Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Xbox 360 Faults - The Problems And Failures Invoked By Them

By Timothy Anderson


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

One of the most infamous errors of all time, somewhat of a parody of the equally notorious Blue Screen of Death, the Red Ring of Death occurs when there's general hardware failure in the console. This essentially means the console has become unusable and can be used no more until repair. The error manifests itself as a three-quarter red circle on the front of the console. Fortunately, it's covered under the warranty and should be sent in immediately for repair or replacement. However, many amateurs attempt repairs and fail, so it's advisable to leave it to a professional.

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.

Scratched Discs

Among the most destructive of the 360's problems is the scratching of discs. If the disc tray is loose it can often lead to damage to your discs if they are being dragged against a sharp edge inside the disk tray, especially when the console is moved for whatever reason why the disc is spinning. Such movements like hard vibrations are unavoidable and this has led to many studies as to how likely this problem is. While some found that common household vibrations can indeed cause scratching, Microsoft has taken the stance that it's the user's fault for placing the console where it can be damaged in such a way or for moving the console while it's working.

E74

This is an error in which the lower-right of the ring flashes red. The E74 System Error is caused by the video, when there's damage to the hardware. While it is included under the warranty, it can strike in many cases, but gives the user early warning signs, such as video artifacts. Essentially, the video quality will degrade severely and this should be enough warning that the E74 error is about to occur.




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