Update brick your 360? Speak up [update 1]
by Richard Mitchell 
{ Nov 1st 2006 at 11:30AM }
Since yesterday's update, there are numerous reports about 360s being bricked. Some people suspect that this is being done by Microsoft intentionally to stop modders and hackers. Xbox Scene thinks it has more to do with certain combinations of hardware and firmware. That would explain why some people are reporting problems even with new, unmodded 360s. Other readers have informed X360F that they are unable to even complete the update download itself. Since the update can't complete, the 360 won't even allow users to play offline games for "security" reasons. It's worth noting that Microsoft is definitely aware of these issues.
Having heard about these problems, we tested our own 2005 360 with a few levels of Lego Star Wars II -- purely for research, of course. So far, we haven't encountered any problems since the update. How about the rest of you? Any bricked or otherwise nonfunctional 360s out there since yesterday? Leave a comment here and let your voice be heard.
Update: Microsoft has released a new version of the update that should behave with all console configurations now. If you've been afraid to update, it should be safe now. Those whose consoles have already been wrecked are advised to call customer support. Click here for more details.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Ed @ Nov 1st 2006 11:36AM
My Xbox 360 is working just fine, but i have a friend that is having some issues with his console, it seems that only a very few people are experiencing technical difficulties.
kidd2446 @ Nov 1st 2006 11:43AM
i dont have my 360 moded but after the update my system is dead it wont play any game/dvd disc im upset about this and dont think i should be caught in the cross fire of microsofts security problems
LCK @ Nov 1st 2006 11:59AM
Mine's working fine. It's a Samsung from march 06 and not modded.
dead360twice @ Nov 1st 2006 11:52AM
My 360 has been dead since I played the DEMO for Splinter Cell Double Agent. It is my second exchange, and this one is taking a lot longer than the first exchange (mind you that I had to pay for the first exchange).
It is amazing how crappy the hardware on this machines is. I guess I will have to pray everytime there is a new game or a major dashboard update.
cody @ Nov 1st 2006 11:54AM
The update failed to download on my 360 last night the first three times I tried it. It kept telling me to check my internet connection or some lame generic error like that. I just kept on trying and eventually it worked and installed. I played some (updated but still kind of laggy) Saints Row online afterwards with no problems.
DAK ATTACK! @ Nov 1st 2006 11:53AM
Oh yes, I have a 4ish moth old xbox, its not modded and passed the spring update and now after the fal update its stuck in a update loop.
Please all feel for us rather than wave the finger that we have done something wrong as we have not:
http://forums.xbox.com/1/7778064/ShowPost.aspx#7778064
8dot3 @ Nov 1st 2006 11:55AM
No issues from me, sounds like a vocal minority again. Its lousy that they don't take care of exchanges better though.
bigbadTKO @ Nov 1st 2006 12:00PM
Installed the update yesterday morning, then turned it off after installing successfully. Decided to watch a movie last night, froze during playback, and got the 3 flashing red lights at boot. First time i've had any problems with this machine, built 12/05. Support tried to convince me to wait for a software update - but unless I'm really stupid I don't see how that will work if i can't even get to the dashboard
Jason @ Nov 1st 2006 3:26PM
My friends died. Ended up going through 3 new ones at walmart all bricked with update except the first one. that was 2 cores and 1 premium. All in 1 night. I'll update what's happening today as walmart was closed to take the 3rd back. This is unbelievable I'm not updating mine till they know why exactly or what machines this is happening to.
Platinum Skeet @ Nov 1st 2006 12:19PM
After I updated my 360 and it was booting back up. It got stuck at the boot screen with the X360 logo and it was trying to read the disc I had in the drive (even though I had it set to go straight to dashboard). So I took the disc out and waited for it to go to the dashboard. Waited for about 1 or 2 minutes and then the lights moving across the logo stopped moving.
In my head I was thinking "MS just bricked my 360". So I gave it another 10 seconds then turned it off.
When I turned it back on it took a little longer to load like it was loading something then it went to the dashboard as usual.
I do think there are problems with the patch and MS probably released it earlier then it was complete because they had to meet the deadline of the wireless headsets coming out this week...
Cameron Boyd @ Nov 1st 2006 12:05PM
Heres how it happens(it does not brick Xboxes):
1.You install the Update
2.It Changes the systems files on the Xbox
3.The graphics card crashes because the Custom GPU does not support Higher than 1080p without changing the drivers
4.The CPU cannot start because the "New OS" does not support its firmware.
5.The Ring Of Light shows the color of "Hardware Failure"
6.Your Xbox 360 does not work.
This is not because of hackers it is because Microsoft released this update without proper testing because they wanted to beat Sony's "Perfect Video" record.Have you ever installed drivers on XP that says "Not Signed" well that is pretty much what happened on the Xbox 360 , Microsoft changed the GPU driver to beat Sony and Failed ,Microsoft changed the CPU driver to try to keep the Xbox 360 from over-heating.
modeps @ Nov 1st 2006 12:04PM
My 360 was purchased close to Christmas from last year, I have not had any issues other than the very random and infrequent lockup.
ThweeSiddy @ Nov 1st 2006 12:08PM
these problems have nothing to do with mods or hacks.
my connection with XBL did keep getting cut off several times during the download of the update but after it finally completed, no problems and i'm enjoying my hi-def movies off of DVD-Rs :-D thanks m$!
dead360twice @ Nov 1st 2006 12:06PM
I don't think that having to exchange my xbox360 twice should be considered a "vocal minority".
One broken hardware, ok..sh*t happens. Now if you continually exchange xbox360s every 3 to 4 months as if I was part of a prototype testing team...hell, there is something really bogus with them. Maybe I'm just totally out of luck with XBOX360, because I never had a problem with any other console before in my life.
Sooch @ Nov 1st 2006 12:12PM
When the update restarted my Xbox the loading screen hung for quite some time. After finally loading a full 3 or 4 minutes later, I popped in Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 to shoot a few holes. My screen locked up just as the driving range fly-over started.
I rebooted everything and was greeted with the 3 red rings of death.
Checked all my connections, rebooted, red rings.
Made myself a drink, rebooted...YAY..it came up this time. TW07 locked me up in the exact same spot and on reboot I was again greeted with the red ring salute numerous times.
I left the box alone for 30 minutes or so and finally came back with telephone in hand ready to eat some poor tech support guys lunch...but the box turned on perfectly this time.
Thinking that perhaps it was somehow related to TW07, I loaded up Ghost Recon. I hadn't played for a while so I downloaded the newest patch with no problems. I ran through a few single player missions with no problems, even stopping to idle for 20 minutes when my baby son started crying.
I have not had a problem since. TW07 even runs fine now.
I have rebooted multiple times and played various games for a few hours with no trouble now.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I don't run into any more problems.
jc @ Nov 1st 2006 12:12PM
Took me two tries to update... working great now.
kidd2446 @ Nov 1st 2006 12:15PM
i had my 360 since day one/launch day and never had a problem till this crappy update killed my system
kidd2446 @ Nov 1st 2006 12:16PM
do anyone know what microsoft is going to do about this wide spred problem
TheJut @ Nov 1st 2006 12:17PM
Mine's bricked. Freezes at the boot screen. Called tech support and they want me to send it in.
Scott @ Nov 1st 2006 12:17PM
No problems here
JasonP @ Nov 1st 2006 3:18PM
My 360 freezes during NCAA Football 2007. Happens every 2nd quarter. *UPDATE* I just froze playing the demo of Need for Speed Carbon. It froze at the end of the 1st race I tried.
dead360twice @ Nov 1st 2006 12:22PM
To #16: If your warranty is gone, they will make you pay $150 to have it replaced. And...you may have to pay shipping yourself as the policy seems to be changing...at least for some people/places.
ATCGQ @ Nov 1st 2006 12:29PM
Never had any problems what so ever....FEB06 model, all updates work fine, all games and downloads work fine, no DRM issues, NOTHING...IMHO a few squeaky wheels need a LOT of grease! No one I know has any probs either...
Concerned Gamer @ Nov 1st 2006 12:30PM
So should we not do the update I assume? Mine was built in Nov. 2005, it red ring of deathed on me a month ago. Havent played it much since getting it back, no problems thus far. But with gears coming out this week. I dont want to take a chance on killing my unit! I think I am going to unhook my 360 from the net till this is fixed, not worth the risk.
Red @ Nov 1st 2006 12:35PM
When I boot up the power button is green, but the Xbox 360 logo screen never shows up. It just shows "no signal" on my tv. I have a Samsung 720p DLP, so it has nothing to do with 1080.
I spoke to Tech Support last night and they were essentially no help, but were willing to send a new component cable. Since I didn't have the red ring, they wouldn't admit it was the dashboard update that caused the problem.
djphatjive @ Nov 1st 2006 12:35PM
Morons. Who is that guy talking about drivers not being signed. Your an ass. Its there console. They own the rights to the video card hardware and the chips and everything. So they write the drivers and it works flawlessly. My Xbox has never seen a red light because I treat it it respect. All these little 5 year olds that can't get there xbox to work s because they have it et on there heater vent in there 90 deg house with no AC trying to mod there xbox so they can play old nes games. Stupid dorks. I'm glad your 360's are getting bricked. Who wants you on xbox Live.
Bennyishere @ Nov 1st 2006 12:40PM
Working great as always. My 360 have actually had no problems whatsoever, except for the occasional freeze if I hit the Guide Button at the wrong time, but even this is very rare.
I have a 360 that's produced before the Samsung drive.
Sean @ Nov 1st 2006 2:09PM
The Spring update fried mine last time- same thing red ring of death. When I called, they made it sound to me like an update could not have done it.
It sounds like msoft needs to test these udates in real world situations. I also think that they should make these updates optional. I just want to play. While improvments are welcome, they are not worth the risk of locking up your system.
James @ Nov 1st 2006 12:42PM
Just managed to 'brick' my third brand new 360! Download the update, reboot and BAM E71 and red lights! I'm going to keep sending them back until one actually works! Not happy at the moment!
Cameron Boyd @ Nov 1st 2006 12:40PM
OK guys!DO NOT HAVE A DISC INSIDE THE XBOX 360 WHEN UPDATING OR WHEN BOOTING AFTER UPDATES!It looks like somehow it may read the disc as a HD or something!
Troy @ Nov 1st 2006 5:17PM
I after installing the update I got a dirty disc error from TW07, the disc is brand new and went right to the drive, I took it out and look at the disc it was ok, restarted the game and everything worked good.
I better not see that error again M$.
Concerned Gamer @ Nov 6th 2006 11:13AM
djphatjive....
Very nice comments there. Yes we are morons. Not all of us move our 360s while disks are in, set them on heating vents etc. As far as being glad to not have us on xbox live? I have been on xbox live far longer than you have sir. We are not to blame here for the most part. On my particular red light incident all I did was put in The Godfather, a game I really didnt have much interest in playing but it came in the mail from gamefly, saw the title screen and the system never came back. Thank you for your constructive input though, we bow in your presence. CLOWN
craptastic @ Nov 1st 2006 1:27PM
ive had my 360 core from launch day and never have i had an issue, ive even added a HD used from EBgames and it works awesome
M$ sucks when it comes to patches....well the definition of a patch is pretty much that the franchise just wants a certain game out with fully testing it.....therefore patches are rolled out after imminant hardware/software failure....
this is how M$ makes their money by putting "the best" out first.....have it crash (im thinking of windows 95 launch for example) and then have multiple security patches to fix what a lame buisnes.
the fly @ Nov 1st 2006 1:20PM
mines brick because of this stinking update.
i updated my system. then watched a movie for a hour or so. fell asleep with the xbox running and woke and turned my system off. the next morning went to retrieve my dvd for my xbox and voila 3 rings of death. turned xbox360 on started up fine. cut it off again to make sure i wasnt seeing things and it showed up again. unplugged everything and cut it back on all greenlights . cut it off the last time and cut it back on and my 360 never booted green again :(.....gears of wars coming out next week and i have no 360 to play it and im royally ticked off
NATO_Duke @ Nov 1st 2006 1:17PM
@24 - Anger management bro. Seriously, you need it. Its people that fly off the handle such as you did, over nothing, that make xbl no fun a lot of the time.
Anywho, My units working fine after the update. Im not too shocked that people are having issues though. I've had the ring show in the past and then with reboot it was gone. It happens - even to those who don't mod or place crap on heating vents.
(Note: I doubt in cold weather like this falls that people are in 90 degree houses with need for air to be running. If they were - would the heater vent matter, since they wouldn't run the heat in such weather?)
vid33nyc1 @ Nov 1st 2006 1:17PM
I think some people just lie and want to spread rumors.My 360 is working fine after the update.No issues at all.
TexRob @ Nov 1st 2006 2:30PM
I am really confused when I hear these stories of people with multiple bricked Xbox 360s. The problems are not that widespread. There are quite a few people who have, or claim to have had, multiple Xbox 360s die. If people were having 2-4 boxes die, that would mean that about 50% of the people should have had one die.
The way I see it is that it's A) something you are doing, B) they are just sending out other broken units back to people because they don't know what is wrong with them.
I always ask this first, because I think it leads to problems. Those of you with multiple bricked 360s, are you using it vertical or horizontal? Also, where are you keeping your 360s, in a well ventilated area, or are you sitting it on top of your receiver or something? Does your power brick also have plenty of space around it, and are you keeping it far from your 360, or right by it?
As for people who bricked because of this patch. It sounds like it might have to do with failed updates, because of everyone trying to download the patch. I made it a point to download the patch when I got up at 5:50am that day, to avoid the chaos. Downloaded fast, installed and rebooted within about a minute. The other potential I see here is that someone said they were having their system lock up, then they switched to GRAW, from TWoods, and then now TWoods works fine. It makes me think some cached data on the hard drive from the old patch is hosing up systems. This makes sense since we've seen this in Oblivion. Anyone who is having intermittent problems, but not bricked, try holding the A button down while you are booting a game that is giving you problems. I don't know if this was just for Oblivion, or if it works for all games. It's supposed to clear the cache.
Razer @ Nov 1st 2006 1:39PM
People who are talking about this update stopping Modders are competely full of shit! They are all working just fine, its the legit people that got screwed and that includes me. Ran the update and now get an E71 error, been through 3 Xbox's now and don't tell me this is user error. It's a piece of crap console plain and simple, the fanboys can lie to themselves all they want, but the word is spreading fast about how unreliable these things are. So can we expect to have to send our consoles in for every dashboard update? I used to excited for this kinda stuff, now it scares the hell out of me because I don't know how much more time I have to waste to keep my $400 investment running.
hoos30 @ Nov 1st 2006 1:38PM
No problems here...
h0ss66 @ Nov 1st 2006 1:44PM
I can't get the update to download and install, it says it downloads and then it just fails. There are several, if not hundreds, of people reporting this issue over on the xbox/support forums. Most of them are reporting this issue with NON-MODDED, launch time (last novemberish) systems with Hard drives. Apparently MS is "working" on it, however three calls to CS has left me with three different answers: "we are working on it," "connect directly to your modem," "try a different ISP" Clearly no one over there has a clue. If I have to return my system or be forced to spend 150 to get it repaired I may just have to go PS3!!! (wii already preordered)
Doc P @ Nov 1st 2006 1:56PM
No problems for me, and I have an early console, loud DVD drive and all. 10/05 mfr date, so if it locks up, I am covered, except for S&H.
Dave H @ Nov 1st 2006 3:56PM
Graphics for Texas holdem were corrupted on my 360 last night. Had to reboot the box (power off) to fix it.
Dave
Adnium @ Nov 1st 2006 2:04PM
I've noticed that the intro animation (with the flying, spherical 360 logo) is no longer in sync with the 'Ring of Light' flash cycle at boot (when the 4 LED lights light up in sequence).
Anyone else experiencing this?
Matthew Mac @ Nov 1st 2006 2:23PM
It never fails to amaze me how incrediblly ungratefull people are. This update is for the better of the console, not just to beat Sony's PS3. I doubt it was released early, but believe it not, MS probably doesn't have every single combination of hardware to test on (nor every singe HDTV in the world for that matter). If you don't think MS is working around the clock to fix this, especially during this season, you're smoking crack. Bricked boxes = no one buying new consoles, games, or periferals, not to mention the bad word of mouth people who are experiancing these problems will give to there friends (who are potential customers). If you have a bad box, stop bitching, put the controller down, and DO SOMETHING ELSE! You act as if Xbox 360 is the core of your universe.
ChavyChav713 @ Nov 1st 2006 2:26PM
Two weeks ago my second console had to be sent in for the 3 red lights.(I followed all suggestions about placement and ventillation). Yesterday(10.31.06) I received the refurbished unit back, unboxed it, plugged it in, turned it on, downloaded the update, received the E71 error, rebooted several times still to get the E71 error, called support, boxed it up, drove to UPS Store, sent it back to repair center. Not one minute of gameplay, in fact it was only on for the minute or two during the download.
Paul R @ Nov 1st 2006 2:36PM
And Cameron Boyd is a moron!
Update installed on my 12/05 xbox, no issues.
The problem is P.E.B.C.A.C - Problem Exists Between Controller And Chair!!!
Terry Gruggen @ Nov 1st 2006 3:15PM
Downloaded the update, but 1080p does not work on my Sony SXRD 60" 1080p HDTV.
baby sea tuna @ Nov 1st 2006 3:04PM
No problems here either (outside of a momentary hang on first automatic restart.) This was my '06 made replacement console, but I've got 2 friends with launch boxes who also had no problems with the update, so I dunno...
Alex M @ Nov 1st 2006 3:02PM
Update went fine, no red rings here.
I must admit that I was kinda hesitant before updating my console. But I made sure there was no disc in the tray and the entire update took about a minute.
I've had my console since launch; I have it standing vertical on the carpet. In my opinion it has plenty of room to breathe (especially the power brick), but that is only due to the room design and not intentional.
I hope my post clears up any worries some people might be having. My 360 is on right now downloading the new R6: Vegas demo.
ZeroCorpse @ Nov 1st 2006 3:16PM
I just find it kind of suspicious that the people who DO have problems seem to KEEP HAVING THEM. I've got a launch unit, and it's been perfect. Other guys on here say they've had their 360 die multiple times and they keep getting it repaired or replaced, and those die too.
Dubious. I'm not convinced some of you are being honest. Either that, or you're really abusive to your stuff.