The General 360 Owners/Buyers FAQ Thread (Updated 1/15/10)

Ok, I'm having this problem starting last night. There is no communication going from either wireless or wired controller to my 360 S. The green light turns on but no images are shown and then it turned off.

I eventually unplugged the HDMI and plugged it back in and my kinect began to work as well as the controller connected. There was no signal and then I went and used another HDMI cable and got the image.

Would an HDMI problem actually cause this problem? Could I expect this problem again despite the HDMI issue? Just wondering if anyone encountered something like this.
 
I have to send in my current slim 250gb hard drive to Microsoft for replacement, the problem is I have a lot of content that I'd rather not have to re-download all over again.

I still have my old 120gb hard drive and I was wondering if it was possible to transfer everything from my current hard drive to that one and then vice versa once I receive the replacement? I've yet to fill up my current hard drive so I'm positive the old one has enough room.
 
God damn it. I think my slim is going out on me. I went to power it on an hour ago, and I am getting no signal from HDMI. When I turn it off, my TV says to "Connect Source" and when it's on, it's saying "Check connected devices power, cable connection and source selection." It's almost as if it's set to an incompatible video setting, but my Samsung is fully compatible with all settings.

I've swapped HDMI cables, as well as trying different ports on the TV, with same results.

No flashing red lights, no other symptoms leading up to this happening. Ugh...

And of course, the fucking thing is out of warranty.

Nevermind, it's the TV. I just tried a few other HDMI devices and the same result. Last Samsung I buy, especially a $2000+ one that's just over a year old.
 
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Anyone elses dashboard run extremely slow when browsing your games collection, marketplace etc? Sometimes it just takes forever to load stuff and i know its not my internet..
 
[quote name='guyver2077']Anyone elses dashboard run extremely slow when browsing your games collection, marketplace etc? Sometimes it just takes forever to load stuff and i know its not my internet..[/QUOTE]

Mine seems to have got very slow as well.
 
I just bought The Amazing Spider-Man for XBOX 360. The disc is brand new and in mint condition. I just installed it to my console's hard drive. I played for a bit then tried to exit the game and return to my dashboard however the screen goes black then the disc begins to spin loud and extremely fast. This doesn't happen with any other game I play. I tried looking it up on Google but I see tons of threads where everyone is giving different reasons. Some claim its a new anti-piracy measure while others claim you need to delete and reinstall. Another thread says if you set your xbox to play music, that will stop the disc from spinning. Can anyone here verify any of these claims or help me out?
 
[quote name='UnlockPotential']I just bought The Amazing Spider-Man for XBOX 360. The disc is brand new and in mint condition. I just installed it to my console's hard drive. I played for a bit then tried to exit the game and return to my dashboard however the screen goes black then the disc begins to spin loud and extremely fast. This doesn't happen with any other game I play. I tried looking it up on Google but I see tons of threads where everyone is giving different reasons. Some claim its a new anti-piracy measure while others claim you need to delete and reinstall. Another thread says if you set your xbox to play music, that will stop the disc from spinning. Can anyone here verify any of these claims or help me out?[/QUOTE]

I had the issue as well. I would just open and close the disc drive and it would load the dash. The only problem I had is if I went back to play the game without turning off my Xbox it would take forever to boot up. It sounds like an issue with the game. Not a major one, but still irritating.
 
My controller will often vibrate non-stop until I remove the batteries, about 1-2 times every half hour. What the hell is wrong?
 
[quote name='J7.']My controller will often vibrate non-stop until I remove the batteries, about 1-2 times every half hour. What the hell is wrong?[/QUOTE]

It's on girlfriend mode. Ba da ching! :booty:

sorry couldn't help it. Try using the controller wired, same thing then get a replacement.
 
We have two xboxes. I always buy content on one of them first so anyone can play the game or DLC on that Xbox. So I queued up some DLC via Xbox.com, which has that sane Xbox associated with it. What happens if, before downloading on the main Xbox, I go into my purchase history on the 2nd Xbox and "redownload" it on there? Will the DLC still be primarily associated with our main Xbox, or will it be associated with the 2nd one since I actually downloaded it first there?

Or is this even possible? Maybe it won't let me redownload it until I download it on the main Xbox?

I ask because sometimes I'm playing on the 2nd Xbox and want to buy a game or whatever. If I could buy on Xbox.com and then immediately "redownload", that would save me some trouble, but I'm worried then I'd end up with some games associated primarily with that 2nd xbox.
 
Bottom line is always download the content on the shared xbox so the DRM is associated to the box and not a person. I've seen some exceptions to this, but they are rare, Rockstar and EA have on occasion connected DLC to the person and not the XBOX, which is why I don't buy rockstar DLC anymore.
 
[quote name='Spybreak8']It's on girlfriend mode. Ba da ching! :booty:

sorry couldn't help it. Try using the controller wired, same thing then get a replacement.[/QUOTE]

You can't use the controller wired. It still runs wireless even when you have it plugged into charge.
 
[quote name='J7.']You can't use the controller wired. It still runs wireless even when you have it plugged into charge.[/QUOTE]

Wha?

You have it plugged in via usb, how can it be wireless?
 
[quote name='Spybreak8']Wha?

You have it plugged in via usb, how can it be wireless?[/QUOTE]

The USB is only for power. The controller still communicates wirelessly with the console for actually being a controller.
 
[quote name='crunchewy']The USB is only for power. The controller still communicates wirelessly with the console for actually being a controller.[/QUOTE]

Wow can't believe I've had my system for this long and didn't know that. Thx Spoiler to save space.
1147151442135.jpg
 
It's stopped vibrating recently. I'm puzzled as to why it occurred in the first place. I was playing Carcassone when it happened, and I've been playing that for many years without it ever happening before. I'm thinking it must be a software error and not the hardware of the controller itself.
 
[quote name='J7.']My controller will often vibrate non-stop until I remove the batteries, about 1-2 times every half hour. What the hell is wrong?[/QUOTE]

Stick 1 piece of duct tape or electrical tape on each side of the battery pack to hold it in better.

Also your batteries are probably dying, I have had this happen even when the battery meter says full or down one bar. Sometimes the controller just shuts off during gameplay randomly, when I check the batteries with an external tester they are dead or close to dead, or if I put my rechargeable batteries on the tester they need charging. The battery meter on the Xbox 360 is VERY inaccurate.
 
Thanks. I just hope it stops because the controller vibration doesn't feel as strong as it used to before it say vibrating non-stop for so long.
 
Yeah my 360 shuts off when the rechargeable batteries are dying. Have to press the 360 button to turn it back on. Gets annoying when you're in the middle of game play and there's no spare batteries around.

I might one day get the play and charge kit. If the battery pack goes bad, I won't mind having the thing constantly tethered to my console, so long as it still works that way.

Is the transforming D-pad worth it to buy another controller?

I kind of wish Microsoft would release a wired 360 controller with the transforming D-pad. I'd buy a silver one.
 
Well this got extremely annoying fast, my controller has ghost movement. Instead of moving forward it will randomly move backwards or act like I'm pressing back on the left analog stick. I bypassed this in Borderlands by pressing the left analog stick in to run but in Mass Effect 3 over the weeknend it was almost impossible to run away from baddies or towards allies. I couldn't even mine in Minecraft as my character would constantly move and that messes up your mining animation on the block. It got to the point where I had to use my silver controller's d-pad to select anything. I was wondering if anyone else had this problem, I'm pretty sure this controller is only 4 to 6 months old. Pre-ordered, since it comes out tomorrow and I just happen to be trying out the Prime trial this month :), the Halo 4 controller, seems like a good fit/time.
 
My xbox has been acting very strangely over the past month or so. It will frequently freeze while playing various games (most often w/ FIFA 13). Most of these games are scratch free and I have installed on my hard drive so it cant be the discs themselves.

Furthermore, and perhaps more annoying, I am experiencing terrible lag whenever I play online. I am confident it is not my network as I have tested its quality multiple times and have tried forwarding ports and/or dmzing it.

Is this a known issue?
 
Got disconnected from Live while playing Mass Effect 3 online and then lost all audio on my system.
Checked the hdmi connections and reset audio/video settings, but the problem persisted.

Just as I was going online to look for solutions, I hear a low "whir" sound, like Sam Fisher's night vision goggles, and the audio returns.



Dunno now if my 360 is crapping out, or a Third/Fourth Echelon person is hiding nearby and planted a decoy bomb.
 
Question...I dont have the extra $100 to buy the 250GB model right now. Could I just buy the 4GB and then later buy the MS 250/320GB hard drive and be like I bought he 250 to begin with, or will it not be the same? Thanks!
 
Yes, although you'll also have the 4 GB flash memory too, but probably won't have any use for it. It will just show up in the list of drives. I've got a 4 GB with a 120 GB drive in it from my old Elite. Note that if you buy a 3rd party drive for it you won't be able to play Xbox original games (though apparently there is a way to add the partition and emulator it needs. Google it).
 
Awesome, thanks! I was just gonna get the 4gb today and then later (next month probably) get the Microsoft 320gb on amazon for 100, so Ill still pay the 300 but have a 320gb instead of 250gb. Plus the little bit from the 4gb. I know I will be pretty limited until I get the larger hard drive but that is ok. Thanks again!
 
The only real difference, unless they changed it, is you won't get the glossy black finish of the 250GB model, but the matte black. I actually prefer the matte, since I have kids; less fingerprints to deal with.

Also, as crunchewy said, you can use the "fat" 360 hard drives with the slim. They can usually be found far cheaper than the slim specific drives. You just need to open up the casing to remove the drive, and get a slim enclosure like this.
 
Yep, that's exactly what I did. The drive is easy to remove from the old style case and the snap-together knock off cases for the new slim work well and do the trick. I also prefer the matte finish. Looks better IMHO.
 
Thanks for that tip about the hard drive! I picked up the 4gb on my lunch break and yes, it is the matte finish, which is fine with me. I have a 2 year old so that gloss look wouldve been ruined quickly haha. Thanks again everyone!

One more question....do some games still come with a free month of Xbox Live Gold?
 
So a friend of mine was in need of a 120 GB HDD for the old system and I offered $50 for mine because I thought that was reasonable. He said he could find em for $25 on craigslist and thinks I'm asking an arm and a leg for it. Like what? What's the resale of a like new 120GD HDD? Gamestop has a refurbished one for $50 but I see them on ebay for average $60.
 
I don't sell nor buy things of any significance from friends or family any more. One or the other person almost always ends up feeling screwed. Either you because you sold for lower than you really wanted, or them because they think the price should have been lower but they accepted, because you're friends.
 
What are your thoughts on the Play and Charge kit vs Quick Charge Kit? AAs will start to add up. Only have 1 controller at the moment but will be getting at least 2 more.
 
[quote name='Only One Haze']What are your thoughts on the Play and Charge kit vs Quick Charge Kit? AAs will start to add up. Only have 1 controller at the moment but will be getting at least 2 more.[/QUOTE]

Totally a matter of money vs convenience. If you're going to have 3 controllers then you'd probably find the quick charge kit best. Although the 360 can charge controllers in standby mode and then shut itself off. However, since MS's rechargeable batteries are the worst I've ever encountered (they'll die and hold no charge anywhere from a couple days after purchase to maybe 1 year at most) I would not buy MS rechargeables. Get some Eneloop batteries and use those instead or even a pack of non-rechargeable AA's from a wholesale store.
 
I highly recommend going with Eneloop AA batteries and a charger. They are the way to go. Get an extra set of batteries so you can have some charged and ready to go when the ones in your controller run out. Or four extra batteries if you have more than one controller. You don't really need more than that as it's unlikely you'd run out of power on more than 2 controllers at once.

Eneloop batteries are much better than standard NiMH batteries. They hold their charge for a long time even when not in use and not being charged.
 
Sweet, thank guys. I will check those out, never heard of them.

Okay, so just a 4pack with charger and then a 4pack should be good for 2 controllers? The third is going to be the Silver controller with Play and Charge, so the eneloops will just be for the 2 regular black controllers. That should be good?
 
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[quote name='Only One Haze']Sweet, thank guys. I will check those out, never heard of them.

Okay, so just a 4pack with charger and then a 4pack should be good for 2 controllers? The third is going to be the Silver controller with Play and Charge, so the eneloops will just be for the 2 regular black controllers. That should be good?[/QUOTE]

Amazon has good prices, I just picked up a 4 pack from there. Saw Eneloop at Costco for a good price and I think it included the charger, probably more batteries than you'll need though.
 
Ohh ohh, my Halo 4 controller shipped yesterday! I'm so excite! Luckily I found a regular black wireless controller in my 360 box lol so I could wait till this thing ships. No more phantom movement though, god that was so annoying.
 
[quote name='mikeworld']Question
My subscription does not end until JAN of 2013
If I were to redeem a 1 month XBL sub, what would happen?[/QUOTE]

It will just add it onto the end.
 
So I have almost maxed my 120GB fat xbox 360... would it be cheaper/better to just upgrade to the slim xbox to get a larger hard drive or is there a different method you recommend?
 
[quote name='slowdive21']Do old xbox free trials work on xbox live? I have 3 of them sealed from old xbox games (2 month trials)[/QUOTE]

They typically have an expiration date and usually only work for new accounts.
 
[quote name='slowdive21']Do old xbox free trials work on xbox live? I have 3 of them sealed from old xbox games (2 month trials)[/QUOTE]

You might be able to get something out of them by contacting Xbox customer support.

[quote name='lordopus99']So I have almost maxed my 120GB fat xbox 360... would it be cheaper/better to just upgrade to the slim xbox to get a larger hard drive or is there a different method you recommend?[/QUOTE]

Perhaps a gamestop refurb drive?
 
I'm finally upgrading from white fat 360 to the new slim, and just bought a 3 months gold code last week.

I'm sure this question have ask b4, but once i get my new slim. what do i need to do to make sure my current 3 months gold pass would transfer to my new xbox?

thanks
 
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