Getting Connected

Please read the following instructions carefully before connecting to Insignia, as they will help you get connected as quickly as possible.

Getting your console ready

You will need to have the latest copy of the Xbox Live dashboard to sign up successfully; the easiest way to confirm you have a copy of the latest dashboard is to navigate to Settings -> System Info, and wait for the version information to show.

This should show D:1.00.5960.01; if it does not, and you are on a stock (unmodified) console, you will need to update to the latest version.

Booting any game from this list and selecting "Xbox Live" will update your console for you.

Softmodded/hardmodded console users should refer to the setup guide they used to mod their system for how to update their MS Dash accordingly.

Registering your console

You will need to register your console information with Insignia before being able to connect. This is necessary to allow your console to communicate with our servers. You can do this by running the Insignia Setup Assistant on your console.

Launching Setup Assistant

The Setup Assistant is a small application that will allow you to register your console with Insignia. The method of launching the Setup Assistant will depend on the current state of your console.

I have an Xbox console that has not been modified (Stock)

Insignia Setup Assistant can be run on a completely unmodified console using a one-time exploit. This does not make any permanent changes to your console, and is the easiest way to get connected.

To run the Setup Assistant, you will need:

  • An Xbox->USB adapter to connect a USB flash drive to your Xbox console.
  • An Xbox compatible USB flash drive, 4GB or smaller.
  • The latest Setup Assistant package for stock consoles (Stock.zip)
  • A software tool for accessing Xbox formatted storage (Such as FATXplorer)

Please follow the video guide below (kindly provided by MrMario) to get your console ready for Insignia.

I have a modded Xbox console (Hardmod or Softmod)

A console with a NULLED (zero) HDD key will not be able to connect to Insignia. If you have nulled your HDD key, you will need to change it.
Many older modifications will block Xbox Live; If you have an older softmod, you may need to upgrade to Rocky5's softmod to connect to Insignia. If you are using a modchip, you may need to reflash your BIOS to one that does not block Xbox Live. If you get stuck: EvoX M8+ is known to work.

To run the Setup Assistant, you will need:

  • The latest Setup Assistant package for modded consoles (default.xbe)
  • An FTP client to transfer the Setup Assistant to your console (such as FileZilla)

You can launch Setup Assistant the same way you would launch any other homebrew application on your console.

I have a modded Xbox console (Project Stellar)

Project Stellar comes with Setup Assistant included

To run Setup Assistant, open the StellarOS setup and navigate to "Tools". Scroll down to "Insignia Setup Assistant" and press A to launch it.

Using Setup Assistant

Once the assistant has launched (either from your savegame exploit, or by manually launching it yourself on a hacked system), you will see the following screen:

Insignia Assistant's default screen, with no options selected

For most people, just pressing Register is all you need - you will be informed once the registration has completed.

Insignia Assistant with Register Xbox selected, and the message "Your Xbox was successfully registered" shown.

If you get the following error, your console may already be registered for Insignia. If you are unable to perform a connection test, press "Troubleshoot"

Insignia Assistant with Register Xbox selected, and the message "The serial number has already been taken." shown.

When pressing Troubleshoot, you may receive the following error; if so, you will need to run a local DNS server to use with your Xbox. We provide insigniaDNS, which you can run locally to access Insignia.

Insignia Assistant with Troubleshoot selected, and the message "DNS hijacking detected. This means your ISP is re-routing DNS requests. You may work around this by running your own DNS server such as insigniaDNS." shown.

We also recommend backing up your HDD Key, especially if you're on a stock system - Xbox consoles haven't been manufactured in nearly two decades, and it's likely your hard drive will fail; having the key allows for easily unlocking the existing one, copying information, or even preparing a new drive without further modification of the console.

Insignia Assistant with View HDD Key selected, and a pop up containing the (blanked for demonstration purposes) HDD key is shown

You should now exit the assistant, and enter Xbox Network Settings to perform a Connection Test.

Xbox Dashboard with a fully passing connection test, signifying a successful connection to Insignia.

If you are still unable to connect after registering, it may be that your network environment or console is having issues. The Troubleshoot button should be able to give you some information here.

Ensure your DNS is set correctly - the primary DNS should be 46.101.64.175, and the secondary should be a public DNS such as Google's 8.8.8.8 or Cloudflare's 1.1.1.1.

Getting a Subscription Code

The Xbox Live dashboard requires the use of a subscription code to progress through the form. You can request for a subscription code to be sent to your email address by registering your email address on our website.

Navigate to insignia.live and enter your email address, confirm that you agree to us processing your data as set out in our privacy policy. Complete the CAPTCHA, and press Register.

Insignia website homepage, with a fake email filled in, the consent checkbox ticked, and the CAPTCHA passed

Insignia website's success message: "Thank you for registering your interest. We will get back to you soon."

You will receive the following email:

Email sent by Insignia containing a user's invite code to use upon signup

Creating your Gamertag

First, select the country you are in - if your country is not listed, please select the one that is geographically closest to you as this selection may in future influence the priority of users you see in games. We are unfortunately not able to add any more countries to the dashboard's own list.

A list of billing regions in sign-up; here, "France", "United Kingdom", and "Hong Kong" are shown, though more are available.

Please take the time to read the terms of use, and if you agree to it press accept, and enter your Gamertag you want.

Gamertag input screen, with the gamertag "CoolName" entered.

If the Gamertag you wanted is not available, suitable alternatives will be provided.

Alternative Gamertags screen, with 5 randomly generated options provided to the user such as "JollyOsprey"

Enter the subscription code sent in your email - please note we do not use the following characters in our codes: 0, 1, E, I, L, N, O, S, U, Z.

'Activation' section of sign-up, with a correctly entered subscription code.

If successful you'll see the subscription information (the service is completely free!), and our refund policy information.

Purchase Details screen showing a price of £0.00 (free!), tax not included, and one-time subscription frequency.

Refund Information screen highlighting that Insignia does not provide any paid content, and that the software is provided as-is.

If not you'll see this error, check to make sure you've entered it correctly.

Error box with"The subscription code is invalid. Check your subscription code or see xbox.com/connect" shown.

The sign up procedure will then ask you for your card details and information; please do not enter real details (Use the valid card number 4111 1111 1111 1111, as the dashboard validates it), as we do not collect this information.

Credit Card sign-up screen with fake details entered in all fields.

Enter your email address make sure it's the same email you signed up with or you'll get an invalid code error at the end. The information sharing settings are not in use as our privacy policy describes our information sharing policies, so these can be set however you feel appropriate.

Billing Address screen with only the email address option available; this email must match the one your invite code was sent to.

Finally, press Yes to create and activate your account, and then set a PIN code to make it harder for other users locally to login as you.

Create Account? Screen, with Yes/No to determine if you wish to create the account.

From here, you can now play online on the supported list of games - we request you give us feedback if you have any issues (bug reports, crashing, etc.) and that you most importantly have fun!

The Xbox Dashboard's Live page, showing the user "Bloop" logged in on 11/02/2024. The sub-menus "Friends", "Voice Chat", and "Account Management" are available, along with a "Sign Out" option that returns the user to the Dashboard. The Insignia logo is shown to the right of these menu options, with the following Message: "Welcome to Insignia's Beta! Friend and Game Invites along with online status now function. Please report any and all bugs at https://insig.uk/discord"

FAQ

We do not support these consoles or debug applications/games at this time. Please use a retail BIOS.

When is game x being supported?

We do not have a concrete time-frame for any game to be supported; please stay tuned for further updates!

Do you support Xbox 360/One/Series consoles?

No. We are not able to support Xbox One/Series consoles in any capacity; we may look into supporting Xbox 360's backwards compatibility feature in the future, but that is not planned at this time.

My in-game performance seems slow!

Xbox Live is a peer-to-peer communication setup, and therefore is susceptible to latency issues; if you are able to, ensure you have an Ethernet connection to your router (and not a wireless adapter or similar). If you are playing in a large group of people and the game supports it, such as Unreal Championship, consider getting a player to run a dedicated server on their own console.

I can't connect to other players!

Dependant on your console's NAT type, you may encounter issues when connecting to other players. If you wish to check your NAT type, perform a Connection Test on the Xbox Dashboard, then press Y and A in order (A skips the first diagnostic page for your connectivity to Live). The second page will show your NAT type under the heading "NT".
The Xbox Dashboard's Diagnostic screen showing a NAT Type ('NT') of 1, which denotes an Open NAT Type.
Here, NT:1 shows an Open NAT type which is the best setup. 2 is Moderate - while not as bad as 3 (Strict), it can still cause issues. 3 is Strict, and will likely cause issues when connecting to other players. Your console will attempt UPnP to forward the port, but if you are experiencing issues you should consider port forwarding UDP port 3074 to your console. Guides on how to do this for Xbox Live are commonly available, and will work with Insignia.

If you need further assistance, please join our Discord.

All screenshots and text (including the alt-text, and FAQ section) in this guide are licenced under CC BY-SA 4.0. Please give credit to "Insignia Team", and optionally link to this page.
Xbox and Xbox Live are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
Insignia is neither endorsed by nor affiliated with Microsoft.