Xbox 360 won’t turn on.

[Cxltxr3Pxnch]

So I got out my xbox 360 e for the first time in years and when I plugged in the power supply, the light was orange and my xbox 360 wouldn’t even try to turn on when I pressed the power button. I tried a brand new power supply (third party) and it showed the same results. I didn’t check to see if the thing had a hard drive in it and was wondering if it was possible that not having a hard drive could prevent it from attempting to turn on.

 

[Foxi4]

So I got out my xbox 360 e for the first time in years and when I plugged in the power supply, the light was orange and my xbox 360 wouldn’t even try to turn on when I pressed the power button. I tried a brand new power supply (third party) and it showed the same results. I didn’t check to see if the thing had a hard drive in it and was wondering if it was possible that not having a hard drive could prevent it from attempting to turn on.

Presumably you mean an orange light on the power supply? If that’s the case, orange indicates that the power supply is working correctly and the Xbox is in the Off state. If the Xbox doesn’t react to a power button press in any way, more likely than not it is not receiving any power at all, either because the button is faulty, the connection is faulty or it’s failing at some part of the boot sequence, but that’d give you some more indicators. Can you specify?

If it is the light on the console itself, the 360 E does not have a traditional “ring light”, so you can’t check the error code at a glance, but you can do it with a button combination - once the light is solid, hold the Sync button and press the Eject button 4 times. The light should start blinking. Note down the pattern. Repeat this another 4 times, 3 to get the remaining digits and a final time to return to default.

4 blinks = 0
3 blinks = 3
2 blinks = 2
1 blink = 1

You’ll end up with a 4-digit error code that should give you a better idea of what’s going on. Here’s a convenient list of secondary error codes (archived):

https://web.archive.org/web/20160319070435/http://www.xbox-experts.com/errorcodes.php

The list is by no means complete and you might find a better one, but it’s a start. If you’re getting any life out of the machine, what’s the number you’re seeing?

 

[FAST6191]

Is the controller plugged in (or anything else in the USB ports)? Try removing it/them and giving it another go. Once powered you can plug back in.

Also depending upon how dusty the supply is then might be worth opening it and blowing it out.

 

[master801]

The Xbox 360 doesn't require a hard drive installed to turn on. (Remember the Xbox 360 Arcade?)

Wild guess, but the capacitors may have gone bad (rare occurrence, but does happen.)

This also might be interesting to look into: https://xenonlibrary.com/wiki/Repair_Actions/No_Power

 

[DinohScene]

Depending on the age and usage of your 360, your caps might be shot.

 

[FAST6191]

Depending on the age and usage of your 360, your caps might be shot.

I could see a pre Jasper that somehow dodged RRoD but the E line (much less one that was got out for the first time in years) should be far enough past the capacitor plague.

 

[DinohScene]

I could see a pre Jasper that somehow dodged RRoD but the E line (much less one that was got out for the first time in years) should be far enough past the capacitor plague.

Unless the E lines were stored badly/operated in high temperatures & humidity etc, yeh it's unlikely.

 

[Foxi4]

Well, if it is a problem with caps, a simple visual inspection will tell us that - the plagued ones like to fail spectacularly.

 

[TheStonedModder]

I don’t think this has been mentioned but I feel like it’s important

Has this system ever been opened before? Is it modified? (RGH) I’ve seen some popped off wires cause some really weird shorts