://article.gmane.org/gmane.linux.ports.xbox.devel/5736 live-linux]''' An early Linux that 007 hack users tried; it booted from CD but could also boot from the hard drive. It was released up to 0.3, no known website, but here is [https://sourceforge.net/p/xbox-linux/mailman/message/10300266/ the announcement]. The latest image is [https://legacy.downloads.diomtec.com/homebrew/xbins/Console%20Based%20Applications/Operating%20Systems/linux/distributions/live-linux/live-linux.0.3.iso.bz2 available here]. The file boot/boot.cfg on the iso needs to be renamed to linuxboot.cfg. The video became garbled launching with both composite and component cables. (may need an old version of Cromwell; untested) This is a very basic minilinux distro, essentially a proof of concept. The linuxrc is a symlink to busybox. It comes with a 9MB image.
*'''ltools''', a minilinux used in Xbox game save hacks, first designed to install Linux, but later repurposed to softmod the Xbox. (is this right?)
*'''[https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ xboxhdm]''' is a tool made by Idotsfan for softmodding locked Xbox hard drives, it's a PC-based CD-bootable set of Linux tools
*'''XMugen''' packaged Mugen for Linux using a busybox in an initramfs, and used swap and game character data files located on FATX. It currently has issues with anything other than "F takes all" schemes.
*'''Chimp''' is a tool for cloning and basic partitioning on Xbox hard drives. It runs from an initramfs.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20051214030132/http://nexus.il.fontys.nl:80/ FreeBSD/Xbox]''' - Not Linux per se, but it's a port of FreeBSD to the Xbox. It was officially integrated into FreeBSD as a set of optional patches. A NetBSD setup can be found [ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/misc/jmcneill/xbox/ here] but it requires the rootfs mounted on NFS. There might be a self contained ISO out there?

==Installing Old Distros==
These liveCDs above should all be safe to try on your Xbox, but installation to your hard drive is more risky. It can be fine if you take the proper considerations. Here are the installation methods usually presented by the installers:

'''Native Install'''

This may not be compatible with softmods! '''Don't mess around with native installs on a locked hard drive or a hard drive that's not backed up! Flash your TSOP or hardmod first!'''

This may wipe your hard drive, format it for Linux, and expect you to put Cromwell on your BIOS. It may also mean just formatting F and booting into it from Xromwell on FATX. So make sure you know which one it is! (the installer should tell you, if it's installing to F you should be fine) Any native install with a boot partition (launched via a hard drive icon in Cromwell/Xromwell) is NOT compatible with the XBPartitioner table, and installing it will overwite the XBPartitioner table. So "F takes all" is preferred here, for allowing coexistence with the stock partitions.

'''If you have a native install, DO NOT USE XBPARTITIONER unless you want to remove Linux. Any XBPartitioner format will break Linux by wiping out the MBR that Linux uses to find its partitions.''' You can't have custom FATX partitions alongside a Linux native install. (So use a spare hard drive for a native install)

'''Loopback Install'''

This installs Linux to a file on the FATX filesystem. Your Linux filesystem will be contained within that file. This means that no repartitioning of your hard drive is necessary. This is a safer install method, if you have space for a small install on E, or if you are using an "F takes all" scheme with an Xbox partition on F. Drive F must end below the 137GB boundary, if doing a loopback install to it. (is that right?) XBPartitioner-defined partitions are not supported by official versions of Xbox Linux, it only looks for the stock partitions plus "F takes all". I am unsure of the behavior if the drive is bigger than F can be. Loopback installs should be safe if your FATX drive F is detected by Xbox Linux.

In general, using a <137GB hard drive avoids these issues, although loopback installs can still be done on larger drives.

It is not advisable to make changes on the FATX filesystem more than you have to in Xbox Linux. Mounting and reading FATX partitions is fine, but doing complex write operations should be avoided, just in case. The 2.4 kernel FATX support is thought to be more stable than in the 2.6 kernel. If you need to copy lots of files to your Xbox, do it via an Xbox dash using FTP. Simple operations on FATX should be fine, and the FATX support is not seriously unstable, but better to be safe. Loopback installs are considered to be stable, even though the files exist on FATX.

==Historical links==
Much of the old Xbox Linux information now lives on archive.org. It is helpful if you come across anything useful, to add it here!
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/ The original Xbox Linux repository on sourceforge.] The mailing list archives can help answer esoteric questions about xbox linux, sometimes. The files section contains various Xbox Linux software and historical distribution isos.
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ The xboxhdm repository.] It contains source and executables for many Xbox tools created and modified by Idotsfan. The X-DSL directory contains some information on the original Xbpartitioner table patches.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100617000252/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/Main_Page The "New" Xbox Linux wiki], which was online until 2011.
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20050307163352/http://wiki.xbox-linux.org:80/ The original "Old" xbox linux wiki]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050724003648/http://xbox-linux.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/moin.cgi/FrontPage the "Old" xbox wiki on SourceForge.]
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20040419204220/http://xbox-linux.org:80/ The "Old" xbox-linux website], before the website was replaced with the "new wiki".
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20030204023051/http://sourceforge.net:80/project/showfiles.php?group_id=54192 The original Xbox Linux downloads page] on SourceForge. Distros are removed as they become unmaintained, so time travelling can be useful here to see all distros. The download links aren't archived, though; mainly it's useful for seeing the filenames.

==See Also==
*[[Xbox Linux]]

Historical Xbox Linux

2022-07-06T01:14:11Z

VannevarKush: /* Historical Distros */

When it was announced that the specifications of the Xbox were known to be very similar to an X86 PC, Xbox Linux was quickly considered as a possibility for getting getting cheap Linux PCs into the hands of the masses. The first Xbox exploits were created to make Xbox Linux possible, and were quickly repurposed by modders, while Linux remained a more niche application on the original Xbox. In the years while the Xbox was still being manufactured, it could function as a cheap daily driver Linux PC, and some users modded the controller ports into permanent USB ports, and even installed a VGA connector. But, as with all PCs they eventually became obsolete as cheaper, smaller hardware became available with similar processing power.

Xbox Linux reached a point of stable releases [https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/6704 around 2003], and the development continued thereafter, providing support for 1.4 Xboxes and their Focus encoder chip, and even support for 1.6 Xboxes and their changes. The 2.4 kernel was primarily used for Xbox Linux. The 2.6 kernel patches that were developed appear stable and quite usable, but scattered functionalities from the 2.4 kernel were never ported over.

==Timeline==
[https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''November 15, 2001''' - Microsoft Xbox released in United States
* '''c. [https://web.archive.org/web/20021013204521/https://www.xenatera.com/bunnie/proj/anatak/xboxmod.html 2001-2002 (when?)]''' - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Huang_(hacker) Bunnie Huang] [https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''February 22, 2002''' - Xbox released in Japan
* '''March 14, 2002''' - Xbox released in Europe and Australia
* '''May 23, 2002''' - Xbox Linux project founded by Michael Stiehl
* '''July 2, 2002''' - Michael Robertson, CEO of Lindows.com, offered two $100,000 prizes for accomplishment of Xbox Linux goals by January 1, 2003. (He was coincidentally being sued at the time by Microsoft, for use of the name "Lindows") One of the prizes offered was for a demonstration of Linux running on an Xbox (with a $55,000 "subprize" for writing a bootloader) The other prize was for an exploit capable of getting Xbox Linux to run without hardware modification, ideally by using just a CD-ROM.
* '''August 13, 2002''' - First kernel boot
* '''October 7, 2002''' - First graphical desktop environment (KDE)
* '''October 9, 2002''' - Mandrake Linux 9 released for Xbox. Users had to replace or flash the TSOP.
* '''December 17, 2002''' - [[Cromwell]] BIOS/bootloader ready. The first of the $100,000 prizes was claimed, for running Linux on Xbox and developing a bootloader before January 1, 2003.
* '''December 31, 2002''' - [https://www.theregister.com/2003/01/02/xbox_linux_donor_extends_prize/ Michael Robertson extends the prize deadline for the remaining prize.]
* '''March 29, 2003''' - The second prize was claimed for the [[Exploits#007:_Agent_Under_Fire|007 hack]] by Habibi_xbox. (the game Frogger Beyond was initially hacked, but it wasn't released in Europe) This launched a minilinux via an exploit from a hacked savegame on an Xbox memory card, technically accomplishing the goal of using Linux on the Xbox without hardware modification. However, users had to start Linux via the hacked game save every time.
* '''July 4, 2003''' - The [[Exploits#Font_hacks|font exploit]] is discovered, demonstrating the ability to run Linux from the hard drive with no modchip, a true "softmod". (but also opening Pandora's box of piracy, which Xbox Linux wanted to avoid association with.) The dashboard audio exploit was discovered soon afterwards.
* '''July 7, 2003''' - A [https://www.mail-archive.com/bugtraq@securityfocus.com/msg11923.html official security release] is made about newly discovered Xbox security vulnerabilities, as responsible hackers should do
* '''August 11, 2003''' - The Mechassault exploit was released by Jeff Mears, with full softmod conversion. Efforts were made to obfuscate the source to prevent uses for piracy

More details [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Presentations/20th%20Chaos%20Communication%20Congress/ here]

==Historical Distros==
A number of distributions were released, built around the Xbox Linux-patched kernel.

*'''[https://gentoox.shallax.com GentooX]''' - GentooX, unlike vanilla Gentoo, provided precompiled binaries to the user via a custom repository. These were binaries compiled specifically for the Xbox. GentooX had both Home and Pro editions, the Home edition built around a desktop environment and the Pro edition built around the CLI. GentooX was a popular and developed Xbox Linux distro. The website is [https://web.archive.org/web/20220328101921/https://gentoox.shallax.com/ still being archived], although it appears broken in Chrome. The latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Home/ GentooX Home] is 7.1, and the latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Pro/ Pro] was 5.1, in 2009. Tested and working. Works from DVD. The pro version attempts to boot from the CD into GentooX loader, so be sure set your BIOS not to boot from CD if booting from CD doesn't work from you. Try Xromwell if GentooX loader doesn't work.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20050510000924/http://www.x-dsl.org/ X-DSL]''' - Based on Damn Small Linux, X-DSL was a lightweight Linux build. It used Knoppix patches to be able to boot to a desktop environment from small (<100MB) loop devices from FATX. It can also make a "native" install to the hard drive, or install to a larger loop device for a permanent setup. X-DSL is an easy version of historical Linux to try out today, since it can be launched and run entirely from drive E and that avoids some incompatibilities of Xbox Linux with larger hard drives. (if your hard drive is 3TB in order to get that extra .1TB of space, it may not work). The latest official version of X-DSL is 0.6, although there is an unofficial 0.7 floating around, among various other unofficial builds. X-DSL 0.6 can be found [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/X-DSL/X-DSL%20v0.6/ here]. The contents of the zip file can be copied to the root of E (so that linuxboot.cfg is in the root) and launched with Cromwell or GentooX, with no CD. The iso is also tested and working.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060529005204/http://www.dynebolic.org:80/ Dyne:bolic Linux]''' - This is Rasta software! Dynebolic Linux is a multimedia creation, editing, and streaming focused distro that could boot as a liveCD on many systems, including original Xbox. Original Xbox support was ended in Dyne:bolic 2.x, but that uses the 2.6 kernel so it could theoretically be supported if someone felt like it. The latest version compatible with the Xbox is 1.4.1, [https://osarchive.sda1.eu/dyne-bolic available here]. This distro has a lot of toys and is fun to check out. Also, it works from DVD! (it does seem to have a low color depth in the desktop though...)
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20100617005832/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/XUbuntu xUbuntu]''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "xUbuntu". "xUbuntu is based on Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy Badger) distribution without graphical environment. xUbuntu linux system can be run from CD or installed to a PC or Xbox hard drive. The install process, the kernel, the kernel modules and the desktop are customized for PC and Xbox (i386)." The latest version is 0.9.0, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/xUbuntu/xUbuntu%200.9.0/ available here]. It needs to be burned to a CD instead of a DVD.
*'''Ed's Xebian''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "Xebian". Does not appear to have a website. From the original Xbox Linux wiki, "With superb flexibility and ease of use, it can run off CD/DVD or it can be installed onto the Xbox hard drive in either the free space or the saved game area. The OS includes support for all versions of the Xbox, including those with Xcalibur video chips. Based on Debian stable (Sarge) with backports for newer software." The latest version is 1.1.4, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Ed_s%20Xebian/Xebian/ available here], which boots to desktop as a liveCD. It seems to require burning to a CD instead of DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060630100324/http://www.keckstar.com:80/nuke/html/index.php sXb]''' - Slackware for the Original Xbox. The versioning is a little unclear, but the most recent ISO on sourceforge is in the iso.gz file [https://sourceforge.net/projects/sxb/files/Sxbnew/SXBNEW-iso--dfb-xdirectfb/ here]. May need to be burned to CD. Reported "controller jammed" messages at startup, but one of my controller ports is busted.
*'''Mandrake''' A Mandrake 9 was released and claimed to be the first full distribution on the Xbox, but apparently was not continued or supported. No known Web site. Does anyone have a copy of the original Xbox Linux Mandrake iso for archival purposes? It appears a 2005 "special edition" with the Xbox patches can be found [http://ftp.twaren.net/Linux/Mandrake/official/iso/10.1/i586/10.2/ here]. (Mandrake Linux was renamed to Mandriva Linux in 2005). Requires composite cable, at least on this 1.0 Xbox. Appears to require burning to a CD, instead of a DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060713072515/http://www.not404.com:80/cgi-bin/trac.fcgi/wiki/XFedora4 xFedora]''' A port of Fedora Core to the Xbox; essentially Fedora Core with Xbox patches. The latest version is 0.7.41, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Fedora/ available here]. I am unsure how to run it.
*'''SuSE 8''' - There's a dead download link on the old wiki. Seems to have been abandoned
*'''old xbox-linux iso''' The xbox-linux team released some preliminary ISOs during the development of Xbox Linux.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20051106185529/http://article.gmane.org/gmane.linux.ports.xbox.devel/5736 live-linux]''' An early Linux that 007 hack users tried; it booted from CD but could also boot from the hard drive. It was released up to 0.3, no known website, but here is [https://sourceforge.net/p/xbox-linux/mailman/message/10300266/ the announcement]. The latest image is [https://legacy.downloads.diomtec.com/homebrew/xbins/Console%20Based%20Applications/Operating%20Systems/linux/distributions/live-linux/live-linux.0.3.iso.bz2 available here]. The file boot/boot.cfg on the iso needs to be renamed to linuxboot.cfg. The video became garbled launching with both composite and component cables. (may need an old version of Cromwell; untested) This is a very basic minilinux distro, essentially a proof of concept. The linuxrc is a symlink to busybox. It comes with a 9MB image.
*'''ltools''', a minilinux used in Xbox game save hacks, first designed to install Linux, but later repurposed to softmod the Xbox.
*'''[https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ xboxhdm]''' is a tool made by Idotsfan for softmodding locked Xbox hard drives, it's a PC-based CD-bootable set of Linux tools
*'''XMugen''' packaged Mugen for Linux using a busybox in an initramfs, and used swap and game character data files located on FATX. It currently has issues with anything other than "F takes all" schemes.
*'''Chimp''' is a tool for cloning and basic partitioning on Xbox hard drives. It runs from an initramfs.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20051214030132/http://nexus.il.fontys.nl:80/ FreeBSD/Xbox]''' - Not Linux per se, but it's a port of FreeBSD to the Xbox. It was officially integrated into FreeBSD as a set of optional patches. A NetBSD setup can be found [ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/misc/jmcneill/xbox/ here] but it requires the rootfs mounted on NFS. There might be a self contained ISO out there?

==Installing Old Distros==
These liveCDs above should all be safe to try on your Xbox, but installation to your hard drive is more risky. It can be fine if you take the proper considerations. Here are the installation methods usually presented by the installers:

'''Native Install'''

This may not be compatible with softmods! '''Don't mess around with native installs on a locked hard drive or a hard drive that's not backed up! Flash your TSOP or hardmod first!'''

This may wipe your hard drive, format it for Linux, and expect you to put Cromwell on your BIOS. It may also mean just formatting F and booting into it from Xromwell on FATX. So make sure you know which one it is! (the installer should tell you, if it's installing to F you should be fine) Any native install with a boot partition (launched via a hard drive icon in Cromwell/Xromwell) is NOT compatible with the XBPartitioner table, and installing it will overwite the XBPartitioner table. So "F takes all" is preferred here, for allowing coexistence with the stock partitions.

'''If you have a native install, DO NOT USE XBPARTITIONER unless you want to remove Linux. Any XBPartitioner format will break Linux by wiping out the MBR that Linux uses to find its partitions.''' You can't have custom FATX partitions alongside a Linux native install. (So use a spare hard drive for a native install)

'''Loopback Install'''

This installs Linux to a file on the FATX filesystem. Your Linux filesystem will be contained within that file. This means that no repartitioning of your hard drive is necessary. This is a safer install method, if you have space for a small install on E, or if you are using an "F takes all" scheme with an Xbox partition on F. Drive F must end below the 137GB boundary, if doing a loopback install to it. (is that right?) XBPartitioner-defined partitions are not supported by official versions of Xbox Linux, it only looks for the stock partitions plus "F takes all". I am unsure of the behavior if the drive is bigger than F can be. Loopback installs should be safe if your FATX drive F is detected by Xbox Linux.

In general, using a <137GB hard drive avoids these issues, although loopback installs can still be done on larger drives.

It is not advisable to make changes on the FATX filesystem more than you have to in Xbox Linux. Mounting and reading FATX partitions is fine, but doing complex write operations should be avoided, just in case. The 2.4 kernel FATX support is thought to be more stable than in the 2.6 kernel. If you need to copy lots of files to your Xbox, do it via an Xbox dash using FTP. Simple operations on FATX should be fine, and the FATX support is not seriously unstable, but better to be safe. Loopback installs are considered to be stable, even though the files exist on FATX.

==Historical links==
Much of the old Xbox Linux information now lives on archive.org. It is helpful if you come across anything useful, to add it here!
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/ The original Xbox Linux repository on sourceforge.] The mailing list archives can help answer esoteric questions about xbox linux, sometimes. The files section contains various Xbox Linux software and historical distribution isos.
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ The xboxhdm repository.] It contains source and executables for many Xbox tools created and modified by Idotsfan. The X-DSL directory contains some information on the original Xbpartitioner table patches.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100617000252/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/Main_Page The "New" Xbox Linux wiki], which was online until 2011.
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20050307163352/http://wiki.xbox-linux.org:80/ The original "Old" xbox linux wiki]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050724003648/http://xbox-linux.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/moin.cgi/FrontPage the "Old" xbox wiki on SourceForge.]
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20040419204220/http://xbox-linux.org:80/ The "Old" xbox-linux website], before the website was replaced with the "new wiki".
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20030204023051/http://sourceforge.net:80/project/showfiles.php?group_id=54192 The original Xbox Linux downloads page] on SourceForge. Distros are removed as they become unmaintained, so time travelling can be useful here to see all distros. The download links aren't archived, though; mainly it's useful for seeing the filenames.

==See Also==
*[[Xbox Linux]]

Historical Xbox Linux

2022-07-06T01:07:52Z

VannevarKush: /* Historical links */

When it was announced that the specifications of the Xbox were known to be very similar to an X86 PC, Xbox Linux was quickly considered as a possibility for getting getting cheap Linux PCs into the hands of the masses. The first Xbox exploits were created to make Xbox Linux possible, and were quickly repurposed by modders, while Linux remained a more niche application on the original Xbox. In the years while the Xbox was still being manufactured, it could function as a cheap daily driver Linux PC, and some users modded the controller ports into permanent USB ports, and even installed a VGA connector. But, as with all PCs they eventually became obsolete as cheaper, smaller hardware became available with similar processing power.

Xbox Linux reached a point of stable releases [https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/6704 around 2003], and the development continued thereafter, providing support for 1.4 Xboxes and their Focus encoder chip, and even support for 1.6 Xboxes and their changes. The 2.4 kernel was primarily used for Xbox Linux. The 2.6 kernel patches that were developed appear stable and quite usable, but scattered functionalities from the 2.4 kernel were never ported over.

==Timeline==
[https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''November 15, 2001''' - Microsoft Xbox released in United States
* '''c. [https://web.archive.org/web/20021013204521/https://www.xenatera.com/bunnie/proj/anatak/xboxmod.html 2001-2002 (when?)]''' - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Huang_(hacker) Bunnie Huang] [https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''February 22, 2002''' - Xbox released in Japan
* '''March 14, 2002''' - Xbox released in Europe and Australia
* '''May 23, 2002''' - Xbox Linux project founded by Michael Stiehl
* '''July 2, 2002''' - Michael Robertson, CEO of Lindows.com, offered two $100,000 prizes for accomplishment of Xbox Linux goals by January 1, 2003. (He was coincidentally being sued at the time by Microsoft, for use of the name "Lindows") One of the prizes offered was for a demonstration of Linux running on an Xbox (with a $55,000 "subprize" for writing a bootloader) The other prize was for an exploit capable of getting Xbox Linux to run without hardware modification, ideally by using just a CD-ROM.
* '''August 13, 2002''' - First kernel boot
* '''October 7, 2002''' - First graphical desktop environment (KDE)
* '''October 9, 2002''' - Mandrake Linux 9 released for Xbox. Users had to replace or flash the TSOP.
* '''December 17, 2002''' - [[Cromwell]] BIOS/bootloader ready. The first of the $100,000 prizes was claimed, for running Linux on Xbox and developing a bootloader before January 1, 2003.
* '''December 31, 2002''' - [https://www.theregister.com/2003/01/02/xbox_linux_donor_extends_prize/ Michael Robertson extends the prize deadline for the remaining prize.]
* '''March 29, 2003''' - The second prize was claimed for the [[Exploits#007:_Agent_Under_Fire|007 hack]] by Habibi_xbox. (the game Frogger Beyond was initially hacked, but it wasn't released in Europe) This launched a minilinux via an exploit from a hacked savegame on an Xbox memory card, technically accomplishing the goal of using Linux on the Xbox without hardware modification. However, users had to start Linux via the hacked game save every time.
* '''July 4, 2003''' - The [[Exploits#Font_hacks|font exploit]] is discovered, demonstrating the ability to run Linux from the hard drive with no modchip, a true "softmod". (but also opening Pandora's box of piracy, which Xbox Linux wanted to avoid association with.) The dashboard audio exploit was discovered soon afterwards.
* '''July 7, 2003''' - A [https://www.mail-archive.com/bugtraq@securityfocus.com/msg11923.html official security release] is made about newly discovered Xbox security vulnerabilities, as responsible hackers should do
* '''August 11, 2003''' - The Mechassault exploit was released by Jeff Mears, with full softmod conversion. Efforts were made to obfuscate the source to prevent uses for piracy

More details [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Presentations/20th%20Chaos%20Communication%20Congress/ here]

==Historical Distros==
A number of distributions were released, built around the Xbox Linux-patched kernel.

*'''[https://gentoox.shallax.com GentooX]''' - GentooX, unlike vanilla Gentoo, provided precompiled binaries to the user via a custom repository. These were binaries compiled specifically for the Xbox. GentooX had both Home and Pro editions, the Home edition built around a desktop environment and the Pro edition built around the CLI. GentooX was a popular and developed Xbox Linux distro. The website is [https://web.archive.org/web/20220328101921/https://gentoox.shallax.com/ still being archived], although it appears broken in Chrome. The latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Home/ GentooX Home] is 7.1, and the latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Pro/ Pro] was 5.1, in 2009. Tested and working. Works from DVD. The pro version attempts to boot from the CD into GentooX loader, so be sure set your BIOS not to boot from CD if booting from CD doesn't work from you. Try Xromwell if GentooX loader doesn't work.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20050510000924/http://www.x-dsl.org/ X-DSL]''' - Based on Damn Small Linux, X-DSL was a lightweight Linux build. It used Knoppix patches to be able to boot to a desktop environment from small (<100MB) loop devices from FATX. It can also make a "native" install to the hard drive, or install to a larger loop device for a permanent setup. X-DSL is an easy version of historical Linux to try out today, since it can be launched and run entirely from drive E and that avoids some incompatibilities of Xbox Linux with larger hard drives. (if your hard drive is 3TB in order to get that extra .1TB of space, it may not work). The latest official version of X-DSL is 0.6, although there is an unofficial 0.7 floating around, among various other unofficial builds. X-DSL 0.6 can be found [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/X-DSL/X-DSL%20v0.6/ here]. The contents of the zip file can be copied to the root of E (so that linuxboot.cfg is in the root) and launched with Cromwell or GentooX, with no CD. The iso is also tested and working.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060529005204/http://www.dynebolic.org:80/ Dyne:bolic Linux]''' - This is Rasta software! Dynebolic Linux is a multimedia creation, editing, and streaming focused distro that could boot as a liveCD on many systems, including original Xbox. Original Xbox support was ended in Dyne:bolic 2.x, but that uses the 2.6 kernel so it could theoretically be supported if someone felt like it. The latest version compatible with the Xbox is 1.4.1, [https://osarchive.sda1.eu/dyne-bolic available here]. This distro has a lot of toys and is fun to check out. Also, it works from DVD! (it does seem to have a low color depth in the desktop though...)
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20100617005832/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/XUbuntu xUbuntu]''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "xUbuntu". "xUbuntu is based on Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy Badger) distribution without graphical environment. xUbuntu linux system can be run from CD or installed to a PC or Xbox hard drive. The install process, the kernel, the kernel modules and the desktop are customized for PC and Xbox (i386)." The latest version is 0.9.0, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/xUbuntu/xUbuntu%200.9.0/ available here]. It needs to be burned to a CD instead of a DVD.
*'''Ed's Xebian''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "Xebian". Does not appear to have a website. From the original Xbox Linux wiki, "With superb flexibility and ease of use, it can run off CD/DVD or it can be installed onto the Xbox hard drive in either the free space or the saved game area. The OS includes support for all versions of the Xbox, including those with Xcalibur video chips. Based on Debian stable (Sarge) with backports for newer software." The latest version is 1.1.4, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Ed_s%20Xebian/Xebian/ available here], which boots to desktop as a liveCD. It seems to require burning to a CD instead of DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060630100324/http://www.keckstar.com:80/nuke/html/index.php sXb]''' - Slackware for the Original Xbox. The versioning is a little unclear, but the most recent ISO on sourceforge is in the iso.gz file [https://sourceforge.net/projects/sxb/files/Sxbnew/SXBNEW-iso--dfb-xdirectfb/ here]. May need to be burned to CD. Reported "controller jammed" messages at startup, but one of my controller ports is busted.
*'''Mandrake''' A Mandrake 9 was released and claimed to be the first full distribution on the Xbox, but apparently was not continued or supported. No known Web site. Does anyone have a copy of the original Xbox Linux Mandrake iso for archival purposes? It appears a 2005 "special edition" with the Xbox patches can be found [http://ftp.twaren.net/Linux/Mandrake/official/iso/10.1/i586/10.2/ here]. (Mandrake Linux was renamed to Mandriva Linux in 2005). Requires composite cable, at least on this 1.0 Xbox. Appears to require burning to a CD, instead of a DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060713072515/http://www.not404.com:80/cgi-bin/trac.fcgi/wiki/XFedora4 xFedora]''' A port of Fedora Core to the Xbox; essentially Fedora Core with Xbox patches. The latest version is 0.7.41, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Fedora/ available here]. I am unsure how to run it.
*'''SuSE 8''' - There's a dead download link on the old wiki. Seems to have been abandoned
*'''old xbox-linux iso''' The xbox-linux team released some preliminary ISOs during the development of Xbox Linux.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20051106185529/http://article.gmane.org/gmane.linux.ports.xbox.devel/5736 live-linux]''' An early Linux that 007 hack users tried; it booed from CD but could also boot from the hard drive. It was released up to 0.3, no known website, but here is [https://sourceforge.net/p/xbox-linux/mailman/message/10300266/ the announcement]. The latest image is [https://legacy.downloads.diomtec.com/homebrew/xbins/Console%20Based%20Applications/Operating%20Systems/linux/distributions/live-linux/live-linux.0.3.iso.bz2 available here]. The file boot/boot.cfg on the iso needs to be renamed to linuxboot.cfg. The video became garbled launching with both composite and component cables. (may need an old version of Cromwell; untested) This is a very basic minilinux distro, essentially a proof of concept. The linuxrc is a symlink to busybox. It comes with a 9MB image.
*'''ltools''', a minilinux used in Xbox game save hacks, first designed to install Linux, but later repurposed to softmod the Xbox.
*'''[https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ xboxhdm]''' is a tool made by Idotsfan for softmodding locked Xbox hard drives, it's a PC-based CD-bootable set of Linux tools
*'''XMugen''' packaged Mugen for Linux using a busybox in an initramfs, and used swap and game character data files located on FATX. It currently has issues with anything other than "F takes all" schemes.
*'''Chimp''' is a tool for cloning and basic partitioning on Xbox hard drives. It runs from an initramfs.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20051214030132/http://nexus.il.fontys.nl:80/ FreeBSD/Xbox]''' - Not Linux per se, but it's a port of FreeBSD to the Xbox. It was officially integrated into FreeBSD as a set of optional patches. A NetBSD setup can be found [ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/misc/jmcneill/xbox/ here] but it requires the rootfs mounted on NFS. There might be a self contained ISO out there?

==Installing Old Distros==
These liveCDs above should all be safe to try on your Xbox, but installation to your hard drive is more risky. It can be fine if you take the proper considerations. Here are the installation methods usually presented by the installers:

'''Native Install'''

This may not be compatible with softmods! '''Don't mess around with native installs on a locked hard drive or a hard drive that's not backed up! Flash your TSOP or hardmod first!'''

This may wipe your hard drive, format it for Linux, and expect you to put Cromwell on your BIOS. It may also mean just formatting F and booting into it from Xromwell on FATX. So make sure you know which one it is! (the installer should tell you, if it's installing to F you should be fine) Any native install with a boot partition (launched via a hard drive icon in Cromwell/Xromwell) is NOT compatible with the XBPartitioner table, and installing it will overwite the XBPartitioner table. So "F takes all" is preferred here, for allowing coexistence with the stock partitions.

'''If you have a native install, DO NOT USE XBPARTITIONER unless you want to remove Linux. Any XBPartitioner format will break Linux by wiping out the MBR that Linux uses to find its partitions.''' You can't have custom FATX partitions alongside a Linux native install. (So use a spare hard drive for a native install)

'''Loopback Install'''

This installs Linux to a file on the FATX filesystem. Your Linux filesystem will be contained within that file. This means that no repartitioning of your hard drive is necessary. This is a safer install method, if you have space for a small install on E, or if you are using an "F takes all" scheme with an Xbox partition on F. Drive F must end below the 137GB boundary, if doing a loopback install to it. (is that right?) XBPartitioner-defined partitions are not supported by official versions of Xbox Linux, it only looks for the stock partitions plus "F takes all". I am unsure of the behavior if the drive is bigger than F can be. Loopback installs should be safe if your FATX drive F is detected by Xbox Linux.

In general, using a <137GB hard drive avoids these issues, although loopback installs can still be done on larger drives.

It is not advisable to make changes on the FATX filesystem more than you have to in Xbox Linux. Mounting and reading FATX partitions is fine, but doing complex write operations should be avoided, just in case. The 2.4 kernel FATX support is thought to be more stable than in the 2.6 kernel. If you need to copy lots of files to your Xbox, do it via an Xbox dash using FTP. Simple operations on FATX should be fine, and the FATX support is not seriously unstable, but better to be safe. Loopback installs are considered to be stable, even though the files exist on FATX.

==Historical links==
Much of the old Xbox Linux information now lives on archive.org. It is helpful if you come across anything useful, to add it here!
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/ The original Xbox Linux repository on sourceforge.] The mailing list archives can help answer esoteric questions about xbox linux, sometimes. The files section contains various Xbox Linux software and historical distribution isos.
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ The xboxhdm repository.] It contains source and executables for many Xbox tools created and modified by Idotsfan. The X-DSL directory contains some information on the original Xbpartitioner table patches.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100617000252/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/Main_Page The "New" Xbox Linux wiki], which was online until 2011.
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20050307163352/http://wiki.xbox-linux.org:80/ The original "Old" xbox linux wiki]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050724003648/http://xbox-linux.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/moin.cgi/FrontPage the "Old" xbox wiki on SourceForge.]
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20040419204220/http://xbox-linux.org:80/ The "Old" xbox-linux website], before the website was replaced with the "new wiki".
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20030204023051/http://sourceforge.net:80/project/showfiles.php?group_id=54192 The original Xbox Linux downloads page] on SourceForge. Distros are removed as they become unmaintained, so time travelling can be useful here to see all distros. The download links aren't archived, though; mainly it's useful for seeing the filenames.

==See Also==
*[[Xbox Linux]]

Historical Xbox Linux

2022-07-06T01:06:50Z

VannevarKush: /* Historical links */

When it was announced that the specifications of the Xbox were known to be very similar to an X86 PC, Xbox Linux was quickly considered as a possibility for getting getting cheap Linux PCs into the hands of the masses. The first Xbox exploits were created to make Xbox Linux possible, and were quickly repurposed by modders, while Linux remained a more niche application on the original Xbox. In the years while the Xbox was still being manufactured, it could function as a cheap daily driver Linux PC, and some users modded the controller ports into permanent USB ports, and even installed a VGA connector. But, as with all PCs they eventually became obsolete as cheaper, smaller hardware became available with similar processing power.

Xbox Linux reached a point of stable releases [https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/6704 around 2003], and the development continued thereafter, providing support for 1.4 Xboxes and their Focus encoder chip, and even support for 1.6 Xboxes and their changes. The 2.4 kernel was primarily used for Xbox Linux. The 2.6 kernel patches that were developed appear stable and quite usable, but scattered functionalities from the 2.4 kernel were never ported over.

==Timeline==
[https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''November 15, 2001''' - Microsoft Xbox released in United States
* '''c. [https://web.archive.org/web/20021013204521/https://www.xenatera.com/bunnie/proj/anatak/xboxmod.html 2001-2002 (when?)]''' - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Huang_(hacker) Bunnie Huang] [https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''February 22, 2002''' - Xbox released in Japan
* '''March 14, 2002''' - Xbox released in Europe and Australia
* '''May 23, 2002''' - Xbox Linux project founded by Michael Stiehl
* '''July 2, 2002''' - Michael Robertson, CEO of Lindows.com, offered two $100,000 prizes for accomplishment of Xbox Linux goals by January 1, 2003. (He was coincidentally being sued at the time by Microsoft, for use of the name "Lindows") One of the prizes offered was for a demonstration of Linux running on an Xbox (with a $55,000 "subprize" for writing a bootloader) The other prize was for an exploit capable of getting Xbox Linux to run without hardware modification, ideally by using just a CD-ROM.
* '''August 13, 2002''' - First kernel boot
* '''October 7, 2002''' - First graphical desktop environment (KDE)
* '''October 9, 2002''' - Mandrake Linux 9 released for Xbox. Users had to replace or flash the TSOP.
* '''December 17, 2002''' - [[Cromwell]] BIOS/bootloader ready. The first of the $100,000 prizes was claimed, for running Linux on Xbox and developing a bootloader before January 1, 2003.
* '''December 31, 2002''' - [https://www.theregister.com/2003/01/02/xbox_linux_donor_extends_prize/ Michael Robertson extends the prize deadline for the remaining prize.]
* '''March 29, 2003''' - The second prize was claimed for the [[Exploits#007:_Agent_Under_Fire|007 hack]] by Habibi_xbox. (the game Frogger Beyond was initially hacked, but it wasn't released in Europe) This launched a minilinux via an exploit from a hacked savegame on an Xbox memory card, technically accomplishing the goal of using Linux on the Xbox without hardware modification. However, users had to start Linux via the hacked game save every time.
* '''July 4, 2003''' - The [[Exploits#Font_hacks|font exploit]] is discovered, demonstrating the ability to run Linux from the hard drive with no modchip, a true "softmod". (but also opening Pandora's box of piracy, which Xbox Linux wanted to avoid association with.) The dashboard audio exploit was discovered soon afterwards.
* '''July 7, 2003''' - A [https://www.mail-archive.com/bugtraq@securityfocus.com/msg11923.html official security release] is made about newly discovered Xbox security vulnerabilities, as responsible hackers should do
* '''August 11, 2003''' - The Mechassault exploit was released by Jeff Mears, with full softmod conversion. Efforts were made to obfuscate the source to prevent uses for piracy

More details [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Presentations/20th%20Chaos%20Communication%20Congress/ here]

==Historical Distros==
A number of distributions were released, built around the Xbox Linux-patched kernel.

*'''[https://gentoox.shallax.com GentooX]''' - GentooX, unlike vanilla Gentoo, provided precompiled binaries to the user via a custom repository. These were binaries compiled specifically for the Xbox. GentooX had both Home and Pro editions, the Home edition built around a desktop environment and the Pro edition built around the CLI. GentooX was a popular and developed Xbox Linux distro. The website is [https://web.archive.org/web/20220328101921/https://gentoox.shallax.com/ still being archived], although it appears broken in Chrome. The latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Home/ GentooX Home] is 7.1, and the latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Pro/ Pro] was 5.1, in 2009. Tested and working. Works from DVD. The pro version attempts to boot from the CD into GentooX loader, so be sure set your BIOS not to boot from CD if booting from CD doesn't work from you. Try Xromwell if GentooX loader doesn't work.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20050510000924/http://www.x-dsl.org/ X-DSL]''' - Based on Damn Small Linux, X-DSL was a lightweight Linux build. It used Knoppix patches to be able to boot to a desktop environment from small (<100MB) loop devices from FATX. It can also make a "native" install to the hard drive, or install to a larger loop device for a permanent setup. X-DSL is an easy version of historical Linux to try out today, since it can be launched and run entirely from drive E and that avoids some incompatibilities of Xbox Linux with larger hard drives. (if your hard drive is 3TB in order to get that extra .1TB of space, it may not work). The latest official version of X-DSL is 0.6, although there is an unofficial 0.7 floating around, among various other unofficial builds. X-DSL 0.6 can be found [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/X-DSL/X-DSL%20v0.6/ here]. The contents of the zip file can be copied to the root of E (so that linuxboot.cfg is in the root) and launched with Cromwell or GentooX, with no CD. The iso is also tested and working.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060529005204/http://www.dynebolic.org:80/ Dyne:bolic Linux]''' - This is Rasta software! Dynebolic Linux is a multimedia creation, editing, and streaming focused distro that could boot as a liveCD on many systems, including original Xbox. Original Xbox support was ended in Dyne:bolic 2.x, but that uses the 2.6 kernel so it could theoretically be supported if someone felt like it. The latest version compatible with the Xbox is 1.4.1, [https://osarchive.sda1.eu/dyne-bolic available here]. This distro has a lot of toys and is fun to check out. Also, it works from DVD! (it does seem to have a low color depth in the desktop though...)
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20100617005832/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/XUbuntu xUbuntu]''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "xUbuntu". "xUbuntu is based on Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy Badger) distribution without graphical environment. xUbuntu linux system can be run from CD or installed to a PC or Xbox hard drive. The install process, the kernel, the kernel modules and the desktop are customized for PC and Xbox (i386)." The latest version is 0.9.0, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/xUbuntu/xUbuntu%200.9.0/ available here]. It needs to be burned to a CD instead of a DVD.
*'''Ed's Xebian''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "Xebian". Does not appear to have a website. From the original Xbox Linux wiki, "With superb flexibility and ease of use, it can run off CD/DVD or it can be installed onto the Xbox hard drive in either the free space or the saved game area. The OS includes support for all versions of the Xbox, including those with Xcalibur video chips. Based on Debian stable (Sarge) with backports for newer software." The latest version is 1.1.4, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Ed_s%20Xebian/Xebian/ available here], which boots to desktop as a liveCD. It seems to require burning to a CD instead of DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060630100324/http://www.keckstar.com:80/nuke/html/index.php sXb]''' - Slackware for the Original Xbox. The versioning is a little unclear, but the most recent ISO on sourceforge is in the iso.gz file [https://sourceforge.net/projects/sxb/files/Sxbnew/SXBNEW-iso--dfb-xdirectfb/ here]. May need to be burned to CD. Reported "controller jammed" messages at startup, but one of my controller ports is busted.
*'''Mandrake''' A Mandrake 9 was released and claimed to be the first full distribution on the Xbox, but apparently was not continued or supported. No known Web site. Does anyone have a copy of the original Xbox Linux Mandrake iso for archival purposes? It appears a 2005 "special edition" with the Xbox patches can be found [http://ftp.twaren.net/Linux/Mandrake/official/iso/10.1/i586/10.2/ here]. (Mandrake Linux was renamed to Mandriva Linux in 2005). Requires composite cable, at least on this 1.0 Xbox. Appears to require burning to a CD, instead of a DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060713072515/http://www.not404.com:80/cgi-bin/trac.fcgi/wiki/XFedora4 xFedora]''' A port of Fedora Core to the Xbox; essentially Fedora Core with Xbox patches. The latest version is 0.7.41, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Fedora/ available here]. I am unsure how to run it.
*'''SuSE 8''' - There's a dead download link on the old wiki. Seems to have been abandoned
*'''old xbox-linux iso''' The xbox-linux team released some preliminary ISOs during the development of Xbox Linux.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20051106185529/http://article.gmane.org/gmane.linux.ports.xbox.devel/5736 live-linux]''' An early Linux that 007 hack users tried; it booed from CD but could also boot from the hard drive. It was released up to 0.3, no known website, but here is [https://sourceforge.net/p/xbox-linux/mailman/message/10300266/ the announcement]. The latest image is [https://legacy.downloads.diomtec.com/homebrew/xbins/Console%20Based%20Applications/Operating%20Systems/linux/distributions/live-linux/live-linux.0.3.iso.bz2 available here]. The file boot/boot.cfg on the iso needs to be renamed to linuxboot.cfg. The video became garbled launching with both composite and component cables. (may need an old version of Cromwell; untested) This is a very basic minilinux distro, essentially a proof of concept. The linuxrc is a symlink to busybox. It comes with a 9MB image.
*'''ltools''', a minilinux used in Xbox game save hacks, first designed to install Linux, but later repurposed to softmod the Xbox.
*'''[https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ xboxhdm]''' is a tool made by Idotsfan for softmodding locked Xbox hard drives, it's a PC-based CD-bootable set of Linux tools
*'''XMugen''' packaged Mugen for Linux using a busybox in an initramfs, and used swap and game character data files located on FATX. It currently has issues with anything other than "F takes all" schemes.
*'''Chimp''' is a tool for cloning and basic partitioning on Xbox hard drives. It runs from an initramfs.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20051214030132/http://nexus.il.fontys.nl:80/ FreeBSD/Xbox]''' - Not Linux per se, but it's a port of FreeBSD to the Xbox. It was officially integrated into FreeBSD as a set of optional patches. A NetBSD setup can be found [ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/misc/jmcneill/xbox/ here] but it requires the rootfs mounted on NFS. There might be a self contained ISO out there?

==Installing Old Distros==
These liveCDs above should all be safe to try on your Xbox, but installation to your hard drive is more risky. It can be fine if you take the proper considerations. Here are the installation methods usually presented by the installers:

'''Native Install'''

This may not be compatible with softmods! '''Don't mess around with native installs on a locked hard drive or a hard drive that's not backed up! Flash your TSOP or hardmod first!'''

This may wipe your hard drive, format it for Linux, and expect you to put Cromwell on your BIOS. It may also mean just formatting F and booting into it from Xromwell on FATX. So make sure you know which one it is! (the installer should tell you, if it's installing to F you should be fine) Any native install with a boot partition (launched via a hard drive icon in Cromwell/Xromwell) is NOT compatible with the XBPartitioner table, and installing it will overwite the XBPartitioner table. So "F takes all" is preferred here, for allowing coexistence with the stock partitions.

'''If you have a native install, DO NOT USE XBPARTITIONER unless you want to remove Linux. Any XBPartitioner format will break Linux by wiping out the MBR that Linux uses to find its partitions.''' You can't have custom FATX partitions alongside a Linux native install. (So use a spare hard drive for a native install)

'''Loopback Install'''

This installs Linux to a file on the FATX filesystem. Your Linux filesystem will be contained within that file. This means that no repartitioning of your hard drive is necessary. This is a safer install method, if you have space for a small install on E, or if you are using an "F takes all" scheme with an Xbox partition on F. Drive F must end below the 137GB boundary, if doing a loopback install to it. (is that right?) XBPartitioner-defined partitions are not supported by official versions of Xbox Linux, it only looks for the stock partitions plus "F takes all". I am unsure of the behavior if the drive is bigger than F can be. Loopback installs should be safe if your FATX drive F is detected by Xbox Linux.

In general, using a <137GB hard drive avoids these issues, although loopback installs can still be done on larger drives.

It is not advisable to make changes on the FATX filesystem more than you have to in Xbox Linux. Mounting and reading FATX partitions is fine, but doing complex write operations should be avoided, just in case. The 2.4 kernel FATX support is thought to be more stable than in the 2.6 kernel. If you need to copy lots of files to your Xbox, do it via an Xbox dash using FTP. Simple operations on FATX should be fine, and the FATX support is not seriously unstable, but better to be safe. Loopback installs are considered to be stable, even though the files exist on FATX.

==Historical links==
Much of the old Xbox Linux information now lives on archive.org. It is helpful if you come across anything useful, to add it here!
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/ The original Xbox Linux repository on sourceforge.] The mailing list archives can help answer esoteric questions about xbox linux, sometimes. The files section contains various Xbox Linux software and historical distribution isos.
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ The xboxhdm repository.] It contains source and executables for many Xbox tools created and modified by Idotsfan. The X-DSL directory contains some information on the original Xbpartitioner table patches.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100617000252/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/Main_Page The "New" Xbox Linux wiki], which was online until 2011.
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20050307163352/http://wiki.xbox-linux.org:80/ The original "Old" xbox linux wiki]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050724003648/http://xbox-linux.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/moin.cgi/FrontPage the "Old" xbox wiki on SourceForge.]
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20040419204220/http://xbox-linux.org:80/ The "Old" xbox-linux website], before the website was replaced with the "new wiki".
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20030204023051/http://sourceforge.net:80/project/showfiles.php?group_id=54192 The original Xbox Linux downloads page] on SourceForge. Distros are removed as they become unmaintained, so time travelling can be useful here to see all distros. The download links aren't archived, though; mainly useful for seeing filenames.

==See Also==
*[[Xbox Linux]]

Historical Xbox Linux

2022-07-06T01:06:20Z

VannevarKush: /* Historical links */

When it was announced that the specifications of the Xbox were known to be very similar to an X86 PC, Xbox Linux was quickly considered as a possibility for getting getting cheap Linux PCs into the hands of the masses. The first Xbox exploits were created to make Xbox Linux possible, and were quickly repurposed by modders, while Linux remained a more niche application on the original Xbox. In the years while the Xbox was still being manufactured, it could function as a cheap daily driver Linux PC, and some users modded the controller ports into permanent USB ports, and even installed a VGA connector. But, as with all PCs they eventually became obsolete as cheaper, smaller hardware became available with similar processing power.

Xbox Linux reached a point of stable releases [https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/6704 around 2003], and the development continued thereafter, providing support for 1.4 Xboxes and their Focus encoder chip, and even support for 1.6 Xboxes and their changes. The 2.4 kernel was primarily used for Xbox Linux. The 2.6 kernel patches that were developed appear stable and quite usable, but scattered functionalities from the 2.4 kernel were never ported over.

==Timeline==
[https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''November 15, 2001''' - Microsoft Xbox released in United States
* '''c. [https://web.archive.org/web/20021013204521/https://www.xenatera.com/bunnie/proj/anatak/xboxmod.html 2001-2002 (when?)]''' - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Huang_(hacker) Bunnie Huang] [https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''February 22, 2002''' - Xbox released in Japan
* '''March 14, 2002''' - Xbox released in Europe and Australia
* '''May 23, 2002''' - Xbox Linux project founded by Michael Stiehl
* '''July 2, 2002''' - Michael Robertson, CEO of Lindows.com, offered two $100,000 prizes for accomplishment of Xbox Linux goals by January 1, 2003. (He was coincidentally being sued at the time by Microsoft, for use of the name "Lindows") One of the prizes offered was for a demonstration of Linux running on an Xbox (with a $55,000 "subprize" for writing a bootloader) The other prize was for an exploit capable of getting Xbox Linux to run without hardware modification, ideally by using just a CD-ROM.
* '''August 13, 2002''' - First kernel boot
* '''October 7, 2002''' - First graphical desktop environment (KDE)
* '''October 9, 2002''' - Mandrake Linux 9 released for Xbox. Users had to replace or flash the TSOP.
* '''December 17, 2002''' - [[Cromwell]] BIOS/bootloader ready. The first of the $100,000 prizes was claimed, for running Linux on Xbox and developing a bootloader before January 1, 2003.
* '''December 31, 2002''' - [https://www.theregister.com/2003/01/02/xbox_linux_donor_extends_prize/ Michael Robertson extends the prize deadline for the remaining prize.]
* '''March 29, 2003''' - The second prize was claimed for the [[Exploits#007:_Agent_Under_Fire|007 hack]] by Habibi_xbox. (the game Frogger Beyond was initially hacked, but it wasn't released in Europe) This launched a minilinux via an exploit from a hacked savegame on an Xbox memory card, technically accomplishing the goal of using Linux on the Xbox without hardware modification. However, users had to start Linux via the hacked game save every time.
* '''July 4, 2003''' - The [[Exploits#Font_hacks|font exploit]] is discovered, demonstrating the ability to run Linux from the hard drive with no modchip, a true "softmod". (but also opening Pandora's box of piracy, which Xbox Linux wanted to avoid association with.) The dashboard audio exploit was discovered soon afterwards.
* '''July 7, 2003''' - A [https://www.mail-archive.com/bugtraq@securityfocus.com/msg11923.html official security release] is made about newly discovered Xbox security vulnerabilities, as responsible hackers should do
* '''August 11, 2003''' - The Mechassault exploit was released by Jeff Mears, with full softmod conversion. Efforts were made to obfuscate the source to prevent uses for piracy

More details [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Presentations/20th%20Chaos%20Communication%20Congress/ here]

==Historical Distros==
A number of distributions were released, built around the Xbox Linux-patched kernel.

*'''[https://gentoox.shallax.com GentooX]''' - GentooX, unlike vanilla Gentoo, provided precompiled binaries to the user via a custom repository. These were binaries compiled specifically for the Xbox. GentooX had both Home and Pro editions, the Home edition built around a desktop environment and the Pro edition built around the CLI. GentooX was a popular and developed Xbox Linux distro. The website is [https://web.archive.org/web/20220328101921/https://gentoox.shallax.com/ still being archived], although it appears broken in Chrome. The latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Home/ GentooX Home] is 7.1, and the latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Pro/ Pro] was 5.1, in 2009. Tested and working. Works from DVD. The pro version attempts to boot from the CD into GentooX loader, so be sure set your BIOS not to boot from CD if booting from CD doesn't work from you. Try Xromwell if GentooX loader doesn't work.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20050510000924/http://www.x-dsl.org/ X-DSL]''' - Based on Damn Small Linux, X-DSL was a lightweight Linux build. It used Knoppix patches to be able to boot to a desktop environment from small (<100MB) loop devices from FATX. It can also make a "native" install to the hard drive, or install to a larger loop device for a permanent setup. X-DSL is an easy version of historical Linux to try out today, since it can be launched and run entirely from drive E and that avoids some incompatibilities of Xbox Linux with larger hard drives. (if your hard drive is 3TB in order to get that extra .1TB of space, it may not work). The latest official version of X-DSL is 0.6, although there is an unofficial 0.7 floating around, among various other unofficial builds. X-DSL 0.6 can be found [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/X-DSL/X-DSL%20v0.6/ here]. The contents of the zip file can be copied to the root of E (so that linuxboot.cfg is in the root) and launched with Cromwell or GentooX, with no CD. The iso is also tested and working.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060529005204/http://www.dynebolic.org:80/ Dyne:bolic Linux]''' - This is Rasta software! Dynebolic Linux is a multimedia creation, editing, and streaming focused distro that could boot as a liveCD on many systems, including original Xbox. Original Xbox support was ended in Dyne:bolic 2.x, but that uses the 2.6 kernel so it could theoretically be supported if someone felt like it. The latest version compatible with the Xbox is 1.4.1, [https://osarchive.sda1.eu/dyne-bolic available here]. This distro has a lot of toys and is fun to check out. Also, it works from DVD! (it does seem to have a low color depth in the desktop though...)
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20100617005832/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/XUbuntu xUbuntu]''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "xUbuntu". "xUbuntu is based on Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy Badger) distribution without graphical environment. xUbuntu linux system can be run from CD or installed to a PC or Xbox hard drive. The install process, the kernel, the kernel modules and the desktop are customized for PC and Xbox (i386)." The latest version is 0.9.0, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/xUbuntu/xUbuntu%200.9.0/ available here]. It needs to be burned to a CD instead of a DVD.
*'''Ed's Xebian''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "Xebian". Does not appear to have a website. From the original Xbox Linux wiki, "With superb flexibility and ease of use, it can run off CD/DVD or it can be installed onto the Xbox hard drive in either the free space or the saved game area. The OS includes support for all versions of the Xbox, including those with Xcalibur video chips. Based on Debian stable (Sarge) with backports for newer software." The latest version is 1.1.4, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Ed_s%20Xebian/Xebian/ available here], which boots to desktop as a liveCD. It seems to require burning to a CD instead of DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060630100324/http://www.keckstar.com:80/nuke/html/index.php sXb]''' - Slackware for the Original Xbox. The versioning is a little unclear, but the most recent ISO on sourceforge is in the iso.gz file [https://sourceforge.net/projects/sxb/files/Sxbnew/SXBNEW-iso--dfb-xdirectfb/ here]. May need to be burned to CD. Reported "controller jammed" messages at startup, but one of my controller ports is busted.
*'''Mandrake''' A Mandrake 9 was released and claimed to be the first full distribution on the Xbox, but apparently was not continued or supported. No known Web site. Does anyone have a copy of the original Xbox Linux Mandrake iso for archival purposes? It appears a 2005 "special edition" with the Xbox patches can be found [http://ftp.twaren.net/Linux/Mandrake/official/iso/10.1/i586/10.2/ here]. (Mandrake Linux was renamed to Mandriva Linux in 2005). Requires composite cable, at least on this 1.0 Xbox. Appears to require burning to a CD, instead of a DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060713072515/http://www.not404.com:80/cgi-bin/trac.fcgi/wiki/XFedora4 xFedora]''' A port of Fedora Core to the Xbox; essentially Fedora Core with Xbox patches. The latest version is 0.7.41, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Fedora/ available here]. I am unsure how to run it.
*'''SuSE 8''' - There's a dead download link on the old wiki. Seems to have been abandoned
*'''old xbox-linux iso''' The xbox-linux team released some preliminary ISOs during the development of Xbox Linux.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20051106185529/http://article.gmane.org/gmane.linux.ports.xbox.devel/5736 live-linux]''' An early Linux that 007 hack users tried; it booed from CD but could also boot from the hard drive. It was released up to 0.3, no known website, but here is [https://sourceforge.net/p/xbox-linux/mailman/message/10300266/ the announcement]. The latest image is [https://legacy.downloads.diomtec.com/homebrew/xbins/Console%20Based%20Applications/Operating%20Systems/linux/distributions/live-linux/live-linux.0.3.iso.bz2 available here]. The file boot/boot.cfg on the iso needs to be renamed to linuxboot.cfg. The video became garbled launching with both composite and component cables. (may need an old version of Cromwell; untested) This is a very basic minilinux distro, essentially a proof of concept. The linuxrc is a symlink to busybox. It comes with a 9MB image.
*'''ltools''', a minilinux used in Xbox game save hacks, first designed to install Linux, but later repurposed to softmod the Xbox.
*'''[https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ xboxhdm]''' is a tool made by Idotsfan for softmodding locked Xbox hard drives, it's a PC-based CD-bootable set of Linux tools
*'''XMugen''' packaged Mugen for Linux using a busybox in an initramfs, and used swap and game character data files located on FATX. It currently has issues with anything other than "F takes all" schemes.
*'''Chimp''' is a tool for cloning and basic partitioning on Xbox hard drives. It runs from an initramfs.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20051214030132/http://nexus.il.fontys.nl:80/ FreeBSD/Xbox]''' - Not Linux per se, but it's a port of FreeBSD to the Xbox. It was officially integrated into FreeBSD as a set of optional patches. A NetBSD setup can be found [ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/misc/jmcneill/xbox/ here] but it requires the rootfs mounted on NFS. There might be a self contained ISO out there?

==Installing Old Distros==
These liveCDs above should all be safe to try on your Xbox, but installation to your hard drive is more risky. It can be fine if you take the proper considerations. Here are the installation methods usually presented by the installers:

'''Native Install'''

This may not be compatible with softmods! '''Don't mess around with native installs on a locked hard drive or a hard drive that's not backed up! Flash your TSOP or hardmod first!'''

This may wipe your hard drive, format it for Linux, and expect you to put Cromwell on your BIOS. It may also mean just formatting F and booting into it from Xromwell on FATX. So make sure you know which one it is! (the installer should tell you, if it's installing to F you should be fine) Any native install with a boot partition (launched via a hard drive icon in Cromwell/Xromwell) is NOT compatible with the XBPartitioner table, and installing it will overwite the XBPartitioner table. So "F takes all" is preferred here, for allowing coexistence with the stock partitions.

'''If you have a native install, DO NOT USE XBPARTITIONER unless you want to remove Linux. Any XBPartitioner format will break Linux by wiping out the MBR that Linux uses to find its partitions.''' You can't have custom FATX partitions alongside a Linux native install. (So use a spare hard drive for a native install)

'''Loopback Install'''

This installs Linux to a file on the FATX filesystem. Your Linux filesystem will be contained within that file. This means that no repartitioning of your hard drive is necessary. This is a safer install method, if you have space for a small install on E, or if you are using an "F takes all" scheme with an Xbox partition on F. Drive F must end below the 137GB boundary, if doing a loopback install to it. (is that right?) XBPartitioner-defined partitions are not supported by official versions of Xbox Linux, it only looks for the stock partitions plus "F takes all". I am unsure of the behavior if the drive is bigger than F can be. Loopback installs should be safe if your FATX drive F is detected by Xbox Linux.

In general, using a <137GB hard drive avoids these issues, although loopback installs can still be done on larger drives.

It is not advisable to make changes on the FATX filesystem more than you have to in Xbox Linux. Mounting and reading FATX partitions is fine, but doing complex write operations should be avoided, just in case. The 2.4 kernel FATX support is thought to be more stable than in the 2.6 kernel. If you need to copy lots of files to your Xbox, do it via an Xbox dash using FTP. Simple operations on FATX should be fine, and the FATX support is not seriously unstable, but better to be safe. Loopback installs are considered to be stable, even though the files exist on FATX.

==Historical links==
Much of the old Xbox Linux information now lives on archive.org. It is helpful if you come across anything useful, to add it here!
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/ The original Xbox Linux repository on sourceforge.] The mailing list archives can help answer esoteric questions about xbox linux, sometimes. The files section contains various Xbox Linux software and historical distribution isos.
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ The xboxhdm repository.] It contains source and executables for many Xbox tools created and modified by Idotsfan. The X-DSL directory contains some information on the original Xbpartitioner table patches.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100617000252/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/Main_Page The "New" Xbox Linux wiki], which was online until 2011.
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20050307163352/http://wiki.xbox-linux.org:80/ The original "Old" xbox linux wiki]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050724003648/http://xbox-linux.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/moin.cgi/FrontPage the "Old" xbox wiki on SourceForge.]
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20040419204220/http://xbox-linux.org:80/ The "Old" xbox-linux website], before the website was replaced with the "new wiki".
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20030204023051/http://sourceforge.net:80/project/showfiles.php?group_id=54192 The original Xbox Linux downloads page] on SourceForge. Distros are removed as they become unmaintained, so time travelling can be useful here to see all distros. The links don't work, though.

==See Also==
*[[Xbox Linux]]

Historical Xbox Linux

2022-07-06T01:05:40Z

VannevarKush: /* Historical links */

When it was announced that the specifications of the Xbox were known to be very similar to an X86 PC, Xbox Linux was quickly considered as a possibility for getting getting cheap Linux PCs into the hands of the masses. The first Xbox exploits were created to make Xbox Linux possible, and were quickly repurposed by modders, while Linux remained a more niche application on the original Xbox. In the years while the Xbox was still being manufactured, it could function as a cheap daily driver Linux PC, and some users modded the controller ports into permanent USB ports, and even installed a VGA connector. But, as with all PCs they eventually became obsolete as cheaper, smaller hardware became available with similar processing power.

Xbox Linux reached a point of stable releases [https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/6704 around 2003], and the development continued thereafter, providing support for 1.4 Xboxes and their Focus encoder chip, and even support for 1.6 Xboxes and their changes. The 2.4 kernel was primarily used for Xbox Linux. The 2.6 kernel patches that were developed appear stable and quite usable, but scattered functionalities from the 2.4 kernel were never ported over.

==Timeline==
[https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''November 15, 2001''' - Microsoft Xbox released in United States
* '''c. [https://web.archive.org/web/20021013204521/https://www.xenatera.com/bunnie/proj/anatak/xboxmod.html 2001-2002 (when?)]''' - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Huang_(hacker) Bunnie Huang] [https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''February 22, 2002''' - Xbox released in Japan
* '''March 14, 2002''' - Xbox released in Europe and Australia
* '''May 23, 2002''' - Xbox Linux project founded by Michael Stiehl
* '''July 2, 2002''' - Michael Robertson, CEO of Lindows.com, offered two $100,000 prizes for accomplishment of Xbox Linux goals by January 1, 2003. (He was coincidentally being sued at the time by Microsoft, for use of the name "Lindows") One of the prizes offered was for a demonstration of Linux running on an Xbox (with a $55,000 "subprize" for writing a bootloader) The other prize was for an exploit capable of getting Xbox Linux to run without hardware modification, ideally by using just a CD-ROM.
* '''August 13, 2002''' - First kernel boot
* '''October 7, 2002''' - First graphical desktop environment (KDE)
* '''October 9, 2002''' - Mandrake Linux 9 released for Xbox. Users had to replace or flash the TSOP.
* '''December 17, 2002''' - [[Cromwell]] BIOS/bootloader ready. The first of the $100,000 prizes was claimed, for running Linux on Xbox and developing a bootloader before January 1, 2003.
* '''December 31, 2002''' - [https://www.theregister.com/2003/01/02/xbox_linux_donor_extends_prize/ Michael Robertson extends the prize deadline for the remaining prize.]
* '''March 29, 2003''' - The second prize was claimed for the [[Exploits#007:_Agent_Under_Fire|007 hack]] by Habibi_xbox. (the game Frogger Beyond was initially hacked, but it wasn't released in Europe) This launched a minilinux via an exploit from a hacked savegame on an Xbox memory card, technically accomplishing the goal of using Linux on the Xbox without hardware modification. However, users had to start Linux via the hacked game save every time.
* '''July 4, 2003''' - The [[Exploits#Font_hacks|font exploit]] is discovered, demonstrating the ability to run Linux from the hard drive with no modchip, a true "softmod". (but also opening Pandora's box of piracy, which Xbox Linux wanted to avoid association with.) The dashboard audio exploit was discovered soon afterwards.
* '''July 7, 2003''' - A [https://www.mail-archive.com/bugtraq@securityfocus.com/msg11923.html official security release] is made about newly discovered Xbox security vulnerabilities, as responsible hackers should do
* '''August 11, 2003''' - The Mechassault exploit was released by Jeff Mears, with full softmod conversion. Efforts were made to obfuscate the source to prevent uses for piracy

More details [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Presentations/20th%20Chaos%20Communication%20Congress/ here]

==Historical Distros==
A number of distributions were released, built around the Xbox Linux-patched kernel.

*'''[https://gentoox.shallax.com GentooX]''' - GentooX, unlike vanilla Gentoo, provided precompiled binaries to the user via a custom repository. These were binaries compiled specifically for the Xbox. GentooX had both Home and Pro editions, the Home edition built around a desktop environment and the Pro edition built around the CLI. GentooX was a popular and developed Xbox Linux distro. The website is [https://web.archive.org/web/20220328101921/https://gentoox.shallax.com/ still being archived], although it appears broken in Chrome. The latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Home/ GentooX Home] is 7.1, and the latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Pro/ Pro] was 5.1, in 2009. Tested and working. Works from DVD. The pro version attempts to boot from the CD into GentooX loader, so be sure set your BIOS not to boot from CD if booting from CD doesn't work from you. Try Xromwell if GentooX loader doesn't work.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20050510000924/http://www.x-dsl.org/ X-DSL]''' - Based on Damn Small Linux, X-DSL was a lightweight Linux build. It used Knoppix patches to be able to boot to a desktop environment from small (<100MB) loop devices from FATX. It can also make a "native" install to the hard drive, or install to a larger loop device for a permanent setup. X-DSL is an easy version of historical Linux to try out today, since it can be launched and run entirely from drive E and that avoids some incompatibilities of Xbox Linux with larger hard drives. (if your hard drive is 3TB in order to get that extra .1TB of space, it may not work). The latest official version of X-DSL is 0.6, although there is an unofficial 0.7 floating around, among various other unofficial builds. X-DSL 0.6 can be found [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/X-DSL/X-DSL%20v0.6/ here]. The contents of the zip file can be copied to the root of E (so that linuxboot.cfg is in the root) and launched with Cromwell or GentooX, with no CD. The iso is also tested and working.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060529005204/http://www.dynebolic.org:80/ Dyne:bolic Linux]''' - This is Rasta software! Dynebolic Linux is a multimedia creation, editing, and streaming focused distro that could boot as a liveCD on many systems, including original Xbox. Original Xbox support was ended in Dyne:bolic 2.x, but that uses the 2.6 kernel so it could theoretically be supported if someone felt like it. The latest version compatible with the Xbox is 1.4.1, [https://osarchive.sda1.eu/dyne-bolic available here]. This distro has a lot of toys and is fun to check out. Also, it works from DVD! (it does seem to have a low color depth in the desktop though...)
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20100617005832/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/XUbuntu xUbuntu]''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "xUbuntu". "xUbuntu is based on Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy Badger) distribution without graphical environment. xUbuntu linux system can be run from CD or installed to a PC or Xbox hard drive. The install process, the kernel, the kernel modules and the desktop are customized for PC and Xbox (i386)." The latest version is 0.9.0, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/xUbuntu/xUbuntu%200.9.0/ available here]. It needs to be burned to a CD instead of a DVD.
*'''Ed's Xebian''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "Xebian". Does not appear to have a website. From the original Xbox Linux wiki, "With superb flexibility and ease of use, it can run off CD/DVD or it can be installed onto the Xbox hard drive in either the free space or the saved game area. The OS includes support for all versions of the Xbox, including those with Xcalibur video chips. Based on Debian stable (Sarge) with backports for newer software." The latest version is 1.1.4, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Ed_s%20Xebian/Xebian/ available here], which boots to desktop as a liveCD. It seems to require burning to a CD instead of DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060630100324/http://www.keckstar.com:80/nuke/html/index.php sXb]''' - Slackware for the Original Xbox. The versioning is a little unclear, but the most recent ISO on sourceforge is in the iso.gz file [https://sourceforge.net/projects/sxb/files/Sxbnew/SXBNEW-iso--dfb-xdirectfb/ here]. May need to be burned to CD. Reported "controller jammed" messages at startup, but one of my controller ports is busted.
*'''Mandrake''' A Mandrake 9 was released and claimed to be the first full distribution on the Xbox, but apparently was not continued or supported. No known Web site. Does anyone have a copy of the original Xbox Linux Mandrake iso for archival purposes? It appears a 2005 "special edition" with the Xbox patches can be found [http://ftp.twaren.net/Linux/Mandrake/official/iso/10.1/i586/10.2/ here]. (Mandrake Linux was renamed to Mandriva Linux in 2005). Requires composite cable, at least on this 1.0 Xbox. Appears to require burning to a CD, instead of a DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060713072515/http://www.not404.com:80/cgi-bin/trac.fcgi/wiki/XFedora4 xFedora]''' A port of Fedora Core to the Xbox; essentially Fedora Core with Xbox patches. The latest version is 0.7.41, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Fedora/ available here]. I am unsure how to run it.
*'''SuSE 8''' - There's a dead download link on the old wiki. Seems to have been abandoned
*'''old xbox-linux iso''' The xbox-linux team released some preliminary ISOs during the development of Xbox Linux.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20051106185529/http://article.gmane.org/gmane.linux.ports.xbox.devel/5736 live-linux]''' An early Linux that 007 hack users tried; it booed from CD but could also boot from the hard drive. It was released up to 0.3, no known website, but here is [https://sourceforge.net/p/xbox-linux/mailman/message/10300266/ the announcement]. The latest image is [https://legacy.downloads.diomtec.com/homebrew/xbins/Console%20Based%20Applications/Operating%20Systems/linux/distributions/live-linux/live-linux.0.3.iso.bz2 available here]. The file boot/boot.cfg on the iso needs to be renamed to linuxboot.cfg. The video became garbled launching with both composite and component cables. (may need an old version of Cromwell; untested) This is a very basic minilinux distro, essentially a proof of concept. The linuxrc is a symlink to busybox. It comes with a 9MB image.
*'''ltools''', a minilinux used in Xbox game save hacks, first designed to install Linux, but later repurposed to softmod the Xbox.
*'''[https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ xboxhdm]''' is a tool made by Idotsfan for softmodding locked Xbox hard drives, it's a PC-based CD-bootable set of Linux tools
*'''XMugen''' packaged Mugen for Linux using a busybox in an initramfs, and used swap and game character data files located on FATX. It currently has issues with anything other than "F takes all" schemes.
*'''Chimp''' is a tool for cloning and basic partitioning on Xbox hard drives. It runs from an initramfs.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20051214030132/http://nexus.il.fontys.nl:80/ FreeBSD/Xbox]''' - Not Linux per se, but it's a port of FreeBSD to the Xbox. It was officially integrated into FreeBSD as a set of optional patches. A NetBSD setup can be found [ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/misc/jmcneill/xbox/ here] but it requires the rootfs mounted on NFS. There might be a self contained ISO out there?

==Installing Old Distros==
These liveCDs above should all be safe to try on your Xbox, but installation to your hard drive is more risky. It can be fine if you take the proper considerations. Here are the installation methods usually presented by the installers:

'''Native Install'''

This may not be compatible with softmods! '''Don't mess around with native installs on a locked hard drive or a hard drive that's not backed up! Flash your TSOP or hardmod first!'''

This may wipe your hard drive, format it for Linux, and expect you to put Cromwell on your BIOS. It may also mean just formatting F and booting into it from Xromwell on FATX. So make sure you know which one it is! (the installer should tell you, if it's installing to F you should be fine) Any native install with a boot partition (launched via a hard drive icon in Cromwell/Xromwell) is NOT compatible with the XBPartitioner table, and installing it will overwite the XBPartitioner table. So "F takes all" is preferred here, for allowing coexistence with the stock partitions.

'''If you have a native install, DO NOT USE XBPARTITIONER unless you want to remove Linux. Any XBPartitioner format will break Linux by wiping out the MBR that Linux uses to find its partitions.''' You can't have custom FATX partitions alongside a Linux native install. (So use a spare hard drive for a native install)

'''Loopback Install'''

This installs Linux to a file on the FATX filesystem. Your Linux filesystem will be contained within that file. This means that no repartitioning of your hard drive is necessary. This is a safer install method, if you have space for a small install on E, or if you are using an "F takes all" scheme with an Xbox partition on F. Drive F must end below the 137GB boundary, if doing a loopback install to it. (is that right?) XBPartitioner-defined partitions are not supported by official versions of Xbox Linux, it only looks for the stock partitions plus "F takes all". I am unsure of the behavior if the drive is bigger than F can be. Loopback installs should be safe if your FATX drive F is detected by Xbox Linux.

In general, using a <137GB hard drive avoids these issues, although loopback installs can still be done on larger drives.

It is not advisable to make changes on the FATX filesystem more than you have to in Xbox Linux. Mounting and reading FATX partitions is fine, but doing complex write operations should be avoided, just in case. The 2.4 kernel FATX support is thought to be more stable than in the 2.6 kernel. If you need to copy lots of files to your Xbox, do it via an Xbox dash using FTP. Simple operations on FATX should be fine, and the FATX support is not seriously unstable, but better to be safe. Loopback installs are considered to be stable, even though the files exist on FATX.

==Historical links==
Much of the old Xbox Linux information now lives on archive.org. It is helpful if you come across anything useful, to add it here!
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/ The original Xbox Linux repository on sourceforge.] The mailing list archives can help answer esoteric questions about xbox linux, sometimes. The files section contains various Xbox Linux software and historical distribution isos.
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ The xboxhdm repository.] It contains source and executables for many Xbox tools created and modified by Idotsfan. The X-DSL directory contains some information on the original Xbpartitioner table patches.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100617000252/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/Main_Page The "New" Xbox Linux wiki], which was online until 2011.
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20050307163352/http://wiki.xbox-linux.org:80/ The original "Old" xbox linux wiki]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050724003648/http://xbox-linux.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/moin.cgi/FrontPage the "Old" xbox wiki on SourceForge.]
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20040419204220/http://xbox-linux.org:80/ The "Old" xbox-linux website], before the website was replaced with the "new wiki".
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20030204023051/http://sourceforge.net:80/project/showfiles.php?group_id=54192 The original Xbox Linux downloads page] on SourceForge. Distros are removed as they become unmaintained, so time travelling can be useful here to see all distros.

==See Also==
*[[Xbox Linux]]

Historical Xbox Linux

2022-07-06T00:55:00Z

VannevarKush: /* Historical Distros */

When it was announced that the specifications of the Xbox were known to be very similar to an X86 PC, Xbox Linux was quickly considered as a possibility for getting getting cheap Linux PCs into the hands of the masses. The first Xbox exploits were created to make Xbox Linux possible, and were quickly repurposed by modders, while Linux remained a more niche application on the original Xbox. In the years while the Xbox was still being manufactured, it could function as a cheap daily driver Linux PC, and some users modded the controller ports into permanent USB ports, and even installed a VGA connector. But, as with all PCs they eventually became obsolete as cheaper, smaller hardware became available with similar processing power.

Xbox Linux reached a point of stable releases [https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/6704 around 2003], and the development continued thereafter, providing support for 1.4 Xboxes and their Focus encoder chip, and even support for 1.6 Xboxes and their changes. The 2.4 kernel was primarily used for Xbox Linux. The 2.6 kernel patches that were developed appear stable and quite usable, but scattered functionalities from the 2.4 kernel were never ported over.

==Timeline==
[https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''November 15, 2001''' - Microsoft Xbox released in United States
* '''c. [https://web.archive.org/web/20021013204521/https://www.xenatera.com/bunnie/proj/anatak/xboxmod.html 2001-2002 (when?)]''' - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Huang_(hacker) Bunnie Huang] [https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''February 22, 2002''' - Xbox released in Japan
* '''March 14, 2002''' - Xbox released in Europe and Australia
* '''May 23, 2002''' - Xbox Linux project founded by Michael Stiehl
* '''July 2, 2002''' - Michael Robertson, CEO of Lindows.com, offered two $100,000 prizes for accomplishment of Xbox Linux goals by January 1, 2003. (He was coincidentally being sued at the time by Microsoft, for use of the name "Lindows") One of the prizes offered was for a demonstration of Linux running on an Xbox (with a $55,000 "subprize" for writing a bootloader) The other prize was for an exploit capable of getting Xbox Linux to run without hardware modification, ideally by using just a CD-ROM.
* '''August 13, 2002''' - First kernel boot
* '''October 7, 2002''' - First graphical desktop environment (KDE)
* '''October 9, 2002''' - Mandrake Linux 9 released for Xbox. Users had to replace or flash the TSOP.
* '''December 17, 2002''' - [[Cromwell]] BIOS/bootloader ready. The first of the $100,000 prizes was claimed, for running Linux on Xbox and developing a bootloader before January 1, 2003.
* '''December 31, 2002''' - [https://www.theregister.com/2003/01/02/xbox_linux_donor_extends_prize/ Michael Robertson extends the prize deadline for the remaining prize.]
* '''March 29, 2003''' - The second prize was claimed for the [[Exploits#007:_Agent_Under_Fire|007 hack]] by Habibi_xbox. (the game Frogger Beyond was initially hacked, but it wasn't released in Europe) This launched a minilinux via an exploit from a hacked savegame on an Xbox memory card, technically accomplishing the goal of using Linux on the Xbox without hardware modification. However, users had to start Linux via the hacked game save every time.
* '''July 4, 2003''' - The [[Exploits#Font_hacks|font exploit]] is discovered, demonstrating the ability to run Linux from the hard drive with no modchip, a true "softmod". (but also opening Pandora's box of piracy, which Xbox Linux wanted to avoid association with.) The dashboard audio exploit was discovered soon afterwards.
* '''July 7, 2003''' - A [https://www.mail-archive.com/bugtraq@securityfocus.com/msg11923.html official security release] is made about newly discovered Xbox security vulnerabilities, as responsible hackers should do
* '''August 11, 2003''' - The Mechassault exploit was released by Jeff Mears, with full softmod conversion. Efforts were made to obfuscate the source to prevent uses for piracy

More details [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Presentations/20th%20Chaos%20Communication%20Congress/ here]

==Historical Distros==
A number of distributions were released, built around the Xbox Linux-patched kernel.

*'''[https://gentoox.shallax.com GentooX]''' - GentooX, unlike vanilla Gentoo, provided precompiled binaries to the user via a custom repository. These were binaries compiled specifically for the Xbox. GentooX had both Home and Pro editions, the Home edition built around a desktop environment and the Pro edition built around the CLI. GentooX was a popular and developed Xbox Linux distro. The website is [https://web.archive.org/web/20220328101921/https://gentoox.shallax.com/ still being archived], although it appears broken in Chrome. The latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Home/ GentooX Home] is 7.1, and the latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Pro/ Pro] was 5.1, in 2009. Tested and working. Works from DVD. The pro version attempts to boot from the CD into GentooX loader, so be sure set your BIOS not to boot from CD if booting from CD doesn't work from you. Try Xromwell if GentooX loader doesn't work.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20050510000924/http://www.x-dsl.org/ X-DSL]''' - Based on Damn Small Linux, X-DSL was a lightweight Linux build. It used Knoppix patches to be able to boot to a desktop environment from small (<100MB) loop devices from FATX. It can also make a "native" install to the hard drive, or install to a larger loop device for a permanent setup. X-DSL is an easy version of historical Linux to try out today, since it can be launched and run entirely from drive E and that avoids some incompatibilities of Xbox Linux with larger hard drives. (if your hard drive is 3TB in order to get that extra .1TB of space, it may not work). The latest official version of X-DSL is 0.6, although there is an unofficial 0.7 floating around, among various other unofficial builds. X-DSL 0.6 can be found [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/X-DSL/X-DSL%20v0.6/ here]. The contents of the zip file can be copied to the root of E (so that linuxboot.cfg is in the root) and launched with Cromwell or GentooX, with no CD. The iso is also tested and working.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060529005204/http://www.dynebolic.org:80/ Dyne:bolic Linux]''' - This is Rasta software! Dynebolic Linux is a multimedia creation, editing, and streaming focused distro that could boot as a liveCD on many systems, including original Xbox. Original Xbox support was ended in Dyne:bolic 2.x, but that uses the 2.6 kernel so it could theoretically be supported if someone felt like it. The latest version compatible with the Xbox is 1.4.1, [https://osarchive.sda1.eu/dyne-bolic available here]. This distro has a lot of toys and is fun to check out. Also, it works from DVD! (it does seem to have a low color depth in the desktop though...)
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20100617005832/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/XUbuntu xUbuntu]''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "xUbuntu". "xUbuntu is based on Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy Badger) distribution without graphical environment. xUbuntu linux system can be run from CD or installed to a PC or Xbox hard drive. The install process, the kernel, the kernel modules and the desktop are customized for PC and Xbox (i386)." The latest version is 0.9.0, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/xUbuntu/xUbuntu%200.9.0/ available here]. It needs to be burned to a CD instead of a DVD.
*'''Ed's Xebian''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "Xebian". Does not appear to have a website. From the original Xbox Linux wiki, "With superb flexibility and ease of use, it can run off CD/DVD or it can be installed onto the Xbox hard drive in either the free space or the saved game area. The OS includes support for all versions of the Xbox, including those with Xcalibur video chips. Based on Debian stable (Sarge) with backports for newer software." The latest version is 1.1.4, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Ed_s%20Xebian/Xebian/ available here], which boots to desktop as a liveCD. It seems to require burning to a CD instead of DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060630100324/http://www.keckstar.com:80/nuke/html/index.php sXb]''' - Slackware for the Original Xbox. The versioning is a little unclear, but the most recent ISO on sourceforge is in the iso.gz file [https://sourceforge.net/projects/sxb/files/Sxbnew/SXBNEW-iso--dfb-xdirectfb/ here]. May need to be burned to CD. Reported "controller jammed" messages at startup, but one of my controller ports is busted.
*'''Mandrake''' A Mandrake 9 was released and claimed to be the first full distribution on the Xbox, but apparently was not continued or supported. No known Web site. Does anyone have a copy of the original Xbox Linux Mandrake iso for archival purposes? It appears a 2005 "special edition" with the Xbox patches can be found [http://ftp.twaren.net/Linux/Mandrake/official/iso/10.1/i586/10.2/ here]. (Mandrake Linux was renamed to Mandriva Linux in 2005). Requires composite cable, at least on this 1.0 Xbox. Appears to require burning to a CD, instead of a DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060713072515/http://www.not404.com:80/cgi-bin/trac.fcgi/wiki/XFedora4 xFedora]''' A port of Fedora Core to the Xbox; essentially Fedora Core with Xbox patches. The latest version is 0.7.41, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Fedora/ available here]. I am unsure how to run it.
*'''SuSE 8''' - There's a dead download link on the old wiki. Seems to have been abandoned
*'''old xbox-linux iso''' The xbox-linux team released some preliminary ISOs during the development of Xbox Linux.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20051106185529/http://article.gmane.org/gmane.linux.ports.xbox.devel/5736 live-linux]''' An early Linux that 007 hack users tried; it booed from CD but could also boot from the hard drive. It was released up to 0.3, no known website, but here is [https://sourceforge.net/p/xbox-linux/mailman/message/10300266/ the announcement]. The latest image is [https://legacy.downloads.diomtec.com/homebrew/xbins/Console%20Based%20Applications/Operating%20Systems/linux/distributions/live-linux/live-linux.0.3.iso.bz2 available here]. The file boot/boot.cfg on the iso needs to be renamed to linuxboot.cfg. The video became garbled launching with both composite and component cables. (may need an old version of Cromwell; untested) This is a very basic minilinux distro, essentially a proof of concept. The linuxrc is a symlink to busybox. It comes with a 9MB image.
*'''ltools''', a minilinux used in Xbox game save hacks, first designed to install Linux, but later repurposed to softmod the Xbox.
*'''[https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ xboxhdm]''' is a tool made by Idotsfan for softmodding locked Xbox hard drives, it's a PC-based CD-bootable set of Linux tools
*'''XMugen''' packaged Mugen for Linux using a busybox in an initramfs, and used swap and game character data files located on FATX. It currently has issues with anything other than "F takes all" schemes.
*'''Chimp''' is a tool for cloning and basic partitioning on Xbox hard drives. It runs from an initramfs.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20051214030132/http://nexus.il.fontys.nl:80/ FreeBSD/Xbox]''' - Not Linux per se, but it's a port of FreeBSD to the Xbox. It was officially integrated into FreeBSD as a set of optional patches. A NetBSD setup can be found [ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/misc/jmcneill/xbox/ here] but it requires the rootfs mounted on NFS. There might be a self contained ISO out there?

==Installing Old Distros==
These liveCDs above should all be safe to try on your Xbox, but installation to your hard drive is more risky. It can be fine if you take the proper considerations. Here are the installation methods usually presented by the installers:

'''Native Install'''

This may not be compatible with softmods! '''Don't mess around with native installs on a locked hard drive or a hard drive that's not backed up! Flash your TSOP or hardmod first!'''

This may wipe your hard drive, format it for Linux, and expect you to put Cromwell on your BIOS. It may also mean just formatting F and booting into it from Xromwell on FATX. So make sure you know which one it is! (the installer should tell you, if it's installing to F you should be fine) Any native install with a boot partition (launched via a hard drive icon in Cromwell/Xromwell) is NOT compatible with the XBPartitioner table, and installing it will overwite the XBPartitioner table. So "F takes all" is preferred here, for allowing coexistence with the stock partitions.

'''If you have a native install, DO NOT USE XBPARTITIONER unless you want to remove Linux. Any XBPartitioner format will break Linux by wiping out the MBR that Linux uses to find its partitions.''' You can't have custom FATX partitions alongside a Linux native install. (So use a spare hard drive for a native install)

'''Loopback Install'''

This installs Linux to a file on the FATX filesystem. Your Linux filesystem will be contained within that file. This means that no repartitioning of your hard drive is necessary. This is a safer install method, if you have space for a small install on E, or if you are using an "F takes all" scheme with an Xbox partition on F. Drive F must end below the 137GB boundary, if doing a loopback install to it. (is that right?) XBPartitioner-defined partitions are not supported by official versions of Xbox Linux, it only looks for the stock partitions plus "F takes all". I am unsure of the behavior if the drive is bigger than F can be. Loopback installs should be safe if your FATX drive F is detected by Xbox Linux.

In general, using a <137GB hard drive avoids these issues, although loopback installs can still be done on larger drives.

It is not advisable to make changes on the FATX filesystem more than you have to in Xbox Linux. Mounting and reading FATX partitions is fine, but doing complex write operations should be avoided, just in case. The 2.4 kernel FATX support is thought to be more stable than in the 2.6 kernel. If you need to copy lots of files to your Xbox, do it via an Xbox dash using FTP. Simple operations on FATX should be fine, and the FATX support is not seriously unstable, but better to be safe. Loopback installs are considered to be stable, even though the files exist on FATX.

==Historical links==
Much of the old Xbox Linux information now lives on archive.org. It is helpful if you come across anything useful, to add it here!
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/ The original Xbox Linux repository on sourceforge.] The mailing list archives can help answer esoteric questions about xbox linux, sometimes. The files section contains various Xbox Linux software and historical distribution isos.
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ The xboxhdm repository.] It contains source and executables for many Xbox tools created and modified by Idotsfan. The X-DSL directory contains some information on the original Xbpartitioner table patches.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100617000252/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/Main_Page The "New" Xbox Linux wiki], which was online until 2011.
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20050307163352/http://wiki.xbox-linux.org:80/ The original "Old" xbox linux wiki]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050724003648/http://xbox-linux.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/moin.cgi/FrontPage the "Old" xbox wiki on SourceForge.]
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20040419204220/http://xbox-linux.org:80/ The "Old" xbox-linux website], before the website was replaced with the "new wiki".

==See Also==
*[[Xbox Linux]]

Historical Xbox Linux

2022-07-06T00:52:40Z

VannevarKush: /* Historical Distros */

When it was announced that the specifications of the Xbox were known to be very similar to an X86 PC, Xbox Linux was quickly considered as a possibility for getting getting cheap Linux PCs into the hands of the masses. The first Xbox exploits were created to make Xbox Linux possible, and were quickly repurposed by modders, while Linux remained a more niche application on the original Xbox. In the years while the Xbox was still being manufactured, it could function as a cheap daily driver Linux PC, and some users modded the controller ports into permanent USB ports, and even installed a VGA connector. But, as with all PCs they eventually became obsolete as cheaper, smaller hardware became available with similar processing power.

Xbox Linux reached a point of stable releases [https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/6704 around 2003], and the development continued thereafter, providing support for 1.4 Xboxes and their Focus encoder chip, and even support for 1.6 Xboxes and their changes. The 2.4 kernel was primarily used for Xbox Linux. The 2.6 kernel patches that were developed appear stable and quite usable, but scattered functionalities from the 2.4 kernel were never ported over.

==Timeline==
[https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''November 15, 2001''' - Microsoft Xbox released in United States
* '''c. [https://web.archive.org/web/20021013204521/https://www.xenatera.com/bunnie/proj/anatak/xboxmod.html 2001-2002 (when?)]''' - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Huang_(hacker) Bunnie Huang] [https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''February 22, 2002''' - Xbox released in Japan
* '''March 14, 2002''' - Xbox released in Europe and Australia
* '''May 23, 2002''' - Xbox Linux project founded by Michael Stiehl
* '''July 2, 2002''' - Michael Robertson, CEO of Lindows.com, offered two $100,000 prizes for accomplishment of Xbox Linux goals by January 1, 2003. (He was coincidentally being sued at the time by Microsoft, for use of the name "Lindows") One of the prizes offered was for a demonstration of Linux running on an Xbox (with a $55,000 "subprize" for writing a bootloader) The other prize was for an exploit capable of getting Xbox Linux to run without hardware modification, ideally by using just a CD-ROM.
* '''August 13, 2002''' - First kernel boot
* '''October 7, 2002''' - First graphical desktop environment (KDE)
* '''October 9, 2002''' - Mandrake Linux 9 released for Xbox. Users had to replace or flash the TSOP.
* '''December 17, 2002''' - [[Cromwell]] BIOS/bootloader ready. The first of the $100,000 prizes was claimed, for running Linux on Xbox and developing a bootloader before January 1, 2003.
* '''December 31, 2002''' - [https://www.theregister.com/2003/01/02/xbox_linux_donor_extends_prize/ Michael Robertson extends the prize deadline for the remaining prize.]
* '''March 29, 2003''' - The second prize was claimed for the [[Exploits#007:_Agent_Under_Fire|007 hack]] by Habibi_xbox. (the game Frogger Beyond was initially hacked, but it wasn't released in Europe) This launched a minilinux via an exploit from a hacked savegame on an Xbox memory card, technically accomplishing the goal of using Linux on the Xbox without hardware modification. However, users had to start Linux via the hacked game save every time.
* '''July 4, 2003''' - The [[Exploits#Font_hacks|font exploit]] is discovered, demonstrating the ability to run Linux from the hard drive with no modchip, a true "softmod". (but also opening Pandora's box of piracy, which Xbox Linux wanted to avoid association with.) The dashboard audio exploit was discovered soon afterwards.
* '''July 7, 2003''' - A [https://www.mail-archive.com/bugtraq@securityfocus.com/msg11923.html official security release] is made about newly discovered Xbox security vulnerabilities, as responsible hackers should do
* '''August 11, 2003''' - The Mechassault exploit was released by Jeff Mears, with full softmod conversion. Efforts were made to obfuscate the source to prevent uses for piracy

More details [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Presentations/20th%20Chaos%20Communication%20Congress/ here]

==Historical Distros==
A number of distributions were released, built around the Xbox Linux-patched kernel.

*'''[https://gentoox.shallax.com GentooX]''' - GentooX, unlike vanilla Gentoo, provided precompiled binaries to the user via a custom repository. These were binaries compiled specifically for the Xbox. GentooX had both Home and Pro editions, the Home edition built around a desktop environment and the Pro edition built around the CLI. GentooX was a popular and developed Xbox Linux distro. The website is [https://web.archive.org/web/20220328101921/https://gentoox.shallax.com/ still being archived], although it appears broken in Chrome. The latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Home/ GentooX Home] is 7.1, and the latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Pro/ Pro] was 5.1, in 2009. Tested and working. Works from DVD. The pro version attempts to boot from the CD into GentooX loader, so be sure set your BIOS not to boot from CD if booting from CD doesn't work from you. Try Xromwell if GentooX loader doesn't work.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20050510000924/http://www.x-dsl.org/ X-DSL]''' - Based on Damn Small Linux, X-DSL was a lightweight Linux build. It used Knoppix patches to be able to boot to a desktop environment from small (<100MB) loop devices from FATX. It can also make a "native" install to the hard drive, or install to a larger loop device for a permanent setup. X-DSL is an easy version of historical Linux to try out today, since it can be launched and run entirely from drive E and that avoids some incompatibilities of Xbox Linux with larger hard drives. (if your hard drive is 3TB in order to get that extra .1TB of space, it may not work). The latest official version of X-DSL is 0.6, although there is an unofficial 0.7 floating around, among various other unofficial builds. X-DSL 0.6 can be found [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/X-DSL/X-DSL%20v0.6/ here]. The contents of the zip file can be copied to the root of E (so that linuxboot.cfg is in the root) and launched with Cromwell or GentooX, with no CD. The iso is also tested and working.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060529005204/http://www.dynebolic.org:80/ Dyne:bolic Linux]''' - This is Rasta software! Dynebolic Linux is a multimedia creation, editing, and streaming focused distro that could boot as a liveCD on many systems, including original Xbox. Original Xbox support was ended in Dyne:bolic 2.x, but that uses the 2.6 kernel so it could theoretically be supported if someone felt like it. The latest version compatible with the Xbox is 1.4.1, [https://osarchive.sda1.eu/dyne-bolic available here]. This distro has a lot of toys and is fun to check out. Also, it works from DVD! (it does seem to have a low color depth in the desktop though...)
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20100617005832/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/XUbuntu xUbuntu]''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "xUbuntu". "xUbuntu is based on Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy Badger) distribution without graphical environment. xUbuntu linux system can be run from CD or installed to a PC or Xbox hard drive. The install process, the kernel, the kernel modules and the desktop are customized for PC and Xbox (i386)." The latest version is 0.9.0, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/xUbuntu/xUbuntu%200.9.0/ available here]. It needs to be burned to a CD instead of a DVD.
*'''Ed's Xebian''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "Xebian". Does not appear to have a website. From the original Xbox Linux wiki, "With superb flexibility and ease of use, it can run off CD/DVD or it can be installed onto the Xbox hard drive in either the free space or the saved game area. The OS includes support for all versions of the Xbox, including those with Xcalibur video chips. Based on Debian stable (Sarge) with backports for newer software." The latest version is 1.1.4, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Ed_s%20Xebian/Xebian/ available here], which boots to desktop as a liveCD. It seems to require burning to a CD instead of DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060630100324/http://www.keckstar.com:80/nuke/html/index.php sXb]''' - Slackware for the Original Xbox. The versioning is a little unclear, but the most recent ISO on sourceforge is in the iso.gz file [https://sourceforge.net/projects/sxb/files/Sxbnew/SXBNEW-iso--dfb-xdirectfb/ here]. May need to be burned to CD. Reported "controller jammed" messages at startup, but one of my controller ports is busted.
*'''Mandrake''' A Mandrake 9 was released and claimed to be the first full distribution on the Xbox, but apparently was not continued or supported. No known Web site. Does anyone have a copy of the original Xbox Linux Mandrake iso for archival purposes? It appears a 2005 "special edition" with the Xbox patches can be found [http://ftp.twaren.net/Linux/Mandrake/official/iso/10.1/i586/10.2/ here]. (Mandrake Linux was renamed to Mandriva Linux in 2005). Requires composite cable, at least on this 1.0 Xbox. Appears to require burning to a CD, instead of a DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060713072515/http://www.not404.com:80/cgi-bin/trac.fcgi/wiki/XFedora4 xFedora]''' A port of Fedora Core to the Xbox; essentially Fedora Core with Xbox patches. The latest version is 0.7.41, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Fedora/ available here]. I am unsure how to run it.
*'''SuSE 8''' - There's a dead download link on the old wiki. Seems to have been abandoned
*'''old xbox-linux iso''' The xbox-linux team released some preliminary ISOs during the development of Xbox Linux.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20051106185529/http://article.gmane.org/gmane.linux.ports.xbox.devel/5736 live-linux]''' An early Linux related to the mechinstaller hack(?); also worked from LiveCD,it was released up to 0.3, no known website, but here is [https://sourceforge.net/p/xbox-linux/mailman/message/10300266/ the announcement]. The latest image is [https://legacy.downloads.diomtec.com/homebrew/xbins/Console%20Based%20Applications/Operating%20Systems/linux/distributions/live-linux/live-linux.0.3.iso.bz2 available here]. The file boot/boot.cfg on the iso needs to be renamed to linuxboot.cfg. The video became garbled launching with both composite and component cables. (may need an old version of Cromwell; untested) This is a very basic minilinux distro, essentially a proof of concept. The linuxrc is a symlink to busybox. It comes with a 9MB image.
*'''ltools''', a minilinux used in Xbox game save hacks, first designed to install Linux, but later repurposed to softmod the Xbox.
*'''[https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ xboxhdm]''' is a tool made by Idotsfan for softmodding locked Xbox hard drives, it's a PC-based CD-bootable set of Linux tools
*'''XMugen''' packaged Mugen for Linux using a busybox in an initramfs, and used swap and game character data files located on FATX. It currently has issues with anything other than "F takes all" schemes.
*'''Chimp''' is a tool for cloning and basic partitioning on Xbox hard drives. It runs from an initramfs.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20051214030132/http://nexus.il.fontys.nl:80/ FreeBSD/Xbox]''' - Not Linux per se, but it's a port of FreeBSD to the Xbox. It was officially integrated into FreeBSD as a set of optional patches. A NetBSD setup can be found [ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/misc/jmcneill/xbox/ here] but it requires the rootfs mounted on NFS. There might be a self contained ISO out there?

==Installing Old Distros==
These liveCDs above should all be safe to try on your Xbox, but installation to your hard drive is more risky. It can be fine if you take the proper considerations. Here are the installation methods usually presented by the installers:

'''Native Install'''

This may not be compatible with softmods! '''Don't mess around with native installs on a locked hard drive or a hard drive that's not backed up! Flash your TSOP or hardmod first!'''

This may wipe your hard drive, format it for Linux, and expect you to put Cromwell on your BIOS. It may also mean just formatting F and booting into it from Xromwell on FATX. So make sure you know which one it is! (the installer should tell you, if it's installing to F you should be fine) Any native install with a boot partition (launched via a hard drive icon in Cromwell/Xromwell) is NOT compatible with the XBPartitioner table, and installing it will overwite the XBPartitioner table. So "F takes all" is preferred here, for allowing coexistence with the stock partitions.

'''If you have a native install, DO NOT USE XBPARTITIONER unless you want to remove Linux. Any XBPartitioner format will break Linux by wiping out the MBR that Linux uses to find its partitions.''' You can't have custom FATX partitions alongside a Linux native install. (So use a spare hard drive for a native install)

'''Loopback Install'''

This installs Linux to a file on the FATX filesystem. Your Linux filesystem will be contained within that file. This means that no repartitioning of your hard drive is necessary. This is a safer install method, if you have space for a small install on E, or if you are using an "F takes all" scheme with an Xbox partition on F. Drive F must end below the 137GB boundary, if doing a loopback install to it. (is that right?) XBPartitioner-defined partitions are not supported by official versions of Xbox Linux, it only looks for the stock partitions plus "F takes all". I am unsure of the behavior if the drive is bigger than F can be. Loopback installs should be safe if your FATX drive F is detected by Xbox Linux.

In general, using a <137GB hard drive avoids these issues, although loopback installs can still be done on larger drives.

It is not advisable to make changes on the FATX filesystem more than you have to in Xbox Linux. Mounting and reading FATX partitions is fine, but doing complex write operations should be avoided, just in case. The 2.4 kernel FATX support is thought to be more stable than in the 2.6 kernel. If you need to copy lots of files to your Xbox, do it via an Xbox dash using FTP. Simple operations on FATX should be fine, and the FATX support is not seriously unstable, but better to be safe. Loopback installs are considered to be stable, even though the files exist on FATX.

==Historical links==
Much of the old Xbox Linux information now lives on archive.org. It is helpful if you come across anything useful, to add it here!
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/ The original Xbox Linux repository on sourceforge.] The mailing list archives can help answer esoteric questions about xbox linux, sometimes. The files section contains various Xbox Linux software and historical distribution isos.
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ The xboxhdm repository.] It contains source and executables for many Xbox tools created and modified by Idotsfan. The X-DSL directory contains some information on the original Xbpartitioner table patches.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100617000252/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/Main_Page The "New" Xbox Linux wiki], which was online until 2011.
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20050307163352/http://wiki.xbox-linux.org:80/ The original "Old" xbox linux wiki]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050724003648/http://xbox-linux.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/moin.cgi/FrontPage the "Old" xbox wiki on SourceForge.]
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20040419204220/http://xbox-linux.org:80/ The "Old" xbox-linux website], before the website was replaced with the "new wiki".

==See Also==
*[[Xbox Linux]]

Historical Xbox Linux

2022-07-06T00:52:15Z

VannevarKush:

When it was announced that the specifications of the Xbox were known to be very similar to an X86 PC, Xbox Linux was quickly considered as a possibility for getting getting cheap Linux PCs into the hands of the masses. The first Xbox exploits were created to make Xbox Linux possible, and were quickly repurposed by modders, while Linux remained a more niche application on the original Xbox. In the years while the Xbox was still being manufactured, it could function as a cheap daily driver Linux PC, and some users modded the controller ports into permanent USB ports, and even installed a VGA connector. But, as with all PCs they eventually became obsolete as cheaper, smaller hardware became available with similar processing power.

Xbox Linux reached a point of stable releases [https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/6704 around 2003], and the development continued thereafter, providing support for 1.4 Xboxes and their Focus encoder chip, and even support for 1.6 Xboxes and their changes. The 2.4 kernel was primarily used for Xbox Linux. The 2.6 kernel patches that were developed appear stable and quite usable, but scattered functionalities from the 2.4 kernel were never ported over.

==Timeline==
[https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''November 15, 2001''' - Microsoft Xbox released in United States
* '''c. [https://web.archive.org/web/20021013204521/https://www.xenatera.com/bunnie/proj/anatak/xboxmod.html 2001-2002 (when?)]''' - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Huang_(hacker) Bunnie Huang] [https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''February 22, 2002''' - Xbox released in Japan
* '''March 14, 2002''' - Xbox released in Europe and Australia
* '''May 23, 2002''' - Xbox Linux project founded by Michael Stiehl
* '''July 2, 2002''' - Michael Robertson, CEO of Lindows.com, offered two $100,000 prizes for accomplishment of Xbox Linux goals by January 1, 2003. (He was coincidentally being sued at the time by Microsoft, for use of the name "Lindows") One of the prizes offered was for a demonstration of Linux running on an Xbox (with a $55,000 "subprize" for writing a bootloader) The other prize was for an exploit capable of getting Xbox Linux to run without hardware modification, ideally by using just a CD-ROM.
* '''August 13, 2002''' - First kernel boot
* '''October 7, 2002''' - First graphical desktop environment (KDE)
* '''October 9, 2002''' - Mandrake Linux 9 released for Xbox. Users had to replace or flash the TSOP.
* '''December 17, 2002''' - [[Cromwell]] BIOS/bootloader ready. The first of the $100,000 prizes was claimed, for running Linux on Xbox and developing a bootloader before January 1, 2003.
* '''December 31, 2002''' - [https://www.theregister.com/2003/01/02/xbox_linux_donor_extends_prize/ Michael Robertson extends the prize deadline for the remaining prize.]
* '''March 29, 2003''' - The second prize was claimed for the [[Exploits#007:_Agent_Under_Fire|007 hack]] by Habibi_xbox. (the game Frogger Beyond was initially hacked, but it wasn't released in Europe) This launched a minilinux via an exploit from a hacked savegame on an Xbox memory card, technically accomplishing the goal of using Linux on the Xbox without hardware modification. However, users had to start Linux via the hacked game save every time.
* '''July 4, 2003''' - The [[Exploits#Font_hacks|font exploit]] is discovered, demonstrating the ability to run Linux from the hard drive with no modchip, a true "softmod". (but also opening Pandora's box of piracy, which Xbox Linux wanted to avoid association with.) The dashboard audio exploit was discovered soon afterwards.
* '''July 7, 2003''' - A [https://www.mail-archive.com/bugtraq@securityfocus.com/msg11923.html official security release] is made about newly discovered Xbox security vulnerabilities, as responsible hackers should do
* '''August 11, 2003''' - The Mechassault exploit was released by Jeff Mears, with full softmod conversion. Efforts were made to obfuscate the source to prevent uses for piracy

More details [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Presentations/20th%20Chaos%20Communication%20Congress/ here]

==Historical Distros==
A number of distributions were released, built around the Xbox Linux-patched kernel.

*'''[https://gentoox.shallax.com GentooX]''' - GentooX, unlike vanilla Gentoo, provided precompiled binaries to the user via a custom repository. These were binaries compiled specifically for the Xbox. GentooX had both Home and Pro editions, the Home edition built around a desktop environment and the Pro edition built around the CLI. GentooX was a popular and developed Xbox Linux distro. The website is [https://web.archive.org/web/20220328101921/https://gentoox.shallax.com/ still being archived], although it appears broken in Chrome. The latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Home/ GentooX Home] is 7.1, and the latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Pro/ Pro] was 5.1, in 2009. Tested and working. Works from DVD. The pro version attempts to boot from the CD into GentooX loader, so be sure set your BIOS not to boot from CD if booting from CD doesn't work from you. Try Xromwell if GentooX loader doesn't work.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20050510000924/http://www.x-dsl.org/ X-DSL]''' - Based on Damn Small Linux, X-DSL was a lightweight Linux build. It used Knoppix patches to be able to boot to a desktop environment from small (<100MB) loop devices from FATX. It can also make a "native" install to the hard drive, or install to a larger loop device for a permanent setup. X-DSL is an easy version of historical Linux to try out today, since it can be launched and run entirely from drive E and that avoids some incompatibilities of Xbox Linux with larger hard drives. (if your hard drive is 3TB in order to get that extra .1TB of space, it may not work). The latest official version of X-DSL is 0.6, although there is an unofficial 0.7 floating around, among various other unofficial builds. X-DSL 0.6 can be found [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/X-DSL/X-DSL%20v0.6/ here]. The contents of the zip file can be copied to the root of E (so that linuxboot.cfg is in the root) and launched with Cromwell or GentooX, with no CD. The iso is also tested and working.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060529005204/http://www.dynebolic.org:80/ Dyne:bolic Linux]''' - This is Rasta software! Dynebolic Linux is a multimedia creation, editing, and streaming focused distro that could boot as a liveCD on many systems, including original Xbox. Original Xbox support was ended in Dyne:bolic 2.x, but that uses the 2.6 kernel so it could theoretically be supported if someone felt like it. The latest version compatible with the Xbox is 1.4.1, [https://osarchive.sda1.eu/dyne-bolic available here]. This distro has a lot of toys and is fun to check out. Also, it works from DVD! (it does seem to have a low color depth in the desktop though...)
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20100617005832/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/XUbuntu xUbuntu]''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "xUbuntu". "xUbuntu is based on Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy Badger) distribution without graphical environment. xUbuntu linux system can be run from CD or installed to a PC or Xbox hard drive. The install process, the kernel, the kernel modules and the desktop are customized for PC and Xbox (i386)." The latest version is 0.9.0, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/xUbuntu/xUbuntu%200.9.0/ available here]. It needs to be burned to a CD instead of a DVD.
*'''Ed's Xebian''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "Xebian". Does not appear to have a website. From the original Xbox Linux wiki, "With superb flexibility and ease of use, it can run off CD/DVD or it can be installed onto the Xbox hard drive in either the free space or the saved game area. The OS includes support for all versions of the Xbox, including those with Xcalibur video chips. Based on Debian stable (Sarge) with backports for newer software." The latest version is 1.1.4, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Ed_s%20Xebian/Xebian/ available here], which boots to desktop as a liveCD. It seems to require burning to a CD instead of DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060630100324/http://www.keckstar.com:80/nuke/html/index.php sXb]''' - Slackware for the Original Xbox. The versioning is a little unclear, but the most recent ISO on sourceforge is in the iso.gz file [https://sourceforge.net/projects/sxb/files/Sxbnew/SXBNEW-iso--dfb-xdirectfb/ here]. May need to be burned to CD. Reported "controller jammed" messages at startup, but one of my controller ports is busted.
*'''Mandrake''' A Mandrake 9 was released and claimed to be the first full distribution on the Xbox, but apparently was not continued or supported. No known Web site. Does anyone have a copy of the original Xbox Linux Mandrake iso for archival purposes? It appears a 2005 "special edition" with the Xbox patches can be found [http://ftp.twaren.net/Linux/Mandrake/official/iso/10.1/i586/10.2/ here]. (Mandrake Linux was renamed to Mandriva Linux in 2005). Requires composite cable, at least on this 1.0 Xbox. Appears to require burning to a CD, instead of a DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060713072515/http://www.not404.com:80/cgi-bin/trac.fcgi/wiki/XFedora4 xFedora]''' A port of Fedora Core to the Xbox; essentially Fedora Core with Xbox patches. The latest version is 0.7.41, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Fedora/ available here]. I am unsure how to run it.
*'''SuSE 8''' - There's a dead download link on the old wiki. Seems to have been abandoned
*'''old xbox-linux iso''' The xbox-linux team released some preliminary ISOs during the development of Xbox Linux.
*'''[live-linux https://web.archive.org/web/20051106185529/http://article.gmane.org/gmane.linux.ports.xbox.devel/5736]''' An early Linux related to the mechinstaller hack(?); also worked from LiveCD,it was released up to 0.3, no known website, but here is [https://sourceforge.net/p/xbox-linux/mailman/message/10300266/ the announcement]. The latest image is [https://legacy.downloads.diomtec.com/homebrew/xbins/Console%20Based%20Applications/Operating%20Systems/linux/distributions/live-linux/live-linux.0.3.iso.bz2 available here]. The file boot/boot.cfg on the iso needs to be renamed to linuxboot.cfg. The video became garbled launching with both composite and component cables. (may need an old version of Cromwell; untested) This is a very basic minilinux distro, essentially a proof of concept. The linuxrc is a symlink to busybox. It comes with a 9MB image.
*'''ltools''', a minilinux used in Xbox game save hacks, first designed to install Linux, but later repurposed to softmod the Xbox.
*'''[https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ xboxhdm]''' is a tool made by Idotsfan for softmodding locked Xbox hard drives, it's a PC-based CD-bootable set of Linux tools
*'''XMugen''' packaged Mugen for Linux using a busybox in an initramfs, and used swap and game character data files located on FATX. It currently has issues with anything other than "F takes all" schemes.
*'''Chimp''' is a tool for cloning and basic partitioning on Xbox hard drives. It runs from an initramfs.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20051214030132/http://nexus.il.fontys.nl:80/ FreeBSD/Xbox]''' - Not Linux per se, but it's a port of FreeBSD to the Xbox. It was officially integrated into FreeBSD as a set of optional patches. A NetBSD setup can be found [ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/misc/jmcneill/xbox/ here] but it requires the rootfs mounted on NFS. There might be a self contained ISO out there?

==Installing Old Distros==
These liveCDs above should all be safe to try on your Xbox, but installation to your hard drive is more risky. It can be fine if you take the proper considerations. Here are the installation methods usually presented by the installers:

'''Native Install'''

This may not be compatible with softmods! '''Don't mess around with native installs on a locked hard drive or a hard drive that's not backed up! Flash your TSOP or hardmod first!'''

This may wipe your hard drive, format it for Linux, and expect you to put Cromwell on your BIOS. It may also mean just formatting F and booting into it from Xromwell on FATX. So make sure you know which one it is! (the installer should tell you, if it's installing to F you should be fine) Any native install with a boot partition (launched via a hard drive icon in Cromwell/Xromwell) is NOT compatible with the XBPartitioner table, and installing it will overwite the XBPartitioner table. So "F takes all" is preferred here, for allowing coexistence with the stock partitions.

'''If you have a native install, DO NOT USE XBPARTITIONER unless you want to remove Linux. Any XBPartitioner format will break Linux by wiping out the MBR that Linux uses to find its partitions.''' You can't have custom FATX partitions alongside a Linux native install. (So use a spare hard drive for a native install)

'''Loopback Install'''

This installs Linux to a file on the FATX filesystem. Your Linux filesystem will be contained within that file. This means that no repartitioning of your hard drive is necessary. This is a safer install method, if you have space for a small install on E, or if you are using an "F takes all" scheme with an Xbox partition on F. Drive F must end below the 137GB boundary, if doing a loopback install to it. (is that right?) XBPartitioner-defined partitions are not supported by official versions of Xbox Linux, it only looks for the stock partitions plus "F takes all". I am unsure of the behavior if the drive is bigger than F can be. Loopback installs should be safe if your FATX drive F is detected by Xbox Linux.

In general, using a <137GB hard drive avoids these issues, although loopback installs can still be done on larger drives.

It is not advisable to make changes on the FATX filesystem more than you have to in Xbox Linux. Mounting and reading FATX partitions is fine, but doing complex write operations should be avoided, just in case. The 2.4 kernel FATX support is thought to be more stable than in the 2.6 kernel. If you need to copy lots of files to your Xbox, do it via an Xbox dash using FTP. Simple operations on FATX should be fine, and the FATX support is not seriously unstable, but better to be safe. Loopback installs are considered to be stable, even though the files exist on FATX.

==Historical links==
Much of the old Xbox Linux information now lives on archive.org. It is helpful if you come across anything useful, to add it here!
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/ The original Xbox Linux repository on sourceforge.] The mailing list archives can help answer esoteric questions about xbox linux, sometimes. The files section contains various Xbox Linux software and historical distribution isos.
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ The xboxhdm repository.] It contains source and executables for many Xbox tools created and modified by Idotsfan. The X-DSL directory contains some information on the original Xbpartitioner table patches.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100617000252/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/Main_Page The "New" Xbox Linux wiki], which was online until 2011.
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20050307163352/http://wiki.xbox-linux.org:80/ The original "Old" xbox linux wiki]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050724003648/http://xbox-linux.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/moin.cgi/FrontPage the "Old" xbox wiki on SourceForge.]
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20040419204220/http://xbox-linux.org:80/ The "Old" xbox-linux website], before the website was replaced with the "new wiki".

==See Also==
*[[Xbox Linux]]

Cromwell

2022-07-06T00:42:25Z

VannevarKush: Saving work

Cromwell is a clean room reverse engineered BIOS for the Microsoft Xbox, as well as a bootloader for Xbox Linux. It is often shipped as the default BIOS for Xbox modchips, since Cromwell is a fully legal custom BIOS for the Xbox, and it also has BIOS flashing ability. It has also been used as a basis for various low level Xbox tools, and custom versions have been released (such as XBlast OS).

'''Xromwell''' is the same thing as Cromwell, but it runs as an xbe from the Xbox hard drive.

The current active Cromwell source code repo is [available here https://github.com/XboxDev/cromwell]

Early versions of Cromwell will not be compatible with Linux versions that use the 2.6 kernel and above. (what versions?) This usually is not an issue.

Some versions of Cromwell require

The disk cloning and partition management app Chimp uses a modified version of Cromwell to boot. It searches for the kernel and initrd in alternate locations that are specific to Chimp.

==GentooX Loader==
GentooX Loader is a

==XBlast OS==
XBlast OS was made for use with the Xblast modchip. This modchip provides specific low-level functionalities, like flashing the TSOP while the modchip is plugged in (with an additional wire soldered to the motherboard). If run from an Xbox TSOP, it can

==Media Checking Process==
(todo)

==See Also==
*[[Historical Xbox Linux]]
*[[Xbox Linux]]

Xbox Linux Issues

2022-07-06T00:26:24Z

VannevarKush: /* Cromwell incompatibility with OpenXenium */

Here is a list of issues that are blocking general functionality on [[Linux|Xbox Linux]].

==Cromwell incompatibility with OpenXenium==
This is overall a minor issue, in that Xromwell ([[Cromwell]] as an xbe) works fine as a workaround. However, booting into Cromwell directly on Xbox boot would be (very) convenient for Xbox Linux development, and it would allow the user to easily boot into Linux from the OpenXenium BIOS menu.

==Native Boot Partition Filesystem Compatibility with Cromwell==
When booting a "native" install, Cromwell scans the MBR and looks for partitions that are flagged as bootable. If the partition is bootable, Cromwell attempts to determine the filesystem, and load linuxboot.cfg. If the user launches that instance, the kernel and the initrd will then be loaded from that partition. (The presence of initrd and kernel is not checked until launching)

When setting up a native install, a boot partition formatted with ext2 worked fine as formatted by historical X-DSL. The linuxboot.cfg was detected, and Cromwell presented a hard drive icon to load the native install.

When formatting the same partition using a modern distro, Cromwell does not detect the linuxboot.cfg, but it does detect the ext2 filesystem and attempts to read it without errors. (This has been tested by formatting on Gentoo, Debian, and from a Gentoo liveCD on the Xbox.)

Something about the way these ext2 partitions are being formatted by modern tools is preventing the Xbox from reading files on them. Turning off the new ext2 features using mkfs.ext2 /dev/sdb1 -O ^resize_inode,^dir_index,^large_file,^ext_attr did not make a difference.

Formatting this partition from modern Linux with vfat and no options also did not work.

Formatting as Fat32 in Windows with EaseUs Partition Master did work.

Note that Cromwell is able to read the root partition and get linuxboot.cfg from there even for larger root partitions (tested up to 80GB); a reserved boot partition is not strictly needed, but Cromwell still needs to be able to load the kernel and initrd.

So the main question here is, what kind of partitions does Cromwell support? How can at least one kind of these partitions be reliably formatted using a terminal command in Linux?

Or, can Cromwell be easily updated to support new filesystem developments? Since a boot partition is only needed for Cromwell to load the kernel and initrd, it would be acceptable for a more archaic filesystem configuration to be used as the boot partition, which would still give users the freedom to format the root partition with the kernel-supported filesystem of their choice (which is basically the point of a boot partition.) Ext2 is not necessarily the only option here either.

==XBPartitioner Table and MBR Incompatibility==

This issue is relevant to native Linux installs. In a native Linux install, the user formats empty regions of their hard drive and adds an MBR to the hard drive, which is used by Cromwell to access the Linux boot partition and subsequently load linuxboot.cfg, the kernel, and the initrd. The way that Cromwell is currently set up, it can't find Linux partitions without the MBR.

The MBR partitioning/boot scheme uses a 512 byte record at the beginning of the drive. Since the actual boot data isn't needed on Xbox, the first 440 bytes are filled with zeroes when using fdisk, and can be considered unused here. [[http://www.sharetechnote.com/html/Linux_MBR.html MBR layout information]]

The [[FATX]] filesystem has a config area of 1024 sectors (512K) starting at the beginning of the drive. The first 48 bytes are officially used, the rest can be zeroes, but later in the config area is where XBLA information is stored. On a stock-formatted Xbox hard drive, the contents of the early config area don't seem to matter much to ind-BIOS (tested), although Insignia may use the later XBLA regions in the future. If a stock FATX config area has its first 512 bytes overwritten by an MBR, it is not known to cause problems with any other Xbox functionality. (based on the fact that native Linux installs have been run in this way for years)

The problem arises with the XBPartitioner table, a custom partitioning scheme for Xbox hard drives that was never officially supported by Xbox Linux. It is common on Xboxes with larger hard drives. The XBPartitioner table provides 14 partition "slots" for FATX partitions, and it allows users to format their Xbox hard drive with additional FATX partitions. The partition table is written into unused space in the FATX config area, immediately after the initial stock data. XBPartitioner wipes the remaining bytes of the config area when writing a partition table including any MBR contents; other tools are untested so far. And fdisk overwrites the first 512 bytes of the FATX config area with an MBR, replacing the first 440 bytes with zeroes.

Another issue arises in that the two partitioning schemes overlap, even if only the necessary data were written for both XBPartitioner table and MBR; that is if they didn't write the zeroes.

This struct shows the layout of the config area, followed by the partition entry struct. From the unofficial XBPartitioner patches for the old Xbox kernel:

<syntaxhighlight lang="c">
// Temporary struct used to load XBPartitioner data directly from disk.
typedef struct {
char magic[16];
char reserved[32];
XBPartitionerTableEntry partitions[FATX_XBPARTITIONER_PARTITIONS_MAX];
} XBPartitionerTable;

// Temporary struct used to load XBPartitioner data directly from disk.
typedef struct
{
char name[16];
u32 flags;
u32 start;
u32 size;
u32 reserved;
} XBPartitionerTableEntry;
</syntaxhighlight>

The XBPartitioner table entries start at 48 bytes, and each partition's entry is 32 bytes in size. With 14 partitions, the XBPartitioner table ends at 496 bytes, and overwrites a good chunk of the relevant MBR content, which starts at 440 bytes. So tool modification alone can't make these schemes compatible.

The XBPartitioner table has no metadata, only partition entries, and has no known way of redefining the number of available partitions. However, if the XBPartitioner table only had 12 partitions, the partition table would end at 432 bytes and the two schemes could coexist.

===Possible Solutions===
====F Takes All====
This was the typical scheme used by historical Xbox Linux. The area after E would be used for Linux partitions. With larger hard drives available, there is a need for Xbox Linux to coexist with other content on the user's drive. This is okay when the user doesn't want to later modify the partition layout of their hard drive using XBPartitioner, and they want to reserve that hard drive primarily for Linux.

====A 12 partition XBPartitioner Table====
This would involve attempting to get general acceptance of changing the XBPartitioner spec to 12 partitions, so it doesn't overlap with MBR. Or providing a custom set of tools and bioses that support this.
'''Pros'''
* Cromwell would not need to be modified significantly
* The 512 byte boundary could be considered the starting point for future config area modifications
* Very few users have more than 7, much less 14 partitions on their Xbox which provide little practical use
* Any Linux PC can easily mount the Linux partitions

'''Cons'''
* Lots of software would need to be updated, including BIOSes, partitioning tools, and disk formatting tools in Xbox Linux and on PC. There might be a more elegant solution.

====Using the XBPartitioner Table To Define Linux Partitions====

'''Pros'''
* No partitioning scheme incompatiblity management
* No dual partitioning scheme; both Linux and Xbox tools would have awareness of the full drive partition table, to avoid accidentally creating overlapping partitions
* Unused per-partition flags in the XBPartitioner table could be used to mark partitions as Linux as a future standard
* Scripts utilizing dd to read the XBPartitioner table could be used as a stopgap before full kernel support is developed

'''Cons'''
* The Cromwell Grub code would need to be modified to use the XBPartitioner table in place of MBR (this may not be overly complicated)
* Scripts, tools, or kernel support will be needed in order to mount these partitions in Linux, both on the Xbox and on other PCs
* Any tools used to mount Linux partitions and edit their characteristics would have to be updated to support it, primarily apps that mount non-FATX partitions. This could be simple
* FATX kernel support would need to be ported for a long term performant solution. (fatxfs performance still needs to be evaluated on Xbox, as an alterative option)
* The user is limited to 14 total partitions; with F and G they have 7 partitions which is enough for 3 Linux installs (3 boot partitions, 3 data partitions, and shared swap). It would be workable though for most use cases.

====Using Contiguous Files Allocated on FATX as a Filesystem====
This was proposed by mborgerson, as an option to avoid dealing with partition tables at all. Since coexistence of Linux filesystems with FATX is desired, and there are incompatibilities in the current partition table schemes, and correcting this would take a great deal of effort, it was suggested to contain the raw partition data on FATX partitions. A FATX Linux utility could scan a FATX partition for contiguous available space. It could then allocate several 4GB files (the FATX file size limit) across that range of space. Then, the entire range of sectors could be formatted a Linux partition or group of partitions by sector range, and a distribution installed there.

'''Pros'''
* This avoids modifying partition tables at all, so we don't have to worry about changing existing standards.
* The tool fatxfs provides a starting point for interacting with the FATX filesystem without kernel FATX support. FATX partitions only need to be temporarily accessed as such, and once the contiguous files are created and their sector range is known, Linux can work with that area of the disk directly. After starting up and mounting any partitions, Linux does not strictly need any knowledge of FATX.
* Contiguous files can be checked for contiguity before mounting to avoid overwriting other data
* Users could reserve a FATX partition for Linux in XBPartitioner and then use Linux to fill it with contiguous files, the end result should be equivalent to formatting a partition and using MBR to access it, although the mounting process would differ.
* Swap could be shared between Linux installs as long as some kind of common file/directory name or other method is used to detect shared swap on a FATX partition.
* Users can place the kernel and intitrd on FATX partitions and launch using existing Cromwell functionality for loading from FATX, so no boot partitions are needed here
* This could also address the issue of [[Xbox Linux Issues#Lack of FATX Kernel Support|kernel support being needed to mount loop devices]]. But see the "cons" section about FTP-ing images to the hard drive

'''Cons'''
* A custom tool would be needed to access and mount these partitions, both on the Xbox and outside of it. This is still much simpler to address than the issues in the previous proposals.
* The user's filesystem may be fragmented in about the same manner as a FAT filesystem. In order to create space for contiguous files, defragmentation may be needed, especially on partitions which have seen a lot of use and re-use.
* If a user downloads these contiguous files and FTPs them to their Xbox, these files may become fragmented. (It is not fully understood in what situations the BIOS decides to fragment a file.) In order for FTP to work for sharing these files, a utility would have to be able to "defragment" an image and place the data in the right order on the hard drive, without gaps. This could take some time for larger images. One option would be to defragment the drive first and then have Linux handle the FTP part to make sure it gets transferred correctly.

===Mounting a Range of hda as a Loop Device===
(fill out)

==Lack of FATX Kernel Support==

Loop devices are a common method of packaging Xbox Linux installations, in order to avoid modifying the partition table on the Xbox hard drive. A loop device is a filesystem image that can be mounted from within another filesystem. When put on a FATX partition, they allow Xbox Linux to be run from the hard drive without modifying the user's partition table at all. These setups can be used to bundle Linux builds and other apps for easy distribution. (XMugen, for instance.)

The current Xbox Linux patches don't port over the support for mounting the FATX filesystem in Linux. This is because the underlying code has changed significantly in a few places since then. [[User:VannevarKush]] is working on porting the old FATX code to the kernel for native support, but it is a work in progress.

The lack of native FATX support means that mounting loop devices can't be done. Right now, native install and live CDs are the current available boot options for Xbox Linux.

The FUSE based fatxfs [https://github.com/mborgerson/fatx code by mborgerson] may be usable as a stopgap, although its performance hasn't been evaluated yet on an Xbox.

==Advanced Video Support==
The Xbox Linux kernel currently only uses the most basic video support available (defined by CONFIG_FRAMEBUFFER_SIMPLE in the kernel config). More advanced support may be needed to run desktop environments and to run graphical applications with better performance. Does code need to be merged over from the original sources for xbox video?

==See Also==
*[[Xbox Linux Tips and Tricks]]
*[[Xbox Linux]]

Xbox Linux Issues

2022-07-06T00:25:46Z

VannevarKush: /* Cromwell incompatibility with OpenXenium */

Here is a list of issues that are blocking general functionality on [[Linux|Xbox Linux]].

==Cromwell incompatibility with OpenXenium==
This is overall a minor issue, in that Xromwell (Cromwell as an xbe) works fine as a workaround. However, booting into Cromwell directly on Xbox boot would be (very) convenient for Xbox Linux development, and it would allow the user to easily boot into Linux from the OpenXenium BIOS menu.

==Native Boot Partition Filesystem Compatibility with Cromwell==
When booting a "native" install, Cromwell scans the MBR and looks for partitions that are flagged as bootable. If the partition is bootable, Cromwell attempts to determine the filesystem, and load linuxboot.cfg. If the user launches that instance, the kernel and the initrd will then be loaded from that partition. (The presence of initrd and kernel is not checked until launching)

When setting up a native install, a boot partition formatted with ext2 worked fine as formatted by historical X-DSL. The linuxboot.cfg was detected, and Cromwell presented a hard drive icon to load the native install.

When formatting the same partition using a modern distro, Cromwell does not detect the linuxboot.cfg, but it does detect the ext2 filesystem and attempts to read it without errors. (This has been tested by formatting on Gentoo, Debian, and from a Gentoo liveCD on the Xbox.)

Something about the way these ext2 partitions are being formatted by modern tools is preventing the Xbox from reading files on them. Turning off the new ext2 features using mkfs.ext2 /dev/sdb1 -O ^resize_inode,^dir_index,^large_file,^ext_attr did not make a difference.

Formatting this partition from modern Linux with vfat and no options also did not work.

Formatting as Fat32 in Windows with EaseUs Partition Master did work.

Note that Cromwell is able to read the root partition and get linuxboot.cfg from there even for larger root partitions (tested up to 80GB); a reserved boot partition is not strictly needed, but Cromwell still needs to be able to load the kernel and initrd.

So the main question here is, what kind of partitions does Cromwell support? How can at least one kind of these partitions be reliably formatted using a terminal command in Linux?

Or, can Cromwell be easily updated to support new filesystem developments? Since a boot partition is only needed for Cromwell to load the kernel and initrd, it would be acceptable for a more archaic filesystem configuration to be used as the boot partition, which would still give users the freedom to format the root partition with the kernel-supported filesystem of their choice (which is basically the point of a boot partition.) Ext2 is not necessarily the only option here either.

==XBPartitioner Table and MBR Incompatibility==

This issue is relevant to native Linux installs. In a native Linux install, the user formats empty regions of their hard drive and adds an MBR to the hard drive, which is used by Cromwell to access the Linux boot partition and subsequently load linuxboot.cfg, the kernel, and the initrd. The way that Cromwell is currently set up, it can't find Linux partitions without the MBR.

The MBR partitioning/boot scheme uses a 512 byte record at the beginning of the drive. Since the actual boot data isn't needed on Xbox, the first 440 bytes are filled with zeroes when using fdisk, and can be considered unused here. [[http://www.sharetechnote.com/html/Linux_MBR.html MBR layout information]]

The [[FATX]] filesystem has a config area of 1024 sectors (512K) starting at the beginning of the drive. The first 48 bytes are officially used, the rest can be zeroes, but later in the config area is where XBLA information is stored. On a stock-formatted Xbox hard drive, the contents of the early config area don't seem to matter much to ind-BIOS (tested), although Insignia may use the later XBLA regions in the future. If a stock FATX config area has its first 512 bytes overwritten by an MBR, it is not known to cause problems with any other Xbox functionality. (based on the fact that native Linux installs have been run in this way for years)

The problem arises with the XBPartitioner table, a custom partitioning scheme for Xbox hard drives that was never officially supported by Xbox Linux. It is common on Xboxes with larger hard drives. The XBPartitioner table provides 14 partition "slots" for FATX partitions, and it allows users to format their Xbox hard drive with additional FATX partitions. The partition table is written into unused space in the FATX config area, immediately after the initial stock data. XBPartitioner wipes the remaining bytes of the config area when writing a partition table including any MBR contents; other tools are untested so far. And fdisk overwrites the first 512 bytes of the FATX config area with an MBR, replacing the first 440 bytes with zeroes.

Another issue arises in that the two partitioning schemes overlap, even if only the necessary data were written for both XBPartitioner table and MBR; that is if they didn't write the zeroes.

This struct shows the layout of the config area, followed by the partition entry struct. From the unofficial XBPartitioner patches for the old Xbox kernel:

<syntaxhighlight lang="c">
// Temporary struct used to load XBPartitioner data directly from disk.
typedef struct {
char magic[16];
char reserved[32];
XBPartitionerTableEntry partitions[FATX_XBPARTITIONER_PARTITIONS_MAX];
} XBPartitionerTable;

// Temporary struct used to load XBPartitioner data directly from disk.
typedef struct
{
char name[16];
u32 flags;
u32 start;
u32 size;
u32 reserved;
} XBPartitionerTableEntry;
</syntaxhighlight>

The XBPartitioner table entries start at 48 bytes, and each partition's entry is 32 bytes in size. With 14 partitions, the XBPartitioner table ends at 496 bytes, and overwrites a good chunk of the relevant MBR content, which starts at 440 bytes. So tool modification alone can't make these schemes compatible.

The XBPartitioner table has no metadata, only partition entries, and has no known way of redefining the number of available partitions. However, if the XBPartitioner table only had 12 partitions, the partition table would end at 432 bytes and the two schemes could coexist.

===Possible Solutions===
====F Takes All====
This was the typical scheme used by historical Xbox Linux. The area after E would be used for Linux partitions. With larger hard drives available, there is a need for Xbox Linux to coexist with other content on the user's drive. This is okay when the user doesn't want to later modify the partition layout of their hard drive using XBPartitioner, and they want to reserve that hard drive primarily for Linux.

====A 12 partition XBPartitioner Table====
This would involve attempting to get general acceptance of changing the XBPartitioner spec to 12 partitions, so it doesn't overlap with MBR. Or providing a custom set of tools and bioses that support this.
'''Pros'''
* Cromwell would not need to be modified significantly
* The 512 byte boundary could be considered the starting point for future config area modifications
* Very few users have more than 7, much less 14 partitions on their Xbox which provide little practical use
* Any Linux PC can easily mount the Linux partitions

'''Cons'''
* Lots of software would need to be updated, including BIOSes, partitioning tools, and disk formatting tools in Xbox Linux and on PC. There might be a more elegant solution.

====Using the XBPartitioner Table To Define Linux Partitions====

'''Pros'''
* No partitioning scheme incompatiblity management
* No dual partitioning scheme; both Linux and Xbox tools would have awareness of the full drive partition table, to avoid accidentally creating overlapping partitions
* Unused per-partition flags in the XBPartitioner table could be used to mark partitions as Linux as a future standard
* Scripts utilizing dd to read the XBPartitioner table could be used as a stopgap before full kernel support is developed

'''Cons'''
* The Cromwell Grub code would need to be modified to use the XBPartitioner table in place of MBR (this may not be overly complicated)
* Scripts, tools, or kernel support will be needed in order to mount these partitions in Linux, both on the Xbox and on other PCs
* Any tools used to mount Linux partitions and edit their characteristics would have to be updated to support it, primarily apps that mount non-FATX partitions. This could be simple
* FATX kernel support would need to be ported for a long term performant solution. (fatxfs performance still needs to be evaluated on Xbox, as an alterative option)
* The user is limited to 14 total partitions; with F and G they have 7 partitions which is enough for 3 Linux installs (3 boot partitions, 3 data partitions, and shared swap). It would be workable though for most use cases.

====Using Contiguous Files Allocated on FATX as a Filesystem====
This was proposed by mborgerson, as an option to avoid dealing with partition tables at all. Since coexistence of Linux filesystems with FATX is desired, and there are incompatibilities in the current partition table schemes, and correcting this would take a great deal of effort, it was suggested to contain the raw partition data on FATX partitions. A FATX Linux utility could scan a FATX partition for contiguous available space. It could then allocate several 4GB files (the FATX file size limit) across that range of space. Then, the entire range of sectors could be formatted a Linux partition or group of partitions by sector range, and a distribution installed there.

'''Pros'''
* This avoids modifying partition tables at all, so we don't have to worry about changing existing standards.
* The tool fatxfs provides a starting point for interacting with the FATX filesystem without kernel FATX support. FATX partitions only need to be temporarily accessed as such, and once the contiguous files are created and their sector range is known, Linux can work with that area of the disk directly. After starting up and mounting any partitions, Linux does not strictly need any knowledge of FATX.
* Contiguous files can be checked for contiguity before mounting to avoid overwriting other data
* Users could reserve a FATX partition for Linux in XBPartitioner and then use Linux to fill it with contiguous files, the end result should be equivalent to formatting a partition and using MBR to access it, although the mounting process would differ.
* Swap could be shared between Linux installs as long as some kind of common file/directory name or other method is used to detect shared swap on a FATX partition.
* Users can place the kernel and intitrd on FATX partitions and launch using existing Cromwell functionality for loading from FATX, so no boot partitions are needed here
* This could also address the issue of [[Xbox Linux Issues#Lack of FATX Kernel Support|kernel support being needed to mount loop devices]]. But see the "cons" section about FTP-ing images to the hard drive

'''Cons'''
* A custom tool would be needed to access and mount these partitions, both on the Xbox and outside of it. This is still much simpler to address than the issues in the previous proposals.
* The user's filesystem may be fragmented in about the same manner as a FAT filesystem. In order to create space for contiguous files, defragmentation may be needed, especially on partitions which have seen a lot of use and re-use.
* If a user downloads these contiguous files and FTPs them to their Xbox, these files may become fragmented. (It is not fully understood in what situations the BIOS decides to fragment a file.) In order for FTP to work for sharing these files, a utility would have to be able to "defragment" an image and place the data in the right order on the hard drive, without gaps. This could take some time for larger images. One option would be to defragment the drive first and then have Linux handle the FTP part to make sure it gets transferred correctly.

===Mounting a Range of hda as a Loop Device===
(fill out)

==Lack of FATX Kernel Support==

Loop devices are a common method of packaging Xbox Linux installations, in order to avoid modifying the partition table on the Xbox hard drive. A loop device is a filesystem image that can be mounted from within another filesystem. When put on a FATX partition, they allow Xbox Linux to be run from the hard drive without modifying the user's partition table at all. These setups can be used to bundle Linux builds and other apps for easy distribution. (XMugen, for instance.)

The current Xbox Linux patches don't port over the support for mounting the FATX filesystem in Linux. This is because the underlying code has changed significantly in a few places since then. [[User:VannevarKush]] is working on porting the old FATX code to the kernel for native support, but it is a work in progress.

The lack of native FATX support means that mounting loop devices can't be done. Right now, native install and live CDs are the current available boot options for Xbox Linux.

The FUSE based fatxfs [https://github.com/mborgerson/fatx code by mborgerson] may be usable as a stopgap, although its performance hasn't been evaluated yet on an Xbox.

==Advanced Video Support==
The Xbox Linux kernel currently only uses the most basic video support available (defined by CONFIG_FRAMEBUFFER_SIMPLE in the kernel config). More advanced support may be needed to run desktop environments and to run graphical applications with better performance. Does code need to be merged over from the original sources for xbox video?

==See Also==
*[[Xbox Linux Tips and Tricks]]
*[[Xbox Linux]]

Xbox Linux Issues

2022-07-06T00:25:08Z

VannevarKush:

Here is a list of issues that are blocking general functionality on [[Linux|Xbox Linux]].

==Cromwell incompatibility with OpenXenium==
This is overall a minor issue, in that Xromwell (Cromwell as an xbe) works fine as a workaround. However, booting into Cromwell directly on Xbox boot can be (very) convenient for development, and to allow the user to easily boot into Linux from the OpenXenium BIOS menu.

==Native Boot Partition Filesystem Compatibility with Cromwell==
When booting a "native" install, Cromwell scans the MBR and looks for partitions that are flagged as bootable. If the partition is bootable, Cromwell attempts to determine the filesystem, and load linuxboot.cfg. If the user launches that instance, the kernel and the initrd will then be loaded from that partition. (The presence of initrd and kernel is not checked until launching)

When setting up a native install, a boot partition formatted with ext2 worked fine as formatted by historical X-DSL. The linuxboot.cfg was detected, and Cromwell presented a hard drive icon to load the native install.

When formatting the same partition using a modern distro, Cromwell does not detect the linuxboot.cfg, but it does detect the ext2 filesystem and attempts to read it without errors. (This has been tested by formatting on Gentoo, Debian, and from a Gentoo liveCD on the Xbox.)

Something about the way these ext2 partitions are being formatted by modern tools is preventing the Xbox from reading files on them. Turning off the new ext2 features using mkfs.ext2 /dev/sdb1 -O ^resize_inode,^dir_index,^large_file,^ext_attr did not make a difference.

Formatting this partition from modern Linux with vfat and no options also did not work.

Formatting as Fat32 in Windows with EaseUs Partition Master did work.

Note that Cromwell is able to read the root partition and get linuxboot.cfg from there even for larger root partitions (tested up to 80GB); a reserved boot partition is not strictly needed, but Cromwell still needs to be able to load the kernel and initrd.

So the main question here is, what kind of partitions does Cromwell support? How can at least one kind of these partitions be reliably formatted using a terminal command in Linux?

Or, can Cromwell be easily updated to support new filesystem developments? Since a boot partition is only needed for Cromwell to load the kernel and initrd, it would be acceptable for a more archaic filesystem configuration to be used as the boot partition, which would still give users the freedom to format the root partition with the kernel-supported filesystem of their choice (which is basically the point of a boot partition.) Ext2 is not necessarily the only option here either.

==XBPartitioner Table and MBR Incompatibility==

This issue is relevant to native Linux installs. In a native Linux install, the user formats empty regions of their hard drive and adds an MBR to the hard drive, which is used by Cromwell to access the Linux boot partition and subsequently load linuxboot.cfg, the kernel, and the initrd. The way that Cromwell is currently set up, it can't find Linux partitions without the MBR.

The MBR partitioning/boot scheme uses a 512 byte record at the beginning of the drive. Since the actual boot data isn't needed on Xbox, the first 440 bytes are filled with zeroes when using fdisk, and can be considered unused here. [[http://www.sharetechnote.com/html/Linux_MBR.html MBR layout information]]

The [[FATX]] filesystem has a config area of 1024 sectors (512K) starting at the beginning of the drive. The first 48 bytes are officially used, the rest can be zeroes, but later in the config area is where XBLA information is stored. On a stock-formatted Xbox hard drive, the contents of the early config area don't seem to matter much to ind-BIOS (tested), although Insignia may use the later XBLA regions in the future. If a stock FATX config area has its first 512 bytes overwritten by an MBR, it is not known to cause problems with any other Xbox functionality. (based on the fact that native Linux installs have been run in this way for years)

The problem arises with the XBPartitioner table, a custom partitioning scheme for Xbox hard drives that was never officially supported by Xbox Linux. It is common on Xboxes with larger hard drives. The XBPartitioner table provides 14 partition "slots" for FATX partitions, and it allows users to format their Xbox hard drive with additional FATX partitions. The partition table is written into unused space in the FATX config area, immediately after the initial stock data. XBPartitioner wipes the remaining bytes of the config area when writing a partition table including any MBR contents; other tools are untested so far. And fdisk overwrites the first 512 bytes of the FATX config area with an MBR, replacing the first 440 bytes with zeroes.

Another issue arises in that the two partitioning schemes overlap, even if only the necessary data were written for both XBPartitioner table and MBR; that is if they didn't write the zeroes.

This struct shows the layout of the config area, followed by the partition entry struct. From the unofficial XBPartitioner patches for the old Xbox kernel:

<syntaxhighlight lang="c">
// Temporary struct used to load XBPartitioner data directly from disk.
typedef struct {
char magic[16];
char reserved[32];
XBPartitionerTableEntry partitions[FATX_XBPARTITIONER_PARTITIONS_MAX];
} XBPartitionerTable;

// Temporary struct used to load XBPartitioner data directly from disk.
typedef struct
{
char name[16];
u32 flags;
u32 start;
u32 size;
u32 reserved;
} XBPartitionerTableEntry;
</syntaxhighlight>

The XBPartitioner table entries start at 48 bytes, and each partition's entry is 32 bytes in size. With 14 partitions, the XBPartitioner table ends at 496 bytes, and overwrites a good chunk of the relevant MBR content, which starts at 440 bytes. So tool modification alone can't make these schemes compatible.

The XBPartitioner table has no metadata, only partition entries, and has no known way of redefining the number of available partitions. However, if the XBPartitioner table only had 12 partitions, the partition table would end at 432 bytes and the two schemes could coexist.

===Possible Solutions===
====F Takes All====
This was the typical scheme used by historical Xbox Linux. The area after E would be used for Linux partitions. With larger hard drives available, there is a need for Xbox Linux to coexist with other content on the user's drive. This is okay when the user doesn't want to later modify the partition layout of their hard drive using XBPartitioner, and they want to reserve that hard drive primarily for Linux.

====A 12 partition XBPartitioner Table====
This would involve attempting to get general acceptance of changing the XBPartitioner spec to 12 partitions, so it doesn't overlap with MBR. Or providing a custom set of tools and bioses that support this.
'''Pros'''
* Cromwell would not need to be modified significantly
* The 512 byte boundary could be considered the starting point for future config area modifications
* Very few users have more than 7, much less 14 partitions on their Xbox which provide little practical use
* Any Linux PC can easily mount the Linux partitions

'''Cons'''
* Lots of software would need to be updated, including BIOSes, partitioning tools, and disk formatting tools in Xbox Linux and on PC. There might be a more elegant solution.

====Using the XBPartitioner Table To Define Linux Partitions====

'''Pros'''
* No partitioning scheme incompatiblity management
* No dual partitioning scheme; both Linux and Xbox tools would have awareness of the full drive partition table, to avoid accidentally creating overlapping partitions
* Unused per-partition flags in the XBPartitioner table could be used to mark partitions as Linux as a future standard
* Scripts utilizing dd to read the XBPartitioner table could be used as a stopgap before full kernel support is developed

'''Cons'''
* The Cromwell Grub code would need to be modified to use the XBPartitioner table in place of MBR (this may not be overly complicated)
* Scripts, tools, or kernel support will be needed in order to mount these partitions in Linux, both on the Xbox and on other PCs
* Any tools used to mount Linux partitions and edit their characteristics would have to be updated to support it, primarily apps that mount non-FATX partitions. This could be simple
* FATX kernel support would need to be ported for a long term performant solution. (fatxfs performance still needs to be evaluated on Xbox, as an alterative option)
* The user is limited to 14 total partitions; with F and G they have 7 partitions which is enough for 3 Linux installs (3 boot partitions, 3 data partitions, and shared swap). It would be workable though for most use cases.

====Using Contiguous Files Allocated on FATX as a Filesystem====
This was proposed by mborgerson, as an option to avoid dealing with partition tables at all. Since coexistence of Linux filesystems with FATX is desired, and there are incompatibilities in the current partition table schemes, and correcting this would take a great deal of effort, it was suggested to contain the raw partition data on FATX partitions. A FATX Linux utility could scan a FATX partition for contiguous available space. It could then allocate several 4GB files (the FATX file size limit) across that range of space. Then, the entire range of sectors could be formatted a Linux partition or group of partitions by sector range, and a distribution installed there.

'''Pros'''
* This avoids modifying partition tables at all, so we don't have to worry about changing existing standards.
* The tool fatxfs provides a starting point for interacting with the FATX filesystem without kernel FATX support. FATX partitions only need to be temporarily accessed as such, and once the contiguous files are created and their sector range is known, Linux can work with that area of the disk directly. After starting up and mounting any partitions, Linux does not strictly need any knowledge of FATX.
* Contiguous files can be checked for contiguity before mounting to avoid overwriting other data
* Users could reserve a FATX partition for Linux in XBPartitioner and then use Linux to fill it with contiguous files, the end result should be equivalent to formatting a partition and using MBR to access it, although the mounting process would differ.
* Swap could be shared between Linux installs as long as some kind of common file/directory name or other method is used to detect shared swap on a FATX partition.
* Users can place the kernel and intitrd on FATX partitions and launch using existing Cromwell functionality for loading from FATX, so no boot partitions are needed here
* This could also address the issue of [[Xbox Linux Issues#Lack of FATX Kernel Support|kernel support being needed to mount loop devices]]. But see the "cons" section about FTP-ing images to the hard drive

'''Cons'''
* A custom tool would be needed to access and mount these partitions, both on the Xbox and outside of it. This is still much simpler to address than the issues in the previous proposals.
* The user's filesystem may be fragmented in about the same manner as a FAT filesystem. In order to create space for contiguous files, defragmentation may be needed, especially on partitions which have seen a lot of use and re-use.
* If a user downloads these contiguous files and FTPs them to their Xbox, these files may become fragmented. (It is not fully understood in what situations the BIOS decides to fragment a file.) In order for FTP to work for sharing these files, a utility would have to be able to "defragment" an image and place the data in the right order on the hard drive, without gaps. This could take some time for larger images. One option would be to defragment the drive first and then have Linux handle the FTP part to make sure it gets transferred correctly.

===Mounting a Range of hda as a Loop Device===
(fill out)

==Lack of FATX Kernel Support==

Loop devices are a common method of packaging Xbox Linux installations, in order to avoid modifying the partition table on the Xbox hard drive. A loop device is a filesystem image that can be mounted from within another filesystem. When put on a FATX partition, they allow Xbox Linux to be run from the hard drive without modifying the user's partition table at all. These setups can be used to bundle Linux builds and other apps for easy distribution. (XMugen, for instance.)

The current Xbox Linux patches don't port over the support for mounting the FATX filesystem in Linux. This is because the underlying code has changed significantly in a few places since then. [[User:VannevarKush]] is working on porting the old FATX code to the kernel for native support, but it is a work in progress.

The lack of native FATX support means that mounting loop devices can't be done. Right now, native install and live CDs are the current available boot options for Xbox Linux.

The FUSE based fatxfs [https://github.com/mborgerson/fatx code by mborgerson] may be usable as a stopgap, although its performance hasn't been evaluated yet on an Xbox.

==Advanced Video Support==
The Xbox Linux kernel currently only uses the most basic video support available (defined by CONFIG_FRAMEBUFFER_SIMPLE in the kernel config). More advanced support may be needed to run desktop environments and to run graphical applications with better performance. Does code need to be merged over from the original sources for xbox video?

==See Also==
*[[Xbox Linux Tips and Tricks]]
*[[Xbox Linux]]

Xbox Linux Issues

2022-07-06T00:24:56Z

VannevarKush:

[[Link title]]Here is a list of issues that are blocking general functionality on [[Linux|Xbox Linux]].

==Cromwell incompatibility with OpenXenium==
This is overall a minor issue, in that Xromwell (Cromwell as an xbe) works fine as a workaround. However, booting into Cromwell directly on Xbox boot can be (very) convenient for development, and to allow the user to easily boot into Linux from the OpenXenium BIOS menu.

==Native Boot Partition Filesystem Compatibility with Cromwell==
When booting a "native" install, Cromwell scans the MBR and looks for partitions that are flagged as bootable. If the partition is bootable, Cromwell attempts to determine the filesystem, and load linuxboot.cfg. If the user launches that instance, the kernel and the initrd will then be loaded from that partition. (The presence of initrd and kernel is not checked until launching)

When setting up a native install, a boot partition formatted with ext2 worked fine as formatted by historical X-DSL. The linuxboot.cfg was detected, and Cromwell presented a hard drive icon to load the native install.

When formatting the same partition using a modern distro, Cromwell does not detect the linuxboot.cfg, but it does detect the ext2 filesystem and attempts to read it without errors. (This has been tested by formatting on Gentoo, Debian, and from a Gentoo liveCD on the Xbox.)

Something about the way these ext2 partitions are being formatted by modern tools is preventing the Xbox from reading files on them. Turning off the new ext2 features using mkfs.ext2 /dev/sdb1 -O ^resize_inode,^dir_index,^large_file,^ext_attr did not make a difference.

Formatting this partition from modern Linux with vfat and no options also did not work.

Formatting as Fat32 in Windows with EaseUs Partition Master did work.

Note that Cromwell is able to read the root partition and get linuxboot.cfg from there even for larger root partitions (tested up to 80GB); a reserved boot partition is not strictly needed, but Cromwell still needs to be able to load the kernel and initrd.

So the main question here is, what kind of partitions does Cromwell support? How can at least one kind of these partitions be reliably formatted using a terminal command in Linux?

Or, can Cromwell be easily updated to support new filesystem developments? Since a boot partition is only needed for Cromwell to load the kernel and initrd, it would be acceptable for a more archaic filesystem configuration to be used as the boot partition, which would still give users the freedom to format the root partition with the kernel-supported filesystem of their choice (which is basically the point of a boot partition.) Ext2 is not necessarily the only option here either.

==XBPartitioner Table and MBR Incompatibility==

This issue is relevant to native Linux installs. In a native Linux install, the user formats empty regions of their hard drive and adds an MBR to the hard drive, which is used by Cromwell to access the Linux boot partition and subsequently load linuxboot.cfg, the kernel, and the initrd. The way that Cromwell is currently set up, it can't find Linux partitions without the MBR.

The MBR partitioning/boot scheme uses a 512 byte record at the beginning of the drive. Since the actual boot data isn't needed on Xbox, the first 440 bytes are filled with zeroes when using fdisk, and can be considered unused here. [[http://www.sharetechnote.com/html/Linux_MBR.html MBR layout information]]

The [[FATX]] filesystem has a config area of 1024 sectors (512K) starting at the beginning of the drive. The first 48 bytes are officially used, the rest can be zeroes, but later in the config area is where XBLA information is stored. On a stock-formatted Xbox hard drive, the contents of the early config area don't seem to matter much to ind-BIOS (tested), although Insignia may use the later XBLA regions in the future. If a stock FATX config area has its first 512 bytes overwritten by an MBR, it is not known to cause problems with any other Xbox functionality. (based on the fact that native Linux installs have been run in this way for years)

The problem arises with the XBPartitioner table, a custom partitioning scheme for Xbox hard drives that was never officially supported by Xbox Linux. It is common on Xboxes with larger hard drives. The XBPartitioner table provides 14 partition "slots" for FATX partitions, and it allows users to format their Xbox hard drive with additional FATX partitions. The partition table is written into unused space in the FATX config area, immediately after the initial stock data. XBPartitioner wipes the remaining bytes of the config area when writing a partition table including any MBR contents; other tools are untested so far. And fdisk overwrites the first 512 bytes of the FATX config area with an MBR, replacing the first 440 bytes with zeroes.

Another issue arises in that the two partitioning schemes overlap, even if only the necessary data were written for both XBPartitioner table and MBR; that is if they didn't write the zeroes.

This struct shows the layout of the config area, followed by the partition entry struct. From the unofficial XBPartitioner patches for the old Xbox kernel:

<syntaxhighlight lang="c">
// Temporary struct used to load XBPartitioner data directly from disk.
typedef struct {
char magic[16];
char reserved[32];
XBPartitionerTableEntry partitions[FATX_XBPARTITIONER_PARTITIONS_MAX];
} XBPartitionerTable;

// Temporary struct used to load XBPartitioner data directly from disk.
typedef struct
{
char name[16];
u32 flags;
u32 start;
u32 size;
u32 reserved;
} XBPartitionerTableEntry;
</syntaxhighlight>

The XBPartitioner table entries start at 48 bytes, and each partition's entry is 32 bytes in size. With 14 partitions, the XBPartitioner table ends at 496 bytes, and overwrites a good chunk of the relevant MBR content, which starts at 440 bytes. So tool modification alone can't make these schemes compatible.

The XBPartitioner table has no metadata, only partition entries, and has no known way of redefining the number of available partitions. However, if the XBPartitioner table only had 12 partitions, the partition table would end at 432 bytes and the two schemes could coexist.

===Possible Solutions===
====F Takes All====
This was the typical scheme used by historical Xbox Linux. The area after E would be used for Linux partitions. With larger hard drives available, there is a need for Xbox Linux to coexist with other content on the user's drive. This is okay when the user doesn't want to later modify the partition layout of their hard drive using XBPartitioner, and they want to reserve that hard drive primarily for Linux.

====A 12 partition XBPartitioner Table====
This would involve attempting to get general acceptance of changing the XBPartitioner spec to 12 partitions, so it doesn't overlap with MBR. Or providing a custom set of tools and bioses that support this.
'''Pros'''
* Cromwell would not need to be modified significantly
* The 512 byte boundary could be considered the starting point for future config area modifications
* Very few users have more than 7, much less 14 partitions on their Xbox which provide little practical use
* Any Linux PC can easily mount the Linux partitions

'''Cons'''
* Lots of software would need to be updated, including BIOSes, partitioning tools, and disk formatting tools in Xbox Linux and on PC. There might be a more elegant solution.

====Using the XBPartitioner Table To Define Linux Partitions====

'''Pros'''
* No partitioning scheme incompatiblity management
* No dual partitioning scheme; both Linux and Xbox tools would have awareness of the full drive partition table, to avoid accidentally creating overlapping partitions
* Unused per-partition flags in the XBPartitioner table could be used to mark partitions as Linux as a future standard
* Scripts utilizing dd to read the XBPartitioner table could be used as a stopgap before full kernel support is developed

'''Cons'''
* The Cromwell Grub code would need to be modified to use the XBPartitioner table in place of MBR (this may not be overly complicated)
* Scripts, tools, or kernel support will be needed in order to mount these partitions in Linux, both on the Xbox and on other PCs
* Any tools used to mount Linux partitions and edit their characteristics would have to be updated to support it, primarily apps that mount non-FATX partitions. This could be simple
* FATX kernel support would need to be ported for a long term performant solution. (fatxfs performance still needs to be evaluated on Xbox, as an alterative option)
* The user is limited to 14 total partitions; with F and G they have 7 partitions which is enough for 3 Linux installs (3 boot partitions, 3 data partitions, and shared swap). It would be workable though for most use cases.

====Using Contiguous Files Allocated on FATX as a Filesystem====
This was proposed by mborgerson, as an option to avoid dealing with partition tables at all. Since coexistence of Linux filesystems with FATX is desired, and there are incompatibilities in the current partition table schemes, and correcting this would take a great deal of effort, it was suggested to contain the raw partition data on FATX partitions. A FATX Linux utility could scan a FATX partition for contiguous available space. It could then allocate several 4GB files (the FATX file size limit) across that range of space. Then, the entire range of sectors could be formatted a Linux partition or group of partitions by sector range, and a distribution installed there.

'''Pros'''
* This avoids modifying partition tables at all, so we don't have to worry about changing existing standards.
* The tool fatxfs provides a starting point for interacting with the FATX filesystem without kernel FATX support. FATX partitions only need to be temporarily accessed as such, and once the contiguous files are created and their sector range is known, Linux can work with that area of the disk directly. After starting up and mounting any partitions, Linux does not strictly need any knowledge of FATX.
* Contiguous files can be checked for contiguity before mounting to avoid overwriting other data
* Users could reserve a FATX partition for Linux in XBPartitioner and then use Linux to fill it with contiguous files, the end result should be equivalent to formatting a partition and using MBR to access it, although the mounting process would differ.
* Swap could be shared between Linux installs as long as some kind of common file/directory name or other method is used to detect shared swap on a FATX partition.
* Users can place the kernel and intitrd on FATX partitions and launch using existing Cromwell functionality for loading from FATX, so no boot partitions are needed here
* This could also address the issue of [[Xbox Linux Issues#Lack of FATX Kernel Support|kernel support being needed to mount loop devices]]. But see the "cons" section about FTP-ing images to the hard drive

'''Cons'''
* A custom tool would be needed to access and mount these partitions, both on the Xbox and outside of it. This is still much simpler to address than the issues in the previous proposals.
* The user's filesystem may be fragmented in about the same manner as a FAT filesystem. In order to create space for contiguous files, defragmentation may be needed, especially on partitions which have seen a lot of use and re-use.
* If a user downloads these contiguous files and FTPs them to their Xbox, these files may become fragmented. (It is not fully understood in what situations the BIOS decides to fragment a file.) In order for FTP to work for sharing these files, a utility would have to be able to "defragment" an image and place the data in the right order on the hard drive, without gaps. This could take some time for larger images. One option would be to defragment the drive first and then have Linux handle the FTP part to make sure it gets transferred correctly.

===Mounting a Range of hda as a Loop Device===
(fill out)

==Lack of FATX Kernel Support==

Loop devices are a common method of packaging Xbox Linux installations, in order to avoid modifying the partition table on the Xbox hard drive. A loop device is a filesystem image that can be mounted from within another filesystem. When put on a FATX partition, they allow Xbox Linux to be run from the hard drive without modifying the user's partition table at all. These setups can be used to bundle Linux builds and other apps for easy distribution. (XMugen, for instance.)

The current Xbox Linux patches don't port over the support for mounting the FATX filesystem in Linux. This is because the underlying code has changed significantly in a few places since then. [[User:VannevarKush]] is working on porting the old FATX code to the kernel for native support, but it is a work in progress.

The lack of native FATX support means that mounting loop devices can't be done. Right now, native install and live CDs are the current available boot options for Xbox Linux.

The FUSE based fatxfs [https://github.com/mborgerson/fatx code by mborgerson] may be usable as a stopgap, although its performance hasn't been evaluated yet on an Xbox.

==Advanced Video Support==
The Xbox Linux kernel currently only uses the most basic video support available (defined by CONFIG_FRAMEBUFFER_SIMPLE in the kernel config). More advanced support may be needed to run desktop environments and to run graphical applications with better performance. Does code need to be merged over from the original sources for xbox video?

==See Also==
*[[Xbox Linux Tips and Tricks]]
*[[Xbox Linux]]

Xbox Linux Issues

2022-07-06T00:23:59Z

VannevarKush:

[[Link title]]Here is a list of issues that are blocking general functionality on [[Linux|Xbox Linux]].

==Cromwell incompatibility with OpenXenium==
A minor issue, in that Xromwell works fine as a workaround. However, booting into Cromwell directly can be (very) convenient for development, and for easily boot into Linux from the OpenXenium BIOS menu.

==Native Boot Partition Filesystem Compatibility with Cromwell==
When booting a "native" install, Cromwell scans the MBR and looks for partitions that are flagged as bootable. If the partition is bootable, Cromwell attempts to determine the filesystem, and load linuxboot.cfg. If the user launches that instance, the kernel and the initrd will then be loaded from that partition. (The presence of initrd and kernel is not checked until launching)

When setting up a native install, a boot partition formatted with ext2 worked fine as formatted by historical X-DSL. The linuxboot.cfg was detected, and Cromwell presented a hard drive icon to load the native install.

When formatting the same partition using a modern distro, Cromwell does not detect the linuxboot.cfg, but it does detect the ext2 filesystem and attempts to read it without errors. (This has been tested by formatting on Gentoo, Debian, and from a Gentoo liveCD on the Xbox.)

Something about the way these ext2 partitions are being formatted by modern tools is preventing the Xbox from reading files on them. Turning off the new ext2 features using mkfs.ext2 /dev/sdb1 -O ^resize_inode,^dir_index,^large_file,^ext_attr did not make a difference.

Formatting this partition from modern Linux with vfat and no options also did not work.

Formatting as Fat32 in Windows with EaseUs Partition Master did work.

Note that Cromwell is able to read the root partition and get linuxboot.cfg from there even for larger root partitions (tested up to 80GB); a reserved boot partition is not strictly needed, but Cromwell still needs to be able to load the kernel and initrd.

So the main question here is, what kind of partitions does Cromwell support? How can at least one kind of these partitions be reliably formatted using a terminal command in Linux?

Or, can Cromwell be easily updated to support new filesystem developments? Since a boot partition is only needed for Cromwell to load the kernel and initrd, it would be acceptable for a more archaic filesystem configuration to be used as the boot partition, which would still give users the freedom to format the root partition with the kernel-supported filesystem of their choice (which is basically the point of a boot partition.) Ext2 is not necessarily the only option here either.

==XBPartitioner Table and MBR Incompatibility==

This issue is relevant to native Linux installs. In a native Linux install, the user formats empty regions of their hard drive and adds an MBR to the hard drive, which is used by Cromwell to access the Linux boot partition and subsequently load linuxboot.cfg, the kernel, and the initrd. The way that Cromwell is currently set up, it can't find Linux partitions without the MBR.

The MBR partitioning/boot scheme uses a 512 byte record at the beginning of the drive. Since the actual boot data isn't needed on Xbox, the first 440 bytes are filled with zeroes when using fdisk, and can be considered unused here. [[http://www.sharetechnote.com/html/Linux_MBR.html MBR layout information]]

The [[FATX]] filesystem has a config area of 1024 sectors (512K) starting at the beginning of the drive. The first 48 bytes are officially used, the rest can be zeroes, but later in the config area is where XBLA information is stored. On a stock-formatted Xbox hard drive, the contents of the early config area don't seem to matter much to ind-BIOS (tested), although Insignia may use the later XBLA regions in the future. If a stock FATX config area has its first 512 bytes overwritten by an MBR, it is not known to cause problems with any other Xbox functionality. (based on the fact that native Linux installs have been run in this way for years)

The problem arises with the XBPartitioner table, a custom partitioning scheme for Xbox hard drives that was never officially supported by Xbox Linux. It is common on Xboxes with larger hard drives. The XBPartitioner table provides 14 partition "slots" for FATX partitions, and it allows users to format their Xbox hard drive with additional FATX partitions. The partition table is written into unused space in the FATX config area, immediately after the initial stock data. XBPartitioner wipes the remaining bytes of the config area when writing a partition table including any MBR contents; other tools are untested so far. And fdisk overwrites the first 512 bytes of the FATX config area with an MBR, replacing the first 440 bytes with zeroes.

Another issue arises in that the two partitioning schemes overlap, even if only the necessary data were written for both XBPartitioner table and MBR; that is if they didn't write the zeroes.

This struct shows the layout of the config area, followed by the partition entry struct. From the unofficial XBPartitioner patches for the old Xbox kernel:

<syntaxhighlight lang="c">
// Temporary struct used to load XBPartitioner data directly from disk.
typedef struct {
char magic[16];
char reserved[32];
XBPartitionerTableEntry partitions[FATX_XBPARTITIONER_PARTITIONS_MAX];
} XBPartitionerTable;

// Temporary struct used to load XBPartitioner data directly from disk.
typedef struct
{
char name[16];
u32 flags;
u32 start;
u32 size;
u32 reserved;
} XBPartitionerTableEntry;
</syntaxhighlight>

The XBPartitioner table entries start at 48 bytes, and each partition's entry is 32 bytes in size. With 14 partitions, the XBPartitioner table ends at 496 bytes, and overwrites a good chunk of the relevant MBR content, which starts at 440 bytes. So tool modification alone can't make these schemes compatible.

The XBPartitioner table has no metadata, only partition entries, and has no known way of redefining the number of available partitions. However, if the XBPartitioner table only had 12 partitions, the partition table would end at 432 bytes and the two schemes could coexist.

===Possible Solutions===
====F Takes All====
This was the typical scheme used by historical Xbox Linux. The area after E would be used for Linux partitions. With larger hard drives available, there is a need for Xbox Linux to coexist with other content on the user's drive. This is okay when the user doesn't want to later modify the partition layout of their hard drive using XBPartitioner, and they want to reserve that hard drive primarily for Linux.

====A 12 partition XBPartitioner Table====
This would involve attempting to get general acceptance of changing the XBPartitioner spec to 12 partitions, so it doesn't overlap with MBR. Or providing a custom set of tools and bioses that support this.
'''Pros'''
* Cromwell would not need to be modified significantly
* The 512 byte boundary could be considered the starting point for future config area modifications
* Very few users have more than 7, much less 14 partitions on their Xbox which provide little practical use
* Any Linux PC can easily mount the Linux partitions

'''Cons'''
* Lots of software would need to be updated, including BIOSes, partitioning tools, and disk formatting tools in Xbox Linux and on PC. There might be a more elegant solution.

====Using the XBPartitioner Table To Define Linux Partitions====

'''Pros'''
* No partitioning scheme incompatiblity management
* No dual partitioning scheme; both Linux and Xbox tools would have awareness of the full drive partition table, to avoid accidentally creating overlapping partitions
* Unused per-partition flags in the XBPartitioner table could be used to mark partitions as Linux as a future standard
* Scripts utilizing dd to read the XBPartitioner table could be used as a stopgap before full kernel support is developed

'''Cons'''
* The Cromwell Grub code would need to be modified to use the XBPartitioner table in place of MBR (this may not be overly complicated)
* Scripts, tools, or kernel support will be needed in order to mount these partitions in Linux, both on the Xbox and on other PCs
* Any tools used to mount Linux partitions and edit their characteristics would have to be updated to support it, primarily apps that mount non-FATX partitions. This could be simple
* FATX kernel support would need to be ported for a long term performant solution. (fatxfs performance still needs to be evaluated on Xbox, as an alterative option)
* The user is limited to 14 total partitions; with F and G they have 7 partitions which is enough for 3 Linux installs (3 boot partitions, 3 data partitions, and shared swap). It would be workable though for most use cases.

====Using Contiguous Files Allocated on FATX as a Filesystem====
This was proposed by mborgerson, as an option to avoid dealing with partition tables at all. Since coexistence of Linux filesystems with FATX is desired, and there are incompatibilities in the current partition table schemes, and correcting this would take a great deal of effort, it was suggested to contain the raw partition data on FATX partitions. A FATX Linux utility could scan a FATX partition for contiguous available space. It could then allocate several 4GB files (the FATX file size limit) across that range of space. Then, the entire range of sectors could be formatted a Linux partition or group of partitions by sector range, and a distribution installed there.

'''Pros'''
* This avoids modifying partition tables at all, so we don't have to worry about changing existing standards.
* The tool fatxfs provides a starting point for interacting with the FATX filesystem without kernel FATX support. FATX partitions only need to be temporarily accessed as such, and once the contiguous files are created and their sector range is known, Linux can work with that area of the disk directly. After starting up and mounting any partitions, Linux does not strictly need any knowledge of FATX.
* Contiguous files can be checked for contiguity before mounting to avoid overwriting other data
* Users could reserve a FATX partition for Linux in XBPartitioner and then use Linux to fill it with contiguous files, the end result should be equivalent to formatting a partition and using MBR to access it, although the mounting process would differ.
* Swap could be shared between Linux installs as long as some kind of common file/directory name or other method is used to detect shared swap on a FATX partition.
* Users can place the kernel and intitrd on FATX partitions and launch using existing Cromwell functionality for loading from FATX, so no boot partitions are needed here
* This could also address the issue of [[Xbox Linux Issues#Lack of FATX Kernel Support|kernel support being needed to mount loop devices]]. But see the "cons" section about FTP-ing images to the hard drive

'''Cons'''
* A custom tool would be needed to access and mount these partitions, both on the Xbox and outside of it. This is still much simpler to address than the issues in the previous proposals.
* The user's filesystem may be fragmented in about the same manner as a FAT filesystem. In order to create space for contiguous files, defragmentation may be needed, especially on partitions which have seen a lot of use and re-use.
* If a user downloads these contiguous files and FTPs them to their Xbox, these files may become fragmented. (It is not fully understood in what situations the BIOS decides to fragment a file.) In order for FTP to work for sharing these files, a utility would have to be able to "defragment" an image and place the data in the right order on the hard drive, without gaps. This could take some time for larger images. One option would be to defragment the drive first and then have Linux handle the FTP part to make sure it gets transferred correctly.

===Mounting a Range of hda as a Loop Device===
(fill out)

==Lack of FATX Kernel Support==

Loop devices are a common method of packaging Xbox Linux installations, in order to avoid modifying the partition table on the Xbox hard drive. A loop device is a filesystem image that can be mounted from within another filesystem. When put on a FATX partition, they allow Xbox Linux to be run from the hard drive without modifying the user's partition table at all. These setups can be used to bundle Linux builds and other apps for easy distribution. (XMugen, for instance.)

The current Xbox Linux patches don't port over the support for mounting the FATX filesystem in Linux. This is because the underlying code has changed significantly in a few places since then. [[User:VannevarKush]] is working on porting the old FATX code to the kernel for native support, but it is a work in progress.

The lack of native FATX support means that mounting loop devices can't be done. Right now, native install and live CDs are the current available boot options for Xbox Linux.

The FUSE based fatxfs [https://github.com/mborgerson/fatx code by mborgerson] may be usable as a stopgap, although its performance hasn't been evaluated yet on an Xbox.

==Advanced Video Support==
The Xbox Linux kernel currently only uses the most basic video support available (defined by CONFIG_FRAMEBUFFER_SIMPLE in the kernel config). More advanced support may be needed to run desktop environments and to run graphical applications with better performance. Does code need to be merged over from the original sources for xbox video?

==See Also==
*[[Xbox Linux Tips and Tricks]]
*[[Xbox Linux]]

Historical Xbox Linux

2022-07-06T00:00:04Z

VannevarKush: /* Historical links */

When it was announced that the specifications of the Xbox were known to be very similar to an X86 PC, Xbox Linux was quickly considered as a possibility for getting getting cheap Linux PCs into the hands of the masses. The first Xbox exploits were created to make Xbox Linux possible, and were quickly repurposed by modders, while Linux remained a more niche application on the original Xbox. In the years while the Xbox was still being manufactured, it could function as a cheap daily driver Linux PC, and some users modded the controller ports into permanent USB ports, and even installed a VGA connector. But, as with all PCs they eventually became obsolete as cheaper, smaller hardware became available with similar processing power.

Xbox Linux reached a point of stable releases [https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/6704 around 2003], and the development continued thereafter, providing support for 1.4 Xboxes and their Focus encoder chip, and even support for 1.6 Xboxes and their changes. The 2.4 kernel was primarily used for Xbox Linux. The 2.6 kernel patches that were developed appear stable and quite usable, but scattered functionalities from the 2.4 kernel were never ported over.

==Timeline==
[https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''November 15, 2001''' - Microsoft Xbox released in United States
* '''c. [https://web.archive.org/web/20021013204521/https://www.xenatera.com/bunnie/proj/anatak/xboxmod.html 2001-2002 (when?)]''' - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Huang_(hacker) Bunnie Huang] [https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''February 22, 2002''' - Xbox released in Japan
* '''March 14, 2002''' - Xbox released in Europe and Australia
* '''May 23, 2002''' - Xbox Linux project founded by Michael Stiehl
* '''July 2, 2002''' - Michael Robertson, CEO of Lindows.com, offered two $100,000 prizes for accomplishment of Xbox Linux goals by January 1, 2003. (He was coincidentally being sued at the time by Microsoft, for use of the name "Lindows") One of the prizes offered was for a demonstration of Linux running on an Xbox (with a $55,000 "subprize" for writing a bootloader) The other prize was for an exploit capable of getting Xbox Linux to run without hardware modification, ideally by using just a CD-ROM.
* '''August 13, 2002''' - First kernel boot
* '''October 7, 2002''' - First graphical desktop environment (KDE)
* '''October 9, 2002''' - Mandrake Linux 9 released for Xbox. Users had to replace or flash the TSOP.
* '''December 17, 2002''' - [[Cromwell]] BIOS/bootloader ready. The first of the $100,000 prizes was claimed, for running Linux on Xbox and developing a bootloader before January 1, 2003.
* '''December 31, 2002''' - [https://www.theregister.com/2003/01/02/xbox_linux_donor_extends_prize/ Michael Robertson extends the prize deadline for the remaining prize.]
* '''March 29, 2003''' - The second prize was claimed for the [[Exploits#007:_Agent_Under_Fire|007 hack]] by Habibi_xbox. (the game Frogger Beyond was initially hacked, but it wasn't released in Europe) This launched a minilinux via an exploit from a hacked savegame on an Xbox memory card, technically accomplishing the goal of using Linux on the Xbox without hardware modification. However, users had to start Linux via the hacked game save every time.
* '''July 4, 2003''' - The [[Exploits#Font_hacks|font exploit]] is discovered, demonstrating the ability to run Linux from the hard drive with no modchip, a true "softmod". (but also opening Pandora's box of piracy, which Xbox Linux wanted to avoid association with.) The dashboard audio exploit was discovered soon afterwards.
* '''July 7, 2003''' - A [https://www.mail-archive.com/bugtraq@securityfocus.com/msg11923.html official security release] is made about newly discovered Xbox security vulnerabilities, as responsible hackers should do
* '''August 11, 2003''' - The Mechassault exploit was released by Jeff Mears, with full softmod conversion. Efforts were made to obfuscate the source to prevent uses for piracy

More details [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Presentations/20th%20Chaos%20Communication%20Congress/ here]

==Historical Distros==
A number of distributions were released, built around the Xbox Linux-patched kernel.

*'''[https://gentoox.shallax.com GentooX]''' - GentooX, unlike vanilla Gentoo, provided precompiled binaries to the user via a custom repository. These were binaries compiled specifically for the Xbox. GentooX had both Home and Pro editions, the Home edition built around a desktop environment and the Pro edition built around the CLI. GentooX was a popular and developed Xbox Linux distro. The website is [https://web.archive.org/web/20220328101921/https://gentoox.shallax.com/ still being archived], although it appears broken in Chrome. The latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Home/ GentooX Home] is 7.1, and the latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Pro/ Pro] was 5.1, in 2009. Tested and working. Works from DVD. The pro version attempts to boot from the CD into GentooX loader, so be sure set your BIOS not to boot from CD if booting from CD doesn't work from you. Try Xromwell if GentooX loader doesn't work.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20050510000924/http://www.x-dsl.org/ X-DSL]''' - Based on Damn Small Linux, X-DSL was a lightweight Linux build. It used Knoppix patches to be able to boot to a desktop environment from small (<100MB) loop devices from FATX. It can also make a "native" install to the hard drive, or install to a larger loop device for a permanent setup. X-DSL is an easy version of historical Linux to try out today, since it can be launched and run entirely from drive E and that avoids some incompatibilities of Xbox Linux with larger hard drives. (if your hard drive is 3TB in order to get that extra .1TB of space, it may not work). The latest official version of X-DSL is 0.6, although there is an unofficial 0.7 floating around, among various other unofficial builds. X-DSL 0.6 can be found [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/X-DSL/X-DSL%20v0.6/ here]. The contents of the zip file can be copied to the root of E (so that linuxboot.cfg is in the root) and launched with Cromwell or GentooX, with no CD. The iso is also tested and working.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060529005204/http://www.dynebolic.org:80/ Dyne:bolic Linux]''' - This is Rasta software! Dynebolic Linux is a multimedia creation, editing, and streaming focused distro that could boot as a liveCD on many systems, including original Xbox. Original Xbox support was ended in Dyne:bolic 2.x, but that uses the 2.6 kernel so it could theoretically be supported if someone felt like it. The latest version compatible with the Xbox is 1.4.1, [https://osarchive.sda1.eu/dyne-bolic available here]. This distro has a lot of toys and is fun to check out. Also, it works from DVD! (it does seem to have a low color depth in the desktop though...)
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20100617005832/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/XUbuntu xUbuntu]''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "xUbuntu". "xUbuntu is based on Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy Badger) distribution without graphical environment. xUbuntu linux system can be run from CD or installed to a PC or Xbox hard drive. The install process, the kernel, the kernel modules and the desktop are customized for PC and Xbox (i386)." The latest version is 0.9.0, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/xUbuntu/xUbuntu%200.9.0/ available here]. It needs to be burned to a CD instead of a DVD.
*'''Ed's Xebian''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "Xebian". Does not appear to have a website. From the original Xbox Linux wiki, "With superb flexibility and ease of use, it can run off CD/DVD or it can be installed onto the Xbox hard drive in either the free space or the saved game area. The OS includes support for all versions of the Xbox, including those with Xcalibur video chips. Based on Debian stable (Sarge) with backports for newer software." The latest version is 1.1.4, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Ed_s%20Xebian/Xebian/ available here], which boots to desktop as a liveCD. It seems to require burning to a CD instead of DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060630100324/http://www.keckstar.com:80/nuke/html/index.php sXb]''' - Slackware for the Original Xbox. The versioning is a little unclear, but the most recent ISO on sourceforge is in the iso.gz file [https://sourceforge.net/projects/sxb/files/Sxbnew/SXBNEW-iso--dfb-xdirectfb/ here]. May need to be burned to CD. Reported "controller jammed" messages at startup, but one of my controller ports is busted.
*'''Mandrake''' A Mandrake 9 was released and claimed to be the first full distribution on the Xbox, but apparently was not continued or supported. No known Web site. Does anyone have a copy of the original Xbox Linux Mandrake iso for archival purposes? It appears a 2005 "special edition" with the Xbox patches can be found [http://ftp.twaren.net/Linux/Mandrake/official/iso/10.1/i586/10.2/ here]. (Mandrake Linux was renamed to Mandriva Linux in 2005). Requires composite cable, at least on this 1.0 Xbox. Appears to require burning to a CD, instead of a DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060713072515/http://www.not404.com:80/cgi-bin/trac.fcgi/wiki/XFedora4 xFedora]''' A port of Fedora Core to the Xbox; essentially Fedora Core with Xbox patches. The latest version is 0.7.41, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Fedora/ available here]. I am unsure how to run it.
*'''SuSE 8''' - There's a dead download link on the old wiki. Seems to have been abandoned
*'''old xbox-linux iso''' The xbox-linux team released some preliminary ISOs during the development of Xbox Linux.
*'''live-linux''' A liveCD based Linux, may have been able to install to HDD; it was released up to 0.3, no known website, but here is [https://sourceforge.net/p/xbox-linux/mailman/message/10300266/ the announcement]. The latest image is [https://legacy.downloads.diomtec.com/homebrew/xbins/Console%20Based%20Applications/Operating%20Systems/linux/distributions/live-linux/live-linux.0.3.iso.bz2 available here]. The file boot/boot.cfg on the iso needs to be renamed to linuxboot.cfg. The video became garbled launching with both composite and component cables. This is a very basic minilinux distro, essentially a proof of concept. The linuxrc is a symlink to busybox. It appears to mount a 9MB image.
*'''ltools''', a minilinux used in Xbox game save hacks, first designed to install Linux, but later repurposed to softmod the Xbox.
*'''[https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ xboxhdm]''' is a tool made by Idotsfan for softmodding locked Xbox hard drives, it's a PC-based CD-bootable set of Linux tools
*'''XMugen''' packaged Mugen for Linux using a busybox in an initramfs, and used swap and game character data files located on FATX. It currently has issues with anything other than "F takes all" schemes.
*'''Chimp''' is a tool for cloning and basic partitioning on Xbox hard drives. It runs from an initramfs.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20051214030132/http://nexus.il.fontys.nl:80/ FreeBSD/Xbox]''' - Not Linux per se, but it's a port of FreeBSD to the Xbox. It was officially integrated into FreeBSD as a set of optional patches. A NetBSD setup can be found [ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/misc/jmcneill/xbox/ here] but it requires the rootfs mounted on NFS. There might be a self contained ISO out there?

==Installing Old Distros==
These liveCDs above should all be safe to try on your Xbox, but installation to your hard drive is more risky. It can be fine if you take the proper considerations. Here are the installation methods usually presented by the installers:

'''Native Install'''

This may not be compatible with softmods! '''Don't mess around with native installs on a locked hard drive or a hard drive that's not backed up! Flash your TSOP or hardmod first!'''

This may wipe your hard drive, format it for Linux, and expect you to put Cromwell on your BIOS. It may also mean just formatting F and booting into it from Xromwell on FATX. So make sure you know which one it is! (the installer should tell you, if it's installing to F you should be fine) Any native install with a boot partition (launched via a hard drive icon in Cromwell/Xromwell) is NOT compatible with the XBPartitioner table, and installing it will overwite the XBPartitioner table. So "F takes all" is preferred here, for allowing coexistence with the stock partitions.

'''If you have a native install, DO NOT USE XBPARTITIONER unless you want to remove Linux. Any XBPartitioner format will break Linux by wiping out the MBR that Linux uses to find its partitions.''' You can't have custom FATX partitions alongside a Linux native install. (So use a spare hard drive for a native install)

'''Loopback Install'''

This installs Linux to a file on the FATX filesystem. Your Linux filesystem will be contained within that file. This means that no repartitioning of your hard drive is necessary. This is a safer install method, if you have space for a small install on E, or if you are using an "F takes all" scheme with an Xbox partition on F. Drive F must end below the 137GB boundary, if doing a loopback install to it. (is that right?) XBPartitioner-defined partitions are not supported by official versions of Xbox Linux, it only looks for the stock partitions plus "F takes all". I am unsure of the behavior if the drive is bigger than F can be. Loopback installs should be safe if your FATX drive F is detected by Xbox Linux.

In general, using a <137GB hard drive avoids these issues, although loopback installs can still be done on larger drives.

It is not advisable to make changes on the FATX filesystem more than you have to in Xbox Linux. Mounting and reading FATX partitions is fine, but doing complex write operations should be avoided, just in case. The 2.4 kernel FATX support is thought to be more stable than in the 2.6 kernel. If you need to copy lots of files to your Xbox, do it via an Xbox dash using FTP. Simple operations on FATX should be fine, and the FATX support is not seriously unstable, but better to be safe. Loopback installs are considered to be stable, even though the files exist on FATX.

==Historical links==
Much of the old Xbox Linux information now lives on archive.org. It is helpful if you come across anything useful, to add it here!
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/ The original Xbox Linux repository on sourceforge.] The mailing list archives can help answer esoteric questions about xbox linux, sometimes. The files section contains various Xbox Linux software and historical distribution isos.
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ The xboxhdm repository.] It contains source and executables for many Xbox tools created and modified by Idotsfan. The X-DSL directory contains some information on the original Xbpartitioner table patches.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100617000252/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/Main_Page The "New" Xbox Linux wiki], which was online until 2011.
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20050307163352/http://wiki.xbox-linux.org:80/ The original "Old" xbox linux wiki]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050724003648/http://xbox-linux.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/moin.cgi/FrontPage the "Old" xbox wiki on SourceForge.]
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20040419204220/http://xbox-linux.org:80/ The "Old" xbox-linux website], before the website was replaced with the "new wiki".

==See Also==
*[[Xbox Linux]]

Historical Xbox Linux

2022-07-05T23:59:29Z

VannevarKush: /* Historical links */

When it was announced that the specifications of the Xbox were known to be very similar to an X86 PC, Xbox Linux was quickly considered as a possibility for getting getting cheap Linux PCs into the hands of the masses. The first Xbox exploits were created to make Xbox Linux possible, and were quickly repurposed by modders, while Linux remained a more niche application on the original Xbox. In the years while the Xbox was still being manufactured, it could function as a cheap daily driver Linux PC, and some users modded the controller ports into permanent USB ports, and even installed a VGA connector. But, as with all PCs they eventually became obsolete as cheaper, smaller hardware became available with similar processing power.

Xbox Linux reached a point of stable releases [https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/6704 around 2003], and the development continued thereafter, providing support for 1.4 Xboxes and their Focus encoder chip, and even support for 1.6 Xboxes and their changes. The 2.4 kernel was primarily used for Xbox Linux. The 2.6 kernel patches that were developed appear stable and quite usable, but scattered functionalities from the 2.4 kernel were never ported over.

==Timeline==
[https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''November 15, 2001''' - Microsoft Xbox released in United States
* '''c. [https://web.archive.org/web/20021013204521/https://www.xenatera.com/bunnie/proj/anatak/xboxmod.html 2001-2002 (when?)]''' - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Huang_(hacker) Bunnie Huang] [https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''February 22, 2002''' - Xbox released in Japan
* '''March 14, 2002''' - Xbox released in Europe and Australia
* '''May 23, 2002''' - Xbox Linux project founded by Michael Stiehl
* '''July 2, 2002''' - Michael Robertson, CEO of Lindows.com, offered two $100,000 prizes for accomplishment of Xbox Linux goals by January 1, 2003. (He was coincidentally being sued at the time by Microsoft, for use of the name "Lindows") One of the prizes offered was for a demonstration of Linux running on an Xbox (with a $55,000 "subprize" for writing a bootloader) The other prize was for an exploit capable of getting Xbox Linux to run without hardware modification, ideally by using just a CD-ROM.
* '''August 13, 2002''' - First kernel boot
* '''October 7, 2002''' - First graphical desktop environment (KDE)
* '''October 9, 2002''' - Mandrake Linux 9 released for Xbox. Users had to replace or flash the TSOP.
* '''December 17, 2002''' - [[Cromwell]] BIOS/bootloader ready. The first of the $100,000 prizes was claimed, for running Linux on Xbox and developing a bootloader before January 1, 2003.
* '''December 31, 2002''' - [https://www.theregister.com/2003/01/02/xbox_linux_donor_extends_prize/ Michael Robertson extends the prize deadline for the remaining prize.]
* '''March 29, 2003''' - The second prize was claimed for the [[Exploits#007:_Agent_Under_Fire|007 hack]] by Habibi_xbox. (the game Frogger Beyond was initially hacked, but it wasn't released in Europe) This launched a minilinux via an exploit from a hacked savegame on an Xbox memory card, technically accomplishing the goal of using Linux on the Xbox without hardware modification. However, users had to start Linux via the hacked game save every time.
* '''July 4, 2003''' - The [[Exploits#Font_hacks|font exploit]] is discovered, demonstrating the ability to run Linux from the hard drive with no modchip, a true "softmod". (but also opening Pandora's box of piracy, which Xbox Linux wanted to avoid association with.) The dashboard audio exploit was discovered soon afterwards.
* '''July 7, 2003''' - A [https://www.mail-archive.com/bugtraq@securityfocus.com/msg11923.html official security release] is made about newly discovered Xbox security vulnerabilities, as responsible hackers should do
* '''August 11, 2003''' - The Mechassault exploit was released by Jeff Mears, with full softmod conversion. Efforts were made to obfuscate the source to prevent uses for piracy

More details [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Presentations/20th%20Chaos%20Communication%20Congress/ here]

==Historical Distros==
A number of distributions were released, built around the Xbox Linux-patched kernel.

*'''[https://gentoox.shallax.com GentooX]''' - GentooX, unlike vanilla Gentoo, provided precompiled binaries to the user via a custom repository. These were binaries compiled specifically for the Xbox. GentooX had both Home and Pro editions, the Home edition built around a desktop environment and the Pro edition built around the CLI. GentooX was a popular and developed Xbox Linux distro. The website is [https://web.archive.org/web/20220328101921/https://gentoox.shallax.com/ still being archived], although it appears broken in Chrome. The latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Home/ GentooX Home] is 7.1, and the latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Pro/ Pro] was 5.1, in 2009. Tested and working. Works from DVD. The pro version attempts to boot from the CD into GentooX loader, so be sure set your BIOS not to boot from CD if booting from CD doesn't work from you. Try Xromwell if GentooX loader doesn't work.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20050510000924/http://www.x-dsl.org/ X-DSL]''' - Based on Damn Small Linux, X-DSL was a lightweight Linux build. It used Knoppix patches to be able to boot to a desktop environment from small (<100MB) loop devices from FATX. It can also make a "native" install to the hard drive, or install to a larger loop device for a permanent setup. X-DSL is an easy version of historical Linux to try out today, since it can be launched and run entirely from drive E and that avoids some incompatibilities of Xbox Linux with larger hard drives. (if your hard drive is 3TB in order to get that extra .1TB of space, it may not work). The latest official version of X-DSL is 0.6, although there is an unofficial 0.7 floating around, among various other unofficial builds. X-DSL 0.6 can be found [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/X-DSL/X-DSL%20v0.6/ here]. The contents of the zip file can be copied to the root of E (so that linuxboot.cfg is in the root) and launched with Cromwell or GentooX, with no CD. The iso is also tested and working.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060529005204/http://www.dynebolic.org:80/ Dyne:bolic Linux]''' - This is Rasta software! Dynebolic Linux is a multimedia creation, editing, and streaming focused distro that could boot as a liveCD on many systems, including original Xbox. Original Xbox support was ended in Dyne:bolic 2.x, but that uses the 2.6 kernel so it could theoretically be supported if someone felt like it. The latest version compatible with the Xbox is 1.4.1, [https://osarchive.sda1.eu/dyne-bolic available here]. This distro has a lot of toys and is fun to check out. Also, it works from DVD! (it does seem to have a low color depth in the desktop though...)
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20100617005832/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/XUbuntu xUbuntu]''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "xUbuntu". "xUbuntu is based on Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy Badger) distribution without graphical environment. xUbuntu linux system can be run from CD or installed to a PC or Xbox hard drive. The install process, the kernel, the kernel modules and the desktop are customized for PC and Xbox (i386)." The latest version is 0.9.0, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/xUbuntu/xUbuntu%200.9.0/ available here]. It needs to be burned to a CD instead of a DVD.
*'''Ed's Xebian''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "Xebian". Does not appear to have a website. From the original Xbox Linux wiki, "With superb flexibility and ease of use, it can run off CD/DVD or it can be installed onto the Xbox hard drive in either the free space or the saved game area. The OS includes support for all versions of the Xbox, including those with Xcalibur video chips. Based on Debian stable (Sarge) with backports for newer software." The latest version is 1.1.4, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Ed_s%20Xebian/Xebian/ available here], which boots to desktop as a liveCD. It seems to require burning to a CD instead of DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060630100324/http://www.keckstar.com:80/nuke/html/index.php sXb]''' - Slackware for the Original Xbox. The versioning is a little unclear, but the most recent ISO on sourceforge is in the iso.gz file [https://sourceforge.net/projects/sxb/files/Sxbnew/SXBNEW-iso--dfb-xdirectfb/ here]. May need to be burned to CD. Reported "controller jammed" messages at startup, but one of my controller ports is busted.
*'''Mandrake''' A Mandrake 9 was released and claimed to be the first full distribution on the Xbox, but apparently was not continued or supported. No known Web site. Does anyone have a copy of the original Xbox Linux Mandrake iso for archival purposes? It appears a 2005 "special edition" with the Xbox patches can be found [http://ftp.twaren.net/Linux/Mandrake/official/iso/10.1/i586/10.2/ here]. (Mandrake Linux was renamed to Mandriva Linux in 2005). Requires composite cable, at least on this 1.0 Xbox. Appears to require burning to a CD, instead of a DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060713072515/http://www.not404.com:80/cgi-bin/trac.fcgi/wiki/XFedora4 xFedora]''' A port of Fedora Core to the Xbox; essentially Fedora Core with Xbox patches. The latest version is 0.7.41, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Fedora/ available here]. I am unsure how to run it.
*'''SuSE 8''' - There's a dead download link on the old wiki. Seems to have been abandoned
*'''old xbox-linux iso''' The xbox-linux team released some preliminary ISOs during the development of Xbox Linux.
*'''live-linux''' A liveCD based Linux, may have been able to install to HDD; it was released up to 0.3, no known website, but here is [https://sourceforge.net/p/xbox-linux/mailman/message/10300266/ the announcement]. The latest image is [https://legacy.downloads.diomtec.com/homebrew/xbins/Console%20Based%20Applications/Operating%20Systems/linux/distributions/live-linux/live-linux.0.3.iso.bz2 available here]. The file boot/boot.cfg on the iso needs to be renamed to linuxboot.cfg. The video became garbled launching with both composite and component cables. This is a very basic minilinux distro, essentially a proof of concept. The linuxrc is a symlink to busybox. It appears to mount a 9MB image.
*'''ltools''', a minilinux used in Xbox game save hacks, first designed to install Linux, but later repurposed to softmod the Xbox.
*'''[https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ xboxhdm]''' is a tool made by Idotsfan for softmodding locked Xbox hard drives, it's a PC-based CD-bootable set of Linux tools
*'''XMugen''' packaged Mugen for Linux using a busybox in an initramfs, and used swap and game character data files located on FATX. It currently has issues with anything other than "F takes all" schemes.
*'''Chimp''' is a tool for cloning and basic partitioning on Xbox hard drives. It runs from an initramfs.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20051214030132/http://nexus.il.fontys.nl:80/ FreeBSD/Xbox]''' - Not Linux per se, but it's a port of FreeBSD to the Xbox. It was officially integrated into FreeBSD as a set of optional patches. A NetBSD setup can be found [ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/misc/jmcneill/xbox/ here] but it requires the rootfs mounted on NFS. There might be a self contained ISO out there?

==Installing Old Distros==
These liveCDs above should all be safe to try on your Xbox, but installation to your hard drive is more risky. It can be fine if you take the proper considerations. Here are the installation methods usually presented by the installers:

'''Native Install'''

This may not be compatible with softmods! '''Don't mess around with native installs on a locked hard drive or a hard drive that's not backed up! Flash your TSOP or hardmod first!'''

This may wipe your hard drive, format it for Linux, and expect you to put Cromwell on your BIOS. It may also mean just formatting F and booting into it from Xromwell on FATX. So make sure you know which one it is! (the installer should tell you, if it's installing to F you should be fine) Any native install with a boot partition (launched via a hard drive icon in Cromwell/Xromwell) is NOT compatible with the XBPartitioner table, and installing it will overwite the XBPartitioner table. So "F takes all" is preferred here, for allowing coexistence with the stock partitions.

'''If you have a native install, DO NOT USE XBPARTITIONER unless you want to remove Linux. Any XBPartitioner format will break Linux by wiping out the MBR that Linux uses to find its partitions.''' You can't have custom FATX partitions alongside a Linux native install. (So use a spare hard drive for a native install)

'''Loopback Install'''

This installs Linux to a file on the FATX filesystem. Your Linux filesystem will be contained within that file. This means that no repartitioning of your hard drive is necessary. This is a safer install method, if you have space for a small install on E, or if you are using an "F takes all" scheme with an Xbox partition on F. Drive F must end below the 137GB boundary, if doing a loopback install to it. (is that right?) XBPartitioner-defined partitions are not supported by official versions of Xbox Linux, it only looks for the stock partitions plus "F takes all". I am unsure of the behavior if the drive is bigger than F can be. Loopback installs should be safe if your FATX drive F is detected by Xbox Linux.

In general, using a <137GB hard drive avoids these issues, although loopback installs can still be done on larger drives.

It is not advisable to make changes on the FATX filesystem more than you have to in Xbox Linux. Mounting and reading FATX partitions is fine, but doing complex write operations should be avoided, just in case. The 2.4 kernel FATX support is thought to be more stable than in the 2.6 kernel. If you need to copy lots of files to your Xbox, do it via an Xbox dash using FTP. Simple operations on FATX should be fine, and the FATX support is not seriously unstable, but better to be safe. Loopback installs are considered to be stable, even though the files exist on FATX.

==Historical links==
Much of the old Xbox Linux information now lives on archive.org. It is helpful if you come across anything useful, to add it here!
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/ The original Xbox Linux repository on sourceforge.] The mailing list archives can help answer esoteric questions about xbox linux, sometimes. The files section contains various Xbox Linux software and historical distribution isos.
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ The xboxhdm repository.] It contains source and executables for many Xbox tools created and modified by Idotsfan. The X-DSL directory contains some information on the original Xbpartitioner table patches.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100617000252/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/Main_Page The "New" Xbox Linux wiki], which was online until 2011.
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20050307163352/http://wiki.xbox-linux.org:80/ The original "Old" xbox linux wiki]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050724003648/http://xbox-linux.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/moin.cgi/FrontPage the "Old" xbox wiki on SourceForge.]
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20040419204220/http://xbox-linux.org:80/ The "old" xbox-linux website], before the website was replaced with the "new wiki".

==See Also==
*[[Xbox Linux]]

Historical Xbox Linux

2022-07-05T23:50:00Z

VannevarKush: /* Historical links */

When it was announced that the specifications of the Xbox were known to be very similar to an X86 PC, Xbox Linux was quickly considered as a possibility for getting getting cheap Linux PCs into the hands of the masses. The first Xbox exploits were created to make Xbox Linux possible, and were quickly repurposed by modders, while Linux remained a more niche application on the original Xbox. In the years while the Xbox was still being manufactured, it could function as a cheap daily driver Linux PC, and some users modded the controller ports into permanent USB ports, and even installed a VGA connector. But, as with all PCs they eventually became obsolete as cheaper, smaller hardware became available with similar processing power.

Xbox Linux reached a point of stable releases [https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/6704 around 2003], and the development continued thereafter, providing support for 1.4 Xboxes and their Focus encoder chip, and even support for 1.6 Xboxes and their changes. The 2.4 kernel was primarily used for Xbox Linux. The 2.6 kernel patches that were developed appear stable and quite usable, but scattered functionalities from the 2.4 kernel were never ported over.

==Timeline==
[https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''November 15, 2001''' - Microsoft Xbox released in United States
* '''c. [https://web.archive.org/web/20021013204521/https://www.xenatera.com/bunnie/proj/anatak/xboxmod.html 2001-2002 (when?)]''' - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Huang_(hacker) Bunnie Huang] [https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''February 22, 2002''' - Xbox released in Japan
* '''March 14, 2002''' - Xbox released in Europe and Australia
* '''May 23, 2002''' - Xbox Linux project founded by Michael Stiehl
* '''July 2, 2002''' - Michael Robertson, CEO of Lindows.com, offered two $100,000 prizes for accomplishment of Xbox Linux goals by January 1, 2003. (He was coincidentally being sued at the time by Microsoft, for use of the name "Lindows") One of the prizes offered was for a demonstration of Linux running on an Xbox (with a $55,000 "subprize" for writing a bootloader) The other prize was for an exploit capable of getting Xbox Linux to run without hardware modification, ideally by using just a CD-ROM.
* '''August 13, 2002''' - First kernel boot
* '''October 7, 2002''' - First graphical desktop environment (KDE)
* '''October 9, 2002''' - Mandrake Linux 9 released for Xbox. Users had to replace or flash the TSOP.
* '''December 17, 2002''' - [[Cromwell]] BIOS/bootloader ready. The first of the $100,000 prizes was claimed, for running Linux on Xbox and developing a bootloader before January 1, 2003.
* '''December 31, 2002''' - [https://www.theregister.com/2003/01/02/xbox_linux_donor_extends_prize/ Michael Robertson extends the prize deadline for the remaining prize.]
* '''March 29, 2003''' - The second prize was claimed for the [[Exploits#007:_Agent_Under_Fire|007 hack]] by Habibi_xbox. (the game Frogger Beyond was initially hacked, but it wasn't released in Europe) This launched a minilinux via an exploit from a hacked savegame on an Xbox memory card, technically accomplishing the goal of using Linux on the Xbox without hardware modification. However, users had to start Linux via the hacked game save every time.
* '''July 4, 2003''' - The [[Exploits#Font_hacks|font exploit]] is discovered, demonstrating the ability to run Linux from the hard drive with no modchip, a true "softmod". (but also opening Pandora's box of piracy, which Xbox Linux wanted to avoid association with.) The dashboard audio exploit was discovered soon afterwards.
* '''July 7, 2003''' - A [https://www.mail-archive.com/bugtraq@securityfocus.com/msg11923.html official security release] is made about newly discovered Xbox security vulnerabilities, as responsible hackers should do
* '''August 11, 2003''' - The Mechassault exploit was released by Jeff Mears, with full softmod conversion. Efforts were made to obfuscate the source to prevent uses for piracy

More details [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Presentations/20th%20Chaos%20Communication%20Congress/ here]

==Historical Distros==
A number of distributions were released, built around the Xbox Linux-patched kernel.

*'''[https://gentoox.shallax.com GentooX]''' - GentooX, unlike vanilla Gentoo, provided precompiled binaries to the user via a custom repository. These were binaries compiled specifically for the Xbox. GentooX had both Home and Pro editions, the Home edition built around a desktop environment and the Pro edition built around the CLI. GentooX was a popular and developed Xbox Linux distro. The website is [https://web.archive.org/web/20220328101921/https://gentoox.shallax.com/ still being archived], although it appears broken in Chrome. The latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Home/ GentooX Home] is 7.1, and the latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Pro/ Pro] was 5.1, in 2009. Tested and working. Works from DVD. The pro version attempts to boot from the CD into GentooX loader, so be sure set your BIOS not to boot from CD if booting from CD doesn't work from you. Try Xromwell if GentooX loader doesn't work.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20050510000924/http://www.x-dsl.org/ X-DSL]''' - Based on Damn Small Linux, X-DSL was a lightweight Linux build. It used Knoppix patches to be able to boot to a desktop environment from small (<100MB) loop devices from FATX. It can also make a "native" install to the hard drive, or install to a larger loop device for a permanent setup. X-DSL is an easy version of historical Linux to try out today, since it can be launched and run entirely from drive E and that avoids some incompatibilities of Xbox Linux with larger hard drives. (if your hard drive is 3TB in order to get that extra .1TB of space, it may not work). The latest official version of X-DSL is 0.6, although there is an unofficial 0.7 floating around, among various other unofficial builds. X-DSL 0.6 can be found [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/X-DSL/X-DSL%20v0.6/ here]. The contents of the zip file can be copied to the root of E (so that linuxboot.cfg is in the root) and launched with Cromwell or GentooX, with no CD. The iso is also tested and working.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060529005204/http://www.dynebolic.org:80/ Dyne:bolic Linux]''' - This is Rasta software! Dynebolic Linux is a multimedia creation, editing, and streaming focused distro that could boot as a liveCD on many systems, including original Xbox. Original Xbox support was ended in Dyne:bolic 2.x, but that uses the 2.6 kernel so it could theoretically be supported if someone felt like it. The latest version compatible with the Xbox is 1.4.1, [https://osarchive.sda1.eu/dyne-bolic available here]. This distro has a lot of toys and is fun to check out. Also, it works from DVD! (it does seem to have a low color depth in the desktop though...)
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20100617005832/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/XUbuntu xUbuntu]''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "xUbuntu". "xUbuntu is based on Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy Badger) distribution without graphical environment. xUbuntu linux system can be run from CD or installed to a PC or Xbox hard drive. The install process, the kernel, the kernel modules and the desktop are customized for PC and Xbox (i386)." The latest version is 0.9.0, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/xUbuntu/xUbuntu%200.9.0/ available here]. It needs to be burned to a CD instead of a DVD.
*'''Ed's Xebian''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "Xebian". Does not appear to have a website. From the original Xbox Linux wiki, "With superb flexibility and ease of use, it can run off CD/DVD or it can be installed onto the Xbox hard drive in either the free space or the saved game area. The OS includes support for all versions of the Xbox, including those with Xcalibur video chips. Based on Debian stable (Sarge) with backports for newer software." The latest version is 1.1.4, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Ed_s%20Xebian/Xebian/ available here], which boots to desktop as a liveCD. It seems to require burning to a CD instead of DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060630100324/http://www.keckstar.com:80/nuke/html/index.php sXb]''' - Slackware for the Original Xbox. The versioning is a little unclear, but the most recent ISO on sourceforge is in the iso.gz file [https://sourceforge.net/projects/sxb/files/Sxbnew/SXBNEW-iso--dfb-xdirectfb/ here]. May need to be burned to CD. Reported "controller jammed" messages at startup, but one of my controller ports is busted.
*'''Mandrake''' A Mandrake 9 was released and claimed to be the first full distribution on the Xbox, but apparently was not continued or supported. No known Web site. Does anyone have a copy of the original Xbox Linux Mandrake iso for archival purposes? It appears a 2005 "special edition" with the Xbox patches can be found [http://ftp.twaren.net/Linux/Mandrake/official/iso/10.1/i586/10.2/ here]. (Mandrake Linux was renamed to Mandriva Linux in 2005). Requires composite cable, at least on this 1.0 Xbox. Appears to require burning to a CD, instead of a DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060713072515/http://www.not404.com:80/cgi-bin/trac.fcgi/wiki/XFedora4 xFedora]''' A port of Fedora Core to the Xbox; essentially Fedora Core with Xbox patches. The latest version is 0.7.41, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Fedora/ available here]. I am unsure how to run it.
*'''SuSE 8''' - There's a dead download link on the old wiki. Seems to have been abandoned
*'''old xbox-linux iso''' The xbox-linux team released some preliminary ISOs during the development of Xbox Linux.
*'''live-linux''' A liveCD based Linux, may have been able to install to HDD; it was released up to 0.3, no known website, but here is [https://sourceforge.net/p/xbox-linux/mailman/message/10300266/ the announcement]. The latest image is [https://legacy.downloads.diomtec.com/homebrew/xbins/Console%20Based%20Applications/Operating%20Systems/linux/distributions/live-linux/live-linux.0.3.iso.bz2 available here]. The file boot/boot.cfg on the iso needs to be renamed to linuxboot.cfg. The video became garbled launching with both composite and component cables. This is a very basic minilinux distro, essentially a proof of concept. The linuxrc is a symlink to busybox. It appears to mount a 9MB image.
*'''ltools''', a minilinux used in Xbox game save hacks, first designed to install Linux, but later repurposed to softmod the Xbox.
*'''[https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ xboxhdm]''' is a tool made by Idotsfan for softmodding locked Xbox hard drives, it's a PC-based CD-bootable set of Linux tools
*'''XMugen''' packaged Mugen for Linux using a busybox in an initramfs, and used swap and game character data files located on FATX. It currently has issues with anything other than "F takes all" schemes.
*'''Chimp''' is a tool for cloning and basic partitioning on Xbox hard drives. It runs from an initramfs.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20051214030132/http://nexus.il.fontys.nl:80/ FreeBSD/Xbox]''' - Not Linux per se, but it's a port of FreeBSD to the Xbox. It was officially integrated into FreeBSD as a set of optional patches. A NetBSD setup can be found [ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/misc/jmcneill/xbox/ here] but it requires the rootfs mounted on NFS. There might be a self contained ISO out there?

==Installing Old Distros==
These liveCDs above should all be safe to try on your Xbox, but installation to your hard drive is more risky. It can be fine if you take the proper considerations. Here are the installation methods usually presented by the installers:

'''Native Install'''

This may not be compatible with softmods! '''Don't mess around with native installs on a locked hard drive or a hard drive that's not backed up! Flash your TSOP or hardmod first!'''

This may wipe your hard drive, format it for Linux, and expect you to put Cromwell on your BIOS. It may also mean just formatting F and booting into it from Xromwell on FATX. So make sure you know which one it is! (the installer should tell you, if it's installing to F you should be fine) Any native install with a boot partition (launched via a hard drive icon in Cromwell/Xromwell) is NOT compatible with the XBPartitioner table, and installing it will overwite the XBPartitioner table. So "F takes all" is preferred here, for allowing coexistence with the stock partitions.

'''If you have a native install, DO NOT USE XBPARTITIONER unless you want to remove Linux. Any XBPartitioner format will break Linux by wiping out the MBR that Linux uses to find its partitions.''' You can't have custom FATX partitions alongside a Linux native install. (So use a spare hard drive for a native install)

'''Loopback Install'''

This installs Linux to a file on the FATX filesystem. Your Linux filesystem will be contained within that file. This means that no repartitioning of your hard drive is necessary. This is a safer install method, if you have space for a small install on E, or if you are using an "F takes all" scheme with an Xbox partition on F. Drive F must end below the 137GB boundary, if doing a loopback install to it. (is that right?) XBPartitioner-defined partitions are not supported by official versions of Xbox Linux, it only looks for the stock partitions plus "F takes all". I am unsure of the behavior if the drive is bigger than F can be. Loopback installs should be safe if your FATX drive F is detected by Xbox Linux.

In general, using a <137GB hard drive avoids these issues, although loopback installs can still be done on larger drives.

It is not advisable to make changes on the FATX filesystem more than you have to in Xbox Linux. Mounting and reading FATX partitions is fine, but doing complex write operations should be avoided, just in case. The 2.4 kernel FATX support is thought to be more stable than in the 2.6 kernel. If you need to copy lots of files to your Xbox, do it via an Xbox dash using FTP. Simple operations on FATX should be fine, and the FATX support is not seriously unstable, but better to be safe. Loopback installs are considered to be stable, even though the files exist on FATX.

==Historical links==
Much of the old Xbox Linux information now lives on archive.org. It is helpful if you come across anything useful, to add it here!
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/ The original Xbox Linux repository on sourceforge.] The mailing list archives can help answer esoteric questions about xbox linux, sometimes. The files section contains various Xbox Linux software and historical distribution isos.
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ The xboxhdm repository.] It contains source and executables for many Xbox tools created and modified by Idotsfan. The X-DSL directory contains some information on the original Xbpartitioner table patches.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100617000252/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/Main_Page The "New" Xbox Linux wiki], which was online until 2011.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050724003648/http://xbox-linux.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/moin.cgi/FrontPage The "Old" Xbox Linux wiki], which was migrated to xbox-linux.org. Not all articles were migrated.
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20040419204220/http://xbox-linux.org:80/ The "old" xbox-linux website], before migrating content to SourceForge.

==See Also==
*[[Xbox Linux]]

Historical Xbox Linux

2022-07-05T23:46:07Z

VannevarKush: /* Historical Distros */

When it was announced that the specifications of the Xbox were known to be very similar to an X86 PC, Xbox Linux was quickly considered as a possibility for getting getting cheap Linux PCs into the hands of the masses. The first Xbox exploits were created to make Xbox Linux possible, and were quickly repurposed by modders, while Linux remained a more niche application on the original Xbox. In the years while the Xbox was still being manufactured, it could function as a cheap daily driver Linux PC, and some users modded the controller ports into permanent USB ports, and even installed a VGA connector. But, as with all PCs they eventually became obsolete as cheaper, smaller hardware became available with similar processing power.

Xbox Linux reached a point of stable releases [https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/6704 around 2003], and the development continued thereafter, providing support for 1.4 Xboxes and their Focus encoder chip, and even support for 1.6 Xboxes and their changes. The 2.4 kernel was primarily used for Xbox Linux. The 2.6 kernel patches that were developed appear stable and quite usable, but scattered functionalities from the 2.4 kernel were never ported over.

==Timeline==
[https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''November 15, 2001''' - Microsoft Xbox released in United States
* '''c. [https://web.archive.org/web/20021013204521/https://www.xenatera.com/bunnie/proj/anatak/xboxmod.html 2001-2002 (when?)]''' - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Huang_(hacker) Bunnie Huang] [https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''February 22, 2002''' - Xbox released in Japan
* '''March 14, 2002''' - Xbox released in Europe and Australia
* '''May 23, 2002''' - Xbox Linux project founded by Michael Stiehl
* '''July 2, 2002''' - Michael Robertson, CEO of Lindows.com, offered two $100,000 prizes for accomplishment of Xbox Linux goals by January 1, 2003. (He was coincidentally being sued at the time by Microsoft, for use of the name "Lindows") One of the prizes offered was for a demonstration of Linux running on an Xbox (with a $55,000 "subprize" for writing a bootloader) The other prize was for an exploit capable of getting Xbox Linux to run without hardware modification, ideally by using just a CD-ROM.
* '''August 13, 2002''' - First kernel boot
* '''October 7, 2002''' - First graphical desktop environment (KDE)
* '''October 9, 2002''' - Mandrake Linux 9 released for Xbox. Users had to replace or flash the TSOP.
* '''December 17, 2002''' - [[Cromwell]] BIOS/bootloader ready. The first of the $100,000 prizes was claimed, for running Linux on Xbox and developing a bootloader before January 1, 2003.
* '''December 31, 2002''' - [https://www.theregister.com/2003/01/02/xbox_linux_donor_extends_prize/ Michael Robertson extends the prize deadline for the remaining prize.]
* '''March 29, 2003''' - The second prize was claimed for the [[Exploits#007:_Agent_Under_Fire|007 hack]] by Habibi_xbox. (the game Frogger Beyond was initially hacked, but it wasn't released in Europe) This launched a minilinux via an exploit from a hacked savegame on an Xbox memory card, technically accomplishing the goal of using Linux on the Xbox without hardware modification. However, users had to start Linux via the hacked game save every time.
* '''July 4, 2003''' - The [[Exploits#Font_hacks|font exploit]] is discovered, demonstrating the ability to run Linux from the hard drive with no modchip, a true "softmod". (but also opening Pandora's box of piracy, which Xbox Linux wanted to avoid association with.) The dashboard audio exploit was discovered soon afterwards.
* '''July 7, 2003''' - A [https://www.mail-archive.com/bugtraq@securityfocus.com/msg11923.html official security release] is made about newly discovered Xbox security vulnerabilities, as responsible hackers should do
* '''August 11, 2003''' - The Mechassault exploit was released by Jeff Mears, with full softmod conversion. Efforts were made to obfuscate the source to prevent uses for piracy

More details [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Presentations/20th%20Chaos%20Communication%20Congress/ here]

==Historical Distros==
A number of distributions were released, built around the Xbox Linux-patched kernel.

*'''[https://gentoox.shallax.com GentooX]''' - GentooX, unlike vanilla Gentoo, provided precompiled binaries to the user via a custom repository. These were binaries compiled specifically for the Xbox. GentooX had both Home and Pro editions, the Home edition built around a desktop environment and the Pro edition built around the CLI. GentooX was a popular and developed Xbox Linux distro. The website is [https://web.archive.org/web/20220328101921/https://gentoox.shallax.com/ still being archived], although it appears broken in Chrome. The latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Home/ GentooX Home] is 7.1, and the latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Pro/ Pro] was 5.1, in 2009. Tested and working. Works from DVD. The pro version attempts to boot from the CD into GentooX loader, so be sure set your BIOS not to boot from CD if booting from CD doesn't work from you. Try Xromwell if GentooX loader doesn't work.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20050510000924/http://www.x-dsl.org/ X-DSL]''' - Based on Damn Small Linux, X-DSL was a lightweight Linux build. It used Knoppix patches to be able to boot to a desktop environment from small (<100MB) loop devices from FATX. It can also make a "native" install to the hard drive, or install to a larger loop device for a permanent setup. X-DSL is an easy version of historical Linux to try out today, since it can be launched and run entirely from drive E and that avoids some incompatibilities of Xbox Linux with larger hard drives. (if your hard drive is 3TB in order to get that extra .1TB of space, it may not work). The latest official version of X-DSL is 0.6, although there is an unofficial 0.7 floating around, among various other unofficial builds. X-DSL 0.6 can be found [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/X-DSL/X-DSL%20v0.6/ here]. The contents of the zip file can be copied to the root of E (so that linuxboot.cfg is in the root) and launched with Cromwell or GentooX, with no CD. The iso is also tested and working.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060529005204/http://www.dynebolic.org:80/ Dyne:bolic Linux]''' - This is Rasta software! Dynebolic Linux is a multimedia creation, editing, and streaming focused distro that could boot as a liveCD on many systems, including original Xbox. Original Xbox support was ended in Dyne:bolic 2.x, but that uses the 2.6 kernel so it could theoretically be supported if someone felt like it. The latest version compatible with the Xbox is 1.4.1, [https://osarchive.sda1.eu/dyne-bolic available here]. This distro has a lot of toys and is fun to check out. Also, it works from DVD! (it does seem to have a low color depth in the desktop though...)
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20100617005832/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/XUbuntu xUbuntu]''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "xUbuntu". "xUbuntu is based on Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy Badger) distribution without graphical environment. xUbuntu linux system can be run from CD or installed to a PC or Xbox hard drive. The install process, the kernel, the kernel modules and the desktop are customized for PC and Xbox (i386)." The latest version is 0.9.0, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/xUbuntu/xUbuntu%200.9.0/ available here]. It needs to be burned to a CD instead of a DVD.
*'''Ed's Xebian''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "Xebian". Does not appear to have a website. From the original Xbox Linux wiki, "With superb flexibility and ease of use, it can run off CD/DVD or it can be installed onto the Xbox hard drive in either the free space or the saved game area. The OS includes support for all versions of the Xbox, including those with Xcalibur video chips. Based on Debian stable (Sarge) with backports for newer software." The latest version is 1.1.4, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Ed_s%20Xebian/Xebian/ available here], which boots to desktop as a liveCD. It seems to require burning to a CD instead of DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060630100324/http://www.keckstar.com:80/nuke/html/index.php sXb]''' - Slackware for the Original Xbox. The versioning is a little unclear, but the most recent ISO on sourceforge is in the iso.gz file [https://sourceforge.net/projects/sxb/files/Sxbnew/SXBNEW-iso--dfb-xdirectfb/ here]. May need to be burned to CD. Reported "controller jammed" messages at startup, but one of my controller ports is busted.
*'''Mandrake''' A Mandrake 9 was released and claimed to be the first full distribution on the Xbox, but apparently was not continued or supported. No known Web site. Does anyone have a copy of the original Xbox Linux Mandrake iso for archival purposes? It appears a 2005 "special edition" with the Xbox patches can be found [http://ftp.twaren.net/Linux/Mandrake/official/iso/10.1/i586/10.2/ here]. (Mandrake Linux was renamed to Mandriva Linux in 2005). Requires composite cable, at least on this 1.0 Xbox. Appears to require burning to a CD, instead of a DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060713072515/http://www.not404.com:80/cgi-bin/trac.fcgi/wiki/XFedora4 xFedora]''' A port of Fedora Core to the Xbox; essentially Fedora Core with Xbox patches. The latest version is 0.7.41, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Fedora/ available here]. I am unsure how to run it.
*'''SuSE 8''' - There's a dead download link on the old wiki. Seems to have been abandoned
*'''old xbox-linux iso''' The xbox-linux team released some preliminary ISOs during the development of Xbox Linux.
*'''live-linux''' A liveCD based Linux, may have been able to install to HDD; it was released up to 0.3, no known website, but here is [https://sourceforge.net/p/xbox-linux/mailman/message/10300266/ the announcement]. The latest image is [https://legacy.downloads.diomtec.com/homebrew/xbins/Console%20Based%20Applications/Operating%20Systems/linux/distributions/live-linux/live-linux.0.3.iso.bz2 available here]. The file boot/boot.cfg on the iso needs to be renamed to linuxboot.cfg. The video became garbled launching with both composite and component cables. This is a very basic minilinux distro, essentially a proof of concept. The linuxrc is a symlink to busybox. It appears to mount a 9MB image.
*'''ltools''', a minilinux used in Xbox game save hacks, first designed to install Linux, but later repurposed to softmod the Xbox.
*'''[https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ xboxhdm]''' is a tool made by Idotsfan for softmodding locked Xbox hard drives, it's a PC-based CD-bootable set of Linux tools
*'''XMugen''' packaged Mugen for Linux using a busybox in an initramfs, and used swap and game character data files located on FATX. It currently has issues with anything other than "F takes all" schemes.
*'''Chimp''' is a tool for cloning and basic partitioning on Xbox hard drives. It runs from an initramfs.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20051214030132/http://nexus.il.fontys.nl:80/ FreeBSD/Xbox]''' - Not Linux per se, but it's a port of FreeBSD to the Xbox. It was officially integrated into FreeBSD as a set of optional patches. A NetBSD setup can be found [ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/misc/jmcneill/xbox/ here] but it requires the rootfs mounted on NFS. There might be a self contained ISO out there?

==Installing Old Distros==
These liveCDs above should all be safe to try on your Xbox, but installation to your hard drive is more risky. It can be fine if you take the proper considerations. Here are the installation methods usually presented by the installers:

'''Native Install'''

This may not be compatible with softmods! '''Don't mess around with native installs on a locked hard drive or a hard drive that's not backed up! Flash your TSOP or hardmod first!'''

This may wipe your hard drive, format it for Linux, and expect you to put Cromwell on your BIOS. It may also mean just formatting F and booting into it from Xromwell on FATX. So make sure you know which one it is! (the installer should tell you, if it's installing to F you should be fine) Any native install with a boot partition (launched via a hard drive icon in Cromwell/Xromwell) is NOT compatible with the XBPartitioner table, and installing it will overwite the XBPartitioner table. So "F takes all" is preferred here, for allowing coexistence with the stock partitions.

'''If you have a native install, DO NOT USE XBPARTITIONER unless you want to remove Linux. Any XBPartitioner format will break Linux by wiping out the MBR that Linux uses to find its partitions.''' You can't have custom FATX partitions alongside a Linux native install. (So use a spare hard drive for a native install)

'''Loopback Install'''

This installs Linux to a file on the FATX filesystem. Your Linux filesystem will be contained within that file. This means that no repartitioning of your hard drive is necessary. This is a safer install method, if you have space for a small install on E, or if you are using an "F takes all" scheme with an Xbox partition on F. Drive F must end below the 137GB boundary, if doing a loopback install to it. (is that right?) XBPartitioner-defined partitions are not supported by official versions of Xbox Linux, it only looks for the stock partitions plus "F takes all". I am unsure of the behavior if the drive is bigger than F can be. Loopback installs should be safe if your FATX drive F is detected by Xbox Linux.

In general, using a <137GB hard drive avoids these issues, although loopback installs can still be done on larger drives.

It is not advisable to make changes on the FATX filesystem more than you have to in Xbox Linux. Mounting and reading FATX partitions is fine, but doing complex write operations should be avoided, just in case. The 2.4 kernel FATX support is thought to be more stable than in the 2.6 kernel. If you need to copy lots of files to your Xbox, do it via an Xbox dash using FTP. Simple operations on FATX should be fine, and the FATX support is not seriously unstable, but better to be safe. Loopback installs are considered to be stable, even though the files exist on FATX.

==Historical links==
Much of the old Xbox Linux information now lives on archive.org. It is helpful if you come across anything useful, to add it here!
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/ The original Xbox Linux repository on sourceforge.] The mailing list archives can help answer esoteric questions about xbox linux, sometimes. The files section contains various Xbox Linux software and historical distribution isos.
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ The xboxhdm repository.] It contains source and executables for many Xbox tools created and modified by Idotsfan. The X-DSL directory contains some information on the original Xbpartitioner table patches.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100617000252/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/Main_Page The "New" Xbox Linux wiki], which was online until 2011.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050724003648/http://xbox-linux.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/moin.cgi/FrontPage The "Old" Xbox Linux wiki], which was migrated to xbox-linux.org. Not all articles were migrated.

==See Also==
*[[Xbox Linux]]

Historical Xbox Linux

2022-07-05T23:45:26Z

VannevarKush: /* Installing Old Distros */

When it was announced that the specifications of the Xbox were known to be very similar to an X86 PC, Xbox Linux was quickly considered as a possibility for getting getting cheap Linux PCs into the hands of the masses. The first Xbox exploits were created to make Xbox Linux possible, and were quickly repurposed by modders, while Linux remained a more niche application on the original Xbox. In the years while the Xbox was still being manufactured, it could function as a cheap daily driver Linux PC, and some users modded the controller ports into permanent USB ports, and even installed a VGA connector. But, as with all PCs they eventually became obsolete as cheaper, smaller hardware became available with similar processing power.

Xbox Linux reached a point of stable releases [https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/6704 around 2003], and the development continued thereafter, providing support for 1.4 Xboxes and their Focus encoder chip, and even support for 1.6 Xboxes and their changes. The 2.4 kernel was primarily used for Xbox Linux. The 2.6 kernel patches that were developed appear stable and quite usable, but scattered functionalities from the 2.4 kernel were never ported over.

==Timeline==
[https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''November 15, 2001''' - Microsoft Xbox released in United States
* '''c. [https://web.archive.org/web/20021013204521/https://www.xenatera.com/bunnie/proj/anatak/xboxmod.html 2001-2002 (when?)]''' - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Huang_(hacker) Bunnie Huang] [https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''February 22, 2002''' - Xbox released in Japan
* '''March 14, 2002''' - Xbox released in Europe and Australia
* '''May 23, 2002''' - Xbox Linux project founded by Michael Stiehl
* '''July 2, 2002''' - Michael Robertson, CEO of Lindows.com, offered two $100,000 prizes for accomplishment of Xbox Linux goals by January 1, 2003. (He was coincidentally being sued at the time by Microsoft, for use of the name "Lindows") One of the prizes offered was for a demonstration of Linux running on an Xbox (with a $55,000 "subprize" for writing a bootloader) The other prize was for an exploit capable of getting Xbox Linux to run without hardware modification, ideally by using just a CD-ROM.
* '''August 13, 2002''' - First kernel boot
* '''October 7, 2002''' - First graphical desktop environment (KDE)
* '''October 9, 2002''' - Mandrake Linux 9 released for Xbox. Users had to replace or flash the TSOP.
* '''December 17, 2002''' - [[Cromwell]] BIOS/bootloader ready. The first of the $100,000 prizes was claimed, for running Linux on Xbox and developing a bootloader before January 1, 2003.
* '''December 31, 2002''' - [https://www.theregister.com/2003/01/02/xbox_linux_donor_extends_prize/ Michael Robertson extends the prize deadline for the remaining prize.]
* '''March 29, 2003''' - The second prize was claimed for the [[Exploits#007:_Agent_Under_Fire|007 hack]] by Habibi_xbox. (the game Frogger Beyond was initially hacked, but it wasn't released in Europe) This launched a minilinux via an exploit from a hacked savegame on an Xbox memory card, technically accomplishing the goal of using Linux on the Xbox without hardware modification. However, users had to start Linux via the hacked game save every time.
* '''July 4, 2003''' - The [[Exploits#Font_hacks|font exploit]] is discovered, demonstrating the ability to run Linux from the hard drive with no modchip, a true "softmod". (but also opening Pandora's box of piracy, which Xbox Linux wanted to avoid association with.) The dashboard audio exploit was discovered soon afterwards.
* '''July 7, 2003''' - A [https://www.mail-archive.com/bugtraq@securityfocus.com/msg11923.html official security release] is made about newly discovered Xbox security vulnerabilities, as responsible hackers should do
* '''August 11, 2003''' - The Mechassault exploit was released by Jeff Mears, with full softmod conversion. Efforts were made to obfuscate the source to prevent uses for piracy

More details [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Presentations/20th%20Chaos%20Communication%20Congress/ here]

==Historical Distros==
A number of distributions were released, built around the Xbox Linux-patched kernel.

*'''[https://gentoox.shallax.com GentooX]''' - GentooX, unlike vanilla Gentoo, provided precompiled binaries to the user via a custom repository. These were binaries compiled specifically for the Xbox. GentooX had both Home and Pro editions, the Home edition built around a desktop environment and the Pro edition built around the CLI. GentooX was a popular and developed Xbox Linux distro. The website is [https://web.archive.org/web/20220328101921/https://gentoox.shallax.com/ still being archived], although it appears broken in Chrome. The latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Home/ GentooX Home] is 7.1, and the latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Pro/ Pro] was 5.1, in 2009. Tested and working. The pro version attempts to boot from the CD into GentooX loader, so be sure set your BIOS not to boot from CD if booting from CD doesn't work from you. Try Xromwell if GentooX loader doesn't work.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20050510000924/http://www.x-dsl.org/ X-DSL]''' - Based on Damn Small Linux, X-DSL was a lightweight Linux build. It used Knoppix patches to be able to boot to a desktop environment from small (<100MB) loop devices from FATX. It can also make a "native" install to the hard drive, or install to a larger loop device for a permanent setup. X-DSL is an easy version of historical Linux to try out today, since it can be launched and run entirely from drive E and that avoids some incompatibilities of Xbox Linux with larger hard drives. (if your hard drive is 3TB in order to get that extra .1TB of space, it may not work). The latest official version of X-DSL is 0.6, although there is an unofficial 0.7 floating around, among various other unofficial builds. X-DSL 0.6 can be found [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/X-DSL/X-DSL%20v0.6/ here]. The contents of the zip file can be copied to the root of E (so that linuxboot.cfg is in the root) and launched with Cromwell or GentooX, with no CD. The iso is also tested and working.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060529005204/http://www.dynebolic.org:80/ Dyne:bolic Linux]''' - This is Rasta software! Dynebolic Linux is a multimedia creation, editing, and streaming focused distro that could boot as a liveCD on many systems, including original Xbox. Original Xbox support was ended in Dyne:bolic 2.x, but that uses the 2.6 kernel so it could theoretically be supported if someone felt like it. The latest version compatible with the Xbox is 1.4.1, [https://osarchive.sda1.eu/dyne-bolic available here]. This distro has a lot of toys and is fun to check out. Also, it works from DVD! (it does seem to have a low color depth in the desktop though...)
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20100617005832/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/XUbuntu xUbuntu]''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "xUbuntu". "xUbuntu is based on Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy Badger) distribution without graphical environment. xUbuntu linux system can be run from CD or installed to a PC or Xbox hard drive. The install process, the kernel, the kernel modules and the desktop are customized for PC and Xbox (i386)." The latest version is 0.9.0, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/xUbuntu/xUbuntu%200.9.0/ available here]. It needs to be burned to a CD instead of a DVD.
*'''Ed's Xebian''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "Xebian". Does not appear to have a website. From the original Xbox Linux wiki, "With superb flexibility and ease of use, it can run off CD/DVD or it can be installed onto the Xbox hard drive in either the free space or the saved game area. The OS includes support for all versions of the Xbox, including those with Xcalibur video chips. Based on Debian stable (Sarge) with backports for newer software." The latest version is 1.1.4, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Ed_s%20Xebian/Xebian/ available here], which boots to desktop as a liveCD. It seems to require burning to a CD instead of DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060630100324/http://www.keckstar.com:80/nuke/html/index.php sXb]''' - Slackware for the Original Xbox. The versioning is a little unclear, but the most recent ISO on sourceforge is in the iso.gz file [https://sourceforge.net/projects/sxb/files/Sxbnew/SXBNEW-iso--dfb-xdirectfb/ here]. May need to be burned to CD. Reported "controller jammed" messages at startup, but one of my controller ports is busted.
*'''Mandrake''' A Mandrake 9 was released and claimed to be the first full distribution on the Xbox, but apparently was not continued or supported. No known Web site. Does anyone have a copy of the original Xbox Linux Mandrake iso for archival purposes? It appears a 2005 "special edition" with the Xbox patches can be found [http://ftp.twaren.net/Linux/Mandrake/official/iso/10.1/i586/10.2/ here]. (Mandrake Linux was renamed to Mandriva Linux in 2005). Requires composite cable, at least on this 1.0 Xbox. Appears to require burning to a CD, instead of a DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060713072515/http://www.not404.com:80/cgi-bin/trac.fcgi/wiki/XFedora4 xFedora]''' A port of Fedora Core to the Xbox; essentially Fedora Core with Xbox patches. The latest version is 0.7.41, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Fedora/ available here]. I am unsure how to run it.
*'''SuSE 8''' - There's a dead download link on the old wiki. Seems to have been abandoned
*'''old xbox-linux iso''' The xbox-linux team released some preliminary ISOs during the development of Xbox Linux.
*'''live-linux''' A liveCD based Linux, may have been able to install to HDD; it was released up to 0.3, no known website, but here is [https://sourceforge.net/p/xbox-linux/mailman/message/10300266/ the announcement]. The latest image is [https://legacy.downloads.diomtec.com/homebrew/xbins/Console%20Based%20Applications/Operating%20Systems/linux/distributions/live-linux/live-linux.0.3.iso.bz2 available here]. The file boot/boot.cfg on the iso needs to be renamed to linuxboot.cfg. The video became garbled launching with both composite and component cables. This is a very basic minilinux distro, essentially a proof of concept. The linuxrc is a symlink to busybox. It appears to mount a 9MB image.
*'''ltools''', a minilinux used in Xbox game save hacks, first designed to install Linux, but later repurposed to softmod the Xbox.
*'''[https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ xboxhdm]''' is a tool made by Idotsfan for softmodding locked Xbox hard drives, it's a PC-based CD-bootable set of Linux tools
*'''XMugen''' packaged Mugen for Linux using a busybox in an initramfs, and used swap and game character data files located on FATX. It currently has issues with anything other than "F takes all" schemes.
*'''Chimp''' is a tool for cloning and basic partitioning on Xbox hard drives. It runs from an initramfs.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20051214030132/http://nexus.il.fontys.nl:80/ FreeBSD/Xbox]''' - Not Linux per se, but it's a port of FreeBSD to the Xbox. It was officially integrated into FreeBSD as a set of optional patches. A NetBSD setup can be found [ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/misc/jmcneill/xbox/ here] but it requires the rootfs mounted on NFS. There might be a self contained ISO out there?

==Installing Old Distros==
These liveCDs above should all be safe to try on your Xbox, but installation to your hard drive is more risky. It can be fine if you take the proper considerations. Here are the installation methods usually presented by the installers:

'''Native Install'''

This may not be compatible with softmods! '''Don't mess around with native installs on a locked hard drive or a hard drive that's not backed up! Flash your TSOP or hardmod first!'''

This may wipe your hard drive, format it for Linux, and expect you to put Cromwell on your BIOS. It may also mean just formatting F and booting into it from Xromwell on FATX. So make sure you know which one it is! (the installer should tell you, if it's installing to F you should be fine) Any native install with a boot partition (launched via a hard drive icon in Cromwell/Xromwell) is NOT compatible with the XBPartitioner table, and installing it will overwite the XBPartitioner table. So "F takes all" is preferred here, for allowing coexistence with the stock partitions.

'''If you have a native install, DO NOT USE XBPARTITIONER unless you want to remove Linux. Any XBPartitioner format will break Linux by wiping out the MBR that Linux uses to find its partitions.''' You can't have custom FATX partitions alongside a Linux native install. (So use a spare hard drive for a native install)

'''Loopback Install'''

This installs Linux to a file on the FATX filesystem. Your Linux filesystem will be contained within that file. This means that no repartitioning of your hard drive is necessary. This is a safer install method, if you have space for a small install on E, or if you are using an "F takes all" scheme with an Xbox partition on F. Drive F must end below the 137GB boundary, if doing a loopback install to it. (is that right?) XBPartitioner-defined partitions are not supported by official versions of Xbox Linux, it only looks for the stock partitions plus "F takes all". I am unsure of the behavior if the drive is bigger than F can be. Loopback installs should be safe if your FATX drive F is detected by Xbox Linux.

In general, using a <137GB hard drive avoids these issues, although loopback installs can still be done on larger drives.

It is not advisable to make changes on the FATX filesystem more than you have to in Xbox Linux. Mounting and reading FATX partitions is fine, but doing complex write operations should be avoided, just in case. The 2.4 kernel FATX support is thought to be more stable than in the 2.6 kernel. If you need to copy lots of files to your Xbox, do it via an Xbox dash using FTP. Simple operations on FATX should be fine, and the FATX support is not seriously unstable, but better to be safe. Loopback installs are considered to be stable, even though the files exist on FATX.

==Historical links==
Much of the old Xbox Linux information now lives on archive.org. It is helpful if you come across anything useful, to add it here!
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/ The original Xbox Linux repository on sourceforge.] The mailing list archives can help answer esoteric questions about xbox linux, sometimes. The files section contains various Xbox Linux software and historical distribution isos.
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ The xboxhdm repository.] It contains source and executables for many Xbox tools created and modified by Idotsfan. The X-DSL directory contains some information on the original Xbpartitioner table patches.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100617000252/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/Main_Page The "New" Xbox Linux wiki], which was online until 2011.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050724003648/http://xbox-linux.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/moin.cgi/FrontPage The "Old" Xbox Linux wiki], which was migrated to xbox-linux.org. Not all articles were migrated.

==See Also==
*[[Xbox Linux]]

Historical Xbox Linux

2022-07-05T23:43:10Z

VannevarKush: /* Timeline */

When it was announced that the specifications of the Xbox were known to be very similar to an X86 PC, Xbox Linux was quickly considered as a possibility for getting getting cheap Linux PCs into the hands of the masses. The first Xbox exploits were created to make Xbox Linux possible, and were quickly repurposed by modders, while Linux remained a more niche application on the original Xbox. In the years while the Xbox was still being manufactured, it could function as a cheap daily driver Linux PC, and some users modded the controller ports into permanent USB ports, and even installed a VGA connector. But, as with all PCs they eventually became obsolete as cheaper, smaller hardware became available with similar processing power.

Xbox Linux reached a point of stable releases [https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/6704 around 2003], and the development continued thereafter, providing support for 1.4 Xboxes and their Focus encoder chip, and even support for 1.6 Xboxes and their changes. The 2.4 kernel was primarily used for Xbox Linux. The 2.6 kernel patches that were developed appear stable and quite usable, but scattered functionalities from the 2.4 kernel were never ported over.

==Timeline==
[https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''November 15, 2001''' - Microsoft Xbox released in United States
* '''c. [https://web.archive.org/web/20021013204521/https://www.xenatera.com/bunnie/proj/anatak/xboxmod.html 2001-2002 (when?)]''' - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Huang_(hacker) Bunnie Huang] [https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''February 22, 2002''' - Xbox released in Japan
* '''March 14, 2002''' - Xbox released in Europe and Australia
* '''May 23, 2002''' - Xbox Linux project founded by Michael Stiehl
* '''July 2, 2002''' - Michael Robertson, CEO of Lindows.com, offered two $100,000 prizes for accomplishment of Xbox Linux goals by January 1, 2003. (He was coincidentally being sued at the time by Microsoft, for use of the name "Lindows") One of the prizes offered was for a demonstration of Linux running on an Xbox (with a $55,000 "subprize" for writing a bootloader) The other prize was for an exploit capable of getting Xbox Linux to run without hardware modification, ideally by using just a CD-ROM.
* '''August 13, 2002''' - First kernel boot
* '''October 7, 2002''' - First graphical desktop environment (KDE)
* '''October 9, 2002''' - Mandrake Linux 9 released for Xbox. Users had to replace or flash the TSOP.
* '''December 17, 2002''' - [[Cromwell]] BIOS/bootloader ready. The first of the $100,000 prizes was claimed, for running Linux on Xbox and developing a bootloader before January 1, 2003.
* '''December 31, 2002''' - [https://www.theregister.com/2003/01/02/xbox_linux_donor_extends_prize/ Michael Robertson extends the prize deadline for the remaining prize.]
* '''March 29, 2003''' - The second prize was claimed for the [[Exploits#007:_Agent_Under_Fire|007 hack]] by Habibi_xbox. (the game Frogger Beyond was initially hacked, but it wasn't released in Europe) This launched a minilinux via an exploit from a hacked savegame on an Xbox memory card, technically accomplishing the goal of using Linux on the Xbox without hardware modification. However, users had to start Linux via the hacked game save every time.
* '''July 4, 2003''' - The [[Exploits#Font_hacks|font exploit]] is discovered, demonstrating the ability to run Linux from the hard drive with no modchip, a true "softmod". (but also opening Pandora's box of piracy, which Xbox Linux wanted to avoid association with.) The dashboard audio exploit was discovered soon afterwards.
* '''July 7, 2003''' - A [https://www.mail-archive.com/bugtraq@securityfocus.com/msg11923.html official security release] is made about newly discovered Xbox security vulnerabilities, as responsible hackers should do
* '''August 11, 2003''' - The Mechassault exploit was released by Jeff Mears, with full softmod conversion. Efforts were made to obfuscate the source to prevent uses for piracy

More details [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Presentations/20th%20Chaos%20Communication%20Congress/ here]

==Historical Distros==
A number of distributions were released, built around the Xbox Linux-patched kernel.

*'''[https://gentoox.shallax.com GentooX]''' - GentooX, unlike vanilla Gentoo, provided precompiled binaries to the user via a custom repository. These were binaries compiled specifically for the Xbox. GentooX had both Home and Pro editions, the Home edition built around a desktop environment and the Pro edition built around the CLI. GentooX was a popular and developed Xbox Linux distro. The website is [https://web.archive.org/web/20220328101921/https://gentoox.shallax.com/ still being archived], although it appears broken in Chrome. The latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Home/ GentooX Home] is 7.1, and the latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Pro/ Pro] was 5.1, in 2009. Tested and working. The pro version attempts to boot from the CD into GentooX loader, so be sure set your BIOS not to boot from CD if booting from CD doesn't work from you. Try Xromwell if GentooX loader doesn't work.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20050510000924/http://www.x-dsl.org/ X-DSL]''' - Based on Damn Small Linux, X-DSL was a lightweight Linux build. It used Knoppix patches to be able to boot to a desktop environment from small (<100MB) loop devices from FATX. It can also make a "native" install to the hard drive, or install to a larger loop device for a permanent setup. X-DSL is an easy version of historical Linux to try out today, since it can be launched and run entirely from drive E and that avoids some incompatibilities of Xbox Linux with larger hard drives. (if your hard drive is 3TB in order to get that extra .1TB of space, it may not work). The latest official version of X-DSL is 0.6, although there is an unofficial 0.7 floating around, among various other unofficial builds. X-DSL 0.6 can be found [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/X-DSL/X-DSL%20v0.6/ here]. The contents of the zip file can be copied to the root of E (so that linuxboot.cfg is in the root) and launched with Cromwell or GentooX, with no CD. The iso is also tested and working.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060529005204/http://www.dynebolic.org:80/ Dyne:bolic Linux]''' - This is Rasta software! Dynebolic Linux is a multimedia creation, editing, and streaming focused distro that could boot as a liveCD on many systems, including original Xbox. Original Xbox support was ended in Dyne:bolic 2.x, but that uses the 2.6 kernel so it could theoretically be supported if someone felt like it. The latest version compatible with the Xbox is 1.4.1, [https://osarchive.sda1.eu/dyne-bolic available here]. This distro has a lot of toys and is fun to check out. Also, it works from DVD! (it does seem to have a low color depth in the desktop though...)
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20100617005832/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/XUbuntu xUbuntu]''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "xUbuntu". "xUbuntu is based on Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy Badger) distribution without graphical environment. xUbuntu linux system can be run from CD or installed to a PC or Xbox hard drive. The install process, the kernel, the kernel modules and the desktop are customized for PC and Xbox (i386)." The latest version is 0.9.0, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/xUbuntu/xUbuntu%200.9.0/ available here]. It needs to be burned to a CD instead of a DVD.
*'''Ed's Xebian''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "Xebian". Does not appear to have a website. From the original Xbox Linux wiki, "With superb flexibility and ease of use, it can run off CD/DVD or it can be installed onto the Xbox hard drive in either the free space or the saved game area. The OS includes support for all versions of the Xbox, including those with Xcalibur video chips. Based on Debian stable (Sarge) with backports for newer software." The latest version is 1.1.4, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Ed_s%20Xebian/Xebian/ available here], which boots to desktop as a liveCD. It seems to require burning to a CD instead of DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060630100324/http://www.keckstar.com:80/nuke/html/index.php sXb]''' - Slackware for the Original Xbox. The versioning is a little unclear, but the most recent ISO on sourceforge is in the iso.gz file [https://sourceforge.net/projects/sxb/files/Sxbnew/SXBNEW-iso--dfb-xdirectfb/ here]. May need to be burned to CD. Reported "controller jammed" messages at startup, but one of my controller ports is busted.
*'''Mandrake''' A Mandrake 9 was released and claimed to be the first full distribution on the Xbox, but apparently was not continued or supported. No known Web site. Does anyone have a copy of the original Xbox Linux Mandrake iso for archival purposes? It appears a 2005 "special edition" with the Xbox patches can be found [http://ftp.twaren.net/Linux/Mandrake/official/iso/10.1/i586/10.2/ here]. (Mandrake Linux was renamed to Mandriva Linux in 2005). Requires composite cable, at least on this 1.0 Xbox. Appears to require burning to a CD, instead of a DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060713072515/http://www.not404.com:80/cgi-bin/trac.fcgi/wiki/XFedora4 xFedora]''' A port of Fedora Core to the Xbox; essentially Fedora Core with Xbox patches. The latest version is 0.7.41, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Fedora/ available here]. I am unsure how to run it.
*'''SuSE 8''' - There's a dead download link on the old wiki. Seems to have been abandoned
*'''old xbox-linux iso''' The xbox-linux team released some preliminary ISOs during the development of Xbox Linux.
*'''live-linux''' A liveCD based Linux, may have been able to install to HDD; it was released up to 0.3, no known website, but here is [https://sourceforge.net/p/xbox-linux/mailman/message/10300266/ the announcement]. The latest image is [https://legacy.downloads.diomtec.com/homebrew/xbins/Console%20Based%20Applications/Operating%20Systems/linux/distributions/live-linux/live-linux.0.3.iso.bz2 available here]. The file boot/boot.cfg on the iso needs to be renamed to linuxboot.cfg. The video became garbled launching with both composite and component cables. This is a very basic minilinux distro, essentially a proof of concept. The linuxrc is a symlink to busybox. It appears to mount a 9MB image.
*'''ltools''', a minilinux used in Xbox game save hacks, first designed to install Linux, but later repurposed to softmod the Xbox.
*'''[https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ xboxhdm]''' is a tool made by Idotsfan for softmodding locked Xbox hard drives, it's a PC-based CD-bootable set of Linux tools
*'''XMugen''' packaged Mugen for Linux using a busybox in an initramfs, and used swap and game character data files located on FATX. It currently has issues with anything other than "F takes all" schemes.
*'''Chimp''' is a tool for cloning and basic partitioning on Xbox hard drives. It runs from an initramfs.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20051214030132/http://nexus.il.fontys.nl:80/ FreeBSD/Xbox]''' - Not Linux per se, but it's a port of FreeBSD to the Xbox. It was officially integrated into FreeBSD as a set of optional patches. A NetBSD setup can be found [ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/misc/jmcneill/xbox/ here] but it requires the rootfs mounted on NFS. There might be a self contained ISO out there?

==Installing Old Distros==
These liveCDs above should all be safe to try on your Xbox, but installation to your hard drive is more risky. It can be fine if you take the proper considerations. Here are the installation methods usually presented by the installers:

'''Native Install'''

This may not be compatible with softmods! '''Don't mess around with native installs on a locked hard drive or a hard drive that's not backed up! Flash your TSOP or hardmod first!'''

This may wipe your hard drive, format it for Linux, and expect you to put Cromwell on your BIOS. It may also mean just formatting F and booting into it from Xromwell on FATX. So make sure you know which one it is! (the installer should tell you, if it's installing to F you should be fine) Any native install with a boot partition (launched via a hard drive icon in Cromwell/Xromwell) is NOT compatible with the XBPartitioner table, and installing it will overwite the XBPartitioner table. So "F takes all" is preferred here, for allowing coexistence with the stock partitions.

'''If you have a native install, DO NOT USE XBPARTITIONER unless you want to remove Linux. Any XBPartitioner format will break Linux by wiping out the MBR that Linux uses to find its partitions.''' You can't have custom FATX partitions alongside a Linux native install. (So use a spare hard drive for a native install)

'''Loopback Install'''

This installs Linux to a file on the FATX filesystem. Your Linux filesystem will be contained within that file. This means that no repartitioning of your hard drive is necessary. This is a safer install method, if you have space for a small install on E, or if you are using an "F takes all" scheme with an Xbox partition on F. Drive F must end below the 137GB boundary, if doing a loopback install to it. (is that right?) XBPartitioner-defined partitions are not supported by official versions of Xbox Linux, it only looks for the stock partitions plus "F takes all". I am unsure of the behavior if the drive is bigger than F can be. Loopback installs should be safe if your FATX drive F is detected by Xbox Linux.

In general, using a <137GB hard drive avoids these issues, although loopback installs can still be done on larger drives.

It is not advisable to make changes on the FATX filesystem more than you have to in Xbox Linux. Mounting and reading FATX partitions is fine, but doing complex write operations should be avoided, just in case. The 2.4 kernel FATX support is thought to be more stable than in the 2.6 kernel. If you need to copy lots of files to your Xbox, do it via an Xbox dash using FTP. Simple operations on FATX should be fine, and the FATX support is not seriously unstable, but better to be safe. Loopback installs are considered to be stable, although they exist on FATX.

==Historical links==
Much of the old Xbox Linux information now lives on archive.org. It is helpful if you come across anything useful, to add it here!
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/ The original Xbox Linux repository on sourceforge.] The mailing list archives can help answer esoteric questions about xbox linux, sometimes. The files section contains various Xbox Linux software and historical distribution isos.
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ The xboxhdm repository.] It contains source and executables for many Xbox tools created and modified by Idotsfan. The X-DSL directory contains some information on the original Xbpartitioner table patches.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100617000252/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/Main_Page The "New" Xbox Linux wiki], which was online until 2011.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050724003648/http://xbox-linux.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/moin.cgi/FrontPage The "Old" Xbox Linux wiki], which was migrated to xbox-linux.org. Not all articles were migrated.

==See Also==
*[[Xbox Linux]]

Historical Xbox Linux

2022-07-05T23:42:28Z

VannevarKush: /* Timeline */

When it was announced that the specifications of the Xbox were known to be very similar to an X86 PC, Xbox Linux was quickly considered as a possibility for getting getting cheap Linux PCs into the hands of the masses. The first Xbox exploits were created to make Xbox Linux possible, and were quickly repurposed by modders, while Linux remained a more niche application on the original Xbox. In the years while the Xbox was still being manufactured, it could function as a cheap daily driver Linux PC, and some users modded the controller ports into permanent USB ports, and even installed a VGA connector. But, as with all PCs they eventually became obsolete as cheaper, smaller hardware became available with similar processing power.

Xbox Linux reached a point of stable releases [https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/6704 around 2003], and the development continued thereafter, providing support for 1.4 Xboxes and their Focus encoder chip, and even support for 1.6 Xboxes and their changes. The 2.4 kernel was primarily used for Xbox Linux. The 2.6 kernel patches that were developed appear stable and quite usable, but scattered functionalities from the 2.4 kernel were never ported over.

==Timeline==
[https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''November 15, 2001''' - Microsoft Xbox released in United States
* '''c. [https://web.archive.org/web/20021013204521/https://www.xenatera.com/bunnie/proj/anatak/xboxmod.html 2001-2002 (when?)]''' - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Huang_(hacker) Bunnie Huang] [https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''February 22, 2002''' - Xbox released in Japan
* '''March 14, 2002''' - Xbox released in Europe and Australia
* '''May 23, 2002''' - Xbox Linux project founded by Michael Stiehl
* '''July 2, 2002''' - Michael Robertson, CEO of Lindows.com, offered two $100,000 prizes for accomplishment of Xbox Linux goals by January 1, 2003. (He was coincidentally being sued at the time by Microsoft, for use of the name "Lindows") One of the prizes offered was for a demonstration of Linux running on an Xbox (with a $55,000 "subprize" for writing a [[Cromwell|bootloader]]) The other prize was for an exploit capable of getting Xbox Linux to run without hardware modification, ideally by using just a CD-ROM.
* '''August 13, 2002''' - First kernel boot
* '''October 7, 2002''' - First graphical desktop environment (KDE)
* '''October 9, 2002''' - Mandrake Linux 9 released for Xbox. Users had to replace or flash the TSOP.
* '''December 17, 2002''' - Cromwell BIOS/bootloader ready. The first of the $100,000 prizes was claimed, for running Linux on Xbox and developing a bootloader before January 1, 2003.
* '''December 31, 2002''' - [https://www.theregister.com/2003/01/02/xbox_linux_donor_extends_prize/ Michael Robertson extends the prize deadline for the remaining prize.]
* '''March 29, 2003''' - The second prize was claimed for the [[Exploits#007:_Agent_Under_Fire|007 hack]] by Habibi_xbox. (the game Frogger Beyond was initially hacked, but it wasn't released in Europe) This launched a minilinux via an exploit from a hacked savegame on an Xbox memory card, technically accomplishing the goal of using Linux on the Xbox without hardware modification. However, users had to start Linux via the hacked game save every time.
* '''July 4, 2003''' - The [[Exploits#Font_hacks|font exploit]] is discovered, demonstrating the ability to run Linux from the hard drive with no modchip, a true "softmod". (but also opening Pandora's box of piracy, which Xbox Linux wanted to avoid association with.) The dashboard audio exploit was discovered soon afterwards.
* '''July 7, 2003''' - A [https://www.mail-archive.com/bugtraq@securityfocus.com/msg11923.html official security release] is made about newly discovered Xbox security vulnerabilities, as responsible hackers should do
* '''August 11, 2003''' - The Mechassault exploit was released by Jeff Mears, with full softmod conversion. Efforts were made to obfuscate the source to prevent uses for piracy

More details [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Presentations/20th%20Chaos%20Communication%20Congress/ here]

==Historical Distros==
A number of distributions were released, built around the Xbox Linux-patched kernel.

*'''[https://gentoox.shallax.com GentooX]''' - GentooX, unlike vanilla Gentoo, provided precompiled binaries to the user via a custom repository. These were binaries compiled specifically for the Xbox. GentooX had both Home and Pro editions, the Home edition built around a desktop environment and the Pro edition built around the CLI. GentooX was a popular and developed Xbox Linux distro. The website is [https://web.archive.org/web/20220328101921/https://gentoox.shallax.com/ still being archived], although it appears broken in Chrome. The latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Home/ GentooX Home] is 7.1, and the latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Pro/ Pro] was 5.1, in 2009. Tested and working. The pro version attempts to boot from the CD into GentooX loader, so be sure set your BIOS not to boot from CD if booting from CD doesn't work from you. Try Xromwell if GentooX loader doesn't work.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20050510000924/http://www.x-dsl.org/ X-DSL]''' - Based on Damn Small Linux, X-DSL was a lightweight Linux build. It used Knoppix patches to be able to boot to a desktop environment from small (<100MB) loop devices from FATX. It can also make a "native" install to the hard drive, or install to a larger loop device for a permanent setup. X-DSL is an easy version of historical Linux to try out today, since it can be launched and run entirely from drive E and that avoids some incompatibilities of Xbox Linux with larger hard drives. (if your hard drive is 3TB in order to get that extra .1TB of space, it may not work). The latest official version of X-DSL is 0.6, although there is an unofficial 0.7 floating around, among various other unofficial builds. X-DSL 0.6 can be found [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/X-DSL/X-DSL%20v0.6/ here]. The contents of the zip file can be copied to the root of E (so that linuxboot.cfg is in the root) and launched with Cromwell or GentooX, with no CD. The iso is also tested and working.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060529005204/http://www.dynebolic.org:80/ Dyne:bolic Linux]''' - This is Rasta software! Dynebolic Linux is a multimedia creation, editing, and streaming focused distro that could boot as a liveCD on many systems, including original Xbox. Original Xbox support was ended in Dyne:bolic 2.x, but that uses the 2.6 kernel so it could theoretically be supported if someone felt like it. The latest version compatible with the Xbox is 1.4.1, [https://osarchive.sda1.eu/dyne-bolic available here]. This distro has a lot of toys and is fun to check out. Also, it works from DVD! (it does seem to have a low color depth in the desktop though...)
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20100617005832/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/XUbuntu xUbuntu]''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "xUbuntu". "xUbuntu is based on Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy Badger) distribution without graphical environment. xUbuntu linux system can be run from CD or installed to a PC or Xbox hard drive. The install process, the kernel, the kernel modules and the desktop are customized for PC and Xbox (i386)." The latest version is 0.9.0, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/xUbuntu/xUbuntu%200.9.0/ available here]. It needs to be burned to a CD instead of a DVD.
*'''Ed's Xebian''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "Xebian". Does not appear to have a website. From the original Xbox Linux wiki, "With superb flexibility and ease of use, it can run off CD/DVD or it can be installed onto the Xbox hard drive in either the free space or the saved game area. The OS includes support for all versions of the Xbox, including those with Xcalibur video chips. Based on Debian stable (Sarge) with backports for newer software." The latest version is 1.1.4, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Ed_s%20Xebian/Xebian/ available here], which boots to desktop as a liveCD. It seems to require burning to a CD instead of DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060630100324/http://www.keckstar.com:80/nuke/html/index.php sXb]''' - Slackware for the Original Xbox. The versioning is a little unclear, but the most recent ISO on sourceforge is in the iso.gz file [https://sourceforge.net/projects/sxb/files/Sxbnew/SXBNEW-iso--dfb-xdirectfb/ here]. May need to be burned to CD. Reported "controller jammed" messages at startup, but one of my controller ports is busted.
*'''Mandrake''' A Mandrake 9 was released and claimed to be the first full distribution on the Xbox, but apparently was not continued or supported. No known Web site. Does anyone have a copy of the original Xbox Linux Mandrake iso for archival purposes? It appears a 2005 "special edition" with the Xbox patches can be found [http://ftp.twaren.net/Linux/Mandrake/official/iso/10.1/i586/10.2/ here]. (Mandrake Linux was renamed to Mandriva Linux in 2005). Requires composite cable, at least on this 1.0 Xbox. Appears to require burning to a CD, instead of a DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060713072515/http://www.not404.com:80/cgi-bin/trac.fcgi/wiki/XFedora4 xFedora]''' A port of Fedora Core to the Xbox; essentially Fedora Core with Xbox patches. The latest version is 0.7.41, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Fedora/ available here]. I am unsure how to run it.
*'''SuSE 8''' - There's a dead download link on the old wiki. Seems to have been abandoned
*'''old xbox-linux iso''' The xbox-linux team released some preliminary ISOs during the development of Xbox Linux.
*'''live-linux''' A liveCD based Linux, may have been able to install to HDD; it was released up to 0.3, no known website, but here is [https://sourceforge.net/p/xbox-linux/mailman/message/10300266/ the announcement]. The latest image is [https://legacy.downloads.diomtec.com/homebrew/xbins/Console%20Based%20Applications/Operating%20Systems/linux/distributions/live-linux/live-linux.0.3.iso.bz2 available here]. The file boot/boot.cfg on the iso needs to be renamed to linuxboot.cfg. The video became garbled launching with both composite and component cables. This is a very basic minilinux distro, essentially a proof of concept. The linuxrc is a symlink to busybox. It appears to mount a 9MB image.
*'''ltools''', a minilinux used in Xbox game save hacks, first designed to install Linux, but later repurposed to softmod the Xbox.
*'''[https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ xboxhdm]''' is a tool made by Idotsfan for softmodding locked Xbox hard drives, it's a PC-based CD-bootable set of Linux tools
*'''XMugen''' packaged Mugen for Linux using a busybox in an initramfs, and used swap and game character data files located on FATX. It currently has issues with anything other than "F takes all" schemes.
*'''Chimp''' is a tool for cloning and basic partitioning on Xbox hard drives. It runs from an initramfs.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20051214030132/http://nexus.il.fontys.nl:80/ FreeBSD/Xbox]''' - Not Linux per se, but it's a port of FreeBSD to the Xbox. It was officially integrated into FreeBSD as a set of optional patches. A NetBSD setup can be found [ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/misc/jmcneill/xbox/ here] but it requires the rootfs mounted on NFS. There might be a self contained ISO out there?

==Installing Old Distros==
These liveCDs above should all be safe to try on your Xbox, but installation to your hard drive is more risky. It can be fine if you take the proper considerations. Here are the installation methods usually presented by the installers:

'''Native Install'''

This may not be compatible with softmods! '''Don't mess around with native installs on a locked hard drive or a hard drive that's not backed up! Flash your TSOP or hardmod first!'''

This may wipe your hard drive, format it for Linux, and expect you to put Cromwell on your BIOS. It may also mean just formatting F and booting into it from Xromwell on FATX. So make sure you know which one it is! (the installer should tell you, if it's installing to F you should be fine) Any native install with a boot partition (launched via a hard drive icon in Cromwell/Xromwell) is NOT compatible with the XBPartitioner table, and installing it will overwite the XBPartitioner table. So "F takes all" is preferred here, for allowing coexistence with the stock partitions.

'''If you have a native install, DO NOT USE XBPARTITIONER unless you want to remove Linux. Any XBPartitioner format will break Linux by wiping out the MBR that Linux uses to find its partitions.''' You can't have custom FATX partitions alongside a Linux native install. (So use a spare hard drive for a native install)

'''Loopback Install'''

This installs Linux to a file on the FATX filesystem. Your Linux filesystem will be contained within that file. This means that no repartitioning of your hard drive is necessary. This is a safer install method, if you have space for a small install on E, or if you are using an "F takes all" scheme with an Xbox partition on F. Drive F must end below the 137GB boundary, if doing a loopback install to it. (is that right?) XBPartitioner-defined partitions are not supported by official versions of Xbox Linux, it only looks for the stock partitions plus "F takes all". I am unsure of the behavior if the drive is bigger than F can be. Loopback installs should be safe if your FATX drive F is detected by Xbox Linux.

In general, using a <137GB hard drive avoids these issues, although loopback installs can still be done on larger drives.

It is not advisable to make changes on the FATX filesystem more than you have to in Xbox Linux. Mounting and reading FATX partitions is fine, but doing complex write operations should be avoided, just in case. The 2.4 kernel FATX support is thought to be more stable than in the 2.6 kernel. If you need to copy lots of files to your Xbox, do it via an Xbox dash using FTP. Simple operations on FATX should be fine, and the FATX support is not seriously unstable, but better to be safe. Loopback installs are considered to be stable, although they exist on FATX.

==Historical links==
Much of the old Xbox Linux information now lives on archive.org. It is helpful if you come across anything useful, to add it here!
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/ The original Xbox Linux repository on sourceforge.] The mailing list archives can help answer esoteric questions about xbox linux, sometimes. The files section contains various Xbox Linux software and historical distribution isos.
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ The xboxhdm repository.] It contains source and executables for many Xbox tools created and modified by Idotsfan. The X-DSL directory contains some information on the original Xbpartitioner table patches.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100617000252/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/Main_Page The "New" Xbox Linux wiki], which was online until 2011.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050724003648/http://xbox-linux.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/moin.cgi/FrontPage The "Old" Xbox Linux wiki], which was migrated to xbox-linux.org. Not all articles were migrated.

==See Also==
*[[Xbox Linux]]

Historical Xbox Linux

2022-07-05T23:40:28Z

VannevarKush: /* Timeline */

When it was announced that the specifications of the Xbox were known to be very similar to an X86 PC, Xbox Linux was quickly considered as a possibility for getting getting cheap Linux PCs into the hands of the masses. The first Xbox exploits were created to make Xbox Linux possible, and were quickly repurposed by modders, while Linux remained a more niche application on the original Xbox. In the years while the Xbox was still being manufactured, it could function as a cheap daily driver Linux PC, and some users modded the controller ports into permanent USB ports, and even installed a VGA connector. But, as with all PCs they eventually became obsolete as cheaper, smaller hardware became available with similar processing power.

Xbox Linux reached a point of stable releases [https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/6704 around 2003], and the development continued thereafter, providing support for 1.4 Xboxes and their Focus encoder chip, and even support for 1.6 Xboxes and their changes. The 2.4 kernel was primarily used for Xbox Linux. The 2.6 kernel patches that were developed appear stable and quite usable, but scattered functionalities from the 2.4 kernel were never ported over.

==Timeline==
[https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''November 15, 2001''' - Microsoft Xbox released in United States
* '''c. [https://web.archive.org/web/20021013204521/https://www.xenatera.com/bunnie/proj/anatak/xboxmod.html 2001-2002 (when?)]''' - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Huang_(hacker) Bunnie Huang] [https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''February 22, 2002''' - Xbox released in Japan
* '''March 14, 2002''' - Xbox released in Europe and Australia
* '''May 23, 2002''' - Xbox Linux project founded by Michael Stiehl
* '''July 2, 2002''' - Michael Robertson, CEO of Lindows.com, offered two $100,000 prizes for accomplishment of Xbox Linux goals by January 1, 2003. (He was coincidentally being sued at the time by Microsoft, for use of the name "Lindows") One of the prizes offered was for a demonstration of Linux running on an Xbox (with a $55,000 "subprize" for writing a [[Cromwell|BIOS/bootloader]]) The other prize was for an exploit capable of getting Xbox Linux to run without hardware modification, ideally by using just a CD-ROM.
* '''August 13, 2002''' - First kernel boot
* '''October 7, 2002''' - First graphical desktop environment (KDE)
* '''October 9, 2002''' - Mandrake Linux 9 released for Xbox. Users had to replace or flash the TSOP.
* '''December 17, 2002''' - Cromwell ready. The first of the $100,000 prizes was claimed, for running Linux on Xbox and developing a bootloader before January 1, 2003.
* '''December 31, 2002''' - [https://www.theregister.com/2003/01/02/xbox_linux_donor_extends_prize/ Michael Robertson extends the prize deadline for the remaining prize.]
* '''March 29, 2003''' - The second prize was claimed for the [[Exploits#007:_Agent_Under_Fire|007 hack]] by Habibi_xbox. (the game Frogger Beyond was initially hacked, but it wasn't released in Europe) This launched a minilinux via an exploit from a hacked savegame on an Xbox memory card, technically accomplishing the goal of using Linux on the Xbox without hardware modification. However, users had to start Linux via the hacked game save every time.
* '''July 4, 2003''' - The [[Exploits#Font_hacks|font exploit]] is discovered, demonstrating the ability to run Linux from the hard drive with no modchip, a true "softmod". (but also opening Pandora's box of piracy, which Xbox Linux wanted to avoid association with.) The dashboard audio exploit was discovered soon afterwards.
* '''July 7, 2003''' - A [https://www.mail-archive.com/bugtraq@securityfocus.com/msg11923.html official security release] is made about newly discovered Xbox security vulnerabilities, as responsible hackers should do
* '''August 11, 2003''' - The Mechassault exploit was released by Jeff Mears, with full softmod conversion. Efforts were made to obfuscate the source to prevent uses for piracy

More details [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Presentations/20th%20Chaos%20Communication%20Congress/ here]

==Historical Distros==
A number of distributions were released, built around the Xbox Linux-patched kernel.

*'''[https://gentoox.shallax.com GentooX]''' - GentooX, unlike vanilla Gentoo, provided precompiled binaries to the user via a custom repository. These were binaries compiled specifically for the Xbox. GentooX had both Home and Pro editions, the Home edition built around a desktop environment and the Pro edition built around the CLI. GentooX was a popular and developed Xbox Linux distro. The website is [https://web.archive.org/web/20220328101921/https://gentoox.shallax.com/ still being archived], although it appears broken in Chrome. The latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Home/ GentooX Home] is 7.1, and the latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Pro/ Pro] was 5.1, in 2009. Tested and working. The pro version attempts to boot from the CD into GentooX loader, so be sure set your BIOS not to boot from CD if booting from CD doesn't work from you. Try Xromwell if GentooX loader doesn't work.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20050510000924/http://www.x-dsl.org/ X-DSL]''' - Based on Damn Small Linux, X-DSL was a lightweight Linux build. It used Knoppix patches to be able to boot to a desktop environment from small (<100MB) loop devices from FATX. It can also make a "native" install to the hard drive, or install to a larger loop device for a permanent setup. X-DSL is an easy version of historical Linux to try out today, since it can be launched and run entirely from drive E and that avoids some incompatibilities of Xbox Linux with larger hard drives. (if your hard drive is 3TB in order to get that extra .1TB of space, it may not work). The latest official version of X-DSL is 0.6, although there is an unofficial 0.7 floating around, among various other unofficial builds. X-DSL 0.6 can be found [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/X-DSL/X-DSL%20v0.6/ here]. The contents of the zip file can be copied to the root of E (so that linuxboot.cfg is in the root) and launched with Cromwell or GentooX, with no CD. The iso is also tested and working.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060529005204/http://www.dynebolic.org:80/ Dyne:bolic Linux]''' - This is Rasta software! Dynebolic Linux is a multimedia creation, editing, and streaming focused distro that could boot as a liveCD on many systems, including original Xbox. Original Xbox support was ended in Dyne:bolic 2.x, but that uses the 2.6 kernel so it could theoretically be supported if someone felt like it. The latest version compatible with the Xbox is 1.4.1, [https://osarchive.sda1.eu/dyne-bolic available here]. This distro has a lot of toys and is fun to check out. Also, it works from DVD! (it does seem to have a low color depth in the desktop though...)
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20100617005832/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/XUbuntu xUbuntu]''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "xUbuntu". "xUbuntu is based on Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy Badger) distribution without graphical environment. xUbuntu linux system can be run from CD or installed to a PC or Xbox hard drive. The install process, the kernel, the kernel modules and the desktop are customized for PC and Xbox (i386)." The latest version is 0.9.0, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/xUbuntu/xUbuntu%200.9.0/ available here]. It needs to be burned to a CD instead of a DVD.
*'''Ed's Xebian''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "Xebian". Does not appear to have a website. From the original Xbox Linux wiki, "With superb flexibility and ease of use, it can run off CD/DVD or it can be installed onto the Xbox hard drive in either the free space or the saved game area. The OS includes support for all versions of the Xbox, including those with Xcalibur video chips. Based on Debian stable (Sarge) with backports for newer software." The latest version is 1.1.4, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Ed_s%20Xebian/Xebian/ available here], which boots to desktop as a liveCD. It seems to require burning to a CD instead of DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060630100324/http://www.keckstar.com:80/nuke/html/index.php sXb]''' - Slackware for the Original Xbox. The versioning is a little unclear, but the most recent ISO on sourceforge is in the iso.gz file [https://sourceforge.net/projects/sxb/files/Sxbnew/SXBNEW-iso--dfb-xdirectfb/ here]. May need to be burned to CD. Reported "controller jammed" messages at startup, but one of my controller ports is busted.
*'''Mandrake''' A Mandrake 9 was released and claimed to be the first full distribution on the Xbox, but apparently was not continued or supported. No known Web site. Does anyone have a copy of the original Xbox Linux Mandrake iso for archival purposes? It appears a 2005 "special edition" with the Xbox patches can be found [http://ftp.twaren.net/Linux/Mandrake/official/iso/10.1/i586/10.2/ here]. (Mandrake Linux was renamed to Mandriva Linux in 2005). Requires composite cable, at least on this 1.0 Xbox. Appears to require burning to a CD, instead of a DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060713072515/http://www.not404.com:80/cgi-bin/trac.fcgi/wiki/XFedora4 xFedora]''' A port of Fedora Core to the Xbox; essentially Fedora Core with Xbox patches. The latest version is 0.7.41, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Fedora/ available here]. I am unsure how to run it.
*'''SuSE 8''' - There's a dead download link on the old wiki. Seems to have been abandoned
*'''old xbox-linux iso''' The xbox-linux team released some preliminary ISOs during the development of Xbox Linux.
*'''live-linux''' A liveCD based Linux, may have been able to install to HDD; it was released up to 0.3, no known website, but here is [https://sourceforge.net/p/xbox-linux/mailman/message/10300266/ the announcement]. The latest image is [https://legacy.downloads.diomtec.com/homebrew/xbins/Console%20Based%20Applications/Operating%20Systems/linux/distributions/live-linux/live-linux.0.3.iso.bz2 available here]. The file boot/boot.cfg on the iso needs to be renamed to linuxboot.cfg. The video became garbled launching with both composite and component cables. This is a very basic minilinux distro, essentially a proof of concept. The linuxrc is a symlink to busybox. It appears to mount a 9MB image.
*'''ltools''', a minilinux used in Xbox game save hacks, first designed to install Linux, but later repurposed to softmod the Xbox.
*'''[https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ xboxhdm]''' is a tool made by Idotsfan for softmodding locked Xbox hard drives, it's a PC-based CD-bootable set of Linux tools
*'''XMugen''' packaged Mugen for Linux using a busybox in an initramfs, and used swap and game character data files located on FATX. It currently has issues with anything other than "F takes all" schemes.
*'''Chimp''' is a tool for cloning and basic partitioning on Xbox hard drives. It runs from an initramfs.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20051214030132/http://nexus.il.fontys.nl:80/ FreeBSD/Xbox]''' - Not Linux per se, but it's a port of FreeBSD to the Xbox. It was officially integrated into FreeBSD as a set of optional patches. A NetBSD setup can be found [ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/misc/jmcneill/xbox/ here] but it requires the rootfs mounted on NFS. There might be a self contained ISO out there?

==Installing Old Distros==
These liveCDs above should all be safe to try on your Xbox, but installation to your hard drive is more risky. It can be fine if you take the proper considerations. Here are the installation methods usually presented by the installers:

'''Native Install'''

This may not be compatible with softmods! '''Don't mess around with native installs on a locked hard drive or a hard drive that's not backed up! Flash your TSOP or hardmod first!'''

This may wipe your hard drive, format it for Linux, and expect you to put Cromwell on your BIOS. It may also mean just formatting F and booting into it from Xromwell on FATX. So make sure you know which one it is! (the installer should tell you, if it's installing to F you should be fine) Any native install with a boot partition (launched via a hard drive icon in Cromwell/Xromwell) is NOT compatible with the XBPartitioner table, and installing it will overwite the XBPartitioner table. So "F takes all" is preferred here, for allowing coexistence with the stock partitions.

'''If you have a native install, DO NOT USE XBPARTITIONER unless you want to remove Linux. Any XBPartitioner format will break Linux by wiping out the MBR that Linux uses to find its partitions.''' You can't have custom FATX partitions alongside a Linux native install. (So use a spare hard drive for a native install)

'''Loopback Install'''

This installs Linux to a file on the FATX filesystem. Your Linux filesystem will be contained within that file. This means that no repartitioning of your hard drive is necessary. This is a safer install method, if you have space for a small install on E, or if you are using an "F takes all" scheme with an Xbox partition on F. Drive F must end below the 137GB boundary, if doing a loopback install to it. (is that right?) XBPartitioner-defined partitions are not supported by official versions of Xbox Linux, it only looks for the stock partitions plus "F takes all". I am unsure of the behavior if the drive is bigger than F can be. Loopback installs should be safe if your FATX drive F is detected by Xbox Linux.

In general, using a <137GB hard drive avoids these issues, although loopback installs can still be done on larger drives.

It is not advisable to make changes on the FATX filesystem more than you have to in Xbox Linux. Mounting and reading FATX partitions is fine, but doing complex write operations should be avoided, just in case. The 2.4 kernel FATX support is thought to be more stable than in the 2.6 kernel. If you need to copy lots of files to your Xbox, do it via an Xbox dash using FTP. Simple operations on FATX should be fine, and the FATX support is not seriously unstable, but better to be safe. Loopback installs are considered to be stable, although they exist on FATX.

==Historical links==
Much of the old Xbox Linux information now lives on archive.org. It is helpful if you come across anything useful, to add it here!
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/ The original Xbox Linux repository on sourceforge.] The mailing list archives can help answer esoteric questions about xbox linux, sometimes. The files section contains various Xbox Linux software and historical distribution isos.
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ The xboxhdm repository.] It contains source and executables for many Xbox tools created and modified by Idotsfan. The X-DSL directory contains some information on the original Xbpartitioner table patches.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100617000252/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/Main_Page The "New" Xbox Linux wiki], which was online until 2011.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050724003648/http://xbox-linux.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/moin.cgi/FrontPage The "Old" Xbox Linux wiki], which was migrated to xbox-linux.org. Not all articles were migrated.

==See Also==
*[[Xbox Linux]]

Historical Xbox Linux

2022-07-05T23:37:42Z

VannevarKush: /* Timeline */

When it was announced that the specifications of the Xbox were known to be very similar to an X86 PC, Xbox Linux was quickly considered as a possibility for getting getting cheap Linux PCs into the hands of the masses. The first Xbox exploits were created to make Xbox Linux possible, and were quickly repurposed by modders, while Linux remained a more niche application on the original Xbox. In the years while the Xbox was still being manufactured, it could function as a cheap daily driver Linux PC, and some users modded the controller ports into permanent USB ports, and even installed a VGA connector. But, as with all PCs they eventually became obsolete as cheaper, smaller hardware became available with similar processing power.

Xbox Linux reached a point of stable releases [https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/6704 around 2003], and the development continued thereafter, providing support for 1.4 Xboxes and their Focus encoder chip, and even support for 1.6 Xboxes and their changes. The 2.4 kernel was primarily used for Xbox Linux. The 2.6 kernel patches that were developed appear stable and quite usable, but scattered functionalities from the 2.4 kernel were never ported over.

==Timeline==
[https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''November 15, 2001''' - Microsoft Xbox released in United States
* '''c. [https://web.archive.org/web/20021013204521/https://www.xenatera.com/bunnie/proj/anatak/xboxmod.html 2001-2002 (when?)]''' - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Huang_(hacker) Bunnie Huang] [https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''February 22, 2002''' - Xbox released in Japan
* '''March 14, 2002''' - Xbox released in Europe and Australia
* '''May 23, 2002''' - Xbox Linux project founded by Michael Stiehl
* '''July 2, 2002''' - Michael Robertson, CEO of Lindows.com, offered two $100,000 prizes for accomplishment of Xbox Linux goals by January 1, 2003. (He was coincidentally being sued at the time by Microsoft, for use of the name "Lindows") One of the prizes offered was for a demonstration of Linux running on an Xbox (with a $55,000 "subprize" for writing a [[Cromwell|BIOS/bootloader]]) The other prize was for an exploit capable of getting Xbox Linux to run without hardware modification, ideally by using just a CD-ROM.
* '''August 13, 2002''' - First kernel boot
* '''October 7, 2002''' - First graphical desktop environment (KDE)
* '''October 9, 2002''' - Mandrake Linux 9 released for Xbox. Users had to replace or flash the TSOP.
* '''December 17, 2002''' - Cromwell ready. The first of the $100,000 prizes was claimed, for running Linux on Xbox and developing a bootloader before January 1, 2003.
* '''December 31, 2002''' - [https://www.theregister.com/2003/01/02/xbox_linux_donor_extends_prize/ Michael Robertson extends the prize deadline for the remaining prize.]
* '''March 29, 2003''' - The second prize was claimed for the 007 Nightfire hack by Habibi_xbox. (the game Frogger Beyond was initially hacked, but it wasn't released in Europe) This launched a minilinux via an exploit from a hacked savegame on an Xbox memory card, technically accomplishing the goal of using Linux on the Xbox without hardware modification. However, users had to start Linux via the hacked game save every time.
* '''July 4, 2003''' - The [[Exploits#Font_hacks|font exploit]] is discovered, demonstrating the ability to run Linux from the hard drive with no modchip, a true "softmod". (but also opening Pandora's box of piracy, which Xbox Linux wanted to avoid association with.) The dashboard audio exploit was discovered soon afterwards.
* '''July 7, 2003''' - A [https://www.mail-archive.com/bugtraq@securityfocus.com/msg11923.html official security release] is made about newly discovered Xbox security vulnerabilities, as responsible hackers should do
* '''August 11, 2003''' - The Mechassault exploit was released by Jeff Mears, with full softmod conversion. Efforts were made to obfuscate the source to prevent uses for piracy

More details [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Presentations/20th%20Chaos%20Communication%20Congress/ here]

==Historical Distros==
A number of distributions were released, built around the Xbox Linux-patched kernel.

*'''[https://gentoox.shallax.com GentooX]''' - GentooX, unlike vanilla Gentoo, provided precompiled binaries to the user via a custom repository. These were binaries compiled specifically for the Xbox. GentooX had both Home and Pro editions, the Home edition built around a desktop environment and the Pro edition built around the CLI. GentooX was a popular and developed Xbox Linux distro. The website is [https://web.archive.org/web/20220328101921/https://gentoox.shallax.com/ still being archived], although it appears broken in Chrome. The latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Home/ GentooX Home] is 7.1, and the latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Pro/ Pro] was 5.1, in 2009. Tested and working. The pro version attempts to boot from the CD into GentooX loader, so be sure set your BIOS not to boot from CD if booting from CD doesn't work from you. Try Xromwell if GentooX loader doesn't work.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20050510000924/http://www.x-dsl.org/ X-DSL]''' - Based on Damn Small Linux, X-DSL was a lightweight Linux build. It used Knoppix patches to be able to boot to a desktop environment from small (<100MB) loop devices from FATX. It can also make a "native" install to the hard drive, or install to a larger loop device for a permanent setup. X-DSL is an easy version of historical Linux to try out today, since it can be launched and run entirely from drive E and that avoids some incompatibilities of Xbox Linux with larger hard drives. (if your hard drive is 3TB in order to get that extra .1TB of space, it may not work). The latest official version of X-DSL is 0.6, although there is an unofficial 0.7 floating around, among various other unofficial builds. X-DSL 0.6 can be found [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/X-DSL/X-DSL%20v0.6/ here]. The contents of the zip file can be copied to the root of E (so that linuxboot.cfg is in the root) and launched with Cromwell or GentooX, with no CD. The iso is also tested and working.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060529005204/http://www.dynebolic.org:80/ Dyne:bolic Linux]''' - This is Rasta software! Dynebolic Linux is a multimedia creation, editing, and streaming focused distro that could boot as a liveCD on many systems, including original Xbox. Original Xbox support was ended in Dyne:bolic 2.x, but that uses the 2.6 kernel so it could theoretically be supported if someone felt like it. The latest version compatible with the Xbox is 1.4.1, [https://osarchive.sda1.eu/dyne-bolic available here]. This distro has a lot of toys and is fun to check out. Also, it works from DVD! (it does seem to have a low color depth in the desktop though...)
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20100617005832/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/XUbuntu xUbuntu]''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "xUbuntu". "xUbuntu is based on Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy Badger) distribution without graphical environment. xUbuntu linux system can be run from CD or installed to a PC or Xbox hard drive. The install process, the kernel, the kernel modules and the desktop are customized for PC and Xbox (i386)." The latest version is 0.9.0, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/xUbuntu/xUbuntu%200.9.0/ available here]. It needs to be burned to a CD instead of a DVD.
*'''Ed's Xebian''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "Xebian". Does not appear to have a website. From the original Xbox Linux wiki, "With superb flexibility and ease of use, it can run off CD/DVD or it can be installed onto the Xbox hard drive in either the free space or the saved game area. The OS includes support for all versions of the Xbox, including those with Xcalibur video chips. Based on Debian stable (Sarge) with backports for newer software." The latest version is 1.1.4, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Ed_s%20Xebian/Xebian/ available here], which boots to desktop as a liveCD. It seems to require burning to a CD instead of DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060630100324/http://www.keckstar.com:80/nuke/html/index.php sXb]''' - Slackware for the Original Xbox. The versioning is a little unclear, but the most recent ISO on sourceforge is in the iso.gz file [https://sourceforge.net/projects/sxb/files/Sxbnew/SXBNEW-iso--dfb-xdirectfb/ here]. May need to be burned to CD. Reported "controller jammed" messages at startup, but one of my controller ports is busted.
*'''Mandrake''' A Mandrake 9 was released and claimed to be the first full distribution on the Xbox, but apparently was not continued or supported. No known Web site. Does anyone have a copy of the original Xbox Linux Mandrake iso for archival purposes? It appears a 2005 "special edition" with the Xbox patches can be found [http://ftp.twaren.net/Linux/Mandrake/official/iso/10.1/i586/10.2/ here]. (Mandrake Linux was renamed to Mandriva Linux in 2005). Requires composite cable, at least on this 1.0 Xbox. Appears to require burning to a CD, instead of a DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060713072515/http://www.not404.com:80/cgi-bin/trac.fcgi/wiki/XFedora4 xFedora]''' A port of Fedora Core to the Xbox; essentially Fedora Core with Xbox patches. The latest version is 0.7.41, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Fedora/ available here]. I am unsure how to run it.
*'''SuSE 8''' - There's a dead download link on the old wiki. Seems to have been abandoned
*'''old xbox-linux iso''' The xbox-linux team released some preliminary ISOs during the development of Xbox Linux.
*'''live-linux''' A liveCD based Linux, may have been able to install to HDD; it was released up to 0.3, no known website, but here is [https://sourceforge.net/p/xbox-linux/mailman/message/10300266/ the announcement]. The latest image is [https://legacy.downloads.diomtec.com/homebrew/xbins/Console%20Based%20Applications/Operating%20Systems/linux/distributions/live-linux/live-linux.0.3.iso.bz2 available here]. The file boot/boot.cfg on the iso needs to be renamed to linuxboot.cfg. The video became garbled launching with both composite and component cables. This is a very basic minilinux distro, essentially a proof of concept. The linuxrc is a symlink to busybox. It appears to mount a 9MB image.
*'''ltools''', a minilinux used in Xbox game save hacks, first designed to install Linux, but later repurposed to softmod the Xbox.
*'''[https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ xboxhdm]''' is a tool made by Idotsfan for softmodding locked Xbox hard drives, it's a PC-based CD-bootable set of Linux tools
*'''XMugen''' packaged Mugen for Linux using a busybox in an initramfs, and used swap and game character data files located on FATX. It currently has issues with anything other than "F takes all" schemes.
*'''Chimp''' is a tool for cloning and basic partitioning on Xbox hard drives. It runs from an initramfs.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20051214030132/http://nexus.il.fontys.nl:80/ FreeBSD/Xbox]''' - Not Linux per se, but it's a port of FreeBSD to the Xbox. It was officially integrated into FreeBSD as a set of optional patches. A NetBSD setup can be found [ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/misc/jmcneill/xbox/ here] but it requires the rootfs mounted on NFS. There might be a self contained ISO out there?

==Installing Old Distros==
These liveCDs above should all be safe to try on your Xbox, but installation to your hard drive is more risky. It can be fine if you take the proper considerations. Here are the installation methods usually presented by the installers:

'''Native Install'''

This may not be compatible with softmods! '''Don't mess around with native installs on a locked hard drive or a hard drive that's not backed up! Flash your TSOP or hardmod first!'''

This may wipe your hard drive, format it for Linux, and expect you to put Cromwell on your BIOS. It may also mean just formatting F and booting into it from Xromwell on FATX. So make sure you know which one it is! (the installer should tell you, if it's installing to F you should be fine) Any native install with a boot partition (launched via a hard drive icon in Cromwell/Xromwell) is NOT compatible with the XBPartitioner table, and installing it will overwite the XBPartitioner table. So "F takes all" is preferred here, for allowing coexistence with the stock partitions.

'''If you have a native install, DO NOT USE XBPARTITIONER unless you want to remove Linux. Any XBPartitioner format will break Linux by wiping out the MBR that Linux uses to find its partitions.''' You can't have custom FATX partitions alongside a Linux native install. (So use a spare hard drive for a native install)

'''Loopback Install'''

This installs Linux to a file on the FATX filesystem. Your Linux filesystem will be contained within that file. This means that no repartitioning of your hard drive is necessary. This is a safer install method, if you have space for a small install on E, or if you are using an "F takes all" scheme with an Xbox partition on F. Drive F must end below the 137GB boundary, if doing a loopback install to it. (is that right?) XBPartitioner-defined partitions are not supported by official versions of Xbox Linux, it only looks for the stock partitions plus "F takes all". I am unsure of the behavior if the drive is bigger than F can be. Loopback installs should be safe if your FATX drive F is detected by Xbox Linux.

In general, using a <137GB hard drive avoids these issues, although loopback installs can still be done on larger drives.

It is not advisable to make changes on the FATX filesystem more than you have to in Xbox Linux. Mounting and reading FATX partitions is fine, but doing complex write operations should be avoided, just in case. The 2.4 kernel FATX support is thought to be more stable than in the 2.6 kernel. If you need to copy lots of files to your Xbox, do it via an Xbox dash using FTP. Simple operations on FATX should be fine, and the FATX support is not seriously unstable, but better to be safe. Loopback installs are considered to be stable, although they exist on FATX.

==Historical links==
Much of the old Xbox Linux information now lives on archive.org. It is helpful if you come across anything useful, to add it here!
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/ The original Xbox Linux repository on sourceforge.] The mailing list archives can help answer esoteric questions about xbox linux, sometimes. The files section contains various Xbox Linux software and historical distribution isos.
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ The xboxhdm repository.] It contains source and executables for many Xbox tools created and modified by Idotsfan. The X-DSL directory contains some information on the original Xbpartitioner table patches.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100617000252/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/Main_Page The "New" Xbox Linux wiki], which was online until 2011.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050724003648/http://xbox-linux.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/moin.cgi/FrontPage The "Old" Xbox Linux wiki], which was migrated to xbox-linux.org. Not all articles were migrated.

==See Also==
*[[Xbox Linux]]

Historical Xbox Linux

2022-07-05T23:37:18Z

VannevarKush:

When it was announced that the specifications of the Xbox were known to be very similar to an X86 PC, Xbox Linux was quickly considered as a possibility for getting getting cheap Linux PCs into the hands of the masses. The first Xbox exploits were created to make Xbox Linux possible, and were quickly repurposed by modders, while Linux remained a more niche application on the original Xbox. In the years while the Xbox was still being manufactured, it could function as a cheap daily driver Linux PC, and some users modded the controller ports into permanent USB ports, and even installed a VGA connector. But, as with all PCs they eventually became obsolete as cheaper, smaller hardware became available with similar processing power.

Xbox Linux reached a point of stable releases [https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/6704 around 2003], and the development continued thereafter, providing support for 1.4 Xboxes and their Focus encoder chip, and even support for 1.6 Xboxes and their changes. The 2.4 kernel was primarily used for Xbox Linux. The 2.6 kernel patches that were developed appear stable and quite usable, but scattered functionalities from the 2.4 kernel were never ported over.

==Timeline==
[https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''November 15, 2001''' - Microsoft Xbox released in United States
* '''c. [https://web.archive.org/web/20021013204521/https://www.xenatera.com/bunnie/proj/anatak/xboxmod.html 2001-2002 (when?)]''' - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Huang_(hacker) Bunnie Huang] [https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''February 22, 2002''' - Xbox released in Japan
* '''March 14, 2002''' - Xbox released in Europe and Australia
* '''May 23, 2002''' - Xbox Linux project founded by Michael Stiehl
* '''July 2, 2002''' - Michael Robertson, CEO of Lindows.com, offered two $100,000 prizes for accomplishment of Xbox Linux goals by January 1, 2003. (He was coincidentally being sued at the time by Microsoft, for use of the name "Lindows") One of the prizes offered was for a demonstration of Linux running on an Xbox (with a $55,000 "subprize" for writing a [[Cromwell|BIOS/bootloader]]) The other prize was for an exploit capable of getting Xbox Linux to run without hardware modification, ideally by using just a CD-ROM.
* '''August 13, 2002''' - First kernel boot
* '''October 7, 2002''' - First graphical desktop environment (KDE)
* '''October 9, 2002''' - Mandrake Linux 9 released for Xbox. Users had to replace or flash the TSOP.
* '''December 17, 2002''' - Cromwell ready. The first of the $100,000 prizes was claimed, for running Linux on Xbox and developing a bootloader before January 1, 2003.
* '''December 31, 2002''' - [https://www.theregister.com/2003/01/02/xbox_linux_donor_extends_prize/ Michael Robertson extends the prize deadline for the remaining prize.]
* '''March 29, 2003''' - The second prize was claimed for the 007 Nightfire hack by Habibi_xbox. (the game Frogger Beyond was initially hacked, but it wasn't released in Europe) This launched a minilinux via an exploit from a hacked savegame on an Xbox memory card, technically accomplishing the goal of using Linux on the Xbox without hardware modification. However, users had to start Linux via the hacked game save every time.
* '''July 4, 2003''' - The [[Exploits#Font_hacks font exploit]] is discovered, demonstrating the ability to run Linux from the hard drive with no modchip, a true "softmod". (but also opening Pandora's box of piracy, which Xbox Linux wanted to avoid association with.) The dashboard audio exploit was discovered soon afterwards.
* '''July 7, 2003''' - A [https://www.mail-archive.com/bugtraq@securityfocus.com/msg11923.html official security release] is made about newly discovered Xbox security vulnerabilities, as responsible hackers should do
* '''August 11, 2003''' - The Mechassault exploit was released by Jeff Mears, with full softmod conversion. Efforts were made to obfuscate the source to prevent uses for piracy

More details [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Presentations/20th%20Chaos%20Communication%20Congress/ here]

==Historical Distros==
A number of distributions were released, built around the Xbox Linux-patched kernel.

*'''[https://gentoox.shallax.com GentooX]''' - GentooX, unlike vanilla Gentoo, provided precompiled binaries to the user via a custom repository. These were binaries compiled specifically for the Xbox. GentooX had both Home and Pro editions, the Home edition built around a desktop environment and the Pro edition built around the CLI. GentooX was a popular and developed Xbox Linux distro. The website is [https://web.archive.org/web/20220328101921/https://gentoox.shallax.com/ still being archived], although it appears broken in Chrome. The latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Home/ GentooX Home] is 7.1, and the latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Pro/ Pro] was 5.1, in 2009. Tested and working. The pro version attempts to boot from the CD into GentooX loader, so be sure set your BIOS not to boot from CD if booting from CD doesn't work from you. Try Xromwell if GentooX loader doesn't work.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20050510000924/http://www.x-dsl.org/ X-DSL]''' - Based on Damn Small Linux, X-DSL was a lightweight Linux build. It used Knoppix patches to be able to boot to a desktop environment from small (<100MB) loop devices from FATX. It can also make a "native" install to the hard drive, or install to a larger loop device for a permanent setup. X-DSL is an easy version of historical Linux to try out today, since it can be launched and run entirely from drive E and that avoids some incompatibilities of Xbox Linux with larger hard drives. (if your hard drive is 3TB in order to get that extra .1TB of space, it may not work). The latest official version of X-DSL is 0.6, although there is an unofficial 0.7 floating around, among various other unofficial builds. X-DSL 0.6 can be found [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/X-DSL/X-DSL%20v0.6/ here]. The contents of the zip file can be copied to the root of E (so that linuxboot.cfg is in the root) and launched with Cromwell or GentooX, with no CD. The iso is also tested and working.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060529005204/http://www.dynebolic.org:80/ Dyne:bolic Linux]''' - This is Rasta software! Dynebolic Linux is a multimedia creation, editing, and streaming focused distro that could boot as a liveCD on many systems, including original Xbox. Original Xbox support was ended in Dyne:bolic 2.x, but that uses the 2.6 kernel so it could theoretically be supported if someone felt like it. The latest version compatible with the Xbox is 1.4.1, [https://osarchive.sda1.eu/dyne-bolic available here]. This distro has a lot of toys and is fun to check out. Also, it works from DVD! (it does seem to have a low color depth in the desktop though...)
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20100617005832/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/XUbuntu xUbuntu]''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "xUbuntu". "xUbuntu is based on Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy Badger) distribution without graphical environment. xUbuntu linux system can be run from CD or installed to a PC or Xbox hard drive. The install process, the kernel, the kernel modules and the desktop are customized for PC and Xbox (i386)." The latest version is 0.9.0, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/xUbuntu/xUbuntu%200.9.0/ available here]. It needs to be burned to a CD instead of a DVD.
*'''Ed's Xebian''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "Xebian". Does not appear to have a website. From the original Xbox Linux wiki, "With superb flexibility and ease of use, it can run off CD/DVD or it can be installed onto the Xbox hard drive in either the free space or the saved game area. The OS includes support for all versions of the Xbox, including those with Xcalibur video chips. Based on Debian stable (Sarge) with backports for newer software." The latest version is 1.1.4, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Ed_s%20Xebian/Xebian/ available here], which boots to desktop as a liveCD. It seems to require burning to a CD instead of DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060630100324/http://www.keckstar.com:80/nuke/html/index.php sXb]''' - Slackware for the Original Xbox. The versioning is a little unclear, but the most recent ISO on sourceforge is in the iso.gz file [https://sourceforge.net/projects/sxb/files/Sxbnew/SXBNEW-iso--dfb-xdirectfb/ here]. May need to be burned to CD. Reported "controller jammed" messages at startup, but one of my controller ports is busted.
*'''Mandrake''' A Mandrake 9 was released and claimed to be the first full distribution on the Xbox, but apparently was not continued or supported. No known Web site. Does anyone have a copy of the original Xbox Linux Mandrake iso for archival purposes? It appears a 2005 "special edition" with the Xbox patches can be found [http://ftp.twaren.net/Linux/Mandrake/official/iso/10.1/i586/10.2/ here]. (Mandrake Linux was renamed to Mandriva Linux in 2005). Requires composite cable, at least on this 1.0 Xbox. Appears to require burning to a CD, instead of a DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060713072515/http://www.not404.com:80/cgi-bin/trac.fcgi/wiki/XFedora4 xFedora]''' A port of Fedora Core to the Xbox; essentially Fedora Core with Xbox patches. The latest version is 0.7.41, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Fedora/ available here]. I am unsure how to run it.
*'''SuSE 8''' - There's a dead download link on the old wiki. Seems to have been abandoned
*'''old xbox-linux iso''' The xbox-linux team released some preliminary ISOs during the development of Xbox Linux.
*'''live-linux''' A liveCD based Linux, may have been able to install to HDD; it was released up to 0.3, no known website, but here is [https://sourceforge.net/p/xbox-linux/mailman/message/10300266/ the announcement]. The latest image is [https://legacy.downloads.diomtec.com/homebrew/xbins/Console%20Based%20Applications/Operating%20Systems/linux/distributions/live-linux/live-linux.0.3.iso.bz2 available here]. The file boot/boot.cfg on the iso needs to be renamed to linuxboot.cfg. The video became garbled launching with both composite and component cables. This is a very basic minilinux distro, essentially a proof of concept. The linuxrc is a symlink to busybox. It appears to mount a 9MB image.
*'''ltools''', a minilinux used in Xbox game save hacks, first designed to install Linux, but later repurposed to softmod the Xbox.
*'''[https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ xboxhdm]''' is a tool made by Idotsfan for softmodding locked Xbox hard drives, it's a PC-based CD-bootable set of Linux tools
*'''XMugen''' packaged Mugen for Linux using a busybox in an initramfs, and used swap and game character data files located on FATX. It currently has issues with anything other than "F takes all" schemes.
*'''Chimp''' is a tool for cloning and basic partitioning on Xbox hard drives. It runs from an initramfs.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20051214030132/http://nexus.il.fontys.nl:80/ FreeBSD/Xbox]''' - Not Linux per se, but it's a port of FreeBSD to the Xbox. It was officially integrated into FreeBSD as a set of optional patches. A NetBSD setup can be found [ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/misc/jmcneill/xbox/ here] but it requires the rootfs mounted on NFS. There might be a self contained ISO out there?

==Installing Old Distros==
These liveCDs above should all be safe to try on your Xbox, but installation to your hard drive is more risky. It can be fine if you take the proper considerations. Here are the installation methods usually presented by the installers:

'''Native Install'''

This may not be compatible with softmods! '''Don't mess around with native installs on a locked hard drive or a hard drive that's not backed up! Flash your TSOP or hardmod first!'''

This may wipe your hard drive, format it for Linux, and expect you to put Cromwell on your BIOS. It may also mean just formatting F and booting into it from Xromwell on FATX. So make sure you know which one it is! (the installer should tell you, if it's installing to F you should be fine) Any native install with a boot partition (launched via a hard drive icon in Cromwell/Xromwell) is NOT compatible with the XBPartitioner table, and installing it will overwite the XBPartitioner table. So "F takes all" is preferred here, for allowing coexistence with the stock partitions.

'''If you have a native install, DO NOT USE XBPARTITIONER unless you want to remove Linux. Any XBPartitioner format will break Linux by wiping out the MBR that Linux uses to find its partitions.''' You can't have custom FATX partitions alongside a Linux native install. (So use a spare hard drive for a native install)

'''Loopback Install'''

This installs Linux to a file on the FATX filesystem. Your Linux filesystem will be contained within that file. This means that no repartitioning of your hard drive is necessary. This is a safer install method, if you have space for a small install on E, or if you are using an "F takes all" scheme with an Xbox partition on F. Drive F must end below the 137GB boundary, if doing a loopback install to it. (is that right?) XBPartitioner-defined partitions are not supported by official versions of Xbox Linux, it only looks for the stock partitions plus "F takes all". I am unsure of the behavior if the drive is bigger than F can be. Loopback installs should be safe if your FATX drive F is detected by Xbox Linux.

In general, using a <137GB hard drive avoids these issues, although loopback installs can still be done on larger drives.

It is not advisable to make changes on the FATX filesystem more than you have to in Xbox Linux. Mounting and reading FATX partitions is fine, but doing complex write operations should be avoided, just in case. The 2.4 kernel FATX support is thought to be more stable than in the 2.6 kernel. If you need to copy lots of files to your Xbox, do it via an Xbox dash using FTP. Simple operations on FATX should be fine, and the FATX support is not seriously unstable, but better to be safe. Loopback installs are considered to be stable, although they exist on FATX.

==Historical links==
Much of the old Xbox Linux information now lives on archive.org. It is helpful if you come across anything useful, to add it here!
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/ The original Xbox Linux repository on sourceforge.] The mailing list archives can help answer esoteric questions about xbox linux, sometimes. The files section contains various Xbox Linux software and historical distribution isos.
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ The xboxhdm repository.] It contains source and executables for many Xbox tools created and modified by Idotsfan. The X-DSL directory contains some information on the original Xbpartitioner table patches.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100617000252/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/Main_Page The "New" Xbox Linux wiki], which was online until 2011.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050724003648/http://xbox-linux.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/moin.cgi/FrontPage The "Old" Xbox Linux wiki], which was migrated to xbox-linux.org. Not all articles were migrated.

==See Also==
*[[Xbox Linux]]

Historical Xbox Linux

2022-07-05T23:36:51Z

VannevarKush:

When it was announced that the specifications of the Xbox were known to be very similar to an X86 PC, Xbox Linux was quickly considered as a possibility for getting getting cheap Linux PCs into the hands of the masses. The first Xbox exploits were created to make Xbox Linux possible, and were quickly repurposed by modders, while Linux remained a more niche application on the original Xbox. In the years while the Xbox was still being manufactured, it could function as a cheap daily driver Linux PC, and some users modded the controller ports into permanent USB ports, and even installed a VGA connector. But, as with all PCs they eventually became obsolete as cheaper, smaller hardware became available with similar processing power.

Xbox Linux reached a point of stable releases [https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/6704 around 2003], and the development continued thereafter, providing support for 1.4 Xboxes and their Focus encoder chip, and even support for 1.6 Xboxes and their changes. The 2.4 kernel was primarily used for Xbox Linux. The 2.6 kernel patches that were developed appear stable and quite usable, but scattered functionalities from the 2.4 kernel were never ported over.

==Timeline==
[https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''November 15, 2001''' - Microsoft Xbox released in United States
* '''c. [https://web.archive.org/web/20021013204521/https://www.xenatera.com/bunnie/proj/anatak/xboxmod.html 2001-2002 (when?)]''' - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Huang_(hacker) Bunnie Huang] [https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''February 22, 2002''' - Xbox released in Japan
* '''March 14, 2002''' - Xbox released in Europe and Australia
* '''May 23, 2002''' - Xbox Linux project founded by Michael Stiehl
* '''July 2, 2002''' - Michael Robertson, CEO of Lindows.com, offered two $100,000 prizes for accomplishment of Xbox Linux goals by January 1, 2003. (He was coincidentally being sued at the time by Microsoft, for use of the name "Lindows") One of the prizes offered was for a demonstration of Linux running on an Xbox (with a $55,000 "subprize" for writing a [[Cromwell|BIOS/bootloader]]) The other prize was for an exploit capable of getting Xbox Linux to run without hardware modification, ideally by using just a CD-ROM.
* '''August 13, 2002''' - First kernel boot
* '''October 7, 2002''' - First graphical desktop environment (KDE)
* '''October 9, 2002''' - Mandrake Linux 9 released for Xbox. Users had to replace or flash the TSOP.
* '''December 17, 2002''' - Cromwell ready. The first of the $100,000 prizes was claimed, for running Linux on Xbox and developing a bootloader before January 1, 2003.
* '''December 31, 2002''' - [https://www.theregister.com/2003/01/02/xbox_linux_donor_extends_prize/ Michael Robertson extends the prize deadline for the remaining prize.]
* '''March 29, 2003''' - The second prize was claimed for the 007 Nightfire hack by Habibi_xbox. (the game Frogger Beyond was initially hacked, but it wasn't released in Europe) This launched a minilinux via an exploit from a hacked savegame on an Xbox memory card, technically accomplishing the goal of using Linux on the Xbox without hardware modification. However, users had to start Linux via the hacked game save every time.
* '''July 4, 2003''' - The [[https://xboxdevwiki.net/Exploits#Font_hacks font exploit]] is discovered, demonstrating the ability to run Linux from the hard drive with no modchip, a true "softmod". (but also opening Pandora's box of piracy, which Xbox Linux wanted to avoid association with.) The dashboard audio exploit was discovered soon afterwards.
* '''July 7, 2003''' - A [https://www.mail-archive.com/bugtraq@securityfocus.com/msg11923.html official security release] is made about newly discovered Xbox security vulnerabilities, as responsible hackers should do
* '''August 11, 2003''' - The Mechassault exploit was released by Jeff Mears, with full softmod conversion. Efforts were made to obfuscate the source to prevent uses for piracy

More details [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Presentations/20th%20Chaos%20Communication%20Congress/ here]

==Historical Distros==
A number of distributions were released, built around the Xbox Linux-patched kernel.

*'''[https://gentoox.shallax.com GentooX]''' - GentooX, unlike vanilla Gentoo, provided precompiled binaries to the user via a custom repository. These were binaries compiled specifically for the Xbox. GentooX had both Home and Pro editions, the Home edition built around a desktop environment and the Pro edition built around the CLI. GentooX was a popular and developed Xbox Linux distro. The website is [https://web.archive.org/web/20220328101921/https://gentoox.shallax.com/ still being archived], although it appears broken in Chrome. The latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Home/ GentooX Home] is 7.1, and the latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Pro/ Pro] was 5.1, in 2009. Tested and working. The pro version attempts to boot from the CD into GentooX loader, so be sure set your BIOS not to boot from CD if booting from CD doesn't work from you. Try Xromwell if GentooX loader doesn't work.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20050510000924/http://www.x-dsl.org/ X-DSL]''' - Based on Damn Small Linux, X-DSL was a lightweight Linux build. It used Knoppix patches to be able to boot to a desktop environment from small (<100MB) loop devices from FATX. It can also make a "native" install to the hard drive, or install to a larger loop device for a permanent setup. X-DSL is an easy version of historical Linux to try out today, since it can be launched and run entirely from drive E and that avoids some incompatibilities of Xbox Linux with larger hard drives. (if your hard drive is 3TB in order to get that extra .1TB of space, it may not work). The latest official version of X-DSL is 0.6, although there is an unofficial 0.7 floating around, among various other unofficial builds. X-DSL 0.6 can be found [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/X-DSL/X-DSL%20v0.6/ here]. The contents of the zip file can be copied to the root of E (so that linuxboot.cfg is in the root) and launched with Cromwell or GentooX, with no CD. The iso is also tested and working.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060529005204/http://www.dynebolic.org:80/ Dyne:bolic Linux]''' - This is Rasta software! Dynebolic Linux is a multimedia creation, editing, and streaming focused distro that could boot as a liveCD on many systems, including original Xbox. Original Xbox support was ended in Dyne:bolic 2.x, but that uses the 2.6 kernel so it could theoretically be supported if someone felt like it. The latest version compatible with the Xbox is 1.4.1, [https://osarchive.sda1.eu/dyne-bolic available here]. This distro has a lot of toys and is fun to check out. Also, it works from DVD! (it does seem to have a low color depth in the desktop though...)
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20100617005832/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/XUbuntu xUbuntu]''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "xUbuntu". "xUbuntu is based on Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy Badger) distribution without graphical environment. xUbuntu linux system can be run from CD or installed to a PC or Xbox hard drive. The install process, the kernel, the kernel modules and the desktop are customized for PC and Xbox (i386)." The latest version is 0.9.0, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/xUbuntu/xUbuntu%200.9.0/ available here]. It needs to be burned to a CD instead of a DVD.
*'''Ed's Xebian''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "Xebian". Does not appear to have a website. From the original Xbox Linux wiki, "With superb flexibility and ease of use, it can run off CD/DVD or it can be installed onto the Xbox hard drive in either the free space or the saved game area. The OS includes support for all versions of the Xbox, including those with Xcalibur video chips. Based on Debian stable (Sarge) with backports for newer software." The latest version is 1.1.4, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Ed_s%20Xebian/Xebian/ available here], which boots to desktop as a liveCD. It seems to require burning to a CD instead of DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060630100324/http://www.keckstar.com:80/nuke/html/index.php sXb]''' - Slackware for the Original Xbox. The versioning is a little unclear, but the most recent ISO on sourceforge is in the iso.gz file [https://sourceforge.net/projects/sxb/files/Sxbnew/SXBNEW-iso--dfb-xdirectfb/ here]. May need to be burned to CD. Reported "controller jammed" messages at startup, but one of my controller ports is busted.
*'''Mandrake''' A Mandrake 9 was released and claimed to be the first full distribution on the Xbox, but apparently was not continued or supported. No known Web site. Does anyone have a copy of the original Xbox Linux Mandrake iso for archival purposes? It appears a 2005 "special edition" with the Xbox patches can be found [http://ftp.twaren.net/Linux/Mandrake/official/iso/10.1/i586/10.2/ here]. (Mandrake Linux was renamed to Mandriva Linux in 2005). Requires composite cable, at least on this 1.0 Xbox. Appears to require burning to a CD, instead of a DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060713072515/http://www.not404.com:80/cgi-bin/trac.fcgi/wiki/XFedora4 xFedora]''' A port of Fedora Core to the Xbox; essentially Fedora Core with Xbox patches. The latest version is 0.7.41, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Fedora/ available here]. I am unsure how to run it.
*'''SuSE 8''' - There's a dead download link on the old wiki. Seems to have been abandoned
*'''old xbox-linux iso''' The xbox-linux team released some preliminary ISOs during the development of Xbox Linux.
*'''live-linux''' A liveCD based Linux, may have been able to install to HDD; it was released up to 0.3, no known website, but here is [https://sourceforge.net/p/xbox-linux/mailman/message/10300266/ the announcement]. The latest image is [https://legacy.downloads.diomtec.com/homebrew/xbins/Console%20Based%20Applications/Operating%20Systems/linux/distributions/live-linux/live-linux.0.3.iso.bz2 available here]. The file boot/boot.cfg on the iso needs to be renamed to linuxboot.cfg. The video became garbled launching with both composite and component cables. This is a very basic minilinux distro, essentially a proof of concept. The linuxrc is a symlink to busybox. It appears to mount a 9MB image.
*'''ltools''', a minilinux used in Xbox game save hacks, first designed to install Linux, but later repurposed to softmod the Xbox.
*'''[https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ xboxhdm]''' is a tool made by Idotsfan for softmodding locked Xbox hard drives, it's a PC-based CD-bootable set of Linux tools
*'''XMugen''' packaged Mugen for Linux using a busybox in an initramfs, and used swap and game character data files located on FATX. It currently has issues with anything other than "F takes all" schemes.
*'''Chimp''' is a tool for cloning and basic partitioning on Xbox hard drives. It runs from an initramfs.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20051214030132/http://nexus.il.fontys.nl:80/ FreeBSD/Xbox]''' - Not Linux per se, but it's a port of FreeBSD to the Xbox. It was officially integrated into FreeBSD as a set of optional patches. A NetBSD setup can be found [ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/misc/jmcneill/xbox/ here] but it requires the rootfs mounted on NFS. There might be a self contained ISO out there?

==Installing Old Distros==
These liveCDs above should all be safe to try on your Xbox, but installation to your hard drive is more risky. It can be fine if you take the proper considerations. Here are the installation methods usually presented by the installers:

'''Native Install'''

This may not be compatible with softmods! '''Don't mess around with native installs on a locked hard drive or a hard drive that's not backed up! Flash your TSOP or hardmod first!'''

This may wipe your hard drive, format it for Linux, and expect you to put Cromwell on your BIOS. It may also mean just formatting F and booting into it from Xromwell on FATX. So make sure you know which one it is! (the installer should tell you, if it's installing to F you should be fine) Any native install with a boot partition (launched via a hard drive icon in Cromwell/Xromwell) is NOT compatible with the XBPartitioner table, and installing it will overwite the XBPartitioner table. So "F takes all" is preferred here, for allowing coexistence with the stock partitions.

'''If you have a native install, DO NOT USE XBPARTITIONER unless you want to remove Linux. Any XBPartitioner format will break Linux by wiping out the MBR that Linux uses to find its partitions.''' You can't have custom FATX partitions alongside a Linux native install. (So use a spare hard drive for a native install)

'''Loopback Install'''

This installs Linux to a file on the FATX filesystem. Your Linux filesystem will be contained within that file. This means that no repartitioning of your hard drive is necessary. This is a safer install method, if you have space for a small install on E, or if you are using an "F takes all" scheme with an Xbox partition on F. Drive F must end below the 137GB boundary, if doing a loopback install to it. (is that right?) XBPartitioner-defined partitions are not supported by official versions of Xbox Linux, it only looks for the stock partitions plus "F takes all". I am unsure of the behavior if the drive is bigger than F can be. Loopback installs should be safe if your FATX drive F is detected by Xbox Linux.

In general, using a <137GB hard drive avoids these issues, although loopback installs can still be done on larger drives.

It is not advisable to make changes on the FATX filesystem more than you have to in Xbox Linux. Mounting and reading FATX partitions is fine, but doing complex write operations should be avoided, just in case. The 2.4 kernel FATX support is thought to be more stable than in the 2.6 kernel. If you need to copy lots of files to your Xbox, do it via an Xbox dash using FTP. Simple operations on FATX should be fine, and the FATX support is not seriously unstable, but better to be safe. Loopback installs are considered to be stable, although they exist on FATX.

==Historical links==
Much of the old Xbox Linux information now lives on archive.org. It is helpful if you come across anything useful, to add it here!
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/ The original Xbox Linux repository on sourceforge.] The mailing list archives can help answer esoteric questions about xbox linux, sometimes. The files section contains various Xbox Linux software and historical distribution isos.
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ The xboxhdm repository.] It contains source and executables for many Xbox tools created and modified by Idotsfan. The X-DSL directory contains some information on the original Xbpartitioner table patches.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100617000252/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/Main_Page The "New" Xbox Linux wiki], which was online until 2011.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050724003648/http://xbox-linux.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/moin.cgi/FrontPage The "Old" Xbox Linux wiki], which was migrated to xbox-linux.org. Not all articles were migrated.

==See Also==
*[[Xbox Linux]]

Historical Xbox Linux

2022-07-05T23:35:05Z

VannevarKush:

When it was announced that the specifications of the Xbox were known to be very similar to an X86 PC, Xbox Linux was quickly considered as a possibility for getting getting cheap Linux PCs into the hands of the masses. The first Xbox exploits were created to make Xbox Linux possible, and were quickly repurposed by modders, while Linux remained a more niche application on the original Xbox. In the years while the Xbox was still being manufactured, it could function as a cheap daily driver Linux PC, and some users modded the controller ports into permanent USB ports, and even installed a VGA connector. But, as with all PCs they eventually became obsolete as cheaper, smaller hardware became available with similar processing power.

Xbox Linux reached a point of stable releases [https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/6704 around 2003], and the development continued thereafter, providing support for 1.4 Xboxes and their Focus encoder chip, and even support for 1.6 Xboxes and their changes. The 2.4 kernel was primarily used for Xbox Linux. The 2.6 kernel patches that were developed appear stable and quite usable, but scattered functionalities from the 2.4 kernel were never ported over.

==Timeline==
[https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''November 15, 2001''' - Microsoft Xbox released in United States
* '''c. [https://web.archive.org/web/20021013204521/https://www.xenatera.com/bunnie/proj/anatak/xboxmod.html 2001-2002 (when?)]''' - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Huang_(hacker) Bunnie Huang] [https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''February 22, 2002''' - Xbox released in Japan
* '''March 14, 2002''' - Xbox released in Europe and Australia
* '''May 23, 2002''' - Xbox Linux project founded by Michael Stiehl
* '''July 2, 2002''' - Michael Robertson, CEO of Lindows.com, offered two $100,000 prizes for accomplishment of Xbox Linux goals by January 1, 2003. (He was coincidentally being sued at the time by Microsoft, for use of the name "Lindows") One of the prizes offered was for a demonstration of Linux running on an Xbox (with a $55,000 "subprize" for writing a [[Cromwell|BIOS/bootloader]]) The other prize was for an exploit capable of getting Xbox Linux to run without hardware modification, ideally by using just a CD-ROM.
* '''August 13, 2002''' - First kernel boot
* '''October 7, 2002''' - First graphical desktop environment (KDE)
* '''October 9, 2002''' - Mandrake Linux 9 released for Xbox. Users had to replace or flash the TSOP.
* '''December 17, 2002''' - Cromwell ready. The first of the $100,000 prizes was claimed, for running Linux on Xbox and developing a bootloader before January 1, 2003.
* '''December 31, 2002''' - [https://www.theregister.com/2003/01/02/xbox_linux_donor_extends_prize/ Michael Robertson extends the prize deadline for the remaining prize.]
* '''March 29, 2003''' - The second prize was claimed for the 007 Nightfire hack by Habibi_xbox. (the game Frogger Beyond was initially hacked, but it wasn't released in Europe) This launched a minilinux via an exploit from a hacked savegame on an Xbox memory card, technically accomplishing the goal of using Linux on the Xbox without hardware modification. However, users had to start Linux via the hacked game save every time.
* '''July 4, 2003''' - The font exploit is discovered, demonstrating the ability to run Linux from the hard drive with no modchip, a true "softmod". (but also opening Pandora's box of piracy, which Xbox Linux wanted to avoid association with.) The dashboard audio exploit was discovered soon afterwards.
* '''July 7, 2003''' - A [https://www.mail-archive.com/bugtraq@securityfocus.com/msg11923.html official security release] is made about newly discovered Xbox security vulnerabilities, as responsible hackers should do
* '''August 11, 2003''' - The Mechassault exploit was released by Jeff Mears, with full softmod conversion. Efforts were made to obfuscate the source to prevent uses for piracy

More details [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Presentations/20th%20Chaos%20Communication%20Congress/ here]

==Historical Distros==
A number of distributions were released, built around the Xbox Linux-patched kernel.

*'''[https://gentoox.shallax.com GentooX]''' - GentooX, unlike vanilla Gentoo, provided precompiled binaries to the user via a custom repository. These were binaries compiled specifically for the Xbox. GentooX had both Home and Pro editions, the Home edition built around a desktop environment and the Pro edition built around the CLI. GentooX was a popular and developed Xbox Linux distro. The website is [https://web.archive.org/web/20220328101921/https://gentoox.shallax.com/ still being archived], although it appears broken in Chrome. The latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Home/ GentooX Home] is 7.1, and the latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Pro/ Pro] was 5.1, in 2009. Tested and working. The pro version attempts to boot from the CD into GentooX loader, so be sure set your BIOS not to boot from CD if booting from CD doesn't work from you. Try Xromwell if GentooX loader doesn't work.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20050510000924/http://www.x-dsl.org/ X-DSL]''' - Based on Damn Small Linux, X-DSL was a lightweight Linux build. It used Knoppix patches to be able to boot to a desktop environment from small (<100MB) loop devices from FATX. It can also make a "native" install to the hard drive, or install to a larger loop device for a permanent setup. X-DSL is an easy version of historical Linux to try out today, since it can be launched and run entirely from drive E and that avoids some incompatibilities of Xbox Linux with larger hard drives. (if your hard drive is 3TB in order to get that extra .1TB of space, it may not work). The latest official version of X-DSL is 0.6, although there is an unofficial 0.7 floating around, among various other unofficial builds. X-DSL 0.6 can be found [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/X-DSL/X-DSL%20v0.6/ here]. The contents of the zip file can be copied to the root of E (so that linuxboot.cfg is in the root) and launched with Cromwell or GentooX, with no CD. The iso is also tested and working.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060529005204/http://www.dynebolic.org:80/ Dyne:bolic Linux]''' - This is Rasta software! Dynebolic Linux is a multimedia creation, editing, and streaming focused distro that could boot as a liveCD on many systems, including original Xbox. Original Xbox support was ended in Dyne:bolic 2.x, but that uses the 2.6 kernel so it could theoretically be supported if someone felt like it. The latest version compatible with the Xbox is 1.4.1, [https://osarchive.sda1.eu/dyne-bolic available here]. This distro has a lot of toys and is fun to check out. Also, it works from DVD! (it does seem to have a low color depth in the desktop though...)
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20100617005832/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/XUbuntu xUbuntu]''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "xUbuntu". "xUbuntu is based on Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy Badger) distribution without graphical environment. xUbuntu linux system can be run from CD or installed to a PC or Xbox hard drive. The install process, the kernel, the kernel modules and the desktop are customized for PC and Xbox (i386)." The latest version is 0.9.0, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/xUbuntu/xUbuntu%200.9.0/ available here]. It needs to be burned to a CD instead of a DVD.
*'''Ed's Xebian''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "Xebian". Does not appear to have a website. From the original Xbox Linux wiki, "With superb flexibility and ease of use, it can run off CD/DVD or it can be installed onto the Xbox hard drive in either the free space or the saved game area. The OS includes support for all versions of the Xbox, including those with Xcalibur video chips. Based on Debian stable (Sarge) with backports for newer software." The latest version is 1.1.4, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Ed_s%20Xebian/Xebian/ available here], which boots to desktop as a liveCD. It seems to require burning to a CD instead of DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060630100324/http://www.keckstar.com:80/nuke/html/index.php sXb]''' - Slackware for the Original Xbox. The versioning is a little unclear, but the most recent ISO on sourceforge is in the iso.gz file [https://sourceforge.net/projects/sxb/files/Sxbnew/SXBNEW-iso--dfb-xdirectfb/ here]. May need to be burned to CD. Reported "controller jammed" messages at startup, but one of my controller ports is busted.
*'''Mandrake''' A Mandrake 9 was released and claimed to be the first full distribution on the Xbox, but apparently was not continued or supported. No known Web site. Does anyone have a copy of the original Xbox Linux Mandrake iso for archival purposes? It appears a 2005 "special edition" with the Xbox patches can be found [http://ftp.twaren.net/Linux/Mandrake/official/iso/10.1/i586/10.2/ here]. (Mandrake Linux was renamed to Mandriva Linux in 2005). Requires composite cable, at least on this 1.0 Xbox. Appears to require burning to a CD, instead of a DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060713072515/http://www.not404.com:80/cgi-bin/trac.fcgi/wiki/XFedora4 xFedora]''' A port of Fedora Core to the Xbox; essentially Fedora Core with Xbox patches. The latest version is 0.7.41, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Fedora/ available here]. I am unsure how to run it.
*'''SuSE 8''' - There's a dead download link on the old wiki. Seems to have been abandoned
*'''old xbox-linux iso''' The xbox-linux team released some preliminary ISOs during the development of Xbox Linux.
*'''live-linux''' A liveCD based Linux, may have been able to install to HDD; it was released up to 0.3, no known website, but here is [https://sourceforge.net/p/xbox-linux/mailman/message/10300266/ the announcement]. The latest image is [https://legacy.downloads.diomtec.com/homebrew/xbins/Console%20Based%20Applications/Operating%20Systems/linux/distributions/live-linux/live-linux.0.3.iso.bz2 available here]. The file boot/boot.cfg on the iso needs to be renamed to linuxboot.cfg. The video became garbled launching with both composite and component cables. This is a very basic minilinux distro, essentially a proof of concept. The linuxrc is a symlink to busybox. It appears to mount a 9MB image.
*'''ltools''', a minilinux used in Xbox game save hacks, first designed to install Linux, but later repurposed to softmod the Xbox.
*'''[https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ xboxhdm]''' is a tool made by Idotsfan for softmodding locked Xbox hard drives, it's a PC-based CD-bootable set of Linux tools
*'''XMugen''' packaged Mugen for Linux using a busybox in an initramfs, and used swap and game character data files located on FATX. It currently has issues with anything other than "F takes all" schemes.
*'''Chimp''' is a tool for cloning and basic partitioning on Xbox hard drives. It runs from an initramfs.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20051214030132/http://nexus.il.fontys.nl:80/ FreeBSD/Xbox]''' - Not Linux per se, but it's a port of FreeBSD to the Xbox. It was officially integrated into FreeBSD as a set of optional patches. A NetBSD setup can be found [ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/misc/jmcneill/xbox/ here] but it requires the rootfs mounted on NFS. There might be a self contained ISO out there?

==Installing Old Distros==
These liveCDs above should all be safe to try on your Xbox, but installation to your hard drive is more risky. It can be fine if you take the proper considerations. Here are the installation methods usually presented by the installers:

'''Native Install'''

This may not be compatible with softmods! '''Don't mess around with native installs on a locked hard drive or a hard drive that's not backed up! Flash your TSOP or hardmod first!'''

This may wipe your hard drive, format it for Linux, and expect you to put Cromwell on your BIOS. It may also mean just formatting F and booting into it from Xromwell on FATX. So make sure you know which one it is! (the installer should tell you, if it's installing to F you should be fine) Any native install with a boot partition (launched via a hard drive icon in Cromwell/Xromwell) is NOT compatible with the XBPartitioner table, and installing it will overwite the XBPartitioner table. So "F takes all" is preferred here, for allowing coexistence with the stock partitions.

'''If you have a native install, DO NOT USE XBPARTITIONER unless you want to remove Linux. Any XBPartitioner format will break Linux by wiping out the MBR that Linux uses to find its partitions.''' You can't have custom FATX partitions alongside a Linux native install. (So use a spare hard drive for a native install)

'''Loopback Install'''

This installs Linux to a file on the FATX filesystem. Your Linux filesystem will be contained within that file. This means that no repartitioning of your hard drive is necessary. This is a safer install method, if you have space for a small install on E, or if you are using an "F takes all" scheme with an Xbox partition on F. Drive F must end below the 137GB boundary, if doing a loopback install to it. (is that right?) XBPartitioner-defined partitions are not supported by official versions of Xbox Linux, it only looks for the stock partitions plus "F takes all". I am unsure of the behavior if the drive is bigger than F can be. Loopback installs should be safe if your FATX drive F is detected by Xbox Linux.

In general, using a <137GB hard drive avoids these issues, although loopback installs can still be done on larger drives.

It is not advisable to make changes on the FATX filesystem more than you have to in Xbox Linux. Mounting and reading FATX partitions is fine, but doing complex write operations should be avoided, just in case. The 2.4 kernel FATX support is thought to be more stable than in the 2.6 kernel. If you need to copy lots of files to your Xbox, do it via an Xbox dash using FTP. Simple operations on FATX should be fine, and the FATX support is not seriously unstable, but better to be safe. Loopback installs are considered to be stable, although they exist on FATX.

==Historical links==
Much of the old Xbox Linux information now lives on archive.org. It is helpful if you come across anything useful, to add it here!
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/ The original Xbox Linux repository on sourceforge.] The mailing list archives can help answer esoteric questions about xbox linux, sometimes. The files section contains various Xbox Linux software and historical distribution isos.
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ The xboxhdm repository.] It contains source and executables for many Xbox tools created and modified by Idotsfan. The X-DSL directory contains some information on the original Xbpartitioner table patches.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100617000252/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/Main_Page The "New" Xbox Linux wiki], which was online until 2011.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050724003648/http://xbox-linux.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/moin.cgi/FrontPage The "Old" Xbox Linux wiki], which was migrated to xbox-linux.org. Not all articles were migrated.

==See Also==
*[[Xbox Linux]]

Historical Xbox Linux

2022-07-05T23:34:26Z

VannevarKush: /* Timeline */

When it was announced that the specifications of the Xbox were known to be very similar to an X86 PC, Xbox Linux was quickly considered as a possibility for getting getting cheap Linux PCs into the hands of the masses. The first Xbox exploits were created to make Xbox Linux possible, and were quickly repurposed by modders, while Linux remained a more niche application on the original Xbox. In the years while the Xbox was still being manufactured, it could function as a cheap daily driver Linux PC, and some users modded the controller ports into permanent USB ports, and even installed a VGA connector. But, as with all PCs they eventually became obsolete as cheaper, smaller hardware became available with similar processing power.

Xbox Linux reached a point of stable releases [https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/6704 around 2003], and the development continued thereafter, providing support for 1.4 Xboxes and their Focus encoder chip, and even support for 1.6 Xboxes and their changes. The 2.4 kernel was primarily used for Xbox Linux. The 2.6 kernel patches that were developed appear stable and quite usable, but scattered functionalities from the 2.4 kernel were never ported over.

==Timeline==
[https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''November 15, 2001''' - Microsoft Xbox released in United States
* '''c. [https://web.archive.org/web/20021013204521/https://www.xenatera.com/bunnie/proj/anatak/xboxmod.html 2001-2002 (when?)]''' - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Huang_(hacker) Bunnie Huang]
* '''February 22, 2002''' - Xbox released in Japan
* '''March 14, 2002''' - Xbox released in Europe and Australia
* '''May 23, 2002''' - Xbox Linux project founded by Michael Stiehl
* '''July 2, 2002''' - Michael Robertson, CEO of Lindows.com, offered two $100,000 prizes for accomplishment of Xbox Linux goals by January 1, 2003. (He was coincidentally being sued at the time by Microsoft, for use of the name "Lindows") One of the prizes offered was for a demonstration of Linux running on an Xbox (with a $55,000 "subprize" for writing a [[Cromwell|BIOS/bootloader]]) The other prize was for an exploit capable of getting Xbox Linux to run without hardware modification, ideally by using just a CD-ROM.
* '''August 13, 2002''' - First kernel boot
* '''October 7, 2002''' - First graphical desktop environment (KDE)
* '''October 9, 2002''' - Mandrake Linux 9 released for Xbox. Users had to replace or flash the TSOP.
* '''December 17, 2002''' - Cromwell ready. The first of the $100,000 prizes was claimed, for running Linux on Xbox and developing a bootloader before January 1, 2003.
* '''December 31, 2002''' - [https://www.theregister.com/2003/01/02/xbox_linux_donor_extends_prize/ Michael Robertson extends the prize deadline for the remaining prize.]
* '''March 29, 2003''' - The second prize was claimed for the 007 Nightfire hack by Habibi_xbox. (the game Frogger Beyond was initially hacked, but it wasn't released in Europe) This launched a minilinux via an exploit from a hacked savegame on an Xbox memory card, technically accomplishing the goal of using Linux on the Xbox without hardware modification. However, users had to start Linux via the hacked game save every time.
* '''July 4, 2003''' - The font exploit is discovered, demonstrating the ability to run Linux from the hard drive with no modchip, a true "softmod". (but also opening Pandora's box of piracy, which Xbox Linux wanted to avoid association with.) The dashboard audio exploit was discovered soon afterwards.
* '''July 7, 2003''' - A [https://www.mail-archive.com/bugtraq@securityfocus.com/msg11923.html official security release] is made about newly discovered Xbox security vulnerabilities, as responsible hackers should do
* '''August 11, 2003''' - The Mechassault exploit was released by Jeff Mears, with full softmod conversion. Efforts were made to obfuscate the source to prevent uses for piracy

More details [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Presentations/20th%20Chaos%20Communication%20Congress/ here]

==Historical Distros==
A number of distributions were released, built around the Xbox Linux-patched kernel.

*'''[https://gentoox.shallax.com GentooX]''' - GentooX, unlike vanilla Gentoo, provided precompiled binaries to the user via a custom repository. These were binaries compiled specifically for the Xbox. GentooX had both Home and Pro editions, the Home edition built around a desktop environment and the Pro edition built around the CLI. GentooX was a popular and developed Xbox Linux distro. The website is [https://web.archive.org/web/20220328101921/https://gentoox.shallax.com/ still being archived], although it appears broken in Chrome. The latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Home/ GentooX Home] is 7.1, and the latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Pro/ Pro] was 5.1, in 2009. Tested and working. The pro version attempts to boot from the CD into GentooX loader, so be sure set your BIOS not to boot from CD if booting from CD doesn't work from you. Try Xromwell if GentooX loader doesn't work.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20050510000924/http://www.x-dsl.org/ X-DSL]''' - Based on Damn Small Linux, X-DSL was a lightweight Linux build. It used Knoppix patches to be able to boot to a desktop environment from small (<100MB) loop devices from FATX. It can also make a "native" install to the hard drive, or install to a larger loop device for a permanent setup. X-DSL is an easy version of historical Linux to try out today, since it can be launched and run entirely from drive E and that avoids some incompatibilities of Xbox Linux with larger hard drives. (if your hard drive is 3TB in order to get that extra .1TB of space, it may not work). The latest official version of X-DSL is 0.6, although there is an unofficial 0.7 floating around, among various other unofficial builds. X-DSL 0.6 can be found [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/X-DSL/X-DSL%20v0.6/ here]. The contents of the zip file can be copied to the root of E (so that linuxboot.cfg is in the root) and launched with Cromwell or GentooX, with no CD. The iso is also tested and working.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060529005204/http://www.dynebolic.org:80/ Dyne:bolic Linux]''' - This is Rasta software! Dynebolic Linux is a multimedia creation, editing, and streaming focused distro that could boot as a liveCD on many systems, including original Xbox. Original Xbox support was ended in Dyne:bolic 2.x, but that uses the 2.6 kernel so it could theoretically be supported if someone felt like it. The latest version compatible with the Xbox is 1.4.1, [https://osarchive.sda1.eu/dyne-bolic available here]. This distro has a lot of toys and is fun to check out. Also, it works from DVD! (it does seem to have a low color depth in the desktop though...)
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20100617005832/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/XUbuntu xUbuntu]''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "xUbuntu". "xUbuntu is based on Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy Badger) distribution without graphical environment. xUbuntu linux system can be run from CD or installed to a PC or Xbox hard drive. The install process, the kernel, the kernel modules and the desktop are customized for PC and Xbox (i386)." The latest version is 0.9.0, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/xUbuntu/xUbuntu%200.9.0/ available here]. It needs to be burned to a CD instead of a DVD.
*'''Ed's Xebian''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "Xebian". Does not appear to have a website. From the original Xbox Linux wiki, "With superb flexibility and ease of use, it can run off CD/DVD or it can be installed onto the Xbox hard drive in either the free space or the saved game area. The OS includes support for all versions of the Xbox, including those with Xcalibur video chips. Based on Debian stable (Sarge) with backports for newer software." The latest version is 1.1.4, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Ed_s%20Xebian/Xebian/ available here], which boots to desktop as a liveCD. It seems to require burning to a CD instead of DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060630100324/http://www.keckstar.com:80/nuke/html/index.php sXb]''' - Slackware for the Original Xbox. The versioning is a little unclear, but the most recent ISO on sourceforge is in the iso.gz file [https://sourceforge.net/projects/sxb/files/Sxbnew/SXBNEW-iso--dfb-xdirectfb/ here]. May need to be burned to CD. Reported "controller jammed" messages at startup, but one of my controller ports is busted.
*'''Mandrake''' A Mandrake 9 was released and claimed to be the first full distribution on the Xbox, but apparently was not continued or supported. No known Web site. Does anyone have a copy of the original Xbox Linux Mandrake iso for archival purposes? It appears a 2005 "special edition" with the Xbox patches can be found [http://ftp.twaren.net/Linux/Mandrake/official/iso/10.1/i586/10.2/ here]. (Mandrake Linux was renamed to Mandriva Linux in 2005). Requires composite cable, at least on this 1.0 Xbox. Appears to require burning to a CD, instead of a DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060713072515/http://www.not404.com:80/cgi-bin/trac.fcgi/wiki/XFedora4 xFedora]''' A port of Fedora Core to the Xbox; essentially Fedora Core with Xbox patches. The latest version is 0.7.41, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Fedora/ available here]. I am unsure how to run it.
*'''SuSE 8''' - There's a dead download link on the old wiki. Seems to have been abandoned
*'''old xbox-linux iso''' The xbox-linux team released some preliminary ISOs during the development of Xbox Linux.
*'''live-linux''' A liveCD based Linux, may have been able to install to HDD; it was released up to 0.3, no known website, but here is [https://sourceforge.net/p/xbox-linux/mailman/message/10300266/ the announcement]. The latest image is [https://legacy.downloads.diomtec.com/homebrew/xbins/Console%20Based%20Applications/Operating%20Systems/linux/distributions/live-linux/live-linux.0.3.iso.bz2 available here]. The file boot/boot.cfg on the iso needs to be renamed to linuxboot.cfg. The video became garbled launching with both composite and component cables. This is a very basic minilinux distro, essentially a proof of concept. The linuxrc is a symlink to busybox. It appears to mount a 9MB image.
*'''ltools''', a minilinux used in Xbox game save hacks, first designed to install Linux, but later repurposed to softmod the Xbox.
*'''[https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ xboxhdm]''' is a tool made by Idotsfan for softmodding locked Xbox hard drives, it's a PC-based CD-bootable set of Linux tools
*'''XMugen''' packaged Mugen for Linux using a busybox in an initramfs, and used swap and game character data files located on FATX. It currently has issues with anything other than "F takes all" schemes.
*'''Chimp''' is a tool for cloning and basic partitioning on Xbox hard drives. It runs from an initramfs.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20051214030132/http://nexus.il.fontys.nl:80/ FreeBSD/Xbox]''' - Not Linux per se, but it's a port of FreeBSD to the Xbox. It was officially integrated into FreeBSD as a set of optional patches. A NetBSD setup can be found [ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/misc/jmcneill/xbox/ here] but it requires the rootfs mounted on NFS. There might be a self contained ISO out there?

==Installing Old Distros==
These liveCDs above should all be safe to try on your Xbox, but installation to your hard drive is more risky. It can be fine if you take the proper considerations. Here are the installation methods usually presented by the installers:

'''Native Install'''

This may not be compatible with softmods! '''Don't mess around with native installs on a locked hard drive or a hard drive that's not backed up! Flash your TSOP or hardmod first!'''

This may wipe your hard drive, format it for Linux, and expect you to put Cromwell on your BIOS. It may also mean just formatting F and booting into it from Xromwell on FATX. So make sure you know which one it is! (the installer should tell you, if it's installing to F you should be fine) Any native install with a boot partition (launched via a hard drive icon in Cromwell/Xromwell) is NOT compatible with the XBPartitioner table, and installing it will overwite the XBPartitioner table. So "F takes all" is preferred here, for allowing coexistence with the stock partitions.

'''If you have a native install, DO NOT USE XBPARTITIONER unless you want to remove Linux. Any XBPartitioner format will break Linux by wiping out the MBR that Linux uses to find its partitions.''' You can't have custom FATX partitions alongside a Linux native install. (So use a spare hard drive for a native install)

'''Loopback Install'''

This installs Linux to a file on the FATX filesystem. Your Linux filesystem will be contained within that file. This means that no repartitioning of your hard drive is necessary. This is a safer install method, if you have space for a small install on E, or if you are using an "F takes all" scheme with an Xbox partition on F. Drive F must end below the 137GB boundary, if doing a loopback install to it. (is that right?) XBPartitioner-defined partitions are not supported by official versions of Xbox Linux, it only looks for the stock partitions plus "F takes all". I am unsure of the behavior if the drive is bigger than F can be. Loopback installs should be safe if your FATX drive F is detected by Xbox Linux.

In general, using a <137GB hard drive avoids these issues, although loopback installs can still be done on larger drives.

It is not advisable to make changes on the FATX filesystem more than you have to in Xbox Linux. Mounting and reading FATX partitions is fine, but doing complex write operations should be avoided, just in case. The 2.4 kernel FATX support is thought to be more stable than in the 2.6 kernel. If you need to copy lots of files to your Xbox, do it via an Xbox dash using FTP. Simple operations on FATX should be fine, and the FATX support is not seriously unstable, but better to be safe. Loopback installs are considered to be stable, although they exist on FATX.

==Historical links==
Much of the old Xbox Linux information now lives on archive.org. It is helpful if you come across anything useful, to add it here!
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/ The original Xbox Linux repository on sourceforge.] The mailing list archives can help answer esoteric questions about xbox linux, sometimes. The files section contains various Xbox Linux software and historical distribution isos.
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ The xboxhdm repository.] It contains source and executables for many Xbox tools created and modified by Idotsfan. The X-DSL directory contains some information on the original Xbpartitioner table patches.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100617000252/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/Main_Page The "New" Xbox Linux wiki], which was online until 2011.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050724003648/http://xbox-linux.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/moin.cgi/FrontPage The "Old" Xbox Linux wiki], which was migrated to xbox-linux.org. Not all articles were migrated.

==See Also==
*[[Xbox Linux]]

Historical Xbox Linux

2022-07-05T23:33:01Z

VannevarKush: /* Timeline */

When it was announced that the specifications of the Xbox were known to be very similar to an X86 PC, Xbox Linux was quickly considered as a possibility for getting getting cheap Linux PCs into the hands of the masses. The first Xbox exploits were created to make Xbox Linux possible, and were quickly repurposed by modders, while Linux remained a more niche application on the original Xbox. In the years while the Xbox was still being manufactured, it could function as a cheap daily driver Linux PC, and some users modded the controller ports into permanent USB ports, and even installed a VGA connector. But, as with all PCs they eventually became obsolete as cheaper, smaller hardware became available with similar processing power.

Xbox Linux reached a point of stable releases [https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/6704 around 2003], and the development continued thereafter, providing support for 1.4 Xboxes and their Focus encoder chip, and even support for 1.6 Xboxes and their changes. The 2.4 kernel was primarily used for Xbox Linux. The 2.6 kernel patches that were developed appear stable and quite usable, but scattered functionalities from the 2.4 kernel were never ported over.

==Timeline==
* '''c. [https://web.archive.org/web/20021013204521/https://www.xenatera.com/bunnie/proj/anatak/xboxmod.html October 13 2002 (how?)]''' - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Huang_(hacker) Bunnie Huang] [https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''November 15, 2001''' - Microsoft Xbox released in United States
* '''February 22, 2002''' - Xbox released in Japan
* '''March 14, 2002''' - Xbox released in Europe and Australia
* '''May 23, 2002''' - Xbox Linux project founded by Michael Stiehl
* '''July 2, 2002''' - Michael Robertson, CEO of Lindows.com, offered two $100,000 prizes for accomplishment of Xbox Linux goals by January 1, 2003. (He was coincidentally being sued at the time by Microsoft, for use of the name "Lindows") One of the prizes offered was for a demonstration of Linux running on an Xbox (with a $55,000 "subprize" for writing a [[Cromwell|BIOS/bootloader]]) The other prize was for an exploit capable of getting Xbox Linux to run without hardware modification, ideally by using just a CD-ROM.
* '''August 13, 2002''' - First kernel boot
* '''October 7, 2002''' - First graphical desktop environment (KDE)
* '''October 9, 2002''' - Mandrake Linux 9 released for Xbox. Users had to replace or flash the TSOP.
* '''December 17, 2002''' - Cromwell ready. The first of the $100,000 prizes was claimed, for running Linux on Xbox and developing a bootloader before January 1, 2003.
* '''December 31, 2002''' - [https://www.theregister.com/2003/01/02/xbox_linux_donor_extends_prize/ Michael Robertson extends the prize deadline for the remaining prize.]
* '''March 29, 2003''' - The second prize was claimed for the 007 Nightfire hack by Habibi_xbox. (the game Frogger Beyond was initially hacked, but it wasn't released in Europe) This launched a minilinux via an exploit from a hacked savegame on an Xbox memory card, technically accomplishing the goal of using Linux on the Xbox without hardware modification. However, users had to start Linux via the hacked game save every time.
* '''July 4, 2003''' - The font exploit is discovered, demonstrating the ability to run Linux from the hard drive with no modchip, a true "softmod". (but also opening Pandora's box of piracy, which Xbox Linux wanted to avoid association with.) The dashboard audio exploit was discovered soon afterwards.
* '''July 7, 2003''' - A [https://www.mail-archive.com/bugtraq@securityfocus.com/msg11923.html official security release] is made about newly discovered Xbox security vulnerabilities, as responsible hackers should do
* '''August 11, 2003''' - The Mechassault exploit was released by Jeff Mears, with full softmod conversion. Efforts were made to obfuscate the source to prevent uses for piracy

More details [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Presentations/20th%20Chaos%20Communication%20Congress/ here]

==Historical Distros==
A number of distributions were released, built around the Xbox Linux-patched kernel.

*'''[https://gentoox.shallax.com GentooX]''' - GentooX, unlike vanilla Gentoo, provided precompiled binaries to the user via a custom repository. These were binaries compiled specifically for the Xbox. GentooX had both Home and Pro editions, the Home edition built around a desktop environment and the Pro edition built around the CLI. GentooX was a popular and developed Xbox Linux distro. The website is [https://web.archive.org/web/20220328101921/https://gentoox.shallax.com/ still being archived], although it appears broken in Chrome. The latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Home/ GentooX Home] is 7.1, and the latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Pro/ Pro] was 5.1, in 2009. Tested and working. The pro version attempts to boot from the CD into GentooX loader, so be sure set your BIOS not to boot from CD if booting from CD doesn't work from you. Try Xromwell if GentooX loader doesn't work.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20050510000924/http://www.x-dsl.org/ X-DSL]''' - Based on Damn Small Linux, X-DSL was a lightweight Linux build. It used Knoppix patches to be able to boot to a desktop environment from small (<100MB) loop devices from FATX. It can also make a "native" install to the hard drive, or install to a larger loop device for a permanent setup. X-DSL is an easy version of historical Linux to try out today, since it can be launched and run entirely from drive E and that avoids some incompatibilities of Xbox Linux with larger hard drives. (if your hard drive is 3TB in order to get that extra .1TB of space, it may not work). The latest official version of X-DSL is 0.6, although there is an unofficial 0.7 floating around, among various other unofficial builds. X-DSL 0.6 can be found [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/X-DSL/X-DSL%20v0.6/ here]. The contents of the zip file can be copied to the root of E (so that linuxboot.cfg is in the root) and launched with Cromwell or GentooX, with no CD. The iso is also tested and working.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060529005204/http://www.dynebolic.org:80/ Dyne:bolic Linux]''' - This is Rasta software! Dynebolic Linux is a multimedia creation, editing, and streaming focused distro that could boot as a liveCD on many systems, including original Xbox. Original Xbox support was ended in Dyne:bolic 2.x, but that uses the 2.6 kernel so it could theoretically be supported if someone felt like it. The latest version compatible with the Xbox is 1.4.1, [https://osarchive.sda1.eu/dyne-bolic available here]. This distro has a lot of toys and is fun to check out. Also, it works from DVD! (it does seem to have a low color depth in the desktop though...)
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20100617005832/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/XUbuntu xUbuntu]''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "xUbuntu". "xUbuntu is based on Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy Badger) distribution without graphical environment. xUbuntu linux system can be run from CD or installed to a PC or Xbox hard drive. The install process, the kernel, the kernel modules and the desktop are customized for PC and Xbox (i386)." The latest version is 0.9.0, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/xUbuntu/xUbuntu%200.9.0/ available here]. It needs to be burned to a CD instead of a DVD.
*'''Ed's Xebian''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "Xebian". Does not appear to have a website. From the original Xbox Linux wiki, "With superb flexibility and ease of use, it can run off CD/DVD or it can be installed onto the Xbox hard drive in either the free space or the saved game area. The OS includes support for all versions of the Xbox, including those with Xcalibur video chips. Based on Debian stable (Sarge) with backports for newer software." The latest version is 1.1.4, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Ed_s%20Xebian/Xebian/ available here], which boots to desktop as a liveCD. It seems to require burning to a CD instead of DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060630100324/http://www.keckstar.com:80/nuke/html/index.php sXb]''' - Slackware for the Original Xbox. The versioning is a little unclear, but the most recent ISO on sourceforge is in the iso.gz file [https://sourceforge.net/projects/sxb/files/Sxbnew/SXBNEW-iso--dfb-xdirectfb/ here]. May need to be burned to CD. Reported "controller jammed" messages at startup, but one of my controller ports is busted.
*'''Mandrake''' A Mandrake 9 was released and claimed to be the first full distribution on the Xbox, but apparently was not continued or supported. No known Web site. Does anyone have a copy of the original Xbox Linux Mandrake iso for archival purposes? It appears a 2005 "special edition" with the Xbox patches can be found [http://ftp.twaren.net/Linux/Mandrake/official/iso/10.1/i586/10.2/ here]. (Mandrake Linux was renamed to Mandriva Linux in 2005). Requires composite cable, at least on this 1.0 Xbox. Appears to require burning to a CD, instead of a DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060713072515/http://www.not404.com:80/cgi-bin/trac.fcgi/wiki/XFedora4 xFedora]''' A port of Fedora Core to the Xbox; essentially Fedora Core with Xbox patches. The latest version is 0.7.41, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Fedora/ available here]. I am unsure how to run it.
*'''SuSE 8''' - There's a dead download link on the old wiki. Seems to have been abandoned
*'''old xbox-linux iso''' The xbox-linux team released some preliminary ISOs during the development of Xbox Linux.
*'''live-linux''' A liveCD based Linux, may have been able to install to HDD; it was released up to 0.3, no known website, but here is [https://sourceforge.net/p/xbox-linux/mailman/message/10300266/ the announcement]. The latest image is [https://legacy.downloads.diomtec.com/homebrew/xbins/Console%20Based%20Applications/Operating%20Systems/linux/distributions/live-linux/live-linux.0.3.iso.bz2 available here]. The file boot/boot.cfg on the iso needs to be renamed to linuxboot.cfg. The video became garbled launching with both composite and component cables. This is a very basic minilinux distro, essentially a proof of concept. The linuxrc is a symlink to busybox. It appears to mount a 9MB image.
*'''ltools''', a minilinux used in Xbox game save hacks, first designed to install Linux, but later repurposed to softmod the Xbox.
*'''[https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ xboxhdm]''' is a tool made by Idotsfan for softmodding locked Xbox hard drives, it's a PC-based CD-bootable set of Linux tools
*'''XMugen''' packaged Mugen for Linux using a busybox in an initramfs, and used swap and game character data files located on FATX. It currently has issues with anything other than "F takes all" schemes.
*'''Chimp''' is a tool for cloning and basic partitioning on Xbox hard drives. It runs from an initramfs.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20051214030132/http://nexus.il.fontys.nl:80/ FreeBSD/Xbox]''' - Not Linux per se, but it's a port of FreeBSD to the Xbox. It was officially integrated into FreeBSD as a set of optional patches. A NetBSD setup can be found [ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/misc/jmcneill/xbox/ here] but it requires the rootfs mounted on NFS. There might be a self contained ISO out there?

==Installing Old Distros==
These liveCDs above should all be safe to try on your Xbox, but installation to your hard drive is more risky. It can be fine if you take the proper considerations. Here are the installation methods usually presented by the installers:

'''Native Install'''

This may not be compatible with softmods! '''Don't mess around with native installs on a locked hard drive or a hard drive that's not backed up! Flash your TSOP or hardmod first!'''

This may wipe your hard drive, format it for Linux, and expect you to put Cromwell on your BIOS. It may also mean just formatting F and booting into it from Xromwell on FATX. So make sure you know which one it is! (the installer should tell you, if it's installing to F you should be fine) Any native install with a boot partition (launched via a hard drive icon in Cromwell/Xromwell) is NOT compatible with the XBPartitioner table, and installing it will overwite the XBPartitioner table. So "F takes all" is preferred here, for allowing coexistence with the stock partitions.

'''If you have a native install, DO NOT USE XBPARTITIONER unless you want to remove Linux. Any XBPartitioner format will break Linux by wiping out the MBR that Linux uses to find its partitions.''' You can't have custom FATX partitions alongside a Linux native install. (So use a spare hard drive for a native install)

'''Loopback Install'''

This installs Linux to a file on the FATX filesystem. Your Linux filesystem will be contained within that file. This means that no repartitioning of your hard drive is necessary. This is a safer install method, if you have space for a small install on E, or if you are using an "F takes all" scheme with an Xbox partition on F. Drive F must end below the 137GB boundary, if doing a loopback install to it. (is that right?) XBPartitioner-defined partitions are not supported by official versions of Xbox Linux, it only looks for the stock partitions plus "F takes all". I am unsure of the behavior if the drive is bigger than F can be. Loopback installs should be safe if your FATX drive F is detected by Xbox Linux.

In general, using a <137GB hard drive avoids these issues, although loopback installs can still be done on larger drives.

It is not advisable to make changes on the FATX filesystem more than you have to in Xbox Linux. Mounting and reading FATX partitions is fine, but doing complex write operations should be avoided, just in case. The 2.4 kernel FATX support is thought to be more stable than in the 2.6 kernel. If you need to copy lots of files to your Xbox, do it via an Xbox dash using FTP. Simple operations on FATX should be fine, and the FATX support is not seriously unstable, but better to be safe. Loopback installs are considered to be stable, although they exist on FATX.

==Historical links==
Much of the old Xbox Linux information now lives on archive.org. It is helpful if you come across anything useful, to add it here!
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/ The original Xbox Linux repository on sourceforge.] The mailing list archives can help answer esoteric questions about xbox linux, sometimes. The files section contains various Xbox Linux software and historical distribution isos.
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ The xboxhdm repository.] It contains source and executables for many Xbox tools created and modified by Idotsfan. The X-DSL directory contains some information on the original Xbpartitioner table patches.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100617000252/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/Main_Page The "New" Xbox Linux wiki], which was online until 2011.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050724003648/http://xbox-linux.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/moin.cgi/FrontPage The "Old" Xbox Linux wiki], which was migrated to xbox-linux.org. Not all articles were migrated.

==See Also==
*[[Xbox Linux]]

Historical Xbox Linux

2022-07-05T23:32:36Z

VannevarKush: /* Timeline */

When it was announced that the specifications of the Xbox were known to be very similar to an X86 PC, Xbox Linux was quickly considered as a possibility for getting getting cheap Linux PCs into the hands of the masses. The first Xbox exploits were created to make Xbox Linux possible, and were quickly repurposed by modders, while Linux remained a more niche application on the original Xbox. In the years while the Xbox was still being manufactured, it could function as a cheap daily driver Linux PC, and some users modded the controller ports into permanent USB ports, and even installed a VGA connector. But, as with all PCs they eventually became obsolete as cheaper, smaller hardware became available with similar processing power.

Xbox Linux reached a point of stable releases [https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/6704 around 2003], and the development continued thereafter, providing support for 1.4 Xboxes and their Focus encoder chip, and even support for 1.6 Xboxes and their changes. The 2.4 kernel was primarily used for Xbox Linux. The 2.6 kernel patches that were developed appear stable and quite usable, but scattered functionalities from the 2.4 kernel were never ported over.

==Timeline==
* '''c. [https://web.archive.org/web/20021013204521/https://www.xenatera.com/bunnie/proj/anatak/xboxmod.html October 13 2002 (how?)]''' - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Huang_(hacker) Bunnie Huang] [https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''November 15, 2001''' - Microsoft Xbox released in United States
* '''February 22, 2002''' - Xbox released in Japan
* '''March 14, 2002''' - Xbox released in Europe and Australia
* '''May 23, 2002''' - Xbox Linux project founded by Michael Stiehl
* '''July 2, 2002''' - Michael Robertson, CEO of Lindows.com, offered two $100,000 prizes for accomplishment of Xbox Linux goals by January 1, 2003. (He was coincidentally being sued at the time by Microsoft, for use of the name "Lindows") One of the prizes offered was for a demonstration of Linux running on an Xbox (with a $55,000 "subprize" for writing a [[Cromwell|BIOS/bootloader]]) The other prize was for an exploit capable of getting Xbox Linux to run without hardware modification, ideally by using just a CD-ROM.
* '''August 13, 2002''' - First kernel boot
* '''October 7, 2002''' - First graphical desktop environment (KDE)
* '''October 9, 2002''' - Mandrake Linux 9 released for Xbox. Users had to replace or flash the TSOP.
* '''December 17, 2002''' - Cromwell ready. The first of the $100,000 prizes was claimed, for running Linux on Xbox and developing a bootloader before January 1, 2003.
* '''December 31, 2002''' - [https://www.theregister.com/2003/01/02/xbox_linux_donor_extends_prize/ Michael Robertson extends the prize deadline for the remaining prize.]
* '''March 29, 2003''' - The second prize was claimed for the 007 Nightfire hack by Habibi_xbox. (the game Frogger Beyond was initially hacked, but it wasn't released in Europe) This launched a minilinux via an exploit from a hacked savegame on an Xbox memory card, technically accomplishing the goal of using Linux on the Xbox without hardware modification. However, users had to start Linux via the hacked game save every time.
* '''July 4, 2003''' - The font exploit is discovered, demonstrating the ability to run Linux from the hard drive with no modchip, a true "softmod". (but also opening Pandora's box of piracy, which Xbox Linux wanted to avoid association with.) The dashboard audio exploit was discovered soon afterwards.
* '''July 7, 2003''' - A [https://www.mail-archive.com/bugtraq@securityfocus.com/msg11923.html official security release] is made about newly discovered Xbox security vulnerabilities, as responsible hackers should do
* '''August 11, 2003''' - Mechassault exploit released by Jeff Mears, with full softmod conversion. Efforts were made to obfuscate the source to prevent uses for piracy

More details [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Presentations/20th%20Chaos%20Communication%20Congress/ here]

==Historical Distros==
A number of distributions were released, built around the Xbox Linux-patched kernel.

*'''[https://gentoox.shallax.com GentooX]''' - GentooX, unlike vanilla Gentoo, provided precompiled binaries to the user via a custom repository. These were binaries compiled specifically for the Xbox. GentooX had both Home and Pro editions, the Home edition built around a desktop environment and the Pro edition built around the CLI. GentooX was a popular and developed Xbox Linux distro. The website is [https://web.archive.org/web/20220328101921/https://gentoox.shallax.com/ still being archived], although it appears broken in Chrome. The latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Home/ GentooX Home] is 7.1, and the latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Pro/ Pro] was 5.1, in 2009. Tested and working. The pro version attempts to boot from the CD into GentooX loader, so be sure set your BIOS not to boot from CD if booting from CD doesn't work from you. Try Xromwell if GentooX loader doesn't work.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20050510000924/http://www.x-dsl.org/ X-DSL]''' - Based on Damn Small Linux, X-DSL was a lightweight Linux build. It used Knoppix patches to be able to boot to a desktop environment from small (<100MB) loop devices from FATX. It can also make a "native" install to the hard drive, or install to a larger loop device for a permanent setup. X-DSL is an easy version of historical Linux to try out today, since it can be launched and run entirely from drive E and that avoids some incompatibilities of Xbox Linux with larger hard drives. (if your hard drive is 3TB in order to get that extra .1TB of space, it may not work). The latest official version of X-DSL is 0.6, although there is an unofficial 0.7 floating around, among various other unofficial builds. X-DSL 0.6 can be found [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/X-DSL/X-DSL%20v0.6/ here]. The contents of the zip file can be copied to the root of E (so that linuxboot.cfg is in the root) and launched with Cromwell or GentooX, with no CD. The iso is also tested and working.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060529005204/http://www.dynebolic.org:80/ Dyne:bolic Linux]''' - This is Rasta software! Dynebolic Linux is a multimedia creation, editing, and streaming focused distro that could boot as a liveCD on many systems, including original Xbox. Original Xbox support was ended in Dyne:bolic 2.x, but that uses the 2.6 kernel so it could theoretically be supported if someone felt like it. The latest version compatible with the Xbox is 1.4.1, [https://osarchive.sda1.eu/dyne-bolic available here]. This distro has a lot of toys and is fun to check out. Also, it works from DVD! (it does seem to have a low color depth in the desktop though...)
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20100617005832/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/XUbuntu xUbuntu]''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "xUbuntu". "xUbuntu is based on Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy Badger) distribution without graphical environment. xUbuntu linux system can be run from CD or installed to a PC or Xbox hard drive. The install process, the kernel, the kernel modules and the desktop are customized for PC and Xbox (i386)." The latest version is 0.9.0, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/xUbuntu/xUbuntu%200.9.0/ available here]. It needs to be burned to a CD instead of a DVD.
*'''Ed's Xebian''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "Xebian". Does not appear to have a website. From the original Xbox Linux wiki, "With superb flexibility and ease of use, it can run off CD/DVD or it can be installed onto the Xbox hard drive in either the free space or the saved game area. The OS includes support for all versions of the Xbox, including those with Xcalibur video chips. Based on Debian stable (Sarge) with backports for newer software." The latest version is 1.1.4, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Ed_s%20Xebian/Xebian/ available here], which boots to desktop as a liveCD. It seems to require burning to a CD instead of DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060630100324/http://www.keckstar.com:80/nuke/html/index.php sXb]''' - Slackware for the Original Xbox. The versioning is a little unclear, but the most recent ISO on sourceforge is in the iso.gz file [https://sourceforge.net/projects/sxb/files/Sxbnew/SXBNEW-iso--dfb-xdirectfb/ here]. May need to be burned to CD. Reported "controller jammed" messages at startup, but one of my controller ports is busted.
*'''Mandrake''' A Mandrake 9 was released and claimed to be the first full distribution on the Xbox, but apparently was not continued or supported. No known Web site. Does anyone have a copy of the original Xbox Linux Mandrake iso for archival purposes? It appears a 2005 "special edition" with the Xbox patches can be found [http://ftp.twaren.net/Linux/Mandrake/official/iso/10.1/i586/10.2/ here]. (Mandrake Linux was renamed to Mandriva Linux in 2005). Requires composite cable, at least on this 1.0 Xbox. Appears to require burning to a CD, instead of a DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060713072515/http://www.not404.com:80/cgi-bin/trac.fcgi/wiki/XFedora4 xFedora]''' A port of Fedora Core to the Xbox; essentially Fedora Core with Xbox patches. The latest version is 0.7.41, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Fedora/ available here]. I am unsure how to run it.
*'''SuSE 8''' - There's a dead download link on the old wiki. Seems to have been abandoned
*'''old xbox-linux iso''' The xbox-linux team released some preliminary ISOs during the development of Xbox Linux.
*'''live-linux''' A liveCD based Linux, may have been able to install to HDD; it was released up to 0.3, no known website, but here is [https://sourceforge.net/p/xbox-linux/mailman/message/10300266/ the announcement]. The latest image is [https://legacy.downloads.diomtec.com/homebrew/xbins/Console%20Based%20Applications/Operating%20Systems/linux/distributions/live-linux/live-linux.0.3.iso.bz2 available here]. The file boot/boot.cfg on the iso needs to be renamed to linuxboot.cfg. The video became garbled launching with both composite and component cables. This is a very basic minilinux distro, essentially a proof of concept. The linuxrc is a symlink to busybox. It appears to mount a 9MB image.
*'''ltools''', a minilinux used in Xbox game save hacks, first designed to install Linux, but later repurposed to softmod the Xbox.
*'''[https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ xboxhdm]''' is a tool made by Idotsfan for softmodding locked Xbox hard drives, it's a PC-based CD-bootable set of Linux tools
*'''XMugen''' packaged Mugen for Linux using a busybox in an initramfs, and used swap and game character data files located on FATX. It currently has issues with anything other than "F takes all" schemes.
*'''Chimp''' is a tool for cloning and basic partitioning on Xbox hard drives. It runs from an initramfs.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20051214030132/http://nexus.il.fontys.nl:80/ FreeBSD/Xbox]''' - Not Linux per se, but it's a port of FreeBSD to the Xbox. It was officially integrated into FreeBSD as a set of optional patches. A NetBSD setup can be found [ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/misc/jmcneill/xbox/ here] but it requires the rootfs mounted on NFS. There might be a self contained ISO out there?

==Installing Old Distros==
These liveCDs above should all be safe to try on your Xbox, but installation to your hard drive is more risky. It can be fine if you take the proper considerations. Here are the installation methods usually presented by the installers:

'''Native Install'''

This may not be compatible with softmods! '''Don't mess around with native installs on a locked hard drive or a hard drive that's not backed up! Flash your TSOP or hardmod first!'''

This may wipe your hard drive, format it for Linux, and expect you to put Cromwell on your BIOS. It may also mean just formatting F and booting into it from Xromwell on FATX. So make sure you know which one it is! (the installer should tell you, if it's installing to F you should be fine) Any native install with a boot partition (launched via a hard drive icon in Cromwell/Xromwell) is NOT compatible with the XBPartitioner table, and installing it will overwite the XBPartitioner table. So "F takes all" is preferred here, for allowing coexistence with the stock partitions.

'''If you have a native install, DO NOT USE XBPARTITIONER unless you want to remove Linux. Any XBPartitioner format will break Linux by wiping out the MBR that Linux uses to find its partitions.''' You can't have custom FATX partitions alongside a Linux native install. (So use a spare hard drive for a native install)

'''Loopback Install'''

This installs Linux to a file on the FATX filesystem. Your Linux filesystem will be contained within that file. This means that no repartitioning of your hard drive is necessary. This is a safer install method, if you have space for a small install on E, or if you are using an "F takes all" scheme with an Xbox partition on F. Drive F must end below the 137GB boundary, if doing a loopback install to it. (is that right?) XBPartitioner-defined partitions are not supported by official versions of Xbox Linux, it only looks for the stock partitions plus "F takes all". I am unsure of the behavior if the drive is bigger than F can be. Loopback installs should be safe if your FATX drive F is detected by Xbox Linux.

In general, using a <137GB hard drive avoids these issues, although loopback installs can still be done on larger drives.

It is not advisable to make changes on the FATX filesystem more than you have to in Xbox Linux. Mounting and reading FATX partitions is fine, but doing complex write operations should be avoided, just in case. The 2.4 kernel FATX support is thought to be more stable than in the 2.6 kernel. If you need to copy lots of files to your Xbox, do it via an Xbox dash using FTP. Simple operations on FATX should be fine, and the FATX support is not seriously unstable, but better to be safe. Loopback installs are considered to be stable, although they exist on FATX.

==Historical links==
Much of the old Xbox Linux information now lives on archive.org. It is helpful if you come across anything useful, to add it here!
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/ The original Xbox Linux repository on sourceforge.] The mailing list archives can help answer esoteric questions about xbox linux, sometimes. The files section contains various Xbox Linux software and historical distribution isos.
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ The xboxhdm repository.] It contains source and executables for many Xbox tools created and modified by Idotsfan. The X-DSL directory contains some information on the original Xbpartitioner table patches.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100617000252/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/Main_Page The "New" Xbox Linux wiki], which was online until 2011.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050724003648/http://xbox-linux.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/moin.cgi/FrontPage The "Old" Xbox Linux wiki], which was migrated to xbox-linux.org. Not all articles were migrated.

==See Also==
*[[Xbox Linux]]

Historical Xbox Linux

2022-07-05T23:31:58Z

VannevarKush: Moved content from intro

When it was announced that the specifications of the Xbox were known to be very similar to an X86 PC, Xbox Linux was quickly considered as a possibility for getting getting cheap Linux PCs into the hands of the masses. The first Xbox exploits were created to make Xbox Linux possible, and were quickly repurposed by modders, while Linux remained a more niche application on the original Xbox. In the years while the Xbox was still being manufactured, it could function as a cheap daily driver Linux PC, and some users modded the controller ports into permanent USB ports, and even installed a VGA connector. But, as with all PCs they eventually became obsolete as cheaper, smaller hardware became available with similar processing power.

Xbox Linux reached a point of stable releases [https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/6704 around 2003], and the development continued thereafter, providing support for 1.4 Xboxes and their Focus encoder chip, and even support for 1.6 Xboxes and their changes. The 2.4 kernel was primarily used for Xbox Linux. The 2.6 kernel patches that were developed appear stable and quite usable, but scattered functionalities from the 2.4 kernel were never ported over.

==Timeline==
* '''c. [https://web.archive.org/web/20021013204521/https://www.xenatera.com/bunnie/proj/anatak/xboxmod.html October 13 2002 (how?)]''' - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Huang_(hacker) Bunnie Huang] [https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''November 15, 2001''' - Microsoft Xbox released in United States
* '''February 22, 2002''' - Xbox released in Japan
* '''March 14, 2002''' - Xbox released in Europe and Australia
* '''May 23, 2002''' - Xbox Linux project founded by Michael Stiehl
* '''July 2, 2002''' - Michael Robertson, CEO of Lindows.com, offered two $100,000 prizes for accomplishment of Xbox Linux goals by January 1, 2003. (He was coincidentally being sued at the time by Microsoft, for use of the name "Lindows") One of the prizes offered was for a demonstration of Linux running on an Xbox (with a $55,000 "subprize" for writing a [[Cromwell|BIOS]]) The other prize was for an exploit capable of getting Xbox Linux to run without hardware modification, ideally by using just a CD-ROM.
* '''August 13, 2002''' - First kernel boot
* '''October 7, 2002''' - First graphical desktop environment (KDE)
* '''October 9, 2002''' - Mandrake Linux 9 released for Xbox. Users had to replace or flash the TSOP.
* '''December 17, 2002''' - Cromwell ready. The first of the $100,000 prizes was claimed, for running Linux on Xbox and developing a bootloader before January 1, 2003.
* '''December 31, 2002''' - [https://www.theregister.com/2003/01/02/xbox_linux_donor_extends_prize/ Michael Robertson extends the prize deadline for the remaining prize.]
* '''March 29, 2003''' - The second prize was claimed for the 007 Nightfire hack by Habibi_xbox. (the game Frogger Beyond was initially hacked, but it wasn't released in Europe) This launched a minilinux via an exploit from a hacked savegame on an Xbox memory card, technically accomplishing the goal of using Linux on the Xbox without hardware modification. However, users had to start Linux via the hacked game save every time.
* '''July 4, 2003''' - The font exploit is discovered, demonstrating the ability to run Linux from the hard drive with no modchip, a true "softmod". (but also opening Pandora's box of piracy, which Xbox Linux wanted to avoid association with.) The dashboard audio exploit was discovered soon afterwards.
* '''July 7, 2003''' - A [https://www.mail-archive.com/bugtraq@securityfocus.com/msg11923.html official security release] is made about newly discovered Xbox security vulnerabilities, as responsible hackers should do
* '''August 11, 2003''' - Mechassault exploit released by Jeff Mears, with full softmod conversion. Efforts were made to obfuscate the source to prevent uses for piracy

More details [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Presentations/20th%20Chaos%20Communication%20Congress/ here]

==Historical Distros==
A number of distributions were released, built around the Xbox Linux-patched kernel.

*'''[https://gentoox.shallax.com GentooX]''' - GentooX, unlike vanilla Gentoo, provided precompiled binaries to the user via a custom repository. These were binaries compiled specifically for the Xbox. GentooX had both Home and Pro editions, the Home edition built around a desktop environment and the Pro edition built around the CLI. GentooX was a popular and developed Xbox Linux distro. The website is [https://web.archive.org/web/20220328101921/https://gentoox.shallax.com/ still being archived], although it appears broken in Chrome. The latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Home/ GentooX Home] is 7.1, and the latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Pro/ Pro] was 5.1, in 2009. Tested and working. The pro version attempts to boot from the CD into GentooX loader, so be sure set your BIOS not to boot from CD if booting from CD doesn't work from you. Try Xromwell if GentooX loader doesn't work.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20050510000924/http://www.x-dsl.org/ X-DSL]''' - Based on Damn Small Linux, X-DSL was a lightweight Linux build. It used Knoppix patches to be able to boot to a desktop environment from small (<100MB) loop devices from FATX. It can also make a "native" install to the hard drive, or install to a larger loop device for a permanent setup. X-DSL is an easy version of historical Linux to try out today, since it can be launched and run entirely from drive E and that avoids some incompatibilities of Xbox Linux with larger hard drives. (if your hard drive is 3TB in order to get that extra .1TB of space, it may not work). The latest official version of X-DSL is 0.6, although there is an unofficial 0.7 floating around, among various other unofficial builds. X-DSL 0.6 can be found [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/X-DSL/X-DSL%20v0.6/ here]. The contents of the zip file can be copied to the root of E (so that linuxboot.cfg is in the root) and launched with Cromwell or GentooX, with no CD. The iso is also tested and working.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060529005204/http://www.dynebolic.org:80/ Dyne:bolic Linux]''' - This is Rasta software! Dynebolic Linux is a multimedia creation, editing, and streaming focused distro that could boot as a liveCD on many systems, including original Xbox. Original Xbox support was ended in Dyne:bolic 2.x, but that uses the 2.6 kernel so it could theoretically be supported if someone felt like it. The latest version compatible with the Xbox is 1.4.1, [https://osarchive.sda1.eu/dyne-bolic available here]. This distro has a lot of toys and is fun to check out. Also, it works from DVD! (it does seem to have a low color depth in the desktop though...)
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20100617005832/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/XUbuntu xUbuntu]''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "xUbuntu". "xUbuntu is based on Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy Badger) distribution without graphical environment. xUbuntu linux system can be run from CD or installed to a PC or Xbox hard drive. The install process, the kernel, the kernel modules and the desktop are customized for PC and Xbox (i386)." The latest version is 0.9.0, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/xUbuntu/xUbuntu%200.9.0/ available here]. It needs to be burned to a CD instead of a DVD.
*'''Ed's Xebian''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "Xebian". Does not appear to have a website. From the original Xbox Linux wiki, "With superb flexibility and ease of use, it can run off CD/DVD or it can be installed onto the Xbox hard drive in either the free space or the saved game area. The OS includes support for all versions of the Xbox, including those with Xcalibur video chips. Based on Debian stable (Sarge) with backports for newer software." The latest version is 1.1.4, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Ed_s%20Xebian/Xebian/ available here], which boots to desktop as a liveCD. It seems to require burning to a CD instead of DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060630100324/http://www.keckstar.com:80/nuke/html/index.php sXb]''' - Slackware for the Original Xbox. The versioning is a little unclear, but the most recent ISO on sourceforge is in the iso.gz file [https://sourceforge.net/projects/sxb/files/Sxbnew/SXBNEW-iso--dfb-xdirectfb/ here]. May need to be burned to CD. Reported "controller jammed" messages at startup, but one of my controller ports is busted.
*'''Mandrake''' A Mandrake 9 was released and claimed to be the first full distribution on the Xbox, but apparently was not continued or supported. No known Web site. Does anyone have a copy of the original Xbox Linux Mandrake iso for archival purposes? It appears a 2005 "special edition" with the Xbox patches can be found [http://ftp.twaren.net/Linux/Mandrake/official/iso/10.1/i586/10.2/ here]. (Mandrake Linux was renamed to Mandriva Linux in 2005). Requires composite cable, at least on this 1.0 Xbox. Appears to require burning to a CD, instead of a DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060713072515/http://www.not404.com:80/cgi-bin/trac.fcgi/wiki/XFedora4 xFedora]''' A port of Fedora Core to the Xbox; essentially Fedora Core with Xbox patches. The latest version is 0.7.41, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Fedora/ available here]. I am unsure how to run it.
*'''SuSE 8''' - There's a dead download link on the old wiki. Seems to have been abandoned
*'''old xbox-linux iso''' The xbox-linux team released some preliminary ISOs during the development of Xbox Linux.
*'''live-linux''' A liveCD based Linux, may have been able to install to HDD; it was released up to 0.3, no known website, but here is [https://sourceforge.net/p/xbox-linux/mailman/message/10300266/ the announcement]. The latest image is [https://legacy.downloads.diomtec.com/homebrew/xbins/Console%20Based%20Applications/Operating%20Systems/linux/distributions/live-linux/live-linux.0.3.iso.bz2 available here]. The file boot/boot.cfg on the iso needs to be renamed to linuxboot.cfg. The video became garbled launching with both composite and component cables. This is a very basic minilinux distro, essentially a proof of concept. The linuxrc is a symlink to busybox. It appears to mount a 9MB image.
*'''ltools''', a minilinux used in Xbox game save hacks, first designed to install Linux, but later repurposed to softmod the Xbox.
*'''[https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ xboxhdm]''' is a tool made by Idotsfan for softmodding locked Xbox hard drives, it's a PC-based CD-bootable set of Linux tools
*'''XMugen''' packaged Mugen for Linux using a busybox in an initramfs, and used swap and game character data files located on FATX. It currently has issues with anything other than "F takes all" schemes.
*'''Chimp''' is a tool for cloning and basic partitioning on Xbox hard drives. It runs from an initramfs.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20051214030132/http://nexus.il.fontys.nl:80/ FreeBSD/Xbox]''' - Not Linux per se, but it's a port of FreeBSD to the Xbox. It was officially integrated into FreeBSD as a set of optional patches. A NetBSD setup can be found [ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/misc/jmcneill/xbox/ here] but it requires the rootfs mounted on NFS. There might be a self contained ISO out there?

==Installing Old Distros==
These liveCDs above should all be safe to try on your Xbox, but installation to your hard drive is more risky. It can be fine if you take the proper considerations. Here are the installation methods usually presented by the installers:

'''Native Install'''

This may not be compatible with softmods! '''Don't mess around with native installs on a locked hard drive or a hard drive that's not backed up! Flash your TSOP or hardmod first!'''

This may wipe your hard drive, format it for Linux, and expect you to put Cromwell on your BIOS. It may also mean just formatting F and booting into it from Xromwell on FATX. So make sure you know which one it is! (the installer should tell you, if it's installing to F you should be fine) Any native install with a boot partition (launched via a hard drive icon in Cromwell/Xromwell) is NOT compatible with the XBPartitioner table, and installing it will overwite the XBPartitioner table. So "F takes all" is preferred here, for allowing coexistence with the stock partitions.

'''If you have a native install, DO NOT USE XBPARTITIONER unless you want to remove Linux. Any XBPartitioner format will break Linux by wiping out the MBR that Linux uses to find its partitions.''' You can't have custom FATX partitions alongside a Linux native install. (So use a spare hard drive for a native install)

'''Loopback Install'''

This installs Linux to a file on the FATX filesystem. Your Linux filesystem will be contained within that file. This means that no repartitioning of your hard drive is necessary. This is a safer install method, if you have space for a small install on E, or if you are using an "F takes all" scheme with an Xbox partition on F. Drive F must end below the 137GB boundary, if doing a loopback install to it. (is that right?) XBPartitioner-defined partitions are not supported by official versions of Xbox Linux, it only looks for the stock partitions plus "F takes all". I am unsure of the behavior if the drive is bigger than F can be. Loopback installs should be safe if your FATX drive F is detected by Xbox Linux.

In general, using a <137GB hard drive avoids these issues, although loopback installs can still be done on larger drives.

It is not advisable to make changes on the FATX filesystem more than you have to in Xbox Linux. Mounting and reading FATX partitions is fine, but doing complex write operations should be avoided, just in case. The 2.4 kernel FATX support is thought to be more stable than in the 2.6 kernel. If you need to copy lots of files to your Xbox, do it via an Xbox dash using FTP. Simple operations on FATX should be fine, and the FATX support is not seriously unstable, but better to be safe. Loopback installs are considered to be stable, although they exist on FATX.

==Historical links==
Much of the old Xbox Linux information now lives on archive.org. It is helpful if you come across anything useful, to add it here!
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/ The original Xbox Linux repository on sourceforge.] The mailing list archives can help answer esoteric questions about xbox linux, sometimes. The files section contains various Xbox Linux software and historical distribution isos.
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ The xboxhdm repository.] It contains source and executables for many Xbox tools created and modified by Idotsfan. The X-DSL directory contains some information on the original Xbpartitioner table patches.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100617000252/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/Main_Page The "New" Xbox Linux wiki], which was online until 2011.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050724003648/http://xbox-linux.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/moin.cgi/FrontPage The "Old" Xbox Linux wiki], which was migrated to xbox-linux.org. Not all articles were migrated.

==See Also==
*[[Xbox Linux]]

Historical Xbox Linux

2022-07-05T23:29:08Z

VannevarKush: /* Timeline */

When it was announced that the specifications of the Xbox were known to be very similar to an X86 PC, Xbox Linux was quickly considered as a possibility for getting getting cheap Linux PCs into the hands of the masses. The Xbox Linux project was founded on May 23, 2002 by Michael Stiehl. Michael Robertson, the CEO of Lindows.com, later anonymously offered [https://www.cnet.com/culture/squeeze-linux-into-xbox-win-200000/ two $100,000 prizes], in order to speed the development of Xbox Linux. (He was also being sued by Microsoft at the time.)
The first Xbox exploits were created to make Xbox Linux possible, and were quickly repurposed by modders, while Linux remained a more niche application on the original Xbox. In the years while the Xbox was still being manufactured, it could function as a cheap daily driver Linux PC, and some users modded the controller ports into permanent USB ports, and even installed a VGA connector. But, as with all PCs they eventually became obsolete as cheaper, smaller hardware became available with similar processing power.

Xbox Linux reached a point of stable releases [https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/6704 around 2003], and the development continued thereafter, providing support for 1.4 Xboxes and their Focus encoder chip, and even support for 1.6 Xboxes and their changes. The 2.4 kernel was primarily used for Xbox Linux. The 2.6 kernel patches that were developed appear stable and quite usable, but scattered functionalities from the 2.4 kernel were never ported over.

==Timeline==
* '''c. [https://web.archive.org/web/20021013204521/https://www.xenatera.com/bunnie/proj/anatak/xboxmod.html October 13 2002 (how?)]''' - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Huang_(hacker) Bunnie Huang] [https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''November 15, 2001''' - Microsoft Xbox released in United States
* '''February 22, 2002''' - Xbox released in Japan
* '''March 14, 2002''' - Xbox released in Europe and Australia
* '''May 23, 2002''' - Xbox Linux project founded
* '''July 2, 2002''' - Michael Robertson offers two $100,000 prizes for accomplishment of Xbox Linux goals by January 1, 2003. One of the prizes was for a demonstration of Linux running on an Xbox (with a $55,000 "subprize" for writing a [[Cromwell|BIOS]]) The other prize was for an exploit capable of getting Xbox Linux to run without hardware modification, ideally by using just a CD-ROM.
* '''August 13, 2002''' - First kernel boot
* '''October 7, 2002''' - First graphical desktop environment (KDE)
* '''October 9, 2002''' - Mandrake Linux 9 released for Xbox. Users had to replace or flash the TSOP.
* '''December 17, 2002''' - Cromwell ready. The first of the $100,000 prizes was claimed, for running Linux on Xbox and developing a bootloader before January 1, 2003.
* '''December 31, 2002''' - [https://www.theregister.com/2003/01/02/xbox_linux_donor_extends_prize/ Michael Robertson extends the prize deadline for the remaining prize.]
* '''March 29, 2003''' - The second prize was claimed for the 007 Nightfire hack by Habibi_xbox. (the game Frogger Beyond was initially hacked, but it wasn't released in Europe) This launched a minilinux via an exploit from a hacked savegame on an Xbox memory card, technically accomplishing the goal of using Linux on the Xbox without hardware modification. However, users had to start Linux via the hacked game save every time.
* '''July 4, 2003''' - The font exploit is discovered, demonstrating the ability to run Linux from the hard drive with no modchip, a true "softmod". (but also opening Pandora's box of piracy, which Xbox Linux wanted to avoid association with.) The dashboard audio exploit was discovered soon afterwards.
* '''July 7, 2003''' - A [https://www.mail-archive.com/bugtraq@securityfocus.com/msg11923.html official security release] is made about newly discovered Xbox security vulnerabilities, as responsible hackers should do
* '''August 11, 2003''' - Mechassault exploit released by Jeff Mears, with full softmod conversion. Efforts were made to obfuscate the source to prevent uses for piracy

More details [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Presentations/20th%20Chaos%20Communication%20Congress/ here]

==Historical Distros==
A number of distributions were released, built around the Xbox Linux-patched kernel.

*'''[https://gentoox.shallax.com GentooX]''' - GentooX, unlike vanilla Gentoo, provided precompiled binaries to the user via a custom repository. These were binaries compiled specifically for the Xbox. GentooX had both Home and Pro editions, the Home edition built around a desktop environment and the Pro edition built around the CLI. GentooX was a popular and developed Xbox Linux distro. The website is [https://web.archive.org/web/20220328101921/https://gentoox.shallax.com/ still being archived], although it appears broken in Chrome. The latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Home/ GentooX Home] is 7.1, and the latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Pro/ Pro] was 5.1, in 2009. Tested and working. The pro version attempts to boot from the CD into GentooX loader, so be sure set your BIOS not to boot from CD if booting from CD doesn't work from you. Try Xromwell if GentooX loader doesn't work.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20050510000924/http://www.x-dsl.org/ X-DSL]''' - Based on Damn Small Linux, X-DSL was a lightweight Linux build. It used Knoppix patches to be able to boot to a desktop environment from small (<100MB) loop devices from FATX. It can also make a "native" install to the hard drive, or install to a larger loop device for a permanent setup. X-DSL is an easy version of historical Linux to try out today, since it can be launched and run entirely from drive E and that avoids some incompatibilities of Xbox Linux with larger hard drives. (if your hard drive is 3TB in order to get that extra .1TB of space, it may not work). The latest official version of X-DSL is 0.6, although there is an unofficial 0.7 floating around, among various other unofficial builds. X-DSL 0.6 can be found [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/X-DSL/X-DSL%20v0.6/ here]. The contents of the zip file can be copied to the root of E (so that linuxboot.cfg is in the root) and launched with Cromwell or GentooX, with no CD. The iso is also tested and working.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060529005204/http://www.dynebolic.org:80/ Dyne:bolic Linux]''' - This is Rasta software! Dynebolic Linux is a multimedia creation, editing, and streaming focused distro that could boot as a liveCD on many systems, including original Xbox. Original Xbox support was ended in Dyne:bolic 2.x, but that uses the 2.6 kernel so it could theoretically be supported if someone felt like it. The latest version compatible with the Xbox is 1.4.1, [https://osarchive.sda1.eu/dyne-bolic available here]. This distro has a lot of toys and is fun to check out. Also, it works from DVD! (it does seem to have a low color depth in the desktop though...)
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20100617005832/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/XUbuntu xUbuntu]''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "xUbuntu". "xUbuntu is based on Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy Badger) distribution without graphical environment. xUbuntu linux system can be run from CD or installed to a PC or Xbox hard drive. The install process, the kernel, the kernel modules and the desktop are customized for PC and Xbox (i386)." The latest version is 0.9.0, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/xUbuntu/xUbuntu%200.9.0/ available here]. It needs to be burned to a CD instead of a DVD.
*'''Ed's Xebian''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "Xebian". Does not appear to have a website. From the original Xbox Linux wiki, "With superb flexibility and ease of use, it can run off CD/DVD or it can be installed onto the Xbox hard drive in either the free space or the saved game area. The OS includes support for all versions of the Xbox, including those with Xcalibur video chips. Based on Debian stable (Sarge) with backports for newer software." The latest version is 1.1.4, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Ed_s%20Xebian/Xebian/ available here], which boots to desktop as a liveCD. It seems to require burning to a CD instead of DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060630100324/http://www.keckstar.com:80/nuke/html/index.php sXb]''' - Slackware for the Original Xbox. The versioning is a little unclear, but the most recent ISO on sourceforge is in the iso.gz file [https://sourceforge.net/projects/sxb/files/Sxbnew/SXBNEW-iso--dfb-xdirectfb/ here]. May need to be burned to CD. Reported "controller jammed" messages at startup, but one of my controller ports is busted.
*'''Mandrake''' A Mandrake 9 was released and claimed to be the first full distribution on the Xbox, but apparently was not continued or supported. No known Web site. Does anyone have a copy of the original Xbox Linux Mandrake iso for archival purposes? It appears a 2005 "special edition" with the Xbox patches can be found [http://ftp.twaren.net/Linux/Mandrake/official/iso/10.1/i586/10.2/ here]. (Mandrake Linux was renamed to Mandriva Linux in 2005). Requires composite cable, at least on this 1.0 Xbox. Appears to require burning to a CD, instead of a DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060713072515/http://www.not404.com:80/cgi-bin/trac.fcgi/wiki/XFedora4 xFedora]''' A port of Fedora Core to the Xbox; essentially Fedora Core with Xbox patches. The latest version is 0.7.41, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Fedora/ available here]. I am unsure how to run it.
*'''SuSE 8''' - There's a dead download link on the old wiki. Seems to have been abandoned
*'''old xbox-linux iso''' The xbox-linux team released some preliminary ISOs during the development of Xbox Linux.
*'''live-linux''' A liveCD based Linux, may have been able to install to HDD; it was released up to 0.3, no known website, but here is [https://sourceforge.net/p/xbox-linux/mailman/message/10300266/ the announcement]. The latest image is [https://legacy.downloads.diomtec.com/homebrew/xbins/Console%20Based%20Applications/Operating%20Systems/linux/distributions/live-linux/live-linux.0.3.iso.bz2 available here]. The file boot/boot.cfg on the iso needs to be renamed to linuxboot.cfg. The video became garbled launching with both composite and component cables. This is a very basic minilinux distro, essentially a proof of concept. The linuxrc is a symlink to busybox. It appears to mount a 9MB image.
*'''ltools''', a minilinux used in Xbox game save hacks, first designed to install Linux, but later repurposed to softmod the Xbox.
*'''[https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ xboxhdm]''' is a tool made by Idotsfan for softmodding locked Xbox hard drives, it's a PC-based CD-bootable set of Linux tools
*'''XMugen''' packaged Mugen for Linux using a busybox in an initramfs, and used swap and game character data files located on FATX. It currently has issues with anything other than "F takes all" schemes.
*'''Chimp''' is a tool for cloning and basic partitioning on Xbox hard drives. It runs from an initramfs.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20051214030132/http://nexus.il.fontys.nl:80/ FreeBSD/Xbox]''' - Not Linux per se, but it's a port of FreeBSD to the Xbox. It was officially integrated into FreeBSD as a set of optional patches. A NetBSD setup can be found [ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/misc/jmcneill/xbox/ here] but it requires the rootfs mounted on NFS. There might be a self contained ISO out there?

==Installing Old Distros==
These liveCDs above should all be safe to try on your Xbox, but installation to your hard drive is more risky. It can be fine if you take the proper considerations. Here are the installation methods usually presented by the installers:

'''Native Install'''

This may not be compatible with softmods! '''Don't mess around with native installs on a locked hard drive or a hard drive that's not backed up! Flash your TSOP or hardmod first!'''

This may wipe your hard drive, format it for Linux, and expect you to put Cromwell on your BIOS. It may also mean just formatting F and booting into it from Xromwell on FATX. So make sure you know which one it is! (the installer should tell you, if it's installing to F you should be fine) Any native install with a boot partition (launched via a hard drive icon in Cromwell/Xromwell) is NOT compatible with the XBPartitioner table, and installing it will overwite the XBPartitioner table. So "F takes all" is preferred here, for allowing coexistence with the stock partitions.

'''If you have a native install, DO NOT USE XBPARTITIONER unless you want to remove Linux. Any XBPartitioner format will break Linux by wiping out the MBR that Linux uses to find its partitions.''' You can't have custom FATX partitions alongside a Linux native install. (So use a spare hard drive for a native install)

'''Loopback Install'''

This installs Linux to a file on the FATX filesystem. Your Linux filesystem will be contained within that file. This means that no repartitioning of your hard drive is necessary. This is a safer install method, if you have space for a small install on E, or if you are using an "F takes all" scheme with an Xbox partition on F. Drive F must end below the 137GB boundary, if doing a loopback install to it. (is that right?) XBPartitioner-defined partitions are not supported by official versions of Xbox Linux, it only looks for the stock partitions plus "F takes all". I am unsure of the behavior if the drive is bigger than F can be. Loopback installs should be safe if your FATX drive F is detected by Xbox Linux.

In general, using a <137GB hard drive avoids these issues, although loopback installs can still be done on larger drives.

It is not advisable to make changes on the FATX filesystem more than you have to in Xbox Linux. Mounting and reading FATX partitions is fine, but doing complex write operations should be avoided, just in case. The 2.4 kernel FATX support is thought to be more stable than in the 2.6 kernel. If you need to copy lots of files to your Xbox, do it via an Xbox dash using FTP. Simple operations on FATX should be fine, and the FATX support is not seriously unstable, but better to be safe. Loopback installs are considered to be stable, although they exist on FATX.

==Historical links==
Much of the old Xbox Linux information now lives on archive.org. It is helpful if you come across anything useful, to add it here!
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/ The original Xbox Linux repository on sourceforge.] The mailing list archives can help answer esoteric questions about xbox linux, sometimes. The files section contains various Xbox Linux software and historical distribution isos.
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ The xboxhdm repository.] It contains source and executables for many Xbox tools created and modified by Idotsfan. The X-DSL directory contains some information on the original Xbpartitioner table patches.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100617000252/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/Main_Page The "New" Xbox Linux wiki], which was online until 2011.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050724003648/http://xbox-linux.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/moin.cgi/FrontPage The "Old" Xbox Linux wiki], which was migrated to xbox-linux.org. Not all articles were migrated.

==See Also==
*[[Xbox Linux]]

Historical Xbox Linux

2022-07-05T23:27:03Z

VannevarKush: /* Timeline */

When it was announced that the specifications of the Xbox were known to be very similar to an X86 PC, Xbox Linux was quickly considered as a possibility for getting getting cheap Linux PCs into the hands of the masses. The Xbox Linux project was founded on May 23, 2002 by Michael Stiehl. Michael Robertson, the CEO of Lindows.com, later anonymously offered [https://www.cnet.com/culture/squeeze-linux-into-xbox-win-200000/ two $100,000 prizes], in order to speed the development of Xbox Linux. (He was also being sued by Microsoft at the time.)
The first Xbox exploits were created to make Xbox Linux possible, and were quickly repurposed by modders, while Linux remained a more niche application on the original Xbox. In the years while the Xbox was still being manufactured, it could function as a cheap daily driver Linux PC, and some users modded the controller ports into permanent USB ports, and even installed a VGA connector. But, as with all PCs they eventually became obsolete as cheaper, smaller hardware became available with similar processing power.

Xbox Linux reached a point of stable releases [https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/6704 around 2003], and the development continued thereafter, providing support for 1.4 Xboxes and their Focus encoder chip, and even support for 1.6 Xboxes and their changes. The 2.4 kernel was primarily used for Xbox Linux. The 2.6 kernel patches that were developed appear stable and quite usable, but scattered functionalities from the 2.4 kernel were never ported over.

==Timeline==
* '''c. [https://web.archive.org/web/20021013204521/https://www.xenatera.com/bunnie/proj/anatak/xboxmod.html October 13 2002 (how?)]''' - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Huang_(hacker) Bunnie Huang] [https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''November 15, 2001''' - Microsoft Xbox released in United States
* '''February 22, 2002''' - Xbox released in Japan
* '''March 14, 2002''' - Xbox released in Europe and Australia
* '''May 23, 2002''' - Xbox Linux project founded
* '''July 2, 2002''' - Michael Robertson offers two $100,000 prizes for accomplishment of Xbox Linux goals by January 1, 2003. One of the prizes was for a demonstration of Linux running on an Xbox (with a $55,000 "subprize" for writing a [[Cromwell|BIOS]]) The other prize was for an exploit capable of getting Xbox Linux to run without hardware modification, ideally by using just a CD-ROM.
* '''August 13, 2002''' - First kernel boot
* '''October 7, 2002''' - First graphical desktop environment (KDE)
* '''October 9, 2002''' - Mandrake Linux 9 released for Xbox. Users had to replace or flash the TSOP.
* '''December 17, 2002''' - Cromwell ready. The first of the $100,000 prizes was claimed, for running Linux on Xbox and developing a bootloader before January 1, 2003.
* '''December 31, 2002''' - [https://www.theregister.com/2003/01/02/xbox_linux_donor_extends_prize/ Michael Robertson extends the prize deadline for the remaining prize.]
* '''March 29, 2003''' - The second prize was claimed for the 007 Nightfire hack by Habibi_xbox. (the game Frogger Beyond was initially hacked, but it wasn't released in Europe) This launched a minilinux via an exploit from a hacked savegame on an Xbox memory card, technically accomplishing the goal of using Linux on the Xbox without hardware modification. However, users had to start Linux via the hacked game save every time.
* '''July 4, 2003''' - The font exploit is discovered, demonstrating the ability to run Linux from the hard drive with no modchip, a true "softmod". (but also opening Pandora's box of piracy, which Xbox Linux wanted to avoid association with.) The dashboard audio exploit was discovered soon afterwards.
* '''July 7, 2003''' - A [https://www.mail-archive.com/bugtraq@securityfocus.com/msg11923.html official security release] is made about newly discovered Xbox security vulnerabilities, as responsible hackers should do
* '''August 11, 2003''' - Mechassault exploit released by Jeff Mears, with full softmod conversion. Efforts are made to obfuscate the source to prevent uses for piracy

More details [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Presentations/20th%20Chaos%20Communication%20Congress/ here]

==Historical Distros==
A number of distributions were released, built around the Xbox Linux-patched kernel.

*'''[https://gentoox.shallax.com GentooX]''' - GentooX, unlike vanilla Gentoo, provided precompiled binaries to the user via a custom repository. These were binaries compiled specifically for the Xbox. GentooX had both Home and Pro editions, the Home edition built around a desktop environment and the Pro edition built around the CLI. GentooX was a popular and developed Xbox Linux distro. The website is [https://web.archive.org/web/20220328101921/https://gentoox.shallax.com/ still being archived], although it appears broken in Chrome. The latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Home/ GentooX Home] is 7.1, and the latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Pro/ Pro] was 5.1, in 2009. Tested and working. The pro version attempts to boot from the CD into GentooX loader, so be sure set your BIOS not to boot from CD if booting from CD doesn't work from you. Try Xromwell if GentooX loader doesn't work.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20050510000924/http://www.x-dsl.org/ X-DSL]''' - Based on Damn Small Linux, X-DSL was a lightweight Linux build. It used Knoppix patches to be able to boot to a desktop environment from small (<100MB) loop devices from FATX. It can also make a "native" install to the hard drive, or install to a larger loop device for a permanent setup. X-DSL is an easy version of historical Linux to try out today, since it can be launched and run entirely from drive E and that avoids some incompatibilities of Xbox Linux with larger hard drives. (if your hard drive is 3TB in order to get that extra .1TB of space, it may not work). The latest official version of X-DSL is 0.6, although there is an unofficial 0.7 floating around, among various other unofficial builds. X-DSL 0.6 can be found [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/X-DSL/X-DSL%20v0.6/ here]. The contents of the zip file can be copied to the root of E (so that linuxboot.cfg is in the root) and launched with Cromwell or GentooX, with no CD. The iso is also tested and working.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060529005204/http://www.dynebolic.org:80/ Dyne:bolic Linux]''' - This is Rasta software! Dynebolic Linux is a multimedia creation, editing, and streaming focused distro that could boot as a liveCD on many systems, including original Xbox. Original Xbox support was ended in Dyne:bolic 2.x, but that uses the 2.6 kernel so it could theoretically be supported if someone felt like it. The latest version compatible with the Xbox is 1.4.1, [https://osarchive.sda1.eu/dyne-bolic available here]. This distro has a lot of toys and is fun to check out. Also, it works from DVD! (it does seem to have a low color depth in the desktop though...)
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20100617005832/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/XUbuntu xUbuntu]''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "xUbuntu". "xUbuntu is based on Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy Badger) distribution without graphical environment. xUbuntu linux system can be run from CD or installed to a PC or Xbox hard drive. The install process, the kernel, the kernel modules and the desktop are customized for PC and Xbox (i386)." The latest version is 0.9.0, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/xUbuntu/xUbuntu%200.9.0/ available here]. It needs to be burned to a CD instead of a DVD.
*'''Ed's Xebian''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "Xebian". Does not appear to have a website. From the original Xbox Linux wiki, "With superb flexibility and ease of use, it can run off CD/DVD or it can be installed onto the Xbox hard drive in either the free space or the saved game area. The OS includes support for all versions of the Xbox, including those with Xcalibur video chips. Based on Debian stable (Sarge) with backports for newer software." The latest version is 1.1.4, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Ed_s%20Xebian/Xebian/ available here], which boots to desktop as a liveCD. It seems to require burning to a CD instead of DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060630100324/http://www.keckstar.com:80/nuke/html/index.php sXb]''' - Slackware for the Original Xbox. The versioning is a little unclear, but the most recent ISO on sourceforge is in the iso.gz file [https://sourceforge.net/projects/sxb/files/Sxbnew/SXBNEW-iso--dfb-xdirectfb/ here]. May need to be burned to CD. Reported "controller jammed" messages at startup, but one of my controller ports is busted.
*'''Mandrake''' A Mandrake 9 was released and claimed to be the first full distribution on the Xbox, but apparently was not continued or supported. No known Web site. Does anyone have a copy of the original Xbox Linux Mandrake iso for archival purposes? It appears a 2005 "special edition" with the Xbox patches can be found [http://ftp.twaren.net/Linux/Mandrake/official/iso/10.1/i586/10.2/ here]. (Mandrake Linux was renamed to Mandriva Linux in 2005). Requires composite cable, at least on this 1.0 Xbox. Appears to require burning to a CD, instead of a DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060713072515/http://www.not404.com:80/cgi-bin/trac.fcgi/wiki/XFedora4 xFedora]''' A port of Fedora Core to the Xbox; essentially Fedora Core with Xbox patches. The latest version is 0.7.41, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Fedora/ available here]. I am unsure how to run it.
*'''SuSE 8''' - There's a dead download link on the old wiki. Seems to have been abandoned
*'''old xbox-linux iso''' The xbox-linux team released some preliminary ISOs during the development of Xbox Linux.
*'''live-linux''' A liveCD based Linux, may have been able to install to HDD; it was released up to 0.3, no known website, but here is [https://sourceforge.net/p/xbox-linux/mailman/message/10300266/ the announcement]. The latest image is [https://legacy.downloads.diomtec.com/homebrew/xbins/Console%20Based%20Applications/Operating%20Systems/linux/distributions/live-linux/live-linux.0.3.iso.bz2 available here]. The file boot/boot.cfg on the iso needs to be renamed to linuxboot.cfg. The video became garbled launching with both composite and component cables. This is a very basic minilinux distro, essentially a proof of concept. The linuxrc is a symlink to busybox. It appears to mount a 9MB image.
*'''ltools''', a minilinux used in Xbox game save hacks, first designed to install Linux, but later repurposed to softmod the Xbox.
*'''[https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ xboxhdm]''' is a tool made by Idotsfan for softmodding locked Xbox hard drives, it's a PC-based CD-bootable set of Linux tools
*'''XMugen''' packaged Mugen for Linux using a busybox in an initramfs, and used swap and game character data files located on FATX. It currently has issues with anything other than "F takes all" schemes.
*'''Chimp''' is a tool for cloning and basic partitioning on Xbox hard drives. It runs from an initramfs.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20051214030132/http://nexus.il.fontys.nl:80/ FreeBSD/Xbox]''' - Not Linux per se, but it's a port of FreeBSD to the Xbox. It was officially integrated into FreeBSD as a set of optional patches. A NetBSD setup can be found [ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/misc/jmcneill/xbox/ here] but it requires the rootfs mounted on NFS. There might be a self contained ISO out there?

==Installing Old Distros==
These liveCDs above should all be safe to try on your Xbox, but installation to your hard drive is more risky. It can be fine if you take the proper considerations. Here are the installation methods usually presented by the installers:

'''Native Install'''

This may not be compatible with softmods! '''Don't mess around with native installs on a locked hard drive or a hard drive that's not backed up! Flash your TSOP or hardmod first!'''

This may wipe your hard drive, format it for Linux, and expect you to put Cromwell on your BIOS. It may also mean just formatting F and booting into it from Xromwell on FATX. So make sure you know which one it is! (the installer should tell you, if it's installing to F you should be fine) Any native install with a boot partition (launched via a hard drive icon in Cromwell/Xromwell) is NOT compatible with the XBPartitioner table, and installing it will overwite the XBPartitioner table. So "F takes all" is preferred here, for allowing coexistence with the stock partitions.

'''If you have a native install, DO NOT USE XBPARTITIONER unless you want to remove Linux. Any XBPartitioner format will break Linux by wiping out the MBR that Linux uses to find its partitions.''' You can't have custom FATX partitions alongside a Linux native install. (So use a spare hard drive for a native install)

'''Loopback Install'''

This installs Linux to a file on the FATX filesystem. Your Linux filesystem will be contained within that file. This means that no repartitioning of your hard drive is necessary. This is a safer install method, if you have space for a small install on E, or if you are using an "F takes all" scheme with an Xbox partition on F. Drive F must end below the 137GB boundary, if doing a loopback install to it. (is that right?) XBPartitioner-defined partitions are not supported by official versions of Xbox Linux, it only looks for the stock partitions plus "F takes all". I am unsure of the behavior if the drive is bigger than F can be. Loopback installs should be safe if your FATX drive F is detected by Xbox Linux.

In general, using a <137GB hard drive avoids these issues, although loopback installs can still be done on larger drives.

It is not advisable to make changes on the FATX filesystem more than you have to in Xbox Linux. Mounting and reading FATX partitions is fine, but doing complex write operations should be avoided, just in case. The 2.4 kernel FATX support is thought to be more stable than in the 2.6 kernel. If you need to copy lots of files to your Xbox, do it via an Xbox dash using FTP. Simple operations on FATX should be fine, and the FATX support is not seriously unstable, but better to be safe. Loopback installs are considered to be stable, although they exist on FATX.

==Historical links==
Much of the old Xbox Linux information now lives on archive.org. It is helpful if you come across anything useful, to add it here!
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/ The original Xbox Linux repository on sourceforge.] The mailing list archives can help answer esoteric questions about xbox linux, sometimes. The files section contains various Xbox Linux software and historical distribution isos.
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ The xboxhdm repository.] It contains source and executables for many Xbox tools created and modified by Idotsfan. The X-DSL directory contains some information on the original Xbpartitioner table patches.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100617000252/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/Main_Page The "New" Xbox Linux wiki], which was online until 2011.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050724003648/http://xbox-linux.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/moin.cgi/FrontPage The "Old" Xbox Linux wiki], which was migrated to xbox-linux.org. Not all articles were migrated.

==See Also==
*[[Xbox Linux]]

Historical Xbox Linux

2022-07-05T23:24:55Z

VannevarKush:

When it was announced that the specifications of the Xbox were known to be very similar to an X86 PC, Xbox Linux was quickly considered as a possibility for getting getting cheap Linux PCs into the hands of the masses. The Xbox Linux project was founded on May 23, 2002 by Michael Stiehl. Michael Robertson, the CEO of Lindows.com, later anonymously offered [https://www.cnet.com/culture/squeeze-linux-into-xbox-win-200000/ two $100,000 prizes], in order to speed the development of Xbox Linux. (He was also being sued by Microsoft at the time.)
The first Xbox exploits were created to make Xbox Linux possible, and were quickly repurposed by modders, while Linux remained a more niche application on the original Xbox. In the years while the Xbox was still being manufactured, it could function as a cheap daily driver Linux PC, and some users modded the controller ports into permanent USB ports, and even installed a VGA connector. But, as with all PCs they eventually became obsolete as cheaper, smaller hardware became available with similar processing power.

Xbox Linux reached a point of stable releases [https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/6704 around 2003], and the development continued thereafter, providing support for 1.4 Xboxes and their Focus encoder chip, and even support for 1.6 Xboxes and their changes. The 2.4 kernel was primarily used for Xbox Linux. The 2.6 kernel patches that were developed appear stable and quite usable, but scattered functionalities from the 2.4 kernel were never ported over.

==Timeline==
* '''c. [https://web.archive.org/web/20021013204521/https://www.xenatera.com/bunnie/proj/anatak/xboxmod.html October 13 2002 (how?)]''' - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Huang_(hacker) Bunnie Huang] [https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''November 15, 2001''' - Microsoft Xbox released in United States
* '''February 22, 2002''' - Xbox released in Japan
* '''March 14, 2002''' - Xbox released in Europe and Australia
* '''May 23, 2002''' - Xbox Linux project founded
* '''July 2, 2002''' - Michael Robertson offers two $100,000 prizes for accomplishment of Xbox Linux goals by January 1, 2003. One of the prizes was for a demonstration of Linux running on an Xbox (with a $55,000 "subprize" for writing a [[Cromwell|BIOS]]) The other prize was for an exploit capable of getting Xbox Linux to run without hardware modification, ideally by using just a CD-ROM.
* '''August 13, 2002''' - First kernel boot
* '''October 7, 2002''' - First graphical desktop environment (KDE)
* '''October 9, 2002''' - Mandrake Linux 9.1 released for Xbox. Users had to replace or flash the TSOP.
* '''December 17, 2002''' - Cromwell ready. The first of the $100,000 prizes was claimed, for running Linux on Xbox and developing a bootloader before January 1, 2003.
* '''December 31, 2002''' - [https://www.theregister.com/2003/01/02/xbox_linux_donor_extends_prize/ Michael Robertson extends the prize deadline for the remaining prize.]
* '''March 29, 2003''' - The second prize was claimed for the 007 Nightfire hack by Habibi_xbox. (the game Frogger Beyond was initially hacked, but it wasn't released in Europe) This launched a minilinux via an exploit from a hacked savegame on an Xbox memory card, technically accomplishing the goal of using Linux on the Xbox without hardware modification. However, users had to start Linux via the hacked game save every time.
* '''July 4, 2003''' - The font exploit is discovered, demonstrating the ability to run Linux from the hard drive with no modchip, a true "softmod". (but also opening Pandora's box of piracy, which Xbox Linux wanted to avoid association with.) The dashboard audio exploit was discovered soon afterwards.
* '''July 7, 2003''' - A [https://www.mail-archive.com/bugtraq@securityfocus.com/msg11923.html official security release] is made about newly discovered Xbox security vulnerabilities, as responsible hackers should do
* '''August 11, 2003''' - Mechassault exploit released by Jeff Mears, with full softmod conversion. Efforts are made to obfuscate the source to prevent uses for piracy

More details [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Presentations/20th%20Chaos%20Communication%20Congress/ here]

==Historical Distros==
A number of distributions were released, built around the Xbox Linux-patched kernel.

*'''[https://gentoox.shallax.com GentooX]''' - GentooX, unlike vanilla Gentoo, provided precompiled binaries to the user via a custom repository. These were binaries compiled specifically for the Xbox. GentooX had both Home and Pro editions, the Home edition built around a desktop environment and the Pro edition built around the CLI. GentooX was a popular and developed Xbox Linux distro. The website is [https://web.archive.org/web/20220328101921/https://gentoox.shallax.com/ still being archived], although it appears broken in Chrome. The latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Home/ GentooX Home] is 7.1, and the latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Pro/ Pro] was 5.1, in 2009. Tested and working. The pro version attempts to boot from the CD into GentooX loader, so be sure set your BIOS not to boot from CD if booting from CD doesn't work from you. Try Xromwell if GentooX loader doesn't work.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20050510000924/http://www.x-dsl.org/ X-DSL]''' - Based on Damn Small Linux, X-DSL was a lightweight Linux build. It used Knoppix patches to be able to boot to a desktop environment from small (<100MB) loop devices from FATX. It can also make a "native" install to the hard drive, or install to a larger loop device for a permanent setup. X-DSL is an easy version of historical Linux to try out today, since it can be launched and run entirely from drive E and that avoids some incompatibilities of Xbox Linux with larger hard drives. (if your hard drive is 3TB in order to get that extra .1TB of space, it may not work). The latest official version of X-DSL is 0.6, although there is an unofficial 0.7 floating around, among various other unofficial builds. X-DSL 0.6 can be found [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/X-DSL/X-DSL%20v0.6/ here]. The contents of the zip file can be copied to the root of E (so that linuxboot.cfg is in the root) and launched with Cromwell or GentooX, with no CD. The iso is also tested and working.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060529005204/http://www.dynebolic.org:80/ Dyne:bolic Linux]''' - This is Rasta software! Dynebolic Linux is a multimedia creation, editing, and streaming focused distro that could boot as a liveCD on many systems, including original Xbox. Original Xbox support was ended in Dyne:bolic 2.x, but that uses the 2.6 kernel so it could theoretically be supported if someone felt like it. The latest version compatible with the Xbox is 1.4.1, [https://osarchive.sda1.eu/dyne-bolic available here]. This distro has a lot of toys and is fun to check out. Also, it works from DVD! (it does seem to have a low color depth in the desktop though...)
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20100617005832/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/XUbuntu xUbuntu]''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "xUbuntu". "xUbuntu is based on Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy Badger) distribution without graphical environment. xUbuntu linux system can be run from CD or installed to a PC or Xbox hard drive. The install process, the kernel, the kernel modules and the desktop are customized for PC and Xbox (i386)." The latest version is 0.9.0, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/xUbuntu/xUbuntu%200.9.0/ available here]. It needs to be burned to a CD instead of a DVD.
*'''Ed's Xebian''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "Xebian". Does not appear to have a website. From the original Xbox Linux wiki, "With superb flexibility and ease of use, it can run off CD/DVD or it can be installed onto the Xbox hard drive in either the free space or the saved game area. The OS includes support for all versions of the Xbox, including those with Xcalibur video chips. Based on Debian stable (Sarge) with backports for newer software." The latest version is 1.1.4, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Ed_s%20Xebian/Xebian/ available here], which boots to desktop as a liveCD. It seems to require burning to a CD instead of DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060630100324/http://www.keckstar.com:80/nuke/html/index.php sXb]''' - Slackware for the Original Xbox. The versioning is a little unclear, but the most recent ISO on sourceforge is in the iso.gz file [https://sourceforge.net/projects/sxb/files/Sxbnew/SXBNEW-iso--dfb-xdirectfb/ here]. May need to be burned to CD. Reported "controller jammed" messages at startup, but one of my controller ports is busted.
*'''Mandrake''' A Mandrake 9 was released and claimed to be the first full distribution on the Xbox, but apparently was not continued or supported. No known Web site. Does anyone have a copy of the original Xbox Linux Mandrake iso for archival purposes? It appears a 2005 "special edition" with the Xbox patches can be found [http://ftp.twaren.net/Linux/Mandrake/official/iso/10.1/i586/10.2/ here]. (Mandrake Linux was renamed to Mandriva Linux in 2005). Requires composite cable, at least on this 1.0 Xbox. Appears to require burning to a CD, instead of a DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060713072515/http://www.not404.com:80/cgi-bin/trac.fcgi/wiki/XFedora4 xFedora]''' A port of Fedora Core to the Xbox; essentially Fedora Core with Xbox patches. The latest version is 0.7.41, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Fedora/ available here]. I am unsure how to run it.
*'''SuSE 8''' - There's a dead download link on the old wiki. Seems to have been abandoned
*'''old xbox-linux iso''' The xbox-linux team released some preliminary ISOs during the development of Xbox Linux.
*'''live-linux''' A liveCD based Linux, may have been able to install to HDD; it was released up to 0.3, no known website, but here is [https://sourceforge.net/p/xbox-linux/mailman/message/10300266/ the announcement]. The latest image is [https://legacy.downloads.diomtec.com/homebrew/xbins/Console%20Based%20Applications/Operating%20Systems/linux/distributions/live-linux/live-linux.0.3.iso.bz2 available here]. The file boot/boot.cfg on the iso needs to be renamed to linuxboot.cfg. The video became garbled launching with both composite and component cables. This is a very basic minilinux distro, essentially a proof of concept. The linuxrc is a symlink to busybox. It appears to mount a 9MB image.
*'''ltools''', a minilinux used in Xbox game save hacks, first designed to install Linux, but later repurposed to softmod the Xbox.
*'''[https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ xboxhdm]''' is a tool made by Idotsfan for softmodding locked Xbox hard drives, it's a PC-based CD-bootable set of Linux tools
*'''XMugen''' packaged Mugen for Linux using a busybox in an initramfs, and used swap and game character data files located on FATX. It currently has issues with anything other than "F takes all" schemes.
*'''Chimp''' is a tool for cloning and basic partitioning on Xbox hard drives. It runs from an initramfs.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20051214030132/http://nexus.il.fontys.nl:80/ FreeBSD/Xbox]''' - Not Linux per se, but it's a port of FreeBSD to the Xbox. It was officially integrated into FreeBSD as a set of optional patches. A NetBSD setup can be found [ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/misc/jmcneill/xbox/ here] but it requires the rootfs mounted on NFS. There might be a self contained ISO out there?

==Installing Old Distros==
These liveCDs above should all be safe to try on your Xbox, but installation to your hard drive is more risky. It can be fine if you take the proper considerations. Here are the installation methods usually presented by the installers:

'''Native Install'''

This may not be compatible with softmods! '''Don't mess around with native installs on a locked hard drive or a hard drive that's not backed up! Flash your TSOP or hardmod first!'''

This may wipe your hard drive, format it for Linux, and expect you to put Cromwell on your BIOS. It may also mean just formatting F and booting into it from Xromwell on FATX. So make sure you know which one it is! (the installer should tell you, if it's installing to F you should be fine) Any native install with a boot partition (launched via a hard drive icon in Cromwell/Xromwell) is NOT compatible with the XBPartitioner table, and installing it will overwite the XBPartitioner table. So "F takes all" is preferred here, for allowing coexistence with the stock partitions.

'''If you have a native install, DO NOT USE XBPARTITIONER unless you want to remove Linux. Any XBPartitioner format will break Linux by wiping out the MBR that Linux uses to find its partitions.''' You can't have custom FATX partitions alongside a Linux native install. (So use a spare hard drive for a native install)

'''Loopback Install'''

This installs Linux to a file on the FATX filesystem. Your Linux filesystem will be contained within that file. This means that no repartitioning of your hard drive is necessary. This is a safer install method, if you have space for a small install on E, or if you are using an "F takes all" scheme with an Xbox partition on F. Drive F must end below the 137GB boundary, if doing a loopback install to it. (is that right?) XBPartitioner-defined partitions are not supported by official versions of Xbox Linux, it only looks for the stock partitions plus "F takes all". I am unsure of the behavior if the drive is bigger than F can be. Loopback installs should be safe if your FATX drive F is detected by Xbox Linux.

In general, using a <137GB hard drive avoids these issues, although loopback installs can still be done on larger drives.

It is not advisable to make changes on the FATX filesystem more than you have to in Xbox Linux. Mounting and reading FATX partitions is fine, but doing complex write operations should be avoided, just in case. The 2.4 kernel FATX support is thought to be more stable than in the 2.6 kernel. If you need to copy lots of files to your Xbox, do it via an Xbox dash using FTP. Simple operations on FATX should be fine, and the FATX support is not seriously unstable, but better to be safe. Loopback installs are considered to be stable, although they exist on FATX.

==Historical links==
Much of the old Xbox Linux information now lives on archive.org. It is helpful if you come across anything useful, to add it here!
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/ The original Xbox Linux repository on sourceforge.] The mailing list archives can help answer esoteric questions about xbox linux, sometimes. The files section contains various Xbox Linux software and historical distribution isos.
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ The xboxhdm repository.] It contains source and executables for many Xbox tools created and modified by Idotsfan. The X-DSL directory contains some information on the original Xbpartitioner table patches.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100617000252/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/Main_Page The "New" Xbox Linux wiki], which was online until 2011.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050724003648/http://xbox-linux.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/moin.cgi/FrontPage The "Old" Xbox Linux wiki], which was migrated to xbox-linux.org. Not all articles were migrated.

==See Also==
*[[Xbox Linux]]

Historical Xbox Linux

2022-07-05T23:24:34Z

VannevarKush:

When it was announced that the specifications of the Xbox were known to be very similar to an X86 PC, Xbox Linux was quickly considered as a possibility for getting getting cheap Linux PCs into the hands of the masses. The Xbox Linux project was founded on May 23, 2002 by Michael Stiehl. Michael Robertson, the CEO of Lindows.com, later anonymously offered [https://www.cnet.com/culture/squeeze-linux-into-xbox-win-200000/ two $100,000 prizes], in order to speed the development of Xbox Linux. (He was also being sued by Microsoft at the time.)
The first Xbox exploits were created to make Xbox Linux possible, and were quickly repurposed by modders, while Linux remained a more niche application on the original Xbox. In the years while the Xbox was still being manufactured, it could function as a cheap daily driver Linux PC, and some users modded the controller ports into permanent USB ports, and even installed a VGA connector. But, as with all PCs they eventually became obsolete as cheaper, smaller hardware became available with similar processing power.

Xbox Linux reached a point of stable releases [https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/6704 around 2003], and the development continued thereafter, providing support for 1.4 Xboxes and their Focus encoder chip, and even support for 1.6 Xboxes and their changes. The 2.4 kernel was primarily used for Xbox Linux. The 2.6 kernel patches that were developed appear stable and quite usable, but scattered functionalities from the 2.4 kernel were never ported over.

==Timeline==
* '''c. [https://web.archive.org/web/20021013204521/https://www.xenatera.com/bunnie/proj/anatak/xboxmod.html October 13 2002 (how?)]''' - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Huang_(hacker) Bunnie Huang] [https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* '''November 15, 2001''' - Microsoft Xbox released in United States
* '''February 22, 2002''' - Xbox released in Japan
* '''March 14, 2002''' - Xbox released in Europe and Australia
* '''May 23, 2002''' - Xbox Linux project founded
* '''July 2, 2002''' - Michael Robertson offers two $100,000 prizes for accomplishment of Xbox Linux goals by January 1, 2003. One of the prizes was for a demonstration of Linux running on an Xbox (with a $55,000 "subprize" for writing a [[Cromwell|BIOS]]) The other prize was for an exploit capable of getting Xbox Linux to run without hardware modification, ideally by using just a CD-ROM.
* '''August 13, 2002''' - First kernel boot
* '''October 7, 2002''' - First graphical desktop environment (KDE)
* '''October 9, 2002''' - Mandrake Linux 9.1 released for Xbox. Users had to replace or flash the TSOP.
* '''December 17, 2002''' - Cromwell ready. The first of the $100,000 prizes was claimed, for running Linux on Xbox and developing a bootloader before January 1, 2003.
* '''December 31, 2002''' - [https://www.theregister.com/2003/01/02/xbox_linux_donor_extends_prize/ Michael Robertson extends the prize deadline for the remaining prize.]
* '''March 29, 2003''' - The second prize was claimed for the 007 Nightfire hack by Habibi_xbox. (the game Frogger Beyond was initially hacked, but it wasn't released in Europe) This launched a minilinux via an exploit from a hacked savegame on an Xbox memory card, technically accomplishing the goal of using Linux on the Xbox without hardware modification. However, users had to start Linux via the hacked game save every time.
* '''July 4, 2003''' - The font exploit is discovered, demonstrating the ability to run Linux from the hard drive with no modchip, a true "softmod". (but also opening Pandora's box of piracy, which Xbox Linux wanted to avoid association with.) The dashboard audio exploit was discovered soon afterwards.
* '''July 7, 2003''' - A [https://www.mail-archive.com/bugtraq@securityfocus.com/msg11923.html official security release] is made about newly discovered Xbox security vulnerabilities, as responsible hackers should do
* '''August 11, 2003 - Mechassault exploit released by Jeff Mears, with full softmod conversion. Efforts are made to obfuscate the source to prevent uses for piracy

More details [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Presentations/20th%20Chaos%20Communication%20Congress/ here]

==Historical Distros==
A number of distributions were released, built around the Xbox Linux-patched kernel.

*'''[https://gentoox.shallax.com GentooX]''' - GentooX, unlike vanilla Gentoo, provided precompiled binaries to the user via a custom repository. These were binaries compiled specifically for the Xbox. GentooX had both Home and Pro editions, the Home edition built around a desktop environment and the Pro edition built around the CLI. GentooX was a popular and developed Xbox Linux distro. The website is [https://web.archive.org/web/20220328101921/https://gentoox.shallax.com/ still being archived], although it appears broken in Chrome. The latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Home/ GentooX Home] is 7.1, and the latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Pro/ Pro] was 5.1, in 2009. Tested and working. The pro version attempts to boot from the CD into GentooX loader, so be sure set your BIOS not to boot from CD if booting from CD doesn't work from you. Try Xromwell if GentooX loader doesn't work.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20050510000924/http://www.x-dsl.org/ X-DSL]''' - Based on Damn Small Linux, X-DSL was a lightweight Linux build. It used Knoppix patches to be able to boot to a desktop environment from small (<100MB) loop devices from FATX. It can also make a "native" install to the hard drive, or install to a larger loop device for a permanent setup. X-DSL is an easy version of historical Linux to try out today, since it can be launched and run entirely from drive E and that avoids some incompatibilities of Xbox Linux with larger hard drives. (if your hard drive is 3TB in order to get that extra .1TB of space, it may not work). The latest official version of X-DSL is 0.6, although there is an unofficial 0.7 floating around, among various other unofficial builds. X-DSL 0.6 can be found [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/X-DSL/X-DSL%20v0.6/ here]. The contents of the zip file can be copied to the root of E (so that linuxboot.cfg is in the root) and launched with Cromwell or GentooX, with no CD. The iso is also tested and working.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060529005204/http://www.dynebolic.org:80/ Dyne:bolic Linux]''' - This is Rasta software! Dynebolic Linux is a multimedia creation, editing, and streaming focused distro that could boot as a liveCD on many systems, including original Xbox. Original Xbox support was ended in Dyne:bolic 2.x, but that uses the 2.6 kernel so it could theoretically be supported if someone felt like it. The latest version compatible with the Xbox is 1.4.1, [https://osarchive.sda1.eu/dyne-bolic available here]. This distro has a lot of toys and is fun to check out. Also, it works from DVD! (it does seem to have a low color depth in the desktop though...)
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20100617005832/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/XUbuntu xUbuntu]''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "xUbuntu". "xUbuntu is based on Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy Badger) distribution without graphical environment. xUbuntu linux system can be run from CD or installed to a PC or Xbox hard drive. The install process, the kernel, the kernel modules and the desktop are customized for PC and Xbox (i386)." The latest version is 0.9.0, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/xUbuntu/xUbuntu%200.9.0/ available here]. It needs to be burned to a CD instead of a DVD.
*'''Ed's Xebian''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "Xebian". Does not appear to have a website. From the original Xbox Linux wiki, "With superb flexibility and ease of use, it can run off CD/DVD or it can be installed onto the Xbox hard drive in either the free space or the saved game area. The OS includes support for all versions of the Xbox, including those with Xcalibur video chips. Based on Debian stable (Sarge) with backports for newer software." The latest version is 1.1.4, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Ed_s%20Xebian/Xebian/ available here], which boots to desktop as a liveCD. It seems to require burning to a CD instead of DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060630100324/http://www.keckstar.com:80/nuke/html/index.php sXb]''' - Slackware for the Original Xbox. The versioning is a little unclear, but the most recent ISO on sourceforge is in the iso.gz file [https://sourceforge.net/projects/sxb/files/Sxbnew/SXBNEW-iso--dfb-xdirectfb/ here]. May need to be burned to CD. Reported "controller jammed" messages at startup, but one of my controller ports is busted.
*'''Mandrake''' A Mandrake 9 was released and claimed to be the first full distribution on the Xbox, but apparently was not continued or supported. No known Web site. Does anyone have a copy of the original Xbox Linux Mandrake iso for archival purposes? It appears a 2005 "special edition" with the Xbox patches can be found [http://ftp.twaren.net/Linux/Mandrake/official/iso/10.1/i586/10.2/ here]. (Mandrake Linux was renamed to Mandriva Linux in 2005). Requires composite cable, at least on this 1.0 Xbox. Appears to require burning to a CD, instead of a DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060713072515/http://www.not404.com:80/cgi-bin/trac.fcgi/wiki/XFedora4 xFedora]''' A port of Fedora Core to the Xbox; essentially Fedora Core with Xbox patches. The latest version is 0.7.41, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Fedora/ available here]. I am unsure how to run it.
*'''SuSE 8''' - There's a dead download link on the old wiki. Seems to have been abandoned
*'''old xbox-linux iso''' The xbox-linux team released some preliminary ISOs during the development of Xbox Linux.
*'''live-linux''' A liveCD based Linux, may have been able to install to HDD; it was released up to 0.3, no known website, but here is [https://sourceforge.net/p/xbox-linux/mailman/message/10300266/ the announcement]. The latest image is [https://legacy.downloads.diomtec.com/homebrew/xbins/Console%20Based%20Applications/Operating%20Systems/linux/distributions/live-linux/live-linux.0.3.iso.bz2 available here]. The file boot/boot.cfg on the iso needs to be renamed to linuxboot.cfg. The video became garbled launching with both composite and component cables. This is a very basic minilinux distro, essentially a proof of concept. The linuxrc is a symlink to busybox. It appears to mount a 9MB image.
*'''ltools''', a minilinux used in Xbox game save hacks, first designed to install Linux, but later repurposed to softmod the Xbox.
*'''[https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ xboxhdm]''' is a tool made by Idotsfan for softmodding locked Xbox hard drives, it's a PC-based CD-bootable set of Linux tools
*'''XMugen''' packaged Mugen for Linux using a busybox in an initramfs, and used swap and game character data files located on FATX. It currently has issues with anything other than "F takes all" schemes.
*'''Chimp''' is a tool for cloning and basic partitioning on Xbox hard drives. It runs from an initramfs.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20051214030132/http://nexus.il.fontys.nl:80/ FreeBSD/Xbox]''' - Not Linux per se, but it's a port of FreeBSD to the Xbox. It was officially integrated into FreeBSD as a set of optional patches. A NetBSD setup can be found [ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/misc/jmcneill/xbox/ here] but it requires the rootfs mounted on NFS. There might be a self contained ISO out there?

==Installing Old Distros==
These liveCDs above should all be safe to try on your Xbox, but installation to your hard drive is more risky. It can be fine if you take the proper considerations. Here are the installation methods usually presented by the installers:

'''Native Install'''

This may not be compatible with softmods! '''Don't mess around with native installs on a locked hard drive or a hard drive that's not backed up! Flash your TSOP or hardmod first!'''

This may wipe your hard drive, format it for Linux, and expect you to put Cromwell on your BIOS. It may also mean just formatting F and booting into it from Xromwell on FATX. So make sure you know which one it is! (the installer should tell you, if it's installing to F you should be fine) Any native install with a boot partition (launched via a hard drive icon in Cromwell/Xromwell) is NOT compatible with the XBPartitioner table, and installing it will overwite the XBPartitioner table. So "F takes all" is preferred here, for allowing coexistence with the stock partitions.

'''If you have a native install, DO NOT USE XBPARTITIONER unless you want to remove Linux. Any XBPartitioner format will break Linux by wiping out the MBR that Linux uses to find its partitions.''' You can't have custom FATX partitions alongside a Linux native install. (So use a spare hard drive for a native install)

'''Loopback Install'''

This installs Linux to a file on the FATX filesystem. Your Linux filesystem will be contained within that file. This means that no repartitioning of your hard drive is necessary. This is a safer install method, if you have space for a small install on E, or if you are using an "F takes all" scheme with an Xbox partition on F. Drive F must end below the 137GB boundary, if doing a loopback install to it. (is that right?) XBPartitioner-defined partitions are not supported by official versions of Xbox Linux, it only looks for the stock partitions plus "F takes all". I am unsure of the behavior if the drive is bigger than F can be. Loopback installs should be safe if your FATX drive F is detected by Xbox Linux.

In general, using a <137GB hard drive avoids these issues, although loopback installs can still be done on larger drives.

It is not advisable to make changes on the FATX filesystem more than you have to in Xbox Linux. Mounting and reading FATX partitions is fine, but doing complex write operations should be avoided, just in case. The 2.4 kernel FATX support is thought to be more stable than in the 2.6 kernel. If you need to copy lots of files to your Xbox, do it via an Xbox dash using FTP. Simple operations on FATX should be fine, and the FATX support is not seriously unstable, but better to be safe. Loopback installs are considered to be stable, although they exist on FATX.

==Historical links==
Much of the old Xbox Linux information now lives on archive.org. It is helpful if you come across anything useful, to add it here!
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/ The original Xbox Linux repository on sourceforge.] The mailing list archives can help answer esoteric questions about xbox linux, sometimes. The files section contains various Xbox Linux software and historical distribution isos.
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ The xboxhdm repository.] It contains source and executables for many Xbox tools created and modified by Idotsfan. The X-DSL directory contains some information on the original Xbpartitioner table patches.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100617000252/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/Main_Page The "New" Xbox Linux wiki], which was online until 2011.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050724003648/http://xbox-linux.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/moin.cgi/FrontPage The "Old" Xbox Linux wiki], which was migrated to xbox-linux.org. Not all articles were migrated.

==See Also==
*[[Xbox Linux]]

Historical Xbox Linux

2022-07-05T23:22:26Z

VannevarKush:

When it was announced that the specifications of the Xbox were known to be very similar to an X86 PC, Xbox Linux was quickly considered as a possibility for getting getting cheap Linux PCs into the hands of the masses. The Xbox Linux project was founded on May 23, 2002 by Michael Stiehl. Michael Robertson, the CEO of Lindows.com, anonymously offered [https://www.cnet.com/culture/squeeze-linux-into-xbox-win-200000/ two $100,000 prizes]. (He was also being sued by Microsoft at the time.) One of the prizes was for a demonstration of Linux running on an Xbox (with a $55,000 "subprize" for writing a [[Cromwell|BIOS]]) The other prize was for an exploit capable of getting Xbox Linux to run without hardware modification, ideally by using just a CD-ROM.

The first Xbox exploits were created to make Xbox Linux possible, and were quickly repurposed by modders, while Linux remained a more niche application on the original Xbox. In the years while the Xbox was still being manufactured, it could function as a cheap daily driver Linux PC, and some users modded the controller ports into permanent USB ports, and even installed a VGA connector. But, as with all PCs they eventually became obsolete as cheaper, smaller hardware became available with similar processing power.

Xbox Linux reached a point of stable releases [https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/6704 around 2003], and the development continued thereafter, providing support for 1.4 Xboxes and their Focus encoder chip, and even support for 1.6 Xboxes and their changes. The 2.4 kernel was primarily used for Xbox Linux. The 2.6 kernel patches that were developed appear stable and quite usable, but scattered functionalities from the 2.4 kernel were never ported over.

==Timeline==
* c. [https://web.archive.org/web/20021013204521/https://www.xenatera.com/bunnie/proj/anatak/xboxmod.html October 13 2002 (how?)] - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Huang_(hacker) Bunnie Huang] [https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* November 15, 2001 - Microsoft Xbox released in United States
* February 22, 2002 - Xbox released in Japan
* March 14, 2002 - Xbox released in Europe and Australia
* May 23, 2002 - Xbox Linux project founded
* July 2, 2002 - Michael Robertson offers two $100,000 prizes for accomplishment of Xbox Linux goals by January 1, 2003
* August 13, 2002 - First kernel boot
* October 7, 2002 - First graphical desktop environment (KDE)
* October 9, 2002 - Mandrake Linux 9.1 released for Xbox. Users had to replace or flash the TSOP.
* December 17, 2002 - Cromwell ready. The first of the $100,000 prizes was claimed, for running Linux on Xbox and developing a bootloader before January 1, 2003.
* December 31, 2002 - [https://www.theregister.com/2003/01/02/xbox_linux_donor_extends_prize/ Michael Robertson extends the prize deadline for the remaining prize.]
* March 29, 2003 - The second prize was claimed for the 007 Nightfire hack by Habibi_xbox. (the game Frogger Beyond was initially hacked, but it wasn't released in Europe) This launched a minilinux via an exploit from a hacked savegame on an Xbox memory card, technically accomplishing the goal of using Linux on the Xbox without hardware modification. However, users had to start Linux via the hacked game save every time.
* July 4, 2003 - The font exploit is discovered, demonstrating the ability to run Linux from the hard drive with no modchip, a true "softmod". (but also opening Pandora's box of piracy, which Xbox Linux wanted to avoid association with.) The dashboard audio exploit was discovered soon afterwards.
* July 7, 2003 - A [https://www.mail-archive.com/bugtraq@securityfocus.com/msg11923.html official security release] is made about newly discovered Xbox security vulnerabilities, as responsible hackers should do
* August 11, 2003 - Mechassault exploit released by Jeff Mears, with full softmod conversion. Efforts are made to obfuscate the source to prevent uses for piracy

More details [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Presentations/20th%20Chaos%20Communication%20Congress/ here]

==Historical Distros==
A number of distributions were released, built around the Xbox Linux-patched kernel.

*'''[https://gentoox.shallax.com GentooX]''' - GentooX, unlike vanilla Gentoo, provided precompiled binaries to the user via a custom repository. These were binaries compiled specifically for the Xbox. GentooX had both Home and Pro editions, the Home edition built around a desktop environment and the Pro edition built around the CLI. GentooX was a popular and developed Xbox Linux distro. The website is [https://web.archive.org/web/20220328101921/https://gentoox.shallax.com/ still being archived], although it appears broken in Chrome. The latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Home/ GentooX Home] is 7.1, and the latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Pro/ Pro] was 5.1, in 2009. Tested and working. The pro version attempts to boot from the CD into GentooX loader, so be sure set your BIOS not to boot from CD if booting from CD doesn't work from you. Try Xromwell if GentooX loader doesn't work.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20050510000924/http://www.x-dsl.org/ X-DSL]''' - Based on Damn Small Linux, X-DSL was a lightweight Linux build. It used Knoppix patches to be able to boot to a desktop environment from small (<100MB) loop devices from FATX. It can also make a "native" install to the hard drive, or install to a larger loop device for a permanent setup. X-DSL is an easy version of historical Linux to try out today, since it can be launched and run entirely from drive E and that avoids some incompatibilities of Xbox Linux with larger hard drives. (if your hard drive is 3TB in order to get that extra .1TB of space, it may not work). The latest official version of X-DSL is 0.6, although there is an unofficial 0.7 floating around, among various other unofficial builds. X-DSL 0.6 can be found [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/X-DSL/X-DSL%20v0.6/ here]. The contents of the zip file can be copied to the root of E (so that linuxboot.cfg is in the root) and launched with Cromwell or GentooX, with no CD. The iso is also tested and working.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060529005204/http://www.dynebolic.org:80/ Dyne:bolic Linux]''' - This is Rasta software! Dynebolic Linux is a multimedia creation, editing, and streaming focused distro that could boot as a liveCD on many systems, including original Xbox. Original Xbox support was ended in Dyne:bolic 2.x, but that uses the 2.6 kernel so it could theoretically be supported if someone felt like it. The latest version compatible with the Xbox is 1.4.1, [https://osarchive.sda1.eu/dyne-bolic available here]. This distro has a lot of toys and is fun to check out. Also, it works from DVD! (it does seem to have a low color depth in the desktop though...)
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20100617005832/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/XUbuntu xUbuntu]''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "xUbuntu". "xUbuntu is based on Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy Badger) distribution without graphical environment. xUbuntu linux system can be run from CD or installed to a PC or Xbox hard drive. The install process, the kernel, the kernel modules and the desktop are customized for PC and Xbox (i386)." The latest version is 0.9.0, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/xUbuntu/xUbuntu%200.9.0/ available here]. It needs to be burned to a CD instead of a DVD.
*'''Ed's Xebian''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "Xebian". Does not appear to have a website. From the original Xbox Linux wiki, "With superb flexibility and ease of use, it can run off CD/DVD or it can be installed onto the Xbox hard drive in either the free space or the saved game area. The OS includes support for all versions of the Xbox, including those with Xcalibur video chips. Based on Debian stable (Sarge) with backports for newer software." The latest version is 1.1.4, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Ed_s%20Xebian/Xebian/ available here], which boots to desktop as a liveCD. It seems to require burning to a CD instead of DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060630100324/http://www.keckstar.com:80/nuke/html/index.php sXb]''' - Slackware for the Original Xbox. The versioning is a little unclear, but the most recent ISO on sourceforge is in the iso.gz file [https://sourceforge.net/projects/sxb/files/Sxbnew/SXBNEW-iso--dfb-xdirectfb/ here]. May need to be burned to CD. Reported "controller jammed" messages at startup, but one of my controller ports is busted.
*'''Mandrake''' A Mandrake 9 was released and claimed to be the first full distribution on the Xbox, but apparently was not continued or supported. No known Web site. Does anyone have a copy of the original Xbox Linux Mandrake iso for archival purposes? It appears a 2005 "special edition" with the Xbox patches can be found [http://ftp.twaren.net/Linux/Mandrake/official/iso/10.1/i586/10.2/ here]. (Mandrake Linux was renamed to Mandriva Linux in 2005). Requires composite cable, at least on this 1.0 Xbox. Appears to require burning to a CD, instead of a DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060713072515/http://www.not404.com:80/cgi-bin/trac.fcgi/wiki/XFedora4 xFedora]''' A port of Fedora Core to the Xbox; essentially Fedora Core with Xbox patches. The latest version is 0.7.41, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Fedora/ available here]. I am unsure how to run it.
*'''SuSE 8''' - There's a dead download link on the old wiki. Seems to have been abandoned
*'''old xbox-linux iso''' The xbox-linux team released some preliminary ISOs during the development of Xbox Linux.
*'''live-linux''' A liveCD based Linux, may have been able to install to HDD; it was released up to 0.3, no known website, but here is [https://sourceforge.net/p/xbox-linux/mailman/message/10300266/ the announcement]. The latest image is [https://legacy.downloads.diomtec.com/homebrew/xbins/Console%20Based%20Applications/Operating%20Systems/linux/distributions/live-linux/live-linux.0.3.iso.bz2 available here]. The file boot/boot.cfg on the iso needs to be renamed to linuxboot.cfg. The video became garbled launching with both composite and component cables. This is a very basic minilinux distro, essentially a proof of concept. The linuxrc is a symlink to busybox. It appears to mount a 9MB image.
*'''ltools''', a minilinux used in Xbox game save hacks, first designed to install Linux, but later repurposed to softmod the Xbox.
*'''[https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ xboxhdm]''' is a tool made by Idotsfan for softmodding locked Xbox hard drives, it's a PC-based CD-bootable set of Linux tools
*'''XMugen''' packaged Mugen for Linux using a busybox in an initramfs, and used swap and game character data files located on FATX. It currently has issues with anything other than "F takes all" schemes.
*'''Chimp''' is a tool for cloning and basic partitioning on Xbox hard drives. It runs from an initramfs.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20051214030132/http://nexus.il.fontys.nl:80/ FreeBSD/Xbox]''' - Not Linux per se, but it's a port of FreeBSD to the Xbox. It was officially integrated into FreeBSD as a set of optional patches. A NetBSD setup can be found [ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/misc/jmcneill/xbox/ here] but it requires the rootfs mounted on NFS. There might be a self contained ISO out there?

==Installing Old Distros==
These liveCDs above should all be safe to try on your Xbox, but installation to your hard drive is more risky. It can be fine if you take the proper considerations. Here are the installation methods usually presented by the installers:

'''Native Install'''

This may not be compatible with softmods! '''Don't mess around with native installs on a locked hard drive or a hard drive that's not backed up! Flash your TSOP or hardmod first!'''

This may wipe your hard drive, format it for Linux, and expect you to put Cromwell on your BIOS. It may also mean just formatting F and booting into it from Xromwell on FATX. So make sure you know which one it is! (the installer should tell you, if it's installing to F you should be fine) Any native install with a boot partition (launched via a hard drive icon in Cromwell/Xromwell) is NOT compatible with the XBPartitioner table, and installing it will overwite the XBPartitioner table. So "F takes all" is preferred here, for allowing coexistence with the stock partitions.

'''If you have a native install, DO NOT USE XBPARTITIONER unless you want to remove Linux. Any XBPartitioner format will break Linux by wiping out the MBR that Linux uses to find its partitions.''' You can't have custom FATX partitions alongside a Linux native install. (So use a spare hard drive for a native install)

'''Loopback Install'''

This installs Linux to a file on the FATX filesystem. Your Linux filesystem will be contained within that file. This means that no repartitioning of your hard drive is necessary. This is a safer install method, if you have space for a small install on E, or if you are using an "F takes all" scheme with an Xbox partition on F. Drive F must end below the 137GB boundary, if doing a loopback install to it. (is that right?) XBPartitioner-defined partitions are not supported by official versions of Xbox Linux, it only looks for the stock partitions plus "F takes all". I am unsure of the behavior if the drive is bigger than F can be. Loopback installs should be safe if your FATX drive F is detected by Xbox Linux.

In general, using a <137GB hard drive avoids these issues, although loopback installs can still be done on larger drives.

It is not advisable to make changes on the FATX filesystem more than you have to in Xbox Linux. Mounting and reading FATX partitions is fine, but doing complex write operations should be avoided, just in case. The 2.4 kernel FATX support is thought to be more stable than in the 2.6 kernel. If you need to copy lots of files to your Xbox, do it via an Xbox dash using FTP. Simple operations on FATX should be fine, and the FATX support is not seriously unstable, but better to be safe. Loopback installs are considered to be stable, although they exist on FATX.

==Historical links==
Much of the old Xbox Linux information now lives on archive.org. It is helpful if you come across anything useful, to add it here!
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/ The original Xbox Linux repository on sourceforge.] The mailing list archives can help answer esoteric questions about xbox linux, sometimes. The files section contains various Xbox Linux software and historical distribution isos.
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ The xboxhdm repository.] It contains source and executables for many Xbox tools created and modified by Idotsfan. The X-DSL directory contains some information on the original Xbpartitioner table patches.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100617000252/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/Main_Page The "New" Xbox Linux wiki], which was online until 2011.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050724003648/http://xbox-linux.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/moin.cgi/FrontPage The "Old" Xbox Linux wiki], which was migrated to xbox-linux.org. Not all articles were migrated.

==See Also==
*[[Xbox Linux]]

Historical Xbox Linux

2022-07-05T23:20:26Z

VannevarKush:

When it was announced that the specifications of the Xbox were known to be very similar to an X86 PC, Xbox Linux was quickly considered as a possibility. The Xbox Linux project was founded on May 23, 2002 by Michael Stiehl. Michael Robertson, the CEO of Lindows.com, anonymously offered [https://www.cnet.com/culture/squeeze-linux-into-xbox-win-200000/ two $100,000 prizes] with the vision of getting cheap Linux PCs into the hands of the masses. (He was also being sued by Microsoft at the time.) One of the prizes was for a demonstration of Linux running on an Xbox (with a $55,000 "subprize" for writing a [[Cromwell|BIOS]]) The other prize was for an exploit capable of getting Xbox Linux to run without hardware modification, ideally by using just a CD-ROM. (was this claimed? the prize deadli[https://www.theregister.com/2003/01/02/xbox_linux_donor_extends_prize/ here])

The first Xbox exploits were created to make Xbox Linux possible, and were quickly repurposed by modders, while Linux remained a more niche application on the original Xbox. In the years while the Xbox was still being manufactured, it could function as a cheap daily driver Linux PC, and some users modded the controller ports into permanent USB ports, and even installed a VGA connector. But, as with all PCs they eventually became obsolete as cheaper, smaller hardware became available with similar processing power.

Xbox Linux reached a point of stable releases [https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/6704 around 2003], and the development continued thereafter, providing support for 1.4 Xboxes and their Focus encoder chip, and even support for 1.6 Xboxes and their changes. The 2.4 kernel was primarily used for Xbox Linux. The 2.6 kernel patches that were developed appear stable and quite usable, but scattered functionalities from the 2.4 kernel were never ported over.

==Timeline==
* c. [https://web.archive.org/web/20021013204521/https://www.xenatera.com/bunnie/proj/anatak/xboxmod.html October 13 2002 (how?)] - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Huang_(hacker) Bunnie Huang] [https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* November 15, 2001 - Microsoft Xbox released in United States
* February 22, 2002 - Xbox released in Japan
* March 14, 2002 - Xbox released in Europe and Australia
* May 23, 2002 - Xbox Linux project founded
* July 2, 2002 - Michael Robertson offers two $100,000 prizes for accomplishment of Xbox Linux goals by January 1, 2003
* August 13, 2002 - First kernel boot
* October 7, 2002 - First graphical desktop environment (KDE)
* October 9, 2002 - Mandrake Linux 9.1 released for Xbox. Users had to replace or flash the TSOP.
* December 17, 2002 - Cromwell ready. The first of the $100,000 prizes was claimed, for running Linux on Xbox and developing a bootloader before January 1, 2003.
* December 31, 2002 - [https://www.theregister.com/2003/01/02/xbox_linux_donor_extends_prize/ Michael Robertson extends the prize deadline for the remaining prize.]
* March 29, 2003 - The second prize was claimed for the 007 Nightfire hack by Habibi_xbox. (the game Frogger Beyond was initially hacked, but it wasn't released in Europe) This launched a minilinux via an exploit from a hacked savegame on an Xbox memory card, technically accomplishing the goal of using Linux on the Xbox without hardware modification. However, users had to start Linux via the hacked game save every time.
* July 4, 2003 - The font exploit is discovered, demonstrating the ability to run Linux from the hard drive with no modchip, a true "softmod". (but also opening Pandora's box of piracy, which Xbox Linux wanted to avoid association with.) The dashboard audio exploit was discovered soon afterwards.
* July 7, 2003 - A [https://www.mail-archive.com/bugtraq@securityfocus.com/msg11923.html official security release] is made about newly discovered Xbox security vulnerabilities, as responsible hackers should do
* August 11, 2003 - Mechassault exploit released by Jeff Mears, with full softmod conversion. Efforts are made to obfuscate the source to prevent uses for piracy

More details [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Presentations/20th%20Chaos%20Communication%20Congress/ here]

==Historical Distros==
A number of distributions were released, built around the Xbox Linux-patched kernel.

*'''[https://gentoox.shallax.com GentooX]''' - GentooX, unlike vanilla Gentoo, provided precompiled binaries to the user via a custom repository. These were binaries compiled specifically for the Xbox. GentooX had both Home and Pro editions, the Home edition built around a desktop environment and the Pro edition built around the CLI. GentooX was a popular and developed Xbox Linux distro. The website is [https://web.archive.org/web/20220328101921/https://gentoox.shallax.com/ still being archived], although it appears broken in Chrome. The latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Home/ GentooX Home] is 7.1, and the latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Pro/ Pro] was 5.1, in 2009. Tested and working. The pro version attempts to boot from the CD into GentooX loader, so be sure set your BIOS not to boot from CD if booting from CD doesn't work from you. Try Xromwell if GentooX loader doesn't work.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20050510000924/http://www.x-dsl.org/ X-DSL]''' - Based on Damn Small Linux, X-DSL was a lightweight Linux build. It used Knoppix patches to be able to boot to a desktop environment from small (<100MB) loop devices from FATX. It can also make a "native" install to the hard drive, or install to a larger loop device for a permanent setup. X-DSL is an easy version of historical Linux to try out today, since it can be launched and run entirely from drive E and that avoids some incompatibilities of Xbox Linux with larger hard drives. (if your hard drive is 3TB in order to get that extra .1TB of space, it may not work). The latest official version of X-DSL is 0.6, although there is an unofficial 0.7 floating around, among various other unofficial builds. X-DSL 0.6 can be found [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/X-DSL/X-DSL%20v0.6/ here]. The contents of the zip file can be copied to the root of E (so that linuxboot.cfg is in the root) and launched with Cromwell or GentooX, with no CD. The iso is also tested and working.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060529005204/http://www.dynebolic.org:80/ Dyne:bolic Linux]''' - This is Rasta software! Dynebolic Linux is a multimedia creation, editing, and streaming focused distro that could boot as a liveCD on many systems, including original Xbox. Original Xbox support was ended in Dyne:bolic 2.x, but that uses the 2.6 kernel so it could theoretically be supported if someone felt like it. The latest version compatible with the Xbox is 1.4.1, [https://osarchive.sda1.eu/dyne-bolic available here]. This distro has a lot of toys and is fun to check out. Also, it works from DVD! (it does seem to have a low color depth in the desktop though...)
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20100617005832/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/XUbuntu xUbuntu]''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "xUbuntu". "xUbuntu is based on Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy Badger) distribution without graphical environment. xUbuntu linux system can be run from CD or installed to a PC or Xbox hard drive. The install process, the kernel, the kernel modules and the desktop are customized for PC and Xbox (i386)." The latest version is 0.9.0, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/xUbuntu/xUbuntu%200.9.0/ available here]. It needs to be burned to a CD instead of a DVD.
*'''Ed's Xebian''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "Xebian". Does not appear to have a website. From the original Xbox Linux wiki, "With superb flexibility and ease of use, it can run off CD/DVD or it can be installed onto the Xbox hard drive in either the free space or the saved game area. The OS includes support for all versions of the Xbox, including those with Xcalibur video chips. Based on Debian stable (Sarge) with backports for newer software." The latest version is 1.1.4, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Ed_s%20Xebian/Xebian/ available here], which boots to desktop as a liveCD. It seems to require burning to a CD instead of DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060630100324/http://www.keckstar.com:80/nuke/html/index.php sXb]''' - Slackware for the Original Xbox. The versioning is a little unclear, but the most recent ISO on sourceforge is in the iso.gz file [https://sourceforge.net/projects/sxb/files/Sxbnew/SXBNEW-iso--dfb-xdirectfb/ here]. May need to be burned to CD. Reported "controller jammed" messages at startup, but one of my controller ports is busted.
*'''Mandrake''' A Mandrake 9 was released and claimed to be the first full distribution on the Xbox, but apparently was not continued or supported. No known Web site. Does anyone have a copy of the original Xbox Linux Mandrake iso for archival purposes? It appears a 2005 "special edition" with the Xbox patches can be found [http://ftp.twaren.net/Linux/Mandrake/official/iso/10.1/i586/10.2/ here]. (Mandrake Linux was renamed to Mandriva Linux in 2005). Requires composite cable, at least on this 1.0 Xbox. Appears to require burning to a CD, instead of a DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060713072515/http://www.not404.com:80/cgi-bin/trac.fcgi/wiki/XFedora4 xFedora]''' A port of Fedora Core to the Xbox; essentially Fedora Core with Xbox patches. The latest version is 0.7.41, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Fedora/ available here]. I am unsure how to run it.
*'''SuSE 8''' - There's a dead download link on the old wiki. Seems to have been abandoned
*'''old xbox-linux iso''' The xbox-linux team released some preliminary ISOs during the development of Xbox Linux.
*'''live-linux''' A liveCD based Linux, may have been able to install to HDD; it was released up to 0.3, no known website, but here is [https://sourceforge.net/p/xbox-linux/mailman/message/10300266/ the announcement]. The latest image is [https://legacy.downloads.diomtec.com/homebrew/xbins/Console%20Based%20Applications/Operating%20Systems/linux/distributions/live-linux/live-linux.0.3.iso.bz2 available here]. The file boot/boot.cfg on the iso needs to be renamed to linuxboot.cfg. The video became garbled launching with both composite and component cables. This is a very basic minilinux distro, essentially a proof of concept. The linuxrc is a symlink to busybox. It appears to mount a 9MB image.
*'''ltools''', a minilinux used in Xbox game save hacks, first designed to install Linux, but later repurposed to softmod the Xbox.
*'''[https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ xboxhdm]''' is a tool made by Idotsfan for softmodding locked Xbox hard drives, it's a PC-based CD-bootable set of Linux tools
*'''XMugen''' packaged Mugen for Linux using a busybox in an initramfs, and used swap and game character data files located on FATX. It currently has issues with anything other than "F takes all" schemes.
*'''Chimp''' is a tool for cloning and basic partitioning on Xbox hard drives. It runs from an initramfs.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20051214030132/http://nexus.il.fontys.nl:80/ FreeBSD/Xbox]''' - Not Linux per se, but it's a port of FreeBSD to the Xbox. It was officially integrated into FreeBSD as a set of optional patches. A NetBSD setup can be found [ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/misc/jmcneill/xbox/ here] but it requires the rootfs mounted on NFS. There might be a self contained ISO out there?

==Installing Old Distros==
These liveCDs above should all be safe to try on your Xbox, but installation to your hard drive is more risky. It can be fine if you take the proper considerations. Here are the installation methods usually presented by the installers:

'''Native Install'''

This may not be compatible with softmods! '''Don't mess around with native installs on a locked hard drive or a hard drive that's not backed up! Flash your TSOP or hardmod first!'''

This may wipe your hard drive, format it for Linux, and expect you to put Cromwell on your BIOS. It may also mean just formatting F and booting into it from Xromwell on FATX. So make sure you know which one it is! (the installer should tell you, if it's installing to F you should be fine) Any native install with a boot partition (launched via a hard drive icon in Cromwell/Xromwell) is NOT compatible with the XBPartitioner table, and installing it will overwite the XBPartitioner table. So "F takes all" is preferred here, for allowing coexistence with the stock partitions.

'''If you have a native install, DO NOT USE XBPARTITIONER unless you want to remove Linux. Any XBPartitioner format will break Linux by wiping out the MBR that Linux uses to find its partitions.''' You can't have custom FATX partitions alongside a Linux native install. (So use a spare hard drive for a native install)

'''Loopback Install'''

This installs Linux to a file on the FATX filesystem. Your Linux filesystem will be contained within that file. This means that no repartitioning of your hard drive is necessary. This is a safer install method, if you have space for a small install on E, or if you are using an "F takes all" scheme with an Xbox partition on F. Drive F must end below the 137GB boundary, if doing a loopback install to it. (is that right?) XBPartitioner-defined partitions are not supported by official versions of Xbox Linux, it only looks for the stock partitions plus "F takes all". I am unsure of the behavior if the drive is bigger than F can be. Loopback installs should be safe if your FATX drive F is detected by Xbox Linux.

In general, using a <137GB hard drive avoids these issues, although loopback installs can still be done on larger drives.

It is not advisable to make changes on the FATX filesystem more than you have to in Xbox Linux. Mounting and reading FATX partitions is fine, but doing complex write operations should be avoided, just in case. The 2.4 kernel FATX support is thought to be more stable than in the 2.6 kernel. If you need to copy lots of files to your Xbox, do it via an Xbox dash using FTP. Simple operations on FATX should be fine, and the FATX support is not seriously unstable, but better to be safe. Loopback installs are considered to be stable, although they exist on FATX.

==Historical links==
Much of the old Xbox Linux information now lives on archive.org. It is helpful if you come across anything useful, to add it here!
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/ The original Xbox Linux repository on sourceforge.] The mailing list archives can help answer esoteric questions about xbox linux, sometimes. The files section contains various Xbox Linux software and historical distribution isos.
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ The xboxhdm repository.] It contains source and executables for many Xbox tools created and modified by Idotsfan. The X-DSL directory contains some information on the original Xbpartitioner table patches.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100617000252/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/Main_Page The "New" Xbox Linux wiki], which was online until 2011.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050724003648/http://xbox-linux.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/moin.cgi/FrontPage The "Old" Xbox Linux wiki], which was migrated to xbox-linux.org. Not all articles were migrated.

==See Also==
*[[Xbox Linux]]

Historical Xbox Linux

2022-07-05T23:20:04Z

VannevarKush: Some corrections, adding release dates

When it was announced that the specifications of the Xbox were known to be very similar to an X86 PC, Xbox Linux was quickly considered as a possibility. The Xbox Linux project was founded on May 23, 2002 by Michael Stiehl. Michael Robertson, the CEO of Lindows.com, anonymously offered [https://www.cnet.com/culture/squeeze-linux-into-xbox-win-200000/ two $100,000 prizes] with the vision of getting cheap Linux PCs into the hands of the masses. (He was also being sued by Microsoft at the time.) One of the prizes was for a demonstration of Linux running on an Xbox (with a $55,000 "subprize" for writing a [[Cromwell|BIOS]]) The other prize was for an exploit capable of getting Xbox Linux to run without hardware modification, ideally by using just a CD-ROM. (was this claimed? the prize deadli[https://www.theregister.com/2003/01/02/xbox_linux_donor_extends_prize/ here])

The first Xbox exploits were created to make Xbox Linux possible, and were quickly repurposed by modders, while Linux remained a more niche application on the original Xbox. In the years while the Xbox was still being manufactured, it could function as a cheap daily driver Linux PC, and some users modded the controller ports into permanent USB ports, and even installed a VGA connector. But, as with all PCs they eventually became obsolete as cheaper, smaller hardware became available with similar processing power.

Xbox Linux reached a point of stable releases [https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/6704 around 2003], and the development continued thereafter, providing support for 1.4 Xboxes and their Focus encoder chip, and even support for 1.6 Xboxes and their changes. The 2.4 kernel was primarily used for Xbox Linux. The 2.6 kernel patches that were developed appear stable and quite usable, but scattered functionalities from the 2.4 kernel were never ported over.

==Timeline==
* c. [October 13 2002 (how?) https://web.archive.org/web/20021013204521/https://www.xenatera.com/bunnie/proj/anatak/xboxmod.html] - [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Huang_(hacker) Bunnie Huang] [https://web.archive.org/web/20030405173112/https://ece.gmu.edu/crypto/ches02/talks_files/Huang.pdf hacks the Xbox boot ROM decryption key], allowing a starting point for Xbox BIOS modification
* November 15, 2001 - Microsoft Xbox released in United States
* February 22, 2002 - Xbox released in Japan
* March 14, 2002 - Xbox released in Europe and Australia
* May 23, 2002 - Xbox Linux project founded
* July 2, 2002 - Michael Robertson offers two $100,000 prizes for accomplishment of Xbox Linux goals by January 1, 2003
* August 13, 2002 - First kernel boot
* October 7, 2002 - First graphical desktop environment (KDE)
* October 9, 2002 - Mandrake Linux 9.1 released for Xbox. Users had to replace or flash the TSOP.
* December 17, 2002 - Cromwell ready. The first of the $100,000 prizes was claimed, for running Linux on Xbox and developing a bootloader before January 1, 2003.
* December 31, 2002 - [https://www.theregister.com/2003/01/02/xbox_linux_donor_extends_prize/ Michael Robertson extends the prize deadline for the remaining prize.]
* March 29, 2003 - The second prize was claimed for the 007 Nightfire hack by Habibi_xbox. (the game Frogger Beyond was initially hacked, but it wasn't released in Europe) This launched a minilinux via an exploit from a hacked savegame on an Xbox memory card, technically accomplishing the goal of using Linux on the Xbox without hardware modification. However, users had to start Linux via the hacked game save every time.
* July 4, 2003 - The font exploit is discovered, demonstrating the ability to run Linux from the hard drive with no modchip, a true "softmod". (but also opening Pandora's box of piracy, which Xbox Linux wanted to avoid association with.) The dashboard audio exploit was discovered soon afterwards.
* July 7, 2003 - A [https://www.mail-archive.com/bugtraq@securityfocus.com/msg11923.html official security release] is made about newly discovered Xbox security vulnerabilities, as responsible hackers should do
* August 11, 2003 - Mechassault exploit released by Jeff Mears, with full softmod conversion. Efforts are made to obfuscate the source to prevent uses for piracy

More details [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Presentations/20th%20Chaos%20Communication%20Congress/ here]

==Historical Distros==
A number of distributions were released, built around the Xbox Linux-patched kernel.

*'''[https://gentoox.shallax.com GentooX]''' - GentooX, unlike vanilla Gentoo, provided precompiled binaries to the user via a custom repository. These were binaries compiled specifically for the Xbox. GentooX had both Home and Pro editions, the Home edition built around a desktop environment and the Pro edition built around the CLI. GentooX was a popular and developed Xbox Linux distro. The website is [https://web.archive.org/web/20220328101921/https://gentoox.shallax.com/ still being archived], although it appears broken in Chrome. The latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Home/ GentooX Home] is 7.1, and the latest release of [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Gentoox/Pro/ Pro] was 5.1, in 2009. Tested and working. The pro version attempts to boot from the CD into GentooX loader, so be sure set your BIOS not to boot from CD if booting from CD doesn't work from you. Try Xromwell if GentooX loader doesn't work.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20050510000924/http://www.x-dsl.org/ X-DSL]''' - Based on Damn Small Linux, X-DSL was a lightweight Linux build. It used Knoppix patches to be able to boot to a desktop environment from small (<100MB) loop devices from FATX. It can also make a "native" install to the hard drive, or install to a larger loop device for a permanent setup. X-DSL is an easy version of historical Linux to try out today, since it can be launched and run entirely from drive E and that avoids some incompatibilities of Xbox Linux with larger hard drives. (if your hard drive is 3TB in order to get that extra .1TB of space, it may not work). The latest official version of X-DSL is 0.6, although there is an unofficial 0.7 floating around, among various other unofficial builds. X-DSL 0.6 can be found [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/X-DSL/X-DSL%20v0.6/ here]. The contents of the zip file can be copied to the root of E (so that linuxboot.cfg is in the root) and launched with Cromwell or GentooX, with no CD. The iso is also tested and working.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060529005204/http://www.dynebolic.org:80/ Dyne:bolic Linux]''' - This is Rasta software! Dynebolic Linux is a multimedia creation, editing, and streaming focused distro that could boot as a liveCD on many systems, including original Xbox. Original Xbox support was ended in Dyne:bolic 2.x, but that uses the 2.6 kernel so it could theoretically be supported if someone felt like it. The latest version compatible with the Xbox is 1.4.1, [https://osarchive.sda1.eu/dyne-bolic available here]. This distro has a lot of toys and is fun to check out. Also, it works from DVD! (it does seem to have a low color depth in the desktop though...)
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20100617005832/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/XUbuntu xUbuntu]''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "xUbuntu". "xUbuntu is based on Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy Badger) distribution without graphical environment. xUbuntu linux system can be run from CD or installed to a PC or Xbox hard drive. The install process, the kernel, the kernel modules and the desktop are customized for PC and Xbox (i386)." The latest version is 0.9.0, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/xUbuntu/xUbuntu%200.9.0/ available here]. It needs to be burned to a CD instead of a DVD.
*'''Ed's Xebian''' - Not related to the distro more commonly known as "Xebian". Does not appear to have a website. From the original Xbox Linux wiki, "With superb flexibility and ease of use, it can run off CD/DVD or it can be installed onto the Xbox hard drive in either the free space or the saved game area. The OS includes support for all versions of the Xbox, including those with Xcalibur video chips. Based on Debian stable (Sarge) with backports for newer software." The latest version is 1.1.4, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Ed_s%20Xebian/Xebian/ available here], which boots to desktop as a liveCD. It seems to require burning to a CD instead of DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060630100324/http://www.keckstar.com:80/nuke/html/index.php sXb]''' - Slackware for the Original Xbox. The versioning is a little unclear, but the most recent ISO on sourceforge is in the iso.gz file [https://sourceforge.net/projects/sxb/files/Sxbnew/SXBNEW-iso--dfb-xdirectfb/ here]. May need to be burned to CD. Reported "controller jammed" messages at startup, but one of my controller ports is busted.
*'''Mandrake''' A Mandrake 9 was released and claimed to be the first full distribution on the Xbox, but apparently was not continued or supported. No known Web site. Does anyone have a copy of the original Xbox Linux Mandrake iso for archival purposes? It appears a 2005 "special edition" with the Xbox patches can be found [http://ftp.twaren.net/Linux/Mandrake/official/iso/10.1/i586/10.2/ here]. (Mandrake Linux was renamed to Mandriva Linux in 2005). Requires composite cable, at least on this 1.0 Xbox. Appears to require burning to a CD, instead of a DVD.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060713072515/http://www.not404.com:80/cgi-bin/trac.fcgi/wiki/XFedora4 xFedora]''' A port of Fedora Core to the Xbox; essentially Fedora Core with Xbox patches. The latest version is 0.7.41, [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/files/Fedora/ available here]. I am unsure how to run it.
*'''SuSE 8''' - There's a dead download link on the old wiki. Seems to have been abandoned
*'''old xbox-linux iso''' The xbox-linux team released some preliminary ISOs during the development of Xbox Linux.
*'''live-linux''' A liveCD based Linux, may have been able to install to HDD; it was released up to 0.3, no known website, but here is [https://sourceforge.net/p/xbox-linux/mailman/message/10300266/ the announcement]. The latest image is [https://legacy.downloads.diomtec.com/homebrew/xbins/Console%20Based%20Applications/Operating%20Systems/linux/distributions/live-linux/live-linux.0.3.iso.bz2 available here]. The file boot/boot.cfg on the iso needs to be renamed to linuxboot.cfg. The video became garbled launching with both composite and component cables. This is a very basic minilinux distro, essentially a proof of concept. The linuxrc is a symlink to busybox. It appears to mount a 9MB image.
*'''ltools''', a minilinux used in Xbox game save hacks, first designed to install Linux, but later repurposed to softmod the Xbox.
*'''[https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ xboxhdm]''' is a tool made by Idotsfan for softmodding locked Xbox hard drives, it's a PC-based CD-bootable set of Linux tools
*'''XMugen''' packaged Mugen for Linux using a busybox in an initramfs, and used swap and game character data files located on FATX. It currently has issues with anything other than "F takes all" schemes.
*'''Chimp''' is a tool for cloning and basic partitioning on Xbox hard drives. It runs from an initramfs.
*'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20051214030132/http://nexus.il.fontys.nl:80/ FreeBSD/Xbox]''' - Not Linux per se, but it's a port of FreeBSD to the Xbox. It was officially integrated into FreeBSD as a set of optional patches. A NetBSD setup can be found [ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/misc/jmcneill/xbox/ here] but it requires the rootfs mounted on NFS. There might be a self contained ISO out there?

==Installing Old Distros==
These liveCDs above should all be safe to try on your Xbox, but installation to your hard drive is more risky. It can be fine if you take the proper considerations. Here are the installation methods usually presented by the installers:

'''Native Install'''

This may not be compatible with softmods! '''Don't mess around with native installs on a locked hard drive or a hard drive that's not backed up! Flash your TSOP or hardmod first!'''

This may wipe your hard drive, format it for Linux, and expect you to put Cromwell on your BIOS. It may also mean just formatting F and booting into it from Xromwell on FATX. So make sure you know which one it is! (the installer should tell you, if it's installing to F you should be fine) Any native install with a boot partition (launched via a hard drive icon in Cromwell/Xromwell) is NOT compatible with the XBPartitioner table, and installing it will overwite the XBPartitioner table. So "F takes all" is preferred here, for allowing coexistence with the stock partitions.

'''If you have a native install, DO NOT USE XBPARTITIONER unless you want to remove Linux. Any XBPartitioner format will break Linux by wiping out the MBR that Linux uses to find its partitions.''' You can't have custom FATX partitions alongside a Linux native install. (So use a spare hard drive for a native install)

'''Loopback Install'''

This installs Linux to a file on the FATX filesystem. Your Linux filesystem will be contained within that file. This means that no repartitioning of your hard drive is necessary. This is a safer install method, if you have space for a small install on E, or if you are using an "F takes all" scheme with an Xbox partition on F. Drive F must end below the 137GB boundary, if doing a loopback install to it. (is that right?) XBPartitioner-defined partitions are not supported by official versions of Xbox Linux, it only looks for the stock partitions plus "F takes all". I am unsure of the behavior if the drive is bigger than F can be. Loopback installs should be safe if your FATX drive F is detected by Xbox Linux.

In general, using a <137GB hard drive avoids these issues, although loopback installs can still be done on larger drives.

It is not advisable to make changes on the FATX filesystem more than you have to in Xbox Linux. Mounting and reading FATX partitions is fine, but doing complex write operations should be avoided, just in case. The 2.4 kernel FATX support is thought to be more stable than in the 2.6 kernel. If you need to copy lots of files to your Xbox, do it via an Xbox dash using FTP. Simple operations on FATX should be fine, and the FATX support is not seriously unstable, but better to be safe. Loopback installs are considered to be stable, although they exist on FATX.

==Historical links==
Much of the old Xbox Linux information now lives on archive.org. It is helpful if you come across anything useful, to add it here!
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbox-linux/ The original Xbox Linux repository on sourceforge.] The mailing list archives can help answer esoteric questions about xbox linux, sometimes. The files section contains various Xbox Linux software and historical distribution isos.
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/xboxhdm2/files/ The xboxhdm repository.] It contains source and executables for many Xbox tools created and modified by Idotsfan. The X-DSL directory contains some information on the original Xbpartitioner table patches.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100617000252/http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/Main_Page The "New" Xbox Linux wiki], which was online until 2011.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050724003648/http://xbox-linux.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/moin.cgi/FrontPage The "Old" Xbox Linux wiki], which was migrated to xbox-linux.org. Not all articles were migrated.

==See Also==
*[[Xbox Linux]]