[Archived] Xbox 360 Faults

[robborover]

i had some bad news!

i bought elder scrolls:oblivion and it's great, but my xbox started to slow down and crash a few times. i thought it was the disk but no real link to prove it.

then yesterday i fancied a game and it crashed. i restarted it and the 3 red lights of death came on! i phoned microsauwft (lol) who confirmed that it was a hardware fault and i had to phone bad 30 mins later to register the fault as their system "was under-going maintenance". i phoned back and they promised to send me an email to print off and attach the labels to a box for UPS to collect.

the email arrived but the link to the page didn't work!!!! so i phoned micro$ and they told me to phone UPS, who told me to ring the micro-money grabbers again. luckily i spoke to a nice person who arranged to cancel the first order and start again (new email etc..). however, their system wouldn't let her delete it then start one up within a hour!!!!! so i waited and phoned back again and am now awaiting another email!

my xbox will take up to 3 weeks (15 working days) to be fixed.

it's a shame because the xbox is a great console. but they shouldn't treat people like they do. luckily the warranty lasts one year and i have the receipt to prove it. if anyone gets a problem then don't hesitate to get it fixed (even if it does cost £10 to get it sorted on the phone!).

[Biddy]

Just for you

Rings of Fire

[robborover]

sums me up at the moment. luckily my gold membership has run out, otherwise i'd be more annoyed! no more gears of war, guitar hero and oblivion for a while

[M-K]

I bought a new one last week after my original went permanently wrong. You can fix the three red lights temporarily by overheating it (I got an extra month out of that) or longer term by re-clamping the heatsinks - I did that but then it got a single red light that I don't know how to fix. I'll Ebay the broken one. Didn't fancy paying £85 to get a refurb unit with a 90-day warranty.

My Xbox 360 has now cost me more than a PS3. I'd not have bothered if I didn't like Rainbow 6, GRAW 2 and Crackdown so much.

[Biddy]

I bought a new one last week after my original went permanently wrong. You can fix the three red lights temporarily by overheating it (I got an extra month out of that) or longer term by re-clamping the heatsinks - I did that but then it got a single red light that I don't know how to fix. I'll Ebay the broken one. Didn't fancy paying £85 to get a refurb unit with a 90-day warranty.

My Xbox 360 has now cost me more than a PS3. I'd not have bothered if I didn't like Rainbow 6, GRAW 2 and Crackdown so much.

How much do you want for the broken one? - Actually, just looked and there's a broken one going for £80 odd + shipping. Yep, go and sell on Ebay.

[OhmiBRFC]

i had some bad news!

i bought elder scrolls:oblivion and it's great, but my xbox started to slow down and crash a few times. i thought it was the disk but no real link to prove it.

then yesterday i fancied a game and it crashed. i restarted it and the 3 red lights of death came on! i phoned microsauwft (lol) who confirmed that it was a hardware fault and i had to phone bad 30 mins later to register the fault as their system "was under-going maintenance". i phoned back and they promised to send me an email to print off and attach the labels to a box for UPS to collect.

the email arrived but the link to the page didn't work!!!! so i phoned micro$ and they told me to phone UPS, who told me to ring the micro-money grabbers again. luckily i spoke to a nice person who arranged to cancel the first order and start again (new email etc..). however, their system wouldn't let her delete it then start one up within a hour!!!!! so i waited and phoned back again and am now awaiting another email!

my xbox will take up to 3 weeks (15 working days) to be fixed.

it's a shame because the xbox is a great console. but they shouldn't treat people like they do. luckily the warranty lasts one year and i have the receipt to prove it. if anyone gets a problem then don't hesitate to get it fixed (even if it does cost £10 to get it sorted on the phone!).

Take your hard drive before you send it to them.

[Eddie]

You hear so many stories about this that it almost makes me scared everytime I turn the damn thing on. So far no real problems apart from something about a month after I bought it which I sent it off for and had it back very quickly. What percentage of the consoles actually ends up going down with the ring of fire? Also, wasn't there a court case being brought about this?

[M-K]

Microsoft says 3-5% failure rate but I've read loads of stories on forums about people having got through four or five since launch. Maybe they're a vocal minority. I know a few people who have had faulty ones but more who have had no trouble yet.

If you want to know what symptoms to look out for, mine started freezing up at random points during games - that seems to be the beginning of the end for most 360s. Then it started getting weird crashes in the dashboard, with green checkerboard patterns, and the three red lights came soon after that.

I don't have any confidence in it at all. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before the new one goes the same way. I think paying for the two-year warranty is a must.

On the plus side - exclusive downloadable content for GTA4 throughout 2008. I'm there! (if I've still got a working 360 by then)

[modes98]

Robbo all i'll say is my wii is still in working order

You should have that song as your ringtone!

[robborover]

Take your hard drive before you send it to them.

they told me to just send the unit. i'd never send that!!!

Microsoft says 3-5% failure rate...

If you want to know what symptoms to look out for, mine started freezing up at random points during games - that seems to be the beginning of the end for most 360s. Then it started getting weird crashes in the dashboard, with green checkerboard patterns, and the three red lights came soon after that.

it must be more than 5%! my mates broke after a week!

mine started freezing during oblivion. it's supposed to be overheating inside. my xbox is sitting on it's own and not in a tv unit and it still overheated!

microsoft have increased their warranty to a year and apparently are replacing the cooling system. i keep my fingers crossed!

[Jimmy Jupiter]

I've had mine since about October, no problems yet.

A mate of mine and my brother both have launch day consoles and they've had no problems either.

It's worrying hearing all the stories about the 3 red lights but so far I don't know anybody in person who's actually had theirs break.

[robborover]

ups picked my xbox up on friday and it arrived at havant yesterday (monday). i now have to wait for microsoft to email me back with the return tracking number. i miss gears of war now! the mrs is making me do all the decorating before i get it back

[Hasta]

Have Microsoft fixed this on newer models (or do they say they have).

You'd have thought that when machines started going down they'd have made found the fault and made sure it was fixed, otherwise their reputation ( :ph34r:) is going more down the sewer than normal.

[robborover]

i agree. a lot of people that have had their 360 repaired have said that microsoft have replaced the heatsink inside. microsoft refused to accept or deny this when asked. the new xbox 360 elite (due later in the year in europe) is supposed to address the fault too.

so in answer we don't really know for sure. :ninja:

[robborover]

UPDATE:

I just phoned Microsoft to see about my xbox. It’s been away since the 22nd of June.

Me: “Hi I was wondering if you could tell me the progress with my xbox?”

Microsoft: “Yes I’ll check now…. It’s with a repair technicians…. And should be repaired soon”.

Me: ”Ok, could you tell me how long it will be until it is fixed?”

Microsoft: “Up to 25 working days”.

Me: “I was told 10-15 working days”.

Microsoft: “We have had a lot of repairs to do”.

Me: “I was wondering why my xbox broke in the first place. Any idea what is being repaired?”

Microsoft: “I’m sorry I don’t have that information. But we will try to fix your xbox or give you a different one. Try phoning back at the weekend for a progress report and hopefully we’ll have some news.”

<Thank-you and goodbye etc…>

A DIFFERENT one!? Not a new one???? 25 WORKING days!!!!

All i want is to play gears online! I bought guitar hero 2 and oblivion 2 weeks before it broke as well! Anyone else having the red light problem?

[M-K]

Barely a month after I attempted to fix my broken Xbox, gave up and bought a new one...

They've announced that they'll be repairing ALL 360s for FREE with an extended 3-year warranty AND reimbursing everyone who already paid for a repair.

Free repairs and money back for old repairs - xbox.com

Great news for most people but I've just wasted £200 and was hoping to flog my busted one to recoup a bit of that. Not much chance now.

Damn you and your uncharacteristic generosity, Microsoft...

[robborover]

Barely a month after I attempted to fix my broken Xbox, gave up and bought a new one...

They've announced that they'll be repairing ALL 360s for FREE with an extended 3-year warranty AND reimbursing everyone who already paid for a repair.

Free repairs and money back for old repairs - xbox.com

Great news for most people but I've just wasted £200 and was hoping to flog my busted one to recoup a bit of that. Not much chance now.

Damn you and your uncharacteristic generosity, Microsoft...

have you still got your old one? you could still get it fixed?....

[M-K]

have you still got your old one? you could still get it fixed?....

I've still got it but I opened the case, drilled out the heatsinks and put whacking great bolts through the motherboard, so I doubt if they'll give me the time of day. And it's only got one red light instead of three at the moment - the new warranty only covers the three lights fault. Still, it's worth emailing them with a sob story.

I'm just glad I didn't send off my £60 for the extended warranty on the new one, and also that I don't have to worry so much about it getting the red lights again (which it almost certainly will - that Peter Moore letter is basically to ward off a class action lawsuit for selling faulty goods in the US)

[heapbag]

they told me to just send the unit. i'd never send that!!!

it must be more than 5%! my mates broke after a week!

mine started freezing during oblivion. it's supposed to be overheating inside. my xbox is sitting on it's own and not in a tv unit and it still overheated!

microsoft have increased their warranty to a year and apparently are replacing the cooling system. i keep my fingers crossed!

Estimates have the failure rate as high as 20 - 30% While the PS3 and Wii are < 1%.

Microsoft have extended the length of their warranty from 1 to 3 years now.

link

[robborover]

I've still got it but I opened the case, drilled out the heatsinks and put whacking great bolts through the motherboard, so I doubt if they'll give me the time of day. And it's only got one red light instead of three at the moment - the new warranty only covers the three lights fault. Still, it's worth emailing them with a sob story.

Worth a go. but you're stuffed if they ask about opening it. to be honest i also thought about buying a core system and ebaying the pad, power supply, av lead to make some money back.

I'm just glad I didn't send off my £60 for the extended warranty on the new one, and also that I don't have to worry so much about it getting the red lights again (which it almost certainly will - that Peter Moore letter is basically to ward off a class action lawsuit for selling faulty goods in the US)

The extended warranty covers everything whereas the new anouncement only covers the 3 lights issue. i wonder whether any other faults will come up? i agree they are trying to avoid lawsuits. they also offer wireless controllers and viva pinata to keep you quiet too.

[Eddie]

Does this extended warranty apply to consoles that have already been purchased?

[Guest Kamy100]

Yup it covers console that have already been purchased. Fair play to them as it is rumored that it is going to cost them over a billion dollars, still doesn't change the fact that they shipped a console which clearly had a major hardware defect but at least this will ensure that once people get the dreaded three lights they are at least covered. Microsoft have also said that if people have paid to have their console reparied then they will receive a refund within the next 12 weeks.

[Eddie]

Great news, no more need for me to be worried every time I turn it on.

[M-K]

Xbox number two just died on me. I was playing Rainbow Six, it crashed a couple of times, then made a sorry little squeaking noise when I tried to switch it back on again.

Three red lights, only one month away from GTA4. Oh well. Maybe this will encourage me to do something healthier with my spare time.

[Biddy]

Xbox number two just died on me. I was playing Rainbow Six, it crashed a couple of times, then made a sorry little squeaking noise when I tried to switch it back on again.

Three red lights, only one month away from GTA4. Oh well. Maybe this will encourage me to do something healthier with my spare time.

Like buy a PS3 then at least you can still play GTA4