As always thanks in advance for your responses.
My boys have an Xbox that’s recently devolped a problem. All the games play fine for a limited time, but after say 20 minutes or so, the game flashes a “your XBox needs service” and ceases to work. I’m leaning towards a heating problem since it will work again later, but I’d like response with someone more familiar with the system. Any guesses?
Here’s the link to xbox.com’s page about the error message – not very helpful. Here’s another link to a page with a screen shot of the possible error you receive. On it is a link to a page that will diagnose the error codes.
It looks as though you’re going to have to contact customer care.
Good luck!
I think you diagnosed it correctly. A heating problem is by far the most likely problem based on your symptoms.
I hope your Xbox is under warrantee, otherwise Microsoft won’t do a damn thing unless you pay 80 dollars, plus shipping for them to fix it.
My friend’s Xbox had a similar problem, and he calle them just last week. I don’t think the fact that Microsoft seemingly outsources their customer service to India helps much either.
Oh, and Stuffy, does the Xbox have plenty of breathing room? Is there several inches of space on either side and the back of the unit (for the latter there’d almost have to be because of the cables)?
I somehow doubt it’s a heating problem. I have my Xbox wedged between a TV and a subwoofer with no clearance on either side, yet I’ve had no problems, and I’ve played for hours on end.
Thanks, guys at 80-95 dollars just to look, I think it’ll be cheaper to just crack it open and have a look (out of warranty btw) I can buy the basic box for $100 or so.
You never know. Mine overheats after about an hour, and it has plenty of space around the top and sides. The only way to keep it from overheating is to prop it up two stacks of game cases to let air flow under the system. This xbox was purchased the same week they came on the market so it’s possible that it might have some problems that were fixed in newer models, but I’m not sure.
call 1-800-4myxbox and say you want to get the extended warranty. do not mention you are having problems with your xbox. it is about 24-25 bucks last time i got it. after you get it. wait a couple of days and call the same number and mention your problem and they should fix it and nag them to give you free shipping sometimes they want you to pay shipping to them.
From what I can gather, X-Boxes have internal fans, which probably means they get clogged up with dust from time to time. I spent months wrestling with a strange graphics problem on my laptop before I realised that the fan was clogged up with dust. This will happen in the most carefully vacuumed of rooms, especially those with carpets. If you haven’t already ‘cracked it open (???)’, taking a vacuum hose to the fan vents may improve things. Definately worth a shot.
^ That’s actually a good point. I had a computer that was acting completley bizarre. Well, as a last resort, we tore apart my computer and found it was full of dust. So we took it to the local gas station and used a tire air pump to blow the hell out of it. Turns out that was what was causing the problem. Who would have thought it?
UPDATE:
Instead of opening it, I combined Duderdude2, Omega Glory & Thirty-Nine’s suggestions. Im happy to report that it’s been working fine for the last two hours. Ftr, we commonly put it on the floor so we could stretch out and play. So now we have it on top of our carry case with a two inch block to either side.
Yay, glad it worked out for you.