XBox 360 E 74 error fix?

[]V[]essenjah · Post by **[]V[]essenjah** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 9:39 pm

Well, it seems my XBox 360 is borked again. About two months ago, I discovered my disk drive wasn't functioning properly and that my warranty was also void. So, I opened it up, cleaned things up a bit, re-aligned everything inside the drive and everything worked fine.

Well... today I was playing a few rounds of Halo 3 and all of the sudden, I start getting all kinds of weird green fuzz all over my screen so I shut down and attempt to restart it to get an error code: E 74.

From what I've read, it is either likely a heating issue with the GPU or something to do with the ANA/HANA chip.

I also saw something about a towel trick that looks REALLY stupid lol. Apparently, some people figure that the best way to fix it, is to wrap the xbox in 3 towels and let it \"bake\" by allowing it to overheat, then they allow it to cool and restart it. Apparently it works for a few days up to a week before it fails again \"duh\".

What I want to do, is FIX the issue. I somehow suspect a heating issue a bit more in this case than an ANA/HANA issue. I've tried placing some objects on the ANA/HANA chip and pushing it down to no avail. I've also noticed that the heat sink feels extremely hot.

Some claim that you should replace the screws and the X Bracket with some kind of special repair kit. I really don't see the benefit of this. The only thing I can think of to do really, is to clean the GPU and cover it with some fresh CPU grease and tighten things up a bit.

Anyone else have any input?

Burlyman · Post by **Burlyman** » Thu Jun 04, 2009 8:37 am

Warranty void? heh

[]V[]essenjah · Post by **[]V[]essenjah** » Thu Jun 04, 2009 12:59 pm

Yeah, it is over a year and a half old. Yes, the Warranty runs out on stuff such as that unless it is the lovely ring of death which is 3 years. I had to repair my disk drive and my warranty ran out. I tore the tape once my warranty ran out so it is certainly void now.

I suppose I shouldn't have phrased it as I \"discovered\" my warranty was void. It had simply run out.

AceCombat · Post by **AceCombat** » Thu Jun 04, 2009 1:54 pm

i have a newer version of the 360 and it gets HOT.... i had to go buy a inter cooler just for safe measure.

but anyways, E74 is a GPU Failure if im reading correctly on xbox.com.

read a couple of reports about the first gen of 360's having a flawed GPU design that causes solder points to crack and separate from the PCB motherboard.

does your 360 have a HDMI port? if it does, then yours a second gen and it should NOT be doing this unless its really overheating and the thermal sensor is not shutting down the 360

you might want to read this:

XBox 360 E74 Hardware Warranty Extension

Quoted from ezinearticles.com

The E74 error is a \"scaler\" chip error and this chip deals with the signals that are sent from your AV cable. You know that you have this particular error because when you switch on your Xbox you see one flashing red light in the bottom right hand side corner. Normally it is accompanied with some error message on screen and this is normally something like \"E74 Error - Phone Customer Support\", however it could be another E number that is shown.

Blaze · Post by **Blaze** » Thu Jun 04, 2009 7:01 pm

RAAAAAAWRG!!!

All this bad news about the Xbox 360 makes me not want a 360.

[]V[]essenjah · Post by **[]V[]essenjah** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 12:58 pm

First off, my warranty is dead 100%. I broke the tape to fix the disk drive so that is out of the question because I tampered with the box. The second you break the tape is the second you give up your warranty. If my first problem would have been a red ring of death or a hardware issue, my warranty may have worked in that case as it would have had a 3 year extension but I didn't want to wait 2 more years to fix my disk drive so that I could play a disk lol.

What I run is an Elite so it is definitely a second generation and this problem should NOT happen.

The scaler chip isn't the GPU but is related to the AV cables. It is not an AV cable problem because I've tried multiple sets of functioning AV cables in it.

The one thing that bugs me is that the GPU gets REALLY hot. What I'm suspecting I'm going to have to do, is buy an X Clamp repair kit, some GPU cleaner, and some grease so I can add fresh thermal paste to it and replace the clamps with better ones. (not sure if the clamps will make any difference though or if this is just a gimmick).

Anyone know of some good grease and some good cleaner for the GPU?

I've read about people using special GPU cleaner and others using goo gone and alchohol.

AceCombat · Post by **AceCombat** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 3:07 pm

okay i didnt know you broke the seal. so yeah its dead.

the best remover and past is the arctic silver remover/surface preparation liquids

this stuff here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835100010

then grab you some AS5 it works on both GPU's and CPU's and pretty much anything with a heatsink mounted to it

Krom · Post by **Krom** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 3:57 pm

Goo gone or just plain alcohol will remove most thermal grease perfectly fine, don't get ripped off paying some huge amount for some \"special\" product that is probably just the same thing. Goo gone especially will cut through arctic silver grease like a hot knife through warm butter.

Canuck · Post by **Canuck** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 4:55 pm

Also lighter fluid or isopropyl alcohol.

Grendel · Post by **Grendel** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 5:44 pm

I would use MX-2 over AS5 -- easier to apply, no \"break-in\" period, same or better performance.

Warlock · Post by **Warlock** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 6:17 pm

Y did u half t open it for a HDD issue????

Mine did the same err but mine I got what look like snow all over the screen thought I would restart and BOOM E74. I just payed the $100 and sent it in and a week l8r I got it back.

[]V[]essenjah · Post by **[]V[]essenjah** » Sat Jun 06, 2009 5:33 pm

Warlock wrote:Y did u half t open it for a HDD issue????

Ok, to clarify, I should say DVD drive. I usually say Hard Drive if I mean the HDD but if I mean the DVD drive, I usually call it the disk drive for some reason. But yeah, I had to open it, it was all out of alignment inside so there was no other way. Easy fix too.

Yeah, I figured Goo Gone would probably be just as easy and since we have a bunch of it all over the house... along with rubbing alchohol, might as well use it.

Personally, I don't really have the money to spare to get my XBox fixed right now between school, food, gas, my girlfriend and saving up cash to possibly get married down the road. I should also have enough personal experience in PC repair to be perfectly capable of taking care of the issue myself. The only reason I ask about it here, is because the XBox is NOT a PC and I'm not 100% familiar with the various error codes or the software involved.

The thing that scares me here, is I have a sneaking suspicion that it is more likely a GPU issue, although I don't get the error code telling me that it is overheating. The heatsink becomes incredibly hot and I've tried playing around with a couple of scaler chip fixes involving, placing weight on the scaler chip and it doesn't seem to make any difference. I suppose it still could be this being that I don't get two flashing red lights, indicating a heating issue...