More on LIVE Bans, HDD Crippling, Possible Ban Causes


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I havent hooked my xbox to xbox live in a couple of weeks, I'm never going to again :p My two mates both got banned (one didnt even play any games from july until now), so I know I'm banned, but I can still install games to hard drive this way, boo yah!

Im in the same boat..

Will they send me an e-mail when they ban me? Im not gunna connect to live until a better FW comes out.

Im just gunna keep checking my inbox in the meantime :p

Im in the same boat..

Will they send me an e-mail when they ban me? Im not gunna connect to live until a better FW comes out.

Im just gunna keep checking my inbox in the meantime :p

Nahhh they only send an e-mail when they ban your gamertag. So yes, this time we're self-banned :p !! loosing game installs is something I can't afford right now with my defective (yeah MS, DEFECTIVE) disc drive.

Nahhh they only send an e-mail when they ban your gamertag. So yes, this time we're self-banned :p !! loosing game installs is something I can't afford right now with my defective (yeah MS, DEFECTIVE) disc drive.

Modified defective ;)

Even if the numbers are overinflated a little bit, that is still a TON of consoles. You know even with the load of consoles banned, there are probably still 2-3x as many out there that aren't showing just how big of an issue this really is for MS.

Well MS were able to tag something for Forza 3, so unless conspiracy theories want to rise about them being able to detect the firmware or the ABGX (?) verifying database is crap, the rip must be the issue.

As MS were the publisher in the US, they knew where the game had actually shipped and been leaked, so when people started popping up with the game in places that shouldn't have had it, they were banning them. Or so they say, it could have simply been a test run for their new detection scheme.

Its just too much of a coincidence that MS releases a small update (the one to prepare for Facebook, LastFM, etc - yea ok!!) and within two weeks thousands of people get banned.

Actually that IS a coincidence, for the most part. People have been banned before even recieving that update (been offline for a month or two). What that small update brought to the table was the disabling of HDD installs - if you get banned before the "WPA" update, then you can still install games.

When their sales go into the toilet because of this then I imagine they will re-think the whole thing and decide they have been wrong.

And why would that happen. People don't like the Xbox because they can pirate games on it. They like it because it has great games, among other features. Why do you think it thrived so well despite the whole RROD issue?

-Spenser

Can people who get banned just go out and buy new hardware? Just take their hdd and stick it in a new 360?

Did these people get banned because they weren't playing "stealth" games? Because I heard that people flash their drives and MS can't detect THIS mod?

Obviously some people do like the xbox because it can be modded, and also the great games + price.

Those banned are the pirates who actually want to go on live, and are likely to buy a new xbox + live subscription so they can continue.

When their sales go into the toilet because of this then I imagine they will re-think the whole thing and decide they have been wrong.

Most people have probably dabbled in a bit of yar yar here and there, but when forced to buy games, well, you look for good deals and buy them. Or at the very least you rent.

People who buy PS3s have no choice and well, you'd be surprised how people get their morals back on track when their friends are enjoying good games but they're sitting sulking cause Mr L337H4x0r hasn't bypassed PS3 security yet.

If MS locked the 360 down completely it would actually be amazing, there would be so many tears cried but pirates would have nowhere to go except the Wii :p

For the sake of being the devils advocate, I'd really much like to see how the entitlement generation dealt with the console scene if none of their 360/PS3 games could be pirated. It would be an interesting psychological experiment at the very least :p

Edited by Audioboxer

It seems to me that MS bans just enough to show that they can and that 3rd party devs can be happy. You think it's a coincidence that the PC is getting more and more console ports now? Devs are tired of piracy in gaming so the more closed the system plus the easier it is to code for, the more support that will get.

I hate to break it down to all the PC fans, but I think sales numbers speak for themselves in this regard.

Modified defective ;)

nope, nothing to do with that, for example Munky's one failed and it wasn't modded, and many many more.

If anyone wants to know if your box is banned without risking you HD log into xbox.com, register your xbox (if you didn't do it before) and request a repair service, if it's banned there will be a "service unavailable" error, if not the form will be displayed ;)

nope, nothing to do with that, for example Munky's one failed and it wasn't modded, and many many more.

If anyone wants to know if your box is banned without risking you HD log into xbox.com, register your xbox (if you didn't do it before) and request a repair service, if it's banned there will be a "service unavailable" error, if not the form will be displayed ;)

Keep in mind that this technique isn't perfect. For some people, it reports their console as being banned even though they're not and for others, it lets them get past that page right up to the submission stage before rejecting it.

nope, nothing to do with that, for example Munky's one failed and it wasn't modded, and many many more.

If anyone wants to know if your box is banned without risking you HD log into xbox.com, register your xbox (if you didn't do it before) and request a repair service, if it's banned there will be a "service unavailable" error, if not the form will be displayed ;)

Umm what would you know about my consoles :laugh:

I can't help thinking that the Xbox 360 second hand market is gonna get flooded with half-useless consoles now - and who's going to buy one without testing it first?

You would be amazed how many dont care

Some people just dont care for the online world :p

Umm what would you know about my consoles :laugh:

yeah :( I'm so naive!!!! :rofl:

I can't help thinking that the Xbox 360 second hand market is gonna get flooded with half-useless consoles now - and who's going to buy one without testing it first?

here in Argentina is already flooded with crippled boxes :rolleyes: oh well the 3rd world anyway

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    • Nope. That lack of surround sound capability (analog) won't fly with me. Sure, I use headphones most of the time, but still.
    • Creative Sound Blaster AE-X PCIe review: your headphones will love it by Steven Parker If you have been reading Neowin for any length of time, you may remember that I reviewed the Sound Blaster Audigy FX Pro back in April. I found it to be an excellent budget sound card, even though it lacked support for formats such as DTS over the included SPDIF port. Anyway, Creative reached out to me again asking if I was interested in reviewing the Sound Blaster AE-X. It is a card mainly targeted at headphone wearers, which I'll get into a bit later. Before we get underway, here is a disclaimer: Creative Labs provided a free sample without any review pre-approval. Here are the full specs of it: Creative Sound Blaster AE-X Dimensions: 179 x 126 x 18 mm Weight: 263g / 9.28 oz Platform: PCI-e DAC: ESS ES9039Q2M Connectivity Options Side: Rear: 1 x HD Audio Front Panel Connector, 1 x ⅛“ Headphone port, 1 x RCA Line-out (Left) port, 1 x RCA Line-out (Right) port, 1 x Coaxial SPDIF-out port, 1 x ⅛“ Mic in/Line-in port, 1 x TOSLINK SPDIF-in port Surround: No DNR / SNR: THD+N: 0.0001% Dynamic Range 130 dB Recording Resolution: PCM up to 32-bit / 192kHz (Stereo) Direct Mode: Line Out (Stereo): PCM up to 32-bit  384 kHz Coaxial SPDIF Out: PCM up to 24-bit 192.0 kHz Headphone Amp: PCM up to 32-bit / 384kHz (Stereo) Native DSD: DSD64, DSD128, DSD256 Output Impedance: 1Ω, Supported Headphone Impedance: 8–600Ω, IEM: 0.5Vrms, Low: 1.5Vrms, Mid: 3Vrms, High: 6Vrms, Maximum output power: 350mW @ 32Ω (High), Maximum output voltage: 6Vrms (High) Front Panel Headphone Amp: PCM up to 32-bit / 192kHz (Stereo) Native DSD: DSD64, DSD128 Output Impedance: 10Ω, Supported Headphone Impedance: 32–300Ω, Maximum output power: 40mW @ 32Ω, Maximum output voltage: 1.9Vrms ASIO: ASIO 2.3 Total Harmonic Distortion: THD+N: 0.0006% Dynamic Range: 114 dB Scout Mode: Yes EMI shielding: No (but it passed all the FCC emission tests) Operating temperature: 0–45°C Input Power: 12V⎓0.5A Warranty: 1 Year (MSRP) Price: $179.99 / £169.99 The Sound Blaster AE-X was announced at the end of May, and it becomes clear that it is mainly for headphone wearers. I should also note that the card does not support DDL/DTS encoding technology, but it is said to support decoding through the coaxial SPDIF port. I was able to test this working with the classic Windows Sound properties, but I could not get a DTS (decode) signal through my Logitech Z906, it defaulted to 3D sound whenever I played DTS content through Plex or Emby. In addition, this card only supports two channels (stereo) over the speakers. The surround support is limited to the Headphone Amp, so before I get underway, what we have here is a card mostly intended for headphone use, especially with its SPDIF In (Toslink) port where you could connect another device like a console. So what about the highlights of this card? The AE-X is powered by the ESS SABRE DAC (ES9039Q2M), which is capable of a 130 dB dynamic range. In addition, it supports 32-bit/384 kHz playback for deeper detail and clarity. The headphone amplifier delivers up to 350 mW @ 32Ω, which admittedly far surpasses standard onboard audio, offering support for studio-grade headphones. DSD256 and ASIO 2.3 are also supported. What doesn't it have? No support for What-U-Hear, Super X-Fi, or the SmartComms Kit No EMI shielding, but it passed all the FCC emission tests (from the FAQ) I also want to make it clear that I am no audiophile. For me, it's purely subjective and it should just "work" out of the box. First impressions As I said in the introduction, I was a bit sad to see that the AE-X only supports stereo output, meaning it would not be on par with my ALC1220 over my speakers, as I mentioned it seems like this card is marketed toward headphone users. Since I am not an avid gamer that would rule me out as a potential customer, but I can still test its capabilities! The card arrived in a nice-looking box, as shown above. It's quite a bit larger than the Audify FX Pro that I reviewed back in April, and at first I thought the covering meant that it was EMI shielded, but it isn't as mentioned above in the highlights section. What's in the box: 1 x Sound Blaster AE-X PCIe card 1 x 3.5 mm CTIA TRRS to Dual TRS Headset Splitter Cable 1 x Quick Start Guide Aside from the Quick Start Guide, which someone at my age (I guess) needs a magnifying glass to read thanks to the tiny fonts, Creative Labs also has the manual online, which first requires you to prove that you're human in order to access it (so I can't direct link it). Anyway, the box is mostly made up of cardboard, and the only plastic in it is the anti-static bag for the card itself. Design Top Bottom The card itself looks pretty cool and actually wouldn't look out of place in an all-white build. There's only one connector, and for some reason it is awkwardly placed on the side (front-facing) that is for the front panel audio connector, which will let you use the headphones through the front PC audio jack. Since the front panel Headphone Amp has fewer capabilities than the rear headphone port, I decided not to use it. Rear of card PCI-e interface The rear of the card is completely open and is normally where you would find the front panel connector. The PCIe interface side is completely covered, which initially made me think it was EMI shielded. I/O panel Side (front-facing) with Front panel connector On the outer rear bracket side we have the TOSLINK SPDIF in, Coaxial SPDIF out, RCA line out (Right), RCA line out (Left), Headphone out, and Mic/Line in ports. On the front facing portion of the card itself is the F-panel connector. Usage Test System Our test system consists of the following: AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D Gigabyte X870E AORUS MASTER (BIOS F12) Corsair RM1000x (2024) Thermal Grizzly Kyronaut (33x33x0,2mm) 2x 32GB Kingston Fury Beast RGB DDR5 6000MT/s CL36-38-38-80 T-Force Z540 2TB (PCIe Gen5) NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition (NVIDIA) Creative Sound Blaster AE-X Windows 11 25H2 Pro I installed the card into the Gigabyte X870E AORUS MASTER which includes the RealTek ALC1220 onboard audio. For our subjective listening tests, I used the Coaxial SPDIF port to my Logitech Z906 speakers. For headphone tests I used the OneOdio Studio Max 2 Wireless DJ Headphones that I reviewed last month. After installing the audio driver, I installed Creative Nexus, which is a relatively new app designed for the latest Sound Blaster cards. Then I discovered the AE-X needed both a driver update from 1.00.15.0001 to 1.01.09.000 and a firmware update from 1.00.06.0000 to 1.00.06.0002, then I was set to go. It should be noted that the card did not work without the driver (not Plug and Play). As you can see above, you can manage the firmware, driver, and inputs via Advanced Settings on the Device tab. By default Nexus enabled "Direct Mode". Upon clicking on Acoustic Engine, the Equalizer can be enabled and set to four different presets, which are: Gaming Music Movies Footsteps Enhancer There's also a dedicated Scout Mode for gamers. I mainly used Tidal and Spotify in the past week to listen to some of my Liked Songs (which now total over 700) in Shuffle mode; there were no pops or interference that I could hear. I also found a 5.1 Surround Music playlist on Tidal that sounded really great over Studio Max 2 headphones. When I reviewed the Audigy FX Pro, I went out and purchased a Logitech Z906 set second-hand for €100 specifically to use with the card, but in this instance all I could get on the AE-X was the 3D output of surround sound through Coaxial SPDIF and although it still sounded great, it isn't quite as good as DTS Interactive via my onboard Realtek ALC1220. Conclusion So what have I learned? The AE-X lacks multi-channel support for 5.1/7.1 setups and drops support for modern surround technologies like Dolby or DTS, functioning strictly as a stereo output device. So to really benefit, you will need Studio-grade headphones to "hear" the benefits of this card. With that being said, I can imagine it will appeal to gamers who are switching between console and PC. By utilizing the SPDIF in port, you could just plug your headphones into the AE-X (front or rear port) and then switch between PC and Console without having to move the headphones to a different port. As I said in the Sound Blaster Audigy review, the EQ in the Creative Nexus app offers safe presets, which allows a user to further tweak the lows, mids, and highs for a personal listening experience. Of course it all depends on the headphones you hook up to it. Speaking of headphones, I kind of wish I had higher-quality Studio-grade headphones to really test this card with; I'm not usually wearing headphones in my day to day duties. The only time I will wear them is if I want to listen to music very late at night and I don't want to disturb my neighbors, so my rating (verdict) is based on this fact. Someone with a PC/Console setup and wears headphone religiously to game, and consume media will benefit much more than I from the high-quality Headphone Amps that are included in the AE-X. Once again, I do feel like Creative could have gone the extra mile to support the S/PDIF port a bit more. Why include it if you're not supporting the main popular digital formats? It seems like the decision was more of a legacy-based one, offering uncompressed 2-channel PCM audio, for users with high-fidelity audio systems and external DACs. Maybe I will be lucky enough to review a card that truly includes all these features in the future. I am sure readers with far more knowledge on audio systems than me will correct me in the comments below. I'll just say I am happy to learn what I don't know! Where to buy The Sound Blaster AE-X is available to purchase now in preorder for $179.99 on the U.S. Creative website, or for £169.99 on the Creative UK website and will start shipping to customers from June 25.
    • $80 or 90%, anything else would be financial suicide one way or another.
    • Or... just use Bitwarden. Free, and has on-prem option as well. Works both on desktop and mobile, wherever you are. The age of local password files is over.
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