Another Dead X360

Nozzleman_216 · Post by **Nozzleman_216** » Wed May 02, 2007 9:43 am

It really is sad, especially when you figure in how small our community here is. I mean there are a lot of problems amongst us and thats scary. I too wish this wasn't the case, I love my 360, I love the games, I love live and the friends I have made but I just do not see myself enjoying a PS3. It looks nice, plays blu-ray ( I am loving my hd-dvd add on) and thats about it. I don't know anyone that has one and the few I know from the net don't play it online. So I am stuck hoping that MS will get this all worked out. I will admit, they are running out of time. Hopefully the new 65nm chip coming this fall will be a fix all

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Wed May 02, 2007 12:08 pm

Dave wrote:My 360 is showing some symptoms every once in a while, but hopefully it remains minor or it completely goes out since I still have time left on a warranty.

What kind of warranty do you have? If the exchange policy is pretty liberal I would be cautious. Looking back, I had plenty of warning signs. I had a few freezes that I blamed on the software (hell, I was just happy that the POS didn't freeze all the time like my first one) and some "dirty disk" and "please insert an Xbox game" messages that I blamed on possible poor handling of the disks.

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Wed May 02, 2007 9:06 pm

Leebo33 wrote:What kind of warranty do you have? If the exchange policy is pretty liberal I would be cautious. Looking back, I had plenty of warning signs. I had a few freezes that I blamed on the software (hell, I was just happy that the POS didn't freeze all the time like my first one) and some "dirty disk" and "please insert an Xbox game" messages that I blamed on possible poor handling of the disks.

Good question...I bought the cheap Target warranty mentioned earlier in the thread and I'm really not sure how liberal their policy is. But before the last couple months, I hadn't received any disc-related errors outside of the College Hoops 2k6 disc my 360 took a bite out of in January, which also could be a warning sign I guess.

Blublub · Post by **Blublub** » Wed May 02, 2007 9:59 pm

FatPitcher wrote:I don't know why this issue hasn't turned into a huge scandal yet. I think if the entire truth about the defect rate, etc. were known, the 360 would be sunk. Not that I want that to happen, as I prefer it over the other 2 players in the market as a development platform.

Right on. Although the Thompson drive debacle on the original Xbox was nearly as scandalous. How they managed to avoid a recall and mandatory replacement is really just mystifying.

The only way this is ever going to get better is if everyone with a failed 360 (which is nearly everyone) starts being more vocal and creative in rasining awareness of the problem, outside of the choir that is game message boards.

LAking · Post by **LAking** » Wed May 09, 2007 11:53 pm

Just came across this interesting information at llama.com

Apparently some uber nerds have figured out a way to fix a rrod 360. They claim it has something to do with the heat sink and how it's attached to the mother board. You basically have to replace the x clamp for the heat sink. There are two methods. One involved drilling the metal case and looks WAY too hard. The other is much easier. Here is a link to a thread about it.

http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=595746

The easier fix is the second link listed. So if any of you have a dead 360, are out of warranty, and have the balls to mess with your 360's mobo, cpu, gpu, and heat sink then try this out.

vader29 · Post by **vader29** » Thu May 10, 2007 12:08 am

LAking wrote:Just came across this interesting information at llama.com

Apparently some uber nerds have figured out a way to fix a rrod 360. They claim it has something to do with the heat sink and how it's attached to the mother board. You basically have to replace the x clamp for the heat sink. There are two methods. One involved drilling the metal case and looks WAY too hard. The other is much easier. Here is a link to a thread about it.

http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=595746

The easier fix is the second link listed. So if any of you have a dead 360, are out of warranty, and have the balls to mess with your 360's mobo, cpu, gpu, and heat sink then try this out.

I read about that the other day, someone posted on the IGN boards that they would only buy dead 360's with the three red lights from ebay because they were an easy fix with that do it yourself method.

Spooky · Post by **Spooky** » Fri May 11, 2007 11:27 am

My 2nd 360 just died last night.

Got the dreaded red ring of death. While I am really not that upset becasue I am able to do an exchange at the store I work at, it certainly makes me feel even more for those that go through this without the option I have. How frustrating!

Danimal · Post by **Danimal** » Fri May 11, 2007 12:08 pm

I'm amazed their hasn't been a class action suit on this yet. Whats ever more alarming to me is that were past the 1 year mark, shouldn't MS of solved all the engineering issues by now? The fact that these things continue to fail at such a high rate means one of two things:

1. MS won't spend the money on solving the issues

2. It was engineered so badly it is not fixable.

I'm on my 3rd and I am covered until Dec 03 of 2008, you can bet your ass whether it is really broken or not I am sending it in for repairs Nov 08.

webdanzer · Post by **webdanzer** » Fri May 11, 2007 12:34 pm

It's pathetic. Bill Harris's (dubious quality) died yesterday too, and RobV messaged me that he was getting the red lights yesterday as well.

With Spooky, that means three of my 'internet buddies' had their console die on the SAME DAY.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Fri May 11, 2007 12:48 pm

webdanzer wrote:It's pathetic. Bill Harris's (dubious quality) died yesterday too, and RobV messaged me that he was getting the red lights yesterday as well.

With Spooky, that means three of my 'internet buddies' had their console die on the SAME DAY.

You are aware that deaths always come in threes aren't you? If you were, it wouldn't be so shocking.

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Fri May 11, 2007 1:12 pm

webdanzer wrote:It's pathetic. Bill Harris's (dubious quality) died yesterday too, and RobV messaged me that he was getting the red lights yesterday as well.

With Spooky, that means three of my 'internet buddies' had their console die on the SAME DAY.

Yep. Dead. There's no doubt in my mind that the update f---ed it up. None.

Sudz · Post by **Sudz** » Fri May 11, 2007 1:23 pm

the update? really?

wtf is the deal?

can a software update kill it?

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Fri May 11, 2007 2:02 pm

Sudz wrote:the update? really?

wtf is the deal?

can a software update kill it?

There were stories after the last dashboard update about a rash of dead boxes. It seems tremendously unlikley that we would have so many units go down so close together by pure coincidence.

I was downloading an update to Catan when it locked up. When I re-booted it was 3RLOD.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Fri May 11, 2007 2:03 pm

Sudz wrote:can a software update kill it?

If it can, I'm on my way to a PS3...that is some sh*tty hardware if so.

webdanzer · Post by **webdanzer** » Fri May 11, 2007 2:21 pm

I think the last update ended up mostly bricking modded consoles, right? It had a security patch or something.

I guess Rob's 'First-Strike Caffeinated Chainsaw' Gears mod finally did him in.

Kidding aside, that truly sucks, Rob. I was looking forward to some Catan.

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Fri May 11, 2007 10:09 pm

If I end up just picking up a new Core and putting my HDD on it, what happens? I seem to recall that downloaded games are tied to the console serial number, so will I be able to d/l these again?

btmmayor · Post by **btmmayor** » Fri May 11, 2007 10:35 pm

RobVarak wrote:If I end up just picking up a new Core and putting my HDD on it, what happens? I seem to recall that downloaded games are tied to the console serial number, so will I be able to d/l these again?

You will be able to download them again, but you cannot play them offline. You must be signed on Live to play.

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Fri May 11, 2007 10:39 pm

btmmayor wrote:
RobVarak wrote:If I end up just picking up a new Core and putting my HDD on it, what happens? I seem to recall that downloaded games are tied to the console serial number, so will I be able to d/l these again?
You will be able to download them again, but you cannot play them offline. You must be signed on Live to play.

Ah, that's it. Thanks.

Danimal · Post by **Danimal** » Fri May 11, 2007 11:35 pm

RobVarak wrote:
btmmayor wrote:
RobVarak wrote:If I end up just picking up a new Core and putting my HDD on it, what happens? I seem to recall that downloaded games are tied to the console serial number, so will I be able to d/l these again?
You will be able to download them again, but you cannot play them offline. You must be signed on Live to play.
Ah, that's it. Thanks.

I don't think that is correct. They are tied to both your HD and console. So you will be able to play them only when your signed into live if you just slap the HD on a new system.

What I've heard is you call support and they issue you the points to re-download all the games to eliminate this problem.

Again this is only what I was told, I don't have any first hand knowledge.

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Fri May 11, 2007 11:36 pm

Geez guys, now I am wondering whether I should go ahead with the latest update from MS. Has anyone tried the update without the machine dying on you? Very pathetic what happened to some of you.

Danimal · Post by **Danimal** » Fri May 11, 2007 11:43 pm

I downloaded it to 3 machines with no issues, and with all due respect to Rob I don't think the update hosed his system. The last updated that bricked 360's were because they were modded units and of course rumors spread as they do and people were saying the update broke 360's.

I haven't seen any wide spread reports of systems going bad after this update.

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Sat May 12, 2007 12:10 am

Danimal wrote: What I've heard is you call support and they issue you the points to re-download all the games to eliminate this problem.

Again this is only what I was told, I don't have any first hand knowledge.

Some good news. You don't even have to do that. The marketplace ties your d/l history to your Gamertag. All I had to do was choose the content, and indicate that I wanted to d/l again for free. No fuss.

I downloaded it to 3 machines with no issues, and with all due respect to Rob I don't think the update hosed his system. The last updated that bricked 360's were because they were modded units and of course rumors spread as they do and people were saying the update broke 360's.

That does seem to be the case. It was a hell of a coincidence that so many people I know had their systems go down in a 48-hour period, I guess.

MS should market the fact that so many suckers like many of us keep paying to have the system fixed or buying new systems despite the fact that the damn hardware is flimsier than a PacMan Jones promise.

Nozzleman_216 · Post by **Nozzleman_216** » Sat May 12, 2007 3:32 am

I will keep you guys posted, but tonight, while my 4th 360 is in Texas being "repaired" I had the luck of being given a console with the 3 red lights. This console is out of warranty and the guy said try to fix it for him. So I decided to try the x clamp replacement. So far (its not totally back together and hooked up to a tv) I am not getting 3 red lights and the console appeared to boot OK. I will finish putting it back together in the morning and post an update!

Looks promising so far!

Spooky · Post by **Spooky** » Sat May 12, 2007 9:20 am

Yep. Mine died just after the update. I was playing MiniGolf arcade game and it froze. Turned it off and then back on when I got the red ring! Unplugged everything, let it rest then turned it on again and it booted up. Tried to play MiniGolf again, it froze up in the same spot and then I get the red ring again.

jondiehl · Post by **jondiehl** » Sat May 12, 2007 9:59 am

Mine died last Saturday, add another launch box to the list. First console for me to die like this, and I've had them all. Good thing Sam's has an easy return policy.