Xbox 360 - How To Fix The Red Rings

Microsoft Bans Class Action Lawsuits Against The RROD

2012-05-30T13:25:00.000-07:00

Last year, Microsoft changed their EULA (End User License Agreement). Not a big deal huh? These changes happen every few months or so, don't they? Well, when was the last time you bothered reading it? Or for that matter, any user agreement or Terms and Conditions.

Well, you might want too start researching, because in April 2011, the court ruled that businesses can use contracts to deny class action lawsuits, as long as they agree to the licence. Notice that it was round about this time that Microsoft changed the EULA on the Xbox 360. This ruling has stopped many, many people from claiming against the Red Ring of Death, a software bug that be may considered fraud.

Instead of a proper class action, your court case will now be held in front of an independent arbitrator - This method is called arbitration. There are several downsides to arbitration, such as the fact that you cannot appeal against the decision made by the arbitration, and the public does not get to review the findings of the judge.

Let's hope the high court starts to come to their senses - and stop companies like Microsoft unfairly protecting themselves against their high profile screwups!

How To Fix The Xbox Slim RROD

2011-09-24T07:41:00.000-07:00

Before I get blasted in the comments, I would like to point out that the Xbox Slim RROD is real, and is a very real thing. I’ve even posted video of it once in a while. Look down at my previous posts to find it.

The Xbox Slim RROD is not caused by overheating, as the previous one was. This is because the previous Xbox did not shut down when the heat of the Xbox got over a predetermined limit. The new Xbox Slim does have this feature, effectively cancelling out this cause. Other claimed causes for this include flexing of the main motherboard, like in the old Xbox. However, Microsoft have fixed this old issue by applying epoxy to the corners of the processors and the motherboard to stop it from flexing.

So what is the cause of the Xbox Slim RROD? Well, it’s actually quite simple - The problem stems from an error with the hard drive. This means that something has gone wrong with the HDD, which means Hard Disk Drive, and is where you keep all your game data, saves, downloaded movies, and all of your Xbox Live Downloadable Content.

Many people have reported hearing “The Click of Death” when their Xbox Slim RROD happens. This is a small squeaking noise that occurs before your Xbox Slim RROD’s. It has been reported to be quite creepy to listen too, and when you reboot your Xbox, you have a RROD on your Xbox Slim! The Xbox Click of Death has been reported to happen whenever you try to access data off your hard drive, like watching a movie or maybe playing DLC. The click can be very light, or it can be loud enough to hear across the room.

The Click of Death comes from your hard drive skipping across the surface of the drive, which either scratches the disc or corrupts the hard drive with all your saves on. The best thing to do when you hear the click of death is to immediately turn off your Xbox to stop your Hard Disk Drive from getting scratched. If you don’t do this in time, you may end up with an Xbox Slim RROD.

Image - Renjith Krishnan

The hard drive skips across the surface of the Hard Disk Drive because each time it hits a “Bad Sector” on the hard disk, it has to go to where the sector was remapped too - So if your disc is jumping a lot, then you need to fix it fast!

The best thing to do to stop your Xbox Slim getting the RROD like this is to back up your hard drive contents regularly so when it stops working, you can just replace it with a new one, all your saves and movies and DLC available again!

However, there are bound to be a few people reading this article who have not backed up their disk drive, and I am sorry to say, that if you have not backed up your hard drive and your Xbox Slim gets the RROD, then you have lost everything on that disk. You will need to take out the disk and replace it with a new one, but first take the disk to a hardware specialist to see if you can get any data recovered.

Halo 4 Release

2011-09-14T13:46:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd talk about some Xbox games for this post, It gets a bit weird writing about the same topic every day!

So today - The soon to be released, highly debated Halo 4! I've been a massive Halo 4 fan ever since I started playing the first game about 7 years ago. So, I was very happy to hear about the new Halo 4 game coming out, with loads of new content, allies and weapons, like the Brute Plasma Rifle, The Gravity Cannon and the Plasma Mortar, along with an entirely new story centring around the ever popular Master Chief.

Click Here To Watch The Halo 4 Trailer

The trailer is quite short and features Master Chief waking up from his Cyro-Pod to the ship he is on being caught on fire and being sucked into a bigger spaceship that may be covenant, or something else? Who knows?

The planned release date for the game is Fall 2012 with no specific date, so Halo fans will have some time to wait before the next game comes out. However you can already preorder the game now, with many sites allowing you to order now and get free shipping.

Buy Halo 4 Today!

Gamestop Stops Selling Used RROD Xbox's

2011-09-06T03:30:00.000-07:00

Yes, thats right, Gamestop released the following memo.

“As of Saturday 3rd September we will not be selling Pre-owned Xbox 360 Cores, Arcades and 20GB non HDMIs. This is due to the high failure rate of the console and the difficulty and cost of repairing them. We will continue to trade these consoles in but they will need to be sent back to the DC as a regular faulty return where they will exit the business,”

Th only thing that springs to my mind immediately is - What were they thinking selling Xbox 360's that had had the RROD before. Statistics show that 60% of Xbox's that have had the RROD once and been fixed by Microsoft, will have it again. Further, 30% of consoles with some other error, will have another error again.

Surely Gamestop could not have been as incompetent to not take heed of that statistic?

RDOD At Walmart

2011-09-05T07:53:00.000-07:00

Red Dot of Death Footage

2011-09-01T07:52:00.000-07:00

X-Clamp Fix

2011-08-20T06:52:00.000-07:00

If you are looking to fix your Xbox 360 Red Lights then you have probably heard of the Xbox X-Clamp Fix. Many people claim that this fix repairs the Red Ring of Death. But does this fix actually work? Or are they simply trying to get you to buy Xbox Repair Kits?

X-Clamp fix in action

You may notice with this method of fixing the RROD that it involves actually taking apart the Xbox completely. If one screw gets lost, or one washer isn’t put on properly, then you have a major problem, and your Xbox may stop working altogether. And whats worse, but your warranty has been voided by opening the case, so you won’t be able to replace it by sending it to Microsoft.

Also, this video assumes that the cause of the RROD is the X-Clamp, but this has not necessarily been proven. I wrote a post on the many suspected causes of the Red Ring of Death a while back, and concluded that there was no definite answer as to what caused it.

Overall, I highly doubt the effectiveness of this fix.

Microsoft's Response To The Xbox Failure Rate

2011-08-15T06:50:00.000-07:00

When the console launched, Microsoft’s official failure rate for the console was 3% - 5%. However, despite further tests being done, Microsoft did not actually send out a new failure rate.

However, on July the 5th, Microsoft decided to extend the standard one-year warranty of their Xbox consoles to three years, but you could only claim in this three year period if your Xbox had the Red Ring of Death error. This is a huge lifesaver for everyone, knowing they can get their console fixed for free, when otherwise it would cost you over $150.

Microsoft was actually interviewed on the RROD issue, and an Xbox console was taken apart. The reasons that they found for the faults, from the interview and the console was that it was due to system design, parts supply, material reliability and manufacturing issues - As well as the Xbox not being very tolerable to faults.

These faults were alleged to be the end result of bad decisions in Microsoft, mainly to help keep costs down. Another source claimed that in one of the test runs, only 32% of the Xbox's tested ran properly. That means that 68 out of every 100 units would get the error - A HUGE failure rate!

Towel Trick - Your Opinion

2011-08-12T06:48:00.000-07:00

Hello readers! You may have read my earlier post on the towel trick, and how I thought that it was a bad idea. Well, I have got some quotes from people who have tried the towel trick, and have had varied results.

“Warning it will work but after u do this your xbox will turn off everytime it gets hot which is about every 10mins so ya good luck” - armando1499

“99% of the times you get rrod is because the solder has lost connection either in cpu or gpu. baking the xbox in towels will actually melt the solder so a new connection is made. however personally i dont recommend baking the xbox in towels (fire hazard). disabeling the fans will work much better and it will go much faster”. - poosarri

“It still boggles my mind that this actually worked last night on my friends 360. He had 4 red lights of doom, the first time he tried the towel trick he got on and played for about 20 minutes, then froze up then BOOM back to the red lights, actually only 3 red lights this time. Tried the Towel trick again, green light comes back on. He played for hours and hours and did not see the RED LIGHTS OF DOOM AGAIN! Thanks to who ever thought of this!” - Anon

“I was desperate to get my 360 running, so I gave it a shot, as I also had the TRLoD (Three Red Lights Of Death). I honestly think the problem has to do with one of the case fans not spooling up fast enough -- it makes a different noise when malfunctioning. Yes, it's hokey and appears to be internet giberrish, but honest-to-goodness, it worked on my 360 (1st gen). It dies after prolonged use (1hr watching a DVD movie on it) and the fan makes funny noise again. I wish I could've had a camera on my face when it powered up successfully after doing the trick (what was I going to do, break it?)... my jaw dropped, and I said loudly "I don't f****** believe it." I wrapped mine in a fleece blanket (towels were in the wash), and let 'er sit for 20 minutes while I played Wii and PS3 (I wasn't sure if something would burst into flames, so I watched it). }=) It didn't auto-shutdown, so I tried it anyway, and it worked. Today, back to the TRLoD, but I know how to resurrect it. I nearly bought a replacement, and then heard about the HDMI version of the 360... I wonder how long this puppy will last.” - Anon

“The towel trick is only a temporary fix for the xbox 360 and if it does work it will only do so for a couple of hours or days then you have to do it again and again... This can in fact further damage your 360” - patkaa

“all we hear about is the 360 and its overheating issues...and you want me to overheat it on purpose!?! WTF?” - GregTheHammer

Does The Xbox Slim Scratch Discs

2011-08-09T06:46:00.000-07:00

EDIT: Just a short update today, some of you have been bugging me about this.

As I stated in a recent post, it has been found by BBC watchdog that the Xbox 360 often scratches the discs when it is moved, even slightly.

However, I didn’t state what happened to the Xbox Slim when it was put through the same “Shake Test” as the older console. So I am pleased to say here that the Xbox Slim “passed the shake test with flying colours” Thank god, the Xbox doesn’t need much more bad reputation!

Microsoft's Own Console Fails

2011-08-06T06:34:00.000-07:00

This must have been very embarrassing for Microsoft, their own model on display suffering from the Red Ring of Death.

George Brouwer - Xbox Scratched Discs Lawsuit

2011-08-03T06:39:00.000-07:00

Microsoft has had a lawsuit filed against them by Jorge Brouwer, a man in Florida, who claims that his two games - Gears of War and Madden NFL 07, were scratched by his Xbox 360. The scratches were completely circular, so this wasn’t a case of not looking after the discs. In the lawsuit, Brouwer seeks class action status, claiming that the Xbox 360 scratches millions of discs, and pays to get them fixed.

Microsoft denies this claim, with a Microsoft spokesman said this: "Out of the millions of Xbox consoles in use, Microsoft has not received any widespread reports of Xbox 360s scratching discs," said spokesman Jack Evans

One reason why the Xbox may have scratched Brouwer’s disks is because he tilted the Xbox 360 while there was a disc inside it (An action warned against by Microsoft, there is even a sticker on the console). However, Brouwer denied this allegation against him, saying that he had not moved the machine at all while any disc was inside the machine.

Brouwer may have had some sense though, as some people have also reported scratched disks. For example, GameFly sent out reports to customers warning them against moving the console, as the console scratched disks very easily when moved, even slightly.

Does The Xbox 360 Scratch Discs

2011-07-30T12:00:00.000-07:00

There have been many reports of a new problem with the Xbox 360, and this time, it’s not the Red Ring of Death. The new issue that is being investigated deals with a problem with the Xbox 360 disk drive, which seems to malfunction. Microsoft does warn against this, as there is a sticker asking users not to pick up the console when it has a disk in. However, some discs are getting scratched, even when the console is not being jarred - And Microsoft refuse to replace discs.

The BBC watchdog even did an episode on this, here’s one of their stories -

“The Monaghans are a family of seven - mum, dad and five daughters. Dad, Robert, wanted an activity the whole family could enjoy and so he decided to buy an Xbox 360 along with the game Rock Band.

The family enjoyed playing together, until only a few weeks later when the music came to a sudden stop. The console was displaying a disc read error and, when inspected, they found a large circular scratch along the surface of the disc. Robert wasn't pleased and thought the girls had done something wrong, so he put the Xbox away as a punishment.

When the Monaghan's eldest daughter, Alana, turned 11 they decided to buy a new game and put the family band back together. This time they bought Guitar Hero: World Tour but after only an hour and half of play they discovered the disc had been scratched and ruined again. This time Robert knew it wasn't his daughters and he called Microsoft.

Again Microsoft denied responsibility, telling the family it was their fault and that they'd not be replacing the games. The family were furious and adamant that the console had not been touched while the game was playing. The Xbox was taken away to be looked at and the Monaghan's were left without their console.”

Source - http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/watchdog/2009/03/xbox_360.html

Watchdog also conducted further tests on both the Xbox Slim and the older Xenon Generation console. The results were that they both worked fine when completely stationary, but they failed when they simulated someone putting a book next to the console, the older console failed.

In my opinion, this is something Microsoft definitely needs to take a look at. There are more and more complaints every day about this problem.

Have You Had The Red Ring of The Death?

2011-06-23T09:08:00.000-07:00

Have You Had The Red Ring of Death?customer surveys

A simple poll - Please leave your response!

RROD Xbox Slim

2011-06-03T09:23:00.000-07:00

Yes, It's another post on the RROD for the Xbox Slim, because people can't seem to get enough of it :)

I have some more news about the Red Ring of Death on the new Xbox 360. Microsoft have implemented a new shutdown and startup system that is supposed to help combat the RROD, Xbox Slim version of course. The new system detects overheating in the console, and then immediately quits your game and shuts down the whole console, supposedly stopping the Xbox Slim RROD.

This would be good, however, one of the causes of the RROD before was unexpected shutdowns! This new method of preventing the RROD may actually cause it. I just fix my Xbox's instead of buying new ones, they last longer than the usual Xbox does!

What is The Xbox Slim Failure Rate?

2011-05-27T10:34:00.000-07:00

The Xbox Slim failure rate has changed quite lot since the new console was released to the public. In a previous article, I mentioned how the Xbox 360 Slim could still get the Red Ring of Death (Or the Red Dot of Death) the same as the other Xenon generation Xbox’s. However, since publishing that article, I got a lot of people asking me for information on how many Xbox 360 Slim’s failed.

The Xbox 360 Slim has been reported by Microsoft to have improved upon the current 33% failure rate among Xenon generation Xbox’s. They say that the failure rate has been improved because of the addition of another big fan, and a new redesign. However, the Xbox 360 Slim still fails with a RDOD (Red Dot of Death) in some cases.

So then, you say, that’s all very well, but what is the failure rate for the Xbox 360 Slim? Well, the failure rate for the Xbox 360 slim has been reduced from the previous 33% to around 10 - 15%. In my opinion, that is not much of an improvement - A lot of Xbox 360 slims will be affected by the RDOD still to come!

Even worse, the three year warranty that covered the original Xbox 360 Xenon has been removed, and the console is only warranted under for just one year! If it goes bust after that… Bang… Another $150 to repair it!

Unfortunately for you guys with the RROD out there - You probably heard that the Xbox Slim did not get the errors as fast as the original Xbox. I think it’s better to just try and fix your current Xbox rather than buy a completely new one that may get the exact same problem again.

How Likely is it That Your Xbox Will Get the RROD?

2011-05-08T03:31:00.000-07:00

So, if you have not had the Red Ring of Death (Congrats), but are now wondering "Oh my GOD! How many people get these?" Well, the official to failure rate within the console market is officially 3-5%, according to Microsoft However, various other companies and individuals have tested the Xbox 360 in failure rate and have come up with quite different, and shocking, results.

Warranty company Squaretrade decided to run a study of one thousand and forty Xbox 360's - A shocking 171 of them failed in some way or another, a one-in-six failure rate - 60% of these were due to a General Hardware Failure (Red Ring of Death), 18% disk read errors, 13% hard drive freezes, 10% power issues and 7% disk tray malfunctions. Squaretrade also released notes that due to the time the study took place (Six-Ten Months) the actual fail rate would be much higher.

The highest failure rate released to the public is 68%, while the lowest failure rate released is 3.8%. I don't know about you, but that is a lot of Xbox's that will fail at some points in their lives.

Could The Graphics Chip Be The Cause of the RROD?

2011-05-07T08:55:00.000-07:00

The Microsoft chip

Research into the Xbox 360 has unearthed some evidence about the graphics chip that Microsoft uses in it's Xbox 360's.

If you don't know what the graphics chip in an Xbox 360 is then you ought to know that it is basically the chip that turns the Xbox code into pictures that are displayed on your screen. As this has to be done in real time, you can imagine how much heat this thing puts out. So, you would think that Microsoft would use a good chip from a reputable vendor that was guaranteed to work with no problems?

Unfortunately, that is not the case. Microsoft decided to develop a new chip instead of buying some to use - This is something they are not used too doing, making graphics chips. As a result, the chip that was produced pumped out way, way too much heat - It has already been found that overheating may cause the RROD.

Is The Xbox Kinect Causing The RROD?

2011-05-06T08:46:00.000-07:00

According to the guardian, connecting a new Xbox Kinect to an old model Xbox can potentially cause the Xbox to overheat and display the Red Ring of Death that has affected more than 30% of the consoles produced. Microsoft claims that there is no correlation between the two actions.

"There is no correlation between the three flashing red lights error and Kinect. Any new instances of the three flashing red lights error are merely coincidental."

Microsoft Spokesperson

There are many plausible explanations as to why these new RROD's could have happened - Some claim that the Kinect uses too much processing inside the graphics unit which is the part of the console that is susceptible to overheating. Another theory to this is that when the owners of the Xbox 360 buy a Kinect, they use the machine more and more, which means that there is a higher probability of getting the RROD.

I'm not suggesting that you don't buy a Kinect here though. If you do need a Kinect however, buy a new console that can handle the processing.

Slim Xbox 360 S Still Gets The RROD

2011-05-05T23:48:00.000-07:00

The Xbox 360 S

Do you ever get frustrated with the RROD and think "You know, I should just buy a new Xbox - One of the new slim ones that doesn't get the RROD" Unfortunately, I am here to break the bad news that yes, the new Xbox gets the errors just the same as it's older cousin.

Although in this case, the elaborate warning system put in place by Xbox (with the successive lighting up of the quadrants) has been removed - It has been replaced with just the green dot in the middle flashing red. This has been dobbed "The Red Dot of Death" (RDOD) by some.

What's more - Microsoft only offers a 1 year warranty period for this Xbox, instead of a three year warranty for the old one! Microsoft says that this is because the new design consists of a new chip and power system for the console - However, only time will tell if these new consoles RDOD as quick as the last ones.

If this console does fail however, the I think it would be best to just fix your current console. Or if you don't have a console, then get the Xbox S and post here to tell us if it RDOD's anytime soon.

The 3 Most Annoying Things About Losing Your Xbox 360

2011-05-05T00:08:00.000-07:00

My friend recently lost his Xbox to the Red Ring Of Death - He said it's a painful experience. Being the good friend I am, I asked why. Here are his top three annoying things about losing your Xbox.

3 - Your Annoying Friends

They call up and ask "Hey, come on halo/COD/whatever" before you have to tell them that your Xbox is broken. If this has happened to them before, then there is almost no doubt that they will try to tell you what to do over the phone and suchlike. If they haven't had the problem, they will gloat at you for being such an idiot to break it, even if it's not your fault.

2 - The many ways of "Fixing" it

Ever told someone that you have the red lights, and they automatically try to tell you how to fix it? Well, imagine that for the millions of people who post on message boards - They have literally hundreds of reply's, all thinking that they know best. Nearly everyone can suggest a different method and so the OP of the thread has all these methods to choose from... However, hardly any of them actually work.

1 - Whining Kids

Some people might think that a Red Lighted Xbox is a godsend, finally forcing the children away from the Xbox to do other things. Unfortunately, that gap will not be filled by anything as the kids still want to play Xbox - Not anything else! The result? Whiny kids demanding you fix the Xbox at every moment when they have free time - After school, before school, after dinner, it gets annoying. And it will not stop until the Xbox is fixed.

Mythbusters: Xbox RROD

2011-05-04T12:04:00.000-07:00

You might have heard some of the Xbox 360 Red Ring of Death rumours, supposed easy cures and suchlike. Let me run a kind of mythbusters here as most of the free tips you can find on the internet are dangerous or could result in you wasting a lot of your time and hard earned money.

Myth One - You can cure the RROD by wrapping your Xbox in a couple of towels and leaving it for a while.

This myth involves wrapping your 360 in a towel, turning it on and then leaving it in a room for ten minutes or such. It has the reputation of being able to work as well - Many an Xbox has been resurrected from the dead! Or maybe not. The way this trick works is by heating up the solder and glue holding together the Xbox 360 and then letting it dry - This provides enough stickiness inside the case for you to be able to boot up your Xbox. So, you wonder, what happens when you actually try to play a game? Well, it crashes on you, with the exact same red rings on your Xbox. As soon as the console heats up (say, while playing a game) the solder immediately melts, and a second “Towel Trick” will not do any difference. Hell, it might even make it worse, as the Xbox can actually catch on fire or completely fry the motherboard if you leave it for too long or try it again.

Myth Two - You can solder the inside of the Xbox 360 to remove the RROD (I fell prey to this - Click here to read my story)

This method involves you buying a home soldering kit, and then opening your Xbox up to solder the parts back together. Notice “Home Soldering Kit”. Microsoft doesn’t use these at their factories - they use expensive, industrial grade equipment that can cost thousands upon thousands of pounds. That is something you can’t reproduce with some hardware store solder and a solder gun. This applies even if you have experience soldering electric equipment. If you do this wrong you can’t send it back to Microsoft as well - By opening the console, you have automatically voided the warranty. However, this may be possible if you have high quality video and sound - not poor quality, juddery tutorials from YouTube.

More myths coming soon… Stay tuned!

My Personal Story - How Not To Fix The Red Lights of Death

2011-05-04T07:59:00.000-07:00

If your Xbox died recently, then you need to read on to find out my story - In effect, what you should never do. And then find out what you should do.

Last winter my Xbox died and gave me those red rings... Back then, I had absolutely no idea what they meant. All that I knew was that my Xbox wasn't working anymore. So, like most people, I ran a search on google for "Xbox 360 red lights" and pretty soon it turns out that I am in a s***load of trouble. The lights mean a general failure on your Xbox. Looking at the web, it looked like the only proper way to do anything was to send the thing back to Microsoft.

So, I wrapped it up and put the postage label on before I read the official site - Which told me that it would take eight weeks for them to fix it and ship it back! Eight weeks! So I had to look to the Internet for other ways... Ways that wouldn't involve sending my Xbox away to be fixed.

The Xbox... Evil...

So I found this website that showed you how to crack open an Xbox's case and do some DIY soldering. According to the website, normally the Xbox has weak soldering joints and so re-soldering the joints would fix the problem. So - I gave it a try. And what do you know! After the repair, the three red lights were completely gone! But - So were the rest of the lights. The soldering I'd done had resulted in a complete shutdown. So my Xbox is now completely broken and now won't even turn on...

So I decided to go with my original decision and sent it back to Microsoft. But since I broke the seal of the console with that stupid free YouTube video tutorial - They wouldn't replace it.

So a week later I had to spend my money on a completely new Xbox.

So as you would expect, I started looking around to see if anyone had tried the same stuff I had done, and when people asked for a red light fix, I told them that they needed to send it straight back to Microsoft, or they'd end up like me.

However - I'm not going around saying that any more. My lucky friend managed to get rid of his red lights... I tell you, he was all up in my face, gloating how he'd fixed it. Apparently, he found this system online called James Dean 3 Red Light Fix. They had a money back guarantee on it that he would have his console working - If it didn't, he got his money back. And waddya know, it worked. An hour later he was playing Halo:Reach on his 360. So I now recommend the guide... It has worked for everyone I've recommended it to. And they have found that it works just fine for them as it worked for my friend.

So if your 360 is dead, then I think you should give it a shot. With a great guarantee and the possibility of getting it up and running is less than two hours - I think it is. James Dean 3 Red Light Fix is my personal choice.