360 Death Thread

[PCEngineFX]

What is a gaming forum without a 360 death thread?  I'll start.

Had my premium 360 now since March of 2006.  In June 2007 the optical drive stopped reading, and I was lucky because I was a few days out of warranty and they still took it back.  Got the system back in a week or so and everything has been fine...

...a few months ago I bought the HD-DVD add-on and have been having good times with it.  One day the system stopped booting past the splash screen and I found out that the USB port in the back of the console "burned out" (this is where I had the HD-DVD player plugged into).  No problem...just started using one of the front ports.  Now, last night as I went to charge one of my controllers, the system once again wouldn't boot past the splash screen.  The juice went dead in the USB port and I got the 3 red ring of death.  Now I have a console with two burned out USB ports and the RRoD issue.

On the bright side, Microsoft has a 3 year replacement policy for the RRoD issue and they finally have an online repair request form (no more calling support).  Bad side, it will take up to 4 weeks to get it fixed and no Halo 3 for me.  That is my story.

[GUTS]

I've owned 4 different 360 systems and never had a single problem, other than selling them when I need money for a car payment or something.  Fortunately I can get them back relatively cheap so I never lose money on the deals.  I think I deserve this luck though after paying $300 for an original playstation that stopped working 6 months later, and $300 for a ps2 that did the same thing.

[Kitsunexus]

And this is another reason why I am holding out for a 360 that does not contain South-Of-The-Border™ build quality.

[PCEngineFX]

Having mine break down was something I have been expecting...it's like riding a motorcycle - sooner or later you WILL fall off.

I've been working for the Xbox team for many, many years now, so I'm closer to this stuff than most people...I was happy that mine lasted as long as it did.  At least I won't need to shell out any $ to get it fixed.

[NecroPhile]

Luckily, none of my friends have had any troubles with their 360s.  They've logged many, many hours, so it's just a matter of time.  It's sad that MS has had so many problems with the 360.  Excessive heat seems to be the main culprit, yet heat is the easiest thing to anticipate and alleviate.  Maybe they'll learn from their mistakes and their third console won't be designed by the bean counters and built by blind, syphilitic squirrels.

[Kitsunexus]

It really is sad, because if it didn't have this many hardware problems, the 360 would be sort of like the "U.S. Saturn done right".

[Keranu]

I've owned 4 different 360 systems and never had a single problem, other than selling them when I need money for a car payment or something.  Fortunately I can get them back relatively cheap so I never lose money on the deals.  I think I deserve this luck though after paying $300 for an original playstation that stopped working 6 months later, and $300 for a ps2 that did the same thing.

Playstation systems are horrible, my bro has been through so many various Playstation systems. Has there been any similar reported problems with PS3's hardware yet?

[Joe Redifer]

Who needs quality these days?  Nobody takes pride in their workmanship any more.

[OldRover]

Playstation systems are horrible, my bro has been through so many various Playstation systems. Has there been any similar reported problems with PS3's hardware yet?

I don't think anyone has owned or played one long enough to notice any problems. Hard to play a console for very long if there's nothing to play on it, and it's not very attractive to buy if it costs more than your mortgage payment.

[Turbo D]

I've never had any problems with my psx and or my ps2. Maybe I got lucky  They have both been kicked and stepped on a few times as well  The only console I ever had problems with was the Atari Jaguar, haha. Whenever I hear of the 360's hardware problems, I think of the shitty Jag hardware, lol. I guess there are crappy consoles in every generation 

[OldRover]

I've never had a problem with the original Playstation, but my PS2 has had problems with the laser sled rails needing lubrication. In fact, I've got to open it up and fix it soon, as it's getting cranky again. Even after I fixed it the first time, I can't get it to play Parasite Eve properly anymore, which sucks because it's one of my favorite PS1 games.

[Joe Redifer]

The motherboard on my Sega CD model 1 died recently.  Fortunately I had a spare CD unit, but it had a crusty drive.  So I swapped out the motherboards and now it works fine.

[Turbo D]

  wow, thats cool; I didn't know that it could be done 

[SNKNostalgia]

I've never had a problem with the original Playstation, but my PS2 has had problems with the laser sled rails needing lubrication. In fact, I've got to open it up and fix it soon, as it's getting cranky again. Even after I fixed it the first time, I can't get it to play Parasite Eve properly anymore, which sucks because it's one of my favorite PS1 games.

Best way to get the PS2 working well again is to 1) do the plastic white gear adjustment, but doesn't work on all systems the same and you might not even need to do it all anyway. 2) take the lens apart completely so you can clean the lens mirror inside and the bottom of the lens. 3) of course, greasing the rails helps a lot as well.

I did numbers 2 and 3, my PS2 works almost 100% now. Still takes a little bit of time to boot past the splash screen with DVD ROM PS2 games. It used to not load some up, take longer to boot and really hated PS1 games on loading up. My PS2 is exactly 7 years old now as of this October minus some days. I can't believe it has been out that long already. I feel damn old now.

[PCEngineFX]

Let's try to not get too far off topic here guys....thanks

[Keranu]

Let's try to not get too far off topic here guys....thanks

Haha, this discussion is actually a lot more relevent to the topic than many other threads we've had around here that have gotten derailed! 

[PCEngineFX]

I know.......and I've not enforced staying on-topic throughout the forum...but I need to start somewhere.

[Joe Redifer]

My 360 hasn't died yet, but a friend of mine has done a few fixes for his son's 360.  Since his is flashed to play illegally downloaded criminal games, he can't send it to Microsoft.  The red ring o' death usually is caused by the graphics hardware sagging due to gravity and heat.  Heat makes it loose, gravity makes it sag and certain solder connections become unstable.  One solution is to move to the International Space Station, another is to get an eraser cube and place it underneath the board that actually sags so that it can no longer deform.  Believe it or not, this works quite well!  Another thing you can do to prevent this from ever happening is to crank up the fans.  This is the part where my details get sketchy, but the idea I convey is 100% correct.  The internal fans are running on 5 volts, but the fans themselves are 15 volt fans (not sure about the voltage).  Anyway, somehow if you allow the fans to have more power, they will spin faster and keep the system MUCH cooler.  Yes, it's louder, but most people are probably already deaf from listening to the thing anyway. 

[PCEngineHell]

Wow,I didn't even know Aaron was still alive,let alone enforcing stay on topic rules. I thought the CIA,FBI,and ATF ran/ kept the show going these days in a extreme effort to crack down on illegal Sapphire copies being sold......

Seriously looks screwed up that the only one you'd start enforcing on is your own thread,but if you actually start doing it on as many as possible then its cool.

[SNKNostalgia]

Really one thing I have been doing to prevent my 360 from having this happen is to just keep the room really cool and not to play 5-10 hours straight. Good thing about the 360 is that I get tired of playing it for 2 or so hours, then I turn off, then turn on again to play it an hour or two later or something. I really don't care if my system gets the red rings this Christmas or so. That way I get a free 65nm Falcon chip set system instead of the doomed models. Apparently, the repaired models with heat sinks help a lot from what I have been hearing. I still got a 1 year and 9 month warranty on mine.

[Digi.k]

got 360 back in nov 2006.. started getting problems with the screen freezing up and getting strange pinkish pixels on the screen around feb.  Didn't have any RRoD though but MS repaired it and took 2 weeks then.

DVD drive started developing a fault back in august where it would constantly eject the drive and the disc was still spinning.. even when turning off the machine the drive would still eject...  got it repaired and took 4 weeks.. machine is much cooler now.. and i can see at the side through the holes that they added the extra heatpipe.

Love blue dragon now..

[SignOfZeta]

I know.......and I've not enforced staying on-topic throughout the forum...but I need to start somewhere.

No, you don't.

[PCEngineFX]

Finally got my shipping box and sent it out last Friday (after submitting an online repair request...YAY...no more calling support for a repair!).  Even though I have a PS3 and Wii, I really don't feel like playing them....hope I can get my box back before the 23rd so that I can get into Ace Combat 6.

...and speaking of Ace Combat 6, if you've not seen the new trailer, GO SEE IT!  It almost brought a tear to my eye (dialogue is kinda corny, but the presentation rocks and it's all REAL TIME graphics!)

[Joe Redifer]

Screw the trailer, download the playable demo!  It rocks!

[guyjin]

So my roomate bought a 360. I'm enjoying live arcade (mostly pac man CE and geometry wars) but for some reason my roomate insists on buying games on DVDs. which is a problem, because it scratches discs from time to time.

any ideas on what might cause it, and how to correct it?

[Joe Redifer]

Is the Xbox360 standing up sideways on it's side?

[CrackTiger]

Is the Xbox360 standing up sideways on it's side?

The only time my 360 scratched discs was during the week or two I played the console standing up. I'll never stand up any disc based console again.

[nat]

Is the Xbox360 standing up sideways on it's side?

The only time my 360 scratched discs was during the week or two I played the console standing up. I'll never stand up any disc based console again.

I have my Wii standing upright. I wonder if I should lay it down? Haven't had any problems yet.

[PCEngineFX]

Screw the trailer, download the playable demo!  It rocks!

Do that too!  I loved the demo...that's why I'm getting this one.

[NecroPhile]

The only time my 360 scratched discs was during the week or two I played the console standing up. I'll never stand up any disc based console again.

I hear ya, but what about a PC-FX?  Do you recommend laying it down too? 

[PCEngineFX]

The only time my 360 scratched discs was during the week or two I played the console standing up. I'll never stand up any disc based console again.

I hear ya, but what about a PC-FX?  Do you recommend laying it down too? 

I have my Wii, PS3 and 360's upright and had no issues with the disk scratching.  The only thing to remember is to make sure to NOT move the system with a disk inside of it.  Moving a console (and when I say move, I mean moving horizontal to upright and vice versa) with a disk inside (even if the game is not playing!!!) could damage the disk.

[guyjin]

Is the Xbox360 standing up sideways on it's side?

it's horizontal.

[PCEngineFX]

Good news, my 360 has been fixed and is now being shipped from the TX repair center....the time at the repair center was only a few days.....should be back in time for Ace Combat 6 next week!

[Digi.k]

I dont think I'm ever gonna get the red light of death on my 360 ..  The air blowing out the back of those vent holes just isnt that hot anymore since MS installed the extra heatpipe/sink on the GPU. 

 I'm certain that if I'm ever gonna have my 360 fail on me again it's most likely the DVD drive will fail..


Soooo can't wait for VF5!!! Love that demo and I'm sooo desperate for Lost Odyssey now too

[Turbo D]

thats good to hear. I think that someone should make a water cooling kit for the 360. Now that would be bad-ass 

[NecroPhile]

I dont think I'm ever gonna get the red light of death on my 360 ..  The air blowing out the back of those vent holes just isnt that hot anymore since MS installed the extra heatpipe/sink on the GPU. 

That sounds counterintuitive.  Shouldn't it be venting more heat out the back with the improved heat sink moving more heat away from the GPU? 

[PCEngineFX]

After playing some Halo 3 and my current favorite, Project Sylpheed for a good while this last weekend, it seems the heat out of my repaired 360 is even more than ever before....

I dont think I'm ever gonna get the red light of death on my 360 ..  The air blowing out the back of those vent holes just isnt that hot anymore since MS installed the extra heatpipe/sink on the GPU. 

I'm certain that if I'm ever gonna have my 360 fail on me again it's most likely the DVD drive will fail..

Soooo can't wait for VF5!!! Love that demo and I'm sooo desperate for Lost Odyssey now too

I also tried the VF5 demo - I was a huge VF1 and 2 fan on the Saturn back in the day.  Pretty much played exactly like I remember it...with even worse voice acting :\

Lost Odyssey looks VERY good from the trailer.  I'm not huge into RPG games but with enough action in it I'm game.  On my list to buy for the rest of the year:

10.23.07 - Ace Combat 6 (360)
10.23.07 - Eye of Judgement (PS3)
10.23.07 - Dracula X Chronicles (PSP)
11.5.07 - Call of Duty 4 (PC)
11.12.07 - Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)
11.20.07 - Mass Effect (360-this game will own me for life)
11.20.07 - time Crisis 4 (PS3-love them gun games)

Everything else I'll gamefly if there is time, but this should keep me way more than busy for a while.  I also just finished Heavenly Sword...if you have a PS3, rent it and beat it...just don't buy it.

[Seldane]

I have 36 of them. 0 are working.

[Digi.k]

That sounds counterintuitive.  Shouldn't it be venting more heat out the back with the improved heat sink moving more heat away from the GPU? 

well this is a pic of the 360's innards as it was since its launch (I cant believe how close the dvd drive is sitting just ontop of the GPU and look how small the GPU heat sink is compared to the CPU's)   :


and these are hopefully what recent 360's (that have been sent in for repair) should have installed in their new refurbished 360's ( i know this is true for european 360 owners)


I got that installed when my 360 got sent back this september and its running much cooler especially at the air extracted at the back of the machine..

This pic is very crude.. but thats taken near the front of the 360 at the sides and trying to poke the camera as close to the vent holes and that amber eye thing is the tip of the newly installed heat pipe.


even on the weekends leaving the machine running for 12+ hours the air extracted never feels like its any higher than 37~40 celcius and this is from playing between oblivion IV, Ninety Nine Nights, Phantasy Star Universe and VF5 or any of my HD DVD movies (almost) back to back..   plus the discs don't feel as hot when you take them out (after long play times) like they used to.. and yes this includes 8 hour campaign run with 3 other ppl on Halo 3

Before I had that heatpipe installed the air extracted was HOT enough to heat up my room during the winter period .. seriously >.>

[OldRover]

I also tried the VF5 demo - I was a huge VF1 and 2 fan on the Saturn back in the day.  Pretty much played exactly like I remember it...with even worse voice acting :\

I had the chance to try the VF5 demo at a Gamestop down here a couple of weeks ago. It was pathetically easy and I utterly annihilated every character in the game (all four of them) with ease, and I'm not even a VF fan (actually, I always thought the games sucked). I found the Rey Mysterio wannabe character amusing though, but not enough to warrant buying the game + system.

[Turbo D]

haha, that dude does look like rey mysterio 

[NecroPhile]

@ Digi.k

I have no doubt that the heat sink improvements have helped keep the 360's innards cool, but the CPU and GPU are still generating the same amount of heat (unless MS has made some processor modifications that I'm unaware of).  I'm betting that the air coming out the back feels cooler because the fan was modified to increase the volume of air moved (by increasing the fan speed or better blade design).  Either that, or MS has changed the CPU and/or GPU to let them lower their voltage (speed) when full tilt processing power isn't required (less voltage = less heat).

[Digi.k]

well theres also the possibility of new 360's featuring a new smaller chipsets which are 65nanometer in size but then I've also heard that in 2008 MS will also bring out an even smaller chipset of 45nm running even more cooler and energy efficient..  ah rumours rumours 

but ya.. the fans at the back of the 360 dont make as much racket as they used to either.. they still noisy tho.. just not that loud anymore


Does anyone else do this too?  when you finish playing a game and the 360 is warm,  exit back to the 360 dashboard take out the game and just leave the machine on for a few minutes before switching off to let it gradually cool down rather than cool down quickly?  I dunno if this is a good idea but its what someone suggested to me and I've done ever since then..

and as for VF5 oh my gosh its really purrrtty....  and everything is just sooo shiny (actual game is harder than the demo.. besides theres always ramping up the difficulty or battling online) :O









Other thing I wanna point out is people using component cables the contrast and colour is quite vivid but its waaay too dark for my tastes.. I'm using VGA cables and its much brighter although the contrast isnt as strong

[Turbo D]

It looks great and clear on my ps3.

[Turbo D]

Apparently there is already a liquid-cooling kit for the 360, haha. Its super bad-ass 

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/5138/ex-wat-105/Koolance_Xbox_360_Dual_Cooler_Kit_KIT-XB360.html?tl=g30c83#blank

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/4286/ex-wat-101/Koolance_Xbox_360_Liquid_Cooling_Complete_Kit_-_Silver_KIT-XB360SL-SYS.html?tl=g30c83

[schnuth]

Add my 360 to the list of the dead.  It red ringed over the weekend, and a coffin is on it's way.  No warning either, just wham your 360 is dead!     Ah well.  It held on for 13 months, hopefully my next one will be a winner.

Aaron