Extremely against my wishes, my granddaughter now has an old X-box (from the SPCA thrift shop) for her bedroom. (I have only a few dozen complaints about Microsoft's quality, it's the felonies that created its monopoly that keeps me away.) We have an exercise disc that doesn't say '360' anywhere; but I spent this evening just showing her how to set the time and date. It had no menu to access the disc, but it did keep funneling me toward creating an internet account, which I could set new or 'recover'. Does this mean the former owner didn't really own what he spent hundreds of dollars for, just leased it? Will it ever play without an internet account (MSN account, in Microsoft's language)? (I'd rather eat glass first.) Tomorrow morning she expects to awake to exercises. Despite my biases, any help would be greatly appreciated. It's not my machine: it my granddaughter's. Thanks in advance. If it will never play, that's OK: I donate monthly to the SPCA & Humane societies. If I'm making a silly error, are there any games that don't involve killing? My wife couldn't find any. Bruce Bathurst, PhD Retired Supercomputer Consultant
OK, I've a nice copy from the internet of the original X Box User Manual. It suggests that the machine runs three kinds of disc: analog audio, games, 'live' games, and DVDs (with an attachment of some sort). (The LCD monitor display's settings display fine, so I trust my hardware isn't a problem.) My thinking is either the X-Box is broken, or the disc is. So, tonight I'll burn my granddaughter's favorite song to an analog CD. If that plays in the morning, I'll copy it to memory (which said 50,000 blocks of some size are free) and search for another game disc. (I scanned the first one for scratches on the inner tracks. Perhaps 'X Box' now means 'X Box 360'?) I'd be grateful for any other suggestions, including diagnostic ones. Thanks in advance! Bruce
Well, this morning the X Box would recognize an audio CD, but wasn't able to read the contents or play it. Tried the same on a pressed one. Tried the same on another DVD from the thrift shop. My conclusion was that both the DVD and CD lasers were either out of alignment or burned out. Fortunately, the thrift shop took it back; and they had another one, which worked this time. So, my granddaughter is happily crashing stock cars and playing major league baseball. Thanks to everyone who though about helping! Bruce
