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Xbox 360: Error Code E74 =(

W

woodypop

Member
So I just turned on my 360 and it said it needed an update. I proceeded with the update, and in the midst of it this screen popped up

F97539BE-25DE-4631-A893-FA02D890D91B_zpsaet9cc6h.jpg


What should I do? It's a black Elite that I've had since about 2008 I think--well beyond warranty. There are some Youtube vids that have tricks (wrap in towels, qtips to stop the fans, etc.) to reset the system, but should I try one? Or should I send it in for repair? Or should I just buy a new one?

I have a ton of games for it, as well as quite a bit of Rock Band DLC, so I still want a functioning 360. Help me GAF. ;_;
 
O

owlbeak

Member
http://support.xbox.com/en-US/error-code-lookup

Status code: E74
This means that your Xbox 360 has experienced hardware failure and needs to be repaired.

Solution

To get your Xbox 360 console repaired at our service center, Submit a repair request.

Note The warranty period for the E74 error is three years from the original purchase date of the console. If your console is not covered by the three-year warranty period, you can still get your console repaired for a fee.
Click to expand...
Same thing happened to my ~2008 Elite model. Will have to send it in to get fixed. RIP. :( Looks like you'll have to pay the $90 fee or whatever, or you could buy an old model arcade and swap the harddrive. That's what I did.
 
SpartanN92

SpartanN92

Banned
I've never lost a 360 to red ring but I lost like 4 of the damn things to E-74 :/

Thank goodness for the slim model Reach 360
 
Shpeshal Nick

Shpeshal Nick

aka Collingwood
The only 360 that ever died on me died in the first 8 hours on launch day with that error.

Console is gone. Never had a red ring or anything across like 8 or 9 consoles. Only that one launch E74.
 
G

GavinGT

Banned
Find someone on Craigslist that can perform a GPU reflow. Make sure they own an actual reflow station and not just a heat gun. It shouldn't cost more than $40, and they shouldn't charge you if they aren't successful.

I've reflowed thousands of 360s. Reflowing has about a 65% chance to fix an E74 error. It's a bit trickier than other such errors.

Don't do the towel trick or any other method that intentionally overheats the system (that's what stopping the fans will do). It will only further weaken the solder under the BGA chip and make reflowing less likely to succeed in the future. The only solution at that point is a GPU reball, which is too expensive and time-consuming to be worth it.
 
S

Siphorus

Member
GavinGT said:
Find someone on Craigslist that can perform a GPU reflow. Make sure they own an actual reflow station and not just a heat gun. It shouldn't cost more than $40, and they shouldn't charge you if they aren't successful.

I've reflowed thousands of 360s. Reflowing has about a 65% chance to fix an E74 error. It's a bit trickier than other such errors.

Don't do the towel trick. It will only further weaken the solder under the BGA chip and make reflowing less likely to succeed in the future. The only solution at that point is a GPU reball, which is too expensive and time-consuming to be worth it.
Click to expand...

Won't reflowing the Xbox eventually break again, requiring another reflow later down the line?
 
I

Izuna

Banned
Maybe use a trick but try to get a second hand box and swap your hdd. 😞 I'm sorry for your loss man.
 
L

Levyne

Banned
Error 74 is basically a rrod-lite. They used to be covered in a similar manner, but I believe that was only for 3 years, so you'd have to check to see if they'll still do anything for you.
 
F

firehawk12

Subete no aware
I got two of these errors. I still can't believe I bought three of them knowing that they were designed to fail.
 
G

GavinGT

Banned
Siphorus said:
Won't reflowing the Xbox eventually break again, requiring another reflow later down the line?
Click to expand...

Given enough time, the solder will likely end up breaking down again. But a proper reflow will restore the solder connections to a state where they're (nearly) as strong as when you bought the console. Considering that we're at the end of the 360's lifespan and the console lasted him 6 years already, he'll likely never need to worry about it again.

Like I said, I've repaired thousands. I've had maybe 20 people contact me to tell me the issue has reoccurred. Then again, if it's a pre-Jasper unit, I always do the 12-volt fan mod to improve the cooling.
 
G

Glorified G

Member
2008 Elite means you most likely have a Falcon 360. E74 seemed to be an issue with this model. While the CPU did shrink to 65nm from 90nm bringing the RROD rate down, the GPU is still 90nm, which still produces too much heat.
 
O

Omnii-chan

Member
I lost one to E-74 and one to RRoD, both fat consoles. Thank god for the slim.
Sorry for your loss OP. If you are going to replace it, go for the first slim model (the one that isn't made to resemble the Xbox One). It's one of the best redesigns of a console ever.
 
D

Derpyduck

Banned
I got that error last month. Replaced it this week with the 500 Gig Limited Edition Blue model from Wal-Mart. It was 199 dollars and then they gave me a 50 dollar gift card. I still think that's high for 10 year old consoles, but I happily bought it after test-driving a new Wii U and Xbox One. So for the time being I'm PS4+360 until MS completely redesigns the build of the One.
 
gar3

gar3

Member
My Arcade Falcon E74-ed back in 2009 (lasted two years).
My Arcade Jasper E76-ed this past March (lasted five years)
Luckily I was able to find a nice person on the Sales topic here at NeoGAF who sold me one of the last revisions of the "S" model for an extremely decent price.
If you are only using HDMI the latest "E" model with a 500GB HDD is extremely nice but the price tag isn't :-/ But that Wal*Mart exclusive blue one sure is purdy.
 
W

woodypop

Member
Thanks for all the help, guys. I really appreciate it.

At this point I'm leaning toward getting a brand new 360 and doing the license transfer, but I have a few concerns:

Will the license transfer let me re-download my content if it's no longer available for purchase? (like Rock Band songs, retailer-incentive dlc like Street Fighter costumes, etc.)

I'm going to lose all my game saves, right?

I need a console with optical audio out, since I prefer to connect the audio directly from the console to my receiver in order to minimize lag when playing Rock Band. From what I understand, the 360E doesn't have this (edit: yeah, gar3 says it's HDMI only), but the 360S does?

Omnii-chan said:
I lost one to E-74 and one to RRoD, both fat consoles. Thank god for the slim.
Sorry for your loss OP. If you are going to replace it, go for the first slim model (the one that isn't made to resemble the Xbox One). It's one of the best redesigns of a console ever.
Click to expand...
Is that the 360S?
 
D

Derpyduck

Banned
woodypop said:
Thanks for all the help, guys. I really appreciate it.

At this point I'm leaning toward getting a brand new 360 and doing the license transfer, but I have a few concerns:

Will the license transfer let me re-download my content if it's no longer available for purchase? (like Rock Band songs, retailer-incentive dlc like Street Fighter costumes, etc.)

I'm going to lose all my game saves, right?

I need a console with optical audio out, since I prefer to connect the audio directly from the console to my receiver in order to minimize lag when playing Rock Band. From what I understand, the 360E doesn't have this (edit: yeah, gar3 says it's HDMI only), but the 360S does?


Is that the 360S?
Click to expand...

The S has optical. The E does not. Your saves will still be there if you were using cloud saves. If not...welp. Anything you downloaded is available in your download history, accessible from the console settings menu or online at Xbox.com. From Xbox.com you can find your content and queue it up and it will start downloading on your console. If the content is gone from the Xbox service, you wont be able to download it again.
 
U

Unstable

Member
woodypop said:
Thanks for all the help, guys. I really appreciate it.

At this point I'm leaning toward getting a brand new 360 and doing the license transfer, but I have a few concerns:

Will the license transfer let me re-download my content if it's no longer available for purchase? (like Rock Band songs, retailer-incentive dlc like Street Fighter costumes, etc.)

I'm going to lose all my game saves, right?

I need a console with optical audio out, since I prefer to connect the audio directly from the console to my receiver in order to minimize lag when playing Rock Band. From what I understand, the 360E doesn't have this (edit: yeah, gar3 says it's HDMI only), but the 360S does?


Is that the 360S?
Click to expand...

Do you have a hard drive in your model? If you do the hard drive should still work you could just take it out of it's casing and slot it into your new model to transfer your saves to a usb stick. Janky as hell but it would work. I've done it before.
 
MrBenchmark

MrBenchmark

Member
Get a security bit set and a empty Xbox S model Hard drive case like 7 bucks off amazon and you can still use your current hard drive.
 
W

woodypop

Member
Unstable said:
Do you have a hard drive in your model? If you do the hard drive should still work you could just take it out of it's casing and slot it into your new model to transfer your saves to a usb stick. Janky as hell but it would work. I've done it before.
Click to expand...
Do my Elite and the 360S use the same type of hard drive? If so, that would be ideal!

EDIT: They don't share the same type of hard drive. But I think I see what you're saying about using a different Elite-type model to pull my gamesaves off my harddrive, load them to a USB stick, then transferring them that way to the new 360S.

EDIT2: But according to Wikipedia, I can remove the hard drive from its casing in my Elite, and slot it directly into the 360S. True?
 
MrBenchmark

MrBenchmark

Member
woodypop said:
Do my Elite and the 360S use the same type of hard drive? If so, that would be ideal!

EDIT: They don't share the same type of hard drive. But I think I see what you're saying about using a different Elite-type model to pull my gamesaves off my harddrive, load them to a USB stick, then transferring them that way to the new 360S.

EDIT2: But according to Wikipedia, I can remove the hard drive from its casing in my Elite, and slot it directly into the 360S. True?
Click to expand...

Hard drive is the same type case is different take it out of the old case put it in this
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009K5WSNI/?tag=neogaf0e-20

The 360 you can use multiple hard drives swapping them out it isn't like Sony setup.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqdtQtC5k7I

Pro tip though never push on the top of a hard drive like he does in that video
 
HUELEN10

HUELEN10

Member
MrBenchmark is right. All Xbox 360s use the same HDD, but the E and S use a different enclosure than the original. Chuck open the original enclosure like a clam, spend 10 bucks on a new enclosure, and slam that sucker into an E or an S; it will work with no problems!
 
OmegaDL50

OmegaDL50

Member
E74 is one of those errors that was covered by the XB360 replacement plan beyond it's 3 year warranty.

My first 360 had this issue, It's caused by the failure of the HDMI Hana chips on the motherboard being overheated because the heatsink is no longer properly dissipating heat away from the chip.

Looks like your gonna have to send your 360 to Microsoft for repair.

woodypop said:
I don't know anything about the transfer kit. Can I still use it even though my system is dead?
Click to expand...

If you are worried about losing your data permanently, there is a means via the official Xbox website to do a complete licensed transfer of all of your purchased games and DLC from one Xbox serial number to another Xbox serial number.

Of course this means you'd need to register your consoles serial number first on the official Xbox website, you'd need to do this anyways if you want to get your console serviced by Microsoft beyond it's 3 year warranty for errors such as the E74 and the RROD.
 
W

woodypop

Member
After researching it a bit, I think my plan's going to be to get a 360S and use the Transfer Cable to move all my content over from my old hard drive to the new console. I'd prefer to get a brand new 360S if I can find one, but if my only resort is to get a used one, are they reliable?

OmegaDL50 said:
E74 is one of those errors that was covered by the XB360 replacement plan beyond it's 3 year warranty.

My first 360 had this issue, It's caused by the failure of the HDMI Hana chips on the motherboard being overheated because the heatsink is no longer properly dissipating heat away from the chip.

Looks like your gonna have to send your 360 to Microsoft for repair.




If you are worried about losing your data permanently, there is a means via the official Xbox website to do a complete licensed transfer of all of your purchased games and DLC from one Xbox serial number to another Xbox serial number.

Of course this means you'd need to register your consoles serial number first on the official Xbox website, you'd need to do this anyways if you want to get your console serviced by Microsoft beyond it's 3 year warranty for errors such as the E74 and the RROD.
Click to expand...

If it's still free for repair, I'll definitely go that route.

EDIT: looks like it'd cost $79
 
G

GcRayden

Member
This is why, whenever I update my consoles, I record the entire process and play it for a little while after. Then I can use the footage as a bargaining chip in order to get a free repair. I heard the new 4.66 update for the PS3 just came out and killed off a bunch of consoles, which scares me because Sony seems like they have terrible customer service.

I miss the days where I could just play games without worrying that someday my console might not turn on. -_-'
 
S

secretanchitman

Member
Get a 360 for $100 or less, whether you repair your current console or pick up a new/used one. I wouldn't pay more than $100.

This damned error also happened on my Xbox 360 Slim within a year if you can believe it.
 
OmegaDL50

OmegaDL50

Member
secretanchitman said:
Get a 360 for $100 or less, whether you repair your current console or pick up a new/used one. I wouldn't pay more than $100.

This damned error also happened on my Xbox 360 Slim within a year if you can believe it.
Click to expand...

Wow...an E74 on a Slim.

The heatsink on the HDMI Hana chip must have been installed improperly during the manufacturing, or maybe it was just a bad HDMI chip, because it happening to Slims seems kind of rare.
 
W

woodypop

Member
So I ended up getting a replacement 360.

I found a Slim with 320 gig hard drive on Craigslist for $100. I also bought a transfer cable from GameStop for $20. The data transfer from the old hard drive to the new console was easy and fairly quick. Considering a repair on my old Elite was going to run me $80, for $40 more I got a newer model with built-in wi-fi, optical audio out, and a larger hard drive--all things I can benefit from.

Even though the Elite lasted me seven years (longer than a lot of other Xboxes), I'm still a bit peeved it died. I've gamed through all the console generations, and the Xbox is the only console that I've gotten new that totally died on me.
 
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