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My Xbox 360 has worked fine for 18 months but today it just stopped.

I can turn on the console, the green ring is on but it will cycle and do nothing. The screen only shows the logo frozen. The controller is flashing green and cycles a few times.

I hear the fans, but they seem to overheat within 10 minutes. Can the fan motor run without the fan cooling? Is it possible that there is dust in the console that can cause this? should I try to open this and vacuum out the fan area?

I can't afford an expensive repair job or to replace it. What's causing this and can I fix it myself?

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    Are there any red lights at all involved? Which model of Xbox is this? Did you buy it second hand?
    – Comic Sans Seraphim
    Commented Aug 8, 2014 at 17:02
  • I'm mostly asking to see if there's any possibility of the special warranty applying that would be voided if you opened it.
    – Comic Sans Seraphim
    Commented Aug 8, 2014 at 17:10
  • Xbox 360 s. There is no red ring. The console will turn on, I hear the motor running and fans are turning. The center dot is green showing the unit is on, but there are no rings, it is dark. On the TV screen the picture is frozen on the ribbons just be fore the xbox logo, been that way for 3 days, so, there is no way to get to the dashboard. The controller is useless since it can't communicate with the console so I can't press Y + RT.
    – user84053
    Commented Aug 10, 2014 at 16:05
  • xbox 360 s was bought new 18 months ago at Kmart.
    – user84053
    Commented Aug 10, 2014 at 16:19
  • In that case you're out of luck regarding the warranty. The default warranty from Microsoft lasts a year. On the plus side, this does mean there's no harm in opening it and giving it a clean.
    – Comic Sans Seraphim
    Commented Aug 10, 2014 at 16:58

1 Answer 1

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This could be down to a number of things, including: Overheating, HDD Corruption, Problems signing into Xbox Account. In my experience, the latter happened to me.

Try disconnecting your internet, then turning on your Xbox. If you get to the dashboard, then chances are the signing in was the problem. To fix this try going:

  1. Xbox Dashboard > Settings
  2. Find the Automatic Sign-In feature and turn off
  3. Turn off Xbox, connect internet and restart the Xbox
  4. Try loading a game before signing in to your account.

Note: If it is not an Xbox Live account, you won't need to disconnect the internet.

If you didn't get to the Dashboard after disconnecting the internet then unfortunately something hardware wise has probably gone wrong.

Overheating could be the answer, in which a good clean out of dust and perhaps buying some extra fans may help. However as @Studoku said, this could void warranty if it wasn't bought second hand and that the console normally displays the "Red Ring of Death" when there is an overheat issue.

As for HDD corruption well there's not much you can do here apart from getting a new HDD I'm afraid. To check to see if this is the issue, insert a Xbox Memory Stick or a USB formatted for Xbox (if you have one) and remove the HDD, then try and restart the Xbox. If the Xbox loads properly, then there is something wrong with the HDD. (I'm assuming this is a normal Xbox 360, or an Elite version. If it is a Slim version, then I'm not sure if you can remove the HDD)

Hope this helps and it gets fixed. :)

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  • Hold Left trigger + Y button. Resets the display.
    – Brok3n
    Commented Aug 9, 2014 at 5:58
  • Xbox 360 s, and I do have xbox live account. I purchased the console new 18 months ago. The screen is stuck on the ribbons before the xbox logo. There is no red rings at all, the console is not lit up at all. I cleaned, but am afraid to take the whole thing apart and ruin it. I believe the warranty is only a year. All this time the console runs perfect and 8 months later decides to pull this crap.
    – user84053
    Commented Aug 10, 2014 at 16:25
  • Have you tried going through this: support.xbox.com/en-GB/xbox-360/system/xbox-360-screen-freeze
    – ImClarky
    Commented Aug 10, 2014 at 16:55
  • Yes, and the final solution is to send it in for repair. I am feeling it may be the HDD since nothing else I tried worked.
    – user84053
    Commented Aug 10, 2014 at 20:39
  • Shame to hear that :( if you have a willing friend with a X360 slim, you could try putting your HDD in their Xbox to see if it loads. If it doesn't its the HDD, if it does its the Xbox
    – ImClarky
    Commented Aug 10, 2014 at 20:44

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