Xbox 360 Repairs: Day One

My second 360 died. I was playing Friday night, and some lines started appearing in the game. I was worried. My 1st Xbox 360 died from a bad video chip, also known as E-74 error. My 1st 360 had been out of warranty and I didn't want to pay and have to wait for repairs so I had gone out and just bought an Xbox 360 Arcade instead. After I finished my mission, I saved and powered down the system. Maybe it was just the game. Hopefully... I had a LAN party at the house the next day.

LAN party! I test the system. No lines at first, but they seem to come back after a bit, though. One friend is earlier than the others. He wants to play some GTA IV. No problem. Except when I put it in, there are tons of lines everywhere. After a few minutes, we eject it. Check Halo 3, the main fare for the day. Definitely some video interference here, but playable.

Another friend arrives. He suggests turning it off and turning it on. When I power it back on, it goes to the E-74 error page. It so far has not stopped going to that page.

Sunday I didn't call it in. I thought they might be closed. I was wrong, but that was my thought.

Monday I did call it in... at 11:40 pm. I was sick all day so I didn't feel like dealing with the Xbox phone support.

With support, I was able to get through quickly and my support guy was fairly painless. Yes, he had an accent, but he was understandable. I told him simply that they needed to send me a box to send in my 360 for repairs. I had to answer a few questions, but he only tried to get me to self-repair a time or two which I've already done all the "self-repairs."

Self-repairs are simply unplugging everything and then plugging everything back in, including harddrive. They also like it if you try to boot the 360 without the harddrive attached.

Anyway, my "coffin" should be here soon. I'll keep you updated.