Fix your XBLA DRM mess! Microsoft DRM tool now available

by Christopher Grant { Jun 26th 2008 at 3:07PM }

In lieu of your regularly scheduled "Spring" Dashboard update, Microsoft promised to release a DRM tool that would "allow you to better consolidate your licenses for downloaded content to a single Xbox and allow you the freedom to be able to play your content both online and offline." In other words, this is for the sad saps whose Xbox 360 red-ringed, only to have it returned with Xbox Live Arcade titles that required you to be signed into Live to play. Now instead of jumping through a series of customer-service related hoops, this new tool – available immediately at Xbox.com – will allow you to quickly manage that content.

If you're looking for some more info on how the DRM tool works, check out our exclusive Q&A with Microsoft's Marc Whitten, general manager of Xbox Live.

Tags: BreakingNews, DRM, DRM-tool, Marc-Whitten, XBLA, Xbox-Live

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Huey2k2 @ Jun 26th 2008 3:11PM

Awesome, I'm going downstairs right now to do it.

Tiptup300 @ Jun 26th 2008 5:25PM

Sweet, I bought a rock band song on my friends box, now I have to be on live to play it, GAY!

qbix @ Jun 26th 2008 3:25PM

It works!! About damn time.

SoCoolCurt (PSN: KillaKornbread) @ Jun 26th 2008 3:26PM

just like in 2006!

lol as a PS3 fan, ive always wanted to say that. embrace the fanboy within!

ok im done now.

PojoMofo @ Jun 26th 2008 3:30PM

LMAO beat me to it, i was going to post the following:

dear 360,

welcome to 2006

regards, PS3

xFenixKnightx @ Jun 26th 2008 3:36PM

Haha not so much?

*shrugs

MartinK @ Jun 26th 2008 3:38PM

FYI: It says it can only be done once every 12 months
What happens if my console RROD's again in 6 months?

Tiptup300 @ Jun 26th 2008 5:38PM

Well, lets say you reset. Boom 12 months you got till reset.

The six months go by,

... 1 month has passed
... 1 month has passed
... 1 month has passed
... 1 month has passed
... 1 month has passed
... 1 month has passed

... RROD

Ok, now mathematically, the equation would be x - y = a

So we plug in the variables, let x = time till next reset, let y = time passed, let a = time left.

Now, thats 12 months - 6 months = amount.

Take the calculator, 12 - 6, that equal 6. You'll have to wait six more months.

tmacairjordan87 @ Jun 26th 2008 3:53PM

It works! I mean I wasn't thrilled about redownloading 250-300 items individually...but it works.

Erick @ Jun 26th 2008 4:00PM

OK, my only two "problems" are:

Download again. Is it downloading only the license, or does it repeat the entire download.

2) Download history is a mess, which I think is only sorted by date? No search feature. I've downloaded hundreds of items, I'm sure some people have downloaded much more than that. Now, to have to go into this messy list, find each item and hit download again.

Bad implementation in my opinion. The tool should say, would you like to transfer all old licenses? Y/N. That's it, if you say No, maybe give a list of all items with old licenses and have check boxes, so you can grab whichever ones you are most interested in at the time.

Also, I guess, without looking at all of the pictures (I can't get too much, since I'm on travel and on a cruddy PC), does xbox.com even list the items you need to download again, or does it just have that one image with the quantity of items which need to be updated and it's up to you to figure out which ones to get?

Sigh, keep working MS.

tmacairjordan87 @ Jun 26th 2008 4:12PM

It only downloads the license so you don't have to worry about crowding your HD with doubles although for a couple items it redownloaded the entire item, which I don't know why it did that, but I had to go into my HD and delete the double.

Also, if you have an item that's higher in space than what you have you can't redownload it even though it doesn't take up extra space. For example I have 3.5 gigs left and I couldn't redownload Psychonauts which is like 3.9 gigs. Kinda wierd.

StuScotsLazyEye @ Jun 26th 2008 4:23PM

THANK GOD!!!!

FINALLY this problem is fixed. Great news for Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 players; now people playing on repaired or replacement Xbox 360's will be able to keep their unlocked characters.

Thank you Microsoft!!!!

Hasney @ Jun 26th 2008 5:17PM

Can your Console ID change? It says I have 5 different ones and I've only ever had 2 XBoxs....

Tiptup300 @ Jun 26th 2008 5:29PM

Whats what you think!

nxtiak @ Jun 26th 2008 6:07PM

It works. Just finished downloading all the licenses over.

Justin Nolan @ Jun 26th 2008 6:13PM

It works! My licenses were spread out over 3 consoles. Now all 344 are on my newest console. Don't know how I have that many licenses... guess trials are included. I will only redownload the content I actually want to play.

Shafnitz @ Jun 26th 2008 7:54PM

For me, it's showing 3 serial numbers, none of which are mine... Whoever they belong to, they downloaded a lot of content. I saw other people saying the same thing on Major Nelson's blog before it bit the dust...

Shafnitz @ Jun 26th 2008 8:05PM

I guess I was mistaken. The Console ID is displayed when using the tool, not the serial number. My bad.

Chris @ Jun 27th 2008 12:11AM

I've been waiting for a DRM "fix" and was excited when word first came around about this. Unfortunately, I was stupidly thinking this would finally allow me to play my own video content from my external hard drive when NOT connected to XBL. My 360 always tells me I don't have the Media Update from last December but I've downloaded it a bunch of times. Basically, I can only play my external hard drive content when connected online. Bogus. Does anyone else have this problem?