Game Console Repair – PS3 XBOX Wii
Do you have the Red Ring of Death (XBOX game console) or Yellow Light (PS3 game console. actually displays a red light). This is a very common problem. It is a manufacturing defect related to the thermal compound and the type of solder used. After years of use, the system overheats and causes a chip to lose connection to the motherboard. Gadget Guru can fix your Red Ring of Death, or Yellow Light! Although not a permanent fix, our process assures the highest quality repair. We warranty the repair for 90 days. If it fails within that time we will perform the repair again. If it becomes unrepairable within the 90 days, we will refund all but the $20 diagnostic fee.
Does your console exhibit some of these symptoms?
- Fans extremely loud or console keep shutting off- This may be an overheating problem, we are equipped to fix the overheating problems that affect a PS3, Xbox, or Wii through use.
- Console not reading discs- Gadget Guru can fix that! We stock all models of laser lenses and can usually repair your PS3, Xbox, or Wii the same day!
- Video display problems- Due to the sensitivity of electronics, your console could become damaged from hot plugging certain cables (plugging or unplugging a device is powered on). For whatever reason your Xbox, Wii, PS3 or other consoles video display is defective, you can bring it in to be diagnosed and repaired.
- Hard drive or SD card problems- Some problems that your PS3, Xbox, or Wii may have include not recognizing a hard drive, corrupted HDD (Hard Drive Disk), SD cards not inserting properly, unreadable memory. Our Gadget Guru technicians have experience with all of this and we will find the best solution for you!
- Game Controllers not working- There are several things that can cause this, be it a faulty port or a broken controller.
- Not connecting to a network- We can fix problems with your PS3, Xbox, or Wii’s network card and wifi connection/network cable.
You can stop by our Owings Mills or Columbia locations to diagnose and repair your game console problems! Feel free to visit from Towson and other Baltimore areas.
Call us today for more information 410-654-4878
Resources
XBOX Technical problems
XBOX Tips by Alec Meer original link here http://www.techradar.com/news/gaming/consoles/10-xbox-360-tricks-microsoft-wont-tell-you-464200
1. Connect your Xbox 360 to two screens at once
If you’ve got one of the component/composite dual video cables – the one that comes in the box with most 360s – you can have your console display its gamey goodness on two TVs simultaneously. The trick is to flick the cable’s switch to Standard Definition but hook up the composite (yellow) cable to one screen and the component (the red, green, blue) cables to another. It won’t be high-def, but it could be handy if you’re staging a mini LAN party and want to set up a display for bored spectators to point their eyes at.
2. Play your own music in original Xbox games
That you can fire up your own MP3s during a 360 game is common knowledge (and re-soundtracking moody horror games with the Benny Hill theme tune never stops being funny), but it doesn’t work if you’re playing a title from the original Xbox. There’s a way around it – start playing your album or playlist before you load the game, and it’ll keep on playing once you do fire the title up. The game’s own music won’t be muted, however, so if you can’t do that in its settings you’ll go mad from the weird cacophony.
3. It can write its own blog
Ah, the internet – founded upon crazy men making crazy things for free. Such as a blog supposedly written by your 360, based on what you’ve been using it for. It monitors your Live account and automatically generates entries about what it’s been up to that day (or what it hasn’t been up to – expect many posts about neglect if you don’t turn it on for a while). The tone is very much American geek, but it’s a fun record of your own gaming habits, and of keeping an eye on what your chums are up to. Get set up at www.360voice.com.
4. Play Xbox 360 games online for free – without a Live account
That you have to pay a subscription for online gaming, something that’s free on other consoles and on the PC, is perhaps the 360′s greatest bugbear. Stage your own form of peaceful process by playing online without paying a penny. You’ll need XLink Kai, a free app you run from a PC on the same network as the console that tricks the 360 into thinking the internet is a LAN.
So it’ll treat remote opponents as though they’re in the same room as you – and you don’t have to pay for local multiplayer. Clever! One snag – Microsoft has set the 360 to boot out anyone with a ping higher than 30ms, so you’ll have to be selective about who you play with. Local chums are best, not your Chinese penpal.
5. Interact with your Xbox 360 music
Hit X whilst playing a music CD or file (whether from the 360′s hard drive, an MP3 player you’ve plugged in, or streamed from a PC) and you’ll enter Psychedelic Wonderland. Well, some artful visualisations, anyway. Grab a controller or two (or up to four, as it happens) and start moving thumbpads and pressing buttons to interact with the crazed shifting colours. There are actually some fairly elaborate controls – read the full manual at http://www.llamasoft.co.uk/x360manual.php. Good at parties, this.
6. Connect your Xbox 360 to a wireless network without an official adaptor
The good news is you don’t have to drop £50 on Microsoft’s offensively overpriced Wi-Fi adaptor. The bad news is you’ll need a laptop with W-Fi to do it. Head to Control Panel – Network Connections (In Windows XP) or Network & Sharing Center – Manage Network Connections (in Vista). Select the Local Area Connection and the Wireless Network Connection at once, then right-click and hit ‘bridge connections’.
Disconnect then reconnect to your wireless network, run a network cable from the laptop’s Ethernet port to the 360′s, and you should be good to go. Unfortunately, you may have to remove the bridge (repeat the above process and you’ll see the option) whenever you want to browse the net with the laptop.
7. Play music from your iPod
Not a secret as such, but Microsoft doesn’t exactly shout about the fact it plays nice with a device made by uber-rival Apple. Hidden in the depths of the Marketplace, you’ll find a teeny download called ‘optional iPod support’. Once you’ve grabbed that, plug in your iPod (iPhones aren’t supported yet, sadly) and head to the Media Blade. You’ll see your pod appear there, and can now browse its music by album, artist, genre or whatever. It’ll also charge via the USB port, usefully.
8. Reset your Xbox 360 video settings
Remember this one if you’re in the habit of carrying your console to chum’s houses and hooking it up to different displays. It can end up trying to output the wrong signal, so you can’t see anything or get a flickering screen. Fortunately, there’s a fairly simple fix if this happens. Remove any discs from the tray and turn the thing off. Then turn it on using a gamepad. As it boots, hold down the Y button, then hit and hold the right trigger. The video settings will reset to default, and you’ll stop your sobbing.
9. Play any media file, plus online videos on your Xbox 360
Free app Tversity neatly sidesteps the pointless video/audio restrictions Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo alike slap on their consoles, making them able to play any format. Again, you’ll need a PC on the same network, but it’s a simple matter of installing the program and having it scan the folders you keep your media in. It’ll replace the standard network file-sharing system Windows uses, but behaves pretty much the same way at the 360′s end. As well as that, it’ll convert unsupported files on the fly – though you’ll need a pretty beefy PC to do this with large video files, otherwise you’ll be waiting ages. You can also add online video URLs on the PC’s end – including Youtube – and then access those from the console.
10. Use any HDMI cable and still get digital surround sound
Though the newer 360s have an HDMI output for optimal video quality, they’ve built the ports in such a way that you can’t have the standard component/composite video cable, with its crucial optical audio output, plugged in at the same time as HDMI. Instead, you’re supposed to drop a frightening amount of money on the official HDMI cable with audio adapter. Balls to that. See the big plastic box at the end of the standard video cable that connects to the console? Wedge a knife or screwdriver into the join and twist to pop it off. The result looks messy, but is small enough to plug in alongside a standard, cheapo HDMI cable.
PS3 information
PS3 Tips by PSM3 Magazine staff original link here http://www.computerandvideogames.com/160705/features/22-amazing-ps3-tips-part-1/?page=1#top_banner
1. Play games from any country
It’s true. Unlike PSone or PS2 you can now buy games from anywhere in the world and play them on your UK PS3 – there’s no region encoding. We recommend going for American games though because they’ll be in English… Note: This only applies to PS3 games – foreign PSone and PS2 games still won’t work on your UK PS3.
2. Play movies from any country
Blu-ray discs are region-free. And some are – but region-locking turns out to be at a publisher’s discretion. We’ve had some discs work fine, but others – like, for instance, Rocky Balboa – just don’t. Stick with UK discs, that’s our advice. For more, see here
3. Wake your PS3 up by remote control
Here’s a cool trick. Shut down your PS3 but keep the power switch on the back set to ‘on’, and your PS3 will sap next to no power but be sat ready and waiting for you – the red light on the front shows that it’s still there. Now turn on a pad (by pressing the PS button) and your PS3 will spark up ready to link with it.
4. The secret video reset
Taken your PS3 round your mate’s house? Or simply moved from living room to bedroom? Unable to see your PS3′s picture because you can’t change your TV-settings? Simple fix: Shut down your PS3 then restart by pressing and holding the power button. This will reset your PS3 to its most basic 480p graphics mode so you’ll be able to see enough to choose RGB SCART, component, HDMI or whatever from here.
5. Install another operating system
Yes, turn your PS3 into a fully featured Linux-based computer. Full instructions later this week…
6. See how much charge is on your pad
Never be caught short again. Press and hold the PS button on any joypad. The an on-screen indicator will appear, showing your pad’s charge as a small battery. A full battery pic means a fully-charged pad.
7. Broadcast to your PSP
On your PSP go to Settings, then Network Settings. Infrastructure Mode, New Connection, Enter Manual. Go to SSID can call this new connection something obvious – like ‘PS3′. Go to the WLAN Security Setting and edit the SPA-PSK (AES) setting. Enter the WPA key – this is an eight letter password to identify your PS3. On the PS3, go to Settings, Network Settings, Remote Play Connection Settings. Enter the same SSID name (ie, ‘PS3′) and enter the same WPA key (i.e. ‘password’). Almost done. Go to Network on your PS3, choose Remote Play. It’ll start looking for your PSP. Pick up your PSP and go to Network and select Remote Play on your PSP. Your PS3′s menus will now appear on your PS3′s screen. Drive around with the PSP D-pad.
8. Get game saves off the internet
Stuck on a game? Chances are someone out there has already beaten that boss for you and saved their game afterwards. Google ‘PS3 game saves’. There are hundreds of finished and half finished game saves all over the internet. Download the save you want – it’ll come in a ‘PS3′ folder that you can lift onto a USB stick and put into your PS3. Go to the Game menu, choose your stick and the game save you downloaded should be right there. Press Triangle to copy it to your hard drive.
9. Make free video phone calls
You will need a USB headset (like the one you use for PS2 SOCOM) and an EyeToy camera. Plug in both via USB then go to your Friends menu. Choose a friend (you do have one, right) and press Triangle. Choose Start New Chat and type a message. Something like ‘Videochat?’ should do the trick. Now, providing they’re in front of their powered-up PS3 (perhaps you could text them to tell them to be in position?) then they’ll see your message and be given the option to accept your videochat. Now, provided they too have a camera and headset, two windows will open showing yourself (so you can make sure you’re looking your best) and your mate. Best of all you can hit Triangle again and invite more people to join your chat – up to a maximum of six. And the cost? Not a bean above your usual broadband connection charges.
10. Browse multiple Internet windows
Open the browser (go to Network) and surf to a page you want. Now open up the menu with a press of Triangle and choose Open In New Window. Enter another URL and then do the same again. Keep going until you’ve got six windows open. Now press L3 (done by clicking down the left stick. You’re now in multi-page mode. Move the left stick to flick through the web pages as though they were bits of paper, then click L3 again to zoom in.
11. Download music and pics (and save them on your hard drive)
Simple, this. Just click on the file you want and – provided that it’s in a format recognised by PS3 it’ll be downloaded and stored in the right place on your PS3. MP3 files go into your Music folder and images go into Photos. Watch out for any file compressed as a zip file though. Your PS3 can’t unzip and won’t know what to do with them – it’s uncompressed files only here.
Wii information:
7 Wii tricks Nintendo doesn’t tell you by Alec Meer, Original link here http://www.techradar.com/us/news/gaming/consoles/7-wii-tricks-nintendo-doesnt-tell-you-477854
The more complex consoles become, the more weirdy-beardy secret functions are squirreled away inside of them, and Nintendo’s latest is no exception.
While most of the Wii’s Easter Eggs are specific to certain games – there’s a whole trove of ‘em in Wii Sports alone – here’s seven of the best for the console itself.
1. Email a chum’s Wii
You’ll need to have a record of those damnably unmemorable friend codes for anyone you want to mail, but once you do it’s simple: just drop a message to w[friendcode]@wii.com. For instance, w1234567891011@wii.com.
2. Add a smooth, constant blue glow to your Wii
The blue lighting around the disc slot normally only glows when the Wii’s got some sort of announcement for you, and disappears once you’ve read it. However, you can lend your lounge a sci-fi feel by making that tastefull glow permanent. Just email your own Wii – using the system in the tip above – but never read the message (which can take up to an hour to arrive, incidentally). As long as it stays unread, that cheeky light will keep on twinkling.
3. Mario attack
If you’re downloading something from the Wii shop – be it a new channel or a virtual console title – have a gander at what the Mario animation in the progress bar is wearing. If he’s dressed in red and white (as opposed to his traditional red and blue togs), you can make him chuck fireballs with the A button.
4. Puzzle puzzle
Unlock a hidden hardcore mode in the Photo Channel’s jigsaw mini-game. Move the cursor over the number of pieces you want to split your photo into, but hold down the 1 button before you select the option. The resulting jigsaw will be split into 194 pieces, which makes for quite the pictorial challenge.
5. Restore MP3 playback
Speaking of the photo channel, you were probably narked to discover that last year’s update to do it inexplicably removed MP3 soundtrack support, lumping us with AAC tracks only. Yeah thanks, Ninty. Fortunately, you can downgrade to the original version by heading to Wii Settings then Data Management, then selecting the Channels tab and choosing to delete the Photo Channel entirely. Don’t worry, it won’t disappear – instead, it’ll revert to sweet old version 1.0, replete with MP3 support.
6. Fix stubborn Wiimotes
If you’re having trouble getting a new or borrowed Wiimote to synch with your console, there’s a way to make the Wii completely forget about all the remotes it’s paired with so that you can start afresh. Turn the Wii off and unplug it from the wall. Wait 30 seconds, then plug it in and turn it on again. When the Health & Safety warning pops up, open the flap on the front of the Wii, then press and hold down the red SYNC button for 15 seconds. And that’s it – all the synced controllers will be forgotten. Then pair all your Wiimotes with the console using the standard method.
7. Use your Wiimotes with your PC
Yep, the Wiimote uses standard Bluetooth wireless tech to talk to the console – which means it can also work with a PC. So your Wii controller can double up as a remote control for movie watching, or you can even play any game with it. You’ll need either built-in Bluetooth support or a USB adaptor in your PC, plus free app GlovePIE to get it working. There’s a little bit of faff involved, but the instructions at the GlovePIE site will talk you through it. You can also download pre-made profiles for specific games
