The Three Red Rings of Death... well sort of...

[Vehemont]

Well, for the past three days when I first power up my Xbox 360 I am greeted with the omen that no Xbox 360 owner never wants to witness....the three red rings of death. Anyway the three red rings only show up once a day, and when it happens I just take a deep breath, (and hope for the best) turn off they system, then turn it back on and everything is fine. Now this is not my first Xbox 360, my first one succumbed to the vile three rings. Now my question is, do you think I should contact Microsoft about this problem or not?

[Genesis Knight]

I would say YES. Just keep shuffling them out until you get a good one.

Or you could try the wet towel trick. (j/k) Or you could be like that one kid and throw the power supply in the tub and electrocute yourself.

[Vehemont]

Are you saying I should kill myself?

[Genesis Knight]

Uh...no. Of course not. Nope.

He didn't actually die, hehe. :D

[evildragon]

the RROD problem is because of the lead-free solder used on the GPU/CPU in the 360, they crack under heat.. thank that to the japanese law that doesn't allow solder containing lead anymore..

[Vehemont]

Well, I have an update on the situation. I don't know if this ever happend to you Genesis Knight, (I know you have had the three red rings also) but I just fired up my Xbox 360 once again and the three red rings showed up again, but it took my to the dashboard, so I put in Oblivion, and I was actually able to play it while the red lights were flashing, it seemed to be working normally! Talk about wierd. Anyway I just turned it on again to see what would happen and the system is working normally, no red lights this time. I don't know what is going on. I will post here if the situation changes.

[Zebbe]

Maybe they should just ignore the Japanese market, they don't sell anything there to cover up for the losses all broken consoles make in other markets.

[evildragon]

Maybe they should just ignore the Japanese market, they don't sell anything there to cover up for the losses all broken consoles make in other markets.
They manufacture them in the Japan though, and they have to follow the low, there's literally a ban for lead-solder.

[Zebbe]

Weird. Why aren't other consoles suffering from this?

[Genesis Knight]

AFAIK the lead-free ban is in the US as well, Evildragon. That's what it was supposed to be, at least.

@ Zebbe - the problem is that the 360 has a sucky motherboard mounting that allows the circuitry to bend as you see here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQgLBD3F6Bg).

[evildragon]

They either have better cooling, better brand of solder(?) or don't run as hot.

(The PS3 im surprised doesn't get this problem cause I'd imagine that one being hotter)..

[evildragon]

AFAIK the lead-free ban is in the US as well, Evildragon. That's what it was supposed to be, at least.
Don't think so, I recently purchased lead solder here at a local store..

[Genesis Knight]

Hmm... I could swear a read an article to that effect about a year ago.

[Zebbe]

Why banning lead solder?

[Genesis Knight]

Environmentalists say it kills the wallabies, or something.

[Zebbe]

I've made my choice...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e3/Red-necked-Wallaby.jpg/200px-Red-necked-Wallaby.jpg>http://wiki.fz.se/images/thumb/d/dc/300px-Xbox_360.JPG

[AD2101]

Thats good to know about the soldering joints. My friends 360 did that but he can't send it in to M$ because its not "legit." So I think next time I see him Ill look at the soldering points and see if there is anything I can do. Im not very good with soldering but its busted anyways so its all good.

[evildragon]

these joints are ball grid array, good luck..

[Phantar]

Microsoft... building a console that needs patching and has regular hardware failures... just to make the PC user feel at home, no?

I wonder if the 360 can contract viruses and trojans as well...

[evildragon]

Not really, hardly anyone codes a virus for PowerPC, let alone an NT/PPC build.

[Joe Redifer]

The Xbox360 is made in China like everything else on the planet, not Japan. And it is a well-known fact that China LOVES to put lead in everything.

There are two easy ways to fix the Xbox360 problem. #1 is to put an eraser cube beneath the board so it doesn't sag under heat and disconnect the solder. #2 is to realize that each fan in the Xbox360 is a 15volt fan but are only running at 5 volts each. Make them run at 10 or 15 volts each and the system will be much cooler. #3 do both tricks.

[Genesis Knight]

Wow. That's pretty neat, Joe. Those two tricks actually work? Awesome.

[Joe Redifer]

Yeah. A friend of mine fixed his son's 360 that way. He has two sons, actually, and they have their own 360, one of them has the eraser and the other has the fan trick.

[Vehemont]

You do know doing that causes your warranty to end, right? Anyway, I powered up my system just now and everything was working normally.

[AD2101]

Damn I dont have a T8 torx driver so Im at a dead end.

I know its a bad idea but has anyone done the towel trick? Its more than likely a very short term fix but if it'll work I think its worth it.

[Joe Redifer]

You don't need the warranty if the system isn't breaking.

[XMARLTONX]

The Xbox360 is made in China like everything else on the planet, not Japan. And it is a well-known fact that China LOVES to put lead in everything.




True story, I had an egg roll today and chipped a tooth.

[XMARLTONX]

On a more serious note:

Towel trick (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppKb9Gfbea4&mode=related&search=)

[David J.]

I chipped a wisdom tooth on a McDonalds french fry.

[Joe Redifer]

On a more serious note:

Towel trick (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppKb9Gfbea4&mode=related&search=)
Yeah, I think I'd prefer eraser cube and the higher speed fans. If you don't like opening the 360, just send it back to MS.

One thing to note is that I do not have a receipt with my system since it was purchased as a gift online and sent directly to me. No invoice or anything. I don't think I can prove when my 360 was purchased, so it's almost safer for me to mess with it than worry about dealing with MS when the time comes (and it probably will).

[Vehemont]

Well, when I was going to send in my first one (I never did because I forgot that I bought the $40 warranty at Best Buy, so I just went in there and they gave me a new system) they did not tell me to have the receipt, they just wanted the pin #. Anyway Xbox 360 hasn't even been out for three years yet so I do not think you will have any problems sending it in. On another note I haven't had any red lights come up for two days, so that is a good sign!

[Joe Redifer]

Mine will break on the day after the 3 year anniversary of the Xbox 360 launch.

[Vehemont]

Well I hope not, that would be terrible.

[Vehemont]

Well there still has been no three red rings. I don't know what happened. Maybe it was just a glitch or something.