This used to happen and I would have to unplug it, wait a few minutes, and it'd be back to working order.

Today it has shut down on me 5 times, all I have been doing was downloading a game.

It doesn't go into any power down sequence. It just goes black screen and the console has no power. When I reboot it (I have to unplug and replug the console to do so) it will tell me that the system was shut off incorrectly and it has to repair the external hard drive. Then it will function normally until it just blinks off again.

I tried letting it sit turned off for up to half an hour, unplugged. Didn't help. I tried plugging it directly into an outlet instead of a power strip. Didn't help.

Now I can only guess that it is a heating issue, and I've never cleaned out my system. I'm fine with doing it myself, but my dad claims it would void the warranty.

Anybody have any guesses?