Microsoft has unleashed XGD3 on the pirates! It is a new form of copy protection and has yet to be cracked. Prior to XGD3 the main points of making back-ups of 360 games was to use good quality DVD+R DL disks – most preferring to use Verbatim disks – and the correct layerbreak of 1913760.. It used to also be necessary to booktype the disk to DVD-ROM but that is not needed any more.
Now the pirated scene is on hold as all new Xbox games will come on XGD3 disks. These new disks pose 3 major problems: Ripping the disk, burning the disk and running the disk on the 360.
Ripping the disk will need a new algorithm for reading the disk. XGD2 disks contain a partition roughly 1GB in size. This partition has the video that you see if you put the disk into a DVD player, a dashboard update and various anti-piracy measures. XGD3 disks have tweaked this partition to make it much smaller, or possibly removed it entirely, because Microsoft have told publishers that they will now be able to make use of an extra Gigabyte of space previously reserved for this partition. Another speculated issue is that the layerbreak might have been changed and that will need a little investigating to find out if that is true or not. Removing the 1GB partition would allow developers to use 1GB more space on the disk and does not mean that the disk will be 1GB bigger as a lot of people are thinking. The hardware in Xbox 360s is not capable of reading HD DVD or Blu-Ray or any other type of new disk so the gameas will still be on dual layer DVDs. This is 100% certain. The last part of this problem is that the files extracted from the disk will need converted into a conventional ISO file with the correct security sectors, DMI and PFI for it to work on your flashed console. There is currently no way of direct ISO of the disk but you can extract the files if you have a Kreon drive or an 0800 drive attached to your PC and the right software, since there are many software out there that do any sort of stuff, from give you information as weather, to even restaurant information systems that let you control everything you need in a restaurant There is now a way to rip the disk to an ISO file. The Lite-on 0800 firmware is in testing, the Ben-Q 0800 firmware is complete. These firmwares allow you to connect an Xbox 360 disk drive to your PC and rip the disk to your hard drive. We are still awaiting the supporting software for this firmware to be completed (ABGX and Xbox Backup Creator)
Burning the disk will be the next problem. On cheaper disks overburn often ruins the disk. That will be a problem for a lot of people, even higher quality disks have issues with overburn sometimes. All XGD3 games are overburned so people will need to find the correct disks to use with a decent success rate (over 50% sounds like a reasonable success rate). You will also need to know the correct layerbreak, but I believe that existing software is capable of finding the layerbreak easily.
Running the back-up is the last problem (other than playing it without getting a console ban for piracy but that isn’t really relevant until the disks can be created and played). This is possibly not the hardest part to complete although very few people know what is going on with the firmware on the DVD drive – a few people do know very well and are working on a way to get XGD back-ups to work with custom firmware. Original XGD3 disks already work with the latest CFW on consoles (added in LT+ v1.9). The man behind the 360’s CFW is C4Eva. It is his firmware that makes playing back-ups possible and he is already working on a way to play the back-ups.
C4Eva is the man who made it possible to connect a 360 disk drive to your PC and rip games to your PC’s hard drive in ISO format. This is possible with a special firmware know as 0800 ripping firmware. He has completed 1 version that is not released yet that can rip the AP2.5 anti-piracy measures from an AP2.5 game using a 360 drive. He is now working on a new 0800 with XGD3 support.
Currently there is no ETA for the 0800 firmware or the LT+ v2.0 firmware that can play XGD3 back-ups.
Here’s a run down of the current facts surrounding XGD3, all the information below was compiled and written by the user “hancock13” from xbox360iso:
**NEWS** 9/28/2011– BenQ VAD6038 LT+ 2.0 and Lite-On DG-16D2S in testing! 9/26/2011– Video proof of booting XGD3 games and installing them to HDD has been posted by C4EVA! 9/25/2011– XGD3 has been defeated. LT+ 2.0 with new LT-MAX feature for DVD DL. XGD3 .iso’s playing/installing fine from DVD DL disc! 9/21/2011– BenQ 0800 VAD6038 v3.0 and Lite-On 0800 DG-16D2S v3.0 are completed (testing in progress!) 9/16/2011– XGD3 games have been successfully ripped! Available to public! 9/07/2011– XGD3 games confirmed working on ODE! 8/31/2011– First XGD3 released-Driver SF
**FAQ**
What does XGD3 stands for?
Xbox Game Disc 3.
What is XGD3?
XGD3 is new disc format developed by Microsoft. Basically it adds more AP (Anti Piracy) and CVI (content integerity) checks. Microsoft’s current format structure creates a partition weighing in at around 1GB, filled with anti-piracy sectors. This update tweaks the approach to significantly save on space, or omits the partition altogether. The most notable perk is an extra 1 GB of storage space on the new format for developers to utilize.The XGD3 format will write to an extra “layer” on the disc. Not to be confused for a physical layer, the discs are still nothing more than Dual-Layer DVDs. However, the discs do read in at a larger capacity.
Will disc type change?
No! Even with XGD3 XBOX360 games will stay on DVD, dual-layer at 8.5GB! Physical space available on an XGD3 disc is just resized partitions. No need for overburning!
Will all consoles support XGD3?
According to Microsoft, XGD3 discs will work with all previously released (and future) models of the Xbox 360. If they don’t you can ask for replacement!
Is AP2.5 and XGD3 same thing?
No! This should not be confused with AP2.5 or wave…This is a completely new type/format of game disc and it actually needs new FW to read game discs, even legit XGD3 game won’t boot unless you don’t have latest STOCK or CUSTOM FIRMWARE!
What do I need to play legit XGD3 games?
You need to update console to latest dashboard. Dashboard 2.0.13146 and newer adds support for XGD3 format. You can play legit XGD3 games either on OFW (Official Firmware) or on CFW (Custom Firmware), since C4eva added XGD3 support to his CFW (LT+ v1.9 and newer!)
What do I need to play backup XGD3 games?
You either need JTAG or ODE…Those are only way ATM. But XGD3 games have been successfully ripped to standard .iso. We now only need new FW and burning method, which are almost completed.
How can I burn XGD3?
You can’t at the moment. But C4eva and his team managed to burn XGD3 game and play/install it normally, so it’s only matter of time.
When will LT+ X.XX be released that supports XGD3?
C4eva announced that LT+ 2.0 is planned for eventual XGD3 backup support. LT+ 2.0 is in testing and should be released soon (This can be a time period from few days to few months!)!
When will new FW be released?
Soon. This can be a time period from few days to few months!
When will XGD3 ripping FW be released?
BenQ 0800 (VAD6038) is completed but not yet released. Lite-On 0800 (DG-16D2S) is in testing. There is no ETA on release!
What’s the reason behind releasing XGD3?
Even tho Microsoft never confirmed it, it’s obvious that their goal is to prevent piracy! Microsoft and Xbox scene have been playing a cat-and-mouse game for a long time. MS introduced quicker dashboard updates, AP 2.5 check, AP 2.6 check…All of those have been “defeated”. XGD3 just continues the cat-and-mouse game…Hopefully it won’t end it.
Will all games be released on XGD3 now?
Not necessarily! Game publishers have control over this.
What is ODE?
ODE is Optical Drive Emulator. Xkey, x360key xk3y or what ever it’s called is ODE!
What is LT-MAX?
LT-MAX is a feature of the fw itself. It’s one of the reason why XGD3 games can be burned and played on LT2.0.
Who are guys mentioned in your thread?
Commodore4eva or shorter c4eva is probably the most famous guy on xbox scene. He’s famous for his firmware hacks (eg. LT+) which allows us to play backup games!
COMPLEX and XB3 are a group of people who rips and/or release-upload games on internet!
List of XGD3 games:
-Driver San Francisco -playable on JTAG & ODE-
-Dead Island -playable on any console-
-Warhammer 40000 Space Marine -playable on JTAG & ODE-
-Rise of Nightmares -playable on JTAG-
-Gears of War 3 -playable on JTAG & ODE-
-X-Men Destiny -playable on JTAG-
NOTES:
*For some odd reason it seems not all copies of Dead Island have XGD3 depending on where you buy it
*All games listed above have been confirmed having XGD3 by COMPLEX and XB3!
*Only games that are released to public and cofirmed having XGD3 by a reliable source (i.e. xbox scene) will be listed above. No speculations or rumors!
XGD3 process…
C4E LT 2.0 FW WITH LT-MAX
LT+ 2.0/v3.0 FIRMWARE DEVELOPMENT
LT+2.0
Hitachi 78/79 IN PROGRESS
Samsung TS-H943 IN PROGRESS
BenQ VAD6038 IN TESTING
Lite-On DG-16D2S IN TESTING
Lite-On 9504 DG-16D4S IN PROGRESS
Lite-On 0225 IN PROGRESS
Lite-On 0401 IN PROGRESS
Lite-On 1071 IN PROGRESS v3.0
BenQ 0800 VAD6038 v3.0 COMPLETED – NOT YET RELEASED
Lite-On 0800 DG-16D2S v3.0 IN TESTING
GAME BURNING
The team successfully burned XGD3 games on normal DVDR DL disc. Game partition was expanded on backup to use all available space, this way games load and install to hdd fine!
