The guys at Team Underdog has made several announcements on their page. Special mention of these updates is the official release of the NME-360 v1.1 Chip - considered as the "first real Modchip for the Xbox 360" and expected to play backups on you Microsoft console. The team also announced that they are setting up the new installation diagrams online in a few days. They have also noted that the NME-360 v1.1 chips are still two different chips for Samsung and Hitachi.

The Hitachi chips will now be marked with a white stripe, while the Samsung chips will be left unmarked. Be sure to watch out for the video that Team Underdog will be releasing - it features the cool activity LED in action. Also the team would set up a support forum for those who are experiencing problems with their NME-360 v1.1 and our aSSociat0r tool.

And for your viewing pleasure, Rob sent this cool picture of NME-360 LE sitting behind the window of the "X".

When it comes to patchmods for Xbox 360, Team Underdog owns with its NME-360 v1.0. However, Divineo came up with a new product that looks like their initial edition of the DVD patchmod chips, not to mention it being cheaper at $24 only.

Named Aladdin2 Mod360, this product is available in two drives and both have a low wire count: 4 for Toshiba Samsung drive and 11 for Hitachi-LG. Aside from auto booting original games, this mod automatically boots NME360 type backups and "those that are in dual format (xtreme/NME360)" as well.

Once it detects an original game, Mod360 will disabling patching making it excellent for Xbox Live. Keep in mind though that backups should be in NME360 format and the book-type of the DVD+R DL can be either DVD+R or DVD-ROM. For diagrams of both drives, click on the thumbnails below.

  

Necessity is the mother of invention. And there's a real need to make the process of letting your Xbox 360 play backups without flashing your firmware (especially for those of you who have backed up your extremely valuable original games).

This is where the NME-360 comes in. It claims to be a universal solution for all Xbox 360 consoles. No more need for tons of wires. No more need for risky workarounds that might brick your DVD by flashing the wrong files. And because there's no need for firmware reading or flashing, your firmware isn't touched at all. The only thing you need is to physically install the device with a few wires to your Samsung or Hitachi/LG drive, and that's that. The makers have thought of almost everything: the chip even stays off if you play the original game so it isn't detected when you play online!

We reported on the NME-360 a while back. Team underdOg has announced that they are now in the production stage of the new NME-360 version 1.1 with the following details:

• Samsung drives use 4 wires to connect to the NME-360
• Hitachi drives use 5 wires
• one optional wire to switch off network connection when chip is enabled
• one optional wire for indication LED at the front panel of the Xbox360 to see if chip is enabled or disabled
• no need to set booktype to DVD+R DL for Samsung anymore
• no need to use special DVD-writers
• supported drives: Hitachi 46, 47, 58, 59, Samsung ms25, ms28

They'll be shipping these out to sellers in a few days and they should sell for more or less $40 (necessity may be the mother of invention, but inventors have to eat).

By the way, those of you who have the NME-360 limited edition should note that there's a little mistake in the diagram. Pins 1 and 2 were switched by accident (just swap them around and things should work fine).

  

Team Underdog has released the installation diagram for their NME-360 Ltd. Edition Modchip for Samsung drives. (Note: The black arrows indicate zoom. The red arrows arrows are alternative points. Only solder one wire to either a yellow point or a red point.)

Along with the diagram, Team Underdog developed the NME aSSociat0r - an easy-to-use tool for creating an NME 360 compatible ISO.

The NME-360 aSSociator prepares a clean ISO or converts an Xtreme ISO to make it bootable with your NME-360 modded Xbox360 by adding the security sector to the correct offset. Please read the directions in the readme file before you install this application. Once you have installed the NME aSSociat0r do the following steps:

• Select the ISO file
• Select the SS file
• Press "CREATE"

The NME-360 compatible ISO will be created in 2 seconds. The NME-360 aSSociat0r can also convert Xtreme Images to NME-360 compatible images with a single press of a button.

Download: [NME aSSociat0r]

It's been quite common knowledge that Team underdog have been working on a modchip for some time now. They had been offering updates and in general, building hype. Well, they have finally announced the release of their latest creation. Called the NME-360, this will be a limited edition mod which will allow you to boot backups without actually ever flashing your DVD drive.

Here's what their release article states:

"The NME-360 enables your XBox360 to play backups of your highly valuable original games. NME-360 is a universal solution for ALL currently available XBox360 Consoles on the market. Forget crazy dual mods with 30+ wires or even bricking your DVD drive by flashing corrupt/wrong firmware files. Your original firmware stays untouched and intact at any time when using the NME-360. There is no need for any firmware-reading or flashing."

Now I have modded my DVD drive just for kicks and I do know that doing it frequently would be a royal pain in the backside. But then again, I'd much rather wait for region coding to be cracked, before I spend anything on modchips. But still, if any of you want an easier solution to modifying your DVD drives, this is a great solution.

"The NME-360 autodetects the inserted media. If the inserted media is a backup NME-360 injects the necessary information to the DVD drive enabling it to boot smoothly ahead! If the media is an original game, or anything else, which doesnt require any further action of the NME-360 then it simply falls asleep so there is no need for an external switch whatsoever. This way it can not be detected online when you play an original onlinegame."

Considering the fact that you have to solder just 4 or 11 wires, depending on whether your drive is a Samsung or a Hitachi, this is still a steal for the functionality it offers.

It's been a week now since the first batch of Team Underdog's modchip has been released. Although it has been received with lukewarm enthusiasm by the gaming community, many citing the chips possess mediocre quality. In Team Underdog's defense, they have this to say:

One more very important fact we found out is that for the Hitachi DJ drives you can even lower the value of the trimpot to 2.6KOhms for perfect media recognition and without harming the laser.

We see a few irrelevant people complaining about the manufacturing of our chips. Just let us tell you that most of the people don't care whats under the rubber because the final result is even better than expected. In order to get the chips out to the public we needed to choose that kind of manufacturing for the first batch. The forthcoming batches will be machinemade which will of course make us able to deliver much better quantities and the few complainers will be satisfied, too. ;-)

People who still have problems patching the SS to the correct address will receive some help from the upcoming SS-Merger v1.7.

As you've read, there are a lot of points raised in their recent statement. First is how you can set your POT calibration to as low as 2.6KOhms. Some may not agree with this one, since generally, rule of thumb is around 3.1 to 3.2, but maybe daredevils will go out there and prove if you really can.

Second, is that since there have been "a few irrelevant people complaining" about the manufacturing of the chips (I personally think it isn't a good idea referring to them as irrelevant), they are releasing a second batch which are now machinemade, to alleviate the quality of the product, as well as to increase quantity.

The backlash of that, I think, is that the first "irrelevant few" that ordered would start to think that they got the raw end of the deal. But maybe if Team Underdog will have a swap scheme, why not? Third, is the future addition of the SS-Merger v1.7, for those still having some difficulty patching the SS to the correct address.

   

Recently Team Underdog started shipping their NME-360 Chip for the Xbox 360. The mod chip allows your XBox 360 to play backup discs of original games. Unlike dual mods with 30+ wires, the chip the NME-360 retains the original firmware NME-360. There is no need for any firmware-reading or flashing that could brick the DVD drive with corrupt or wrong firmware.

Best of all the NME-360 is a universal solution for all currently available XBox 360 Consoles on the market. You can learn more by reading our previous posts about the NM3-360. Now that you know what it does you should know what it looks like. That's the NM3-360 chip striking a high-res pose for all you Xbox 360 Fan Boys!

Team Underdog has been really busy lately updating their site with FAQs and installation diagrams. It figures, the team is now ready to unleash their much-talked about NME-360 chip to the public.

The first batch of this "first real modchip for the Xbox 360", which will let users patch the Microsoft console's DVD firmware on the fly (meaning no flashing required) only when needed (that means it turns off when you're on XBL), has just been shipped to resellers.

The team promises to issue a full list of official resellers soon, so stay tuned to QJ for news on that. Also, stay with us because we'll be on a close lookout for any reviews of this device so we can let you know how good (or bad) this chip turns out to be.

There's an old adage that goes, "We are afraid of what we don't know". But unfortunately, we can't just live inside a bubble all our lives because, for the life of us, the universe will never run out of things to throw at us that we are utterly clueless or at the very least, dumbfounded about. So, faced with this harsh reality, how do we go on our everyday plight? The only tangible solution is to ask questions. Easy as it may sound, some people have trouble asking questions, while some have the uncanny talent of asking the wrong ones.

Team Underdog is well aware of this fact and has updated their Frequently Asked Questions, so as not to let us go astray to the path of NME-360 modchip enlightenment.

F.A.Q.

Q:Will NME360 work with my drive?

A:Yes! If you have Hitachi/LG or Toshiba/Samsung drive

Q:Is it hard to install?

A: Not for experienced technicians, anyway the Samsung drive is much easier to do.

Q: What is the difference between NME-360 compared to the Xtreme bios mod

A: First of all we think that our code is cleaner and more sophisticated. NME 360 is an intelligent chip which automatically switches itself off if you play an original game, therefore you don´t need any external switch whatsoever. No need to have dual firmwares , no need to read out any keys from the drive and no chance to brick your drive.

Q: Can I play Xbox Live with NME 360

A: Yes you can! When you play original games NME 360 will not patch anything, so the drive is like an original unmodified one. We recommend that you DON`T play backups on live, due to the risk of being banned.

Q :What kind of media should I use?

A:You need to use dual layer media, we have found that Verbatim DVD+R DL is the best to do backups on and it´s REALLY important that you use good media.

Q:Do I need to tweak my laser?

A:For optimal performance you might tweak the Laser a bit, but if you use quality media and a good burner, this often isn't necessary. We recommend Verbatim Media and the latest Pioneer writer. Check tutorials for how to.

Q: Will the ISOs made with the converter still play on a Xtreme patched drive?
A: Yes, we don't touch the Xtreme security sector, we just add our own, so it will play fine.

Q: Why is your solution not compatible with Xtreme images?
A: We started development before the Xtreme hack was available, and decided that the end of the 2nd layer was the perfect spot for the security sector. As it is not at the same location as the Xtreme hack, the ISO needs to be converted first.

Q: Can you explain a bit more in detail?
A: To keep the number of wires as small as possible, we carefully selected the location of our security sector, and chose PSN 0xFC021E. Originally the SS is at 0xFD021E. Also our security sector is of a more compressed type, requiring less patches in the firmware and therefore less wires to solder.

Q. Will the NME-360 chip work on a drive which is flashed with Xtreme firmware?
A: No, It was developed for original firmware versions only

Q: What's the price of your fantastic NME-360 Modchip?
A: Our suggested retail price is 39.95 Euro and resellers may feel free to get in touch with us or our distributors for quantity discounts.