Xbox 360 Troubleshooting
Don't panic! Before you decide to ship off your Xbox 360 to Microsoft for 140 dollars just for them to tell you that your AV cable was broken, take a moment to read this quick troubleshooting guide.
All problems are unique so this will involve some guess and check.
1.
Take off your hard drive, then start up your Xbox 360.
If your Xbox works, then you have a simple hard drive problem, and so it isn't likely a system error.
If your Xbox still doesn't work continue troubleshooting.
2.
Look at your Xbox 360's AV cable (The cable with the colored prongs coming out of it at the end).
On the front of the AV cable there is a little switch.
The switch should be either on TV or HD; it should NOT be in the middle.
A short time ago, this happened to me personally and because it was in the middle I had no video.
If this is your problem, then the fix is to switch it to one side! If your switch is not in the middle and nothing has changed continue the Xbox 360 troubleshooting.
3.
If you are not seeing any video or audio then you most likely have one of two problems.
Either your AV itself is broken or the GPU in your Xbox 360 is broken.
The easiest thing to narrow down the problem down is to swap your AV cable with a friend.
If, using his cable, it woks then just buy a new AV cable.
If your Xbox 360 is still has no video or audio then your GPU is most likely at fault.
Don't worry this is an easy fix too.
Of course if your problem is not audio or video related then do not worry about this.
4.
If your Xbox is not even turning on then you either have some major mechanical failure or your power supply is broken.
Check the light on the power supply, if it is not showing a yellow light then its most likely broken.
You may consider swapping power supplies with a friend to if it is the fault of the power supply.
5.
Some Xbox 360's have been known to randomly shut down from overheating.
Try giving your 360 some room to breathe and see how it goes.
If none of these steps have helped and your left scratching your head then there is still hope.
If your Xbox is displaying 1, 2, or 3 red lights, or Graphics are freezing, or an E number then the fault is upon your GPU.
All problems are unique so this will involve some guess and check.
1.
Take off your hard drive, then start up your Xbox 360.
If your Xbox works, then you have a simple hard drive problem, and so it isn't likely a system error.
If your Xbox still doesn't work continue troubleshooting.
2.
Look at your Xbox 360's AV cable (The cable with the colored prongs coming out of it at the end).
On the front of the AV cable there is a little switch.
The switch should be either on TV or HD; it should NOT be in the middle.
A short time ago, this happened to me personally and because it was in the middle I had no video.
If this is your problem, then the fix is to switch it to one side! If your switch is not in the middle and nothing has changed continue the Xbox 360 troubleshooting.
3.
If you are not seeing any video or audio then you most likely have one of two problems.
Either your AV itself is broken or the GPU in your Xbox 360 is broken.
The easiest thing to narrow down the problem down is to swap your AV cable with a friend.
If, using his cable, it woks then just buy a new AV cable.
If your Xbox 360 is still has no video or audio then your GPU is most likely at fault.
Don't worry this is an easy fix too.
Of course if your problem is not audio or video related then do not worry about this.
4.
If your Xbox is not even turning on then you either have some major mechanical failure or your power supply is broken.
Check the light on the power supply, if it is not showing a yellow light then its most likely broken.
You may consider swapping power supplies with a friend to if it is the fault of the power supply.
5.
Some Xbox 360's have been known to randomly shut down from overheating.
Try giving your 360 some room to breathe and see how it goes.
If none of these steps have helped and your left scratching your head then there is still hope.
If your Xbox is displaying 1, 2, or 3 red lights, or Graphics are freezing, or an E number then the fault is upon your GPU.
