XBOX 360 (Ring of Death)

[Russ]

Has anyone here had the same problem, apparently the processors are overheating and it can be fixed at home.

Reason I'm asking is because I'm getting conflicting answers when trying to find the best method of repair...

Got it stripped down and ready to do whatever I'm meant to do.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Honestly it's my sons :lol:

 

[Paulg]

If its less than 3 years old and you are getting the Red Ring of Death, then Mirosoft will generally repair it for free.

As I understand it, as it overheats it places excessive load on the solder joints underneath the processor or graphics card which then fail.

There was a trick that involved wrapping the unit in a towel causing it to overheat more and (theoretically) resolder the failed joints. Don't do this - it never worked for long.

See this link:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/907534

 

[Russ]

Thanks Paul

It's over 3 years old and I'd rather not give another penny to MS...

Do you think using a harder/denser solder and applying more compound to the board will help?

Cheers

Russ

 

[Paulg]

Sorry to say, but its not something you can fix. As I understand it, the solder points are pads between the motherboard and the chip - there are no exposed pins / solder points to get at. Its called a ball-grid array. More details here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360_t ... l_problems

If it is the 'normal' red ring, you are out of luck. Probably time to buy a new one.

 

[chippy1970]

Sorry to say, but its not something you can fix. As I understand it, the solder points are pads between the motherboard and the chip - there are no exposed pins / solder points to get at. Its called a ball-grid array. More details here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360_t ... l_problems

If it is the 'normal' red ring, you are out of luck. Probably time to buy a new one.

Sorry but thats rubbish it can be fixed, you can buy kits off Ebay or just buy the bits yourself. All you need are a few washers, machine screw etc and some thermal paste.

Have a look here http://www.llamma.com/xbox360/repair/ri ... mp_fix.htm

Lots of usefull stuff on the above site and you can trust that none of it is ******** as Lamma is one of the main pioneers in xbox hacking.

 

[StevieB]

Good idea - believe a website run by a hacker and trust your console to his advice :roll:

It's broken and has a RROD to prove its broken. There can be a number of causes, not just over heating, and a diagnostics facility will tell you which. Whether this is MS themselves, a computer store's repair facility or a backstreet repairer will determine the price, the level of confidence you have in their abilities and the guarantee you get that the repair/fix will last.

When my PS3 suffered the same fate and Sony were less than helpful (ie only offered to replace for £150 and a 2 week delay and couldn't save any data from the existing HD) I got a tad sharp with the Sony helpline, told them I could buy an x-box for almost that price and that they had lost a loyal customer. An hour later I got a call from a supervisor with a diagnostic manual and we sorted the problem over the phone :shock:

Bottom line is that its going to cost you to get it fixed. Try MS in the first instance and see whether they can help you at all, then decide whether to go elsewhere. You did back up your save game data to external media didn't you?! With the PS3 I can replace the hard disc in the event of a total failure, and will be trying this as a last resort if it goes down again before splashing out on a new console. Not sure whether that will solve the RROD on the x-box however if it really is a motherboard issue, again MS would be my first point of call - a call is cheap and the advice may be useful.

Steve

 

[kityuser]

Good idea - believe a website run by a hacker and trust your console to his advice :roll:

It's broken and has a RROD to prove its broken. There can be a number of causes, not just over heating, and a diagnostics facility will tell you which. Whether this is MS themselves, a computer store's repair facility or a backstreet repairer will determine the price, the level of confidence you have in their abilities and the guarantee you get that the repair/fix will last.

When my PS3 suffered the same fate and Sony were less than helpful (ie only offered to replace for £150 and a 2 week delay and couldn't save any data from the existing HD) I got a tad sharp with the Sony helpline, told them I could buy an x-box for almost that price and that they had lost a loyal customer. An hour later I got a call from a supervisor with a diagnostic manual and we sorted the problem over the phone :shock:

Bottom line is that its going to cost you to get it fixed. Try MS in the first instance and see whether they can help you at all, then decide whether to go elsewhere. You did back up your save game data to external media didn't you?! With the PS3 I can replace the hard disc in the event of a total failure, and will be trying this as a last resort if it goes down again before splashing out on a new console. Not sure whether that will solve the RROD on the x-box however if it really is a motherboard issue, again MS would be my first point of call - a call is cheap and the advice may be useful.

Steve

Used to be a keen gamer in the SNES/Mega-drive days :shock: never really got into the whole playstation thing (i.e. games for adults) having said that I quite enjoy playing mates systems and we do infact now have a wii after upgrading from an old gamecube. I`ve heard numerous horror stories (a "hardcore" mate of mine is on his 5th xbox and 3rd PS3 :roll: ). having the background of being a chip designer this all smells really quite wrong to me. CPUs overheating, forcing GPUS to overheat to re-solder themselves COME ON, these situations should never arise in the first place. These games machines should work day-in day-out for years to come, if not then they aren't fit for purpose.

As far as I see it, if the XBOX is junked without the repair, I`d go it myself. Any self-respecting repair shop wouldn't warranty any work anyway along the lines of "over heat the GPU for 20-30 minutes to reflow the solder". In which case, nothing to loose by having a go yourself......

as far as going back to M$ is concerned, if its outside the 3 years they'll not be interested....

Steve

 

[Russ]

Thanks guys

I'm going to find some h/s paste and attempt to fix it at home?

Btw, it's the 2 left quadrants that flash, which according to ms indicates overheating.

"Video games don't affect kids; I mean if Pac-Man affected us as kids, we'd all be running around in darkened rooms, munching pills and listening to repetitive electronic music." - K. Wilson, Nintendo (1989)

:shock:

 

[Paulg]

If it is just overheating then you should be OK with some new thermal paste and maybe one of the aftermarket heatsinks.

I had assumed from the title it was the 3 quadrant complete hardware failure.

Presumably you can still use it for a while before the overheat ?

 

[Russ]

If it is just overheating then you should be OK with some new thermal paste and maybe one of the aftermarket heatsinks.

I had assumed from the title it was the 3 quadrant complete hardware failure.

Presumably you can still use it for a while before the overheat ?

When it's switched on it flashes 4 then 2 straight away?

Cheers

 

[StevieB]

you might find the following list of RROD error codes helpful

http://forum.teamxbox.com/showthread.php?t=472553

Steve

 

[chippy1970]

Good idea - believe a website run by a hacker and trust your console to his advice :roll:



Bottom line is that its going to cost you to get it fixed. Try MS in the first instance and see whether they can help you at all

Steve

What a stupid comment :x :x :x have you even looked at that site if you look you will see the people involved are extremely intelligent people more than likely more intelligent than the people who actually designed the xbox.

Also all the stuff on the website is common knowledge on the internet do a google. You will find that when the 360 came out they rushed its release and to fit the dvd in they had to reduce the size of the heat sink on the processors making it less efficient this causes the lead free solder on the motherboard to melt causing the problem.

I may have worded it badly saying hackers some people take the word hackers as a bad thing, I myself have followed the console modding scene for years ever since the first xbox was modded so I do know what I am talking about.

 

[Russ]

Think I better apply extra thermal-paste to cool things down a tad :shock:

 

[big soft moose]

Good idea - believe a website run by a hacker and trust your console to his advice :roll:

What a stupid comment :x :x :x have you even looked at that site if you look you will see the people involved are extremely intelligent people more than likely more intelligent than the people who actually designed the xbox.

I may have worded it badly saying hackers some people take the word hackers as a bad thing, I myself have followed the console modding scene for years ever since the first xbox was modded so I do know what I am talking about.

i think its likely that thats the case - stevie is most likely thinking hacker as in computer hacker - the nasty man who hacks into your computer and nicks your bank account details, wheras I imagine you meant it in the sense of "digi hack" ie someone whos well into their modding and "hacking" stuff together

hug and make up guys you know it make sense O

 

[Harbo]

I have not got one myself but a few weeks ago one of the consumer programs featured a couple of guys outside the manufacturers HQ fixing them in a microwave oven - or was that the Sony Playstation??
Must be a similar problem - soldering coming undone?

Rod

 

[Ironballs]

Have you not tried getting in touch with Microsoft or going on their website? Mine went, had a look on the website, got a number, rang it, confirmed the problem, they emailed me a returns label and sent a courier to work where I gave them the xbox.

Came back 3 weeks later and has been fine since. Cost to me zero

 

[StevieB]

Hmm, I appear to have caused a stir, for which I apologise. I was responding to the term 'hacker'. If you had used the term 'modder' then I would have responded differently.

Again, apologies,

Steve.