Help repairing an Xbox...

Pikkon is right Checking those soldier joints is critical and I really think you should do it. just make sure its unplugged when you pull it and you will be fine. If they are loose or dont have much soldier on them just drop a couple nice size globs on them and let it dry. Make sure the globs dont bridge anything though.

As I said, if those are weak and you dont check them, in the future they could spark or even cause a fire.

 

The Nvidea MCP (or whatever it is) chip on the motherboard? Is that what you mean? I do know that GPU gets hella hot but I can't get the damn HS off. I gotta wait to get the Artic Silver in the mail anyhow though.

Yeah I know all about that whole PSU thing with the Xbox and I see what you mean about the solder joints. I'll pull it out tommorow and check it out. Fortunatly I do have one of those protection cords for it, if that helps at all. (the one MS sent out before) More on all this tommorow.

 

Yes the Nvidia chip,here is pic,note this pic is from a debug kit but really doesn't matter. http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y101/pikkonson/MCPXX2.jpg If the chip does get really hot than that could very much be the problem.I had a xbox that had the Nvida chip burnout on me,theres not really much to do except buy a new motherboard,but it very well could be the PSU,here is a guide on how to fix a xbox PSU. http://www.llamma.com/xbox/Xbox%20Power%20Cord%20Fire%20Hazard%20Recall.htm

 

Well, I put the Artic Silver on and cleaned stuff up and even stuck on a better fan, checked out the solder points (they seem fine) and the nvidia MCP chip doesn't get too hot. The CPU and GPU seem to be a bit cooler especially with that fan, but the fucking thing still gives me the three boot Xmas light error after a play. When I eject a disc or turn it off then on it just fucking boots three times and then gives me red/green. After an hour it works, then repeats. Looks like heat wasn't it, and looks like im fucked and I'm gunna have to swap parts with my Xbox to give them one working Xbox...

 

Sounds like a component connection issue to me. Something is loose and the delivery probably worsened things slightly - maybe a dry joint somewhere or broken traces. Are you positive that the previous owner didn't try to insert a mod chip or perhaps he removed one before selling and screwed something up?

Take the motherboard out carefully and inspect it for broken tracks or signs that someone has been soldering. Let us know if you find anything.

 

Do you have a modchip you can throw in there.The onboard bios could be corrupted.

 

The old owner wasn't a technical person it seems (I think he thought red=overheating). The Xbox hadn't ever been opened or anything at all. Idk if it's the BIOS, since it works normally just fine until you take the game out or turn it off. I don't see anything wierd on the board except this one spot, I'll take a pic of that in a bit and show it though, but I think it may be normal since i've seen it on other stuff like Genesis. I dunno WTF the problem is with it. I guess some dumbass chip must be loose but it's so wierd since it works normally one second, then after a power down or eject it fucks up. After an hour, it works again, etc. I have no modchips and haven't ever modded a system besides PS1. But I have a feeling I'll get the same shit after tossing one in there.

 

Holy Crap, I think maybe you were right about that MCP chip getting hot. I just felt it after a few minutes of being on and its scorching. That's probably it then...

 

Could also be a screwy DVD drive. Check the connectors going into the back of it too, just to rule out a bad connection there.

 

There was no DVD drive and it still did it. I just had it sitting out. I thought that chip might have been getting hot but I just checked out my working Xbox and it gets hot too, so maybe thats it. I guess now I'm gunna swap the good stuff into my Xbox and give them that and worry about fixing it later for me.

On my Xbox, it's noiser because it has a little fan on the gpu with a little heatsink. Is there any way I can switch the big heatsink from the newer broken one onto the working one to make it totally passive, or is that a dumb idea?

 

This may be dumb, but if you already *have* a working Xbox why not just give them the working Xbox?

Don't bother swapping parts.

Oh, and if you have the fan on the GPU heatsink, leave it. That's an earlier revision and it came standard with the fan.

-hl718

 

Because Xbox was my main system (I have 30 or so games) and I spent 70$ on this one for them. I wanted to swap the DVD drive and HD because my Xbox was a 2002 one with the shitty drive (Which lately started fucking up) and the loud HD. Look's like I can give them my Xbox with a newer better DVD drive but looks like I can't swap the HDs (get's an error 6 when I do)... I wanted to swap a big heatsink with a small sink with a fan for less noise but looks like I gotta leave that there. Anyhow, looks like I can cobble together a nice Xbox for them, but since this one I bought is fucked, I'm now have no Xbox. Hopefully they release some new 360 Bc updates...barely any of my games are supported...

 

You *can* swap hard drives however:

1) You must unlock and relock the hard drives.
2) If your current Xbox ever went on live the serial number is married to the drive and swapping a hard drive will break this, resulting in the possibility of a ban.

If you really want to pimp it out, do a mod (since it's got the fan it should be a 1.0 which is terribly easy to TSOP flash and guarantees that the receiver won't be able to screw it up), put a bigger hard drive in there and load up XBMC (the world's best homebrew Xbox app).

-hl718

 

Yeah it would be nice to do that, but I'm so discouraged with it I'm just gunna swap stuff and wrap it. Oh yeah the reason I'm swapping cases is because mine was painted years ago and looks really shitty now and I don't want to give them a ratty looking Xbox. Basically, I swap the mobo's and drive. It would be nice to make it quieter and get the faster, better newer HD on but it would prolly be complicated. Both Xbox'es have been on Live before (His HD had Live stuff on it.) My parents don't have any broadband so it wouldn't be a prob, but the huge reason I wanted to keep my HD was all my game saves are on it. I guess I'll back up what I can with the USB thing I have...I'm sure my stepdad will like the unlocked DOA suits though lol. I guess I'll sell off this other Xbox for parts or something...Just sucks cus I thought I could fix what the seller said was a "minor overheating problem" and snag my family a good Xbox for Xmas, but I guess I've learned my lesson.

 

Bad luck dude. Sorry it happened so close to Christmas. Have you given feedback yet? Maybe this could be resolved by talking to the seller?

 

He sold it As-Is unfortunatly, but he was wrong in saying it was just overheating. I told him and he was just like HEHEHE ITS OVERHEATING HEHE. He already gave me good feedback and I already got good feedback so I doubt it. Maybe I can sell it off sometime, idk.

 

Yup the Nvidia chip should not get hot enough to burn your finger,what I think is when the nvidia chip gets hot enough the system results in flashing green and red.You could try and put a heatsink on the nvidia chip and see if that can help your problem.

 

Wow, you paid $70 for a faulty Xbox? We sell used Xboxes for from £45 unboxed GUARANTEED WORKING, 30 day warranty with a pad and all leads. That's $90... and you should get them for a similar price over there I'dve thought.

 

Yeah lol, I was told it was a minor overheating problem and it turned out to be something else. I wouldn't have bought it if I knew.

 

Problem in the USA is Gamestop/EBgames has a massive monopoly. The secondhand market is way worse here than it is over in the UK.