October 17th 2006 ************************************************************************************ * XBOX 360 enabled alternative FW for the Samsung SH-D163A/TS-H353A drive - V0.80 * ************************************************************************************ Yes, you've seen it all before, but this time it's for the Samsung SH-D163A SATA DVD-ROM drive. This is a direct port of the code used in SH-D162C, so the features of the drive and how to use it in general should come as no surprise. While this drive can be rather difficult to pick up at the moment, it is expected to replace the SH-D162C. Hopefully the 163A will reach all markets (unlike the 162C), but it's still to early to say. Another drive from another manufacturer will be targeted next, which should once and for all make cheap drives available to everyone :) This is what you get.. -------------------------------- - Full challenge/response functionality. - Two types of unlock for XBOX 360 game discs. One for making xtreme style images and one for making wxripper style images. Both types of iso can be made using isobuster. Ripping using wxripper isn't supported for the time being - A 'lock' function that will cancel any enabled unlock state. This can be very useful for custom applications. - 'Error skipping' which basically speeds up the error handling of the drive. A complete wxripper style image (including video) can be obtained in 15-16 minutes, when error skipping is enabled. Getting through the critical area of LBA 19408-20479 will take you more than 20 minutes alone, if error skipping is disabled :( - A much more streamlined command interface which is good news if you intend to write an application that makes use of the drives extra features. - The drive will default to unlock state 2 and error skip enabled when a 360 media is inserted. You can in other words use isobuster to obtain a wxripper style image without issuing any commands to the drive :) - RPC1 support (RPC-2 actually but with automatic change of drive region and RCE support) This is what you'll have to wait for.. ----------------------------------------------- Hardware correct timing for response types 5 & 7. Creating a backup .. --------------------------------- This release of the firmware has been optimized for use with applications like Xbox Backup Creator and Schtrom 360 extract in mind. The latest fixes/additions are based on hours of testing using the latest beta builds of those applications, so the traditional isobuster ripping method is no longer recommended. Both applications reduces the backup process to something as simple as pressing a button and then burning the image that was created. CloneCD is no longer recommended for burning, as some issues have been reported, that can cause a game to fail from booting. As an alternative ImgBurn is a free and simple to use application that does the job every time. You will probably notice that the the drive reports as being RPC-2, if you use a program like DVDinfo - this is not a bug! The drive changes it's region setting according to the media inserted. The region code listed in DVDinfo (and other software like it) is the current region setting of the drive and it should match the region of the inserted media. If the media allows playback in more than one region, the drive region will be set to the region with the lowest number. An example could be a disc allowing playback in region 2 and 4 players, which would make the drive change it's region to region 2. Media with no region restrictions or with RCE protection will make the drive default to region 1. And now some technical stuff.... Command set additions found in this FW.. ----------------------------------------------- FF 08 01 01 , 'Enable Unlock 1 (xtreme) state' as we already know it from the 360 xtreme modded drives. This command is supported for legacy reasons only. Custom applications should use the new 'Set lock state' instead. FF 08 01 11 xx , 'Set Lock State' xx=00 - Drive locked (no unlock state) xx=01 - Unlock State 1 (xtreme) enabled xx=02 - Unlock state 2 (wxripper) enabled FF 08 01 15 xx , 'Set Error Skip State' xx=00 - Error skip is disabled xx=01 - Error skip is enabled AD 00 FF 02 FD FF FE 00 08 00 xx C0 , This is the well known SS extract commands from the xtreme FW. FF 08 01 10 , 'Get Feature List' This command will return a list of the additional features supported by the drive. All values returned are 16 bit values, and the list is terminated with null (0x0000) The two first words of the returned list always reads as 0xA55A 0X5AA5 in order to guarantee that a reply from a drive not supporting this command correctly isn't mistaken for a feature list. An example feature list could be: 0xA55A, 0x5AA5, 0x0100, 0xF000, 0xF001, 0x0000 This list would indicate that the drive supports Unlock 1, Lock and Error Skip, as it can be seen from the values defined below: XBOX 360 related features.. 0x0100 : The drive supports the unlock 1 state (xtreme) 0x0101 : The drive supports the unlock 2 state (wxripper) 0x0120 : The drive can read and decrypt the SS 0x0121 : The drive has full challenge response functionality General drive features.. 0xF000 : The drive supports the lock (cancel any unlock state) command 0xF001 : The drive supports error skipping 0xF010 : The drive supports the speed boost command FF 00 BB xx This is the complete list of defined features at the moment. If you're working on a custom application you might want to contact me in order to get the latest list. Thanks to all the people that has contributed to make this project a success - you know who you are :) Carry on.... Kreon