Xbox 360 - Red Ring of Death

free2beme

Okay, I have to share this as I am in shock.

I got an Xbox 360 about nine months ago and play all the time ...

GEARS of WAR

CALL of DUTY 4

... well last night I was playing and the Xbox goes ping and starts blinking three red lights. I nearly cried, as I knew this was the red ring of death. Which is an overheat error that had plagued XBOX and forced them to extend their warranty three years, away from the 90 days it used to have. As 30% of their systems do this and you will be without the system for 4-6 weeks as they send you a box and then you wait for a repair (They just send you a new one. Anyway, it sucks.

So I go online and type this in and find this video on Youtube, about how to fix. It did not involve opening up the Xbox, just something so lame and stupid you would never think it would work. The thing is, it did. I am back online, so I am sharing this on this board in case anyone else had or has this problem.

1. Turn on your Xbox 360 with power and video cord plugged in

2. Remove hard drive.

3. Set on it's side

4. Wrap in thick towel thoroughly covering it.

5. Leave it like this, for 15 minutes.

6. After 15 minutes unwrap and turn off.

7. Unplug power and video and let cool for 15 minutes

8. Put hard drive back on, plug power and video back in

9. Turn on

Your fixed. Don't ask me why it worked, I thought it sounded lame and yet ... IT WORKED.

5go

You just explained to me why I am overlooking the Xbox360 despite having a Ace Combat game in it's library.

Crumpet

Yep that happened with mine. It was a fraught day spent searching for the receipt as the shop refused to exchange it without proof. Mine died 3 months in, luckily all my game saves on Oblivion were copied over for me too otherwise after about 300 hours game play and building up my character I would have been furious. Been cool to have known about your fix then!

You should get a Wii - now that is addictive!

TD

You just explained to me why I am overlooking the Xbox360 despite having a Ace Combat game in it's library.

The original problem was primarily due to lack of an adequete heat sink on the GPU. The Falcon does not have this problem

5go

The original problem was primarily due to lack of an adequate heat sink on the GPU. The Falcon does not have this problem

The falcon's aren't proven yet from what I can find and also this isn't the only fault of the 360. There hasn't been this many problems with a manufacture in the gaming community since the original Nintendo. From what I have been reading 30% of 360s were affected by this alone forcing Microsoft to extend the warranty on the system. This is why Wii is kicking butt few problems, it's a new concept, and it's cheep to boot.

zeroday

This is why Wii is kicking butt few problems, it's a new concept, and it's cheep to boot.

You really can't compare the Wii with the 360 apples to oranges...I have had my 360 for almost 2 years with no problems not saying it can't happen but so far so good. Make sure it is well ventilated I would not waste my money on those after market cooling fans either they just tax the power supply of your 360...I play COD4 alot drop me a friends invite my gamer tag zeroday131

TD

The falcon's aren't proven yet from what I can find and also this isn't the only fault of the 360. There hasn't been this many problems with a manufacture in the gaming community since the original Nintendo. From what I have been reading 30% of 360s were affected by this alone forcing Microsoft to extend the warranty on the system. This is why Wii is kicking butt few problems, it's a new concept, and it's cheep to boot.

I'm a cynic too and I enjoy bashing ignorant execs who have created a mess by elevating marketing over technical considerations as much as the next person. Microsoft screwed up in a big way by rushing the 360 to market. Having said that though, I think Microsoft has been unusually diligent in attending to this problem.

It would have been easy to try to blame the consumer. The 360 is a high performance computing device and to avoid recirculation of hot air, should not have a horizontal surface of any kind within 18" above it. It can't be placed inside an entertainment center, or crammed inside a cabinet, or have other electronics placed on top of it like many people have done. Microsoft has fixed the problem, extended the warranty and set aside a boatload of money to repair existing units without asking a lot of questions, which is about all you can ask for.

We have a Wii and it's a lot of fun. Even my wife loves it. The built-in wireless and web browser are nice. I'm tickled to death that Nintendo is doing so well. We've also got a 360 elite and it is far more sophisticated a machine than the Wii in a lot of ways.

5go

We've also got a 360 elite and it is far more sophisticated a machine than the Wii in a lot of ways.

Not going to argue that one Wii really is just a game cube with a new controller. Which makes it's success and innovating ideas all the better.

Forscher

My sin plays a lot on call of duty 4.

He's had the red ring of death occur about three times now. Since Microsoft has honored the warranty each time he hasn't worried overmuch about it. Though he gets kind of teed-off having to wait for the new unit.

Forscher

4mylove

Thanks, I'll keep this in mind for my hubby!

He plays Halo 3

Assasin's creed

gears of war

Xbox 360 - Red Ring of Death

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