Topic: Xbox Popped My Stressball

[stevey]

I remember someone else who wrote for a different news site (gonintendo probably) was able to get help after being **** around (hung up on, lie to, etc...) with consumer support line, and from just writing about it their site they where contacted by Microsoft press relations and got a new 360. So just pretend you're are a writer for a important videogame related news site that has more than 15 readers and email billg@microsoft.com and anyone on this list, like others have before, and get them to think you're important. Unlike there other lowly peasant customers.

Believe it or not, about half-way through last year, I considered gathering together a list of 360 games I'd want, and plan on trying to receive the console as a gift for Christmas.

Long story short, finding more and more articles about broken 360's and troubles getting those broken 360's repaired have caused me to change my mind.  It's really just Microsoft's loss.

I did the same exact thing, too bad the PS3 has no good games...

[Crimm]

Seriously, do the e-mail that I put in my other post. This goes for anyone - the repair status on xbox.com is not very accurate, especially if your system goes to Texas. The guy named Steve will call you (repeatedly), to tell you the status, tell you when it really ships, and after you receive your console.

I sent an email at 12.  He called me at 3:30 but I was in a meeting.  We played phonetag the rest of the afternoon.  Wasn't Steve though.

[Crimm]

I just got a call from the advocate.  I am impressed.  Hopefully I'll have a full update tomorrow.

[Morari]

All this money people spend on Xbox 360s could buy you a killer gaming PC.

And then after a quick install of a few emulators you're playing every game for every system!

User was warned for this post.

[BlackNMild2k1]

So just pretend you're are a writer for a important videogame related news site that has more than 15 reader and email billg@microsoft.com and anyone on this list, like others have before, and get them to think you're important. Unlike there other lowly peasant customers.

LOL

[oohhboy]

Surely you jest Stevey.

I for one advocate scorched earth tactics. They need to be taught a lesson. Forcing you to go above their heads and using contacts most people do not have is unacceptable.

That Billion dollars they allocated for RRoD alone could have brought a milllion decent gaming PCs.

Burn them, burn them now.

[Crimm]

Surely you jest Stevey.

I for one advocate scorched earth tactics. They need to be taught a lesson. Forcing you to go above their heads and using contacts most people do not have is unacceptable.

That Billion dollars they allocated for RRoD alone could have brought a milllion decent gaming PCs.

Burn them, burn them now.

 

[ShyGuy]

Crimm, Microsoft is a petulant child and you are rewarding there bad behaviour. Burn them, burn them now.

[KDR_11k]

That really isn't a big loss...

That was the first great non-PC game I could think of (and yes, it is great). How about Earth Defense Force 2017?

[ShyGuy]

Earth Defense Force 2017 is very good. Need a port to the Wii

[Plugabugz]

Just suffix it with "Microsoft is the worst thing since the invention of humanity" and you'll be set.

[S-U-P-E-R]

That is a cool story but I had the exact opposite experience and enjoy playing my 360 daily. Woot.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Is that why you do nothing here?  Your system works?

[Ymeegod]

Well I had all three systems die on me; both the WII and the PS3 had drive troubles (the Blu-ray laser needed replacement for the PS3 and on the WII the entire drive was replaced).  My Xbox 360 suffered from E74 error message which is almost as popular as the Red Ring of Death.

For customer support, Big N wins hands down.  Took less than 10 days and I recieved MY WII back--not some refurbished unit.  Hell, when I ordered an replacement sensor bar they nextday shipped it which costed them $17.  That's A+ rating.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Isn't the E74 error just MS fixing the 360's so that the red of death didn't show up and then they can say that that error wasn't covered in the repair program even though they ended up fixing them anyway? Or was that all just some crazy conspiracy theory?

[williamsjj]

I've had two RRODs, one in January 2008 and another in December 2009.  After the first, Microsoft repaired my console and sent it back to me.  After the second, Microsoft sent me a refurbished one.  In both instances I got a console back around 20 to 25 days after I shipped mine.  The customer service people were generally helpful and fortunately I didn't experience a nightmare like the writer of this article.  That said, I am very disappointed in the Xbox 360.  I can understand that they might have had problems with the console design, but if they truly understand what the problem is, why did my console RROD a second time after they supposedly fixed it?  The second RROD has shaken my faith that Microsoft has resolved the console's issues and I am not playing on buying any additional 360 games.  I already have a large library of uncompleted games and don't want to feel obligated to buy a new one when this one enevitably RRODs.  I now have a PS3 Slim and do most of my HD gaming on it.  It is 10 times quieter than my 360, has a bigger hard drive which I can replace if I choose, and is much cooler to the touch.  In my opinion with the new price, its a no-brainer, if you are in the market for a HD console, buy a PS3.       

[BranDonk Kong]

I made my own 250GB HDD, so drive noise is no longer an issue for me. Also, E74 has existed just as long as the 3 red lights issue (3 red lights is not *always* the GPU either), and it is very closely related to the 3 red lights (secondary error code 0103), but it's not a cover up or anything like that. It's either the scaler chip going bad, or an "exit point" from the GPU to the scaler.

[Ymeegod]

Yeah, E74 is basically either the GPU or the scaler chip overheated.  You should get 2 rings of death but for some reason you get just the 1 meaning hardware failure. 

To fix the issues you can fix them yourself 90% of the time.  You just remove the GPU's fan; restart the console--you'll get the 2 rings then which means overheating; reinstall the fan and use LOTS of thermal paste; and then buy an Ram heatsink and chop it to fit on the scaler chip; install it and add a bit of weight on it (people use stacks of pennies--I used cast iron bits).  Once you restart the system it should be fine. 

There's plenty of youtube files to help you.  I fixed one myself so it's fairly easy.

[KDR_11k]

Doesn't lots of thermal paste reduce the heat conducting ability since the stuff is only meant to fill the cracks, not replace the metal-to-metal contact?

[BranDonk Kong]

The less paste you use, the better. It needs to be very thin and even to work properly. You could put a *very* thin layer on the bottom of the heatsink and use a credit card to go *across the grain* to fill in tiny cracks though, and removing any "surface" paste. This will *never* fix the issue, but it may make it go away for a while. E74 is not overheating, btw - overheating is 2 red lights, which is an easy fix.

[Ymeegod]

No if you read my post you'll have to overheat your system in order to reset the lighter otherwise it'll just stay with 1 ring or 3 rings.  Some people use the towel method but I wouldn't recommend it because it causes more harm then good.  It's easier just to remove the silver heat sink on the GPU and restart the system causing it to blink 2 rings within seconds.  Once you do that you'll be able to restart the system and it'll go though the normal check system. 

People use the towel method (basically cooking the XBox by blocking the case intake) which will overheat the system but it takes like 40 minutes and could actually warp your board.  Alot of people use this method because it doesn't break the warranty sticker and you can sell it on Ebay or trade it in Gamestop because the system wil function but it's not going to last.  To fix the issue you really have to break into the system.

As for the themeral paste I used more than enough because the problem really has to do with the clips.  The heatsink is held down by these crappy clips which is why the heatsink seperates from the chip.  I didn't have any replacement parts for the clips (some people state you should have them replaced).  Hell some people didn't like the heatsink at all and replaced it with a much larger one.  I didn't brother with all that but I did add vent holes directly above the GPU. 

[RABicle]

:O 5th of December! I got an email on that day it read.

Thank you for contacting us.
One of our consultants will contact you to assist with your enquiry.
 
We aim to respond within two business days however due to a larger than expected demand for our services wait times are currently exceeding four business days.
 
Your reference number is  INT 1-26211720859, however if your request is urgent, please ring us at 132200.

NEVER HEARD FROM THEM AGAIN!

[BranDonk Kong]

Ymeegod - that's old school thinking. Overheating the system is bad, no matter what, even if it's just the GPU (I used to use this method) - it still causes the board to warp, which is actually why the system works afterwards, because the board warps in the opposite direction. Also, while the "X-Clamps" probably aren't the best architectural design in the world, the warping issues have more to do with the lack of evenly placed spaces between the motherboard and the metal chassis, and the lead-free (cheap) solder used to adhere the GPU and CPU (and everything else, but these are the main problems) to the motherboard. Luckily, the switch to the 65nm GPU (Jasper systems) has basically fixed this issue, as (unless you have the system enclosed in a box or small cabinet or something) the console never gets hot enough to cause the motherboard to flex.

[Madcat221]

Every time I consider getting an XBox 360, I am reminded by stories like this why I shouldn't.

[BranDonk Kong]

Get one, a new one. It will not break, plus you get 3 years anyway.