Author Topic: Red Ring of Death  (Read 29653 times)

micah

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Red Ring of Death
« on: November 07, 2009, 09:30:32 AM »
 :(

i was playing COD4 the other day and my xbox frooze up. I assumed it was a network glitch and turned it off.
I tried again this morning and, about 30 seconds into the game, same thing.
I turned it off.  It wont turn back on.

Instead, I've got the 3-light "General Hardware Failure" ring of death

"I possess a device, in my pocket, that is capable of accessing the entirety of information known to man.  I use it to look at pictures of cats and get in arguments with strangers."

JaWiB

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Re: Red Ring of Death
« Reply #1 on: November 07, 2009, 10:02:39 AM »
Service contract?

This may sound crazy, but you might be able to get more life out of it by wrapping it in a blanket and turning it on for several minutes. Then, turn it off, take the blanket off and turn it back on. Worked with my roommate's Xbox for a week or two.

micah

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Re: Red Ring of Death
« Reply #2 on: November 07, 2009, 10:34:17 AM »
>>service contract?
Microsoft did extend their warranty to 3-years for this specific problem so I guess thats my best option.  Its been nearly 3 years since I bought it and I don't know if I registered it at the time... I might have thrown out the receipt too, I hope not.

>>crazy blanket idea.
really? I never heard of that it sounds crazy.
"I possess a device, in my pocket, that is capable of accessing the entirety of information known to man.  I use it to look at pictures of cats and get in arguments with strangers."

Steve

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Re: Red Ring of Death
« Reply #3 on: November 07, 2009, 11:08:59 AM »
If you are out of contract there are ways to fix it yourself. Not very hard, just time consuming.
hey ethic if you and i were both courting lily allen..... oh wait, which one of us has a relationship that lasted more than the bus ride home?

JaWiB

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Re: Red Ring of Death
« Reply #4 on: November 07, 2009, 04:45:39 PM »
The blanket trick probably ends up doing more damage to the xbox, but we figured we were sending it in eventually any ways. It just let us put off sending it in for that long

I had to send my xbox in a while back and they repaired it much more quickly than I thought they would


micah

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Re: Red Ring of Death
« Reply #5 on: November 07, 2009, 04:51:36 PM »
I started to fill out the repair request online but after I entered the serial number it said that I was past the 3-yr extended warranty time period.  I wish I'd previously registered :(

It says you can call to dispute it, but I can't find my original receipt anywhere. I can't for the life of me remember when we bought it but I'm pretty sure it was just UNDER 3 years.  We had a bunch of expendable income at the beginning of 2007... and we bought our HDTV on 5/15/07 (so it was before than) but I can't figure out when it was.

In addition to scouring my files for the physical receipt, I've also tried searching through this forum and my old blogs to see my first mention of buying it... but I can't.  So frustrating!

They want $99 to fix it if its outside the warranty period  :mad:
"I possess a device, in my pocket, that is capable of accessing the entirety of information known to man.  I use it to look at pictures of cats and get in arguments with strangers."

Steve

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Re: Red Ring of Death
« Reply #6 on: November 07, 2009, 04:57:28 PM »
Dude you can do it yourself, i have done two of them for friends. The whole thing takes under 2 hours, the hardest part is getting the cover off because of all the stupid push clips and crap. I'll find the guide i used for it (don't go paying for any of them, thats bs) and post it up.
hey ethic if you and i were both courting lily allen..... oh wait, which one of us has a relationship that lasted more than the bus ride home?

Steve

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Re: Red Ring of Death
« Reply #7 on: November 07, 2009, 05:01:30 PM »
turns out i had it bookmarked. Up to page 3 is all fluff, but worth a read if u have time. If the drilling part makes u uncomfortable you can take the case and bolts to any local shop and for like $5 (if not free) they will hook you up.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Fix-the-Red-Ring-of-Deathwithout-towels/
hey ethic if you and i were both courting lily allen..... oh wait, which one of us has a relationship that lasted more than the bus ride home?

micah

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Re: Red Ring of Death
« Reply #8 on: November 07, 2009, 05:22:26 PM »
hmm, me and hardware. that seems like a good idea  :rolleyes:

The apparent cause of this issue (from both the tutorial in that link and other things I've read online) is that its an overheating issue?  Which seems weird, because bought those extra fans that blow air into it and I don't normally play for more than an hour at a time.

On a side note, when it first froze up a week ago, I had just installed some mandatory firmware update. I'm sure its a coincidence but I wonder if that has anything to do with it  :dunno:  probably not as I've tried googling it and not found any new info.

this is really shitty.
"I possess a device, in my pocket, that is capable of accessing the entirety of information known to man.  I use it to look at pictures of cats and get in arguments with strangers."

Steve

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Re: Red Ring of Death
« Reply #9 on: November 07, 2009, 05:48:08 PM »
It's almost always one of two things (both heat related):

1) The solder connections at the cpu and/or gpu seperate, and require resoldering.

2) The weak connection between the chips and the heatsinks becomes too weak over time from the warping of the mainboard.

Both arent all that hard to fix. If you are uncomfortable doing it yourself pay the shipping and i'll do it for you, but insert the standard "if i blow it or myself up no liability blah blah" disclaimer here :p
hey ethic if you and i were both courting lily allen..... oh wait, which one of us has a relationship that lasted more than the bus ride home?

Steve

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Re: Red Ring of Death
« Reply #10 on: November 07, 2009, 05:49:01 PM »
oh and note that it will take me like a week to fix it, i tend to get really busy as soon as i have something to do. In fact go ahead and order MWF2 and send it when it shows up :p (kidding)
hey ethic if you and i were both courting lily allen..... oh wait, which one of us has a relationship that lasted more than the bus ride home?

Jake

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Re: Red Ring of Death
« Reply #11 on: November 08, 2009, 02:33:55 AM »
Both arent all that hard to fix. If you are uncomfortable doing it yourself pay the shipping and i'll do it for you, but insert the standard "if i blow it or myself up no liability blah blah" disclaimer here :p

and don't expect to ever see it again. It will most likely get lost in the mail. :rolleyes:
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Steve

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Re: Red Ring of Death
« Reply #12 on: November 08, 2009, 03:13:45 AM »
Fuck you dude, seriously.
hey ethic if you and i were both courting lily allen..... oh wait, which one of us has a relationship that lasted more than the bus ride home?

Jake

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Re: Red Ring of Death
« Reply #13 on: November 08, 2009, 10:51:27 AM »
Fuck you dude, seriously.


awwww - don't be sad little RoD.
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kermi3

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Re: Red Ring of Death
« Reply #14 on: November 08, 2009, 05:09:10 PM »
hehe nice Ax....

I've actually heard of the blanket trick too...suppossedly forces the sodders to melt, then the gpu/cpu can resettle into the proper place...there are some guydes out there...take their word for it, not mine...
govtcheez03:  i kind of look for it - i seek out stupidity and annoy it until it either gets better, gets banned, or goes away on its own