Regarding new Dashboard and XBL Bans (AP2.5 Explanation)
Taken from djinnnjoose.
Explanation of ap2.5 - what it is and what it isn't
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Q: What IS ap2.5?
A: Ap2.5 (antipiracy 2.5), essentially, is a bunch of checks the 360 performs on the disk to ensure that it's legitimate. The current/old system was ap2.0.
Essentially, these are a bunch of challenges the 360 performs and the responses from the drive will indicate if the disk is legitimate or not. With ap2.0, iXtreme LT made use of the ss.bin file to fake the correct responses. This ss.bin was known as either SSv1 or SSv2, with SSv2 being a more secure version.
In order to combat ap2.5, additional challenge responses will be required, this will come in the form of SSv3.
So far, only certain newer games have been ap2.5, with no indication that older games will ever be affected by this (and if this is true, updating to the new dash and running older games that are properly stealthed should be fine), HOWEVER this could also change at any point. Ap2.5 is not something "on the disk", but rather something in the dashboard and drive firmware. Currently, all this is being tested and researched so the above information is not to be taken as gospel and may change at any time.
Q: What drives are affected by this?
A: Samsung drives do not have ap2.5, nor do some "old" hitachis. So the affected drives are mainly Liteons, BenQs and some Hitachi drives.
Q: So what does that mean for us Samsung users?
A: Essentially, nothing. The drive itself is incapable of utilising ap2.5, so future ap2.5 titles should boot just fine on the current iXtreme LT.
Q: I don't have a Samsung drive, can I spoof one?
A: Of course you can, but this will be detected and you will be banned.
Q: Wasn't Fifa 09 an ap2.5 game?
A: No, this is a misunderstanding that is still spreading to this day.
There is a flag inside the XEX (Executable) of every Xbox360 game that indicates if it is ap2.5. This flag is exactly this - a flag (a yes/no or true/false), it has nothing to do with the actual ap2.5 operation. There was a bug in a program called XeXTool which made it look as though Fifa 09's XEX had been updated to set this ap2.5 flag as "true", however this was not actually the case. Fifa 09 falls under the category of "old/non-ap2.5" title. The first known game to have ap2.5 was Fable III and it's ap2.5 flag was NOT set, so it would appear as though this flag is not actually being used anyway.
Q: c4eva says the update is safe, can I update my 360 and play backup games?
A: What c4eva said is that the actual update process is safe (no special checks are done to detect if your drive has been modified while the update is being applied), however this does not necessarily mean that the additioanl ap2.5 checks wont flag you for a ban. Assuming that only newer games are ap2.5, then theoretically, you should be able to update and still play those games, but attempting to play an ap2.5 game will almost certainly get you flagged for a ban. Currently, there's no way to tell if a game is ap2.5 or not before booting it.
Q: I heard that Wave 7 games are ap2.5, is this true?
A: The "Wave" has absolutely nothing to do with ap2.5. All the wave patching in the world will not change this as they are two mutually exclusive things. If you're one of those people that needs to "patch" a games wave in order to play it, it's time to update your firmware (in fact, it was time to update your firmware over a year ago) as you wont be able to play ap2.5 games on the new dashboard at all.
Q: Is Game X ap2.5 or not?
A: Good question! Sadly, there appears to be no way of testing for this other than just attempting to boot the game on the new dash, the catch is that this will almost certainly flag you for a ban.
It would appear that all future titles will be ap2.5, however for the moment, there will be a mixture of ap2.5 and non-ap2.5 games. For example, Fable III is definitely ap2.5, but it appears as though COD: Black Ops is not, despite COD releasing and being mastered long after Fable III. As with anything, you run a risk going on live at all and you run a bigger risk while all this is still being researched - if you want to protect yourself from being banned, stay offline and don't update until the new LT+ firmware comes out.
Q: When will iXtreme LT+ be released?
A: There is no ETA and asking for an ETA ANYWHERE (IRC, forums, etc.) will just get you flamed and banned. Do not ask, it will come when it comes.
Originally Posted by tuve2
for me