[Archived] Xbox 360 Faults

[arealbrfcfan]

Mine has been crashing less lately. I think it's due to the fact that I now switch the plug off at the wall when it's not in use. Perhaps I'm mistaken though. Does anyone else do this?

Mine got the 3RROD and I always plug mine into the socket directly on the wall and switch it off every night...so im not sure thats a factor. Im on my 2nd console now. Im sure its just something that happens anyway regardless of whether your consoles placed in the right place, my 1st was always placed in place away from wires and anything else electrical and well ventilated. So if it happens i guess it happens, i've stopped worrying about it now

[M-K]

One thing I noticed shortly before the last one broke, which may be a warning sign, was that the air blowing out the back of the console felt cooler than it had been. That air should be hairdryer hot, because if the heat's not coming out the vents at the back then it's in your Xbox, cooking your motherboard.

My new one locked up on the dashboard the other day. Uh-oh...

[brian_gallagher85]

..until it blows up on the 28th April at 11.59pm

I wonder how many such stories we will hear over the coming months ?

[Seggie]

Seen stuff like this day in day out since the machine was launched, and truth is I dont think there is a magic trick to it, it comes down to luck and luck alone which to be fair isnt good enough. People give advice not to keep it in a concealed space with no air this is common sense but I know of a machine that is switched on 8/9 hours a day like this and works well enough after being there over a year. Drive faults are unpredictable and having the machine stood up/led down makes no difference.

For those saying PS3s are more reliable Ive seen quite a few Drive faults on them too esp the 40gig model.

When the PS2 was launched there were problems with those, I got a launch machine and it only went to Playstation Heaven a few months back and to be fair it wasn't exactly looked after (It went everywhere with me). My 360 has been well looked after and Im on my 3rd since launch whereas my mate who also had one at launch had no problems until he got the HALO machine.

I know they recently downed the wattage on the 360 when the Elite was released(may have been a little after) and so far so good on the newer versions of the machines.

[Eddie]

I had it a bit when my xbox first started to go. My main problem was freezing though and that only happened in Madden at first.

[Rovermatt]

The freezing in Madden is horrendous.

[Eddie]

It hasn't been a problem for me since my xbox was returned. Of course freezing still happens in some games some of the time, but not beyond what you would normally expect from any computer/console. It's frustrating when it happens, but not unacceptable.

[captin_of_the_silverbullet]

Hi all! Bit of a random one, but here we go. My cousin bought an XBox 360, and he can burn cd's onto it and play his tunes, as he plays games. The only thing is, it keeps freezing on games and not reading perfectly ok disks. I have had a recommendation to buy the Playstation 3, which does sound like the better console. Can I burn music onto a PS3 and play it whilst i play games?

Cheers, Paul.

[M-K]

Just to follow this up, this is a photo of my TV screen of the problem I'm having. I'm now getting this on EVERYTHING, i.e. all DVDs and games. I've sent an email to Microsoft so will post their reply here, if whatever they suggest works. Does anyone else have these symptoms?

That definitely looks like an overheating problem.

Got a new problem with mine now (third one). It doesn't store more than one title update, so every time I change games it signs me out and forces me to download the update again. Annoying.

[Rovermatt]

When playing GTA IV does anyone else experience their 360 crashing after about five minutes of play only for it to last for hours following a restart? This happens every time I play it.

[American Rover12]

Im not sure if it is my ISP or my Xbox being a bitch. Every time I go to play online at home, both on the Ethernet hookup or wireless adapter, I get booted off every ten minutes. The odd thing is I can stay online perfectly at Uni, so I'm inclined to think its my ISP. Yet every time I call I get told its a Microsoft problem not a Comcast problem. Stupiddd.

[M-K]

You've diagnosed my problem quicker than MS I think it seems to be an extremely common problem, judging by other forums. Some people claim they've gone inside their Xbox and reclamped or changed the cooling unit. All I need is some of those weird screwdrivers with hexagon/star shaped heads to get in.

I did that on my first one and it didn't work very well. If it's out of normal warranty, whip off the hard drive, wrap it up in a towel and run it until it overheats. Let it cool, repeat until something breaks permanently and you get the three red lights, then send it off to Microsoft for a free repair.

[Eddie]

You will have voided the warranty, so hopefully you know enough about what you are doing to find a long-term solution. Based on friends that I know and things that I have read on the internet, virtually everything you can do yourself solves the problem in the short-term, but long-term things have to be replaced.

[Cocker]

I now have 3 red lights without the help of a hammer. Stupidly, I took the Xbox apart not thinking that doing so probably voids the warranty.

Anyway, I switched it on, barebones... after 5 minutes or so, the cooling fans started speeding up dramatically, at which point I switch it off because the CPU was getting extremely hot. As you suggested, this is a classic case of the CPU overheating.

Tonight, I'm going to take the motherboard out and reclamp the heatsink, and see if I can get hold of some of that silver paste so I can reapply it. I'm confident that the motherboard is slightly warped and the CPU isn't getting cooled properly.

I bet your the type that if the washer breaks your looking for the screw driver before even looking it over properly

If I were you I would have checked the warrenty first. At least you would have had a new xbox to play with. Now all you might have is an expencive paper weight. Still, plenty time to save before gears of war 2 comes out.

(I agree with Eddie by the way. I dont have a 360 myself but from what I have read, all the little tricks (one which includes wrapping the thing in a towel and putting it in a cold place - or something like that) only work for a little while before it dies again)

[M-K]

Why wait over a month for Microsoft to do only the same?

Because they'll do it properly, you'll keep your warranty, they'll transfer the DRM for all your downloaded content, and they'll do it again the next time it happens...

Certainly wish I hadn't tried repairing mine, as it ended up costing me loads of money for torx screwdrivers, thermal paste, bolts and - ultimately - a brand new xbox.

edit: since you've already popped the case, the dots on the screen are more likely to be a symptom of overheating on the GPU (the one on the left) so concentrate on that. And good luck!

[thebigguy]

If you got the 3 red lights of death then you get a extended warrenty for 3 years

Read full information here

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/support/systemus...rantyupdate.htm

[Eddie]

It will take about two weeks from the date of pick-up (had mine in twice).