Xbox 360 question thread!

[argelfraster]

I just got a 360 for free because it was broken. ( No hard drive )
I hooked it up to my TV and it turned on, made the regular start up sounds on both the console and TV, but did not output video.
I opened it up and didn't see anything wrong, untill I shook it and heard a rattle under the flat heatsink.

How do I remove both heatsinks?
What might cause the 360 to stop outputting video?
And how badly do I need a hard drive?

[bassmasta]

I just got a 360 for free because it was broken. ( No hard drive )
I hooked it up to my TV and it turned on, made the regular start up sounds on both the console and TV, but did not output video.
I opened it up and didn't see anything wrong, untill I shook it and heard a rattle under the flat heatsink.

How do I remove both heatsinks?
What might cause the 360 to stop outputting video?
And how badly do I need a hard drive?

1) I like this article from anandtech.

2) Is there an error code? like e74? Sometimes the HANA/ANA chip may come loose, or the gpu may come loose. Or something else like a bus could be damaged.
That happened to me, and I sent it back to MS. I didn't know what the problem was.

3) Not really. I think NXE (the new dashboard) installs right on the console. You'll only be missing out on downloadable stuff and installing games to the hard drive (which is better for console life and wayyyy quieter). And multi disc games too.

Shaking things (Xbox's, sodas, babies) is usually not good.

[argelfraster]

It wasn't a purposeful shake, I was just lifting the motherboard to see the other side when I heard the rattle.
Thanks for your help though.

[crazy_asylum]

It wasn't a purposeful shake, I was just lifting the motherboard to see the other side when I heard the rattle.
Thanks for your help though.

that rattling is probably the tilt sensor that detects whether the xbox is laying down or up right

[Gaz.]

It wasn't a purposeful shake, I was just lifting the motherboard to see the other side when I heard the rattle.
Thanks for your help though.

that rattling is probably the tilt sensor that detects whether the xbox is laying down or up right

I always wondered what that noise was

as for the OP, what video mode are you trying to output?

[argelfraster]

Nevermind, I looked around on the 360 and there are 2 traces at the bottom that were somehow cut into.
Xbox has been put to rest.

[bassmasta]

You can repair traces.