Happy about failure... Rant

[wa-chiss]

Ok. My XBOX Elite one day decided to stop playing audio. Video was fine but no audio. The XBOX also stopped reading my HDD. I took my XBOX to a friends to use his cables and to try my HDD in his box. No fix. His HDD worked in my box but still I had no sound.

So, naturally, I called microsoft to request a repair. I figured sence it's a hardware failure, it would be covered on the exteded 3yr warranty. WRONG! I ended up talking to the head honcho at whatever call center I was talking to and still they declined to fix it under warranty. They said I would have to pay $100 online or $120 over the phone. I explained that my HDD was also screwed and with it not covered, I'd have to go out and buy one of those too.

So, a new HDD (120GB) and a repair cost of $120 I would be out ~$280. I told the lady at the call center to tell me to just go out and buy a new XBOX for the same price. She said "Well, you still get a warranty after the XBOX is repaired". I told her that a new XBOX would come with a 1yr warranty as well as a 3yr RROD warranty so why would I spend money on a problem part instead of spending the same amount on a new one.

Again, I asked her to "please tell me to go buy a new XBOX". And she DID! b****! The next morning, I decided to give it one more chance and maybe wiggle the AV cable to see if I could get it to work. While I had it on, I was online to see if anyone has had my exact problem. While I couldn't find a single person with my problem, I heard a slight pop from the TV, I looked up, the screen was blank and on the power button of my XBOX was the RROD. f*** I was so damn happy. That night I went online and submitted a free repair order.

f*** YOU microsoft!

[brandonDavid]

i love microsoft. i learned that if you just complain enough, and keep going higher, you will get your way. rrod happened to me, i sent it in for repair on a monday, the following friday ups had it shown as arrived. meanwhile microsoft had not recieved it. i gave it til tuesday to finally call. long story short, 3 hours on the phone, 4 different people. i was growing agitated and finally said "F it, i've lost faith, i'll just buy a ps3". magically they "found" my xbox, it was recieved, repaired, and sent out that same day. i realized why, they sent me a brand new xbox/3 months of live, and a very nice apology letter that i still have somewhere.

but if you didn't end up getting rrod, i would suggest the towel trick.

[wa-chiss]

I saw the towel trick.

Thats why I went up in command. I tried everything to get them to swing my way. I was even really polite up untill the last lady said there was nothing she could do. I had even said to her I would go buy a PS3 and still she didn't budge.

[MinisterofDOOM]

I wonder if the machine was just "on its way" to RROD anyway, and that was the cause of the earlier problems. Did you test your HDD in your friend's box?

I normally scoff at store-bought extended warranties on electronics, but with the xbox it's very much worth it. My first box died from DVDROM drive failure so I just took it back to Gamestop and they unboxed a new one and handed it to me. And since it was new I got a new warranty through MS too.

[wa-chiss]

I wonder if the machine was just "on its way" to RROD anyway, and that was the cause of the earlier problems. Did you test your HDD in your friend's box?

I normally scoff at store-bought extended warranties on electronics, but with the xbox it's very much worth it. My first box died from DVDROM drive failure so I just took it back to Gamestop and they unboxed a new one and handed it to me. And since it was new I got a new warranty through MS too.

Yeah, he was reluctant to let me try my HDD in his box. Once I got to it still didn't work. I should have gotten the extended. I was tempted to open it up until the RROD showed up. Supposedly theres an "X Clip" MOD you can do to fix it.

[MinisterofDOOM]

The X-clip mod is a fix FOR the RROD.

[wa-chiss]

Yeah, I hear the solder for the AV jack inside the box is crappy solder. And while I would be in there I would do the X-clip mod. But I'm gonna leave the repairs to the pros.

[PoorManQ45]

If your harddrive is bad just copy all your saved data off it.

Go to walmart. Buy a new one. Take the harddrive off it. Return the failed harddrive with the new unit to walmart.

Walmart is awesome in that they hire a bunch of retards.

[snwbrdr435]

^ not that easy

[wa-chiss]

If your harddrive is bad just copy all your saved data off it.

Go to walmart. Buy a new one. Take the harddrive off it. Return the failed harddrive with the new unit to walmart.

Walmart is awesome in that they hire a bunch of retards.

There's a program to format the HD so the XBOX will accept it. Or something like that. Which I have absolutely no skills in that matter. My room mate can do it for me though. A new 120GB XBOX HDD will run me ~$150 while a new Basic SATA 120GB HD will cost me only ~$50. I've looked at it and it's basically just a Fujitsu laptop HD. Doesn't suprize me.

Would swapping the discs inside the HD work?

[Razi]

Would swapping the discs inside the HD work?

lol good luck with that.

I'd say just use a new harddrive.

[Dattebayo]

Would swapping the discs inside the HD work?

Sure, you need a clean room, two identical discs (down to the model number), special screwdriver bits (to take it apart), several types of delicate grabbing tools (for removing the readers from the disc) and a surgeons steady hand.

[wa-chiss]

That's sooo doable...... f*** that. New HD it is.

[PoorManQ45]

Um... You don't have to buy a xbox specific harddrive.

A Western Digital Scorpio Black 120GB 2.5" will work. You need to go to xboxhq and get the hacked firmware for it.

[sentrastace]

i love microsoft. i learned that if you just complain enough, and keep going higher, you will get your way.

same experience here.

[wa-chiss]

Um... You don't have to buy a xbox specific harddrive.

A Western Digital Scorpio Black 120GB 2.5" will work. You need to go to xboxhq and get the hacked firmware for it.

Thats my plan. My room mate said he could do the firmware thingy. I would have to switch the XBOX HDD over to my elite case unless I want my XBOX to look ghey. So, I might as well go a more economical route and get a plain HD.

[PoorManQ45]

Well, make sure you do your research. Only certain harddrives can be flashed to work.

If you have a regular white Xbox with a 20 or 60GB harddrive in it you can install a flashed 120GB in to the xbox harddrive enclosure and it will work fine.

[wa-chiss]

Nah, I've got the elite.

[MinisterofDOOM]

Nah, I've got the elite.

MS will likely be releasing a standalone 250GB upgrade soon. It is already available in Japan (and only slightly pricier than the 120GB upgrade) so I don't think it'll be long before it makes it here.

[PoorManQ45]

No need MoD. Check out XBOXHQ and Xbox-scene. Last time I checked they were working on dumping the firmware from the 250GB drive and flashing it on to a store bought drive. The 250 is a regular drive that can be bought online for cheap.

[MinisterofDOOM]

I really wish the Xbox ENCOURAGED hdd upgrades like the PS3 does. PS3 will even back up your data to any USB device for you. Remove a screw and swap the drive, that's it. Damn MS and their overpriced official accessories.

[Red coupe]

I really wish the Xbox ENCOURAGED hdd upgrades like the PS3 does. PS3 will even back up your data to any USB device for you. Remove a screw and swap the drive, that's it. Damn MS and their overpriced official accessories.

It is NOT that easy.

You have to remove THREE screws :P (the drive screws to a tray)

And yeah, Microsoft is ***holes with their accessories and upgrades. I think the biggest thing is them not using HID controllers, and refusing to let others use their protocol... (and even worse, not producing a competitive level of wheel themselves)

[MinisterofDOOM]

I think the biggest thing is them not using HID controllers, and refusing to let others use their protocol...

Yeah, that's definitely crap. Razer has a really cool Xbox 360 controller coming out with adjustable stick resistance/dead zone but no one will buy it because it's wired-only for exactly the reasons you've stated.

$100 for a wireless adapter.$150 for a 120GB HDD$50 for a controller.

What a joke. We're just lucky the DVD remote uses IR and not the controller protocol. (I love my bluetooth PS3 media remote and it's lack of IR, but that's bluetooth, not proprietary crap.)

[wa-chiss]

New news. I'm kind of pissed off at microsoft right now. I put in my original repair order and, without a printer, had to choose for them to send me a shipping label. The website said I had 20 days to ship my xbox untill the RO was cancelled. 20 days went by and no label! I called microsoft and was like WTF! The guy told me it should take 7-10 business days for the label to arrive and that I should wait a few more for it to show up. I told him it had been 20 days already. So, he canceled the RO for me and made a new one with the option for me to print out the label.

So, now I shipped my FUBARed xbox on monday and it's now being repaired. A friggen month after it crapped out on me! If only I had gotten my damn label when I was supposed to, I would be hopefully enjoying some COD:MW2 right now; but instead, I'm sitting here with nothing else better to do than to rant about microsoft's innability to ship a piece of paper. I hope they can learn how to ship my xbox back to me by the time it's fixed.

[PoorManQ45]

Just so you know, the xbox will come back to you "repaired" and work for about an hour. Then it will RRoD again. You will repeat the process. It will happen again. Then on the third return they will replace the unit.

Sorry

[Frank E Bones]

Im on my fourth one already.

[krash]

Why the hell does microsoft not stand by their product and fix it properly?? I like my ps3 for this reason. The xbox would be so much more inviting if there weren't so many horror stories!

[wa-chiss]

Just so you know, the xbox will come back to you "repaired" and work for about an hour. Then it will RRoD again. You will repeat the process. It will happen again. Then on the third return they will replace the unit.

Sorry

I have come to that realization. Hopefully with all the problems it had all at once, it can't be repaired and I get a new unit. Doesn't hurt to hope. At least on the next turn, I'll know not to let them "send" me a label.

[Ghostdrifter88]

you will get a new unit. dont worry. but that unit will RRoD. they all do. it just takes time. but you WILL get a NEW xbox everytime you send it in for RRoD.

[wa-chiss]

like new new or old new?