Original XBOX problem. Help needed.

Hi,

I've been having some problems with my original xbox of late, and wanted some help or advice on the matter.

My xbox is relatively new, as it was purchased in September of 2006. (Yes, I purchased one REALLY late.) It has served me well the past 3 years with no disc reading problems or crashes. Only on 1 or 2 rare occasions in this period, it froze while playing San Andreas. The dvd tray would also occasionally get stuck, usually when the tray was empty. But this was hardly a problem, as a simple tap on the lower left corner would 'unlock' it. So, apart from these minor quibbles the xbox worked perfectly and played great.

In March and April of this year I hadn't touched the xbox (or other gaming devices for that matter) as I was preparing for my finals. But as soon as they were over ,I started my xbox and it had no problems whatsoever. I was worried that being unused for that long would probably cause some problems or whatnot. But it worked fine.

But in October this year when I went to turn it on, I noticed that my xbox simply refused to boot up/turn on. Neither did the usual green xbox logo appear on my tv ,nor was my xbox power light blinking to indicate the console had been powered up.

Even a harder push of the power or disc button does nothing. So I tried again today but in vain.

When I push the power button nothing happens, but if leave it on for a few seconds, the green power light appears. However it doesn't blink and nothing appears on the screen. Also, no audible sound can be heard from the xbox or screen when this happens. After a few seconds the power light will go away.

Is this a problem anyone has had with their xbox? Is it some simple problem I can fix on my own?….. like a loose wire inside the case?

I asked a couple a local shops if they would repair it. However, they say that I need to bring it in and then their repair guy will look at it and give me an approximate/estimate. Then it would be up to me to have them repair it at that price or not. One of the shops advised me not to bother repairing it, as most of these repair or service guys the shops send it to, usually exaggerate the problem even if it's minor and basically rip you off. He said i'd be charged 40$ atleast, maybe even 80$ in some cases. And I'll have no way of bargaining or even know if the guy'll ruin it more.

So I wanted to know if there is something I could try to do to fix it myself, before I resort sending it to one of these guys to have a look at it. Any links to a similar xbox query being solved would also be great.

Any help would be appreciated.


Also,

-I dont live in the states.

-I know I can get a 360, but I really dont want to get rid of my xbox and would prefer if I could just fix it. I still have plenty of games i still need to play on it,many of which are not backward compatible on the 360.

You wouldnt consider just getting a new (old) xbox? A gamestop in my area were selling new ones earlier this year for €10, Im sure it wouldnt be too expensive to pick a pre-owned one. Other than that, I havent experienced any of the problems you described, sorry I cant help :)