Whats the fastest way to make the 360 get the red ring?

[Xian Xi]

From what I got out of the reps, "graphic intensive games played for extended periods of time can destroy the graphics card". Take that however you want....

It sounds like he said "The 360 is NOT ahead of it's time but in fact behind, hardware wise."

That's pretty jacked up to hear.

 

[68k]

Not that any of you guys are going to give a shit, and I don't know why I am even bothering to mention this in the first place, but:

In layman's terms: The 360 overheats and it dies.

In technical (geek) terms, the GPU overheats due to an inadequate cooling system that causes the GPU to warp. Since the board uses 100% lead-free solder, it doesn't take much to get the chip to warp away from the board causing a few BGA solder joint cracks to form. Once this happens, it fails the hardware check, and delivers the red ring. There are some simple mods you can perform to prevent this from happening in the first place.

 

[Lagduf]

Not that any of you guys are going to give a shit, and I don't know why I am even bothering to mention this in the first place, but:

In layman's terms: The 360 overheats and it dies.

In technical (geek) terms, the GPU overheats due to an inadequate cooling system that causes the GPU to warp. Since the board uses 100% lead-free solder, it doesn't take much to get the chip to warp away from the board causing a few BGA solder joint cracks to form. Once this happens, it fails the hardware check, and delivers the red ring. There are some simple mods you can perform to prevent this from happening in the first place.

What I really would like to know is if Microsoft knew that this problem could occur prior to when they shipped the 360 in the Fall of 2005.

 

[68k]

Unlikely. You have to remember that using lead-free solder is a type of solder that PCB manufactures must use if they are selling mass-produced electronics in the US. This is a relatively new law. It is weaker, and also eco-friendly (lol).

Game console manufacturers are always going to use a cooling system that is "good enough", meaning it will be the most cost effective, but will get the job done. Nothing more nothing less. MS didn't factor the weak solder into the equation. If you notice, MS's fix is to strap on a ghetto heatsink extension to the GPU's heatsink. The question is, will they learn with the new 65 nm GPU?

With the new 65nm CPU, MS started installing cheaper heatsinks that are also just "good enough". Sure they could have used the original heatsink for the new CPU, and it would have made the Xbox more thermally efficient, but in the end it's all about the $$$.

 

[Xian Xi]

I always wondered why MS knowing that the GPU was the main heat source for the 360 did not incorporate a push-pull cooling system. The current cooling design is very non-directional, it pulls in air from almost all sides and blows it out the back, instead of a more concentrated airflow.

 

[SpamYouToDeath]

They also completely overlooked the GPU cooking the DVD drive. Nice heatsink placement, morons. Maybe none of them owned a PS1.

Also: http://www.ps3vault.com/how-to-kill-a-ps3-console-1975
Someone learned from their mistakes.

 

[Blaine]

Falcon Punch!...(?)

Seriously, so the extended warranty only covers RROD? It's basically the worst piece of consumer electronics ever produced, it's practically guaranteed to fail, but they're only interested in specific failures?

It's like a restaurant who'll refund your money if you find a cockroach in your salad, because they have a well known insect problem, but will tell you to get fucked if you find a toe nail in your soup.

 

[Xian Xi]

Not really specific since they wont fix a video hardware problem but they will fix the 3 red rings which is actually a "general" hardware failure.

 

[Blaine]

Not really specific since they wont fix a video hardware problem but they will fix the 3 red rings which is actually a "general" hardware failure.

"We will fix these problems but not others." = "specific problems" = "certain problems"

 

[Xian Xi]

"We only listen to the 360, so whatever you tell us is void unless the 360 confirms it"

 

[SpamYouToDeath]

The RRoD means that there's something wrong preventing the system from booting. It's fairly obvious that many people are having problems with the DVD drives, which do not trigger a red ring when they stop working.

 

[One-Up]

Thank god for the two year warranty on electronics in Europe.

 

[HeartlessNinny]

Falcon Punch!...(?)

Seriously, so the extended warranty only covers RROD? It's basically the worst piece of consumer electronics ever produced, it's practically guaranteed to fail, but they're only interested in specific failures?

It's like a restaurant who'll refund your money if you find a cockroach in your salad, because they have a well known insect problem, but will tell you to get fucked if you find a toe nail in your soup.

 

[SpamYouToDeath]

Falcon Punch!...(?)

Seriously, so the extended warranty only covers RROD? It's basically the worst piece of consumer electronics ever produced, it's practically guaranteed to fail, but they're only interested in specific failures?

It's like a restaurant who'll refund your money if you find a cockroach in your salad, because they have a well known insect problem, but will tell you to get fucked if you find a toe nail in your soup.

Don't forget that you need to pay a subscription fee to eat at the restaurant, everyone seated around you is a screaming child, and if you drop your fork you need to go through tech support before you can reclaim the license to your food.

 

[The Drizzle]

Quick question. I got it to red ring. As I posted in the OP my 360 wouldnt play video, now when I call MS and they ask me questions to run through the tech tree, does nothing usually show up with a system red rings? I can't remember from my last systems for some reason.

 

[Xian Xi]

Quick question. I got it to red ring. As I posted in the OP my 360 wouldnt play video, now when I call MS and they ask me questions to run through the tech tree, does nothing usually show up with a system red rings? I can't remember from my last systems for some reason.

They usually don't ask you that stuff. You just tell them you have 3 red lights, at least thats what I did when I called my brother's 360 in.

 

[Saturn2dfreak]

my 360 stopped working today but i had the RROD prior to that. it takes me to the dashboard like it usually does and it will say UNplayable Disc on the bottom. I called xbox to confirmed that it did had the RROD.But the system still lights up green whenever i turn it on. will the blanket trip void warranty of the 360 rrod?

 

[Xian Xi]

my 360 stopped working today but i had the RROD prior to that. it takes me to the dashboard like it usually does and it will say UNplayable Disc on the bottom. I called xbox to confirmed that it did had the RROD.But the system still lights up green whenever i turn it on. will the blanket trip void warranty of the 360 rrod?

The blanket thing wont do you any good. Just do what I did and get a replacement.

 

[Saturn2dfreak]

any recommendations on what i should do?

 

[Lovergoat]

any recommendations on what i should do?

You have two options. Either do what Xian says and bring on the RROD or do what I did and complain that whatever amount of time your disc drive worked is unreasonable and you expected it to work for 3 years or so.

 

[Electroman]

The other day while playing condemned my 360 shit itself ...There's no way I'm paying $150+ to fix this (this is my 5th 360).

I know this won't help, and is a non-constructive comment, but depending on what kind of sacrifices you'd like to make in the spirit of your convictions. Once you get your XB360 fixed (hopefully free), sell it all off, stick a big fat middle finger to M$ and let'em eat the shit they produce.

From 360 to Vista... give Microsoft a hint. Don't buy their stuff. This is why I have almost totally switched to running Linux on my everyday PC. The other fraction of "almost" means that I schmuckly paid for Vista back last May when I build my PC and with a small list of great games that luckily work for it I can't totally divorce myself from Windows just yet... at least until I get Wine mastered.

@ Kernow, I now see the light.

 

[Ghost-Dog]

The RRoD means that there's something wrong preventing the system from booting. It's fairly obvious that many people are having problems with the DVD drives, which do not trigger a red ring when they stop working.

This happened to me, three times. The final time, the replacement they sent me was obviously a 2006 refurb and had a minor, but strange video issue immediately. There was sometimes a small red dot on the screen. At first, I freaked the fuck out cause I thought my TV was going, but I quickly found out it was the 360.

Keep in mind, I've already danced with Xbox customer support three or more times, and had been totally fed up with it.

So I traded it in on an Elite.

I only had the Elite for a month before I decided for the final time that I could not (in good conscience) support them anymore. I sold it here on the boards and I am now 360 free.

There were other issues that also added to me swearing them off for good, but there's no need to go into them in this thread. Between my PC and the PS3/PSP I have more than enough gaming to do. Luckily the PS3 is finally starting to get good in terms of quantity of good releases. Now if companies like Ubisoft would stop doing substandard ports to the triple, I would be happy.

As for Microsoft Operating Systems, my hands are pretty much tied there. Being an IT Specialist, and working for the company I work for means I have to use Microsoft OS'es daily.

EDIT: I also forgot to mention, the last time my DVD drive died, Microsoft refused to fix it under warranty. I had to red ring the motherfucker myself..

 

[not sonic]

every time the drizzle's 360 breaks (i think this is the 5th,) he borrows mine. im still on the same one.

 

[SSS]

after 2 1/2 years my 360 is starting to throw DRE's during vegas 2. might be getting close to sending it in if this continues with other titles

 

[Ghost-Dog]

after 2 1/2 years my 360 is starting to throw DRE's during vegas 2. might be getting close to sending it in if this continues with other titles

Don't expect Microsoft to cover that under warranty. $100 to replace a DVD drive if you send it to them.