Xbox 360 red ring of death.

[luckystrike]

just got it and im fairly sure im screwed.

what do only 3 lights mean? 3 oclock to 12 oclock are lit up, leaving 12 to 3 green.

[Josh3239]

If I understand you right, that the "red rings of death". The actually error means there is a hardware failure. How old is it? The older ones suffered rrod for several reasons, one of the bigger ones was that the heatsinks were so heavy that would bend the motherboard to the point where the soldering would break.

Hope you got a warranty.

[Once A Marine]

Microsoft is pretty efficient now with repairing this. They extended warranty to 3 years for the RROD that you have, vs. the normal 1 year. Go to xbox.com to check on your system's coverage and to initiate an RMA. They'll send you shipping materials.

[luckystrike]

If I understand you right, that the "red rings of death". The actually error means there is a hardware failure. How old is it? The older ones suffered rrod for several reasons, one of the bigger ones was that the heatsinks were so heavy that would bend the motherboard to the point where the soldering would break.

Hope you got a warranty.

from what Ive read its a problem with everything heatingup and cooling off too quick, flexing the board...got a PM from someone that may be able to help me out, so I hope it can get fixed..no warranty :[

[luckystrike]

Microsoft is pretty efficient now with repairing this. They extended warranty to 3 years for the RROD that you have, vs. the normal 1 year. Go to xbox.com to check on your system's coverage and to initiate an RMA. They'll send you shipping materials.

awesome, I didnt know it was extended to 3 yrs..ill give them a call in the morning.
thanks Sgt

[Josh3239]

The "order" of the way the lights heat up tells you what kind of error your xbox is experiencing. Overheating is a different error. The error you describe is what Microsoft calls a "general hardware error". I used to know how to get a more detailed answer. You can probably search but while it is RRODing you push a button and the lights give you a 4 digit code based on the order they blink and it will give you a more detailed answer. I haven't owned xbox in several years so I don't remember the specifics. I'll see if I can dig it up.

[Josh3239]

I had 0102 IIRC on my old xbox.

I believe there is an updated list for the error codes somewhere. This is all I could find:

Here is how you interpret the LEDs to get the code number:
All four lights flashing - 0
One light flashing - 1
Two Lights flashing - 2
Three lights flashing - 3

How to find out your secondary error:
Turn the xbox 360 on, and wait till the 3 red lights are flashing.
Press and hold the sync up button (the small white one), while holding that button press the eject button.
The LEDs will now blink the first number in the code (as described below).
Release the eject button and press it again.
The LEDs will now blink the second number of the code.
Release the eject button and press it again.
The LEDs will now blink the third number of the code.
Release the eject button and press it again.
The LEDs will now blink the forth number of the code.
Release the eject button and press it again.
The LEDs will go back to the 3 red flashing lights.

Your Secondary Error:
0001 power supply problem
0002 Network Interface problem
0003 Power problem could be the PSU could be the GPU/CPU, somehow the console isn't getting clean power from the power supply.
0010 over heating
0011 over heating - If you are receiving this error after disassembling your console make sure to all 8 of the heatsync screws are tightened securely to the board/heatsink holes.
0012 over heating
0013 over heating
0020 (Not yet known, possibly overheating)
0021 DVD Drive Time out - Can be caused by problems with a firmware flash. This is also speculated to sometime be caused by a problem with the southbridge chipset on the motherboard.
0022 GPU Error / GPU Overheating
0023 (not yet known)
...
0101 (not yet known)
0102 unknown error
though it's most likely GPU related literally means the console does not know what is wrong. possibly a short or cold solder joint somewhere. So far there is 1 major theory for what causes most of these errors is that the Ram, CPU, or GPU are not soldered properly to the mother board due either to poor manufacturing or excessive heat up and cool down cycles that stress, weaken and eventually break the soldered connection.
There are two theories to fixing this one deals with the "X" clamps that hold down the chips. The other involves re-Heating the chips. DO NOT attempt either of these if your console is still under warranty. If your console is still under warranty return it to the store where it was purchased or call MS to have it replaced. I have also heard of limited success by simply switching the AV cable from "HDTV" mode to "TV" mode.
0103 CPU Error/ CPU Overheating - see solution for error 0102
0110 Memory Error / Memory Overheating - see solution for error 0102
...
0200 (not yet known)
...
1000 (not yet known)
1001 (not yet known)
1002 (not yet known)
1003 Hard Drive Error... It could be a problem with the Hard Drive itself or a problem with the internal connection to the hard drive, Try removing the hard drive and playing without it
1010 Hard Drive Error, Can be caused buy a corrupt or missing eProm.
1011 (not yet known)
1012 (not yet known)
1013 (not yet known) possibly a dashboard update error
1020 (not yet known)
1021 (not yet known)
1022 AV cable error... There is a problem with the AV cable, try using a different AV cable. (could also be a problem with the encoder chip)
1023 DVD drive not connected, connect DVD drive to boot
1030 (not yet known)
1031 (not yet known)
1032 (not yet known)
1033 (not yet known)
...
1444 and up There is no "4" in the error codes four lights is a "0" go back and check your code again.

[Once A Marine]

https://support.xbox.com/support/en/us/nxe/hardware/console/troubleshootingconsoleproblems/flashinglights.aspx

[Gryff]

The Red Ring of Death is actually only three of the four lights lit up.



If you have this error, then Microsoft's warranty for repairing this specific problem is actually 3 years instead of the standard 1 year warranty.

If it is not these three specific red lights on, then it indicates a different error...which isn't covered by the RROD extended free warranty.

Not that I did the following, but...

A guy I know had this friend....and the friend's 15-month-old XBox got one of these other type of error indicators. Xbox wouldn't successfully boot up, and MS support said it's a $100 repair since it's out of warranty. So I this guy performed a little Google-Fu, and found out that it is sometimes possible to actually cause a RROD on purpose. You wrap the Xbox tightly in several layers of towels and turn it on and let it run for about 30 minutes. The intent is to get it to heat up so much that it causes the RROD. Well, it worked for me this guy. Voila! Free RROD repair and the Xbox came back working perfectly.

The preceding is not intended to provide, recommend, or imply any illicit suggestion of improper warranty circumvention. It is just a humorous anecdote intended to provide entertainment within a social environment. I did not type this because I was not in the country at the time, and I don't even own a computer. Are you listening, Microsoft?

[JDay]

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/907534

[luckystrike]

awesome, thanks!

[jbolton]

This worked for me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsz0lNJ6JrQ

[WILDMAN442]

I fixed mine when I got red rings and a disc read error. Took me about 4 hours total going slow and watching a you tube video.

Total cost for repair, including a tool I didnt have- 25.00

It worked fantastic for me until I sold it to buy a PS3.

Justin

[Shawn L]

A big F you to Xbox!! I'm on my 3rd console from them all with the 4 rings death message and they want me to pay $119 for them to fix it. I swear 3 console down and I got to pay. I'll just buy a PS3 or Wii.

[bangkok]

I bought my son the 360 when it first came out, a year later the RROD! At that time MS just started to fix it for free (up until then they were charging $150 or so). We got it fixed and two years later, same thing!! My son is friends with everyone at the Gamestop, so the manager there told him to bring it in and gave him the newest one (with HD outputs, etc.) for no charge!