Gaming One Step Closer (and I'm about to RROD): The Xbox One Discussion

Maybe two nights ago. Is there anything I can do to fix it?

 

Contact Microsoft?

 

I had something similar happen many years ago when I still lived in the US. I had been at work and we had t-storms. When I came home and turned on the TV there was nothing. My answering machine/phone was also dead. As it was a two-family house I asked the people downstairs if they had any problems and they said there had been a lightning strike nearby. They figured it was a power surge as it had nailed their TV as well. I ended up getting a new answering machine but the TV was fixed at a local repair shop. (I think an internal fuse had gone.)
I now have my electronic gear plugged into power strips that have surge protectors.

 

Yeah. My TV and X1 are plugged into a surge protector too.

 

Was your gear working before the storm and then not working after? Then my guess would be lightning. If you know your neighbors you might ask if they had any problems with their electronics at the same time.
Otherwise it sounds like a repair job. Is any of the stuff still in warranty?

Edit - just another thought. Do you have a phone line plugged into your setup (for broadband)? When I was on dialup I lost a modem card from a PC due to a bad storm. I think the lightning must have hit a phone pole nearby (I wasn't home at the time and the PC was not booted up). Modem card worked fine before, was dead after. TV etc weren't affected, nor were my phones. These days if t-storms are forecast I unplug the PC power strip from the wall. I use mobile broadband so no phone lines involved.

 

I'd unhook everything from the Xbone and make sure it's functioning properly. Hook up the Xbone to another TV and test it for a bit and see it the issue recurs. Then hook up everything else at a time and test. But from the sound of it, I'd call MS and verify if the unit is still in warranty so that they can replace it.

 

That sounds like a plan. Find out what's actually at fault and proceed from there.

 

Thanks for all the advice. The Xbox One and TV integration is working fine after that initial hiccup. But the Kinect 2 has apparently died. All the connections are securely in place (the Kinect 2 only plugs into the X1 console--it doesn't have a separate power cable like the Kinect 1 did), but for whatever reason, the Kinect 2 won't power on.

I got through to Xbox Support and they offered two options:

1) I can send them the Kinect and they will attempt to fix it or, failing that, send me a new one. No charge. MS supplies postage, but you have to find a box for the Kinect. Duration is about two weeks.

2) I can have them send me a brand new Kinect (which I should receive in 5 business days) and I'll return the old Kinect in the box they send the new one in (MS covers postage). This one costs $10.

Seeing as how busy my daily life is, I don't imagine I'll find time to head to the post office to attempt Option 1 in a timely fashion, so I decided on Option 2.

 

After the fact but does the Kinect use batteries for power? If so did you try new ones?

Let us know what happens..

 

The Kinect gets its power by being plugged into the Xbox One.

 

OK. I don't have one so I don't know. I hope it works out all right.

 

Seriously, when one thing goes wrong, everything goes wrong. First my remote for my community gate stopped working, then the Kinect on the Xbox One, then yesterday the Xbox One stopped accessing my DirecTV DVR. After I switched the surge protector off and on, the Xbox One rebooted fine (minus Kinect), but the DVR is frozen on a "self check" screen.

Luckily, DirecTV is sending me a new one free of charge. The downside is that it won't arrive until tomorrow and all my recordings are lost (well, most of the recordings on that DVR are my wife's--so she's going to be in a fantastic mood when she finds out ).

 

Eh, it was probably girly or "reality" TV stuff. It couldn't have been that important anyway.

 

It was hundreds of hours of Real Housewives and American Idol

 

Again: no huge loss. It's criminal to waste so much HDD space with such garbage. Lay down the law, son!

 

I have my own DVR in the bedroom (DirecTV threw me a free one a year ago as some sort of customer appreciation thing).

EDIT:

But this new DVR better arrive fast, before my wife starts recording reality TV on my DVR!

 

You sad, whipped excuse of a man. Enough whining already! Lay down the ****** law!

 

As many a married man surely knows, the law resides within the vagina

 

Eh, maybe, but one should still put up some resistance. Even the occasional act of defiance. Otherwise, what are we? Sheep?

 

It really sounds like you had a lightning strike nearby or something like that with those failures (well, minus the gate remote. Did you check the batteries on that?).

 

The neighborhood builder just gave me a couple new gate remotes.

But yeah, something fishy definitely must've happened.

 

Better check your outlets, fuse box and surge protector(s) while you're at it.

 

Yeah - also any electronics that are plugged in and that you don't use daily. Something else might have gone.

 

Well, luckily nothing else has gone wrong. I looked into the whole Kinect thing and it seems like I'm not alone with this problem. Apparently, other Xbox One owners who got their X1 around the same time as I did are also having this Kinect issue (also around the same time as me). It looks also Kinect 2's imminent death is to the X1 what the RROD was to the 360, at least so far. Since the Kinect 2 is essentially always running, it apparently can overheat (perhaps the small fan inside of it just isn't strong enough).

There are a few quick fixes mentioned on the Xbox Discussion Forums, all of which resort to different methods of powering on/off the console...and none of which have solved my problem. From what I read, these quick fixes similarly don't always work, and other owners have also turned to Xbox Warranty to replace their Kinects. Unfortunate.

Also unfortunate: according to the FedEx tracking info, the new Kinect should arrive tomorrow--and my wife and I will both be at work. So who knows how that's going to play out. Microsoft told me that, depending on who actually finally delivers the device, they might either leave a note on the door with a return delivery date (or pickup address), or simply leave the device on my doorstep.

Well, here's to hoping for clear skies.

 

It's been awhile since I got anything via Fed Ex but the last time I did they left it with a neighbor as I was at work.