Thursday 22 March 2012

Xbox 360 Faults - The Breakages And Errors Initiated By Them

By Andrew Taylor


Of all the computer consoles ever released, the Xbox 360 has garnered the worst reputation. While it's not the worst, the scale of its failure has grown due to the easy-to-access media and news coverage and the higher sales that previously released consoles. This is a recipe for disaster and reports indicate that a significant portion of all Xbox 360s have failed at some point during their usage. Fortunately, there are methods to avoiding such problems. One would be to look to what model of 360 it is, whether it's the first iteration of the 360 console or if its the latest model, the Xbox 360 'Slim'. As time goes by, newer and better hardware is utilized by Microsoft to create a superior console that has the same power, but a lot more efficiency and reliability. On top of this, the newer models have some of their own issues, though not nearly as many. Whatever the cases, you should be aware of Xbox 360 faults before you purchase either an older model or a second-hand one.

The RROD

Perhaps the most notorious of the Xbox 360's faults it the Red Ring of Death (RROD). This is named as such because when a serious problem strikes the console, three of the four green LEDs become red, almost creating a full red circle. While the full circle is less serious, the third-quarter circle represents a general hardware failure. This essentially means a part of the console is bust and that it will need replacing or fixing. Unfortunately, it's not that simple to fix and many consoles have been broken in amateur attempts to do so.

The reasons behind the RROD usually reside in the overheating area. Microsoft's tight-lipped status on such technical breakages makes it hard to pinpoint such sources, but investigations by third-parties suggests that the hardware is subject to such problems. They are incapable of holding electrical currents and high temperatures for too long before breaking and the RROD becomes inevitable with older machines. The newer models suffer less because the hardware is more efficient.

Disc Scratching

There were some issues with the disc tray. Discs became victim to being scratched while inside the machine and when removed, they would have uniform scratches across the majority of the disc, meaning it was unusable. The uniform nature of these scratches suggest it was a piece of the tray or something else pressed against the disc. The source of the problems is somewhat subjective. In studies, it was proven that discs could indeed be scratched during the course of normal use through everyday household vibrations. However, Microsoft insists its user error, such as moving the console while it's on and the disc is spinning, which the manual warns against.

The E74 System Error

Less common than the RROD, the E74 system error is still serious. It represents damage to the video hardware and is included in the Xbox 360 warranty. Like the RROD, it's advisable to take it in for a professional repair or replacement. Early warning signs manifest in bad image quality and artifacts, so take heed if you see these as it could represent an approaching E74.




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