Problem with my original Xbox

[Luke]

I don't know what the cause is, but I do know that this is/was a common problem with the original Xbox. I've seen numerous posts on Craigslist with people trying to sell their Xbox and they note that the power button no longer works so you have to pull the power cord to shut it off.

[Carl1]

That's the odd thing however. When it is working as per usual, the power button works as does everything else. It's only when it goes berserk that the power button doesn't work. Is there anything I can do???

-Carl

[VideoGameCritic]

Well received a pair of power cords from Microsoft (probably since I told them I had two Xboxes) and when I tried it, it did NOT fix my problem.

My console still starts up as soon as it's plugged in, and can't be stopped unless you unplug it.  Oh well - I tried.

For the rest of you have odd problems I would probably try to obtain one of these new power cords if you don't have one.  It's free from Microsoft support as long as you can tolerate the voice menus.

[jbltecnicspro1]

Have you tried taking apart the Xbox and replacing the power supply?  Since the Xbox is basically a stripped-down PC, maybe it has a regular ATX power supply.  I haven't confirmed this, but I'm sure there is plenty of info online. 

[VideoGameCritic]

Lately I've been copying my files off my Xbox hard drive (to transfer to the other one), but the box will only stay running for about 20 minutes.  This is consistent with other reports of people who have had this problem.

I'm read several newsgroups on this topic, and sometimes you'll heard somebody say, "Seven years!?  Just be lucky your system lasted that long!"  Have our standards really dropped this low?  I mean, I have systems from the 1970's that still run like they were new!  I guess Microsoft's 360 debacle has set everyone's expectations at all time lows!

While copying some files, I noticed that saves from certain games cannot be transferred.  That is totally bogus.  I notice that with some Dreamcast saves as well.  It's a real pain when you're trying to organize your saves.

[Jorge]

OK, I have the same problem with my original XBox but mine just happenes to turn on as soon as it gets plugged, it turns off when eject button is pressed istead of ejecting the tray and most of the times it turns off just after 5 minutes or so. I figured out this could be a problem with some capacitors  which dscharge when they sould not, and so I tried keeping the eject button pressed as I plugged it in the outlet, keep it pressed for some period like for 10 - 30 seconds, and it helps with the problem but even though I have to press eject or the smaller power button when I need to turn it off and some times I just need tu unplug it.

But I opened it and did see a capacitor with a magicmarker "marckings" over it. To my understanding, which is not much when it comes to electronics repair, technicians tend to mark the troublesome parts on a board so when the device, which ever it is, arrives for repair they just replace those components to save time. I must say that I intend to see if that works with my XBox but I had a hard time with college and I'm very bussy to try it, but any one with the problem can try it and tell me if that works.

 Also, for the guy with the disc error message, sorry I forgot the names, I had that problem with this same XBox and fixed it by my self by taking apart the DVD Drive and cleaning it. You can find a guide at llama.com
ADVICE: The lense mechanism needs to be taken apart and then replace each piece back. Note that there are two main parts: a part (smaller) that I think it sits atop the bigger one, in which the plastic lense rests and you will have to calibrate the screw that keeps it and the other bigger part(body)  together. The part I'm talking about has a line of something like a dry paste that will serve you as a guide to how much you should turn the screw, You only have to separate the lense (Smaller) part from the "body" ( Sorry for my english, my language is spanish, and I dont know right now how to call this two peices) in a way that at least part of the paste stays glued to one of the parts and then you should be OK just looking at the two peices of the paste to come together as you turn the screw slowly. The need for this is that if you screw too much, you will make the angle of the beam bound out of place and then the mirrors can't collect the beam so the player will think there is no disc, it happened to me and I just figured it out by observing the behaivior of the player with the upper case of the player out. Which costed me a damaged Game ( Otogi) because it spun out of the DVD and got marked wth the plastic spindle. I want to point out that even though this helped me a lot for it made games play again, it was only for a few weeks and then I had to replace the DVD Drive because I took mine apart in order to check why the DVD did not spin now and my baby neice took the spindle and motor to play and lost them. I found the DVD Drive at llama.com too and it costed at least $95 including S&H, But now they have a better drive and a lot cheaper. You can check them out and see what is your model and what drive is compatible with that.

[Leo1]

That was never going to fix your console. Sorry I didn't see this thread sooner to save you the hassle.

The replacement power cords were to prevent fires in some models of the console with a poorly mounted internal power supply when it failed. They were meant to immediately disable power to the console in the event of a failure to prevent a fire from breaking out. Was cheaper replacing the power cords with one that incorporated a GFI than it was to have the systems sent in for servicing to cure the underlying issue.

It's just a cord, nothing more, nothing less. If your system is getting power, it's doing it's job correctly.

I'm unsure what failed. I highly doubt it's a hard drive problem, never heard of one working for a short amount of time and then causing problems that shut down your console, they usually either work or don't work. But no harm in backing things up. I imagine somewhere like OldSchoolGamer could get it revived and going pretty easily.

Many saves, especially in online enabled games, can't be transferred. There's also GameCube, Wii, and 360 saves that do the same thing (Though I don't think any PS2 or PS3 saves do). If you don't lock the save, you get problems like what was extremely common in Project Gotham Racing 2, where you'd see poor drivers in a vehicle that required dozens of hours of gameplay and skills very few people had to acquire it. Many people would just transfer someone else's save with everything unlocked to the console via a Action Replay and it hurt the online enjoyment of it severely. Of course, if they're a offline only game with no multiplayer mode, there's no excuse for it.

The original Xbox was a pretty durable and well built system. He's someone that's backdating the 360's problems to the original console even though it isn't justified. Unless you had a Thomson disc drive in your console, the thing was built to last. But just the same, it's basically a PC with PC components in it like a standard power supply, hard drive, and disc drive. You have to expect the occasional failure just like you must with your PC.

[Oltobaz1]

Some PS3 saves can't be copied either. And you mean to use a PS3 harddisk with another PS3, you have to format it first. Doesn't make any sense!

[Chaser1]

I think this is your problem:

http://forums.llamma.com/viewtopic.php?t=12329

The fix is not for the faint of heart. I think at this point I'd just look for a new Xbox on Ebay. Now would also be a good time to mod the new system...