Major Heating Problem with XBox 360.

[DsS Game]

Big warning to those who plan on, or already bought an XBox 360...

There have been previews reports of the console shutting off at kiosks at select retail chains. But apperently, not only is it not a random system defect, it is apparently even in the user manual.

http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=48697
http://www.gamespot.com/pages/forums/show_msgs.php?topic_id=23975916
http://forum.teamxbox.com/showthread.php?t=391764

On another site, they reported that people already complained about it to microsoft and they only replied saying:

"...red light means that it's overheating."

Other reports state that on the bottom of the console, the warranty sticker melts off because of this problem. This case seems to be w/ both the console and the power supply at the same time (or "brick", as some of them are calling it). The games within the console are also allegedly coming out "...red hot" from the console as well.

Well after checking this out, I definitely am not gonna buy this till later on when this problem will be resolved...

[DarkFlameWolf]

I have nothing to add but that I laughed really hard when I read this.

[Gerudo]

after being in EBGames and listening to some lady bitch up a storm about not being able to pick up a 360, as well as being told about the asstastically long lines in Wal*Mart, i second DFW.

[AlexMax]

And this is why I'm waiting. I bet people who got a first-generation PS2 felt pretty stupid when their DVD drives stopped reading blue CD's too.

[*b*]

whenever I need something to make me feel better, I go online and read about how Miscrosoft has screwed up. this is just too funny

[algam86]

Hm. $400 for this? Should've did what everybody else did and made sure all of them worked. Another fine example of a Microsoft screw-up.

By the time prices fall, it'll probably be perfect.

[Warlock]

This + not enough units shipped (which I think was intentional to create "a buzz") = releasing the damn thing too early to capitalize on the market. Stupid. And the worst thing is that it will probably work. Microsoft will make a ton from this and the consumer gets screwed.

[Orion]

Meh. My room mate got his 360 and it works just fine. The only reason you hear about the bad cases is because those are the only people that are gunna bitch. People who think Microsoft "created" this shortage are idiots. I'm sorry, if you are that bit of a conspiracy therorist, you have way too much time to think.

Conversly, hearing about all of these people who waited in line and bitched that they didn't get one are starting to piss me off. Seriously. It's a gaming console. There will be more. It's not the end of the world if you don't get one on launch day.

[Warlock]

Meh. My room mate got his 360 and it works just fine. The only reason you hear about the bad cases is because those are the only people that are gunna bitch. People who think Microsoft "created" this shortage are idiots. I'm sorry, if you are that bit of a conspiracy therorist, you have way too much time to think.

Conversly, hearing about all of these people who waited in line and bitched that they didn't get one are starting to piss me off. Seriously. It's a gaming console. There will be more. It's not the end of the world if you don't get one on launch day.

I don't think anyone said that.

All I said was Microsoft did not properly test their system before release.

[DsS Game]

Meh. My room mate got his 360 and it works just fine. The only reason you hear about the bad cases is because those are the only people that are gunna bitch. People who think Microsoft "created" this shortage are idiots. I'm sorry, if you are that bit of a conspiracy therorist, you have way too much time to think.

Conversly, hearing about all of these people who waited in line and bitched that they didn't get one are starting to piss me off. Seriously. It's a gaming console. There will be more. It's not the end of the world if you don't get one on launch day.

Um sooner or later it will heat up. Just watch the red light.

And personally I don't have a 360, but word is that it is stated in the user manual...

[MottZilla]

Don't buy into rumors and spins of small amounts of units having problems. With these newer consoles running at even higher clock speeds than ever before, you can't blame Microsoft. Sony has had these problems too. Also unlike older consoles, you have to realize with modern ones it's important to use them in a open space with ventilation, and that it's not a good idea to use it while your house is baking hot, or when you let it clog up with dust.

Really, you can't call it a "major" problem. And you can't blame Microsoft for it. And if you do have those problems, you should be given priority on an exchange for a new unit.

So stop the fanboy rumor stories, it's really lame.

[DsS Game]

http://forums.e-mpire.com/showpost.php?p=862877&postcount=68

So far one solution has been found. It seems like it was a designing flaw...

You have to keep the unit in the air to allow the heat to release...

[MottZilla]

Sounds more like an operator idiot flaw. You don't leave electronics on the floor or in non ventilated areas. So it seems to me that there really weren't any problems...

Like I said, it's not a NES or SNES or Genesis anymore. These consoles can really heat up.

My GameCube power supply brick has NEVER been on the floor. It's just stupid to even consider that, unless you have a tiled floor or something. But definitely not carpet.

[DsS Game]

Sounds more like an operator idiot flaw. You don't leave electronics on the floor or in non ventilated areas. So it seems to me that there really weren't any problems...

Like I said, it's not a NES or SNES or Genesis anymore. These consoles can really heat up.

My GameCube power supply brick has NEVER been on the floor. It's just stupid to even consider that, unless you have a tiled floor or something. But definitely not carpet.

Err did you read the link I posted?

It said that this dude took the power supply off and suspended it in the air with string and it worked fine.

I dunno I find this random...He did put the PSU on a box and it worked well.

[Eckels]

this is great! since the cost of home heating oil is going up and up, i can just heat my home with an XBox 360!

Seriously, Microsoft is pretty stupid for releasing a unit that they expected to overheat. And clearly they did expect it to, since they installed little red lights to indicate it so.

I can understand the desire to get it out before christmas, but what's the point of kids can only play the systems for a half hour at a time anyways? Average Johnny Consumer shouldn't have to suspend his console from wires just to enjoy playing it for a length of time.

Any problem can be solved with research and time, but Microsoft clearly got impatient, and they're gonna pay for it.

Also, what happens down the road when more complicated games come out that require more processing, and therefore more power? All seems very shortsighted to me.

[Cloral]

You have engine problem lights on your car, but that doesn't mean that the car manufacturer expected the engine to malfunction. Status indicators are part of a good design. And no, I'm not saying that this means that the 360 was designed well; I'm sure it could still use some improvement. But I've had a development kit that is essentially the final hardware for several months now and have had 0 problems with it. Then again, since it is a few months old, maybe they did make some modifications since then that might've had unintended side effects. I don't think water cooled computers are an exact science yet.

As for the shortages, I'm quite certain they were unintended. How do I know? Microsoft made a huge mistake with the dev kits. The final hardware has 3 3.2GHz cores, but they made the 'final' dev kits with 3 2.8GHz cores. Naturally everyone wanted this fixed so that they could be designing on as close to retail hardware as possible. MS replaced as many as they could, but the demand was simply too high. So they ended up taking units that had been produced for retail sale, modding them, and selling them as dev kits. These ones are easy to tell from the others as they look exactly like the units you can buy at the store. I'm sure this screwed up their production cycles somewhat. I don't think that alone would account for the currant shortages, but I'm sure there were other problems involved.

[biggiy05]

People hear about the newest part coming out and they want to go dish out the money to say have the best of the best. It is going to have some type of problem somewhere, it might be a small problem or a big problem.

Microsoft has screwed up alot of things. The demand for the 360 is through the roof and they want to beat sony to the finish line so they will do whatever it takes. I don't think microsoft thinks that a one out of every so many units screwing up is a bad thing yet. Yea it should be fixed but I don't see them doing anything until the numbers get higher.


I don't think water cooled computers are an exact science yet.

It's gonna be a while before wc computers are an exact science. Alienware claims to have come out with one that never needs coolant or water added. Eventually your gonna have something growing inside the tubing and the water inside will have get rather nasty at one point or another if you don't change it every couple months maybe less.

[Eckels]

You have engine problem lights on your car, but that doesn't mean that the car manufacturer expected the engine to malfunction.

um, yes they do. that's exactly why the lights are there. those are indicator lights to show that there's a problem. engine problems are inevitable with a car, even the most expensive ones. That's the risk you take when you purchase and operate a machine that is powered by sequential explosions.

an automobile is hardly a fair comparison to an xbox 360 though, internal combustion and all. a much fairer comparison would be a home theater system, or an out-of-the-box personal computer (such as a dell, or HP), or a clock radio for that matter. They don't need warning lights because they're not going to overheat.

And since every other gaming system I've ever owned has come supplied without an overheating warning light (and also have never overheated), I maintain my stance that it was a poor move on microsoft's part to allow such a known fault in the system to be kept intact, and distributed to the general public.

[Masamune]

My bro's XBox used to overheat while playing Morrowind... He'd play for like several hours at a time and finally it'd start glitching up and getting choppy. Then he'd turn it off. Pretty soon he was able to determine when it'd start overheating before it'd even happen. o_O

Fucker was addicted to Morrowind... >_>

[ONeilcool]

Is this really gonna effect the sales? the normal stupid common population that only plays halo and gta(the target group) is still gonna buy it, so Microsoft could care less if it overheats.

[Gerudo]

the normal stupid population will still buy a 360, regardless...

short answer: no.

[Joshua Milton N]

Man that is bad news for people who plan on or already have the X-Box 360.

I'm defenantly not going to buy one at all after hearing this.

Thanks for the Warning DsS Game.

[Orion]

the normal stupid population will still buy a 360, regardless...

short answer: no.

Does this make me and my room mate part of the "stupid population." We've rather enjoyed the XBox 360, with really no problems to speak of. I don't know what everyone else is putting their consoles through, but ours works just fine and dandy. I've been enjoying kameo and perfect dark zero for the last couple of days now (pdz really isn't that bad, it could be better, but its still a very fun all around game).

[AlexMax]

This + not enough units shipped (which I think was intentional to create "a buzz") = releasing the damn thing too early to capitalize on the market. Stupid. And the worst thing is that it will probably work. Microsoft will make a ton from this and the consumer gets screwed.

You are acting like Microsoft isn't going to replace or repair these systems? Do you honestly fucking think that ANY company WANTS this kind of blemish on their record, especially relative newcomers such as the Microsoft? Microsoft is going to make the lives of the people who bought the defective systems very easy. Just watch.


Does this make me and my room mate part of the "stupid population." We've rather enjoyed the XBox 360, with really no problems to speak of. I don't know what everyone else is putting their consoles through, but ours works just fine and dandy. I've been enjoying kameo and perfect dark zero for the last couple of days now (pdz really isn't that bad, it could be better, but its still a very fun all around game).

Of course it does. Any SMART person would know that MicroSLOTH wants to FUCK THEIR CUSTOMERS, so you're a huge fucking idiot for buying into the hype of the XBox 360. And if not you probably work for microsoft, so it doesn't matter anyway. The winners here are Sony and Nintendo. They WON. You LOST! THEYRE THE WINNER! THEY ARE THE CLEAR SUPERSTARS OF THE CONSOLE FANBOY WAR.

THEY ARE WINNAR!!!

Jesus fucking christ that felt vile just TYPING that.

EDIT:
Man that is bad news for people who plan on or already have the X-Box 360.

I'm defenantly not going to buy one at all after hearing this.

Thanks for the Warning DsS Game.

Shut up, you weren't going to buy one anyway, you were just looking for a reason to feel vindicated in doing so (OH MY GOD A FEW OF THEM HAVE HEAT PROBLEMS, JUST THE REPLACEMENT I NEED FOR "XBOX IS HUEG!!!").

[Beldaran]

I'd like to see all the electronics geniuses here do something besides armchair quarterback the design of a system they know almost nothing about. Where's your amazing non-heat producing miniature home computer gaming system Eckels? Oh yeah you don't know how to design them, that's right. So maybe let real engineers do their jobs.

You guys always blow the slightest problem with microsoft products way out of proportion, completely ignoring the flaws in your own shitty fanboy toys, and you are always proven wrong by the success of products that are supposedly supposed to kill children and burn down buildings if you buy them.

[Eckels]

Where's your amazing non-heat producing miniature home computer gaming system Eckels? Oh yeah you don't know how to design them, that's right. So maybe let real engineers do their jobs.

A.) I didn't say non-heat producing. I said non-overheating. big difference.

B.) Thats right. I don't know how to design them. I didn't suggest that I did. That's why I don't work for Microsoft. I didn't even suggest a design idea.

I do, on the other hand, understand marketing, which is where I've pointed out several times now, that Microsoft has failed.


I also noticed that you say miniature. Why should I care if the system is miniature or not? I would prefer a system to be large and work properly than be the size of a calculator and fail.

[Dechipher]

You are acting like Microsoft isn't going to replace or repair these systems? Do you honestly fucking think that ANY company WANTS this kind of blemish on their record, especially relative newcomers such as the Microsoft? Microsoft is going to make the lives of the people who bought the defective systems very easy. Just watch.



Of course it does. Any SMART person would know that MicroSLOTH wants to FUCK THEIR CUSTOMERS, so you're a huge fucking idiot for buying into the hype of the XBox 360. And if not you probably work for microsoft, so it doesn't matter anyway. The winners here are Sony and Nintendo. They WON. You LOST! THEYRE THE WINNER! THEY ARE THE CLEAR SUPERSTARS OF THE CONSOLE FANBOY WAR.

THEY ARE WINNAR!!!

Jesus fucking christ that felt vile just TYPING that.

EDIT:

Shut up, you weren't going to buy one anyway, you were just looking for a reason to feel vindicated in doing so (OH MY GOD A FEW OF THEM HAVE HEAT PROBLEMS, JUST THE REPLACEMENT I NEED FOR "XBOX IS HUEG!!!").

hey the people in the shallow end want you to come back your starting to scare us.



Where's your amazing non-heat producing miniature home computer gaming system Eckels? Oh yeah you don't know how to design them, that's right. So maybe let real engineers do their jobs.

I thought he was making a joke....but I could have been wrong.



I also noticed that you say miniature. Why should I care if the system is miniature or not? I would prefer a system to be large and work properly than be the size of a calculator and fail.

Miniature is gay. Bigger is better.


Also, I'm not getting a PS3 nor an XBOX 360. I'm going all out for the Revolution. It may not be as good, who knows, but I bet I'll have more fun trying to figure out how to work the damn thing.

Shit overheats all the time. My laptop is a hot muthafuck.

[Beldaran]

I wasn't joking, but I was being a little bitch because these annoying people are at my house and large social groups put me in a shit-tastic mood.

[vegeta1215]

I think Microsoft did a good job of marketing the X-Box 360 - I've never seen such hype for a console. But, because of all the hype and all the promises made of the X-Box 360, any negativity is a big blow against them. Even so, I have no doubts that Microsoft will take care of the gamers who had problems with he units.

btw, I think it is crazy that people stand in line all night and/or drive miles and miles just for a video game console. Despite being a big Nintendo fan, that is something I would never do - I have better things to do.

[MottZilla]

Well you know there's a big difference in overheating terms. If a computer device is designed properly, when it detects it's exceeded the maximum operating temperature, it shuts down automatically. Because a certain amount of degrees higher can cause permenant damage you know. Anyways, I don't think we will see less only more heating related issues with newer consoles.

I do agree with Eckels about Microsoft possibly jumping the gun getting what may be such a huge head start. But it might pay off if people are convinced it's the start of the "next' generation of consoles. I kind of think Microsoft will do atleast as good as they did last time around. But we will see when PS3 and Revolution are released. And thanks to the way the market works, I'd probably be more inclined to buy the Xbox 360 than the PS3, and probably get the 360 before Revolution unless there is a killer 1st party title for Rev.

So anyways, is it just me or are all the fanboy comments hilarious? I think is sad when people love or hate a system solely based on the company that makes it, and not on what the console has to offer.

[Warlock]

You are acting like Microsoft isn't going to replace or repair these systems? Do you honestly fucking think that ANY company WANTS this kind of blemish on their record, especially relative newcomers such as the Microsoft? Microsoft is going to make the lives of the people who bought the defective systems very easy. Just watch.


On another site, they reported that people already complained about it to microsoft and they only replied saying:

"...red light means that it's overheating."

Other reports state that on the bottom of the console, the warranty sticker melts off because of this problem. This case seems to be w/ both the console and the power supply at the same time (or "brick", as some of them are calling it). The games within the console are also allegedly coming out "...red hot" from the console as well.

The overheating is documented. They are not going to replace consoles for a documented problem in the manual. And if they do, there is still the problem of the warrenty label melting off.

P.S. - if your console needs replacing, good luck. Unless Microsoft has kept a huge backorder for such an occassion, havn't you heard there is a shortage? Maybe you can get a new Xbox 360 in March :P

I have nothing against the Xbox 360. I'm not getting one but I don't care who else wants to pick one up. It's just that when Microsoft releases the thing too damn early just for hype when they don't have enough systems produced and they havn't properly tested the things, that's when the consumer gets screwed. Seriously, this heating problem.. one extra $10 fan inside the console would have probably solved it. More ventilation holes in the base. Simple crap like this could have spared a whole lot of hassle, especially when they apparently knew the system was prone to overheating as it's documented in the manual.

[Grasshopper]

I don't really have an opinion on this. But here is some stuff I've seen/heard about it.

I think about 2 of the Xbox 360s we've sold out of the 18 that we got have had problems. One was a woman who got the $400 unit, and the other was a guy who bought the core system. There may have been one more, but I'm not sure.

The guy brought back Need for Speed Most Wanted, and it had a perfect circle scratched into the disc. It was very deep scratch about halfway from the center that encircled the disc. We had to replace it for him.

He said that he was having some problems with his system as well. Here is what he told my manager. He said that he called Microsoft to see if he could get it replaced through them, and Microsoft said to deal with the retailers as he is more likely to get one from them. But as you know, everyone is sold out, so I don't know why they expect he is more likely.

Also, Microsoft said to set the time for the Xbox, because if you leave the time set to the default when you got the system, then some games would lock up. I don't know if he is misunderstanding Microsoft, if Microsoft really said this and are just guessing because they don't really know, or if Microsoft really said this and it does help.

Like I said, this is just stuff I've seen or heard. You can take it as you want. :) But this isn't anything compared to the number of people complaining about PS2s.

[Cloral]

Nobody ever talks about the problems with the early PS2s, or the shortages when the PS2 came out, or the overhype of the PS2, because they all love their PS2s. And I'm with you in that regard. Even though I've had my PS2 for less time than my Gamecube, I have more games for it, and probably play it about 10:1 versus how much I play my Gamecube. Everyone likes to point out these problems in the 360 though because everyone hates MS, or M$ as you all like to say (you folks would do well to take a look at this strip (http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/11/03)). I'll admit, I was the same way when the XBox came out. But over the last year and a half I've been working with the xbox and 360 and I have to say, MS knows how to make a console easy to develop for. On the other hand, the PS2 is a total piece of crap when it comes time to fix a problem. They don't even have a debugging suite; they relied on 3rd party companies to release tools that are unintuitive at best. I'm sure none of this matters to any of you who simply play the consoles, but my point is this: you are judging the console without even trying it simply because of who is putting it out. And that is closed-minded.

[MottZilla]

Warlock, I think you missed it. The overheated occurs in the power supply brick in the power cord. If you leave it sit in an enclosed space or on carpet or something it can overheat. The console itself probably doesn't overheat as they do make certain that won't happen unless ofcourse, a fan is defective or dies after X amount of use.

[Grasshopper]

...because everyone hates [Microsoft]

Hehe, in our little group at work, Microsoft isn't anywhere near the hate we share for Sony.

But anyway, can anyone verify that the fix above, in my previous post, helps?

[Warlock]

Warlock, I think you missed it. The overheated occurs in the power supply brick in the power cord. If you leave it sit in an enclosed space or on carpet or something it can overheat. The console itself probably doesn't overheat as they do make certain that won't happen unless ofcourse, a fan is defective or dies after X amount of use.

Ah, I understand. But I'm not quite sure why they had to make the design in that way to begin with. PCs don't have power supplies in their power cords. Just stick the power supply inside the system and throw some fans on it. Problem solved. Just because that is how things were done in the past doesn't mean they have to be done the same way now.

And yes, I recall the same problems with the PS2. Sony does not get off the hook in my book for that, especially if they repeat that crap with the PS3. PS2 was launched too early too. What did they have 3 games? Weee.. Fantavision! I was lucky enough to get my system from the second batch shipped (which was sometime in December, so you can at least say Sony did better than Microsoft in that regard since no more Xbox 360s are coming till March which is a horribly long wait) and I never had any problems with it. But yes, the PS2 still is a POS in my book as far as consoles go. The only reason to really own one are the games themselves (and the backwards compatibility, I never had a PSX). But yeah, Dreamcast which came out before the PS2 was a hell of a lot better console, particularly in the graphics department. Shame it never caught on with the consumers.

[AlexMax]

hey the people in the shallow end want you to come back your starting to scare us.

Is that the best you can do? Weak....


Everyone likes to point out these problems in the 360 though because everyone hates MS, or M$ as you all like to say

I have started editing out instances of "M$" in people's posts.

[jessethe2nd]

I would fell really sorry if a person who is purchasing a console on ebay happened to get a defective console. 2000+ for a console, and I thought its retail price was ridiculous.

[Cloral]

Yeah. The day I got mine, my friend who lives in Florida called me up and asked if I could get one for his friend who was going to sell it on eBay. We didn't have any extras though. He called me back later to tell me his friend had bought one for $1000 with the intent to turn around and resell it at a profit. That's absolutely rediculous.

Well I've had mine for about 2 weeks now and have had no problems with it at all. Then again, I do keep 'the brick' (the ac adaptor) up on the surface behind my tv, with one end lying on top of a cord. In this way, nearly all of the brick is exposed to air, helping to ensure it doesn't overheat. So maybe that's helped out somewhat. Some have knocked the wireless controller, but really its very cool. If you want to play the same game you played last time, you don't have to get anywhere near the console. Just hold the guide button for about a second, and away you go! Though $60 for a controller is too much ($50 for the controller itself plus $10 for the battery pack, or $20 if you want the 'chage and play' package, though you really only need one of those even if you have multiple controllers).

[Radium]

My Xbox 360 hasn't over heated/crashed/destroyed a cd once (I have mine in an upright position)... These are fairly rare cases, they are just the most publicized. Microsoft will get you back up and runing with next day shipping I've read. I also read that only about 2% of xbox 360's have been having issues which is below the average and therefore anyone trying to sue Microsoft will not and do not have a case. May as well just get it replaced if you happen to have issues.

[Cloral]

You've got a 360 too? What games do you have?

[LinkSlash]

If I remember right this all happened with the first Xbox didn't it? There were issues of it overheating in local Toys 'R' Us stores and everything I think. People just like to make a hype out of little things.

[Gerudo]

i felt the plastic casing box (not the 360 itself) around the EBGames demo unit, and it was pretty warm. i mean, people gotta be really stupid to not know to keep their units in an area thats well ventilated (ie; not on the carpet)...

i played the 360 ver of King Kong, all i got to say, is that T-Rex looked like it was ripped out of Jurassic Park (thats a good thing). Call of Duty was slightly impressive, PGR3 demo was very awesome, as the cars looked just less than real.

i think they had it hooked up via hi-def... eh...

[Pryme8]

if it starts to over heat take it cut out case fans for it? (im not sure if you could do this...)

[Radium]

You've got a 360 too? What games do you have?

I've got Perfect Dark at the moment. What games do you have?

My Xbox live tag btw is Radium3D, throw me a message on there if you want to play some time!

[SeirraMist]

My old laptop used to always overheat (the fan was broken) so I just put a fan next to it... would that work in this case to?

[Gerudo]

maybe, seeing as how most of the hardware is inside the unit. i had that problem with a pc another time, i opened my case and let a fan blow air on it.

[AlexMax]

My old laptop used to always overheat (the fan was broken) so I just put a fan next to it... would that work in this case to?

Seeing as the problem is an overheating power supply, I have no idea what blowing the case itself would do.

[Cloral]

I've got Perfect Dark at the moment. What games do you have?

My Xbox live tag btw is Radium3D, throw me a message on there if you want to play some time!
I've got Kameo and PGR3. I'm also going to get DoA4 when it comes out in a few days. I guess we don't have any games in common, but I'll throw you on my friends list. My gamertag is Da Phire.