Microsoft is aware of the Xbox 360 freeze issues and it appears as though they're working on the problem.
Technical difficulties and the Xbox 360 seem to be synonymous for some gamers. Microsoft is aware of this and it appears as though the company is working to address the problem.…
Article comments
— go to most recent comments26 - John
no i dont have multiple save files, i didnt think that i would need more than my own save and the auto save but i guess i learned to have more saves... but are there any ideas on what i should do or am i screwed and have to wait until the patch... does anyone have any idea what day that will come out
27 - LOS
Does anybody know the exact date the patch is coming out
28 - R1edge
umbra prob...
maybe get arrested and go to jail, then break out but dont pick up stupid dog !!!!!
might work
29 - hobbit
Im having issues in Loading... and while playing.. it takes minutes loading and even during the game the screen freezes and then comes abck in few seconds:S is someone having similar issues?
30 - John
i wouldnt have enough time to get arrested before it freezes and does anybody know when the patch will come out... they are already over due... about 4 weeks ago they said the patch will be done in about 2 weeks and its been 4
31 - Ken Edwards
John, I have no idea when the patch will hit Xbox Live. But I know who to email about this question.
Hobbit, have you cleared the cache? Reboot 360 and hold A until you see the Bethesda logo anim. But I assume you might have already done this?
32 - Charles
Okay, after reading through this, I tried a number of things, only to be taken by surprise by my 360.
Trent, you had a good idea with the fast-traveling. That can work sometimes, as it has for me in the past, but get this:
After Vile spoke to me, I saw a message telling me I was over-encumbered, though only a second before, I hadn't been. I dropped a bunch of potions I was carrying [73 Strong Potions of Healing I nabbed during the Boethia shrine quest], and the dog spoke, returned, and the game ended up fine! Though, my encumbrance is 440 at the moment, and for some reason it went to 450 after talking to Vile. But, oh well. If it tells you you're over-encumbered and doesn't freeze, just wait about six seconds, and it might turn out like mine.
Good luck, guys.
33 - nathan
i dont if i should buy an xbox360. i might just wait for the next batch to come out but i dont no when that will be does anyone know
34 - MANIA 2D4
OBLIVION -XBOX FREEZE UP REMEDY
My Xbox work like charm untill i played oblivion
for 15 hours ,it feezez up ,when it hase to load a new screen or slows down realy bad;loading the new data in .There is no alarm or fault notice .
REMEDY !!!! START UP THE XBOX ,WITH PRESSING DOWN (AND HOLD)the A button ,in order to emty your R.A.M. memory ,A overload is causing this
It workt for me..MANIA 2D4
35 - X true SnIpEr
WHEN IS THE FUCKING PATCH COMIMG OUT!!
36 - John
Well they said the patch will come out today and so far they are offically 13 mintues over due
37 - Ken Edwards
Man, it came out when they said it would. Chill out ;)
38 - bob
My 360 started freezing with Oblivion, but it kept getting worse and worse. It started to freeze while loading but would then work after starting it up a few times. Now it doesn't seeem to start up at all -- just freezes on the 360 logo if it even gets that far, which is rare.
39 - Becky
Not freezing, but disc unreadable?
This is the problem we are having with Oblivion. We did a straight exchange of the game and the second one worked for a while but now it is doing it too.
From what I can tell, you guys are talking about a freeze rather than the disc being unreadable. Right now we can't get past a certain part (not the part you're talking about). Anyone else experienced this unreadable disc thing?
40 - James
There *IS* a patch available for oblivion on XBL now. We've had the Clavicus Vile problem too, but have kind of ignored it and done other quests.
I haven't downloaded the update yet b/c I still wanted to dupe some items (the patch corrects that glitch) so I don't know if it fixes Clavicus Vile or not. I'm assuming it does.
To all you "i don't think I'll get a 360 because of this" people, go ahead and get one. As long as you keep it WELL VENTILATED it shouldn't have any problems at all (especially since it's been 7 months since the release).
I am, however REALLY excited about the wii though :D
41 - bobbyb
The freezing after clavicus vile, i can vouch that trent's solution up top worked for me, fast travel to the imperial waterfront and let the dog talk.
42 - zach j
my 360 froze and now ever time i try to turn it on again it turns red or it freezes up at the 360 logo part. has any one else experienced this?
43 - Dylan
For those of you having trouble with the clavicus vile quest...if you have a save before you started the quest, load it up and get the sword before you ever get assigned the mission. Then go back to the shrine...TALK TO THE KHAJIIT PRIEST FIRST...then talk to the shrine. This way, the dog never gets into your inventory. If you are screwed and don't have a save file before you started it...then try the other method listed above. (By the way, in case you depend on the map markers to find the place...it's called vindasel and I believe it's in the lower mid-left side of the world; near the old bridge).
44 - pr
I have the same issues with xbox360. I hav talked with MS and they are now admitting there are issues. Whatever you do be careful of the game DEAD RISING it not only causes freezing it gives you the 3 red lights. I have tried 3 gams they all fail. OBLIVION causes my XBOX to freeze
MS is in trouble with this platform. Although there are people who do not experience all of these issues there are enough who do that MS will begin to worry. In fact who would prescribe to the rememdies on the XBOX 360 site. Unplug the video, unplug the power cable replug the cables what a bunch of crap.
45 - sean
i got xbox 360 premium pack i bought oblivion i played it when i clicked start new game it froze do you know how i can fix it?
46 - cliff
Fuck MS, my system is messed up too
47 - The D
360 PROBLEMS, POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS, & WARRANTY INFO:
--SUMMARY--
I purchased my 360 in late January 2006 and never had a single problem until a few days ago (September 17, 2006). Before I relay my experience I want to mention I have performed a great deal of research over the past few days. After visiting many different sites I was surprised to find so many other people had the freezing and red ring of lights problems. Unfortunately many posts are just rants, so I will try to explain the problem, my attempts to rectify it, and ultimately the resolution. It's kind of long, so skip to the end if you want to read my epiphany.
--PROBLEMS--
At first I got the red ring of lights while playing a game of GRAW (not a big deal). I assumed this was due to a software problem, and upon rebooting my machine worked properly for the remainder of the day. Unfortunately the next evening my freeze problems began. The red lights no longer appeared, but my console would crash as soon a game would begin to boot. I could still boot to the Dashboard, but movies, music cd's, and games all would cause the freeze to occur. It seems that some people have different types of freezes. My freeze had the following characteristics; dvd or cd would freeze within 30 seconds of starting, short vertical grey lines would appear sporadically, and a loud pitched sound would emanate from my tv speakers. Sometimes I could actually get through a game menu and start playing a game, but it would always freeze within 30 seconds or so (most of the time within 5 seconds).
--POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS--
There are many simple solutions you should try for both problems, such as checking your connections. Surprisingly (at least to me) Microsoft actually has some info on their Xbox support site. I find it interesting that the first 2 links on the site concern these problems (low failure rate?). Follow the link and look at the first 2 links.
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/support/?WT.svl=nav
Some people were able to eliminate their problems by clearing the system cache (hold "A" before a game begins to boot). I tried clearing the cache, removing all peripherals (including the hard drive and wireless ethernet adapter), and unplugging the unit from the power adapter for an extended period of time. I also tried cleaning my discs, moving my unit to a vertical position, checking the power supply LED during a crash, verifying the system time and time zone was set, and ensuring that the unit wasn't already overheated (it was ice cold in the freezing basement sitting on the ground far away from all other objects except a random house spider and of course the carpet). None of these corrected my problem. The next step was to call Microsoft and diplomatically state my case.
--WARRANTY INFO--
Of course I never bought the extended Microsoft or Best Buy warranty. The standard 90 day warranty was long gone. After going through the same checklists from the support site with a tech I was informed of the dreaded $129 fee + shipping + extended warranty fee. When I asked if Microsoft had documentation concerning defective machines and the freeze problems I was immediately put on hold. The supervisor told me that my machine had to be purchased before January 1, 2006. I told him I didn't want the service and got off the phone.
I had a tough time stomaching this expense when the problem was clearly documented by so many users. So I performed more research (to no avail). When I called back I received a different tech who had to walk me through the same troubleshooting steps. However, he informed me of something I have yet to see in another post. If your machine was manufactured before January 1, 2006 (look on the back of your machine for the date) if will be replaced free of charge by Microsoft. Not only this, but you will receive a one year warranty for free. This is vastly different information than I obtained on my first call. Armed with this info, anyone who has a machine manufactured before this date should be able to obtain the free repair and warranty. I read some success stories of people who complained and got the repair for a discounted fee or free. Most people said they got the shaft. My suggestion is to call back and get a different rep again and again and again till you get what you want. Complain until it's more cost effective for them to repair your machine. Best of luck.
48 - jason
My 360 froze while i was attempting to sign online and update the system for GRAW. Now every game i play freezes within 2 to 5 mins of playing...my screen turn into alot of lines. I think it might be my av cables becuase i have to hold my cables in a spot for the video to com through..the might be short circuiting my system cause it to freeze. There are no flashing lights or anything..and ms wants me to pay for repair when its their product that messes up i dont think so!!..im going to buy new av cables and will see if that is the problem..
49 - JonZ
I had a similar issue with NHL 07....but I erased the cache and had to recover my Gamertag...here's to hoping it doesn't reoccur...mind you this was only in attempting connections online via their wireless adapter...
50 - Oblivion Nerd
if you have any questions about oblivion i can probably help you
51 - AB
Glad I stopped by this site. I have be a die hard MS XBOX fan since the first release. I was forced to send my original back only once for the "faulty disk drive" problem that occured with the early models. Didn't learn. For the 360 me and a buddy pre-ordered and was 3rd on the list at the local gamestop. For what, 6 months of solid gameplay and a seemingly reliable hardware package. Took the summer off live to enjoy the rare Washington sunshine and have logged back in for another 9 months of rainy day gameplay. To my suprise a "required update", no problem trust the all mighty MS, accept.... What's this, my always reliable 360 now mysteriously reports a hardware failure. But i played offline with no errors. Suddenly i find myself on the phone with a young sounding cutomer support girl walking through the basic troubleshooting guide. Yes the cables are plugged in, yes i tried turning my xbox off then back on, was she joking? Finnally she asked to register my xbox and i said sure. good thing too. She quickly admitted it is a hardware fault and will require service. She will send a pre-paid box for shipping and garantee a "warranty repair" based on the manufacture date of 10/29/05. What was all this? Another early release snafu that requires me to send my box back. I design electronic circuit cards and am highly sensitive to software patches/ updates breaking a perfectly good HW platform but this is silly. TEST, then RETEST, then hire some contractors to TEST AGAIN before you send out a required update that breaks things. Sorry had to vent. Good luck and remember demand free repair. It's not your fault they rushed to market before they could adequetly test their stuff.
52 - Ken Edwards
As long as your machine was manufactured in 2005 there will be no problems getting it fixed. MS said that a few weeks ago. Free repairs for all 2005 units.
The percentage that have issues are quite small, but those people bitch the loudest.
But this always seems to happen. I wonder how the first PS3 units will behave.
53 - Martin
I get Disc unreadable so much its rendered my 360 useless
54 - Slattsie
I have a serious feeling that X-Box is covering up a huge screw up with the latest models of 360. Every blog I go to with users all over the world are saying the same things. To me it seems that Microsoft is trying t downplay a major manufacturing f-up. This system has a diseise folks. Dont accept anything but perfectly flawless play for $400 bucks. By the way, Has anyone even cosidered how this frigging thing can heat your house? Man this thing runs hot and loud. I am now on my second 360, and I have come to the conclusion that I no longer trust Microsft, judging by the way they are dealing with customers complaints. Read the blogs and the posts. In one instance, on of the X-box tech support staff recommended that this woman shoudl get a lawyer to help her file suit against MSoft. Hmmmm, I wonder when an employee of your company says that, how bad things really are? Open your eyes Gamers. This is a huge f-up
55 - SwampoO
mine really always freezes while playing GRAW on the Rocky Cove and Boneyard levels. ... I hate it...
56 - chris campbell
i have sum serious problems with my xbox 360..
its an original release version.. never had a problem with it until about a week ago.. Dead Rising is freezing up like crazy.. usually about 1-5 minutes into playing.. so i started to read up about it.. needless to say i tried all the bull-sh*t tips microsoft gave about fixing this blah blah blah.. so i figured i'd try another game to see if it would freeze.. Madden nfl 2007.. i haven't played in a while but is also a some-what new release.. and it is also freezing.. sometimes within the first quarter of play.. other times b4 i can get pass the setup screens..
57 - kasper
I have a serious problem. Every since I bought Oblivion and downloaded the patch required to play the game, the 360 has givin me hell! I always get a white screen when I load a game(any game)that says "Please put this disc in an XBOX 360 console" in multiple languages...really frustrates me because IT IS in an XBOX 360 console! Also, in the middle of playing a game (any game again) "This disc is unreadable" will pop up and tell me to clean it and reboot. When I check the disc, it is flawless, not a scratch to be found. I can't find nothing on xbox.com and have not recieved a response to any emails from Microsoft. If anyone has a clue of what is going on with my console send me a message on myspace
Thanks!
58 - Ken Edwards
kasper - I have to ask, did you actually CALL support? They have been quite good at fixing defective units, as I have talked to numerous people who had their 360 fixed, and pretty quickly.
59 - Gary Kane
I have a big problem with Oblivion on my 360, when i try to start it up now it wont start the game or any other game. It started when it froze today, now i can't play any other games nor can i play DVDs. If someone knows about this please give me a hand.
Please post your comments on this site.
60 - D.Kim
I bought my XBOX 360 in April 06 and have been having freezing issues with the system for the last three months. I've tried all of the "fixes" on the MS website. Nothing works.
61 - ihatexbox
i bought a 360 not even 3 months ago and only played madden 07 and nba 06 and a few other games that i would occasionally rent. i recently rented dead rising and thought it was a pretty cool game(the movie they ripped it off of sucked balls), but i thought the game was pretty good overall. until i played the game for the third time the other day and for the first time my 360 froze. i got pissed cause i read all of the problems happening with the 360 and knew it was gonna happen again and again(why would it just happen once? if it only happened once then no one would complain). so i then tried my madden 07 and nba 06 and even a couple dvds(all cds completely scratch free), all froze within 60 seeconds and so i called microsoft and after telling that automated dude to f*** off and get me a person to talk to, they walked me through all this stupid basic troubleshooting s*** that u learn to do back in the nintendo nes days. anyways after talking to this jackoff, he provides me with a refrence number and says to mail it to them to repair(now keep in mind on all these other blogs posted, yall say they only replace it for free if it was made in 2005 but the date on mine was may 3 2006), and everyone is saying that microsoft sends a box to you to send the 360 to them in for free and this jack off who apparently is talking to the person sitting next to him more than he is listening to me, says that i have to go to the post office and get a box and pay $25.99 for shipping so i hung up on him and went back to the store that i bought it from and with my receipt, i demanded a new one in exchange for this waste of $400+tax. an hour later i return with my new xbox 360 and decide to go rent the new splinter cell double agent and everything is working fine. im playing the game for about 80 minutes and im getting pissed again, this time because i think that the game is terrible, just like all of the other 360 games out so far. so i go to turn my system off and strangely i noticed that the 5000lb power adapter's green light is still on, but the ring of light on the console and the controllers are turned off and my tv screen is black and i hear a noise and its the cooling fan inside the 360 and its still running and my 360 is almost ready to melt. so now im really pissed off and i call xbox hotline and of course i get some dumb b***h from the other side of the world and we can barely understand eachother, so i tell her whats going on and she tells m to do the same s*** the last guy told me to do. so this time, i just do it make her happy and what do ya know, the problem is solved. and now she ensures me that the problem will not occur ever again. if u read this blog this far thanx for hearing my terrible experience with yet another horrible microsoft product. so i called back the store i got it from and told them i will rob the place at gun point unless i get cash back and i am putting the money towards a ps3. F**K MICROSOFT AND F**K BILL GATES AND MOST OF ALL F**K XBOX 360.
62 - Rorison Meadows
Remove USB devices when your 360 is off...
I tried this following the SECOND breakdown of my 360, after getting it back from repair, a day later freezing up and breaking down.
I have had 1 freeze per night since taking out all USB devices when my 360 is off...
63 - gsama
this thread has obviously become infested w/anti MS (pro Sony? nintendo? apple???) fanbois. this is silly. no one is offering any fixes, every single post is over the top w/the "Major 360 F-up!!" etc. You're so obvious. What a waste of your lives. Do they pay you for this??
64 - Jugular
If it is not an ipod breaking down after only two years of use (mine did) then it is an Xbox 360 freezing up after less than one year's use (ditto for me). The consumer here in America is not in a position anymore to get quality products. What are we supposed to do, take it on the chin? So what Microsoft is telling us is that for $300+ they can only guarantee that it will last only 3 months (90 days). Does anyone know if there has been any class-action attorney's looking into this issue? I ready to opt-in, especially if Microsoft knows about this issue being more ubiquitous.
65 - Alex
My xbox 360 freeze in similar ways that have been mentioned above... on the dashboard or within 10 secs into the game... but recently it has worsened
the screen freezes within seconds of turning on the xbox. it is too old to be replaced. have sent it back to be repaired when the minor freezing occured but then the major freezing started after it was returned.
66 - gfdsgfdsg
just bought the 360 yesterday...need for speed is freezing alot, dvd drive seems faulty.
I hope best buy enjoys my return...maybe I'll try one more model.
Don't know when mine was manufactured yet.
67 - Cycofoo831
most of the old games have reoccuring issues with freezing
all the new ones dont freeze frequently
68 - WharfRat
I get the unreadable disc error pretty much every time I play Oblivion, which is the only game I've played on the 360 since I got it about 6 weeks ago. It's incredibly annoying.
I've read about the problem on a lot of different sites, and I've tried all of the recommended fixes: Switching from vertical to horizontal, making sure there's plenty of ventilation, keeping game sessions short, etc. Nothing seems to make a difference; the error just pops up at any old damn time. Downloaded the patch from XBL, too; no difference.
I'd be willing to give MS a pass and assume it's a Bethesda/Oblivion problem, but others are reporting similar issues with other games from other developers. So I'm not buying that, and I'm not sure I'll be buying many more 360 games either.
Leave it to MS to turn gaming into a chore. Well done.
69 - jason
ghost recon that i got with x-box 360 won't play , it reads as a DVD .............HELP!?
70 - Ken Edwards
Seriously? Try the forums at xbox.com, or maybe Xbox Technical Support (1-800-4MY-XBOX).
71 - Jenny
ok, i read all the comments about the Xbox freezing while playing Oblivion... although this has never happened to me, i did have an issue with it, either xbox, Oblivion itself or w.e. but whenever i put something in a container, say in a house i bought in the game, after a few game days, it is gone, replaced with some junk items... anyone else have this problem? or know how to fix it? i lost alot of good stuff, and now i have to start all over =*( someone told me it was a lack of Xbox memory... please help.. you can email me at jenshop22, yahoo with any advice, it happened in the old morrowind game also, ... i thought with this being a new game, Beth would have fixed that issue... could be wrong though....
72 - Ken Edwards
Unless you put it in a container in a house that you own, it is not guaranteed that it will be there when you come back to it. This has not changed since Morrowind. It is not a glitch, it is the way the game is.
73 - mark smeldey
Hi anyone had any problems with all of a sudden whilst playing a game it comes up and says unreadable now it will play none ofmy games is this a known fault if yes does anyone know how to getit wking again or know a repair service?
74 - MrEBE
Damn, mine started to freeze and not being useable despite all the usual solution (clear cache, etc.. etc.) since I poped Lost planet, got the update…
Crap. Now Thank you MS, I’m 100% Sony thankfully to you !! (first time I don’t buy the Nintendo console -> Wii)
Ever owned all console.. but sur will not buy a new vaccum cleaner 360 for that a crap piece of hardware.
as the other one said.. what did we waited ?
Isn’t it MICROSOFT after All… pathetic
75 - Lake_422
My 360 for some reason sometimes freezes when i play gears of war im not sure if it is the disc or the 360 console but it pisses me off