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XBOX 360 WIRELESS RACING WHEEL REQUIRES RETROFIT

Yes gang, another piece of Microsoft hardware is being labeled as faulty. Microsoft has announced that due to a possible flaw in one of the components of the Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel that could result in overheating, smoking and an implied potential fire hazard, they are requesting that all owners stop using the powered functions of the wheel until they can get a retrofit kit from Microsoft to correct the problem.

The wheel itself can be used in the meantime with no risk if not plugged in, however that does eliminate all force feedback functionality.

“As a precautionary measure, Microsoft Corporation is voluntarily providing its customers with a free retrofit to the Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel. The Wheels were manufactured during 2006 – 2007. A component in the Wheel chassis may in rare cases overheat and release smoke when the AC-DC power supply is used to energize the Wheel.

There have been no reported incidences of fire, personal injury or property damage due to the Wheel malfunction. Despite no known safety incidents, we are advising our customers about this because of our strong commitment to ensuring that our products are safe and perform to our design specifications.” – Xbox.com

Now I’m not sure what exactly this retrofit kit includes, but whatever it is, it’s apparently a simple enough installation that Microsoft feels you can make the change yourself – because that’s what you’re going to have to do. Owners of the Wireless Racing Wheel should either contact Xbox support by phone at 1-800-4MY-XBOX or use the form located at this link to have the kit sent out to them. Once mine arrives, I’ll be sure to at least post what you can expect to find in the kit and what is involved in making the required repair.

Racing wheel requires retrofit kit – say that ten times fast. Microsoft, I love my Xbox 360, but you guys have GOT to get your act together on the hardware reliability front. Seriously.

September 6, 2007 Posted by | Defective, Microsoft, Oops, Quick Fix, Xbox 360 | Leave a comment

QUICK FIX: DO YOUR PLAYSTATION 3 UPSCALED VIDEOS LOOK WASHED OUT WITH HDMI?

If you’ve noticed that your PlayStation 3 upscaled DVD playback looks decidedly washed out when using a HDMI connection after downloading the v1.80 update like mine did, this simple fix could be the answer to your problems. Go to your settings tab on the PlayStation 3’s menu and choose BD/DVD Settings. Next go to the BD/DVD Video Out Format (HDMI) tab and change the setting from “automatic” to “RGB”. That’s it, you’re done. Hopefully your problem is now fixed and you can enjoy some upscaled DVD content.

I’ve noticed there’s also been some confusion as to what many of the new upscaling menu items actually do – here’s some information straight from PlayStation.com

“Upscaling game or DVD output
You can now upscale the video content of PlayStation® format software, PlayStation®2 format software, and DVDs to HD resolution.
What is upscaling?
Upscaling is a feature that can be used to enable content recorded in SD resolution (480p/480i) to be displayed in HD resolution (1080p/1080i/720p). Because the video content of PlayStation® format software, PlayStation®2 format software, and commercial DVDs is recorded in SD resolution, the resolution can be raised by upscaling the video output.
Upscaling game output
(Game Settings) has been added as an option under (Settings). You can adjust settings for upscaled output of PlayStation® format software and PlayStation®2 format software. The options available under [Game Settings] are [PS/PS2 Upscaler] and [PS/PS2 Smoothing]. These options are described below.
PS/PS2 Upscaler
You can adjust settings to upscale video output from PlayStation®2 and PlayStation® format software.
Off
Disable upscaled output.
Note
  • If image quality is reduced or the image does not look right when upscaled, set this option to [Off].
PS/PS2 Smoothing
You can adjust settings to reduce the roughness of video from PlayStation®2 and PlayStation® format software.
Off
Disable smoothing.
Notes
  • The [PS/PS2 Smoothing] setting can be used even when [PS/PS2 Upscaler] is set to [Off].
  • With some software, the smoothing effect may not be noticeable or image quality may be reduced if this option is set to [On]. In that case, set to [Off].
Upscaling DVD output
[DVD Upscaler] has been added as an option in (BD/DVD Settings) under (Settings). You can adjust settings for upscaled output of DVDs.
Off
Disable upscaled output.
* This option can be used only when the PS3™ system is set to output video at 1080p or 1080i via an HDMI or component AV cable.
Notes
  • When playing copyright-protected DVD content such as the content on commercially available DVD-Video, an HDMI cable is required to upscale the video content.
  • If image quality is reduced or the image does not look right when upscaled, set this option to [Off].” – PlayStation.com

I hope that helps any of you who’ve been having issues.

May 25, 2007 Posted by | DVD Upscaling, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 3 system update, PlayStation Network, Quick Fix, Sony, Troubleshooting | Leave a comment