I'm pretty pissed off at Microsoft right now....
 

My girlfriend bought me an Xbox Elite as a late birthday present. She bought it Monday from Amazon, got it here Tuesday because of their Prime member deal going on right now. That's THIS week, I've only had it about 5 days! I bought the bundle with Forza 2 and Marvel Superheroes, so I thought it would be new enough NOT to have this problem. Here's what it looked like then:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...r/HPIM1187.jpg

And here's what it looks like now, after about 7 hours (total, not all at once) of playing.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...r/HPIM1189.jpg


Just found this:

Section 4 is flashing red
- Hardware Failure
/ \
\ /

The Specific Type of hardware failure can be determined by the error code displayed on the screen.
If the screen is blank or you would like additional information follow the instructions for determining the secondary error code in the section below
E45: Unknown (possibly dashboard update related)

E64: DVD Drive Error.... DVD Timeout, Wrong firmware, dvd is without f/w chip, etc.


Imma keel dem microsoft n3rd$!!!!!!!!!!

I just unplugged all the cables from the Elite, took off the HDD, hooked everything back up, and booted it up - works. Then put the HDD back on, booted it up - fine.


.......... :no:

We shall see how long it lasts. I've seen the circle of red death before. In fact there are tons of videos on YouTube about it.

this stuff happens with computer related stuff.

though the hard drives can survive serious impacts if they are not turning, while turning they are very delicate.

the processors use millions and millions of transistors. it's delicate stuff..

dude. I feel your pain. I'm one of the few who still have their original gen-1 360's. Every time I boot, I get the red circle of death. I have to turn it off, wait for 10 seconds, then turn it on again. After that, the system works fine. This happens every single time I turn it on. It reminds me of the good old days of the NES. I remember having to blow out the dust in the cartridge every time I wanted to play a game. And remember the infamous "reset" button... I can see myself sitting there like a lab monkey pressing that damn thing over and over again...

I bet you looked HOT doing that..

excuse my french, but the elite HDD's are shit. ive had my premium since 6/3/06 and never ever ever had a problem.

Wow...I feel lucky. I've had my Halo 3 360 since they came out and haven't had a problem yet. Two of my friends 360's have had the red ring of death in the last couple weeks. One of them resorted to the "towel trick." So ya beat Halo 3 yet? :mdr:

Hell no I haven't beat Halo 3! :lol: I just started it last night. I've been playing COD:4 and it's a BLAST!!! I did it on the 2nd Medium level, that wasn't too tough. Now I'm doing it on the hardest, and it's pretty difficult. You have to REALLY aim well and fire like crazy in the hot spots. In the TV Station I got hammered down for about 15 minutes stuck in once spot of the room. When I died, I got a little trigger happy and just started popping off clips while pressing the aim button. It auto-aims on the next target if it's within an inch or so of the sight, so I just keep pressing that and firing. Works great until I run out of 7.62 ammo, then I go to the shotgun and start pumping out shells! :intello::yes:

If you have a 360, get Call of Duty 4. It's awesome! :diablo:

MY 1st 360 RRoD'd after 11mos. The worst part was I had a ton of expansions/DLC for Oblivion. We got the 360 really for that game. My wife had a 11mo old game going when it died, and eventhough I was able to keep the HDD for the replacement box, since my wife didn't sign up for live, it won't enable any of the DLC. Complete and utter bullshit. All her stuff is gone she got from the DLC, which was most of her stuff.

Since I had a live acct from the start, I am able to enable the DLC, but only if I'm networked and it can verify I have permission to play the sh!t I bought. Almost returned it for a PS3 if it wasn't so gay as well.

COD4 does rock tho, got it new for $37 2wks ago....

That is BS...I'd honestly have to say my favorite out of my Halo Xbox, Halo 3 360, and PSP, my PSP is definitely my favorite. Not really because I can take it with me, (I play it more at home than my others) just because the homebrew and ISO's. Can you say never buy another game again? :mdr:

Homebrew and ISOs? Explain? I have a 1st or 2nd gen PSP, so I'm interested :)

Basically, I have my PSP enabled to play NES, SNES, N64, Playstation, Genesis, GB, GBA, GBC, etc. Pretty much any game except PS2, PS3, Xbox, Xbox 360 (all the new, more powerful systems). ISO's are basically a format games are often put in, such as PSP games on the UMD's. People figured out a way, using custom firmware, to rip the games from the UMD, to the memory card, or PC, through the USB port. That way you can make a "backup" of them. You can download them if you find the right sites. So basically, I can just put the PSP ISO on my memory card and don't have to have the game itself.

Ah...I need to do that. I don't want to be carrying around all my games, especially when I'm in the desert. Got a link to any of this?

The desert kills electronics. I went through a couple dvd players down there and a few of my soldiers lost their laptops to the sand.

Yea, check out PSPMod.com. They have alot of info there. If you haven't upgraded the firmware past 3.50, your in luck. You can use a downgrader, available from PSPHacks.com and a copy of Lumines to downgrade it to the 1.5 firmware. That will allow you to upgrade to the latest custom firmware, allowing all the homebrew capabilities. Another route is to use whats called a Pandoras battery and MS. That will downgrade it automatically, even if you upgraded past 3.50. PSPMod is the best place for info. If you need any more help, just let me know.

Cool, I'll have to check it out.

My laptop died, I don't know if it was from the desert or not. It's just the HDD, I'll send it in here shortly. My iPod is still kicking, I had it in a nice leather case the entire time.

Have any of you had to replace the analog stick on your PSP? I see them on ebay but I'm not sure if I want to attempt the replacement. Mine has been worn out for a few months now. I cant even play anymore because the cursor just wanders around the screen.

No, but I've seen people do it. I don't think it's hard, probably just a few screws and a connector.

Its VERY simple. I've had my PSP completely apart before. To change the analog stick all you have to do is:

1. Pull the faceplate off via 5 screws. One on the bottom of the PSP (very visible), 2 on the right side of the back, and 2 under the battery. Theres 4 under the battery, but the 2 silver screws hold the screen cage in. Theres one black one and another black one under the bottom sticker. Remove those and pop it off.
2. Pull the two screws off the analog stick from the bottom of the faceplate, and viola! Just put back together...

Note: Be careful when putting it back together. If you over tighten one side of the faceplate, the cursor will track to one side...

Working on the PSP is rather easy. Just small parts you wanna be damn sure not to lose...

microsoft just sent me a shipping box for my 3 month old xbox premium. gotta send it in because it keeps freezing on startup. no red rings - just freezes.

3.....
months......
old................ :grrrrrr:

And that's what you get for buying Microsoft hardware. They can't even get the wireless networking right.

Mine's not even a week old. I've gotten the single red ring 3 times, twice just today. I think it's the hard drive since it's saying ERROR 64, which is a hardware error. I'm gonna send it back to Amazon if it does it one more time.

Alright-

To hell with Microsoft!!!

I'm returning this damn thing to Amazon and getting a PS3. I just got the stupid Error 64 again and I'm tired of this. Halo 3 isn't THAT cool for me to want an Xbox. COD4 is on PS3 and Resistance is an awesome game I want to play. Plus, they just announced Resistance 2.

Microsoft can HAVE their "Elite". PS3 has free online play, Blu-Ray built in, internal power supply, Wi-Fi, and is backwards compatible all the way to PS1 games. Not only that, but it also has PSP interface.

Go Sony.

I dont think the newer ps3's are still backwards compatible. I believe they took out that feature then they released the cheaper models.

Actually there not truly backwards compatible. I think the 60 gig, which is hard to get, is the only one thats fully backwards compatible. I think the 40 isn't at all.

I'd say stick with the 360. I haven't had any problems whatsoever with mine. Pretty much everybody I know who has both, likes the 360 way more. I was gonna get one, but mostly for Gran Turismo 5 and Blu-Ray.

I have the 60g and its backwards compatible but sony doesn't make it anymore. As I listed above I dont think the newer ones are (40g,80g models).

60gb is 40 is not. What you have with your 360 is not the red ring of death. You could probably get a new hdd and problem solved. The three red lights are a heat deffect where a chip, maybe gpu and related section comes apart due to heat. The solder comes apart. I think the newer ones should have that fixed ( elites, halo 3s) and all the ones purchased after they were aware. The towel trick simply reheats it again and hopefully reseats that part of the board. I didnt read all the posts. Been up all night but I thought I would chime in. Sorry but the 360 owns the ps3 as far as multiplayer, but thats about it. I am holding off on the ps3 though. I got mine the first day it launched and I had the heat problem druing a long session of forza lol. Dont buy this intecooler:
http://www.nyko.com/nyko/products/?i=71
It sucks and offers more harm than good.

FYI guys, the 20GB, 60GB and 80GB versions of the PS3 are backwards compatible. The 40GB version is the only one that is not. Also, don't forget that if you have a Hi-Def TV set, you get Blu Ray playback as a standard with the PS3 (my primary reason for buying one a year ago). We love our PS3...my wife plays it more than I do though. She's been busy playing Assassin's Creed lately, which has by far the best graphics I have ever seen on a gaming system (some of that could be that we have a 1080p 60" TV as well).

i've been pretty happy with my 360 - that's why i waited so long to choose between that and the ps3. it's cheaper, and i still don't know who will win the HDDVD/Blu Ray war...so i didn't want to drop $500 on a system that could possibly have obsolete hardware/tech. within a year (i keep thinking back to the vhs/beta war).

with anything mass produced, especially highly sensitive technology like these machines, there's bound to be bugs here and there. i happened to get one of the bugs. heck, look how long computers have been around and there is still a pretty high failure rate on the hardware. so it's not a perfected science....yet.

i also chose the 360 because i'm a big halo geek - had to play halo 3. :yes:

If you've read anything online lately, especially info coming from CES in Vegas last week....HD-DVD is on its last leg. Warner Bros announced on Jan 4th that beginning May 08, they will switch to Blu-Ray exclusively. That leaves only Paramount, Dreamworks and Universal as the studios supporting HD-DVD. Also, Universal's exclusive contract with HD-DVD just expired this month and was not renewed as of yet. I don't foresee this Hi-Def DVD war lasting much longer.

if blu ray wins, hopefully that will mean microsoft will get blu ray licensing to make an add-on external unit like their hd-dvd one (which i don't have). :intello:

overall for me, though, it's not about what movie format wins. i went with what i thought had the best games, and i've been very pleased so far. i had the original xbox for at least 5 years with no problems too, so brand loyalty did play a part in my decision.

Yep, Blu-Ray is leading by far. I see a lot more Blu-Ray movies than HD. PS3 has built in Wi-Fi and online play is free.

The only thing going for the Elite over the PS3, that I see, is the Halo 3 game. That, and it's going to cost more in the long run. I like it when it's working, maybe I'll snag a cheap one later on but I think I'm going with the PS3. I want to hear more PS3 owners speak up.

Gimme £500 and I'll go buy one and some games, then let you know what its like....

Nah, I only have a PS2, and I dont play on it much- I only like flightsims and those kinda games, so Im more than happy replaying Wipeout and R-type, and G-police; was there ever a GP3 released?....

I'm not really partial, and I will admit, the only reason I even got a new computer was to play Halo when it came out for PC, and I got a Xbox when Halo 2 came out, and I got a Xbox 360 for Halo 3, but thats just cause Halos a damn good game, and I wanted one anyway, but I personally like the 360 more. It offers better games, and pretty damn good graphics. I don't like the fact that Microsoft tries to rip you off one everything, like the network adapter, but its a pretty solid console. Even the new Premiums are nice. There coming with the HDMI port and bigger heatsink, which was exclusive to only the Halo 3 360s and Elites.

Oh, and that intercooler actually works fairly well. The only issue was with the older ones that had the hardware issue, which would cause it to run extremely hot and caused the intercooler to melt to the back. Some people complained that when they pulled it off it pulled out the socket as well, but thats because they probably didn't use the release button. Its not an issue with the Halo 3, Elites, and new Premiums anyway, since along with the other issues, they added a metal backing plate to the power socket.

Well what's the excuse/reason my Elite failed then? I want to know so I can buy a good system. For my money, the PS3 is the machine to get. Microsoft wants to nickel and dime me.

The 360 failure problems are from a few different factors, but all told they are much higher than they should be for a commercial product. The biggest ones I've heard about are from overheating issues, but both of the CPU and the GPU. There is the 3rd revision to the motherboard that incorporates a new 45nm CPU (aka Falcon) and HS redesign. GPU won't be updated until late 08 last I heard. All the new motherboard have HDMI and can be found in all models (elite/pro/arcade) however they are still working thru inventory, so not all HDMI models are falcons, some are Rev 2 (inc elites.) All Halo editions are supposed to be falcons.

I went thru considerable trouble to find a Falcon arcade edition just before Xmas. Only a visual inspection of the MB is a guarantee (other than the H3 edition.) Hopefully this one will fare better, but I got a warr from BB just incase. Fortunately thru price drops, keeping my old HDD, and buying the arcade, the gift card I recoeved from best buy I got for my original purchase of the Pro I was able to buy the arcade, a new 2yr warr and Lego Star wars. Did find out about the DLC F'up until after. I may not have re-bought it otherwise......


The thing about the elite I don't understand is that all you are really getting for the xtra $$ is a bigger HDD and a black console. The bigger HDD is only good for buying DLC (as I doubt you will fill a 20GB HDD w/ saved games.) So in effect you are paying a $100 premium for the priviledge of paying MS the ability to DL more Digital Media that you cannot transfer to any other device because of all the DRM issues, nor sell to anyone after you've watched Transformers 10 times and never want to see it again.

Also, in the 360s favor, Mass Effect is an awesome game. I haven't bothered buying Halo3 as I've read the single player was a bit short and dissapointing in the end.

ME is from the same people that did Knights of the Old Republic. Its an RPG, but also a first-person shooter w/ some tactical shooter aspects. Some run and gun, but also select and command allies in battles, and are able to develop char along a few different directions (pure soldier vs jedi like magic-user type, etc etc)

I think yours is just a fluke to be honest...

I hope so. I'm thinking of giving it another chance just because of the gameplay and the plethora of games.