Do not use the Birdy Flasher with Xtreme v1.3 / v2.0 and Geremia Patch on a non-v46 or else you will brick your Xbox 360 drive!

Gary at OPA (GaryOPA) found what was wrong with the script, explaining that "the problem is the flashing never gets to the (FL592) line, as the labels above are all pointing to the v46 code" as seen here:

:Flash59
// ---- Flash --

status(flashing firmware)
EnCrypt

:fl461

status(flash 9003e000 Master checksum)
Flash(9003e000,1000)

iftrue
goto(fl462)
endif

YNMessage(Error by flash 9003e000 Master checksum retry ?)

IfTrue
goto(fl461)
endif
exit

:fl592

Homebrew software made by people for free (and in their free time) is not going to be absolutely foolproof! If you're going to flash or try free software, you always do it at your own risk!

Luckily, help is on the way. Geremia has released a fix for the Birdy flasher although it hasn't been tested on non-v46 drives:
"I've corrected by hand the problems in original patch.scp and reverse.scp that caused bricked drives with birdyflasher, thanks GaryOPA for pointing, anyway i've not such drives to test myself, so use at your own risk or wait OPA latest fw to come."

  

Team Underdog has released the installation diagram for their NME-360 Ltd. Edition Modchip for Samsung drives. (Note: The black arrows indicate zoom. The red arrows arrows are alternative points. Only solder one wire to either a yellow point or a red point.)

Along with the diagram, Team Underdog developed the NME aSSociat0r - an easy-to-use tool for creating an NME 360 compatible ISO.

The NME-360 aSSociator prepares a clean ISO or converts an Xtreme ISO to make it bootable with your NME-360 modded Xbox360 by adding the security sector to the correct offset. Please read the directions in the readme file before you install this application. Once you have installed the NME aSSociat0r do the following steps:

• Select the ISO file
• Select the SS file
• Press "CREATE"

The NME-360 compatible ISO will be created in 2 seconds. The NME-360 aSSociat0r can also convert Xtreme Images to NME-360 compatible images with a single press of a button.

Download: [NME aSSociat0r]

The most anticipated DS flashcart of this fall was recently priced for European customers at Divineo's European website. This upcoming flashcart will retail for €99.95. We previously reported a price tag of 124.99$ for the North American market, and now we bring you this new price from Divineo! The DS-Xtreme flashcart will be released this fall and will revolutionize flashcart design. This summer we have beared witness to several DS-sized flashcarts such as the DS-Link (MicroSD adapter), Ultra Flash Pass, NinjaDS and many more DSL-specific flashcarts.

The DS-Xtreme will feature 4gbit of internal flash memory (512mb) with a built-in USB-B port to allow quick transfers directly to the cart. The best thing about this cart - no PC software required. It features a drag-and-drop system that will allow you to run un-patched files! If a file is found to be incompatible, the DS-X team may release a quick firmware update to the DS-X flashcart to fix the problem, a very simple procedure to do! Also, it acts as a no-passs device so you can play it on any NDS, whether it be an old one or a brand new one!

Pre-order: [Germany]
Pre-order: [Spain]

The Schtrom360Xtract version 2.0 which was released recently lets you backup your Xbox 360 and Xbox game discs all in one step. It needs the Toshiba-Samsung TS-H943A Xbox 360 drive for the PC flashed with Xtreme v2.0 or higher (or Xtreme 000/0900) firmware to work. It can also support the Samsung SH-D162C PC-drive flashed with Kreon's firmware, but this drive does not yet support full SS extraction.

Helpful reminders are in the readme.txt. Your Xbox 360 has to have the TS-H943A drive in Xtreme0800 mode. The SH-D162C drive must be flashed with Kreon's firmware, otherwise Windows XP can't see the drive. This program is for Windows XP SP2 only. Kai Schtrom thinks it might not work on other versions yet, but it should be easily ported thanks to the included source code.

Here's more information on it (from the readme.txt):

With the Samsung DVD-ROM SH-D162C, there's is no full security sector extraction possible. Maybe when Kreon makes some further developments with the firmware. As for the Xbox 1 games, we haven't tested it yet, and Schtrom didn't seem sure it would work.

Another good thing: you should be able to copy defective sectors. It should copy scratched discs, for example, and it's faster than version 1.0 (that was released July 31).

Download: [Schtrom360Xtract version 2.0]

Divineo recently announced their price for the DS-Xtreme 4gbit version. This version will hold 512mb of memory and will run you about 125$ (not including shipping) from your pocket. This is a very expensive NDS flashcart, but its high price is justified by its unique features. This flashcart features built-in no-pass support and a mini-USB (USB-B) connector so that you can connect directly to your PC. Once connected to your PC it is just a simple plug-in, drag and drop installation process. This will be one of the easiest flascarts to get up and running, but will also limit you to only .nds files (gba homebrew and ROMs are not playable).

All those who have a Hitachi/LG drive with their Xbox 360 and have been looking to modify their MS console will be happy to know that garyOPA has just released v2.1 of the Xtreme Firmware. This one, again a 7-in-1, will also allow you to rip the Security Sectors; a feature which has mostly been available to only the Samsung drives.

He did release a v2.0 of the firmware, but it contained a few bugs, which resulted in a quick re-release. Here's the info from the release:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
OPA - Xtreme v2.1 firmware - Hitachi 7in1 - v32/v36/v40/v46/v47/v58/v59
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NEW PACKAGE: "OPA-XTREME-HITACHI-7IN1-V2_1.RAR" 08/08 - 991,956 bytes

 * ALL NEW XTREME V2.1 FIRMWARE FOR ALL BUILDS OF THE HITACHI DRIVES!

   - Now includes "Security Sector Extraction" for all Hitachi Drives

   - No other improvements, same as our earlier "Xtreme v1.3", this
     release just supports SS Extraction within Windows without the
     need to re-flash your drive back and forth between PLAY & RIP!

 * SMALL BUG fixes from last night release of our Xtreme v2.0 - 7IN1

   - #1: The new delay command frozed on some user's computer setups.

   - #2: Users with v46 drives had no TRAY FUNCTION after flashing...
    
         * To fix your BRICK (We are very sorry!, But it is fixable!)
         
           - manually open the dvd tray!
           - now power up your PC system
           - power up your bricked drive
           - re-flash the drive with 2.1

   - #3: Users with v47 drives had random "64" errors when playing...

         * To fix this problem, just re-flash your drive with v2.1

He also said that he will be working hard for a new version that would offer the same "Stealth" functionality, which has been offered for Samsung drives with the new Commodore4Eva firmware.

If you're an Xbox 360 Fan Boy (or just plain Xbox 360 owner) dying to get your hands on the Fantasy360 Controller Shells, here's the good news. Fantasy360 announced it will start shipping the controller shells starting August 15. The controller case mods were expected to go on sale last month but that didn't happen. Says Xtreme Enterprise:

"After much anticipation for this product's full release to the Xbox360 world, we are happy to announce that a large shipment of products will be coming into our warehouse on 14 August 2006 and shipping of orders will be out the next day. For all our loyal fans who have made an order of this wonderful, high quality product, you will be pleased to know that your patience will be rewarded with a free Jewel360 guide button."

A free Jewel360 guide button! See, good things do happen to those who wait. And there's more news from the company. Fantasy360 says it will unveil their Fantasy360-Console prototype before September ends.

Since this latest issue took a while before following the release of Issue #13, I bet many of you are now raving mad for some updates. Issue #14 is overflowing with the latest news, previews and reviews, just as all of Xtreme's previous offerings.

Previewed games in this issue include GTA Vice City, Pirates of the Caribbean, and NCAA Football 2007. Plus reviews of Loco Roco, Tomb Raider, and Race Driver 2006 to help you put an end on your indecision on which game to get. You can either view the magazine online or download it via the link below.

Thanks a bunch to DK Jr., for the tip.

Download: [Xtreme PSP Magazine Issue #14]

Indeed, variety is the spice of life - and if you think that Commodore4eva's Xtreme firmware can do with a little competition, then kreon has got something for you. As he said some weeks back, he'll be coming up with an alternative firmware for Samsung SH-D162C - and he stays true to his word with Alternative FW for Samsung SH-D162C V0.60.

This release may not be the biggie Xbox 360 users with the SH-D162C drive are waiting for as there is still no SS extraction feature, yet kreon decided to release it anyway. As he explained, "why wait releasing something good just because something else hasn't been completed." If that's okay with you, go ahead and try kreon's creation and get the following features:

- 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. As of the moment, there is no support for ripping using wxripper.
- 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.
- Read and decrypt of SS. The SS returned from the drive is complete except for the missing C/R data at offset 0x200. This is very handy since you can compare the SS from the game in the drive to a SS found on the internet. No more coasters due to an incorrect SS.
- 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).

A few reminders from kreon: when using a program like DVDinfo, you might see the drive reportsas RPC-2...don't fret, it's not a bug. As the developer explains, "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."

Another thing, don't bug him about when he'll be releasing the C/R part, "it doesn't help the process in any way," he says. But you can be assured that C/R is "progressing quite well", kreon is just not sure when it will be completed. If you do have any other queries or suggestions though, feel free to speak up via the comments.

kreon says that full challenge/response functionality can be expected in next releases. He also noted that credits go to FlexyZ for helping him test the firmware.

The Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu has again provided us with some great scans, this time featuring footage from the slightly erotic Dead or Alive: Xtreme 2. Currently on schedule to be released later this year in Japan, DOAX 2 sees the return of the DOA babes taking out their aggression on volleyballs instead of on other people. Developed by Tecmo, these scans should be enough for you to realize why some gamers have already made their mind about purchasing this title (and no, it's not because of the Jet Skis).