free60 project came up with the original SMC hack.
it took them 4-5 years to present, what we now know as SMC hack.

the xbox360 was launched early 2006. free60 project was able to present the original exploit on 23c3 in dec.2006
free60's goal was to run linux, not to sport piracy.
therefore (iirc) they got in touch with microsoft in order to convice them to hand out some sort of linux boot dvd.
if MS would accept, free60 would not release the hack (to prevent piracy).
MS refused and fixed the exploit (which by that time was known as KK-exploit (King Kong)).
around that time, Microsoft made first use of the EFuses (which they kept as an option countermeasuere hacks) to prevent downgrading to a vulnerable system dash (kk-exploit).

it took the free60 project ~3 (summer 2009) more years to find another security hole.
this new vulnerability is based on the original KK-Exploit.
they announced the new hack, yet they were lacking a practical use.
~oct/nov 2009 xell was released. (purpose = linux)

about that time the first rebooter showed up (xbr).
the intention was to use the benefits of both worlds. boot into linux and still be able to play games.
in the end it iss mainly used for piracy.

free60 project was disappointed with the rebooter release (goal = linux)
and some more famous members left.
i dont know details about the whole free60 project team,
they had some more/less popular members which showed up on
conventions and hold presentations. again their goal was to enable
linux on the xbox360 WITHOUT enabling piracy.
most popular members of free60 are
Felix Domke(tmbinc) and Michael Steil.

A jtag is an xbox 360 that runs unsigned codes. It allows you to access everything the xbox 360 has to offer , unlike a normal xbox which only gives you part.

If you run Xex menu . You can play xbox 360 games and emulators from it. You must have the games saved to your Hard drive device , which can be done by copying the dvd to your HDD or by extracting the .iso of a game and putting that on your HDD.

This also allows you to modify games that you have by changing the default.xex or default.mp.xex . For example , 10th lobbies for MW2 were made by modifying the game and loading them on a jtag via the default(.mp).xex.

You can also run custom made dashboards . Freestyle dash is one of them .These are a new dashboard layout for jtags . On a version of Freestyle dash I have you have the option to change the LED lights from Green - Orange - Red . . You can also change the fan speed and see the temperature of the CPU and the GPU .

A jtag is worth getting as in the long term they are a good investment if you buy games regually , for solo mode , as you dont have to purchase them

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