xbox 360 display problem

[zyklonbzombie]

I've had my 360 for a while now and have only recently started to have this problem. After about 15 minutes of playing any game (this also happens while watching DVDs, but usually it takes longer to happen), small staticy lines start to flicker all over the screen, gradually getting worse until the game/dvd is rendered unplayable/unwatchable. This happens with both component and VGA cables. I thought it must be a problem with my HDTV, but I don't encounter this with any other device (for example, I have a Wii connected in the same component inputs I connect my 360 to - I also use my TV as an extra monitor with my laptop through the same VGA input with no problems). Changing screen/resolution settings don't make any difference. I've also tried moving the cables around to avoid interference. Here is a picture of the problem:

[skyhead22]

if your xbox is still under warranty i would just call 8004MYXBOX and see what they can do

[jcrashmiller]

Heads up.

I had something very similar looking, though chunks of the screen would go completely black, the rest of it looking scrambled (think trying to watch a channel you haven't paid for on analog cable). The weird thing is that some screens on the dashboard were worse than others.

Anyhow, after a few days of this, the system died. At this point, when I restarted it, I saw the RROD. I fixed it with the $2.00 Home Depot bolts and washers fix. It worked, oddly enough...for about 10 minutes. Then I saw the same graphical glitches, then RROD again. Was out of warranty and had to replace at my own expense.

Nobody knows what this is yet (that is, I haven't found anyone who does). But my wife and I are working on it. Here's what we have so far:

The old 360 was Elite (2007). The new is Arcade (2009); I had all the accessories and HD already, so why buy all that again when all I need is a console?

The Arcade box started doing the same thing within about 20 minutes of turning it on. Never started a game, just the dashboard.

Either both consoles are broken the same way, or more likely, my set-up is killing them.

I pulled the component cable (HDMI lasted a little longer, but still showed the artifacts, which from experience, foretell death if not circumvented).

I tried it in my office, on a 480i tube TV with composite/stereo hook up. Absolutely NO issues, event under stress test as my wife and I played for a while.

The component cable, on this TV, also showed NO problems. However, I could not set it to 480p, only 480i (TV limitation, not Xbox).

I'm thinking that it's not so much the cable (though it could be) as it is that the unit is having a hard time driving HD output. I'm not sure why, because my original Elite 360 ran for just shy of 2 years in the same setup (identical...cabling and all) with NO issues at all.

Running it in standard mode with composite works. But what's the point in having hi-def videos and games if I can't enjoy them in hi-def?

[jcrashmiller]

Ok, I know this message is pretty old, but my wife and I, after an hour plus of trial and error, have isolated, with 95% certainty, what did the system in and could be the same with yours. If not, be aware that in our case, this is what it appears to have been. For anyone else with similar symptoms, try checking where we checked BEFORE you get the RROD. You may be able to correct this and spare the system before it's too late.

For those of you just joining us, read my post above to catch up on my set-up and issues faced, symptoms, etc.

Here's what we found. The fact that the new 360 showed the same symptoms within minutes of first powering on after being set up the same way led us to one of two conclusions:

1) MSFT can't make a decent product
2) Something in our set-up was killing it.

The answer appears to have been 2. If the elite was going to die anyway, I'll never know. But the Arcade showed identical signs of distress. Guess what. The 360 didn't break. Sometimes, something else did. In our case, we found that by taking our powered A/V selector out of the mix and running the box directly to the projector and amplifier, all was well. I had this brilliant idea after testing the new on on another TV.

The cables (power and A/V) were not the issue, otherwise it would have shown the same issues on the office TV. It hit me that the only thing different was everything. You ever have one of those oxymoron eureka moments? This was mine.

Something in the set-up in the living room was killing Xboxes. Sounds odd, but as Holmes said, "after eliminating all possibilities, whatever is left, no matter how ****ed up, MUST be the correct answer."

The issue at hand for us was that the set-up hadn't killed it in the past 2 years, but now killed one and nearly killed another within the past few days. Next eureka moment. The 360 worked, then broke. Why couldn't another component do the same? No reason. In fact, that's what it looks like happened.

In hindsight, I recall that after power failures, when the power came back on, clocks would flash, everything in the A/V rack would be off...except the selector...only it would be unresponsive. Only a FULL power cycle corrected it....usually. Either it got old or the cumulative power failures did it in, but it malfunctioned and killed the 360.

How? Well, my dad was an electrician and he reminded me, the electronics/computer whiz, that electronics components are all, at their base level, very complex electrical circuits. These circuits obey the laws of physics, as does ANY electrical circuity.

A/V signals sent over a cable ARE electrical signals. Electrical signals must complete a full circuit in order to transmit data. The video signal sent over the component vide cables and audio cables are in fact electrical signals completing a circuit between the console, projector/amp, A/V selector, and back. The key here is that signal flows back IN to the A/V port on the 360, not just out. It's just how it works. The signal may not be carrying any real data at that point, but electricity doth flow nonetheless.

If the A/V selector (or any other component) malfunctioned and sent an improperly strong (or weak) signal, the box would fail. Too weak and it would give the error (likely) about not detecting a display. Too strong (as in my case), and the signal would corrupt (static and tearing), before burning up and crashing.

In my case, different screens on the dashboard and in games had varying levels of static/corruption. This fits (odd as it is), when considering that those different screens required different signal to be transmitted (different pictures, yes?). Additionally, the 3RROD is indicative (almost always) of a GPU fault, usually an overheat. In my case, before the system crashed, the GPU faulted and gave the RROD.

The repair, which better funnels heat away from the GPU and CPU, actually made it more fault tolerant in that it allowed the system to stay up and running longer than previously, so it also suffered the surge for a longer period when I hooked it back up to test the repair. This time around, it cooked completely. My box is no longer helped by the x clamp fix.

So, heads up. At least in my case, issues like in the picture at the top of this thread were caused by a faulty component in my A/V rack that was quickly killing the box (and probably the Wii, blu-ray, etc. too).

Outside of that, it's internal to the Xbox, but seriously, isolate your other components too to make sure you're not about to lose everything to one faulty piece.

CrasH

[ebackhus]

Since it works fine on a 480i TV I'm going on the idea that pushing it a bit further on an HD setup is a little too much stress. That is assuming you use it for HD at home.

If you father is an electrical guy I'd bribe him with food to come over and see if he can give your house wring a once over look and see if there are any issues within it. Bad juice is NOT good. If the power is unstable or "noisy" then it can cause damage to EVERYTHING you own that uses electricity. You'll see things from static to complete failure.

[Ageclipsegt]

Originally Posted by ebackhus

Bad juice is NOT good. If the power is unstable or "noisy" then it can cause damage to EVERYTHING you own that uses electricity. You'll see things from static to complete failure.

This is true, for all electronics.