Learning How to Flash XBOX 360 Consoles

If you don't know how to flash Xbox 360 consoles, then you have come to the best place to learn. You're going to get familiar with the basics of flashing your XBOX 360 and appreciate the reasons why people would wish to flash their consoles.

What can you get from flashing your XBOX 360?

You may very well recognize that the XBOX 360 is perfect for enjoying your video games, but it is able to do so much more than merely being a video gaming unit. For starters, having the capability to play your backup game discs would be a significant benefit to discovering how to flash XBOX 360 consoles.

Let's face the facts; video game CDs will get marked as time passes, for whatever reasons there can be. When you want to play your favorite games and you find out that you cannot because they are all damaged, that's going to be a real frustrating moment for you. Owning a backup game CD would really hit the spot right then, am I correct?

Even so, if you don't have a flashed Xbox 360, it won't make any difference if you had one hundred back-ups of each of your games. It is basically impossible to play backup video game CDs on an XBOX 360 that is not flashed yet, end of story. That's the reason why learning how to flash XBOX 360 consoles will be an exceptionally useful skill.

Moreover, you can also play game CDs that have differing region codes than what your console is initially designed to play, and that goes the same with regards to games that you obtained from torrents. What's more, your flashed XBOX 360 will now let you download movies, songs, and other media. I don't know about you, but that sounds quite neat to me.

How to Flash Xbox 360

To start with, you must learn what "flashing an Xbox 360" means. The phrase means that you put in place a firmware upgrade that allows you to do more functions on your gaming system, just like the ones I defined above. There are numerous types of firmware upgrades available for download on the internet, but they are really all fundamentally the same thing plus get the job done much the same way.
Now, if you want to flash an Xbox 360 console, you're going to have to open it up and gain access to the DVD drive inside. This is the problematic part for beginners, because once you open that console, your warranty will become void, so be careful if you still want to continue.

If you don't know yet, all XBOX 360 drives have a special encrypted key that connects the motherboard to that drive. So take all precautions necessary to be sure that you never forget this key, or else you're most likely to find yourself with a 21st century brick. Come to think of it, you might want to download Jungle Flasher first and make a backup of your key before continuing here.

The next thing you have to do is to figure out exactly which type of DVD drive your Xbox 360 has. It's a good guess that you will discover either a Lite-On, a Samsung, or a BENQ, considering that these brands are the most common models used these days. Should you have an earlier model, though, it's entirely possible that you will have a Hitachi drive.
Just pull off the faceplate from the DVD drive and look at the marked hole. If you find white or gray cables, that's a BENQ. If you see black and red wires, it's a Samsung. Lite-On cables are almost always yellow. I also suggest that you do some more research so that you will be able to know exactly what brand your DVD drive is, just to be certain.

You will need to have a computer with a SATA connector plus compatible cables, Torx screwdrivers (7, 10, 12), and the software for flashing the XBOX 360.
Ensure that the Xbox drive's power lead is in the drive itself, and that the power unit of your console is connected to the outlet (but not turned on yet). You should now disengage the cable that connects to the drive in the XBOX 360 console. Connect that drive to your PC's SATA port using the crosswired SATA cables.

Turn on your console and separate the loose wires as soon as you see the green light start flashing. The Xbox will then go into "Mode B". This mode will let your computer recognize the DVD drive of your Xbox 360 console, and all you need to do at this point is to turn on your computer and wait for the DVD drive to boot up. You will know that you're successful when you see that DVD drive boot up. Congratulations, now you know how to flash XBOX 360 consoles with the "crosswire" method.

This article about how to flash XBOX 360 was written by Emmanuel Barrios. Emmanuel is part of the Raisin Games team, where you can find articles and tutorials about XBOX 360, PS3, Wii, board games, card games, and iPhone games.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Emmanuel_Barrios

Repair the Xbox 360 Red Ring of Death

The Xbox 360 has been a very popular system since the day it hit store shelves. Its incredible graphics quality and online play capabilities made it an instant hit with longtime gamers as well as winning over a whole new generation of fans. While the Xbox 360 is one of the best video game consoles on the market, it does have a few problems. Most notable of these is the "red ring of death" where a red light is lit around the power button. This is something which has been a problem with the Xbox since day one.

What this red ring of death means is that there is a hardware failure in your Xbox; meaning that you'll have to ship your Xbox 360 away to Microsoft to be fixed. Since this is such a common problem with the Xbox 360, an extended warranty is offered by Microsoft - they will repair any and all Xbox 360 problems free of charge - even the dreaded red ring of death!

While Microsoft will repair your Xbox 360, this does involve sending away your console - and waiting ages to get it repaired and sent back to you. If you could keep your Xbox 360 from having the red ring of death or even repair the problem yourself, that would be far more preferable to any Xbox 360 gamer.
If you could fix it yourself, you'd want to know how; so you could spend less time waiting for your Xbox 360 to come back and more time playing your favorite games!

The most important thing to know about keeping your Xbox 360 from having the red ring of death is that this problem is normally due to overheating. You need to allow air to circulate around your Xbox 360 to keep it from overheating. A lot of people like to keep their console in a cabinet - but this can lead to your Xbox overheating more easily.

The well known "towel method" only makes the problem worse. Wrapping your Xbox 360 in a towel will make it even more probe to overheating - and this can cause damage to the CPU and other hardware inside your console.

The best thing to do is to keep your Xbox in a well ventilated room or one which is air conditioned - this will keep your Xbox 360 from overheating. Remember that keeping it in a cabinet is not a good idea; while this doesn't look as tidy to keep it out in the open, this can keep your Xbox working - you can decide which is more important to you.

There are some do-it-yourself red ring of death repair techniques you can try if the unthinkable does happen to your Xbox 360. There is plenty of information available online that can help you repair the red ring of death - try to look for instructions which include video, since this will make it far easier to follow along. Repair instructions with video can walk you through fixing your Xbox 360 when the red ring of death happens, using only some ordinary hand tools.

Ryan Edward has reviewed all of the so-called best ways to fix an Xbox 360 out there, and he offers his findings at his website. Find out how to fix an Xbox 360 yourself in under an hour by visiting his website now.

Go to: http://www.ryanstips.com/xbox-fix/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ryan_Edward

Xbox 360 Red Rings Of Death - Can You Fix It Permanently?

Xbox 360 had been a very good gaming console, and we knew that it performed way better than pS3. But, recently there is a lot of issue around Xbox 360 red rings of death. From the red rings of death error causes to Microsoft's promise to temporary fixes all over the net and to final solution had been gaining a lot of attention. So, lets discuss on the problem and its possible solutions in this article.
The real cause for red rings of death is not known to 100% accuracy, but the most discussed cause is "overheating of Xbox" and Microsoft failing to adopt proper cooling mechanisms within the Xbox. This has lead Microsoft into real problems and widespread hatred. Lets see what Microsoft is upto regarding this issue.
So, does Microsoft stand upto defend its product? Yes, indeed. Microsoft has promised to replace or repair all the consoles which are affected by these dreaded red rings of death error. But again this problem doesn't seem to be fixed. Even after replacing some of the consoles, the new console again proves to have the same problem. Even the Xboxs which were repaired and sent back again felt victim for the dreaded "Xbox 360 red rings of death" problem. So, is there a solution, Read on...
There seems to be a wide spread temporary fix for this problem all over the net. Its the infamous "Towel Method". Yes, i have tried it on my Xbox 360. Do you know what, It Works! But just after two or three days the red rings of death problem arises again. But, it can fixed temporarily again using the same method. My serious recommendation would be to not use this method. Its like sabotaging your own Xbox. This method will cause more serious problems in the long run and its not a permanent fix either. I recently found a permanent fix for this problem.
Yes, there is a permanent fix for the problem of "Xbox 360 red rings of death", and has nothing to do with involving Microsoft either. I found out a guide online which gave me the exact methods to repair my Xbox with just some tools which can be found in the household. It had clear step by step video instructions on how to fix my console and abolish red rings of death problem. Now am happy that I found this guide and can play my halo3 again in my brand new Xbox with out those ugly red rings of death.
Do you want play those magnificent games,I personally like halo3 ;-) ,again in your Xbox 360 just 2 hours from now? Does it sound like heaven; yes it really is, if you are hard core fan of Xbox 360 like me! Click here to get the repair guide which made it all possible. Kudos to it.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Pelangs_K

My Xbox 360 Keeps Freezing Up - Find Out Why Does it Happen!

"Why the hell does my Xbox 360 keeps freezing up?!"

Is this the biggest frustrations you ever had since you started playing console games? I can bet more than 50% of Xbox 360 users are experiencing this problem, so if your Xbox 360 keeps freezing up, you actually have a few options to fix this problem that you can do all by yourself.

During the whole troubleshooting process, there is one main reason my xbox 360 keeps freezing up - Overheating!

We all know that Xbox 360 is a simplified version of a high end gaming PC. When you play games with especially high requirements it gets busy on the inside and guess what - it freezes!

One thing that I've done to solve my Xbox 360 from jamming so often is to let it "breathe" better. Well, you can do this by simply taking out your Xbox 360 from the closed cabinet, or put it some where near the window to cool the system better.

Besides that, the another reason I've suspected on why my Xbox 360 keeps freezing up is the internal hardware that is malfunctioning. You'll know when it happens because your Xbox 360 will freeze up and shows you the 3 rings of death.

For this, you are now down with 2 choices, either you send your Xbox 360 back to Microsoft for a $140 fees plus 6 months of no gaming, or you can fix the Xbox 360 problem yourself. However, the components of Xbox 360 are not as simple as you might thought it is, a simple error could damage the whole system.

Find out how did I managed to completely fix my Xbox360 errors within 1 hour!
Learning from a Step-by-step Xbox360 repair guide is definitely the best solution to the question - "How to fix Xbox 360 freezing up problem?". There are certain guides out there that shows you how to dismantle your Xbox 360 and repairing it, but most of them don't include clear instructions on the actual process. So, choose them wisely before you wrecked your Xbox 360 just because you unplugged the wrong component due to lack of descriptions from the guides!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_Crane

Xbox 360 Red Ring of Death Causes - Top 3 Causes

Xbox 360, once the great gaming console which won over the other gaming hands down is now facing a serious problem called "red ring of death". It is also called "three red lights error". There are many technical causes for the occurrence of the red ring of death, but the top three causes are

1) Overheating,

2) Problems in GPU,

3) Problems in powerbrick.

Let us discuss about these issues below.
The number one cause for red ring of death as said above is the overall overheating of the console. Xbox 360 is nothing different from high end gaming pc, and the only difference is that all the components are tightly packed into a small space. Hence this makes the xbox overheat more often and rapidly than your pc, causing many errors including red ring of death. So,now lets see about the second cause.

GPU- General Processing Unit and its associated chips are the second cause for our problems. When the GPU and other chips inside xbox 360 becomes overheated, they are simply programmed to shut down resulting in a "screen freeze". But, when you restart the xbox, everything seems to be fine. Have ya experienced it?? If you have and wondered about it, then the above problem is the reason. But,when it happens more often, it will eventually lead to red rings of death -our most dreaded problem. Sound similar to the frequent head ache with xbox? okie, lets move on to the next cause...

Powerbrick is the other name of the box containing the transformer, essential for supplying power to xbox. Naturally powerbrick gets very hot and there is a fan inside to flush all the heat produced, away from the powerbrick. But, some people keep this powerbrick inside a closed chamber or some place where there is not much of air circulation and thus causes the powerbrick to overheat beyond its capacity, which will have its effect on the xbox, leading to frequent overheating and shut downs of the xbox, then eventually to red ring of death error. So, what do you think is the best possible prevention method, if you have not guessed yet, then read on...

As, you could have seen, most of the problems of xbox is caused by "overheating". The possible way to avoid the red ring of death and other errors is to keep the xbox and the powerbrick in a more airy place. Keep it in a place where air can flush out from all four sides of the xbox and powerbrick. Take your xbox outside of that closed display cabinet, at least when you play and till it cools down. Thus we have discussed about preventive ways and causes for the red ring of death.

If you are already a victim of this red ring of death problem, and would like to play halo 3 again just 2 hours from now,then you have a solution here... 3redlightfix Guide If you are interested, you can read here about fix for red ring of death
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Pelangs_K

How to Fix the Xbox 360 E74 Error

Oh no, it happened, you have become victim to the Xbox 360's dreaded E74 Error. Well don't worry my friend, in this article I am going to show you exactly how you can fix the E74 Error without shipping off your system for two months.
The first way to fix this error is actually really quite simple, it may just be your AV cable. The first thing that you can try is to unplug the AV cable and blow out any dust that may be built up in the connections. Then try hooking it back up and turning it on.
If you are still facing the error than try getting a new AV cable, or you can borrow one from a friend so that you don't buy a new cable if this is not the solution either. Once you have the new AV cable, plug it in, fire up your Xbox 360 and if the error is still occurring then you will have to move on to the next method of fixing the E74 Error.
If the AV cable didn't work then you are going to have to move on to a little bit of a more complex method to fix the error. It can still be fixed but the methods can't be explained in a single article.
You can find Xbox 360 repair guides on the Internet that have very detailed instructions on how to fix the E74 error as well as other errors like freezing, the no video problem and the red ring of death. These guides usually come with very detailed step-by-step instructions. The better guides will also include pictures and videos of the process so you can be sure that you will understand each step of the repair.
So if you have experienced the Xbox 360 E74 Error, it is not the end of your gaming days, you can fix it. Hopefully it is just your AV cable but if not there is still a solution out there if you are willing to do a little more research.
Good luck, and happy gaming, I hope.
Ryan Edward has reviewed all of the so-called best Xbox 360 Repair Guides out there, and he offers his findings at his website. Find out which guide is best and how to get your Xbox 360 working again today. Please visit his website now for more information.
Go to: http://www.ryanstips.com/xbox-fix/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ryan_Edward

How To Repair The XBox 360 Machine Even As A Newbie

Have you been playing your favourite game on your Xbox 360, then all of a sudden your screen just freezes up? How would you fill if your xbox 360 gaming console starts malfunctionning? Frustration I guess. You try not to panic and just switch it off and let it cool down for a few minutes. Now how would you fill if you discopver ways to put the malfunctioning machine in order without having to purchase a new one outrightly? Very happy I suppose.With great resources online, it is now so easy to repair the xbox360 console yourself. The problem of red rings of death can occur due to a defect in the design of the xbox 360 gaming console. You can make sure that your Xbox 360 is running within a time period of an hour with this how to repair Xbox 360 process depending on how capable you are mechanically. You should just have a penchant for mechanical procedures to perform this repairs on your own.It is a good thing if you can avoid placing the machine on the bare ground and also, it should not be placed on the carpet unless you place something beneath. This to avoid unnecessary heating of the motherboard. You can get more information on how to fix your xbox 360 gaming console from online resources. If you learned how to do it on your own, it could even become a new found skill and turn into something profitable! You could go and look for broken Xbox 360s, buy and fix them, then resell to friends and other people.