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sek929 · Nov 10, 2005, 03:30 PM

I'll make it short and sweet.

I have a 2 year old refurbished Xbox. Last night while I was playing Halo 2 on Live it just shut off all of a sudden and refused to turn back on. I though it fried but I gave it a little while and it turned back on and worked without a hitch.

However, now the power button does not turn it on, simply plugging it in turns it on....and only unplugging it will turn it off.

Any idea whats going on here?

waxcrash · Nov 10, 2005, 03:47 PM

Sounds like your power button is broke.

rickey939 · Nov 10, 2005, 03:50 PM

I blame Microsoft.®

turtle777 · Nov 10, 2005, 03:52 PM

Uhm, broken switch, perhaps ?

-t

goMac · Nov 10, 2005, 03:53 PM

Sounds like a plot by Microsoft to get everyone to buy 360's.

"How do we plan to sell 3 million? Simple, we've rigged all the current XBox's to have their power buttons go bad on November 9th..."

sek929 · Nov 10, 2005, 03:57 PM

No sh*t its a broken button. I took the Xbox apart and the button is located directly behind the DVD drive.

How does a button stop working? My real question was if any of you have heard of this before and knew how to fix it. I should have figured that all you guys know how to do is make smart-assed remarks.

I have no fears of taking it apart further if I knew where to look.

turtle777 · Nov 10, 2005, 04:00 PM

Originally Posted by sek929

No sh*t its a broken button.

You didn't sound like you knew...

Originally Posted by sek929

How does a button stop working?

Duh. It just breaks.

Originally Posted by sek929

My real question was if any of you have heard of this before and knew how to fix it.

Should have asked that from the beginning...

-t

goMac · Nov 10, 2005, 04:01 PM

Originally Posted by sek929

No sh*t its a broken button. I took the Xbox apart and the button is located directly behind the DVD drive.

How does a button stop working? My real question was if any of you have heard of this before and knew how to fix it. I should have figured that all you guys know how to do is make smart-assed remarks.

I have no fears of taking it apart further if I knew where to look.

Ummmm... it sounds like your power button is internally broken. You'd probably need a new power button and solder a new one on. Not simple, and not likely to happen. With the 360 coming, it wouldn't be too expensive to just pick up another refurb XBox.

sek929 · Nov 10, 2005, 04:02 PM

Go ahead and offer any advice when you think of it Turtle.

sek929 · Nov 10, 2005, 04:02 PM

Originally Posted by goMac

Ummmm... it sounds like your power button is internally broken. You'd probably need a new power button and solder a new one on. Not simple, and not likely to happen. With the 360 coming, it wouldn't be too expensive to just pick up another refurb XBox.

I was afraid of that, there wouldn't be any internal fuses or anything that could have blown?

Plus, why does the Xbox turn on automatically? I'd think if the button was jazzed it would just stay off.

turtle777 · Nov 10, 2005, 04:04 PM

Originally Posted by sek929

Go ahead and offer any advice when you think of it Turtle.

Ok, here is my advice:

It's an old, refurbed XBox. Get one of those darned extension cords with a switch and call it a day. Wouldn't spend any money and time on fixing it.

-t

goMac · Nov 10, 2005, 04:05 PM

Originally Posted by sek929

I was afraid of that, there wouldn't be any internal fuses or anything that could have blown?

Plus, why does the Xbox turn on automatically? I'd think if the button was jazzed it would just stay off.

I'm a CS major and not a CE or EE (so I've only worked with basic electrical engineering) but if a fuse had blown I'd assume the opposite, that it wouldn't turn on at all. Plus I doubt an XBox would have any user serviceable fuses.

sek929 · Nov 10, 2005, 04:07 PM

Originally Posted by turtle777

Ok, here is my advice:

It's an old, refurbed XBox. Get one of those darned extension cords with a switch and call it a day. Wouldn't spend any money and time on fixing it.

-t

See, that wasn't so hard.

Good point though...no money will be spent you can count on that, I have free time on the weekends so if its an easy enough fix I'll go for it.

Would you think that a small switch (perhaps designed for car use) could be wired to turn off and on the unit?

sek929 · Nov 10, 2005, 04:09 PM

Originally Posted by goMac

I'm a CS major and not a CE or EE (so I've only worked with basic electrical engineering) but if a fuse had blown I'd assume the opposite, that it wouldn't turn on at all. Plus I doubt an XBox would have any user serviceable fuses.

Hrm, the screws were hard enough to locate at 3AM.

What cracked me up is that they use hex head screws....Oh no! Any small tipped phillips head screwdriver takes em out fine (or a #1 square drive, it fits right in.)

turtle777 · Nov 10, 2005, 04:13 PM

Originally Posted by sek929

Would you think that a small switch (perhaps designed for car use) could be wired to turn off and on the unit?

Not sure.

Often, the switches serve multiple purposes and are double or triple switches. In that case, it would be harder to replace it. In any case, you'll have a hard time fittting it in.

-t

goMac · Nov 10, 2005, 04:13 PM

Originally Posted by sek929

Would you think that a small switch (perhaps designed for car use) could be wired to turn off and on the unit?

Most likely one could. Dunno if it's worth it.

sek929 · Nov 10, 2005, 04:16 PM

Originally Posted by turtle777

Not sure.

Often, the switches serve multiple purposes and are double or triple switches. In that case, it would be harder to replace it. In any case, you'll have a hard time fittting it in.

-t

That had also just occured to me.

Much like the power button in a G4, it really just doesn't turn off the power, it signals other things to cut the power.

Dammit, anyone for leaving it on 24/7?

residentEvil · Nov 10, 2005, 04:22 PM

What bothers you about plugging/unplugging it? Big deal; just do it that way.

iLikebeer · Nov 10, 2005, 04:23 PM

You might want to be careful with that. After a lot of Xboxes caught fire, they did a recall and sent out new powercords to anyone that asked for one. Don't know if that's related or not, but you might want to do a google search and see if those people had any of your symptoms. If you got it refurbished, it might be one of the early ones that had problems.

turtle777 · Nov 10, 2005, 04:24 PM

^^^ In any case, getting a powercord with a switch would do as well...

-t

sek929 · Nov 10, 2005, 04:26 PM

Originally Posted by residentEvil

What bothers you about plugging/unplugging it?

It is a pain in the ass maybe?

I'm not whining here, if its easy enough to fix I'll do it, if not then yeah, I guess I'll have to plug/unplug it all the time.

sek929 · Nov 10, 2005, 04:28 PM

Originally Posted by turtle777

^^^ In any case, getting a powercord with a switch would do as well...

-t

Sold!

residentEvil · Nov 10, 2005, 04:32 PM

It just read like you are trying to overcomplicate things for a non problem (er, a problem that already has a working solution, the plug). That's all i was getting at. Why would unplugging the unit be any more of a pain in the ass then hitting the switch on a powerstrip/chord? I guess I don't see it

Both require you to interact with the power source and not the unit itself.

iLikebeer · Nov 10, 2005, 04:33 PM

Originally Posted by turtle777

^^^ In any case, getting a powercord with a switch would do as well...

-t

Heh. Actually, the recall specifically says a power cord with a switch won't do. The problem is with the power supply leads wearing out. The new cords they shipped will only reduce the chances of a fire, but the problem is still with the power supply. Normally, I wouldn't think it matters, but if your problem is with the power switch not working right I wouldn't take the risk. 100 bucks for a new refurbished is better than replacing a whole house after a fire.

turtle777 · Nov 10, 2005, 04:38 PM

Originally Posted by iLikebeer

Heh. Actually, the recall specifically says a power cord with a switch won't do. The problem is with the power supply leads wearing out.

Smells like FUD.

So the power cord is NOT the problem, but that's all that was replaced by the recall ?

-t

sek929 · Nov 10, 2005, 04:40 PM

Originally Posted by residentEvil

It just read like you are trying to overcomplicate things for a non problem (er, a problem that already has a working solution, the plug). That's all i was getting at. Why would unplugging the unit be any more of a pain in the ass then hitting the switch on a powerstrip/chord? I guess I don't see it

Both require you to interact with the power source and not the unit itself.

Both suck, but I wouldn't want the power plug on the unit to get loosened by all the excess plugging/unplugging.

I checked some Xbox forums and it seems noone really knows how to fix it

Dark Helmet · Nov 10, 2005, 04:50 PM

it's a sign to get a 360.

Most stores are buying old Xbox's. Chances are they aren't going to test the power button

seanc · Nov 10, 2005, 04:50 PM

Heh. Actually, the recall specifically says a power cord with a switch won't do. The problem is with the power supply leads wearing out. The new cords they shipped will only reduce the chances of a fire, but the problem is still with the power supply. Normally, I wouldn't think it matters, but if your problem is with the power switch not working right I wouldn't take the risk. 100 bucks for a new refurbished is better than replacing a whole house after a fire.

Is the power supply internal or external?
Could it be going bad?
I could understand if it was internal how it would affect it, but if it is external then I don't think it would.
Could be a bigger problem than the switch.

Dark Helmet · Nov 10, 2005, 05:45 PM

Did you get your replacement power cord after the recall?

PBG4 User · Nov 10, 2005, 05:51 PM

Originally Posted by turtle777

Smells like FUD.

So the power cord is NOT the problem, but that's all that was replaced by the recall ?

-t

I have the replacement power cord. It doesn't have a switch, it has a circuit breaker built into it.

Sounds like MS found it cheaper to have the cord shut off in order to prevent a fire then it would've been to replace either the power supply or the entire XBox. It definitely wasn't a problem with the original power cord.

iLikebeer · Nov 10, 2005, 11:18 PM

Originally Posted by PBG4 User

I have the replacement power cord. It doesn't have a switch, it has a circuit breaker built into it.

Sounds like MS found it cheaper to have the cord shut off in order to prevent a fire then it would've been to replace either the power supply or the entire XBox. It definitely wasn't a problem with the original power cord.

exactly.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/03..._recall_nofix/
google "xbox fire recall"

anim8ing · Nov 10, 2005, 11:43 PM

sek, shoot me an email through the board or a pm. I have quite an extensive background in electronics / wiring. Hell, I work on an 80 million dollar jet. I can help you with your xb.

-a

RAzaRazor · Nov 11, 2005, 11:19 PM

The power switch/eject button on an xbox is a seperate module that plugs into the motherboard. (Its the one with 6 wires.) If you get a new one, you can just plug it right in.

It's not hard to get to, just have to remove the 6 case screws, and the drives, then you can pull out the switch module.

sek929 · Nov 12, 2005, 01:52 PM

Originally Posted by RAzaRazor

The power switch/eject button on an xbox is a seperate module that plugs into the motherboard. (Its the one with 6 wires.) If you get a new one, you can just plug it right in.

It's not hard to get to, just have to remove the 6 case screws, and the drives, then you can pull out the switch module.

I found an image of the board, and on the Xbox forums, they suggest looking for blown resistors or fried traces on said board.

I don't have any soldering equip though, so even if I find something, I doubt I could fix it.

Where would I get a replacement switch module? I haven't found anything yet.

tooki · Nov 12, 2005, 02:04 PM

Originally Posted by sek929

I'd think if the button was jazzed it would just stay off.

A switch could break in either position.

tooki