Using an Xbox Live profile on a Jtagged / RGH hacked Xbox 360 and staying safe

When looking in to the whole Xbox 360 Jtagging business I soon realised people could not agree if it was safe or not to use a profile that would sign in to Xbox Live on another console on a 360 that had been Jtag hacked. Some people would simply say to be safe just keep it in your live console, others said it was fine and any entries from homebrew would be removed when you signed in to live, then just for more confusion other people would say they got profile banned for having entries for emulators on their profile… which to be honest I would expect nothing less.

I think its common sense, if you sign on to live with achievements such as “Welcome to the world of homebrew” from a Snes emulator on your profile Microsoft are going to know something is up…

However what if you just want to play region locked games that will never be released where your region? and have the achievements you earn on your profile to compare to your buddy’s when you are next on Xbox Live?

As they are many different ways to boot games on a Jtagged Xbox 360 I did some testing.

Additional information:

The Jtagged system used in the tests is a Jasper 512 running the 12611 dashboard (Built with FbBuild 0.11)

Ensuring the tests are fair:

To start off I created a new profile and played a game off the original DVD to get the entry on the profile. I then took a copy of this profile so I could compare it with the profile still on the memory card after loading the game in a different way, for example using xex loader.

The game I did the testing with was Full Auto, for each of the test I loaded the game to the main menu then quit to the dashboard and signed the profile out. After that I dumped the profile to the PC so it could be compared in a hex editor to the profile that has only been used on the original MS dashboard with the original DVD in the Xbox 360.

Test 1 - Installing the game:

For this test I simply installed the game using the option in the MS dashboard, the installed game was not modified in any way after that.

Results: The profile was not modified in any way when compared to the copy of the profile that has just loaded the game from a DVD.



Test 2 – Quickboot Shortcut:

For this test the files were extracted from the game disc and loaded from the hard drive with a shortcut created by Quickboot 2.1.

Results: The profile was not modified in any way when compared to the copy of the profile that has just loaded the game from a DVD.



Test 3 – User created games on demand container:

For this test the files were extracted from the game disc, from these files an ISO was created, this ISO was used with ISO2GOD 1.3.0 to create a games on demand container to load the game from.

Results: The profile was not modified in any way when compared to the copy of the profile that has just loaded the game from a DVD. You can also modify the title of the game in the container and it will not change the profile in any way.



Test 4 – Games loaded with XEX Loader:

For this test the files were extracted from the game disc, the game was then loaded from the homebrew application XEX loader

Results: The profile was modified, although XEX loader doesn’t change you profile in any visible way it will still add data to your profile which can likely be detected by Microsoft.



Test 5 – Games loaded with FreeStyle Dash 2.0a rev 1044:

For this test the files were extracted from the game disc, the game was then loaded from FreeStyle Dash.

Results: The profile was modified, although Freestyle Dash doesn’t change you profile in any visible way it will still add data to your profile which can likely be detected by Microsoft.



Test 6 – Profile with XEXMenu 1.1 loaded:

For this test i simply had a profile signed in, I then loaded XEXMenu 1.1 and signed the profile out.

Results: When compared to a copy of the profile taken before loading XEXMenu 1.1 it can be seen the profile was modified, although XEXMenu 1.1 doesn’t change you profile in any visible way it will still add data to your profile which can likely be detected by Microsoft.



Test 7 – Load a game with XEXMenu 1.1 then sign the profile in:

For this test XEXMenu 1.1 was loaded up with no profile signed in, the game was then loaded and the profile was signed in as the games intro movie was playing.

Results: The profile was not modified in any way, when compared to a copy of the profile taken that had just loaded the game from the DVD the profile was identical.



Test 8 – Load a game from the original DVD on a Jtag and a non modded console:

For this test the profile was signed in on the MS dashboard on the Jtag and the game was allowed to load to the main menu before the profile was signed out, the profile was then transfered over to a legit 360 that is not Jtag hacked or flashed. The profile was signed in on the MS dashboard and the game was allowed to load to the main menu.

Results: The profile was not modified in any way



Test 9 – Load an arcade game on a legit console then on a Jtag:

For this test a new profile was created on a legit console running the 12611 dashboard, the arcade game Geometry Wars was loaded to the main menu, the profile was then signed out. This console has a licence for Geometry Wars as the game was purchased with a different profile.

A copy of this profile was taken, the profile was then signed in on the Jtag running the 12611 dashboard. A version of Geometry Wars which has been modified to run as the full version was loaded to the main menu, the profile was then signed out.

Results: The profile was not modified in any way



Conclusion:

I have completed the above tests with a few different games, and found the same results with each test.
Games played off the DVD, installed to the hard drive or loaded from a container / Freeboot shortcut will not add any additional information to the profile that is signed in. However if a homebrew application is used to load the game such as XEX Loader, XEXMenu or Freestyle Dash modifications will be made to the profile even if they are not visible.

You can however sign the profile out and load the game using a homebrew application such as XEX Menu, then sign the profile in when the game has loaded up and no additional data will be added to the profile.

It would appear any application loading on the Xbox 360 will add data to the profile that is signed in, even if this application does not have achievements.

Applications such as Freestyle dash do not appear to modify profiles that are not signed in, only the profiles that are signed in will be modified and have data added to them.

Modified arcade games that have been unlocked to work as the full version will not add any additional data to the profile signed in.

Finally installing additional patches to the nand, such as any included with Dashlaunch will not add any data to your profile.



Hopefully this testing might be useful to people who want to use a Jtagged Xbox 360 to play imports from other regions and keep the profile safe for Xbox Live use.

If you have any questions or comments feel free to reply

 

Yes it was all researched by me, I had a look around on the usual Xbox hacking websites but no one really had any idea what would add data to your profile and what wouldn't so i decided I would do some testing myself.

You should be able to repeat what I have done with any game that doesn't save to the profile as soon as it is loaded.

 

Yes, would appear any application loading on the Xbox 360 will add data to the profile that is signed in, even if this application does not have achievements.
If you look at the original post again I have added a test with XEXmenu 1.1 for you, it modifies the profile just like XEX Loader.

To safely load your games from a USB drive you could create shortcuts with Quickboot, this would allow you to launch the game from the USB drive using the official MS dashboard.

If you keep using that profile I would be interested to know if it gets banned or not.

Thanks, I hope so anyway. I read a lot of great tutorials on jtagging an Xbox 360 so if I can help a few people out in return that's great.

 

The safest thing to do would be to just delete your profile and recover it from Xbox Live, thats presuming you have not signed in since using Freestyle Dash with your profile signed in.

I'm not really sure how to remove this data.

 

Basically all homebrew applications do, the FSD team have even said all versions add data to your profile when people started moaning about the icon in 2.0.

Even if no achievements appear on the profile data is still added no matter what, as you can see from the test results in the first post. To be as safe as possible don't use any homebrew at all with your profile signed in and you should be fine if you are playing retail games loaded from the MS dash.

 

1. I have just tested out what you suggest, have a look at "Test 7 – Load a game with XEXMenu 1.1 then sign the profile in" you should be fine doing that, just be careful you dont leave the profile signed in and load XEX Menu up again.

2. No the test was done on the Jtagged system, I have done another test, "Test 8 - Load a game from the original DVD on a Jtag and a non modded console" that shows loading games from the MS dash on a Jtag is the same as loading from the MS dash on a legit console.

If you are 100% sure you profile has never been signed in when Freestyle dash has been loaded up you should be fine, have a look at the newly added Test 7, "Load a game with XEXMenu 1.1 then sign the profile in".

 

This is about keeping your profile clean so it doesn't get banned, your thinking of console bans.

Console ban = console banned from live, the profile can still connect to live on another console

Profile ban = profile is banned from live, the console can still go on Xbox Live with a different profile

 

If you linked to the tutorial and didn't copy + paste it I have no problems at all with that what so ever, thats how the internet works, people linking to content that they found useful.

You might have seen me moaning at people on Se7ensins, thats only because several members had copy + pasted tutorials I had created and either claimed at as there own or just ripped the entire thing giving me credit at the very bottom.

The reason I don't like people copy + pasting the entire thing is because I usually update my tutorials over time so people viewing the copy + pasted version will likely never see any updates I make. Also any guests that view the content here help us generate ad revenue so we can pay the Digiex server bills each month and keep Digiex online.

I have no problem with people linking to any content on Digiex, its great people think some of the stuff we have on here is worth linking to. The more people who link to our stuff the better as far as i'm concerned, so by all means feel free to.