Red Ring of Death

lifeisbetterwithketchup · Wed Aug 20, 2008 3:31 pm

bicostp wrote:You guys are thinking too hard.

Microsoft fixes this problem. For free. Just send it in and they'll ship you another one.

I assumed that we were talking out-of-warranty-for-whatever-reason Xbox 360s.

Post by **bicostp** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 5:02 pm

Well, Microsoft extended the warranty covering the ring of death to 3 years, so unless he's got a launch 360 it should still be covered.

lifeisbetterwithketchup · Wed Aug 20, 2008 5:09 pm

bicostp wrote:Well, Microsoft extended the warranty covering the ring of death to 3 years, so unless he's got a launch 360 it should still be covered.

Well, warranties were meant to be voided.

dragonball345 · Post by **dragonball345** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 5:15 pm

agreed. How else would he flas... i mean

17daysolderthannes · Post by **17daysolderthannes** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 10:39 pm

well, I just got back from Play N Trade and here's the scoop: the XBOX 360 was a trade in that they sold to someone and the person they sold it to brought it back in a week because all of a sudden there was no picture, only sound. They tried another video cable and still nothing. So, no error rings, but obviously something wrong. Well, one of the managers (that has already broken a PSP and a couple other systems trying to fix them) just started opening it up (and therefore voiding the warranty) and now there is a box of parts that used to be an XBOX 360. According to that manager, he read stuff saying that sound with no picture is an early indicator of the 3 light RROD, so he thinks the washer fix will fix it. Since the warranty is already voided and from what I hear Microsoft charges $140 to fix it, I'm going to see what I can find/do to fix it and hope for the best.

Cliffs: if anyone knows what can cause an XBOX 360 to play audio but have no picture without any red rings, let me know and tell me or direct me where to go to read how to fix it. The warranty is voided so its basically this or nothing, I'm pretty much the last hope before $140 for Microsoft repairs.

P.S. on a more positive note, I fixed my first console for Play N Trade today: a fat PS2 with a dirty lens. Yay me! I'm a 1337 HaXOr now!

edit: I've looked into it more and come to find out there's a composite/HD switch on the video cable. I asked the owner if he'd heard of it and he said no (doh!). So, tomorrow I'm going to reassemble the XBOX enough to try that and see what happens, if that doesn't work, I'll call Microsoft and try to convince them we just took it apart to make sure it hadn't been tampered with by the customer, and if that doesn't work, I'll try the screw/washer x-clamp replacement method. Has anyone personally done an x-clamp replacement or know someone in real life that has definitely performed it (not just say they did)? If so, which video/guide did they use? people suggest different thermal compounds to put on the GPU and CPU and also some recommend all nylon washers while others suggest 1 metal 1 nylon. I'm just really nervous about hacking at a $300 video game console without really verifying the validity of the procedure I'm attempting.

WompaStompa11 · Post by **WompaStompa11** » Thu Aug 21, 2008 2:13 pm

"According to that manager, he read stuff saying that sound with no picture is an early indicator of the 3 light RROD, so he thinks the washer fix will fix it."

-this is true

Microsoft charges $140

-I think it's $100

so its basically this or nothing

-you can also send it to someone who has the right equipment, such as:
http://cgi.ebay.com/XBOX-360-reflow-rep ... s=72%3A552
http://cgi.ebay.com/BROKEN-XBOX-360-REP ... s=72%3A552

there's a composite/HD switch on the video cable

-this shouldn't be the problem

I'll call Microsoft and try to convince them

-rofl

Has anyone personally done an x-clamp replacement

-yes, I have done it several times. the best guide that I've come across is here:
http://www.llamma.com/xbox360/repair/ri ... mp_fix.htm

people suggest different thermal compounds

-it doesn't matter too much, most people recommend arctic silver 5

some recommend all nylon washers while others suggest 1 metal 1 nylon

-again, that doesn't really matter

vskid · Post by **vskid** » Thu Aug 21, 2008 2:28 pm

If its an early sign of RROD, then why not just accelerate it until it does RROD so you can send it back (too late now, though)?

weaponepsilon · Post by **weaponepsilon** » Thu Sep 04, 2008 12:07 am

17daysolderthannes wrote:

Cliffs: if anyone knows what can cause an XBOX 360 to play audio but have no picture without any red rings, let me know and tell me or direct me where to go to read how to fix it. The warranty is voided so its basically this or nothing, I'm pretty much the last hope before $140 for Microsoft repairs.

I've heard of this happening. Two different people I know had this problem and I repaired it. Do this:

Start the system while holding Y and the right trigger on the joypad.

It's some kind of hardware reset. I've told a bunch of people about this, but in every forum I've visited, no one seems to have heard of it. Trust me, I've had it work before. If it doesnt work, maybe its the video card. The giveaway on this is that two different cables had the same problem.

17daysolderthannes · Post by **17daysolderthannes** » Thu Sep 04, 2008 8:59 pm

OK, so, I've done the red ring of death fix twice now, but I have a question. See, the first time, I used the exact lowe's/home depot part numbers in the play n trade "how to", but there were only enough to do MAYBE 2 and it would cost $6-$9 per console in parts alone. So, I went on Amazon and bought *what I thought* was the exact same stuff, only it turns out the screws have a much taller head and the nylon washers are twice as thick as they should be. So, after screwing around with that crap for far too long, I realized I could only do it if I used just the screw on the bottom and 2 metal washers between the PCB and the heat sink. After completing it (with a working result) I noticed that the washers weren't even making contact with anything, they were just kind of loose between the heat sink and the PCB. So, in other words, its basically as if I just did the fix with screws alone. Now, can anyone think of any reason not to just use the screws to do the "washer fix"? Other than to prevent rhino people from cracking the PCB, I see no real added benefit to the washers, except to maybe prevent PCB flexing, but that's prevented by the additional screws when you reassemble the system. To be honest, the washers seem kind of unnecessary and add a lot of complexity and cost to the procedure for seemingly no reason.

cliffs: is there any reason you can think of to not just use screws instead of screws and washers in the "washer fix." btw, the screws don't touch any of the traces or anything to short circuit anything.