Expert: Brian Jay - 7/5/2007

Question
QUESTION: My 360 is about 7 months old - i only play new games in it since ive had it but 2 days ago it started freezing every few minutes with my games - and the screen comes up looking  a bit like the matrix (little number things all over screen but not moving) the only game it was letting me play was godfather and then that froze after about an hour - even dvds were doingf it - so i assume its the dvd drive itself - im reluctant to send it back to ms as my gamerscore is well over 20 thousand and i am worried they will delelt it - is there anything i can do?


ANSWER: Hi Shannon

Sorry to disappoint you, but this isn't really an answer from me, but more of a request for information.

- Are you able to run the 360 and access the dashboard without any problems?

- What kind of position is the machine set up in? Is it kept cool? Upright or Horizontal?

- Do you remember what game it was that first caused this? No stickers on the disk or anything like that?

Reason being that I am asking, is that I have some idea as to what the problem may be... but without all the information you can only make guesses, and as you have a profile most definitely worth keeping, it's best not top go and do anything risky.

However, for the time being, I suppose you could try and transfer the gamertag onto one of those memory units... should it be required to be sent off. Retails for $40 US if you haven't got one.

Brian Jay

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks for getting back to me.
- at first the dashboard worked fine - it started with Open Season and then did it on all of my other games - i thought it may be something to with the lense reader thingy inside it - but dvds started doing it as well - i started playing my Hard drive games and it was running fine but then the dashboard froze as well.
The 360 is laid flat  - always has (i dont trust standing it on its side) Its definitely kept cool - it didnt overheat - it happened first thing in the morning as i turned it on to start the days gaming.
Ok - the first game it did it on WAS a rented game but there werent any stickers or anything - PLUS it worked fine the day before when i was playing.
Well i have since been in contact with Microsoft and they sd that because it still froze when the hard drive was unplugged that - its internal - and that i should send them the console back for repair - ive yet to do so however.


Answer
Hi.

The problem here with finding a direct cause is that all the errors seem to be in a progression. At first, it could quite have been a dvd-drive problem, but its quite possible that has caused something else, and something else again.

All the problems haven't occurred at once, so it makes it hard to really say what the major cause is. I know of a few "warranty voiders" that may fix one part, but since I cant really say what the major cause is, I don't want to suggest anything.

I can say that support is most definitely right in regards to the hard-drive.

I assume that while it was working, you didn't have any real problem using the hard-drive, based of the fact you could get to your arcade games, so that should rule the HD out as a cause to your problems.

From what I remember from when I had to send it off, you'll only need to send off your HD if support has specifically asked for it. It looks like the hard-drive isn't the problem, so you should be safe in regards to your data.

If they do/have asked for it, I would probably look at the memory unit idea, and try to transport off your important stuff.

Sorry I couldn't be more of a help, but good luck with it all.

Brian Jay