The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.
Just got a 360 - RRoD
wunderbar
What Have I Done?Registered User regular
What Have I Done?Registered User regular
This is not a normal "I just got a 360, what should I buy?" thread. That was a month ago. I received my new 360 28 days ago. it was an older model, no HDMI, no improved heatsink(bought an online boxing day bundle, so I had no choice).
I bought GoW today, turn on the TV, turn on the 360. boom. RRoD. 28 days. I know that's not a record, I know of the people who got a 360 that RRoD'd on arrival, but fuck, this sucks.
Now I know of the DRM fuck ups with the XBLA games and everything. I also know that if you pester Microsoft enough, they'll change your console ID or something like that so you don't have to worry about the DRM shit. Is that somethign I need to do when I first call them asking for the coffin? Or is it something I should wait to get my replacement unit to worry about. I do not want to have to deal with the DRM for the games I bought, so I will pester them until they change the console ID for me.
Also, I just bought Rez HD yesterday, barely had a chance to play it
I bought GoW today, turn on the TV, turn on the 360. boom. RRoD. 28 days. I know that's not a record, I know of the people who got a 360 that RRoD'd on arrival, but fuck, this sucks.
Now I know of the DRM fuck ups with the XBLA games and everything. I also know that if you pester Microsoft enough, they'll change your console ID or something like that so you don't have to worry about the DRM shit. Is that somethign I need to do when I first call them asking for the coffin? Or is it something I should wait to get my replacement unit to worry about. I do not want to have to deal with the DRM for the games I bought, so I will pester them until they change the console ID for me.
Also, I just bought Rez HD yesterday, barely had a chance to play it
XBL: thewunderbar PSN: thewunderbar NNID: thewunderbar Steam: wunderbar87 Twitter: wunderbar
wunderbar on
0
Posts
I did have to redownload the arcade games to get them to work offline though.
Sympathy!
That's what I'm hoping for. I also want a new console, so I hope mine is totally fucked. I want hdmi damnit :P
I love the 360 a lot. I really do. But fuck they're so finicky. I hold my breath every time I power mine on, and I Have a new model.
What really sucks is that gamestop/EB no longer will sell warranties for systems. They sell them for all other systems (my PS3 is covered for an extra year) but specifically not the 360. The problems have been that bad.
That's terrible.
DRE's are much worse. Any of yours do the disk scratching thing? One of my friends had that and before he knew it he had scratched half his library testing the machine out. Worse still his was a launch unit and that isn't covered under the 3 year plan.
They really screwed the pooch on this one.
nope, I'd go and swap mine out the instant I'd get a DRE. I figured if it happened once, it'd only get worse.
I'm glad I really don't have to worry about RRoR, but I wish they'd cover DREs in the extended warranty, because I saw those far, far, far more times than I saw a RRoD.
His happend right at the beginning of the errors. He had rented a game, so when he DRE'd he thought it was just because the disk was smugged, so he tried out a few more of his titles before he figured out it was the 360 doing it.
His whole family must be unlucky as his brothers launch 360 was RRoD right out of the box. He is on number four right now and its not looking good for this one. Lots of freezes and graphical glitches. He is just waiting for the lights.
if you usually sign onto live anyway, it won't make a difference (you should still get it fixed, but all games (other than puzzle quest) work fine if you're logged in to live), so it's not too horrible
I was a core 360 user, so my experiences were worse.
I bought my 360 in november of 2006 (though I didn't notice the born-on date), and it got the RRoD. However, I don't blame it because it got them after my roommate accidentally kicked it (long, long story) so I don't feel too bad about it getting them.
When I went to swap it out (since I had a warranty), they gave me a launch 360. I was annoyed, but it worked so I kept it. It gave me DREs about 4 months later.
So I swapped it out again. Unfortunatly, the entire city of austin was sold out of cores, except for one store, so when I swapped it out, I didn't really have a say in the matter. It was also another launch 360. About 3 weeks later, I got DREs.
So I swapped it out again, this time in november of 2007, while in Houston. I told the dude my entire story and how I was tired of getting launch 360's, and that I knew they had a lot of problems and what not. He told me the core was no longer in stock, and he wasn't supposed to trade for another model, but he'd help me out. He gave me an Arcade model, and even checked to make sure it was a Falcon motherboard and the most recent they had (it was built like 7 days before I bought it). In addition, I've begun running it horizontally instead of vertically, and thus far I've had no problems.
knock on wood.
I actually worked at work on Saturday. Also I went out on a date with a real life girl.
Can you like, permanently break the forums?
I'm pretty sure if something breaks and it's under warranty they have to replace it with the closest thing.
I could be mistaken though.
It sounds like he replaced it at a store instead of going through Microsoft.
If so, how can I make it RRoD permanently? put it in the oven? :P
I'm kinda afraid now, though if this nets me a box with an HDMI output that'd be kinda cool.
Honestly, I'd just leave it on... not for any nefarious purposes, but when mine started dying, it would sometimes RRoD, and sometimes load up fine but freeze within 5 minutes... after about a day of struggling with it like that, it would RRoD every single time
If it's stable for hours, then it might be worth not sending it back in... but usually the RRoD problem isn't fixable like that
20 minute call center wait.
20 minutes talking to support.
....and then they tell me to CALL BACK in 2 hours.
I got a reference number..
their system is updating and they cant register my box right now.
I called and microsoft was broken, all of it. =(
ya, I was on hold for 15 minutes because they had trouble verifying my address becaues of the system upgrades
I should play some GoW, that'll tax the thing and make it warm. go RRoD
Just called in, smooth process but just had trouble understanding the guy in a few places. I asked where he was but he couldn't tell me. odd.
No, new hardware is just considerably more complicated than old hardware is. Open an NES up someday and marvel at it's lack of motorised moving parts and optical assembly and thermal management components.
You're basically trying to compare this:
with this:
Old cartridge based consoles didn't have any moving parts (excepting the NES's cart slot), and there wasn't a console that had any thermal solutions up until the Dreamcast released.
Old systems still work because they're built like tanks, and they're built like tanks because they're basically nothing more than a motherboard inside a thick plastic casing. They don't pull much power and they don't run hot.
Steam / Bus Blog / Goozex Referral
Anyone have any idea what the failure rate of "repaired" consoles is like? Doesn't seem too good from what I'm reading...
I've gotten five of them at different times and places, but when I turn it off and start it up again, it's fine.
Even then, it's ironic that he said the NES because the NES is notorious for having it's pins corrode and shift out of place. The NES is one of the most frequently broken consoles in history.
I refuse to believe that he's never seen the red blinking screen before.
Based on what timeline?
Obviously, the pins corrode over time. Over a very long time. Unless you treat your system like complete shit.
Or are you saying that the NES systems' pins would corrode and break regularly during the console's life time?
Also, I've had the original NES since it came out. What is the red blinking screen? The only issues I've ever had with my nes were easily remedied by pulling the carts out and reinserting them. Sometimes with a good blow on the cart's contacts for superstition and good luck. My carts are pretty much never dusty.
I hardly call that "breaking"
unless you mean the blinking power light, which is more of an error rather than a breakage, because that sort of thing was common and often remedied quite easily as well...
Steam ID: slashx000______Twitter: @bill_at_zeboyd______ Facebook: Zeboyd Games
Based off the timeline of video games. The NES has several very serious design flaws which makes it not prone to breaking, but guaranteed to break.
For one, the NES used a zero insertion force mechanism. It is designed so that when you insert a game cart, you don't have to shove it into the card slot. However, the ZIF actually breaks the system. Over time, the ZIF will bend the connection pins out of place. This isn't a question of "will it happen," but "when will it happen." Its guaranteed to break. After using the ZIF long enough, your NES WILL break.
Second, Nintendo got cheap when they designed the connection pins for the ZIF. The connection pins are made of low grade copper which are more prone to corrosion than normal cartridge contacts. Over time, the contacts corrode and it becomes near impossible to boot up the NES. Again, this is not a "will it happen" but "when will it happen." This WILL happen over time.
Finally, the timer chip in the NES is faulty. Because of the design of the ZIF, dirt and dust are more prone to gathering in the cartridge slot. Now, timing is essential to the NES. Any dirt or dust in the NES' ZIF will cause the timing to go off, which will cause the NES piracy lockout chip to kick in, which is what results in the red blinking screen. Now, the only way to remove the dust is to either blow into it (which speeds up corrosion) or use a nintendo cleaning kit... but unfortunately the nintendo cleaning kit uses an extra-wide PCB for it's contact pins which further bends the contacts on the NES. So either way, when you get the red blinking light, your NES is gonna get damaged and the damage will only get worse.
The design of the model 1 NES is seriously flawed. It WILL break, it's guaranteed. The model 2 fixes a lot of problems, but what I described above is why so many NES' exhibit these flaws. It'll happen, and to everyone who is about to pop up to chime in about how their nes still works - give it time. it'll break. I promise.
EDIT: Ha, I totally predicted your reply even as I was typing. And yes, those are defects with the system and they get more frequent over time. If a DRE can be considered breaking, then a timing chip error can be considered breaking. especially when they both get worse over time and the only real fix for them is to take the console apart and replace the cart slot (or DVD drive in the 360's case).
Fair enough, but my NES made it 20 years so far and still works. It probably won't ever break again because I probably won't ever use it. It worked like a charm when I bought an SNES and forgot all about it. It's made it 4 times longer than I actually needed it.
If my ps3 breaks in 2025 then so be it, I got my money's worth. I'll just have to make due playing FF23 on my ps8.
But what I'm saying is that given a long enough time period, any console will break.
The question of "when will it happen" is the crux of this conversation.
For many PS2 owners, that "when" was within a couple of years. For many 360 owners, that "when" was within 1 or 2 years. For many PS1 owners, it varied.
All of these are well below what we might assume to be the typical life span of a NES. We don't have hard numbers, but the overwhelming anecdotal evidence suggests that most people had NESs working for longer than 360s or PS2s or PS1s.*
Now, compared to perhaps a Sega system of the same era, maybe it's shorter. But to say that it's one of the "most frequently broken" systems in history, given a long enough time, is stating the obvious.
The best designed equipment will inevitably give out, given a long enough time span. That is why I asked you what timeline you were talking about. On a "console generation" timeline I'd say the NES was way ahead of the gang. At least the modern gang, that is. For its era maybe not, compared to, what the SMS or TG16 or NeoGeo, I have no idea. But compared to modern consoles, the frequency of serious console problems apparently occur far sooner and to far more serious consequences.
As to the idea of DRE versus timing chip error being considered "breaking," we're getting into a grey area. I don't consider my NES broken simply because I have to occasionally clear out some dust from the copper contacts of my carts. Every game I have works flawlessly on the system, despite the occasional dust clean-out. The amount of effort it takes to get the system running after a flashing power light is practically nonexistent. I spend more time waiting for my PS2 to boot normally than I do reinserting NES carts.
:P
C'mon, TSR, blowing on carts is something that always comes up in NES related conversation. That's not prediction. That's something that should be expected. Indeed I edited in the bit about blowing on the nes/carts in expectation that you would mention how doing so would affect the contacts (and thus nes life expectancy) due to dust.
Unless you mean the DRE things. But I'm talking about PS2s "breaking" in that the DRE to the point of never loading a game, or a 360 RRODing. The NES might need a de-dusting or the PS2 might not DRE all the time (mine gets it on rare occasion), but when I say break, I'm talking about when the thing becomes useless. As in, I don't consider my PS2 broken because I get DREs sometimes, I consider my friend's PS2 broken because it only DREs and never loads any game. Likewise, I don't consider my NES broken because I can run games 99.9% of the time flawlessly, but that .1% of the time I have to remove dust, a process taking less than a minute, and then it works great once again. But like I said, we're defining 'break' in different ways now
:^:
edit2: i'm pretty bad about editing, so if you're writing a reply right now.. oops :P
Steam ID: slashx000______Twitter: @bill_at_zeboyd______ Facebook: Zeboyd Games
I'm not looking at it at the moment (it's in the car, and I'm at work... luckily it's warm out, so it'll be okay in the car).
But that's basically what you have to do... go back to the marketplace and select 'download again' on everything you purchased.
Keep trying just one arcade game though and if a couple weeks go by and it still doesn't work then they will either fix it for you or refund all your points. In my case about a year ago I was very nearly refunded points but I think when they realized how much I had spent they decided to light a fire under an engineer's ass to get in there and change the ID.