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AcemanPB
03-04-2005, 12:55 AM
Well there I was, playing Halo 2 with some close friends via Xbox live. Then all of a sudden the game locked up. So being the Windows user I am I turned off my xbox and attempeted to turn it on. But much to my dismay I was greated with this screen:

"Please contact customer service, you Xbox may need to be serviced"

Well after playing phone tag and being transfered back and forth between the various departments of the xbox live customer support they tell me my xbox needs to be serviced (wow good job guys). According to Microsoft the going rate for fixing their products is 80 dollars... this sucks. I take really good care of my Xbox, it sits for the most part under my TV where it is generally dust free and well ventillated.

I'm still shocked that my Xbox outlasted my PS2 (my PS2 has been on its last leg for a while, I doubt it will survive GT4). Has anyone else had this problem? I'm thinking if a modchip will fix whatever problem I'm having I'll turn this box into a project box and but a new box for live.

Vex
03-04-2005, 01:10 AM
I don't know that a mod chip will fix your problem. It sounds like there's a problem with the boot-up. Mod chips generally override this sequence allowing your "back-up" software to boot. If you're not able to boot up to begin with, then you've got bigger probs. Sorry :(

pointm@n
03-04-2005, 09:09 AM
Yeah the Xbox is pretty robust. I've had mine since it came out and have not had any problems with it.

Steelrat
03-04-2005, 10:35 AM
Its very well built. In fact, its worth more than what you pay for it, as Microsoft takes a loss on every xbox they sell.

pumaking
03-04-2005, 11:41 AM
do the wal-mart swap, buy a new one pay cash very important. Get home swap out xbox and go back following day to return, get refund and u got yourself a new xbox. I've done this several times at wal-mart works great.

Lohman446
03-04-2005, 11:43 AM
do the wal-mart swap, buy a new one pay cash very important. Get home swap out xbox and go back following day to return, get refund and u got yourself a new xbox. I've done this several times at wal-mart works great.

Mind you that amounts to fraud or theft and could be prosecuted... but hey, why not :tard:

I know I'm giving you are hard time, but deceitful people in retail drive up the prices for all of us, at least in theory.

tony3
03-04-2005, 11:54 AM
From Seinfield, "Paying retail is for suckers." :D

TDonovan
03-04-2005, 12:28 PM
So it isn't covered by the warantee? I had mine since it came out and they fixed it for free not too long ago... It then came back the same as it was before, with some tampering done to the drive so that it would read slower (and wouldn't have the skipping/failure to play that it was having). I got pissed off and called them again. They sent me either a completely new one, or a nice refurbished one after I sent my box back (shipping paid by them). In addition, they included new cables and a large controller (the kind that was discontinued) which I like best.

lord1234
03-04-2005, 05:25 PM
get with me on AIM and maybe i can help see if its repairable.

-Lord1234

Steelrat
03-04-2005, 06:29 PM
do the wal-mart swap, buy a new one pay cash very important. Get home swap out xbox and go back following day to return, get refund and u got yourself a new xbox. I've done this several times at wal-mart works great.

You know who ends up paying for this kind of stupid crap? EVERYONE. Its stealing, plain and simple.

Conversekidz
03-04-2005, 11:56 PM
If your going to do the walmart swap they check the serial numbers now, so that won't work unless you get creative.


Buy a new x-box, remove it from the box, and then physically open up the x-box and swap the internals with your old box. Package it back up and now you have a new xbox internals in your old case.


but don't do that, its stealing and wrong.....

AcemanPB
03-05-2005, 12:43 AM
Well its really got me confused. Today after I got home I tried playing and it worked for about 40 minutes before it froze up again. So all the harware seems to be working correctly. I'm thinking maybe its a firmware issue? I don't really know what else it could be. I really would hate to pay the 80 dollar flat fee for microsoft to re-flash my xbox. I know its not over-heating and it runs fine for a while then just decides to freeze up randomly and throw up that error message.

Oh well I guess I can concentrate on Gran Turismo now :)

kenndogg
03-05-2005, 01:27 AM
do the wal-mart swap, buy a new one pay cash very important. Get home swap out xbox and go back following day to return, get refund and u got yourself a new xbox. I've done this several times at wal-mart works great.


you can't, Wal-Mart has a serial ID system that can track when you bought it and if it was bought at a Wal-Mart. Can't really peel off the new serial tag and put it on the old x-box b/c you can easily tell its been tampered with.

kenndogg
03-05-2005, 01:29 AM
If your going to do the walmart swap they check the serial numbers now, so that won't work unless you get creative.


Buy a new x-box, remove it from the box, and then physically open up the x-box and swap the internals with your old box. Package it back up and now you have a new xbox internals in your old case.


but don't do that, its stealing and wrong.....


you can't w/o breaking the seal, which is a dead giveaway

pbzmag
03-05-2005, 02:31 AM
Check out www.llama.com. They have all the codes when you get the service screen. If your warranty is up, you can try to open it up and check the IDE cable.

BigEvil
03-05-2005, 08:00 AM
Xbox Repair guide (http://www.xboxrepairguide.com/)

blackclown
03-05-2005, 10:51 PM
o yah well my x-box takes over 500 pushes 2 turn on and sumtimes it turn and a couple days igo i got a letter telling me abuot that. it says only 1 out of 10,000 x-boxes has this.......... Why can't it be you won a 1 out of 10,000 people to get 1 million dollars...... just my Luck

AcemanPB
03-06-2005, 01:23 AM
I looked at the code if gave me on the error screen and apparently my IDE cable is shot. I guess thats good news because thats probably the least expensive and easiest part to replace.

pbzmag
03-06-2005, 02:30 AM
I looked at the code if gave me on the error screen and apparently my IDE cable is shot. I guess thats good news because thats probably the least expensive and easiest part to replace.

From what I have been reading from others, that is the most common problem. Simply reseating or replacing it fixed the problem.

Automaggin2
03-06-2005, 02:27 PM
Maybe your harddrive is going bad? Is it making any weird clicking or grinding noises?

AcemanPB
03-06-2005, 05:47 PM
According to the Error code it can't find my DVD drive. HDD seems to be working fine. I can play xbox for a while thine it randomly stops working when it tries to load a map or something to halo. It looks like my IDE cable is either not seated good or faulty. Either way I'm going to replace it. Can I replace the IDE cable with any old IDE cable, or does it have to be Xbox specific (I want to say but I'm just making sure). Also would radio shak carry something like this, I really don't want to have to order it online and wait and pay for shipping.

Vex
03-08-2005, 03:05 AM
Look online and see if you can find pics of a dismantled X-Box. Then compare the cables and maybe print out the pic and take it to Radio Shack.

pbzmag
03-08-2005, 10:15 PM
It's the same type of IDE cable that you use in a computer.

AcemanPB
03-08-2005, 11:18 PM
Well I took the xbox all apart. Tried replacing the IDE cables with no luck. I took the DVD drive apart and cleaned the lens... no luck. So, having nothing to lose, I took the DVD drive apart compeltely and reassembled it. Bingo, works like a charm.

Southpaw
03-09-2005, 09:36 AM
For next time http://llamma.com

Timmee
03-09-2005, 10:46 AM
If you can, try replaceing the cable with one of these: http://www.xboxrepairguide.com/product_info.php/cPath/30_72_67/products_id/146

I know you said that it's working fine now, but that is a good upgrade to get regardless.

Madfraga
03-09-2005, 06:08 PM
a little off topic, but I heard something about an XBOx power cord recall. Does anyone have the link to get it replaced?