Whats the deal with the Xbox Series S/X Security Key Partition?

Robert Petty1 · Jul 27, 2023

Why does my Series S have a security partition on the internal SSD? Who came up with this horrible idea at Microsoft?

This basically adds an expiration date to my console, since SSD's are fragile and only last a limited time before it fails, and when an SSD fails the entire chip is rendered useless. I do not want to have to purchase an entirely new console in 4 years when my Series S dies because you made the internal SSD non-user-replaceable.

In my honest opinion this feels like it was done intentionally, because there is nothing the consumer benifits from having a drive locked to the device that it was installed in. Microsoft, (YOU), benifits heavily from it though, because now every Series S and X sold since release will become e-waste in a few years which means "yay more profits" for Microsoft, (YOU).

To which ever Microsoft employee comments on this: I want you to take this issue to anyone you can at your company because this is asinine and I feel cheated as a customer. I legitimately bought the Series S instead of a PS5 because I liked how clean the console itself was and how great your backwards compatibility is.

This is a direct threat to "Right To Repair" AND the enviorment. Think of how many gaming consoles with YOUR name on them could be thrown into landfills in a few years because of this easily fixable issue.

The Xbox One, Xbox 360 and Xbox all had user replaceable HDD's that users could swap for bigger or newer drives to give them longevity which A. helps the enviornment and B. allows these now legacy consoles to continue operating which honestly gives you a better image knowing your 10-20 + year old consoles are still running instead of locking a drive to a specific console and going "Its for your safety hurr durr".

:)

ngocphi

They are keyed

Only offical drives work.in xbox one x

And since you cant open an xbox one x yourself

The serial number must match the bios or you get a console ban when they replace a drive

Nvme have been around for years

Hdds can die in less then 5 yearsbefore degration assuming you don't drop it

Ssds and mvme are rated at 10 years

They arent something you can move in and out frequently

And no .mechanical parts that can clash with moving components which was a constant problem.with mechanical drives

https://www.kingspec.com/news/lifespan-comparison-hdd-vs-ssd-vs-nvme.html

I have had a nvme drive for 5 years with degration my ps5 reports mechanical corruption all the time on my hdd and none on the nvme drive and I have two of them

You can't clone a ps5 system nvme since its soldered to the board doing so earns you a console ban

They only allow it in the small nvme side slot.Which is locked at half the speed of the main drive

effiegray

Drives are not keyed. They have a keyed partition that is updated with every update cycle. Why was it done? Money. The drives are already failing. BTW. The Xbox one x where the drives can be copied and inserted still have not been hacked and every time a new drive is entered it is wiped. Money. Money is the only reason.

Kevin Bly1

Would be good if Microsoft seemed to care and offer a free ssd replacement service , or promise and action to release a ssd security key creation tool , and a way to find the key per console, or offer a free postal service, subject to console ID checks , when MS warranty periods expire and or a new console is developed, so no consoles become bricks because of a future ssd fault.

Tezzarrific

I repair laptops daily for a very large company and I see SSD's mainly nvme drives which Microsoft uses fail very easily, if you play a lot of games you are going to be erasing and downloading constantly due to the limited space, nvme drives in my view are the most common failing issue in laptops. it is easily plausible that 50% of Xbox consoles are going to have very worn SSD's in just a short amount of years and obviously they won't repair them in the future, or if they do it will cost a lot.

this does need addressing sooner rather than later. games are huge these days and if you have a large library and wish to play lots of different games then your gonna have issues.

I see nvme drives reach 12% wear within 6 months of use and this is on laptops used just by normal consumers.

I have already gone through 4 of them on my PC.

They should have made it replaceable and when inserted it gets locked to that console, least then it can be changed, it is not hard to remove the SSD in the series x and the series s is very easy to get at.

ngocphi

Noone would offer that

That's a security risk not to mention a clear violation of the terms of use.

Not even sony or Nintendo allow it

As mentioned ssd is more likely to last longer then any mechanical drive as they have been around for years

You do realize that console aren't computers right ?

Talk to any computer person

You can't replace th security chip

It's not something you can buy from a noname ssd

Drop your laptop and computer and see what happens

Unlike a pc consoles are secured

A hdd can break ssd expect to live at least 5 years

Might even last a generation

Whats the deal with the Xbox Series S/X Security Key Partition?