Unable to play supported xbox games on xbox360 Core with official Microsoft external HDD

kshivvy · Dec 20, 2021

I'm trying to play Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (also trying Hulk) on my xbox360 Core (it's a white xbox360 with a white disk drive slot, manufactured in 2006). Both are under the list of compatible xbox360 games.

I have an HDD with 284 GB free, which has the official Microsoft logo under System Settings -> Storage -> Hard Drive. This HDD is an official Microsoft EXTERNAL drive- it's gray, large, and bulky and goes on top of the console.

I've connected to xbox live, updated my system, and am connected to the internet, but when I put in either xbox game, I get:

"The game couldn't start. Try downloading the game again. For more help, visit www.xbox.com/support."

I thought all that was required to play supported original xbox titles on an xbox360 was an official Microsoft HDD. Anyone know what I should try? Is it because this is an external hard drive and not an internal one?

:)

Obsessive Power

I have an HDD with 284 GB free, which has the official Microsoft logo under System Settings -> Storage -> Hard Drive.

Hi,

It's still likely a fake. All hard drives on the 360 say 'Microsoft' in System Settings. It's not a mark of authenticity I'm afraid.

Christopher Revoredo

Hi there kshivvy welcome to the community forum! Christopher here, an Xbox fan just like you and has been on Xbox for years already. I would really love to make your day by helping you out. Try this!

1. Turn off your Xbox using the power button on the console.

2. Once your Xbox has completely powered down, unplug the power cord from the back of the console. Don't simply unplug the cord from the wall's electrical socket — it must be disconnected from your Xbox.

3. Wait for 5 minutes, and then reconnect the power cord to both the Xbox console and the electrical socket.

4. Let another minute pass and turn it on afterwards.

Eggnogga

Call Support and ask.

I know certain games require an official Xbox HDD in order to play the game (Destiny comes to mind). I'm not sure if GTA is like that. I'm also assuming you're trying to play the game off of an external HDD.

Mister Fitzer

Microsoft only manufactures one HDD for the Xbox 360 S, and that's the 250 GB. If you purchased an HDD for this model console that was any other size, it is not an official product, and thus not officially supported. To play backwards compatible games, you
will need to us an official Microsoft HDD.

Scott Bull

There are official 320gb HDD's but these were only available with the S-series of the Xbox360 and on their own for a brief while, unfortunately they weren't available mass-produced for long.

For reference the following HDD sizes apply to the following consoles:

Xbox360 (original): 20gb, 60gb, 120gb, 250gb.

Xbox360 S and Xbox 360 E: 4gb (no HDD included), 250gb, 320gb.

Memory Units, (Xbox360 original only): 64mb, 256mb, ("Arcade" Xbox360 only), 512mb; some of these come bundled with games.

Official USB sticks: 8gb, 16gb, (you can use most USB sticks and memory cards plugged into a reader as long as they're between 1gb and 32gb and formatted for the Xbox360, you can only use up to 2 at a time though.

At the time of writing, external HDD's are only supported on the Xbox One.

As mentioned above there are a lot of fake HDD's on the market, if you feel you've received a fake product the best thing to do is stop using it immediately as this may have an adverse effect on your console and potentially your account, and also report
the seller if necessary.

Also contact Xbox Support if you need help finding out whether the HDD is official or not, their numbers are 1-800-4MY-XBOX in the US and 0800-587-1102 in the UK, both are toll-free.

A full list of support numbers can be found here:
forums.xbox.com/.../184869.aspx

Unable to play supported xbox games on xbox360 Core with official Microsoft external HDD