Update: We just word from Major Nelson telling us that "the problem has been fixed, but any incomplete d/l's need to be deleted and completely re-downloaded." Hopefully this freezing issue can be put to rest.
Ever since the August Xbox Live dashboard update and the maintenance that happened late last month, there have been a few Xbox 360 owners who are reporting console freezes when attempting to connect to Xbox Live. This problem - which we've heard reports of and has been talked about at length on the Xbox.com forums - seems to stem from the dashboard's management of background downloads. How we understand it, the console freezing occurs after a piece of content (music, trailer, DLC, etc.) is downloaded off the XBLM and then the 360 is turned off prior to the download's completion. This creates an incomplete file on the HDD and the next time the console is turned on and attempts to connect to live, everything locks up.
Ever since the August Xbox Live dashboard update and the maintenance that happened late last month, there have been a few Xbox 360 owners who are reporting console freezes when attempting to connect to Xbox Live. This problem - which we've heard reports of and has been talked about at length on the Xbox.com forums - seems to stem from the dashboard's management of background downloads. How we understand it, the console freezing occurs after a piece of content (music, trailer, DLC, etc.) is downloaded off the XBLM and then the 360 is turned off prior to the download's completion. This creates an incomplete file on the HDD and the next time the console is turned on and attempts to connect to live, everything locks up.
We've contacted Microsoft in hopes of getting some sort of acknowledgment or update of the problem, but have yet to receive a response. But fear not those of you who are experiencing console freezes, because we have a step by step plan that'll attempt to fix your problem. Just follow the steps after the break and hopefully your console will quit freezing. If it doesn't solve your problem, well, at least you can say you tried.
Steps to Try and Fix 360 Freezing at Start-up
- 1) Turn off your Xbox 360 and physically disconnect it from the internet by either unplugging the ethernet cable or disconnecting the wireless adapter.
- 2) Turn on your Xbox 360 and sign into your account. You should NOT be connected to Xbox Live.
- 3) Navigate to the "System" blade and choose the "Memory" option, then select your storage device.
- 4) Now search. Look through all the system folders then find and delete ALL incomplete content files. You can spot an incomplete file by the yellow exclamation point icon. Remember to delete ALL incomplete files
- 5) Once all the incomplete content files have been deleted, turn off your Xbox 360.
- 6) Reconnect your Xbox 360 to the internet by plugging back in the ethernet cable or wireless adapter.
- 7) Turn on your Xbox 360, connect to Xbox Live and hopefully your problem is solved.
