Say Goodbye to Those Flashing Red Lights of Death Forever!

[Shiftfallout]

The Xbox 360 was released almost two years ago to much hype and anticipation. Microsoft's sequel to their first foray into the console wars managed to impress even the most jaded Internet asshole and made waves with a better than average launch lineup.

Who would have thought, a system worth playing right out of the box? Excellent original titles like Condemned and even a rehashed but well-executed World War II shooter made Xbox 360 owners out of those traditionally weary of buying consoles at launch. Many, including myself, decided to throw caution to the wind take the plunge.

Soon after launch reports began circulating that units were breaking down and presenting a red laser show on the "ring of light" display. Angry nerds rushed to embarrass themselves on Internet forums, caps lock already depressed, and proclaim they would never purchase another "Micro$haft" product ever again while Microsoft sycophants defended the software giant at all costs. Many people attributed these broken consoles to normal failure rates among new hardware.

Now it's a year and a half later and Xbox 360s are still "bricking" at an alarming rate. It seems that every Xbox-related forum you look at, someone is complaining about their broken 360 or the horrible repair process they must now endure.

360 owners with working consoles balk at claims that there is a design flaw and instead blame the user for mistreating their machine. That is, until their unit starts seeing red as well. While nobody knows for sure why Xbox 360s are breaking down, the community is searching for answers.

READ ON: http://www.somethingawful.com/d/news/broken-xbox-360s.php?page=1

 

[Wii_Smurf]

Are you trying to insult the 360?
I take it you are and I don't care. It's a good console

Anyways if you weren't, Sorry

 

[CaseyCor]

Haha, thats funny ****. Just this week, 6 of my friends had to send there 360's in for repair, some for the 2nd and 3rd time.

 

[Shiftfallout]

Are you trying to insult the 360?
I take it you are and I don't care. It's a good console

Anyways if you weren't, Sorry

apology accepted. Its a somethingawful.com article, did you read it?

 

[RDBRaptor]

I wish more instruction manuals were written like that. The best part was when he baked the 360, lmao.

 

[Kumoriken]

...Okay, I gots a few questions....

One: ...Does that whole baking your 360 actually work? ;; I can't tell if it's a joke or not. >.<

Two: Is this whole flashing red light thing common? >.<

Three: He... IS just using the PSX as an example for the 360, right? >_<

 

[lackluster dj]

anyone know if disc read errors are as bad as everything i've read indicates.

its that, "this disc is unreadable...it may be dirty...try cleaning it and..."

ive read it mainly happens with gears of war, but it happened with dead rising yesterday too...

is it the beginning of the end? i've only had my 360 a week. (did pick it up used though, but still)

 

[Shiftfallout]

anyone know if disc read errors are as bad as everything i've read indicates.

its that, "this disc is unreadable...it may be dirty...try cleaning it and..."

ive read it mainly happens with gears of war, but it happened with dead rising yesterday too...

is it the beginning of the end? i've only had my 360 a week. (did pick it up used though, but still)

ouch, not a good sign. With used 360's You dont know how many times they baked their 360. Actually, you gotta be careful because once the problems start, its usually a downhill slide. Make sure it is in a cool location, put a fan on it if you have to, and if you are gettind dvd reading errors, lets hope that your dvd rom isnt dying.

 

[jledesma]

I wonder if my 360 will turn too into a ps1 by baking it for 6 hours!

 

[Sovieto]

...Okay, I gots a few questions....

One: ...Does that whole baking your 360 actually work? ;; I can't tell if it's a joke or not. >.<

Two: Is this whole flashing red light thing common? >.<

Three: He... IS just using the PSX as an example for the 360, right? >_<

1: yes, it fixes the solder or whatever which was the reason many 360s broke down
2: not anymore, they fixed the soldering problem which was the main reason, and they fixed most other reasons
3: idk

 

[Kumoriken]

1: yes, it fixes the solder or whatever which was the reason many 360s broke down
2: not anymore, they fixed the soldering problem which was the main reason, and they fixed most other reasons
3: idk

Ah, thanks again, Sov. ^_^

 

[lackluster dj]

ouch, not a good sign. With used 360's You dont know how many times they baked their 360. Actually, you gotta be careful because once the problems start, its usually a downhill slide. Make sure it is in a cool location, put a fan on it if you have to, and if you are gettind dvd reading errors, lets hope that your dvd rom isnt dying.

yeah, it's in a good cool location.

went to the gamestop where i bought it yesterday, and the guy behind the counter was like, "4 disc read errors in 8 days?! That's it?! Oh yeah man, that's normal. You should be fine."

He did recommend spraying the disc tray, and some of the inside of the xbox with canned air. So i'm gonna give that a try.

On a positive note though, he said on used game consoles, you can take it back to them and swap it out for another one within 30 days. so i'm gonna run this one for another few weeks and if it doesn't perform better, i'll just trade it in, and if that one doesn't work, reckon i can trade that one in too after a 30 day trial period.

not too bad of a situation really as long as i can work out the kinks.

 

[FR3344LL]

actually, the "towell" method has been around for a while now with very limited success.

if your 360 dies out of warranty, head over to:-
http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php

read up on the "x-clamp" replacement fix....much better than "cooking" your console.

 

[the_flood502]

READ ON: http://www.somethingawful.com/d/news/broken-xbox-360s.php?page=1

=| this 3 red lights only happens with the 2005 models - and very rarely with the later versions

Problem was caused by incorrect soldering along the GPU (graphical processing unit or graphics card ... which is second to none, except ATI 1800GT/XT *AHHH*).

My advice if you want to avoid this problem:

Keep all 360s (2005 models or not) well ventilated and store upright (trust me... upright will keep the heat absorption from the surface underneath to a minimal! - reducing the heat of the console) - this goes with any electronical equipment! so why not the 360?

only buy new Xbox consoles (as this, 3 red light, problem can be temp. fixed and may work for a while but will not work when your warranty runs out - lol)

If your 360 sounds more like a rocket taking off, than usual i suggest taking a 30 min break this should cool down the circuits and stop the soldering from breaking/melting.


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And CD read errors can sometimes be fixed using a special CD with bushes on. this will remove dirt from the lense.

avoid this problem by: NOT SMOKING IN THE SAME ROOM AS YOUR 360! or other dust/smoke causing activities e.g. spraying aerosol canisters.


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if it is totally broken take it back to the shop/store you got it from if it's within 28days - 1 month or warranty it! - lol

 

[paintba||er]

Haha that gave me a good laugh.

Keep all 360s (2005 models or not) well ventilated and store upright (trust me... upright will keep the heat absorption from the surface underneath to a minimal! - reducing the heat of the console) - this goes with any electronical equipment! so why not the 360?

I wouldn't recommend placing it vertical. It my reduce the heat absorbed, but it cuts off one of the vents. :yikes: When it is horizontal, none of the vents are blocked.