How do XBox updates work?

Question

You have a static medium, a CD, so you cannot modify any files on it. So how do updates work? I understand that a code has appeared that runs and checks if the version is not correct, and then downloads the patch if necessary, but how does this path integrate into the game?

Is there an “update checker” that checks for patch files and downloads them? If so, how do they develop the code so that developers can fix problems that were unforeseen?

Answer 1

The patch contains a delta-compressed executable and any new data that may be required for this executable. The Xbox 360 executable bootloader checks the patch (via the game’s name identifier) ​​and, if found, loads the old executable into memory and then modifies it in memory using the delta-compressed version. (The process of creating a delta-compressed executable file may take more than an hour, but the resulting executable file size is worth it).

Microsoft does not provide data correction tools. Any updated data will also be contained in the patch, but for the executable file, it will look for it in the “update” area and apply it accordingly.

As already mentioned, the patch needs to be stored somewhere - it can be either on the hard drive or on a memory card. If the memory card is placed in an 8-megabyte system-reserved area (corrections are recommended to be less than 4 MB, so that 2 patches can be saved on the memory card, which can be exceeded with permission from Microsoft).

All patches should be cumulative - if you update the title to version 1.1, when you come out with version 1.2, it should contain all the changes from 1.1.

Answer 2

In full guess, I would say that simply by inserting the game into the Xbox, it saves the manifest of any description in HardDisk or any flash media in a field that supports the list of library versions and their location (either on the CD or on any way on Xbox HD)

When the update goes down, it will update the manifest file to say.

"When starting this game, use the X v1.1 library from HardDisk instead of libary X v1.0 from the CD."

Answer 3

If you have an application with a .exe file that is used to run the application or possibly some DLL files. How would you update your program? Why not just replace these files with newer versions and use them instead?

Perhaps mark the time stamp on files stored on your hard drive, and not on files on a CD?