Cromwell is a replacement

firmware In computing, firmware is a specific class of computer software that provides the low-level control for a device's specific hardware. Firmware, such as the BIOS of a personal computer, may contain basic functions of a device, and may provide h ...

for the

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the na ...

gaming console that has been developed by the

Xbox Linux Xbox Linux was a project that ported the Linux operating system to the Xbox video game console. Because the Xbox uses a digital signature system to prevent the public from running unsigned code, one must either use a modchip, or a softmod. Origi ...

Project. If programmed onto the onboard flash chip of the Xbox or a

modchip A modchip (short for modification chip) is a small electronic device used to alter or disable artificial restrictions of computers or entertainment devices. Modchips are mainly used in video game consoles, but also in some DVD or Blu-ray players. ...

, it can boot the

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...

operating system and practically convert the Xbox into a full PC. It is unusual in that it is a legal firmware (because it does not use any of

's code to function) and was developed primarily through reverse-engineering of the original Microsoft BIOS and its boot process. In light of this, many Xbox

manufacturers ship this firmware with their chips to avoid

litigation - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...

and

copyright infringement Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, s ...

claims. The main function of this firmware is to load the Linux operating system, although it also supports other features, such as the ability to reprogram the hardware with another firmware image, lock and unlock the hard disk, and change video mode (

PAL Phase Alternating Line (PAL) is a colour encoding system for analogue television. It was one of three major analogue colour television standards, the others being NTSC and SECAM. In most countries it was broadcast at 625 lines, 50 fields (25 ...

NTSC The first American standard for analog television broadcast was developed by National Television System Committee (NTSC)National Television System Committee (1951–1953), Report and Reports of Panel No. 11, 11-A, 12–19, with Some supplement ...

). Unlike the vast majority of Xbox firmware images, it is not able to load Xbox games (either original or otherwise). This is because the original Microsoft firmware image contains the kernel of the Xbox operating system (widely believed to be a stripped-down

Windows 2000 Windows 2000 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft and oriented towards businesses. It was the direct successor to Windows NT 4.0, and was Software release life cycle#Release to manufacturing (RTM), releas ...

derivative) - that is, the firmware is the operating system. As Cromwell does not contain this, it is not able to allow games to load and function. Cromwell includes code from other open source projects, but combines them in a unique way. This is a list of components that can be found in Cromwell: * a Linux 2.6-derived USB stack in a standalone version (i.e. it runs without Linux) * Linux kernel-derived JPEG decompression code * Etherboot networking code *

GRUB Grub can refer to Grub (larva), of the beetle superfamily Scarabaeoidea, or as a slang term for food. It can also refer to: Places * Grub, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Switzerland * Grub, St. Gallen, Switzerland * Grub (Amerang), a hamlet in Bavaria, ...

filesystem support and bootloader code The standalone version of the Linux USB stack from Cromwell has been ported to the

ReactOS ReactOS is a free and open-source operating system for amd64/i686 personal computers intended to be binary-compatible with computer programs and device drivers made for Windows Server 2003 and later versions of Windows. ReactOS has been noted a ...

operating system.

External links

Cromwell Manual
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cromwell (Computing) Custom firmware