Xbox360 / Xbox Live connection troubles

TimTim Southwest PA Icrontian
edited October 2008 in Gaming
I recently picked up an Xbox 360 / 60GB hard drive and a copy of Halo 3 so I could finish the fight before Thanksgiving or so.

Getting this 360 to connect to Xbox Live for matchmaking has been a real pain. I downloaded a bunch of Halo related videos easily, but after 5 fairly useless calls to 1800 4 my xbox support, and confirming that my connection is good another 5 or so times, it seems like the only way to do matchmaking is to take the Xbox's ethernet cable out of my Dynex 4 port ethernet router, plug it in directly to the modem, and then I can play Halo 3 matchmaking.

Why must I do this? My regular Xbox with Halo 2 NEVER needed to have this done in over 2 years of playing Halo 2. Just turn it on and go.

If I leave my 4 port ethernet router connected, it'll make like it is going to connect to matchmaking, then after 5 minutes or so it says I don't have a connection to Xbox live.

Another annoying feature of the 360 is that when I turn it on, I have to open the DVD tray to get to the screen to put in my 4 button pass code, then close the DVD tray, then play Halo 3.

My old Xbox has had its DVD tray opened MAYBE 20 times at the most since I've had it. NEVER had to eject the DVD to get to the login screen.

Are all Xbox 360's a POS like this one, or did I just get a bad one?

Comments

  • pseudonympseudonym Michigan Icrontian
    edited October 2008
    Well it sounds like it is just your router. I have had problems with routers and certain games many times. For example my router HATES CoD4. When I try to refresh the server list it crashes the router and I have to wait for it to come back up, but it works fine for Halo3. I have had trouble with the original XBox and Steel Battalion, and I was forced to run direct through the modem as you are and even though Halo2 is fine I have found that Halo3 is much more finicky about things like what switch you are using etc.

    Have you tried leaving it in the router and disconnecting everything else from it to see what happens? It won't solve anything but it would be interesting to try. Also, I'm not sure if there are any settings you could change in the switch that might help.

    As for your 4 button passcode and the DVD tray, I have no such problems. Mine is set to auto login without a code and all I need to do is pick my name off of the dashboard and away I go. You can either set the system up to start directly at the dashboard (best way) but even if there is a DVD in there and it boots to the game you should still be able to hit the XBox button on the controller and login on the game screen. If you hold down the XBox button longer it'll give you another menu that allows you to shut down the console or controller but just touching it gives you the chance to login and a couple of other options.
  • BLuKnightBLuKnight Lehi, UT Icrontian
    edited October 2008
    Sorry about your plight Tim. My 360 has been going strong for 2+ years now. Make sure you connect it up to your PC for a richer entertainment experience.
  • CycloniteCyclonite Tampa, Florida Icrontian
    edited October 2008
    You need to either buy an XBox Live compatible router or forward the appropriate ports:

    TCP 88
    UDP 88
    TCP 3074
    UDP 3074

    I know the article says only UDP 88, but I couldn't get "open" status when running the network tests until I forwarded TCP 88 as well.

    Do you have it booting to the game when there's one in the drive on startup? I recommend setting it to boot to dashboard if you're using a passcode.
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