MicKPM78 wrote:

STOP THE PRESS - I think I've found a fix people.

After speaking to Microsoft last night and pleading my case with the Customer Support/Tech Support Adviser only to be then told "5 days out of warranty is still out of warranty sir" and because the hardware failure hadn’t caused the RRoD to appear was going to cost me £88 including vat to get fixed (please bare in mind that in the UK £99 buys you a 2nd hand unit with 12 months warranty from the chain Gamestation) that I decided to take matters in to my own hands.

I asked the Customer Support Agent to hold whilst I tried something "Radical". So with the agent on the line still I proceeded to unplug my console to perform another hardware reset… In the back yard! He was slightly confused so I said to him “can you hear this” and then dropped my console on the concrete from a height of about 2 meters. I admit, I was impressed by Microsoft’s build quality as the fall and shock (Surprisingly) didn't break the casing. “Sir, what have you done” was the reply from the agent with my childish giggles in the background but you all know what’s coming – Yup, I went back inside and re-connected it and as sure as red it red the bloody GPU works again.

I played COD4 and HAWX last night for over 2 hours without any further issues. I am also saving up to replace my console shortly as I’m sure this is nothing more than a temporary fix (and I don’t encourage you to do the same) but I wonder if MS will incorporate this option in to the “Black Screening” automated support?

 

I bet the fix will only last about a month to three. Still that is a funny story! Hope you don't get the same representative next time. ;)

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First 360 repair request: 7/7/08
Replacement #1 received: 7/23/08
Second 360 repair: 8/5/08
Third 360 repair: 8/10/08

Add one more to the list..............I was playing COD WAW.........I went to the dashboard and my screen turned kinda green........I turned it off, turned it back on and got the 3 red lights..........I unplugged everything, blew out some dust and I didn't get the red lights anymore but now I don't have a picture........just audio like others have said.......

This is my 5TH X-Box......I got this one after I ordered one off of Ebay that happened to be banned from X-Box Live.......Traded in to EB and paid the difference for a new one and now this........I'm not buying ANYMORE 360's.......The system itself is a much better gaming experience than the PS3 but I'm buying a PS3 next time because Microsoft systems is a piece of ***.......

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Team Oi
http://www.optikal-illuzionz.com/forums/

Formerly Timid....

 FFR Master wrote:

This sounds exactly what I experienced a few months ago in February. Like down to the last detail, haha. Did you ever find a solution for this? Did anyone?! I mean, I don't have a warranty on the thing anymore... I don't know what to do.

I got inspired by the guy who decided to drop his xbox, (mine has no video) so I figured I would try and melt mine from the inside out. I wrapped it in tin foil on all sides except the front, then wrapped it in plastic wrap. I took it outside and put it on my deck hoping it would spontaniously combust or something cool like that. After about 15 minutes, I looked outside and saw flashing red lights. At first I was happy because 3 red lights is still under warranty, but after pulling some of the foil back I noticed it was only 2 red lights. I googled it and found out 2 lights means the system is overheating. DUH. I unplugged it and plugged it back in and turned it back on which lasted for about 10 more minutes before the 2 flashing reds again. Oh well, failed experiment, right? I brought it back inside and plugged it into the tv and it worked! I reinstalled my hard drive and played GTA4 for about 5 hours last night. I'll post back later if the video fails again.

Hahaha, all these ideas are simply inspirational lol, I think I've gotta think of something stupid and maybe it'll work. Maybe I'll take a diarrhea dump on this Failbox... maybe I'll just shine some like heat lights and heat the *** outta my xbox and hopefully itll work =). With so many people with this problem I dont understand why they dont just full refund this ***... if I buy something for $500 I would hope it lasted. ATM I'm rapping my xbox is like 5 blankets... NOT TOWELS, I wanna see what happens. ALL I WANT TO DO IS PLAY FIFA 09!!!

same thing just happened to my xbox.  This is my second replacement too.  Lasted about 8 months before taking a dump.  No video output but the sound is fine...no red rings this time either. 

hi i have a question. i bought my 360 in December of 07. I had the video problem in june 2008. I sent it in and they fixed it for free. So ive had this xbox since july 2008 but i just got the video problem 2 days ago. so my question is will they fix it for free or do i have to pay?

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AMERICA! AguilaS!!!!!!!!!

Yet another one to add to the ever-increasing pile. Started getting the green/red texture issues and lines while playing Condemned 2, restarted the box, happened again after about 10 minutes, then again after five minutes. Held out a little longer with Fallout 3, but once again got the messed-up visuals. I tried a final restart, no video, no audio, no RRoD. The fact that Microsoft are burying their heads in the sand about this problem, which is obviously very widespread indeed, is completely ridiculous, and I, much like many others here, absolutely refuse to shell out £95 to fix a problem that I haven't caused in the first place. I plan to leave my box on overnight to see if it'll red ring. I never thought I'd ever be hoping to see those three red lights.

link

For a few months now, Xbox 360 users have been quietly venting about a "new" hardware fault with the console, where instead of displaying three red rings, machines would show an "E74" error.

Just because it didn't flash the iconic red rings, though, doesn't mean it wasn't bad! If you got it, your console would display a system error warning (pictured above), and it meant your machine was fried. Which is probably why Microsoft have decided to issue an extended warranty for the fault, similar to the one offered to red ring sufferers.

While the majority of Xbox 360 owners continue to have a great experience with their console, we are aware that a very small percentage of our customers have reported receiving an error that displays "E74" on their screen. After investigating the issue, we have determined that the E74 error message can indicate the general hardware failure that is associated with three flashing red lights error on the console. As a result, we have decided to cover repairs related to the E74 error message under our three-year warranty program for certain general hardware failures that was announced in July 2007.

That's the, uh, "good" news. The better news? If your machine suffered from an E74 previously, and you had to pay for repairs, Microsoft will refund you the amount some time over the next 4-12 weeks.

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water! leave your 360 alone without fear of it falling over and dying!

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First 360 repair request: 7/7/08
Replacement #1 received: 7/23/08
Second 360 repair: 8/5/08
Third 360 repair: 8/10/08

yep add me to the list,was playing saints row,the picture went flickery,then the colours went red and green,yellow,to eventualy having no picture at all.and this will be the third xbox in 4 years that has failed hardware issues.!!!!!!! and i refuse to pay microsoft any more cash for essentialy" faulty goods".!!

i have been getting the same problem started with the colours "running" on the screen then going to black screen a couple of days ago but now it seems to have progressed to the point i switch the xbox360 on now and can hear the startup sound but cant see anything on screen. I went and bought a new hd av cable 2day thinking that was the problem and im still getting the same problem i have also tried the 360 on the tv upstiars in the house and get the same problem

 SilentNephilim wrote:

I'm having the same problem as well. I don't really understand why since it was working fine yesterday and earlier today. I was in the middle of playing VF5 and the screen just suddenly started to look like an oil painting like thing and I thought I could fix it if I just turned it off and back on. Well it didn't work. All I get is the input screen but I can still hear the sound perfectly. I'm kinda hopeing that I will give it a few hours and hopefully work again. If not then I might have to buy another AV cord or something and hope that will work. If not, then I will be very very sad :( Has anyone tried using a new AV cord to see if it worked?

i bought a new av cable 2day and had no joy getting the picture so now im down the money for a new cable and currently waiting on xbox support to email me back.

I have the video problem, it made portions of the screen look like they were in night vision. Then after shutting it off and turning it back on, I had no video at all. I wrapped my xbox in aluminum foil, then wrapped it in plastic cling wrap, then turned it on. It "baked" for a few minutes until I got 2 flashing red lights. I unplugged it and plugged it back in and "cooked" it again until the 2 red lights appeared.
I then unwrapped it and plugged it back into the TV and it worked fine, no video problems at all. I got about 20 more hours of playing time in before the video decided not to come on again. I rewrapped it and overheated it again and got about 5 or 6 more hours in before I got the night vision effect again. Tonight I may try cooking it 2 or 3 more times and then immediately throw it in a freezer to see what kind of results I get.
I should have documented this stuff for youtube.

water color thing just happened to me also, then no pic but great sound. I've had to send in my 360 4times this will be the 5th. if i have to pay for this repair when apparently its wide spread, i promise ill get a ps3 and talk down the 360 to no end (and i was one of those guys standing in line for hours on the first day it came out). i have three friends who have already given up on 360 and gotten a ps3. I've been loyal to MS since the original Xbox, but this is just getting ridiculous.

*** the Xbox360 lets all just trade our *** in at EBGames, and get a PS3... I've had enough of this breaking down Xbox crap... man if your going to build something, build it right.

I have had this problem once and their fix for it is you need to find a JASPER console.  That fixes all these problems.  Real thing is I do not like any games PS3 has.  I am sure it is a great system and BluRay sounds great, but their is just no games I like.

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The Great Legend
GoW & GoW 2 Hall of Famer

 Shemp Howard wrote:

I have had this problem once and their fix for it is you need to find a JASPER console.  That fixes all these problems.  Real thing is I do not like any games PS3 has.  I am sure it is a great system and BluRay sounds great, but their is just no games I like.

u guys can add me. playing cod waw and screen went negative and green washed out colors. tried un hooking it all nothing.tried hooking it up with rca instead of hd nothing. called ms my warrenty was up complained and got a free repair. and ps3 has some good games and some good exclusives coming out soon

Just to clear things up, are you guys using the HD output on the cable that came with the xbox? If so then my HD doesnt work )=  Only sound and thats it.  I was so pumped for playing GoW2 in HD.  Good thing is it works good on normal =/

hey anyone who has had this probem i think i might know a few starter tips to maybe help the problem. i had the same issuue and i cleaned out the xbox REALY GOOD!!! it helped tremendously!! another thing is do whatever you can to give it more air flow. if you have an intercooler take it off!! the intercoolers dont help. they make it worse. if you have any questions give me message over live! the327slave!!

i sent mine back thanks for the E74 error fix ms

All these little tricks are actually more damaging to the Xbox 360. Most of the time E-74 means that the ANA/HANA scaling chip is loose from the MOBO. By heating the Xbox up using these 'tricks' you essentially re-heat the solder to the point where the metal contacts ( On the chip) meet the board's contacts, Thus giving you a temporary fix. But as a side result of doing this you can damage the CPU, GPU or any other components inside the console because the enironmental tempature inside the Xbox exceedes  well beyound 80c. Point being, These fixes are only more damaging and your better off just sending it in to Microsoft right away. I doubt this post will get through to some but.. worth a try.

On a side note, I'm sure most of you keep your Xbox in a, in your opinion a good environment. Make sure you keep the Xbox away from the ground.. especially carpets. Most of these heating issues are actually caused by dust buildup. So do what you can to minimize dust contamination in that area.

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Good system administration is good security, and vice-versa - Douglas Gerdin

Does an enviromental temparture include a basement? My xbox is in the basement because thats where the Big tv is and sometimes it gets cold. Is that bad for the xbox?

No. Actually at -30 degrees Centigrade magic happens; all computing and processor power effectively doubles. There is a device called the 'Cryo-Chamber' that will cool your system down to -45C.

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"2nd. means you're 1st. to lose"

Ok guys, 1st I would like to say sorry that you have to deal with MS and there ***.

Its *** stupid that they will chage so fuking much for this item, and then say *** YOU when they know for a fact that its their fault it broke.

Over 3k people, just on this forum is having the same problem, but they still say 100$ for a quicky. So *** THEM

Do not send in your xbox. Repair it yourself!

As one of the people already said, OVERHEAT your xbox when it flashes 2 lights, turn it off and plug it in, IT WILL WORK...


at 1st I did not think it would work. Then I thought "My xbox is broke either way its not going to magically start working again. I HAVE TO SEND IT IN" So with that thought, I overheated it (Cause if it failed, I would still have to send it in. nothing to lose) and after flashing 2 red lights, I plugged the *** back in, and it worked. 1st time.


Thanks for the info guys about overheating it!

I just wanted to tell everyone it worked! It really works!


**Try at your own risk I could have just got extreamlly lucky, But REMEMBER! either way your going to have to send it in!**

So the Xbox wont break or anythin right? Im just thinking something would freeze but i never expected all the stuff to double

If your reading this, Your xbox is already broke....lolz


Think of it this way....

Your xbox is broke...You have to send it in.

You overheat it, Somthing goes wrong...You have to send it in....There will be 2 things going to happen.

1. Your xbox will be fixed (for a while)
2. Your xbox will STILL be broke and you STILL have to send it in...lol


So really, you have nothing to lose at all....

I'm having a similar weird problem... the color flickers on and off. There hasn't been a single red light yet. At first it was intermittent, then for a while it would settle down into just off-color, but it's been a couple weeks (don't have the $$ to do anything about it) and now the flicker has reached strobing speed. I can't play anymore, it gives me a headache, but DH will still play Civilization, and it's not getting any better. We got this console used, have had it for about a year, so it's far beyond warranty. We've tried cleaning it out, but nothing changed. A friend of ours plugged his hard drive into the console, and it worked fine, so it's got to be our hard drive, not the box itself. Anybody know of a fix for this, or are we just gonna have to get a new hard drive?

TIA!   

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"Never trust something that can think for itself, if you can't see where it keeps its brain." - Arthur Weasley

Man i really enjoy xbox... I had the red ring thingy about a year ago...they replaced the power supply and cable and now I'm getting the strange video signals...sometimes no video and just sound...don't really care what it is because I just can't shell out this kind of money for a product that displays this many defects...damned if I'll be buying 3 and 4 xboxes...it's been fun folks but I gotta bail

later

My problem is similar, but not exact...I'm getting intermittent picture (but full sound) when my HD Composite cable is set to HDTV if watching a DVD.  If I set it to TV instead...no problem watching the DVD.  I am not having problems with games, audio, or anything...any ideas?  Tried posting elsewhere, but got no replies.  Could it be the cable?  Do you think it's the video card? 

I haven't gotten any red rings yet...but i'm not gonna hold my breath.

guys now microsoft have now finally accepted that the E74 can lead to a RROD i sent my dead 360 to them last week (it developed water colours then lost video but had sound) so i sent it in last week for a fix citing an E74 i got it back yesterday (friday) they have replaced the origional unit with a "new one" give it a try  send urs off today 
good luck and happy gaming  

Oo so you don't have to pay? Ill send mine in also..

Btw overheating it only worked for 2 weeks :(

BUT

If you don't have money to spend on sending it in, and your REAL xbox fan, Overheating it is the way to go....