Troubleshooting Xbox 360 Game Deployment

Article
09/29/2011

Provides some helpful troubleshooting tips for Xbox 360 deployment if you are unable to establish a successful connection between your computer and your Xbox 360 console.

Be Sure Your Console is Correctly Configured

You must have an App Hub membership, which you can purchase from Xbox LIVE Marketplace.
XNA Game Studio Connect must be installed on the console.
You must be signed in to Xbox LIVE with an Xbox 360 gamer profile associated with your App Hub membership.
XNA Game Studio Connect must be running on the console. This means the connection to Xbox LIVE must remain active. Oherwise, XNA Game Studio Connect closes.

Use a Freshly Generated Key

The key generated by the console in the XNA Game Studio Connect page is good only for connecting one computer to one console under one user profile.

A key is valid until a computer connects to the Xbox 360 using that key, or until a new key is generated by the console. For example, if you delete a console from the list of consoles available for deployment, you cannot add it back again using the same key. Instead, you must generate a new key on the console, and use that new key to connect the computer to the console.

Your Connection Keys Might Have Been Modified

If a connection worked once and is now failing, the connection key for the console may have been changed accidentally. If this is the problem, you can fix it simply by adding a new connection, using a new key.

If You Wish to Reset All Connections

You can reset all connections by pushing Reset All Connections. This invalidates all connections to the Xbox 360 console device, and generates a new key for a new connection.

Note

If you reset all connections, any Windows-based computer with a connection to this Xbox 360 console device will not be able to connect until it reestablishes a new connection to the Xbox 360 console device.

The Computer and the Xbox Console Must Be on the same Subnet

If the computer and Xbox 360 console are on different subnets, they won't establish a proper connection. Typically, you should connect both machines to the same hub or router. It is best not to use a wireless connection—a weak or noisy signal can cause a failure in the connection and deployment.

To determine whether your computer and console are on the same subnet:

On your computer, open a command window (click Start, and then click All Programs , click Accessories, and finally click Command Prompt ).
At the command prompt, type ipconfig, and press ENTER.

Make note of both the IP address and of the subnet mask in the configuration listing that appears.
On your Xbox 360 dashboard, go to the My Xbox menu, and select System Settings.

Note

You can use the Xbox 360 Guide to do the same thing: go to the Settings blade and select System Settings.
From System Settings, select Network Settings, and then click Configure Network.

Make note of the IP address and subnet mask.
Compare the settings to make sure that the computer and console are on the same subnet.

Check for Firewall Interference

In some cases, your firewall could be blocking communication between your computer and the Xbox 360 console. Verify that the following conditions have been met.

The xnatrans.exe executable is not blocked on the computer.
Incoming communication for UDP ports 3825 and 3835 is not blocked.
Outgoing communication for UDP port 1000 is not blocked.
Outgoing communication for TCP port 1001 is not blocked.

See Firewall for more details.