26 votes

Xenia Canary, a Xbox 360 emulator, will beep annoyingly and blames user of piracy if the user uses an ISO file

@MeovvCAT:
even if windows audio is disabled, it will blast your eardrumsthis is borderline malicious pic.twitter.com/7lf9V68MnP

16 comments

  1. [2]
    vivarium
    Link
    This is a small nitpick, but, from https://nitter.net/osu_MeovvCAT/status/1684428429616193537#m: Could someone with title editing privileges update the title, pretty please? :>

    This is a small nitpick, but, from https://nitter.net/osu_MeovvCAT/status/1684428429616193537#m:

    It needs to be made clear this happened in the Xenia Canary repository, which despite being very commonly used and recommended as well as frequently updated, is not the MAIN Xenia repository and has a different set of contributors.

    Could someone with title editing privileges update the title, pretty please? :>

    19 votes
    1. [2]
      Comment deleted by author
      Link Parent
      1. happinessattack
        Link Parent
        Just a quick heads up, the latest canary releases have reverted the nagging behaviors. Should the title be updated to reflect that? Source: Release notes.

        Just a quick heads up, the latest canary releases have reverted the nagging behaviors. Should the title be updated to reflect that?

        Source: Release notes.

        4 votes
  2. Bullmaestro
    Link
    Reminds me of when everybody abandoned GShade because one of its key developers hid malicious anti-tamper code that would forcibly shut down your PC if triggered. People should be doing the same...

    Reminds me of when everybody abandoned GShade because one of its key developers hid malicious anti-tamper code that would forcibly shut down your PC if triggered.

    People should be doing the same with Xenia. Surely this is fucking malware at this point.

    8 votes
  3. happinessattack
    Link
    As of a newer commit, this is gone: Source: https://github.com/xenia-canary/xenia-canary/commit/ef91193a708a8b4c4e609f0a75586ee44033f700

    As of a newer commit, this is gone:

    updated disclaimer, archive detection, clean up flags
    No more beeps, no more persistent warnings, no more insults, just a single silent disclaimer that also helps the user get started using games from their console.
    Updated the archived format detection to add tar/gz, and updated the box to state that xenia does not support running archived games.

    Source: https://github.com/xenia-canary/xenia-canary/commit/ef91193a708a8b4c4e609f0a75586ee44033f700

    8 votes
  4. [2]
    Akir
    Link
    I feel I could get angry, but instead I choose to just laugh. At least the devs are putting in useful comments in their code!

    I feel I could get angry, but instead I choose to just laugh.

    At least the devs are putting in useful comments in their code!

    6 votes
    1. [2]
      Comment removed by site admin
      Link Parent
      1. Akir
        Link Parent
        Oh, for sure, especially given that it's an open source project. The fact that it escaped the comments and got into something a layperson could read is particularly bad. I just find it funny...

        Oh, for sure, especially given that it's an open source project. The fact that it escaped the comments and got into something a layperson could read is particularly bad.

        I just find it funny because I'm sure that every developer who develops software like this where they are essentially also the tech support guys feels like this at least some times. It's the inappropriateness of this that makes it funny to me.

        It's just life, you know? I'd rather take it in stride than be upset about it.

        9 votes
  5. [3]
    mantrid
    Link
    If not ISOs, then what format would they play?

    If not ISOs, then what format would they play?

    5 votes
    1. [2]
      artvandelay
      Link Parent
      If I’m not mistaken the emulator expects the Xbox 360’s native application format, XEX. Funny thing is you could easily extract the XEX file from the ISO iirc so you could easily bypass this...

      If I’m not mistaken the emulator expects the Xbox 360’s native application format, XEX. Funny thing is you could easily extract the XEX file from the ISO iirc so you could easily bypass this warning altogether.

      8 votes
      1. tinyzimmer
        Link Parent
        I also feel like someone could easily make a downstream patch that removes the check entirely

        I also feel like someone could easily make a downstream patch that removes the check entirely

        2 votes
  6. largepanda
    Link
    I'm reminded of my time circa 2017-2018ish spent helping folk in the RPCS3 discord. We had/have a bot that will automatically parse users' uploaded log files to print out their settings and detect...

    I'm reminded of my time circa 2017-2018ish spent helping folk in the RPCS3 discord. We had/have a bot that will automatically parse users' uploaded log files to print out their settings and detect common issues, but it also detected common pirated copies of games.

    When it detected an obviously pirated copy—because the source of the copy had edited the game's title to say the name of the site uploaded it to—it wouldn't print any diagnostics and instead print a warning not to pirate games.

    Depressing that Xenia Canary couldn't find a reasonable solution like this and instead had to build in something to harass its users and get them bad press.

    1 vote
  7. [2]
    DeadPixel
    Link
    Glad I finished my RDR1 play through a few weeks ago then.

    Glad I finished my RDR1 play through a few weeks ago then.

    1. happinessattack
      Link Parent
      Xenia canary is a testing build. It doesn't automatically update, so your existing copy of the emulator is unaffected. :-) This was removed pretty quickly, though. The latest releases are...

      Xenia canary is a testing build. It doesn't automatically update, so your existing copy of the emulator is unaffected. :-)

      This was removed pretty quickly, though. The latest releases are nag-free. See this comment.

      Edit: Forgot some punctuation. Have a great day!

      2 votes
  8. [2]
    blackstar
    Link
    Just to make sure, by context of them taking about making the user think there was a hardware issue, they were making the system (mobo) speaker beep?

    Just to make sure, by context of them taking about making the user think there was a hardware issue, they were making the system (mobo) speaker beep?

    1. csos95
      Link Parent
      No, according to the developer 1, it was just a regular beep on your normal speakers and that comment about it making noise even with windows sounds disabled was referring to the windows sound...

      No, according to the developer 1, it was just a regular beep on your normal speakers and that comment about it making noise even with windows sounds disabled was referring to the windows sound effects that play when you open a folder or a message box pops up, not having your speakers muted.

      2 votes
  9. KyuuGryphon
    Link
    Welp. Guess it's a good thing the only 360-exclusive game I was interested in emulating was the OG Saints' Row, because I sure as hell won't be touching Xenia (Canary, at least) again for the...

    Welp. Guess it's a good thing the only 360-exclusive game I was interested in emulating was the OG Saints' Row, because I sure as hell won't be touching Xenia (Canary, at least) again for the foreseeable future. As someone with sensory processing disorder, this is just straight-up malicious.