The Cover Project
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: satoshi_matrix on October 30, 2008, 12:45:29 PM
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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.
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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.
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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?
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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.
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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 (http://cgi.ebay.com/Xbox-360-Repair-Service-Red-Ring-of-Death-RROD-Error_W0QQitemZ360102436075QQihZ023QQcategoryZ163866QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)
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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.
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Glad it helped! ;D
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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.
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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?
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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.
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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.
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Where do you get replacement stickers? The only thing obvious that its been opened is the fact that the stickers are roughed up.
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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.........
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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.
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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.
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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.
I think it's a bit hit and miss - i know some people that had them sent back unrepaired with a note to say that the seal had been damaged and voided the warranty, and others that had them repaired or replaced with refurb units.
For the sake of the cost of a sticker i'd get one to increase chances of it being fixed.
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Here we go again..360 number 2 has started to freeze up. RROD here we come. >:(
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Yup...now i got the RROD. There's a rumour that the update from 4 Feb causes Xboxes to brick...and my mate did the update today and his elite bricked. Spooky....
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Yup...now i got the RROD. There's a rumour that the update from 4 Feb causes Xboxes to brick...and my mate did the update today and his elite bricked. Spooky....
Maybe Microsoft needs to boost the hardware sales a bit.... ;D Seems like the recent pricedrops didn't do the trick so back to the good old methods.... ;)
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I should mention that I successfully fixed my 360, which most definitely red ringed. Grumbleduke, you too can fix your 360 by yourself if you have the time and patience for it.
First thing you should note that Elite systems made after about the middle of 2007 and Core systems made starting in 2008 will not experience this problem due to a redesign.
The cause of the RRoD is overheating. The first generations of the 360 experience a build up of heat overtime that continues to increase until the error occurs. It happened to me. after three years. Chances are, it will happen to you too.
If y ou dont mind voiting your warrenty, you can open the 360 with a flathead screwdriver, a small pointy object (a small screwdriver does the trick) and torx 10 and 20 screwdrives. To be totally honest, I just just brute force and ripped most of it apart with my hands. The case is extremely strong, even if you break some of the tabs it will still snap back together with ease.
Anyway, once your system is apart, you have a few options on what you can do to fix it. The best and easiest is with a heatgun.
The solution I went with was to take apart my system and apply a heatgun (a really powerful blow dryer used to remove paint) to remelt the solder balls under the CPU and GPU. There are a few tutorials on how to do this online. Just google heatgun Xbox 360 repair and you'll come to a few. Follow the one that suggests thick plastic sheeting! Once I knew what to do, the entire process from start to finish took about an hour, and the majority of that was letting the 360 cool down! Thus, the RRoD is not a death sentience.
Once fixed, the 360 should never Red Ring again! And if it does, just repeat the process again!
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The heatgun method is a new one on me, might give that a try. Many thanks. :)
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if your 360 is less than 3 years old microsoft should fix it for free about a year or so ago they extended the warranty to cover RROD cant hurt to call them 1st
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except that you have to wait around 3-4 weeks total from start to finish, and you might not even get back the 360 you sent in.
Heatgunning your system if done properly totally negates the need to send your 360 anywhere, and I have a suspicion that Microsoft themselves fixes 360s this way.
The problem is that overtime, the CPU and GPU's solder balls loose connection to the motherboard, and the 360's automatic diagnostic problem direction program indicates there is a severe hardware failure and stops the system from booting up. The heatgun applies tremendous heat to the board and allows the solder to remelt. If you apply the heat evenly and make sure you don't MOVE the 360 at any cost, then all the solder will melt evenly and then left to cool for about an hour, the system will boot up good as new because you have just solved the problem at the root of the problem.
Way back when, I tried the towel trick. The reason why this has any success at all is because its like applying a heatgun, only to absolutely everything and is thus very inefficient.
I've fixed both mine and a friend's 360 this way. I highly recommend a heatgun. (use the lower settings btw, you don't want to exceed 500 degrees F)
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Geez ....that sounds awful. I'm glad that I never got a XBox 3-fixy ..... I'll stick with my Atari 800XL ..... way less problems and twice as powerful!!!