360 Issues thread

[MattyD]

Uh-oh. I'm getting the dreaded sparklies on my three-or-four month old second machine. Had it just now playing Bioshock - blue flashing pixels were appearing in all the dark areas and flickering blue 'veins' were appearing on some of the textures. I've had it previously on Halo 3 and Splinter Cell: DA. That means the GPU is about to die, amirite?

The first couple of times I thought the machine was overheating but I'd only had it on a few minutes this time and it's not very warm in my flat today so who knows?

I'm secretly hoping I get the red ring-o-death now because my warranty expired some time this month Getting a replacement with HDMI wouldn't go amiss either TBH.

[dannywhac]

That means the GPU is about to die, amirite?


I'm secretly hoping I get the red ring-o-death now because my warranty expired some time this month Getting a replacement with HDMI wouldn't go amiss either TBH.

Yeparoone - GPU death looks like its imminent - if you want to 3lod yer box, towel the bad boy up and heat away until it lods......

[C']

I left mine a couple of weeks as it worked intermittently but it finally gave up the ghost a few evenings ago so made the call to Microsoft this evening. Was quite an easy process to go through actually, girl on the phone was pleasant and chatty. Good service really.

Said it would probably take around 15 days to get sorted. Hopefully I'll have it not long after Virtua Fighter 5 comes out

[dvdmike]

Had the exact same problem and tried a brand spanking new HDD. Didn't make any difference.

The fundamental problem is the loading times from DVD and if the drive isn't quick enough for Halo's liking, rather than just load slower like most games it spits out a DRE, dirty disc or "loading failure" warning. Caching to HDD just adds another step to the loading process and hence more potential for failure if the drive is already slow.

Try loading it without any HDD and playing off memory card. It's a temp fix. Otherwise, if you have the facility to keep swapping 360s, do that 'til you find one that works.

Mine is with MS this very moment for exactly this same issue.

This is going to take ages is it not lol

[fallenangle]

About the Halo 3 slow load problem: wouldn't it help rather than detaching the HDD just to delete the cache memory? I know it is relatively easy to do and actually recommended for 'sluggish' machines.

[dvdmike]

Did that its the first thing i tried

[anephric]

If you clear the cache you might get a day or so of successful loading, it depends on your machine. The problem seems predicated on a number of things, an insidious multi-tier annoyance.

Regardless, I sent mine back. It's weird because, as people reckon, if it's the drive speed on older machines spitting in Halo's face, why are people with brand-new Elites and BenQ's getting it?

Pft.

[recipher]

My 360 started freezing when I started the Orange Box last night after never a problem since launch day.

Then after 3 freezes and resets, I get the 3 red lights. Now it's "working" again, after being off all night.

So, do I just get it repaired?

I phoned support because I my printer is b0rked, which stops me from using the online system. Anyway, the clown on the end wanted me to reset my cache (actually, he wanted me to format my HDD first but I refused, obviously!). I hung up on him and came on here.

What's the story? I think he wanted me to reset the cache to stop the freezing issue.

[JP]

Resetting the cache is obviously a last resort if you have save games on there and it may stop the problem from happening for a short time but it won't remove the problem of shoddy hardware.

Call again and if they ask you to do something like that, tell them that you've done it and they'll carry on. They'll ask you to reset a couple of times check the power cord etc.

When you get to the end they should hopefully tell you that a courier will pick it up tomorrow.

That's what happened with me only they said that because my printer was dead that they would post me labels which I'd get in a week and I should buy a box to send it back in.

The next day a courier turned up for my 360, I said I didn't have a box or any of the paperwork yet and he told me not to worry because his route picks up about 30 a day so they all take boxes with them and there is no extra paperwork needed as they have all the details from Microsoft.

I don't know if it'll be the same for you but I'd definately get back on the phone as soon as possible to give it a try.

[EvilBoris]

Resetting the cache is obviously a last resort if you have save games on there and it may stop the problem from happening for a short time but it won't remove the problem of shoddy hardware.

Clearing the cache does nothing to your gamesaves at all

[recipher]

Nice one. I'll see if I can get the labels printed elsewhere before I phone the clowns up again.

I really just wanted to check that the reset thing wasn't a viable solution.

Thanks.

[JP]

Clearing the cache does nothing to your gamesaves at all

No, but what I meant was if the hdd is reformated as Microsoft had instructed they will be lost.

[vocoderfreak]

After zero signs of any problems I got the red rings today! Just turned the machine on and there they were, flashing away at me. Bugger. Looks like The Orange Box is going to have to wait a few weeks. The guy on the other end of the phone told me that they would be posting the labels to me and that when the box was packaged I would have a number to call UPS for collection. Seems a bit different to the procedures I've read about on here.

[egparadigm]

It might be a load of bollocks. Get your machine in a box sharpish - they often turn up unannounced the next working day.

[Swallow]

Just blew up my Japanese PSU. Lol.