Xbox 360 horrible red ring of death a scam? + fix rrod

[TheClassicCarKid]

Originally Posted by Mr_Draco

This works because of the main reason for the RROD. The RROD is because of not enough cooling and insufficient air movement. The 360 was originally made with poor quality solder. When the internal temps of the 360 reach a certain point the solder begins to break down and partial melt causing it lose connection and eventually there will be no connection at all (the RROD). The towel method keeps the hot air in allowing the internal temp to rise higher. This allows the solder to melt completely reconnecting any parts that lost connection. Due to this cycle the fix is only temporary as they solder will break down again in a couple months not to mention that the towel trick can and will cause permanent damage to other internal components that are not designed to withstand the heat.

The only way to really fix it is to increase the amount of cooling and air flow and to de-solder and then re-solder all connections with good solder so no it's not a scam by Microsoft. Plus for it to be a scam they have to have something to gain but they do it for free. In the 1st year alone didn't MS LOSE a lot of money fixing the RROD?

Originally Posted by WAY2FAST

I read what I wrote above...And it sounds a little vague. Let me clarify. I don't know beyond a shadow of doubt exactly what Red Ring of Death is, but for lack of a better description it is like a virus, that is retained by the units' harddrive. The only way to remove it is to reset the unit. The only way to do that w/o sending it back to that factory is the overheating method. I have done it once and have freinds who have done it countless times. It will not harm your Xbox! Good Luck!

Originally Posted by Milk 1027

No

This is the truth. vv

Originally Posted by headpunter

with many years of experience with comsumer electronics and computers you will most definately do damage to GPU and CPU chips exposing them to that kind of heat.

[liquidfire350]

Originally Posted by shank0668

would it be a bitc% to find and connect?

basicly all MS is doing if fixing that connection, you could do it yourself i guess, but if anything else goes wrong, youve already opened the case voiding the warrenty. i would just let them do it and keep the warrenty

[gladiatoro]

Originally Posted by liquidfire350

basicly all MS is doing if fixing that connection, you could do it yourself i guess, but if anything else goes wrong, youve already opened the case voiding the warrenty. i would just let them do it and keep the warrenty

I bought a XBOX ELITE it has much better cooling on the system so there is no problem with it at all , plus it has HDMI and a flat black finish

[Dave McFly]

ALL current 360s are identical on the inside only difference is:

all white with white DVD tray, NO HD is the Arcade
all white with chrome dvd tray, 20 or 60 gig HD is the Pro
all black with chrome dvd tray, 120 gig HD is the Elite

the 1st Elites were the ones that got all the innovations that helped REDUCE the hardware failures that the launch Core and Premium models like the updated motherboards, quieter fans and DVD drives, first to get the HDMI port, efficient power supplies etc. the current Arcade and Pro has the same 'guts' as an Elite and if you have one with the HDMI port even more like an Elite.

My Arcade model with a used Elite HD and component cable (I also have a HDMI for hooking it to the bedroom 32" LCD) and headset and 360 remote is the SAME as an Elite.

If anybody tries to say the Elite is better than the Arcade/Pro tell them they are full of crap. and Elite is just an Arcade/Pro with a black casing, a 120 gig HD and some extra cables and accessories you would have to pay extra for.

[Zabo]

So how far back in the production line do we have to go to find the shoddy soldering jobs on 360s? My brother got a 'Temp' RROD one day out of the blue but with a hard reset (power button) it fixed itself. No towel trick or anything.

Overheat? or System read error? The only issue with his RROD was that the system did work WHILE RROD'd, but wouldn't access the blade screens or read anything. He saw this thread and wanted me to ask..

Pertinent info: 20 gig 360 pro, purchased July 08. 360 sits atop a converter box for cable next to a PS3(mine). He regularly sets games atop the HD/case(ringer?)

Idiot. It's a Camaro Forum..not IGN.com. <_<

[1_2Many]

BEEN THERE...DONE THAT. It's only a temporary fix. He'll be lucky to have it work for another 24 hours. And the towel trick only works once. I'm hoping my 4th RRoD comes soon so I can get a newer gen 360 with HDMI.

[Dave McFly]

well the current up to late 08 had what was called the 'Falcon' motherboard. it was different from earlier motherboards as it had extra beefy heat sinks, and a 175w instead of 205w power supply. and they were the ones that had the HDMI ports in them.

there is a new version coming out now and is just starting to trickle into the market it is called the 'Jasper'. from what I have read on gaming forums i frequent THIS is the version that should have NO more RROD errors. you can tell which 360 is in the box before you even buy it.

on the box there is a white rectangular area where the UPC code is. if it says 175w near the end its a 'Falcon' if it says 150w its a 'Jasper'. but as the early 'Falcon' 360s were put out before the boxes with the correct wattage were printed there was a chance that even if the box says 175w it could still be a 'Jasper' 360.

My 'Falcon' 360 was bought in 01/08 and the box said 205w but when i opened the box the sticker on the back of the console and on the power cord 'brick' said 175w. I hope this info helps .

[Supermans]

Originally Posted by liquidfire350

no

as said before, the solder on the connection to the hard drive breaks, once it loses its connection the rrod comes up because theres no communication to the hard drive

the towel trick works because, as stated already, the heat causes the solder to melt and if your lucky, reconnect the broken connection, but it doesnt always work and heat causes damage to other components which is why its no recommended or even advised

the only way what you said would make sence would be if you changed some settings and the rrod came up right after. if you didnt change anything then your still at the default settings

Wouldn't it be easier to open it up and fix the problem knowing what it is yourself?

[Mr_Draco]

Originally Posted by Supermans

Wouldn't it be easier to open it up and fix the problem knowing what it is yourself?

I did some part time work as an electronics maintenance engineer and I can honestly say no it wouldn't. The lost connection doesn't have to be the hard drive, it could be any component leading to or going from the hard drive which could be any of thousands of connections plus a loose connection isn't always noticeable. With the right tools it could sometimes take a couple weeks working 8 hours a day to find the loose connection. Doing it your living room with little or no knowledge of what you're doing nor what you're looking for will be a royal pain not to mention take forever.

[FenwickHockey65]

Something tells me that Microsoft doesn't even check RROD claims anymore. My friend's Xbox was thrown out a second story window, and while it still ran, he wanted to get a new one just to make sure. He said it got the RROD and they sent him a new one.

[TonytheTiger]

don't send it in if it has been moded, a computer gear head friend of mine modded his disk drive and it broke and didn't want to send it, he also had rrod, he bought a new one its not worth it it may cause jail time if they found out it was modded, well my friend made copies of games off his, thats illegal, he offered me many games but i bought them instead of geeting free ones and risking my xbox.

[CamaroScotty]

I paid to have mine sent out and fixed, after a local had it fixed and it came back 1 day outside his 10 day guarantee...

sent it to www.360-Pros.com and no problems since....and a bought an external dual fan from best buy...good for 6 months now. Mods? No worries.

[MerF]

Originally Posted by TonytheTiger

...it may cause jail time if they found out it was modded....

There is not a chance in hell Microsoft is hiring a legal team to prosecute a kid who modified his HDD rather than replace a faulty system. The PR alone would make this senseless.

[TFord]

I got the RRoD for the first time today. Im gonna fix mine myself. Ive learned the 80% of the RRoD; 3 red lights, secondary code 0020. Heres a tutorial