Xbox 360 hardware woes

[satoshi_matrix]

Well, despite babying it and allowing it much more ventilation than you would think would be necessary, my Xbox 360 has experienced a critical hardware failure. Funny thing is, I don't get the RRoD.

Instead, the system simply freezes upon bootup. It does not produce an image on the television and does not light up ANY of the four green/red rings around the central power switch/light. The only indication I have that its even on is the amount of noise the system makes when is turned on (I assume for the fans mostly) and the central green power light.

So basically, I want to seek more information about this. There are scattered reports of this over the web, not nowhere near the problems/potential solutions to the RRoD. Should I treat my freezing system simply as a RRoD and go about potential repairs  or is it an entirely different problem with an entirely different set of solutions?


I would also like to know about the removable harddrive. If I were to replace my xbox with another one, could I simply remove my existing harddrive and attach it to the new one? Would my game saves and downloaded games get transferred over or are the harddrives digitally signed to prevent this? 


Anything you guys can tell me would be appreciated.

[sheep2001]

The hard drive issue is an easy one - yes you can transfer it to another machine no problem.

With regards to your problem - could be a number of things - however there is a method which MAY fix the problem.  It sounds crazy, but does work for alot of people with these symptoms.

Basically you want to wrap the unit in a twel or blanket, and switch on, causing it to over heat and RRoD.  Switch off and leave for an hour to cool and then give it a go. 

I was told that sometimes this problem is caused by cracked solder on the GPU, or similar, and overheating it can melt the solder enough to fix it  At the very least your machine will now be covered by the microsoft extended warranty for RROD issues, and you'll get a repair/replacement.

[satoshi_matrix]

Hm. So you think the towel trick will fix my system? Its crazy, because my 360 doesn't get the 3 red lights. Oh well. I guess I have nothing to loose by trying.

However, I do worry about electrical fire. How long should I leave the system wrapped in a tower, how thick should the towel be, how many towels should I use and most importantly, what steps can I take to prevent a fire?

[sheep2001]

haha - just towel it until you get the 3 red lights - i think about an hour

Just 1 towel wrapped around the air vents (take the hard disk off first of course)

You won't get an electrical fire, as the power supply is seperate, and that would just blow before anything bad happened.

Before you do it, you might want to try an alternative TV cable though - as when they are faulty they make the machine do all sorts of wierd crap.

[nate1749]

I got the 3 rings yesterday so I'm sending it to this guy on eBay.  He says if you do the towel trick you will most likely completely ruin your 360 and it'll only be good for parts (which he will buy).  They apparently fix a bunch of 360 problems (not just rings of death) so you may want to send it to him.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Xbox-360-Repair-Service-Red-Ring-of-Death-RROD-Error_W0QQitemZ360102436075QQihZ023QQcategoryZ163866QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[satoshi_matrix]

Well, I tried what sheep2001t 45 minutes of the system in the towel, I powered it down and let it cool for another 20 minutes. After that, it's worked perfectly, so I would recommend trying this.

There ARE solutions to the red ring issue, you dont need to send your 360 anywhere if you're willing to do some repair work yourself. The point I started this was because I wasn't sure if my system was red ringing or not as it didn't actually ever flash red lights at me. Now since I tried it the point is moot.

[sheep2001]

Glad it helped! 

[Mick Dundee]

RROD Sux, i keep my system elevated on 3/4" rubber "feet" for better air flow.  My little brother is sending his 360 in for repairs, some error message prevents him from playing anything.

[satoshi_matrix]

My 360 is red ringing again. When this first happened, I tried the towel trick, which made the thing work for a time then crap out again. I later read that the towel trick is potentially a really bad thing to do but its too late now I guess. I then bought the x-clamp fix for both the GPU and CPU and installed it according to http://www.llamma.com/xbox360/repair/ring_of_light_x-clamp_fix.htm.

I followed the procedure and I let it cool and now it still gives me the 3 lights. Is there anything you guys can suggest I try next? Sending it to M$ is out of the question, I've opened it countless times as well as flashed the drive.

is there anything more I can do or is my 360 essentially bricked?

[shenske]

Unfortunately since you have already opened it i think the onl thing you can do is buy a new motherboard 
If it comes to that i would just buy a new one all together, sorry buddy.

[sheep2001]

yup sounds like you'll need to get a replacement - is it obvious your machine has been opened?  you can get replacement warranty stickers.

when i suggested the towel trick i didn't realise the machine had been opened - as i stated in my orig post, worst case would cause the RROD which would then be covered by MS extended warranty.

[satoshi_matrix]

Where do you get replacement stickers? The only thing obvious that its been opened is the fact that the stickers are roughed up.

[sheep2001]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Xbox-360-Warranty-Seal-Sticker-Repair-Parts_W0QQitemZ220337339326QQcmdZViewItemQQptZVideo_Games?hash=item220337339326&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50

http://cgi.ebay.com/XBOX-360-Authentic-Warranty-Sticker-Seal-PERFECT-CONDTN_W0QQitemZ170289933208QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item170289933208&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50

http://cgi.ebay.com/Xbox-360-Warranty-Seal-Sticker-Repair-Parts-CLOSEOUT_W0QQitemZ150318650295QQcmdZViewItemQQptZVideo_Games?hash=item150318650295&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A0|293%3A1|294%3A50

alternatively - if you got it flashed by someone else - they may be able to supply you one off another console if they are still flashing.........

[Ragnarok2103]

the one upside is though, that if you do have to buy another one, at least the new jasper chip is finally in circulation.  they're hard to find, but if you do need to buy another 360 and manage to find a jasper you shouldn't have to worry about it red ringing again. and you could always buy a cheaper system and just swap the harddrive.

[baditrw]

My 360 is red ringing again. When this first happened, I tried the towel trick, which made the thing work for a time then crap out again. I later read that the towel trick is potentially a really bad thing to do but its too late now I guess. I then bought the x-clamp fix for both the GPU and CPU and installed it according to http://www.llamma.com/xbox360/repair/ring_of_light_x-clamp_fix.htm.

I followed the procedure and I let it cool and now it still gives me the 3 lights. Is there anything you guys can suggest I try next? Sending it to M$ is out of the question, I've opened it countless times as well as flashed the drive.

is there anything more I can do or is my 360 essentially bricked?

If you have tried the X-Clamp fix and your 360 is still RRoD hope isn't lost.If your 360 is the model covered by the 3 year warranty you can send it in MS and they will replace it,no questions asked.Just call them and tell them your problem and they will send you a box and e-mail you a UPS label to send it in.Doesn't matter if the seal has been broken or not.Two of my friends had the RRoD and both had consoles covered by the 3 year MS warranty.Both had modified (hacked firmware flashed drives) and MS replaced both with brand new 360's no questions asked.