X-Box Issue

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wolftat

wolftat

Product Reviews Manager
Joined
Aug 19, 2007
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Location
Fairfield, CT, USA.
I figured I could get a day in at the shop, but that can't happen. The kids keep telling me that their Xbox has the red ring of death. I told them that was nice and go play it then. After a while the one that understands the shorties came in and started telling me that the red ring of death was a real problem. I told her to take the game away and I would deal with it later. That just turned into a problem because now I have three of them standing there telling me that this red ring of death was a problem and I needed to fix it(how did this become my problem?). So I went into the house and it turns out the this wasn't a game, it was actually a broken machine. I called the repair shop nand they said it would take 3-4 weeks and would run $150-$200 for the repair(not happening). I looked it up online and found a place that looked good and followed their instructions. 2 hours later, the machine has a better heat sink and is working great again. I don't understand why this was going to take 3-4 weeks when a hack like me could do it for $10 in parts and 2 hours of fooling around. For that, I may not have to hear my kids for a couple of days, well worth the tiime.
 
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Hey Wolftat

The problem with some of the hacks and McGuyver fixes for the RRoD is that they do not last very long.

Did you just replace the heat sink? Is there any other issues with it? (Video output becomes pixelated, you can hear the cd's spinning, games crash often, etc) While the heatsink issue is pretty common it is usually a symptom of something else.

The one bad thing about opening the box and fixing it yourself is if another issue crops up the manufacturers warranty is now null and void. They will tell you that you need to purchase a new system.
 
Josh Gertz said:
Hey Wolftat

The problem with some of the hacks and McGuyver fixes for the RRoD is that they do not last very long.

Did you just replace the heat sink? Is there any other issues with it? (Video output becomes pixelated, you can hear the cd's spinning, games crash often, etc) While the heatsink issue is pretty common it is usually a symptom of something else.

The one bad thing about opening the box and fixing it yourself is if another issue crops up the manufacturers warranty is now null and void. They will tell you that you need to purchase a new system.
Click to expand...
Machine has been quiet and working well until this I guess. The heat sink was a bit loose and everything that I was told to do made sense(rare). The guy I dealt with is supposed to be a microsoft expert (okay?) but if it doesn't work, it doesn't work, no big deal. The warranty was out a while ago so that wasn't a concern for me. I was actually considering throwing it at the wall, if that didn't fix it I would buy another one. I guess time will tell.
 
wolftat said:
Machine has been quiet and working well until this I guess. The heat sink was a bit loose and everything that I was told to do made sense(rare). The guy I dealt with is supposed to be a microsoft expert (okay?) but if it doesn't work, it doesn't work, no big deal. The warranty was out a while ago so that wasn't a concern for me. I was actually considering throwing it at the wall, if that didn't fix it I would buy another one. I guess time will tell.
Click to expand...

Sounds like your good for now.

I am on my 5th X360 now, all of them RRoD's on me.

It could be worse though, my office goes through about 2 a week. (I work in the game industry)
 
Neil,
could you send along the website you got your info on. My nephew just ran into the same situation and asked me if I could look into it for him.
Thanks,
 
Just go to xbox.com and register and they will fix it for free. Takes two weeks. I have had mine since the day it came out, had RRoD once, sent it in and was all good. My son had his for two years and it got it last week, just sent his in. You dont have to pay for shipping or anything. As long as your xbox is less than three years old it is covered.
 
I read your post so since you opened it, the warranty is void. But the RRoD warranty is 3 years, any other problems is 1 year I believe.

There are a bunch of fixed on youtube, but they are only temp fixes, and some make it ever worse.
 
John M said:
I read your post so since you opened it, the warranty is void. But the RRoD warranty is 3 years, any other problems is 1 year I believe.

There are a bunch of fixed on youtube, but they are only temp fixes, and some make it ever worse.
Click to expand...
I watched some of the ones on utube and had a good laugh. Wrapping a towel around the box is a quick way to have a little fire.
I didn't know that RRoD was a 3yr issue, all I know is that I am covered since I ask my wife if it was under warranty. It's on her now...LOL
 
LEAP said:
Neil,
could you send along the website you got your info on. My nephew just ran into the same situation and asked me if I could look into it for him.
Thanks,
Click to expand...
Phil, send me your email address and I can forward the files to you. I downloaded the instructions.
 
Josh Gertz said:
Sounds like your good for now.

I am on my 5th X360 now, all of them RRoD's on me.

It could be worse though, my office goes through about 2 a week. (I work in the game industry)
Click to expand...
I guess I just don't get it. You wouldn't catch me buying 5 of these things. Once the first 2 are shot, I figure they are all junk. Just my opinion. I have a Playstation 2 sitting here that I used maybe 3 times, I bought everything for it including the wireless controls, I have used it a couple of times but I don't even remember how it works. The kids had one and upgraded to this thing, but I don't see it being that great. Then again, if I want to shoot something, I want a real gun in my hand.
 
They extended the warranty on the RRoD to 3 when they started having problems. Which bugged me because I had paid for the exteded warranty. I had to take out my dvd drive a coupld of weeks ago and clean the motor, it had got gummed up, i did not want to pay for that to get done. My sons has crazy hours on it so I got my use out of it.

I would by a ps3 but it would just sit since there are no games, and xbox have a better online. Now if my wife could just get me to grow up she would be happy.
 
m'soft will fix the RROD for free.... shipping and all. Just call em up and tell them you were thinking about jumping on the RROD class action lawsuit bandwagon. DAMHIKT...


Between the pure lack of titles for PS3, and the crappy all kid titles for the Wii, and the problems of the 360 and the insanely long load times, there aren't any good choices for gamers... except maybe P.C.
 
wolftat said:
I guess I just don't get it. You wouldn't catch me buying 5 of these things. Once the first 2 are shot, I figure they are all junk. Just my opinion. I have a Playstation 2 sitting here that I used maybe 3 times, I bought everything for it including the wireless controls, I have used it a couple of times but I don't even remember how it works. The kids had one and upgraded to this thing, but I don't see it being that great. Then again, if I want to shoot something, I want a real gun in my hand.
Click to expand...

They were all replaced from the warranty, its just a pain in the arse.
 
I'm on my second, gamestop replaced the first one free because I bought their warranty.

I'd call microsoft and tell them the problem. They have changed the warranty for 3 years for problems like this. If you send it in, makes sure to take off your hard drive.

If you've tried to make adjustments yourself I'd recommend putting in the original parts and not mentioning that to microsoft, they won't fix it if its been modded.

Also, if you guys run an intercooler on your system and it did not cause the problem do not tell microsoft you have it. They might ask and it will void your warranty even if it has nothing to do with the ring of death.

Keep us updated and good luck.
 
Basically, the kids have been using it every day, all day and it is working fine now. I'm not going to send it to Microsoft and I'm not going to fix it again if it dies. I will be more than happy to take it out in the back yard and use it for target practice though, my kids keep telling me how much fun it is to shoot things on it, I may have to find out for myself....LOL
 
wolftat said:
Basically, the kids have been using it every day, all day and it is working fine now. I'm not going to send it to Microsoft and I'm not going to fix it again if it dies. I will be more than happy to take it out in the back yard and use it for target practice though, my kids keep telling me how much fun it is to shoot things on it, I may have to find out for myself....LOL
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reminder Neil ! I haven't been to the range in months . :redface:
 
wolftat said:
I figured I could get a day in at the shop, but that can't happen. The kids keep telling me that their Xbox has the red ring of death. I told them that was nice and go play it then. After a while the one that understands the shorties came in and started telling me that the red ring of death was a real problem. I told her to take the game away and I would deal with it later. That just turned into a problem because now I have three of them standing there telling me that this red ring of death was a problem and I needed to fix it(how did this become my problem?). So I went into the house and it turns out the this wasn't a game, it was actually a broken machine. I called the repair shop nand they said it would take 3-4 weeks and would run $150-$200 for the repair(not happening). I looked it up online and found a place that looked good and followed their instructions. 2 hours later, the machine has a better heat sink and is working great again. I don't understand why this was going to take 3-4 weeks when a hack like me could do it for $10 in parts and 2 hours of fooling around. For that, I may not have to hear my kids for a couple of days, well worth the tiime.
Click to expand...

Hey Wolftat,
I read through your post and makes me glad my kid was smarter in electronics than me... when he was about 12 I came home from work to find cables running the length of the hallway into his bedroom... he had hooked into the cable TV, ran a cable to his room, modified his computer monitor, added a switch box and could sit at his desk and work on his computer - at that time a commodore 64 - or flick the switch and watch TV. Even though I have worked on computers since '74 when TWA went online, most of what I know (which ain't much) about computers I learned from him as he was growing up and working on the net.
 
Neil, if you do make it a target for practice you should video it and put it on youtube call it "Death of Red Ring of Death". Everytime I think I want to get one of the new Xbox systems I read about the problems, realize my wife and I have a ton of fun playing the Wii and playing one of the online games together with her dad.

On a side note, one of the fixes I have read was to remove the heatsink and motherboard and put them in the oven at 500 some degrees for a while because the soldering is shoddy on them. Seems kind of stupid to have to fix it yourself.

Good job on the upgrade though.
 
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