Fix your xBox 360 crash problems
Having trouble with your xBox 360 blue screening, locking up, crashing, or just generally freezing? Voodoo Extreme presents the likely hypothesis that this is caused by power supply overheating. If so, it’s a design flaw that Microsoft will have to fix in their next hardware iteration, but for now, you just want your black-friday cheap xbox 360 to work as planned. The solution is to lift your power supply off the flow to give it air circulation on all 6 sides. Voodoo reports over 7 hours of gaming time in this configuration.
If anyone wants to send me an xBox 360 for scientific testing, I would be more than happy to write up a protocol, conduct the experiments, and write a lab report on the crashes, resplendant with statistical significance tests…
This entry was posted on Friday, November 25th, 2005 at 5:14 pm and is tagged with crash problems, voodoo extreme, s a design, air circulation, 6 sides, significance tests, gaming time, xbox 360, design flaw, black friday, statistical significance, iteration, hypothesis, power supply, crashes, xbox, protocol, microsoft. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback.
on November 29th, 2005 at 12:27 pm
I was planning on buying a Xbox 360. But there has been a problem I have been seeing about the 360. It crashes, a lot. This changes my mind on buying one.
on November 30th, 2005 at 9:42 pm
Are you crazy your missing out. I have about 14 friends including myself who got the XBOX360 and no signs of crashing. I dont know how long these guys have been playing theyre 360 but my 360 is perfectly fine. I play mine about 5 hours a day and mine is fine. Remember these people havnt started making compliants after about 2 days since the 360 launched so imagine how many hours they have played it, or days.
PS:Playstation 3 doesnt have a chance theyre releasing PS3 late so they can see what the XBOX360 will launch as acseceries so they can do the same thing.
on December 1st, 2005 at 4:44 pm
I played mine (PGR3) for about 4 hours until I had my first crash. I got the red lights in zone 1, 3, and 4. According to what I can find on the ‘net, that indicates an internal failure of some kind. After an hour or so the console worked again (with a different game).
Going to try to do some testing this afternoon to figure out exactly what is causing it. My power supply is up off the ground on a non-covered shelf…so airflow shouldn’t be a problem. Hmm.
As far as “changing your mind” on the Xbox, it’s not like you can run out and buy one now anyway. Hopefully by the time they get the next batch of ‘em out the door they can fix it. Hell… my original Xbox needed the replaement power supply after what, 3 years? As long as they fix it I don’t really mind. It’s a really bitchin’ piece of hardware. The graphics are simply amazing!!!
on December 14th, 2005 at 3:11 am
OMG this is bs ive had my 360 for about 6 days and now it starts crashing it the ring of light flashes red in big red circle this thing is bs hopefully ps3 will fix these things at there launch and set a nice supply of betas to sum testers so they can fix there probs but this system is OK and yeah my power supply is like a grey from what i see voodos is dark grey or black??? TWO dif power supply’s?? Hmm Microsoft conspiracy any one
on December 28th, 2005 at 7:07 pm
Hey people
Does anybody know exactly when the 2006 batch of 360s will be released? I’m thinking they will have all the bugs worked out by then. Thanks
on January 7th, 2006 at 5:04 am
recieved my box dec 31.Happy days! not a problem first day I played for 18 hours PDZ and PGR five friends and da box soldiered on regardless.
If you can prop the power supply in a corner as heat will rise and pull the cool air in faster or if poss put it on your window ledge as this is the coolest place in the room not the floor (keep of carpet)
Release date for the 2006 batch as I and many boxalites have been told is around 3rd or 19th of march
on January 14th, 2006 at 11:44 pm
Call me stubborn but the hell if i’m going to go that far out of my way to make sure something like a power supply gets any special care. thats like saying “this new tv so-and-so just came out is awsome, but the remotes dont work half the time so you have to get up and change the channel. idk just seems like an unessary hassle.
on January 17th, 2006 at 2:45 am
had my first crash…they should rename the “ring of lights” the “ring of death”…and is the console itself supposed to run so hot? it seems like mine has always been very hot (for a game console) and loud (fan) but since mine is the only one ive played i have nothing to compare it to.
on February 22nd, 2006 at 11:49 am
my name is shane and my xbox 360 has been working fine and no overheating all i have is it sitting on a table right by the wall. it is not having any problems so if any bodys has any problems plz e- mail me i will help you guys with any problems…….______ok thanxxx
on March 12th, 2006 at 2:23 pm
hi i bought an xlocks 360 on march 10, and played it played fine for the first day. then next day it started to freeze on me after about 5 minutes of gameplay, its strange cause the power supply wasnt warm at all.
dont buy this peice of junk untill they get the bugs worked out, trust me, its a really expensive paperweight.
on March 20th, 2006 at 9:57 pm
ok mines doesnt freeze either it jsut wont start the firrt time i have to turn on and off like 10 times htne it iwll work lol only problem im having
on March 26th, 2006 at 4:39 am
HHHMMMmmmm…..I have started to have the dreaded problems that I’ve read about so many times. I thought I wouldn’t be one of those guys, surely MY system would work. Well, I got the whole Shebang. 1st-Error message E71/2nd-basic degrading screen with freezing/3rd-System unresponsive. It seems like it is an overheating problem due to the fact that I can play it for 15 minutes the first time, 10 minutes on the second, and 3 minutes on the third. Then the system won’t come on period. What a sham.
on April 13th, 2006 at 5:43 pm
ive had my xbox360 since xmas. ive had no problems for the 3 months ive had it. i just bought oblivion, and i have been playin it 9 hours at a time max. it froze twice but i just turned it on and off. my brother tried another game and it was freezing within 3 minits and then the red light came on. the xbox was not hot but i did not think 2 check the power supply. im gonna try raisng it off the ground later and see if it works
on April 16th, 2006 at 5:06 am
My 360 has worked fine but has only just started to crash on pdz for some reason, but the 360 is a great console but pdz just doesnt seem to like it. lol
on April 20th, 2006 at 11:45 am
they r crap dont buy them they have a ring of light how do u fix it
on April 27th, 2006 at 11:48 am
I can’t believe my posts got taken down, what a bunch of BS… It was really therapeutic for me to vent my story online, only to have it dashed a few days later!!! damnit….
on April 27th, 2006 at 12:06 pm
The short version… I waited in line for 12 hours at a Best Buy in VA…. I bought 3 of the consoles, sold two of them on ebay for a ludicrious amount of money… (just shy of $900 apiece) and you better believe I’m doing it again for the PS3… except no waiting in lines this time… ANYHOW…
I enjoyed 5 blissful months of h4rdc0r3 g4m1ng!!!! lol… all the while I was pitying the poor people that got the bad consoles…. and then… the unthinkable…….. As I’m cruising along with my gamerscore well about 10,000, my xbox360 freezes in the middle of Far Cry Instincs… The screen is jumpy, there is some serious artifacting on my lovely LCD, and there is an unhealthy beep/buzzing sound eminating from my speakers……. not good…. I have heard the horror stories, and I immediately take appropriate action. I move the console to the table top, and set the power supply on edge to ventilate all 6 sides… I even went so far as to put a small fan behind the console to pull the hot air away… and…… power……… game on….. good to go……………. I played for only 30 minutes….
I was filled with rage… I went online and downloaded the “How to disassemble your xbox 360 guide” and began the process… I don’t recommend anyone do this, but I was desparate to cool my baby off… So, WITHOUT removing the flashy little MICROSOFT sticker behind the faceplate (which would definitely void the warranty since the sticker sits directly on a seam in the chassis) I managed to get the back of the console open, and separated about 4 inches… enough to surely increase air flow and cool things off. To my delight, I was able to play, and play, and play… no freezing, no artifacting… nuthin… Things were perfect…. for about… 90 minutes… LOL,,,, And then……… *BUZZZZZZZZZZ* EEEEEEEEEK* FREEZE*ARTIFACTING* PWNED!!!!!!!!!!!!!….. Yeah… I got serious issues… So, I could only play for 5-10 minutes at a pop after that until finally, the whole thing just quit… I went to turn it on one final time, and I got nothing but 3 red LEDS aroung the almighty “RING OF LIGHT” in sectors 1-3-4… From what I’ve read, this is indicative of an “INTERNAL HARDWARD FAILURE” NO WAY!??? :-\ So, luckily I had my 2 year replacement plan from Best Buy, and I quickly got on the phone… It turns out, I would have to send it back to their warehouse, and about a week after they get it, they will mail me a GIFT CARD! for the purchase amount… not even another XBOX360.. just a lousy stinkin’ gift card!!! WTF!!! Like you can just WALK INTO A BEST BUY, and buy an XBOX360 PREMIUM BUNDLE!!! GTF outta here!!!!!!!! So, option 2… I called 1-800-4MYXBOX… but seeing as to how my console has been at my house for 5 months, it is definitely beyond the 90 day manufacturer warranty period, so I held my breath, and explained myself to the ENGLISH SPEAKING AMERICAN on the other end (bravo! microsoft.. bravo!) this fellow didn’t ask how long I had the console, he didnt need any warranty information… it was smooth as silk… I expalined my problem, and my own troubleshooting (minus the disassembling part… lol!) and without a hitch, he setup me up with an order number, and I should be sending my xbox back to MS in the next day or two… SO… to all of you out there with a PERFECTLY FUNCTIONING XBOX 360..> BEWARE!!!!!!!! It COULD HAPPEN TO YOU AT ANY TIME!!!! But… Microsoft xbox360 support truly impressed me, so remember that number… 1-800-4-MYXBOX… GOOD LUCK!!!!
[IMG]i36.photobucket.com/albums/e27/t0mewalker/gamertag.jpg[/IMG]
on April 27th, 2006 at 12:06 pm
on May 1st, 2006 at 4:14 pm
I got an xbox360 on Saturday. It started freezing after just a couple of hours of use. And it’s so noisy that it drowns out some sound effects and is not suitable for listening to music. What I don’t understand, is why do people put up with this ? I am asking for a full refund. I don’t want to get a second crappy thing as replacement with the same story repeating itself soon after.
on May 2nd, 2006 at 6:19 pm
Well, I really enjoy the games that are out right now. I can honestly say that the xbox360 has the best lineup of games ever seen in a launch window for a console. GRAW is a blast, OBLIVION is simply amazing… I played the HELL out of PDZ, and PGR3 has some of the best online racing features ever… I’d be selling myself short to just get a refund… MS has acknowledgd the problem, and is paying to have it shipped and fixed… I’m ok with that.
on May 7th, 2006 at 1:44 pm
thats what i get for switching to the xbox.been a playstation fan since it was released and bought a ps2 as soon as it came out.now i got my tax returns and got greedy and impatient and bought my “premium” 360.worked for a whole week yay! and then the freezing….gray screen no sound nothing.oh and best buy mysteriously never gets any to replace mine.wtf?they offered to reund my money but then i have games i cant play.im sending it to texas through that xbox number and they better fix that crap.spending that much $$ it should run for enough time to beat a singl game and without erasing my friggen saved game right off the hard drive.im sorry sony i should never have doubted you….
on May 11th, 2006 at 2:56 am
I have been lucky enough to have my xbox since a little after xmas. I admit I don’t play all that much (well not as much as I would like). I am playing Oblivion at the time and it has froze up a couple of times I turn it off and no big deal and I keep playing. Now I run into the problem of every time I hand in the Umbra sword about 5 sec afterwards it freezes up on me. I returned the game because it doesn’t freeze up any other time. I poped in the new game and same thing it freezes. Anyone have any sugestions?
on May 13th, 2006 at 1:58 pm
Just wanted to comment as well - got my 360 about a week ago. I absolutely love it, and it’s been a ton of fun playing Oblivion. But I was wanting to comment that I too have been experiencing some locking up within the game. Last night I was able to play it pretty good when I was walking across the world and goofing around in a dungeon, but then it froze up when going into the items menu for about 10 minutes. The night before, it was in town when I was walking around going into shops - the freezing would happen more often when I tried to access the menu, or talk to shop owners. It’d resume after a minute or so - I’m assuming it’s because it’s trying to figure everything out? This game is huge and amazing - I think it’s awesome and I’m able to play it pretty well. But I’m wondering if anyone else has figured out a way around the freezing issue in Oblivion? Or if I’m just nitpicking? Seems like all the reviews I see of Oblivion, they say it’s very minor loading and jumping of frame-rate. What I’m experiencing is more serious. But again, I love this game. Loved Morrowind on Xbox. I just want to know what the deal is.
on May 14th, 2006 at 2:41 pm
I have had this same problem as of yesterday. I have had Oblivion since the day it came out and all of the sudden I am getting nothing but freezes to the point that the game will not even load for me now. I am not sure what to do now… I did not save the receipt and I know that it is to late to take it back to Gamestop anyway. Has this happened to anyone else?
on May 14th, 2006 at 6:17 pm
This is an interesting problem, as my brother has a 360 and his own disk of oblivion. He said his has been working fine - I took my disk to his machine, and the disk seemed to work fine with his save data. So either there is something wrong with my machine (every other game works perfectly, and the xbox itself seems to work fine too - only Oblivion freezes and lurches around), or my save data has something wrong with it? I called xbox tech support, and they said they have some issues with Oblivion, and can’t do much about it until a patch comes out. But they said maybe I could take the game back and get a new disk from the retailer, but it may still do the same thing.
on May 14th, 2006 at 6:19 pm
Oh, and xbox support said something about holding the A button down when having a problem, and that it may help it be slightly better??? Does this make any sense to anyone?
on May 15th, 2006 at 5:53 am
on saturday i was playin pgr3 on my 360 like i have played it any other time, it started to freeze on me, i thought that it was the disk so i tried pdz it still frooze so i tried n4s same thing happened so i turned it off and left it till yesterday now when i go to turn my 360 on all i get is a blank screen and 3 flashing red rings, ne 1 kno how i can fix it as my warranty is up ?
on May 16th, 2006 at 7:20 pm
I think I have the Oblivion problem worked out - not sure if this will work with other games? But you may try it with Oblivion to see if it helps your freezing and lurching problems. Called Xbox support (they are extremely helpful by the way - absolutely went out of their way to help), and I got the following:
Oblivion uses the xbox 360 hard drive extensively to cache (copy and reuse) game data. This helps optimize all the loading that the game does. According to xbox, it has been found that in rare cases some of the 360s cache can get fragmented, and shows itself by the game taking a long time to load anything. To help possibly solve this, reset your xbox, hold down the A button as the game is booting up. (They said that any button would actually work) and the hard drive will clear the cache and create a new one. Once the Bethesda logo is seen the game is loaded and the cache should be cleared. Doesn’t effect the game or save data in any other way.
I tried this last night, and had no problems playing Oblivion for the two hours I played it. Man, that felt great! My hat goes off to the Xbox team in being so helpful and their personal support.
on May 19th, 2006 at 5:26 am
Just got an XBOX 360 few days ago, was not expecting ever to get one but recieved it asw a gift so what the hell. I opened it yesterday and played 3 games on it so far.
Ghost Recon-which freezes half an hour in
Top Spin 2-which freezes around 2 hours in
the worst of all is Friday night fights. I cant even go a single minute without the machine locking up. the machine sits in an airy area so I dont see a problem. the tip on this page doesnt help. it seems the machine cant handle the games….i never wanted a 360 but now i wish i never even got it for free, no fun at all playing anything
on May 20th, 2006 at 5:56 pm
my xbox keeps on freezing every time i want to play it even frezees on the dashboard screen and nothing else happens not even an error message what can i do to get it repair
on May 21st, 2006 at 11:39 pm
my 360 is fine, PDZ and GRAW all work PERFECT but i only got bout 2 weeks ago. oblivion on da other hand, is fine, but when i get to this specific place (the exact same place all time). well see im stuck on a ship out a sea, killed the bandits who took over, took the leader prisoner, i saves the game,. then the owner sasy go get some rest, so i do, i get to the bed, rest and when about to wake up, full blowen CRASH. when eject disk pic still on screen, No red ring, Still green. there are no previous saves. no way to do anything else.
so i reset and trys again, same, same … same stc.. i havent try the cache thing yet but will. This problem really bugs me.
on May 23rd, 2006 at 8:22 pm
have had my 360 for 3 wks now have played call of duty2(it froze) played outfit(it froze) played modern combat and guess what it froze too.the only game that hasn’t froze is halo 2 an old game why the hell did i spend 499.oo dollars to play old xbox games!!!!!!!!!!!!!
on May 24th, 2006 at 12:23 am
lol.. sounds like this xbox360 shiz really sucks. I was gonna buy one next week too… now i think i’ll just stick with xbox old school.
Microsoft –> Stop releasing JUNK before it’s ready for the market.
Thanks
on May 26th, 2006 at 2:00 pm
My xbox 360 kept freezing up so i called microsoft, they told me to send it in for repair, a week later i got a differnt one back and it does not even read disks at all i am now sending that one back, not very happy with this system i only had my first xbox 360 for 6 months.
on May 30th, 2006 at 7:29 am
My 360 froze last night, whilst I was playing Call of Duty 2. I turned it off and on again. Unfortunately I lost my last seve point, I was annoyed as I wasted 30 mins game play. I’m wondering if this will be a regular occurance?
on May 30th, 2006 at 2:55 pm
i have problems too but just when i play xbox first titles, any other game in my 360 runs great no problem and no freezing i will try the metod of the power supply but i thing this treat is deeper not as easy as just lift the power supply up.
on May 30th, 2006 at 8:44 pm
I have had four Xbox 360s…. every single one has done the same thing.. this system is making me mad…. everytime i turn it on the screen goes green or grey or red…. or any other color thinkable… luckily Microsoft keeps sending me knew ones…. and they send me free games… cuz it has happend so many times… but still GET IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME!!!!
on June 2nd, 2006 at 7:53 am
I am playing Call of Duty ok now, there are no freeze up problems so far.
on June 2nd, 2006 at 10:17 am
you all got problems! unlucky! only problem i have is going online with GRAW and trying to play dry dock, on the loading screen it just freezes!!! im alright with that seen as im not much of a fan of that map! i bought my 360 in april and ive done the achievment on GRAW where you play Multiplayer on xbox live for at least 8 hours straight…. i done that without a problem….i leave my 360 on the middle of my shelf with nothing on either side of it and i leave it standing up.. (better airflow) and i just leave my powersupply near the edge of the shelf…. everyone is saying PS3 wont have this problem because it will learn from 360.. but seriously they got a major problem as it is already! like WTF is up with the look of it? it looks like a cheap bread bin!! and the controller… is like a over size banana…
PS3 is going to be released late which means the 360 is estimated to sell another 10million consoles… for once PS hav meet there match and they got a hard job to even come close to the quality and power the 360 as to offer!
on June 4th, 2006 at 10:06 pm
i just got thisstand for my 360 that has a fan at the bottom of it(it’s made be pelican). the thing is absolutly silent.ive been playing oblivion for 5 hours now without a single freeze!!!!!
on June 5th, 2006 at 8:29 am
I have just bought Oblivion as well and during the start up when first loading, the sound keeps fragmenting in 4 second cycles. When the menu comes up, the music plays fine but when you go further and start a new game and it follows into the first intro scene, the music plays for around 4 secs then pauses and then plays for another 4 secs constantly. I have checked the disc and it is immaculate with no scratches, so I am led to assume that this is also a cache issue…. Has anyone else experienced the same problems? To date I have had no problems with FN3 Call of Duty2(except for the fact that when I was playing the career mode it wouldnt save and advance through missions.) And about that holding down the A button to reset the Cache.. Well… If its works…it has no effect on my machine.
on June 5th, 2006 at 3:33 pm
I just bought a new xbox and the POS froze up on me after only 30 MF minutes of playin it. I looked on the net to see if anyone knew what 2 do and on gamespot.com they told me to hve the power cord dangle in the air using string to let the heat flow out of it better. I tried this and i played it for about four hours straight. Then the next day i turned it on to play it and in the next five mins it freezes on me. Im just f’n pissed the system is tight as shiznit but the damn thing just keep freezin.
on June 6th, 2006 at 2:44 pm
first i found this site and i was like oh is it power supply that overheats? so i tried lifting the power supply of the ground. i could play the demo i downloaded (Planet Lost) without crashing, before it crashed like everytime
so i played the demo intense made alot of explosions ya know, played the 2 levels without problems, so i was like cool its fixed, but when my cousin went over he played the demo again, and ya know what xbox frooze up again!, so i called microsoft for the third time! and now they gonna send me my THIRD BRAND NEW XBOX360 !! way to go m$, and ill bet all my saving money on it it wont be fixed!! , you guys have to help me out
on June 6th, 2006 at 2:46 pm
oh i forgot to NoKoZaIkU -> dude put your xbox360 on 60hertz its in options had that problem aswel, it should be fixed, but also you will probably get alot of disc read errors like i did! and game freezings. ciao
on June 7th, 2006 at 11:12 am
I can’t understand how microsoft can ignore the problems with the xbox360. I have emailed them to complain but have not had a reply. I refuse to dismantle my Xbox360, hang the power supply from a piece of string or alter my power supply. The Sale of Goods Act says that the goods should be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described. Because the Xbox360 crashes and freezes so frequently, It contravenes our rights as consumers. It’s a real pity because the games are exellent and online is such good fun. However, the freezing problem is beginning to outweigh the entertainment value.
on June 9th, 2006 at 12:22 am
For you Oblivion users, clear your cache. power off xbox and during startup hold down the A key. If wireless controller, get it linked asap and then hold down A. do so until oblivion bethesda screen appears then release. This will clear your cache. Oblivion was pissing me off until I did this and now its smooth as ice.
on June 10th, 2006 at 3:28 am
I got my 360 on christmas. Its been about 6 months still no freezing, but when im playing 4 about 10 mins my controller(not wireless) shutsdown and the meassage to reconnect the controller comes up. but after 2 min my controller comes on. every 10 mins my controller still shutsdown. I make suer its plugged in good and it is but it still shutsdown but then it starts up. how shitty. Any suggestions
on June 10th, 2006 at 7:36 pm
I just got the 360 yesterday and had 1 issue with locking up, but about 10 issues where in the middle of the game (Oblivion) it says can not read disk, wipe off and restart. I just got the game yesterday and it is fine. I just hit play game and reload saved part. Anyone having that issue?
on June 17th, 2006 at 4:39 pm
i’ve had my xbox 360 for about 3 weeks it has been working fine until one day i put in PGR3 and it says( to play this game put it in an xbox 360 ) like WTF !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! this is an xbox 360 and it says to clean disk and restart after that i did clean the disk it took me into my dashboard and it just stayed in reading disk for about 5 minutes then it just said open tray. Any suggestions anyone i love this system i still think its tight.
on June 29th, 2006 at 9:21 am
Hey all, been reading all of your problems and i also share a problem with the xbox 360, the problem mainly occurs when trying to play old games, i.e. for the original xbox, and i know your thinking maybe he’s mad, paying £400 for an xbox 360 to play the old games, but thers only a few of the new games i like, although i have had problems with it freezing on the newer games, mainly nfsmw, and graw, thing is, i get a chess board effect on my screen with like the same colours and its really wierd, i reset it, and i get the whole three lights error, which is a hardware failure, get this, i have game saves for all the new games, which are nearly completed, and yet when i called microsoft, they said that it will all be deleted, i find this rather unfair, i mean surely they can back it up or something, but no, and they wont tell me how to back it up unless i go buy a memory card, which i cant cos im in the middle of nowhere with a blown up car (Blew me engnine, lol) so yeah, many problems with the first and now this with the second, all microsoft is good for in my eyes, is to crack thier operating systems, which is something to do !!!!
on June 29th, 2006 at 12:58 pm
XBOX 360 = SERIOUS FREEZE PROBLEM.
ive had my xbox 360 a while now, i brought it with two of my other mates so we can play it mainly on xbox live, which for me doesnt work, but thats my internet problem, no worrys from xbox side. ONE GENUINE FLAW with xbox 360, it DOES freeze! i brought hitman blood money, played the first level, kept freezing a few times, so i couldnt get passed the first level, eventually i managed to get passed it but then in other levels it froze every so often. So, i exchanged my hitman game for another, what happens?? it freezes still, in the same way. so i thought it must be a faulty xbox, i exchanged it, guess what the game still freezes. my other games appear to be fine, but when me and my mates play call of duty on multiplayer on my friends xbox 360, it freezes every so often. VERY ANNOYING! the xbox 360 has great graphics and gameplay, but this is ruined by the constant freezing. also the xbox 360’s fan is way to noisy. i advise you not have your xbox next to your tv because the only thing you’ll hear is the fan in the xbox. i seriously think microsoft should have sorted these problems out before they commisioned these xbox’s. also, youll need a heat proof mat to put the xbox on, i can cook a fry up on my xbox after its been on a while. sort it out!!!
on July 4th, 2006 at 3:50 am
Reseverved an Xbox 360 during first launch and recieved it Nov 05. I’ve played Quake 4, Madden NFL 06 and Oblivion heavily until June 06. Suddenly within the last 3 weeks after being forced while online to download software updates, the 360 has been displaying all the errors listed in this post; freeze, wierd display and red power indication. I called the 1 800 number listed in this post and should be recieving a prepaid box in a few days to send just the core system (no cables or hard drive) in for an updated Xbox 360 core system. The gentleman I spoke to commented Microsoft is changing/updating many core system componets and there is no indication of power supply issues. I’m curious why the power supply won’t be replaced since many issues have been supposedly isolated to the power supply.
Hopefully I’ll be back online playing Madden 06 (practice for Madden 07) and Oblivion within 3 weeks. I never asked how soon I should get my replacement system but I will be able to track the Fedex package. Maybe the updated system will be more backward compatible. I’d love to know what Microsoft is really doing about 360 issues. If you have any answers Holla!
avaughan1@satx.rr.com
Gamertag: Cremzen
on July 6th, 2006 at 4:16 am
Michael from June 10 and Mike from June 17, Im having the same problem, I had just bought a new Xbox 360 a week ago and it was working fine till tonight. i started noticing that it ws running kinda slow so i turned it off when i turned it back on it said it could not play put in Xbox 360. at other times it starts to play it as a DVD. I dont know if its a overheating problem, if its permanent, or anything if anyone knows the correct way of fixing it please inform.
on July 9th, 2006 at 11:25 am
You said that M$ sent you a prepaid box to fix/replace the broken xbox360. did they charge you?
Cause I have the same problem and I got the box back in November and they want to charge me 125+30 to fix the issue. Please let me know what did you do so you can help me out.
on July 11th, 2006 at 1:12 pm
i bought the 360 3 days ago it IS NOT THE GAMES BUT THE XBOX ITSELF THE FREEZES oblivion freezes just like morrowwind on the orignal n fuck holdin the power suppy i paid 400+ for this shit microsoft can hold my nuts as much as i hate playstation i think ima switch
on July 17th, 2006 at 5:38 pm
omfg this is so stupid i bought an xbox 360 and i buy oblivion and i play for about 5 mins and a screen comes up and says it cant read disc even know it was brand new !!!!!!! i am thinking it is probably overheating or something. if anyone has any suggestons plz tell me !!!! im not paying 400 $ for something i cant play - im gunna kill microsoft !!!! they need to stop caring so much about getting their console out before ps3 and start worrying about their customers !!!!!!!!
on July 21st, 2006 at 3:58 pm
man, ive had my 360 for about 1 month and everything was fine for about 3 weeks then topspin 2 and oblivion tend to freeze now, pisses me off. i ahve my 360 sitting on a box, basicallly in the center of t he room with nothing around it, fvcking system gets HOOTTTT to, xbox was never that hot, remember how nicely xbox ran and how quiet and cool it was. this is next GEN!!!! mircosoft can sck my balls quite honestly, i called customer support and they said it may be a harddrive problem or s ystem. so im sending my 360 in for repairs, it better work
on July 24th, 2006 at 6:46 pm
ok im trying to fix this thing myself before i spend $130+shipping and handling to get this thing fixed…so how do u switch it to 60hertz?
on July 25th, 2006 at 3:18 pm
youve excelled your self this time mircosoft, this is obviously a mass issue with the xbox 360s, its seems to be common that they freeze and get hotter than a barbeque. thats what happens when you rush the release date. nothing but bad news for microsoft now, this issue should be made public soon i would of thought, because ppl wont be happy spending this much just to have it f*** up on u. really disapointed with microsoft. really really disappointed. i cant enjoy a game with the damn fan makin as much noise as a hoover, and if it freezes up 1 more time im gna shove it up bill gates ass. get your f***ing xboxs remade and better and you better f***ing swap it for me!!!!!!!!1
on July 28th, 2006 at 7:40 pm
I have read about so many people with problems with their 360. I bought mine around July 15. I waited a while because I figured they would have maybe a second or third generation out by then.
I have had very few problems to speak of, all of which are with Chromehounds, which from what I have read, is due to the game itself.
I have my Xbox 360 standing vertically as the motherboard and all main components are on the left side (if one was looking at the front of the console) and it has nothing but open air for 3 ft around it. I never get any overheating problems, and my power supply seems to warm up a little, but nothing scary at all.
The games are lots of fun. Dispite the impossibility of Call of Duty 2 on veteran, I find myself laughing and enjoying the games far more than swearing in a violent rage.
I also got the 2 year warranty so if any problems do arise, I can take comfort knowing my investment is protected.
on July 29th, 2006 at 2:36 am
I can relate to everyone, mine just crapped out in me too. 130 bucks seems unfare to fix a problem that is a design flaw. and the 8004myxbox people are fucking tools!!
on August 9th, 2006 at 4:34 pm
I got my xbox 360 when it came out. a week ago it gave me that red light error thing. my warrantee expired in june, i called xbox support and they want $129.00 to fix it. anyone have any ideas on how to fix it for cheap or tips on how to get another system.
on August 13th, 2006 at 7:12 pm
I sent my 360 in once already and had a new one delivered to me and now this one freezes all the time during Dead Rising and Chrome Hounds could this be overheating on the power supply or just mircosoft is a bunch of cheap dirty rats trying to make as much money as possible as if Bill Gates doesn’t have enough of it. It helpful if someone could help me. Am I going to have to send it in again and I really haven’t had mine on for long period of times.
on August 15th, 2006 at 2:30 am
hey can any one help me? my xbox 360 broke it stop starting up and the red light turns on. i tryed working on it and it a giant metal box with plugs and a plasic case. and microsoft wants $130 to fix it. can anyone give me any idea where i can take it to get it fix cheaper then $130?
on August 20th, 2006 at 11:00 pm
XBOX 360 is the worst hardware I have ever owned - I feel so stupid sellin my PS2 and working so hard to get the extra money to buy a XBOX 360 and to now have it not working. Basically I am facing the problem of the system freezing within a minute of being turned on - red lights flashing at times - man this sucks totally.
I hate M$ and I dont want a replacement I want back my f*cking money
on August 22nd, 2006 at 12:56 pm
my xbox 360 started freezing up occasionaly, then all the time, now it wont start at all, just show the three red lights, tried pulling everything off, cleaning power supply, and nothing, xbox wants $180 dollars to fix it. they’re ****ing crazy. thats nice customer service from microsoft, i havent even had it for a year, shit there are regular nintendos out there that still work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
on August 22nd, 2006 at 1:16 pm
i thinked figured out what was wrong and fixed mine. I took a shop vacuum to it and vacuumed out all of the the vents any area dust can get it, now mine is working, froze up when i first put a game in it but now it is working fine. i bet if vacuuming out the outside doesnt work, take the casing off and vacuum it out more, i bet the fan is pulling in to much dust with those open vents and messing up the system, hopefully this is the answer, good luck, microsoft isnt screwing me for $180 dollars!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
on August 24th, 2006 at 8:47 pm
I have loved sony since it first started pumping out machines. I swore to god i would never buy a microsoft gaming console. Sadly, i broke down and had to buy the 360 because i couldnt wait that long for a PS3. So i spent about 700$ on the machine, some accessories, and some games, and what do i get rewarded with? A console that sounds like a jet taking off that runs at 400 degrees and freezes up every ten minutes. What a piece of garbage. My Sega genisis thats like 100 years old works better than this piece of trash.
on August 24th, 2006 at 10:11 pm
I really like the XBox 360, but I haven’t got a single problem at all lately. The only problem was that it couldn’t read a game I have (Burnout Revenge) just because I changed from vertical to horizontal during gameplay. It scratched the disk, but it still works. I found out a solution. When you’re loading and it says “Disc Unreadable”, take the disc out, put it back in, restart the console, then go back to the same place where the problem happened (refering to the loading screen) and hold any button you wish while loading. I tried it, and my game works perfectly. I don’t know why, but it just works. I also have Oblivion and it’s pretty fun to play. I haven’t got any freezes lately and I’m hoping not to. Maybe it just freezes from overheating. I’m not sure because I don’t play 5 hours. I play like 1-2 hours. Then I just shut it off. Plus, you need your XBox placed in a well ventilated area. I think it’s smart thing to get the intercooler. My friend has it and he said it works like a charm. It cools down the XBox after playing for a long time (which prevents freezing). I’m going to get one soon because I’m scared of breaking my XBox. I had another problem with the controllers when it just disconnected automaticly. I was really scared if it was my console or the controller itself. Later I found out that I haven’t put the battery slot all the way in so it was loose. It was stupid of me. I feel pretty lucky to not have a defective XBox (I think). I’ve had this baby for about 4 months and it runs smooth as ice. I mean, if I get the Ring of Death, I’ll just replace it (I’ve read an article in “www.teamxbox.com” that if you have the “Ring Of Death”, they’ll fix the problem for free because it kept occuring). So I feel bad for the people who spent $130 on the “Ring of Death” problem, because Microsoft are fixing it for free now. Pretty funny, because they scammed you. And if you want to read the article, go on to the site and go to “Editorials”. Just scroll down and you’ll see it. And if the XBox that was replaced was defective, I’ll get a new one with a free game (also said in article) and sell it right off of Ebay with the game. And since it’s a new XBox 360 and a new game, I’ll probably get a full refund. And when I send the defective XBox(es) I’ll keep the HDD’s and all the other accesories and sell that to ebay. Which I get more money. And maybe more with the other games I own. Then I’ll give that money to my mom (which was her’s in the first place because she bought the 360 for me) and ask her to get me a PS3. It’s pretty weird how everything in my room, is what I haven’t spent a penny on. :]
on August 25th, 2006 at 12:34 am
ok im pissed off had my system for over 7 months now and it worked fine…..until now.now it freezes befor i can even get into the dashboard i did everything the websites said….nothing lol and its pissing me off cause this same thing happened to my cousins box and microsoft rippped him off he payed 130$ and they said theyd mail him a box LMAO no box and its been two weeks
on August 28th, 2006 at 7:58 pm
I’ve had the Dirty Disc Error on a few different game discs since buying -and playing daily- my 360 exactly a month ago.
Recently I had a few instances where my G.R.A.W. froze during the Load screen of the 1-player campaign… again and again. So, I later tried the same game in Multiplayer Campaign, got beyond a load screen & about ten seconds into moving my character about, the system froze again. In both instances, I had to power the 360 manually with the console button, as the controller was unresponsive/ I couldn’t bring up the Dashboard. No Dirty Disc Error accompanied this problem.
I have just a thought, but no solution & maybe anyone who cares could study this idea. Could the problem be with the disc itself? I don’t mean the software on this disc, but the hardware OF the disc. I suspect this to be the issue, though its only a guess. …. An ‘educated’ guess because of the Dirty Disc Error. A possible solution could be a correction to the way the compact discs are manufactured, packaged, shipped, or all-of-the-above
on August 30th, 2006 at 11:51 pm
I’ve had my 360 since February, and everything was great until last night, when it started to freeze, even at startup. No heat problems, as this is happening as soon as I start the console for the first time. Now, I have this red ring of light. Now that’s when I realized I’m screwed. I called the 800 number and they said I have to send it for repair. I found this thread and confirmed that this is the only way, at least for getting a new console, that will probably fail in the future.
on September 1st, 2006 at 1:52 am
i got the three red lights
the question in
would you be next?
on September 8th, 2006 at 7:15 am
I wounder how many % of the beta 360 has this problem?
My launch date 360 worked fine for some months, now its freezing all the time, even when playing halo2.
Calling M$ support for Scandinavia has wasted my time and money , but no reply….
on September 8th, 2006 at 10:43 am
This thing is crap…. It dosent matter if there is a game in it or not it Freezes almost immediately, I got mine as a gift a few days ago, but have no idea when it was truly purchased as that relative that got it for me is on vacation on a cruise. What can I do? does holding the powersupply up really fix the problem? for 400 dollars the damn thing had better learn to give BJs because microsuck can suck it! I am PISSED.
on September 10th, 2006 at 6:10 am
yo mom
on September 16th, 2006 at 6:27 am
Hey All,
I originally bought my 360 on launch date, and had no problems until mid-May when I got the dreaded ring of death! Called M$ and of course they wanted me to pay $129 for repair of what they said was a manufacturers defect!!! Well by the time I dot done arguing with them it only cost me $96.75 and I received a free game. I received the “new” unit back on June 25th, then it too died on July 13th. Called M$ support again, they sent another box, etc. Received what they told me was a replacement unit on July 25th, and that only lasted until Sept. 14th when the screen starting freezing. After spending 2 hours on the phone with them all the manager on the phone would say was “you are out of warranty, that will be $139 for the repair” she kept repeating this like a broken record for almost 20 minutes. So I got online and tried all the fixes I could find, and it kept freezing. The next morning I turn on the console and get the 3 red lights (1,3,4) and was about ready to throw it through the wall! I call M$ support again, and all of the sudden my unit is under warranty again? Imagine that, selective warranties depending on the supervisor you talk too. There customer service dept. is a joke, and if I ran my business like that, I would be out of business. So I will be on my 4th console soon.
Also, to the person who said they would get their “new” unit and seperate everything and sell on ebay, well you only ship them the console itself, and that is all you get beack (no controller, hdd, etc) and don’t be fooled when into thinking it’s a different unit because the serial number is different. I was told that I had received the same unit back twice that I had originally purchased, and that when they do a repair they change the serial number. So they claim I will receive a new unit this time (i’ve put a mark on the disc drawer so I’ll know).
on September 16th, 2006 at 4:40 pm
Add a “me too” to the posts above.
My 360 worked great for the first 8 months or so. Two days ago, it started freezing in Lego Star Wars 2. Now it freezes within 2-3 mins of starting up any game - even demos.
Microsoft wants $140 for repair. Same old story - “it’s out of warranty”, “you should have gotten an extended warranty”, “there’s nothing I can do for you”. Best offer was to knock 25% off the repair cost - which still leaves it over $100.
I understand the warranty is three months, but from a business perspective, I find it amazing that Microsoft thinks charging people half the cost of a new console to repair a defective product is a smart business practice. Reading various online forums, it’s clear that this is a widespread problem. These aren’t routine errors. They’re defective, and hiding behind the three month warranty isn’t going to satisfy this customer.
Microsoft should stand behind its product and support its loyal customers by repairing these defective consoles without charge. They’ll surely make cover their costs with the money they’ll continue to rake in from the games, subscriptions, accessories, etc the affected customers purchase after they receive a repaired console.
on September 20th, 2006 at 4:09 pm
I think you all got it wrong,
it seems that i have had all the problems you have with the X360 console today. RING of LIGHT turns red and some times my console does work, but after a while crashes
I started getting crazy for a while but after my dad’s girlfriend came in, He told me that my GAME CD’s are dirty even if it didn.t look like they were.
So i cleaned my GAME CD’s with a little bit of Dish washing soap and cleaned them with a verry soft Towl (the same towel wich you clean your Glasses with,if you have any glasses anyhow it must be verry soft towel)
Afte i have done that, I put my game cd back in the Console and everything worked pretty Fine again, it was unbelievable, but i think that if you are not really that kind with your GAME CD’s it will fuck up your X360.
I almost sen back my X360 to MS and now i don’t have too.
Metric System
PS: Keep you Adapter Cool or it will get warm
on September 21st, 2006 at 9:07 pm
360 PROBLEMS, POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS, & WARRANTY INFO:
–SUMMARY–
I purchased my 360 in late January 2006 and never had a single problem until a few days ago (September 17, 2006). Before I relay my experience I want to mention I have performed a great deal of research over the past few days. After visiting many different sites I was surprised to find so many other people had the freezing and red ring of lights problems. Unfortunately many posts are just rants, so I will try to explain the problem, my attempts to rectify it, and ultimately the resolution. It’s kind of long, so skip to the end if you want to read my epiphany.
–PROBLEMS–
At first I got the red ring of lights while playing a game of GRAW (not a big deal). I assumed this was due to a software problem, and upon rebooting my machine worked properly for the remainder of the day. Unfortunately the next evening my freeze problems began. The red lights no longer appeared, but my console would crash as soon a game would begin to boot. I could still boot to the Dashboard, but movies, music cd’s, and games all would cause the freeze to occur. It seems that some people have different types of freezes. My freeze had the following characteristics; dvd or cd would freeze within 30 seconds of starting, short vertical grey lines would appear sporadically, and a loud pitched sound would emanate from my tv speakers. Sometimes I could actually get through a game menu and start playing a game, but it would always freeze within 30 seconds or so (most of the time within 5 seconds).
–POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS–
There are many simple solutions you should try for both problems, such as checking your connections. Surprisingly (at least to me) Microsoft actually has some info on their Xbox support site. I find it interesting that the first 2 links on the site concern these problems (low failure rate?). Follow the link and look at the first 2 links.
www.xbox.com/en-US/support/?WT.svl=nav
Some people were able to eliminate their problems by clearing the system cache (hold “A” before a game begins to boot). I tried clearing the cache, removing all peripherals (including the hard drive and wireless ethernet adapter), and unplugging the unit from the power adapter for an extended period of time. I also tried cleaning my discs, moving my unit to a vertical position, checking the power supply LED during a crash, verifying the system time and time zone was set, and ensuring that the unit wasn’t already overheated (it was ice cold in the freezing basement sitting on the ground far away from all other objects except a random house spider and of course the carpet). None of these corrected my problem. The next step was to call Microsoft and diplomatically state my case.
–WARRANTY INFO–
Of course I never bought the extended Microsoft or Best Buy warranty. The standard 90 day warranty was long gone. After going through the same checklists from the support site with a tech I was informed of the dreaded $129 fee + shipping + extended warranty fee. When I asked if Microsoft had documentation concerning defective machines and the freeze problems I was immediately put on hold. The supervisor told me that my machine had to be purchased before January 1, 2006. I told him I didn’t want the service and got off the phone.
I had a tough time stomaching this expense when the problem was clearly documented by so many users. So I performed more research (to no avail). When I called back I received a different tech who had to walk me through the same troubleshooting steps. However, he informed me of something I have yet to see in another post. If your machine was manufactured before January 1, 2006 (look on the back of your machine for the date) if will be replaced free of charge by Microsoft. Not only this, but you will receive a one year warranty for free. This is vastly different information than I obtained on my first call. Armed with this info, anyone who has a machine manufactured before this date should be able to obtain the free repair and warranty. I read some success stories of people who complained and got the repair for a discounted fee or free. Most people said they got the shaft. My suggestion is to call back and get a different rep again and again and again till you get what you want. Complain until it’s more cost effective for them to repair your machine. Best of luck.
on September 22nd, 2006 at 12:52 pm
Yea i had the same shit happen to me i just voided my warranty because i took apart my third 360 in frustration. The good news is when i have it all opened is I can play a game for 3 hours without freezing as oposed to 20 minutes with it in the case. I wrote microsoft a letter saying i voided my warranty but i will not pay for the repairs for my 4th xbox in 2 months. Ill prolly just sell it and wait for ps3 cuz microsoft sucks ass
on September 26th, 2006 at 10:15 pm
My 360 seems to be in between all yours, not bad or good.
It freezes up with no lights or anything and the fans die down in noise when it does. That has happened about 6 times total on about 5 different games in the period of 3 months ive had it.
Overall I say Go buy it, comps with the same cababilities cost more just for their graphics card alone.
That And I really think it alot to to with the disk, but really, live cancells it out, Its just Amazing!
on September 28th, 2006 at 10:55 am
My xbox 360 symptoms -
Mfg date: 2006-03-22
Purchased 2006-04-26
First symptom was occasional in-game lock-up with white noise, and many vertical white dotted lines on screen (once these lines were pink).
Then came crashes with a checkerboard pattern, both in-game or at Xbox boot/logo screen.
If the Xbox didn’t make it that far I’d get the 3 red rings at power-on (upper left & lower 2 lights).
—————
I took perfect care of this Xbox. Too many people are having this problem–this is a design flaw in the Xbox & should be repaired at no cost.
on September 30th, 2006 at 11:43 pm
why didn’t i go to a site like this first. i have been to site after site reading page after page of this problem searching for the answer. all i hear is complaints. walmart won’t take it back. i don’t even want it fixed after reading this. maybe i can get visa to reverse the charges to my account. 5 days and its dead mgf date 4/30/06
on October 7th, 2006 at 4:01 pm
Well, here I am…joining the ever growing group. I got the xbox 360 as a gift from my wife (just married) in Feb 06. I started playing it in March (after honeymoon) and yesterday night 6th Oct, 06 it froze while I was loading Test Drive Unlimited (I froze in shock at the same time). I rebooted directly on the xbox 360 by pressing the power button then it froze again after the game had loaded. It did this about two more times. It’s worth noting I had it on the carpet in our bedroom. Then I moved it to the vertical position on the bedroom wooden TV stand. I rebooted twice and on the second time it worked and I played for about 2 hours. Today 7th Oct, 06 when I got home I switched it on and it froze at the very begining while the xbox 360 sign was coming on. It did this a couple of times and even once showed the red rings of death! It was a hot day and the room was quite warm so I turned on the A/C rebooted a few times and it worked and I played Deadrising for about an hour with my room A/C running which co-incidentally sits just above and behind the TV and now vertically placed xbox 360. I then had to go run some errands. It is also worth noting that previously it sat in our living room, horizontal position on a wooden stand and the power supply block was on the tile floor. Good ventilation all round. I am wondering whether the loud (strong) internal cooling fun sucked up little fluff or dust from the carpet through the machine and is causing it to over heat??? Never had such a problem on a video game machine before. I am actually a PS fan and have had a PS 1 and still have PS2s and plan on buying the PS3. I never intended to get an Xbox360 but since my wife was kind enough to buy me one as a gift, I was excited and the games have proved awesome! Best to date! For example I have never had as much fun playing a shooting game as I have with Call of Duty 2. Simply awesome. Overall, the games have been top notch and definately give the feel of next generation. Which brings me to my dilemma, I don’t want to let my wife know that the present she gave me is about to kick the basket sort of speak. So if this one fails I will have to get a new one to play once in a while and will then switch primary gaming to the PS3 once I get it (knock on wood that it’s electronics are sorted, though Sony is usually reliable in that department). It’s just sad and in my case double sad, I don’t want my wife to know that it’s starting to fail and I was really enjoying playing games on the xbox 360 and I’m not keen on forking out money every 6 months for a new machine just to keep my 7 game collection going.
on October 7th, 2006 at 11:37 pm
Well I’ve had my Xbox 360 for 3 months now it was playing fine for 2 weeks then it started freezing. The problem was that it was overheating so I took and old cooling fan off a server and hooked a 12 volt adaptor up to in and bam problem solved…… Well almost now the only problem is Occasionally it will freeze but what I will do is turn it off for 5-10 min let it cool down turn on my 12volt fan stationed behind the 360, make sure its getting proper air flow, and last have it on a horizontal surface supported by two objects on its edges to allow air from the fan to circulate not only into the Xbox but also under and above it to remove maximum heat and stop the freezing. i have also heard about the Power supply problem and well I recommend like many others just to elevate it off the ground and have it in proper air flow. Also if you want to be all professional you could buy the intercooler from ebgames.com or various other places like walmart and such. Here is a link to a crudly drawn diagram of what I have done to stop my 360 from overheating.
img244.imageshack.us/img244/9353/untitledvw3.png
on October 8th, 2006 at 12:16 am
my 360 crashed less than 5 minuites ago… thanks for the help
on October 9th, 2006 at 6:31 am
I now moved my Xbox to a flat surface so that it is sitting horizontally, I also moved the power supply onto a table, I then vacumed the xbox360 and power supply by putting the vacum tube up against all the vents I could see on both the power supply and xbox360. Then switch on the Xbox360 and let it run for a few minutes before putting a disc in. I kept the A/C in the room on. Deadrising worked with no problems at all. Test drive unlimited froze a bit then I took it out and cleaned the DVD then put it back and it worked fine. I’m haven’t yet switched on the xbox 360 today but will do and hope it still works.
on October 9th, 2006 at 3:53 pm
Worked straight a few hours ago. Will post if the problem returns.
on October 9th, 2006 at 5:50 pm
I’ve owned my 360 since Dec18th 2005 & thought I was lucky, no problems. But within the last week I’ve started having these crashes where the 360 freezes but the lights are still all green. I tried the trick with an empty box under the power brick, no luck. I plugged it into another power outlet, nope. I disconnected the cables from the machine, no difference.
The problem is really bad when played Just Cause, it’ll crash after 5 minutes again & again. I switched to Godfather which had also been crashing a few times, played for 30 minutes then it crashed again.
Needless to say I’m not impressed with Microsoft at this point. I’ve been reading it costs about $125 to have it fixed which is not making me happy. There is no way in hell a console that is never moved & is in a totally open space should fail after only 8 months, it’s riduculous.
I’d been lucky up till now, my launch day PS2 never died & my Xbox was fine but this has been a very disappointing experience for me.
on October 12th, 2006 at 6:35 am
I’ve owned my 360 since launchday in the UK and it’s been flawless until a week or so ago when my 22 month old son gently kicked a football at it. Since then it crashes intermittently with the vertical lines on the screen. Sometimes it’s fine for hours on end, I’ve had it on for 24 hours straight to test the theory about the overheating power supply and it was fine, not a single crash, other times it crashes within a couple of minutes after startup, I’ve also had the red lights come up around the power button on the console a few times. I’m sending it back as soon as I can get someone on the support line who speaks English well enough to understand them. >.
on October 13th, 2006 at 5:14 am
I replaced two consoles because of a GRAW bug that gave me the red circle of death after the first save. Dead Rising started giving me disc errors after an hour or more of playing. Now, I just bought Elder Scrolls and 12 hours into it I can’t play for more than 5 minutes without a disc error crash. I’m in Anvil for the first time and I can’t do anything past the part with the theiving whores. Goddamn you 360 you theiving, teasing whore.
on October 13th, 2006 at 10:00 am
I won an XBOX 360 in an incentive scheme about 3 weeks ago and have been well pleased with it. Although after the first week I started getting power supply problems. After I had shut the 360 down and left it for a while it wouldn’t start up again so I had unplug it from the mains and leave it, this seemed to sort it apart from the power supply light glowed amber instead of green. I have made sure my power pack is in a well ventilated place but it