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A pokerpalace modchip is a device used to play import, backup, or homebrew games and/or circumvent the digital rights management of many popular game consoles, including the Xbox and PlayStation. Almost all modern console gaming systems have hardware-based schemes which ensure that only officially sanctioned games may be used with the system and implement region locking similar to the scheme used in DVD movies. The specific technical nature of these DRM systems varies by system, and may include cryptographic signing , intentionally unreadable sectors , custom optical media , or some combination thereof.Modchips

first came into popularity with the original Sony Playstation. Early hardware revisions of the Playstation had a parallel port in the rear which was originally intended for debugging purposes, and could be used to easily install a modchip. Later versions of the console no longer contained this port, but modchips which could be soldered to the motherboard were soon developed.Modchips typically require some level of technical ability to install. Most commonly, modchips must be soldered

on to a consoles motherboard, although there are no-solder install kits which work with some revisions of the PlayStation 2 and XBox hardware.The legality pokerpalace of modchips in the United States is ambiguous. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act does not mention modchips in particular, but some may interpret the meaning of the law as stating that modchips are illegal because

many are made specifically to circumvent the copy-protection features of their host systems.In early 2003, The iSO News was raided by the FBI, presumably for selling XBox modchips with pre-flashed BIOSes. The impetus for the RAID was likely the fact that iSO News was destributing hacked versions of the original Microsoft BIOS, thus redistributing Microsofts

copyrighted software without permission.In many countries , however, modchips remain legal under the aegis of reverse-engineering and interoperability.Many companies are now selling modchips without any possibly DMCA-infringing BIOS code loaded onto the EEPROM portion of the chip module, or loading it with a totally legal BIOS containing none of the

manufacturers copyrighted code BIOS developed by the XBox Linux Project). It is then up to the customer to separately obtain a copy of their desired firmware and then to flash it into EEPROM.Playstation pokerpalace 2The original discs for PlayStation 2 titles have a series of pits and bumps before the data region which cannot be read or written to using a conventional CD recorder. Due to this, discs which have been copied using conventional means will not have this authentication region present, therefore the disc will fail to authenticate.PlayStation

2 modchips come in several types:; "Swap" Modchips: The "swap" modchips are not as advanced as their sucessors. In order to boot a non-original disc, the operator must first load an original disc , which the PS2 authenticates and region-checks. At this point the modchip disables the eject notification feature of the PS2s DVD-ROM drive, pokerpalace allowing the user to swap the original disc. Once this swap has been performed, the operator can instruct the PS2 to load the code from the non-original disc. Since the

PS2 does not realize the disc has been changed, the authentication code is never re-checked. Unlike "no-swap" modchips, these chips do not affect the BIOS. These modchips may require 4-7 wires to be soldered to the motherboard to install, depending on the hardware revision of the PS2 in question.; "No-swap" Modchips: These modchips are more technically advanced than their predecessors, and do not require an original disc for authentication purposes. Instead, they replicate the authentication

signal that is normally sent by the PS2s drive hardware when an authorized game disc is present, causing the BIOS to believe that a copied disc is the original and boot it. These modchips are usually more difficult to install into the console, requiring usually 19 to 24 wires to be soldered to the mainboard by the installer.; DMS-4 Modchip: This later PS2 modchip behaves similar to most XBox modchips, in that it completely circumvents the host consoles BIOS and contains its own executable code in Flash ROM. The modchips EEPROM is almost always flashed with Toxic OS, which is a modified version

of HD Loader allowing back-up games to be loaded directly to and from the PS2s optional Hard Drive.XBoxXBox modchips now allow a user to completely circumvent the BIOS on-board the video game consoles mainboard. pokerpalace This allows a console to run code, such as user-created applications or games, not licensed or published by Microsoft. One of the main uses in the modding community of this ability is to provide a non-Microsoft BIOS that does not contain any copyrighted code that will run the Linux Operating System from a DVD or the XBox hard drive.There are two possible techniques for

modding an XBox: A modchip installation requires opening of the XBox case and soldering certain points on the motherboard. This is surprisingly pokerpalace easy to accomplish on most XBox hardware versions , as the XBox motherboard includes a 16-pin Low Pin Count debugging port which the console can load an alternative BIOS from . A pin header can be easily soldered into this port and plugged into a modchip . A single solder point outside of the LPC header, known as D0, must also be attached to the modchip. When electrical ground is provided to the D0 port, the XBox hardware boots the BIOS attached to

the LPC port rather than the BIOS hard-wired on the motherboard.There are two types of alternative BIOS in wide use on XBox modchips. The first is the completely legal Cromwell BIOS, and its derivatives, which were developed by the XBox Linux Project and contain 100% "cleanroom" GPL-licensed code which can be used to boot Linux from the XBox hard drive or DVD drive. The second are possibly illegal hacked BIOSes, which contain the original Microsoft BIOS modified so that they will execute unsigned code. The latter type of BIOS can be used to boot back-up and homebrew games,

as well as additional homebrew software developed using Microsofts XBox Development Kit but not authorized for release by Microsoft . Users of the second type of BIOS will typically load their Hard Drive with an alternative to Microsofts original dashboard, such as Evolution-X or Avalaunch, which provides pokerpalace a menu interface to all of the software installed onto the hard drive, and even an integrated FTP server

for loading new software and media onto the console over a home network. Either type of BIOS will allow upgrading to a higher-capacity Hard Drive.Microsoft has been aggressive in attempts to foil XBox modders. The most recent hardware revision of the XBox has a non-functional LPC port and relocated D0 point. In order to use the LPC port on a 1.6 XBox, it is necessary to reconnect 4 points on the underside of the motherboard to the proper LPC pins manually. To simplify this process, some modchip manufacturers include a custom Printed circuit board which is precisely fitted for attaching these points.Additionally,

Microsofts XBox Live gaming service contains automated security checks which ban users suspected of modchip use. At logon time, XBox live conducts a check of the currently running BIOS. If it differs in any way from the original BIOS, that particular XBox is banned from the service. Some modchips include a manual switch which can be attached to the exterior

of the case and used to switch the modchip on and off. When switched off, the XBox will boot the original BIOS and dashboard, and allow the use of XBox live with an original game as if no modchip were present at all.Finally, XBox live also maintains a database of the Hard Drive serial numbers associated with each particular XBox. If the user has replaced the original XBox hard drive with a larger one, they

may become banned from the service even if their modchip is disabled. This pairing of serial numbers is created at the users first login, so if the new hard drive is locked with the original hard drives key using a specialized dashboard like Evolution-X, it IS possible to use a non-original hard drive on XBox live, as long as the XBox never logged pokerpalace on to Live with its original drive.GamecubeA GameCube modchip called Viper was released in December of 2004. Like most XBox modchips, it attempts to avoid legal complications by including no code which circumvents copy protection or is copyrighted by Nintendo.

It has some on-board flash memory which allows the user to write small programs to it . There is a hacked BIOS available for the Viper called Cobra. Cobra allows the user to directly boot a back-up or homebrew game on a 3-inch DVD-R inserted in the Gamecubes optical drive . Removing the Gamecubes external case or installing a custom replacement allows the user to boot standard 5-inch DVD-R discs as

well, but the positioning of the drives laser renders only the first 1.4GB of capacity useable. Previously the only common way to run user code on the GameCube was to use a BBA Adapter combined with a security hole in Phantasy Star Online. The Cobra software works, after an original disc is authenticated, by resetting the disc drive and unlocking a debug mode which allows code to be sent to the drive and executed. This code stops the disc drive for a few seconds, allowing the user to swap in a non-original disc. More recent versions of Cobra pokerpalace no longer require an original disc for authentication purposes.External links 360hacker - Xbox 360 Mod Community. PS2-Scene - PS2 Mod Community. Cubehacker - GameCube Mod Community.Computer and video game hardwarefr:Modchip