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Microsoft's third-generation Xbox game console, released November 22, 2013.

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What to look for when buying a broken Xbox one

I'm looking to buy an Xbox one, and I don't plan to spend more than $80 total. I see a lot of "turns on then turns of right away" consoles on eBay. What is the cause of this, and is there a good fix? Would a relfow cut it? If so, how would I go about it? Also, is this the cheapest problem to fix?

Update 5/15/17

Ok, Iv'e purchased an Xbox: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Xbox-One-PARTS-O...

All it should need is a fresh install. How do I go about this? I know how to take it out and mount, but not how to install the OS...

Answered! View the answer I have this problem too

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@tronicsfix I could use your expert advice. Thank you.

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I wouldn't get one that turns on then back off. Sometimes it's the Southbridge, sometimes the APU and many times not fixable. You should be able to find a cheap one that needs a new disc drive. That's what I would go with.

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But isn't the disk drive paired to the motherboard?

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How about the ones that randomly power off. After 10 minutes or whenever. Same problems?

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Only the optical drive PCB is paired to the motherboard, it is attached to the optical drive by three ribbon cables and 2 soldered wires and can be transplanted to a donor drive mech with ease.

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@tronicsfix, I was looking at this One: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Xbox-One-500-gb-...

Since it has no hard drive, the E101 is meaningless? Should installing the OS on the HDD fix it?

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@pccheese Yes, the disc drive board is paired to the motherboard so you don't want to buy one that doesn't have the disc drive. Most of the time the disc drive just needs the laser replaced. Even if you have to replace the disc drive you just have to transplant the board from the old drive onto the new drive.

E101 is usually fixed by putting a hard drive in and installing the OS onto it. There are lots of guides on Youtube on how to do that.

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I would personally buy the one with the power shutting off because it can be something simple like the RF module or something like a bad trace on the board. So I would buy the one with the power issue!

If you have any questions or concerns please comment below!

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Or like tronicsfix said, it could be something far more major.

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Well yes possibly but if you have to replace a disc drive it can be more expensive then anything.

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The disc drive tends to be simple to fix, it's generally dirty rollers or misaligned mech stoping the disc fully inserted it the laser needing replaced. Either fault is not very expensive to repair.

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The RF module rarely causes any problems...it's very common to have the SB chip or APU be bad with the on and off problem. The board having a "bad trace" doesn't happen on it's own. If it has a bad trace it's because someone opened it and caused the bad trace.

The disc drive is usually easy and cheap to fix. Many of them need a $10 laser and they're good to go. If you have to replace the entire drive it gets more expensive but that's rare.

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@tronicsfix that is very true but bad trace can happen when the board gets hot! This can happen if the fan goes bad and the heat sink will get extremely hot!

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