November 18th 2007 ********************************************************************************** * XBOX 360 enabled alternative firmware for the Samsung SH-D163B drive - V1.00 * ********************************************************************************** Hmm...so Samsung decided it was time to revise their DVD-ROM drives. The SH-D163A was replaced by SH-D163B and while the two drives have a lot of things in common, there was really no way to make the 163A firmware work on the 163B. I've had a lot of firmware requests for the new line of drives, and here it finally is....a shiny new firmware that should make your SH-D163B do all the tricks that only the SH-D162C and SH-D163A have been able to do so far. Changes/fixes in this release.. -------------------------------- - Nothing 8O) This is the first release for the SH-D163B based on the SH-D163A source. 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, even though this method is no longer recommended. - A 'lock' function that will cancel any enabled unlock state. This can be very useful for custom applications. - 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). Updating the firmware.. -------------------------------- - Place the firmware file (.bin) and SFNDWIN application in a temporary folder. - Run SFNDWIN and select the drive needing the update (TSSTcorpDVD-ROM SH-D163BSB00) from the pull down list. - Click the top left icon and select the firmware file (.bin) you want to upload to the drive. - Now click the top middle icon to upload the firmware file and update the drive. - When done SFNDWIN will prompt you to reboot your PC - press ok, and your drive is ready for use. Creating a backup.. --------------------------------- This release of the firmware has been optimized for use with applications like Xbox Backup Creator and Schtrom360Xtract in mind. Using one of these applications will turn the backup process into something as simple as click and burn, so the traditional isobuster ripping method is no longer recommended. For burning, ImgBurn is recommended, but other applications like CloneCD can be used as well. Additional information.. --------------------------------- If you're planning on using your SH-D163B in an external USB enclosure....well....think again. The SH-D163B doesn't work well with most (if not all) SATA to USB bridges, so if you're in the market for an external solution, please consider the SH-D162D as an alternative. 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 firmware.. ----------------------------------------------- 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 AD 00 FF 02 FD FF FE 00 08 00 xx C0 This is the well known SS extract commands from the xtreme firmware. 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 XBOX360 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 XBOX related features.. 0x0200 : The drive supports the unlock 1 state (xtreme) 0x0201 : The drive supports the unlock 2 state (wxripper) 0x0220 : The drive can read and decrypt the SS 0x0221 : 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 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. A big thanks must go to my small team of beta testers (you know who you are), Redline99 and Schtrom for their endless torture tests of the firmware 8O). Thanks must also be passed to all the other guys at xboxhacker.net that never fails to amaze me - keep up the good work! Party on! Kreon