Xbox 360 started freezing -- please advise.

siderealshift

siderealshift

CAGiversary!
My Xbox 360 was working great until I started playing Splinter Cell Conviction tonight. I thought I was in for some stealth-action fun times, but instead I was suddenly met with a weird pixel pattern and a horrendous noise, which caused my system to become completely unresponsive. This freezing problem always shows up ~5 min after starting the system. The pixel "noise" pattern looks something like this (picture taken after rebooting the system and starting the Forza 3 demo):

img0009oi.jpg


After talking with someone on the Xbox support line for 45 minutes and trying all of their troubleshooting procedures, it looks like this is a serious hardware problem. Also, since this is not an E74 or a RROD, and my system is more than a year old, they want $99 to fix it (a "deal," the person on the phone told me :roll:). I could buy a new Arcade for $200, so I'm not leaning toward this option.

So, what should I do? It's not like my life is empty without a functional Xbox 360, so I'm not really in a huge rush to get it fixed... but I would like to get it fixed ASAP. Is this going to eventually turn into an E74 or a RROD? Can I MAKE it turn into an E74 or a RROD? My system was purchased in March 2008 according to Microsoft (it was actually December 2007, I think), so if it will eventually E74 or RROD on me, I should be able to get it fixed under warranty, no?

I'm sure a lot of you have had this happen before, so I'd really like to hear what you ended up doing, or what you would do in this situation. Any advice/recommendations would be appreciated!

Thanks!
 
Force it into a RRoD (by overheating it). I'm pretty sure nearly everyone gets a different unit back when they send in for repairs. At least, everyone I know has received a different unit.

EDIT: My first unit began producing screens that looked a lot like that, about three days before it red-ringed. You're probably pretty close now.
 
Alright, I'm going to see if I can send it to Red Rings-ville. I'll probably do what Scorch recommended and just keep cycling the console until it starts giving an actual error code. If that doesn't work, I'll probably block the vents and let it really overheat. I mean, I might as well -- it's not going to fix itself, and there's no way in hell I'm paying $99 to send it in so I can get a refurbished unit back.

Shame on Microsoft. I didn't really play my 360 that much, and I treated it better than I treat my own body, but it still only lasted a little over two years.
 
As the rest said. Once it starts doing that. After it freezes up enough times you will get the rrod. Just keep playing it until it does it. Mine did that off and on for about a week until it finally red ringed.
 
Ok, well hopefully you are still under warranty. But, if your not then there are ways to fix it before it red rings. You will have to open your console, thus voiding the warranty and maybe messing it up more. So just leave it on for a while and let it get hot. You could possible just use the "Towel Trick" which is leaving your console on for 20 min with a towel wrapped around it. Well Good Luck.
 
Scorch and Rig, you guys nailed it.

img0016c.jpg


It only had to freeze up one more time before it started giving me the RROD.

Now I will be sending it to Microsoft, but it will be under warranty. Either way, Microsoft should still be ashamed of themselves for producing such a shitty piece of hardware.
 
I love my 360 and all, but having their product suck hardware-wise and then having them call $99 to fix it a "deal" made me laugh pretty hard.

My 360 is from Dec. 2007, and the thing seems like it's about to shit the bed pretty soon too. Already RROD'd once, is slow, and then there's this... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INcmylacqus


^ My Xbox. Ridiculous. So wait, if the thing RROD's, and it's not under warranty, will they still fix it?
 
If it's a rrod issue Microsoft gave everyone a 3 year warranty for that matter from the purchase date of the console so you should be fine.
 
woah sounds like my friends 80gb ps3 holy crap that thing is loud I've dealt with/had my share of RROD consoles not fun at all.
 
Lol I hate that when it happens! Calling the support center where no one can even speak English.. The call center won't help if u have some problems. So what I did was I went to YouTube and pretty much help me a bit and xbox 360 stop freezing by turning it on and taking the plug out of the transformer and putting it back in from the wall.. If that don't work u have the RRoD call the support but hopefully u get someone who can speak english and not dealing with all the foreigner who don't know how to speak English
 
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