Forzamotorsport.net Forums

Athens, Ohio
Since Launch day.
october something 2005
I have treated this thing like it was my baby. Always out in fresh air not enclosed in anything. And sitting on a hard surface (eg not carpet)  and not vertical (if that matters). Bought forza 2. Worked fine for the 2 weeks i had it working and then blam! 1 red light and a screwed up video chip. Wow. Thanks. Now i have to pay $$$ to get it fixed. Awesome.

I too just joined the forum simply to reply to this thread lol. I have had TWO 360's crash up to a ring of death in one week, my own AND my brother's.

1. Where are you from? Belgium
2. How long have you had your 360 before it died? since launch (both of them)
3. SHort summary or paragraph of just before you got the 3 red lights. just played the game, after about 10mins the 360 freezed. after trying to replay it for about 3 times, I got the lights. Got my brother's 360 because I just though mine had give up due to being played a lot, his 360 crashed after about 5mins, then I was able to play for about 1 hour, day after, 360 booted, started Forza2, crash. Replaced the power supply thinking that one was faulty...3 red lights!
4. Any previous problems with other titles? I've never had any problems with this current 360 playing other games. It's never frozen on me or made any strange noises.
5. Have you sent it in for repair? yup, both
6. Paid for repair? no, warrany

Bought a Forza2-pack to cover the time I need to have to wait for a repair, but haven't played Forza2 too. The new 360 I bought is even more loud than my launch model too (man.date okt 2006).

1. Where are you from? -  Adelaide Australia

2.a. How long have you had your 360 before it died? -  15 Months

2.b. Do you know the Manufacture Date and/or Model? (ex. Core, Premium, Elite)

Premium and Feb 2006 manufacture Date

3. Short summary or paragraph of problems just before you got the 3 red lights.

After I got forza the system locked up randomly a few times.  Then the red lights started.  If I left the machine for a while sometimes it would start to work again. Then a week ago I just got the 3 red lights and that was it. No coming back this time.

4. Has your 360 had many problems on other games, aside from Forza?

After I had forza Guitar Hero 2 froze a few times. It had never done that before. No red lights on any other games though.

5. Have you sent it in for repair? Did you have to pay?

Yes sent in for repair  last week..  $200 Australian Dollars to fix!  Not Happy!
SRX1037981794ID  thats my reapir job # so Microsoft can reinburse me when they read this!

Troy

1. Where are you from?
South Florida, USA

2.a. How long have you had your 360 before it died?
About a year

2.b. Do you know the Manufacture Date and/or Model? (ex. Core, Premium, Elite)
12-05-2005  (Core)

3. Short summary or paragraph of problems just before you got the 3 red lights.
Game didn't work but for a few minutes before I got the 3 red lights, it has been the same ever since.   NO GAMES work now, and I'm left with a paper weight.   Microsoft wanted ME to pay ~$150 to fix it, now that is some nerve!

4. Has your 360 had many problems on other games, aside from Forza?
I've played just about every game out, and never had a single problem until Forza 2.

5. Have you sent it in for repair? Did you have to pay?
I refuse to pay for a Microsoft design flaw, my system was well ventilated and completely the same as when I bought it (zero modifications).

This also sucks because I just paid for 13 months of Xbox live, I have a feeling I won't be seeing a refund for that either.

CLEAN UP YOUR MESS MICROSOFT

I am Dirk van Dam From Holland,

My xbox360 is about 7 months old.

My xbox360 had the ring of death after playing Forza Motorsport 2 for about 6 hours.
Was playing the game until my screen went black and give a code for error report it was 79E ore somthing.

My xbox360 getting hot and is now for repeairment to Germany. I hope they can fix it.

I called costum support and they say that it was a hardware failler.

I hope that i can see my xbox360 verry soon I love the Game!

I have Forza Motorsport L.C.E, and the Forza Motorsport 2 L.C.E.

see you online (when ive got my xbox)!

1. Where are you from? TN
2.a. How long have you had your 360 before it died? 1 year, 3 months. This is the 2nd system I've had, the first died after 3 months.
2.b. Do you know the Manufacture Date and/or Model? (ex. Core, Premium, Elite) No, Core system
3. Short summary or paragraph of problems just before you got the 3 red lights. The game started freezing with a checkerboard pattern on the screen, I turned it off, restarted, got the same thing immediately, power-cycled again and got the 3 red lights. Later I was able to turn it on and it worked, but when I put the Forza 2 disc back in, it instantly froze and I got the 3 red lights again. Now it doesn't work period.
4. Has your 360 had many problems on other games, aside from Forza? The only other game that would freeze was Dead Rising, but not often.
5. Have you sent it in for repair? Did you have to pay? I was initially hesitant to send it because it worked without the Forza 2 disc in it, but now it's completely dead. I had to pay $130 because it was out-of-warranty.

1) United States, Connecticut

2) Decemeber 2005 Premuim edition

3)On any race, as soon as i start a race within 2-3 mins it'll freeze.

4) No other game freezes at all, no other demo as well, just forza and the forza demo

5)Not under warranty, since i got my 360 in 2005 i have to pay $130 to get it fix which is upsurd

1. Where are you from?
London, UK

2.a. How long have you had your 360 before it died?
1 year and 5 months

2.b. Do you know the Manufacture Date and/or Model? (ex. Core, Premium, Elite)
Core, 2006-03-25

3. Short summary or paragraph of problems just before you got the 3 red lights.
it just started crashing during car selection. Crashes became more and more frequent till i eventually got the 3 red lights.

4. Has your 360 had many problems on other games, aside from Forza?
No, nothing at all. Maybe one or 2 crashes with Rainbow six.

5. Have you sent it in for repair? Did you have to pay?
Yes, sent it 1 week ago and still waiting - And yes, £85... not happy...

so many replies, honestly i didnt think there would be this many, maybe this is something someone has to look into on the developers side or even microsoft or something.

1. Where are you from?
Singapore

2.a. How long have you had your 360 before it died?
About three months

2.b. Do you know the Manufacture Date and/or Model? (ex. Core, Premium, Elite)
Premium, manufacture date was July '06


3. Short summary or paragraph of problems just before you got the 3 red lights.
Played Forza 2 for less than a week. Never had a problem before this, but almost immediately noticed slowdown/stuttering during loading of Forza. Then the Xbox froze once or twice before eventually giving red rings of doom.

4. Has your 360 had many problems on other games, aside from Forza?
Nope.

5. Have you sent it in for repair? Did you have to pay?
Promptly replaced, very good service there. I suspect my new XBOX has the new GPU heatpipe setup too.

As an aside, I'm noticing some slight graphics artefacts - whether or not that's a result of a glitch I hadn't really noticed before or GPU overheating I can't say. Otherwise it's running well though...

BTW thanks for starting this thread - I actually suspected that this game might be partly responsible for my Xbox crashing (exacerbating the fairly well-reported design fault in the XBOX 360 anyway, really can't blame the game itself).


...incidentally, the repair shop that replaced mine had replaced about 10 Xbox 360's the same day that I took mine in...yikes.

1. London, England
2.a. December 2005
2.b. Cosole is currently with MS so don't have access to the manufacture date.  It's a Premium 360
3. Console froze while racing on NY Time square track, restarted 360 and tried again but it froze in exactly the same spot.  Tried again the next day, game booted fine but then froze on exactly the same race.  Rebooted the 360 and it froze on the splash screen.  Rebooted again - got three red lights on the ring of light.
4. None really, I think it'd maybe crashed twice before but had been fine on a reboot.  Apart from that it's been completely trouble free.
5. Yeah, 360 was collected on the 27th June 2007.  Haven't heard anything back yet.  Microsoft have charged me £85.43 as the 360 is out of warranty

1. Where are you from? United Kingdom

2a. How long have you had you 360 before it died? Launch day machine, so about 18 months. Never had any problems before either.

2b. Do you know the manufacture date and/ or Model? October 05, Premium console

3. Short summary or paragraph of problems just before you got the 3 red lights? I didn't actually get the red lights but the console is definitely dead. The console had been playing the game fine for nearly 2 weeks until after doing some online career races i went to view one of the replays i had saved. The replay started and after 10secs or so the screen went black then dark blue. I could still control the game though so i pressed B to exit the replay. The game returned to the menu screen & the graphics returned to normal - everything seemed fine. I tried to view the replay again & this time as soon as it loaded the screen went black & the console locked up so i had to turn off at the machine. Now whenever i turn on the 360 there is no video signal at all. I can still get audio & control the dashboard & even play games but the video output is completely dead so cant see a thing. Strangely there's no red lights though.

4. Has your 360 had problems on other games? Before this no, never.

5. Have you sent it in for repair? Did you have to pay? No i haven't sent it for repair & i never will. From the amount of people having multiple failures its clear MS are unable to actually fix machines properly. I'll be pushing the store i bought the 360 from to replace the machine under the Sale Of Goods Act as it has not lasted for a reasonable length of time for a product of its type. If no replacement is received then ill be selling up & waiting for the PS3 to drop in price. I can say for sure though that i will not being going anywhere near any future Microsoft consoles.

1. Virginia

2. under a year of use... 2006, core system.

3. Demo froze randomly at all parts of the game.  Game did the same for about 5 days, then it gets the 3 red lights of doom and won't load anything.

4. no previous problems. NONE!

5.Sent in my 360 for repairs, still under warrenty.

 

I have a backup 360 that I was saving to mess around with a case mod or something(it's a messed up release system)  It plays FM2 without freezing but things slow down at random times, texures don't load on time, and it makes my DVD drive work wayyyy too hard(clicking sounds, grinding sounds, and a funny slipping noise when it's powered down.  I also noted that the Disk somehow mangles the firmware in the DVD drive itself (ever since playing Forza Motorsport 2 my DVD drives will eject with the disk still spinning, forcing me to use my system in the horizontal position)

1. Where are you from?

London, United Kingdom
2.a. How long have you had your 360 before it died?

I brought it end of October 2006 so less than a year.
2.b. Do you know the Manufacture Date and/or Model? (ex. Core, Premium, Elite) Premium.
3. Short summary or paragraph of problems just before you got the 3 red lights. Well I would play Forza, it would go fuzzy, disk noises then freezes..i restart 3 red lights, take out power supply then it would work and then exact same thing would happen...but now its with all games because of Forza.
4. Has your 360 had many problems on other games, aside from Forza?

Well, few times on Rainbow Six and Just Cause, nothing major..but it was fine..no red lights..just freezing after long use.
5. Have you sent it in for repair? Did you have to pay?
No...i dont know how to..please help on how to send it to repair!!

1. Aylesbury, United Kingdom
2.a. 8 Months for one, 4 months for the other (yup - TWO deaths) 
2.b. Premium and a Core, Manu after 6/06
3. On Premium, DVD refused to read disk after playing for several hours - while loading a new track in career mode - On Core, 3 red lights appeared after screen froze while racing for several hours, rebooted, failed after 5 minutes, then died.

4. Yes, GRAW2
5. Yes, No

---

Avoid lifting

1) Naples, Fl  

2a)  This is my second (first system died 5 mos. after purchase. 2nd system lasted 10 mos.)

2b) 04/02/06 man. date Premium system

3) System freezing while loading (ie music stops and load never completes) 6-10 times "dirty disc error" comes up and forces a power cycle to start system again. Just before 3 red lights I was inbetween races and game was idle. I walked into kitchen for a soda and music stopped. I looked up at tv and saw that the console looked like it had shut off. When I approached system found the 3 red lights. Unplugged system from power source and haven't had the guts to plug back in yet. That was 06/26/07. I have played apprx. 15 total hours since purchasing Forza 2.

4) Has frozen 2-3 times since getting back from MS 10 mos. ago. No patterns recognized with any one game.

5) I don't know if I have the patience to send it in again for repairs. In fact, I have not powered the system on since failure due to total disgust with the product. I realize I have not had the most console failures to date, but just the thought makes me sick to my stomach. And yes I will probably have to pay for repairs.

If this product was anything other than a gaming console there would be a HUGE LAWSUIT!

---

1. Ventura, CA

2. Around a year... looking for receipt :(   

2b 2006/01/10 Premium Edition   

3. First time playing Forza 2 after just opening the box and putting it in and on the first corner of the track my "system forzad" Copyright XxBLiNdxX ;) Next time i tried to boot it i got the red ring of death and i the only way to start it is to heat it up with my ps3.

4. Other games have had internal glitches but never to where it froze.

5. Says it is out of warranty even though i don't know where the receipt is and im pretty sure i don't remember registering it. Kind of strange a microsoft product causes a glitch that warrants the system for repair.  

 

I also notice a new development..... I want you guys to try it too. Your able to play other games without it freezing if you can get your system started but forza two will always freeze after sometime.

This isnt my 360, it was my friends brothers xbox that I was playing.

1. Where are you from?

 Massachusetts
2.a. How long have you had your 360 before it died?

 He had it a little over a year.
2.b. Do you know the Manufacture Date and/or Model? (ex. Core, Premium, Elite)

 Premium 4/06
3. Short summary or paragraph of problems just before you got the 3 red lights.

It didnt get the 3 red lights, I was tuning my car and the xbox made the murrr murr noise like the disc is getting scratched and the tray wouldnt open so we unplugged it then took the disc out, the disc was too hot to touch but it had no scratches on it. We let the xbox cool for 45 mins to an hour then the tray kept opening when we closed it with DVD's, CD's and games with no red lights strangely. I called MS and they said send it in but my friends brother has completely lost trust in me and thinks we are lieing about the whole thing which is a real bummer. To make it even stranger, its been in the same, well ventilated spot for over a year and it just happens now with Forza 2.
4. Has your 360 had issues with Forza demo, or problems on other games besides Forza?

He was pissed because he never had problems until I played Forza on it.
5. Have you sent it in for repair? Did you have to pay?

Not yet, im gonna lend him my 360 when he sends his out though, luckily its still under warranty so I dont have to pay but I have lost trust from a good friends older brother.

---

GT = Bucket Machine

Official Seller of Tango Tuners

1) North Carolina
2a) 7 Months
2b) Manufacture date not availabe as console is out for repair. Premium model.
3) At first it started as a random event. I got the three red lights and had to eject the Forza 2 disk. I did not notice any degredation in game play. The problem got progressively worse to where I had to work for 20 plus minutes to get the console to start. Eventually (after limping along for a couple of days) the console refused to come on and that is when I contacted MS.
4) My console had never had a problem until this game. Not one hiccup, not one frozen screen, nothing. BTW, I have a 120VAC cooling fan that moves 50 Cubic Feet per minute of air through the open air space in my entertainment system. So, cooling IS NOT an issue here.
5) I have sent the console off for repair, which MS has paid for. I have to give them that. They paid for the shipping and everthing.

I hope we can get to the bottom of this. It may just be coincidence, it may not. Either way, I am with out an XBOX for a month or so. That sucks. Thanks.

SMOKEondHORIZON:

If the purpose of this thread is to get numbers, look at some that are readily available on the forums. 

1. Of all the forums for FM2 on the site, the trouble shooting forum ranks 5th for threads and 7th for posts. 
2. The sum total of posts to the forums for FM2 is just over 300K.  The number of posts in the trouble shooting forum is just over 4K.  That's 1.3% of all posts. 
3. The total number of forum users is just over 60K (check my research process by clicking the 'view all users' link in the shortcuts at the main forum page and them put in empty search criteria), yet the number of people actually responding to this and other crashing threads is certainly less than 300 and probably less than 100.   Or less than 0.5% of all users on the forum (being charitable with 300 respondents).

All of the above would lead most people to believe that the number of people having crashing issues are in the minority.  It might even be a smaller number than the Xbox360 failure percentage. 

Beyond that the discussion of Forza breaking Xboxes is inane.  Games don't break consoles anymore than highways break cars (or vice versa).  It's entropy.  Do you blame the street you are driving on when your car engine takes dump? 

Supposing that a game could break a console, if it could, don't you think it would be taking down a whole lot more than .5-1.3%? 

By the way, you don't have to register to view these forums.  The earlier thread about crashing had something like 40K views after the post got DIGGed.  If the thread had that many views, and Forza2 was killing 360s like Sam Fisher drops terrorists, why weren't there thousands of people chiming in? 

It's obvious that some amount of people are having a common problem, but it's not a conspiracy.

Actually, your analysis is incorrect. The problem is only going to get worse, and CAN be specific to different games. The reason it's going to get worse, and why certain games are more likely to cause the Xbox360 to crash has everything to do with how sophisticated the software is. 1st gen games probably only used a single core because early dev kits likely only had 1 or 2 working cores, and a rush to make launch and early deadlines forced developers to reduce technical scope. Now that developers are more savvy, now that the dev kits are final, you will find applications fully utilizing 2 or 3 cores - thus raising the heat levels within the Xbox360, and trust me, the problem has everything to do with heat. You only need to look at the most recent pictures of Microsofts's temp fix to this problem in which they tacked/hacked on a pipe leading to a heat sink to know they are scrambling. I think Microsoft has a huge problem on their hands. It will get worse. Can anyone say class action lawsuit?