Sunday October 12 2008
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Fix for Red Ring of death

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Here is a fix for the red ring of death that some people experience i know it works now because I just fixed a friend's 360 using this method. You'll have to open up your xbox 360 and take everything out DVD, Drive, Fans, and the mobo itself.

Warning you'll void your 360 warranty, but it works and it isn't as hard as it sounds, but I understand some wouldn't want to open their 360s. The only reason I was able to do it with my friend's 360 is cause he got it from someone else that just went to best buy and got a new one so he gave him the broken one to keep so he came to me seeing if it could be fixed.

See the first 2 pictures on this site? Shows the Heatsink itself and the X clamps that need to be removed.

http://www.anandtech.com/systems/showdoc...

This link also shows how to remove the X-clamps.

Apparently those X clamps being too tight sometimes causes cause the board to bend and solder joints around the CPU and GPU to become loose and cause the famous RROD. Some people have said they've seen cases of being able to move around the heatsink with ease without unscrewing anything at all.

Everything you need to fix the problem.

[b] 8 M5 -0.8 x 10 Machine Screws
16 #10 Flat Washers - Nylon Type
16 5mm Flat Washers - Metal [/b]

and some Arctic Silver (people into pcs should know what that is) Be sure to clean the previous thermal compound off both the 360 CPU and GPU chip. You should see a mirror finish when they are perfectly clean so keep going until you see that. Use alcohol and cotton or paper towel (I used paper towel) to clean it then apply some Arctic Silver on there.

Home Depot should have all the screws and washers you need. Just get Arctic Silver from newegg or something for cheap.

The purpose of the washers is to recreate the same space that the x clamps did so the screw can be a perfect fit. The nylon washers should be the first to touch the 360 mobo on either side of the board then you can place the metal washers on top of the Nylon ones.

This is an example of how it should be done.

http://img357.imageshack.us/my.php?image=..


And this picture taken from Neogaf is an example of what the back of the board should look like once the clamps are gone and you fastened it down with those screws and washers.

http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/1723/p..


And because I don't want to type this part I'll put it exactly as I saw in this PDF document. VERY IMPORTANT.

[b]7. Here is probably the most important portion of this tutorial. PLEASE PAY CLOSE ATTENTION! Once you have replaced the heat sinks like the illustration above (don’t tighten the bolts down – just snug for now), set the motherboard back into the bottom case. Don’t screw it down yet. Replace the Power button board with the lights, so we can see when the 360 overheats. I plugged in the DVD & set it aside on the edge of the case (not sure if this is necessary). Leave the fans off for this part. The video plug must be inserted or the 360 will auto-shut off, and the power brick must be plugged in. Turn on the Xbox & most likely you will see the 3RLOD – Red Lights Of Death. Without the fans, it’s a matter of time until the box overheats. When this happens, it will change to only 2 lights (both left side lights). I waited 2 minutes exactly, then shut it off. This allows the solder problems to fix themselves by getting hot enough to re-solder themselves in place. As this is cooling off, take the board out to where you can tighten the M5 bolts down snug. Don’t over-tighten them, but in my case – I got them very snug.
8. Let it cool down completely, then put everything back together. [/b]


There it is folks and it works. It isn't a method I came up with I've been seeing it elsewhere and saw other people saying it worked for them so I got the chance to experiment with a broken 360 and managed to fix it.

This comment was edited at 05/15/2007 5:34 PM
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nice thread, very helpful.
"GUY"s are stupid. EMO_GUY needs to cut himself.
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Yep and I can confirm that it definitely works. This is something ANYBODY with some pc knowledge should be able to do without any problems and even if you don't know computers I'm sure there is probably a buddy that does.

It took tops 30-40 minutes and considering that entire time wasn't spent working on the 360 it probably could've been much less. Hardest part is actually opening the Xbox 360.

[b] Looking inside the unit, you will notice that there are 14 silver screws (6 of which are long) and 8 black screws. Using your torx screw drivers, remove the silver screws using a size T12 screw driver and the black ones using a size T7. Once you have all the screws removed, flip the Xbox 360 right side up and lift up the top plastic shell. You should now be greeted with the internals of the Xbox 360. [/b]

http://www.anandtech.com/systems/showdoc...

This link will show you how to go about taking the shell off.

This comment was edited at 05/15/2007 5:22 PM
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This is the only option I have if i want to play the H3 beta, i'm off to the store to buy some Torx screwdrivers. I tried the Blow Dryer method and that didn't work, hopefully this one does the trick.
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sounds pretty user-friendly.
"MGS4 it is, without a doubt, one of the greatest games of all time". -Gamepro
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Its actually pretty easy to do once you get past the "holy @#%# I can't believe I'm opening this console what if I screw it up?" ? =P

I'm a lot more nervous opening a console than I am opening a computer. Then again its the essentially the same thing only they're usually tougher to get open :)
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hey optimus Death Note is good, I saw the first episode thought it was Okay then saw the second episode and thought it was good, L is a fascinating character, going to watch the 3rd episode tomorrow.

This comment was edited at 05/15/2007 10:35 PM
"GUY"s are stupid. EMO_GUY needs to cut himself.
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#6 consoles are more fragile imo : / opening a console reminds me of opening a laptop up. Scares the crap outa me.
"MGS4 it is, without a doubt, one of the greatest games of all time". -Gamepro
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Tried it, thought it was going to work, but no luck here. Horrible build quality from Foxconn + Microsoft. It was fun while it lasted. However, I just went out and bought a ps3, damn this thing is quiet.
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That is sort of hard to believe that you actually did that then went out and bought a PS3 in 5 hours of this post being made, but if it's true, all the more power to you anesh.

P.S. 55 Minutes til Halo 3 Beta!

This comment was edited at 05/15/2007 11:05 PM
"GUY"s are stupid. EMO_GUY needs to cut himself.
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lol let me post some pictures i'll be back
and btw the HALO3 beta will be released 5:00 am tomorrow morning

This comment was edited at 05/15/2007 11:10 PM
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Did you run it without the fans for atleast 2 minutes and did you see the 2 red lights on the left side light up which indicate the box was overheating? You gotta do that to give the solder points time to repair themselves.

Thats weird it worked on my friend's 360 and for quite a few other people as well. Same #8.

Are the nylon washers the first thing touching the motherboard on either side?

This comment was edited at 05/15/2007 11:47 PM
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I would never do anything to void a warranty on an expensive piece of hardware. Anyone that does is either 100% fine with the fact that $400 just went down the drain, or completely retarded.
"MGS4 it is, without a doubt, one of the greatest games of all time". -Gamepro
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Yea I ran it for 2 minutes, got the overheating 2 red lights. and the washers are there, the mobo can't be shorting out. It still gives me the 3 red lights.

I bought my 360 the first day it came out, it has a manufacturer's Date of 10/27/2005. It was inevitable. I knew one day it was going to happen, and it did, I just don't see why it had to be right before the halo 3 beta :(

I wonder if the Elite still uses the x-clamp.

This comment was edited at 05/15/2007 11:47 PM
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#15 don't say that!! Optimus will never let his launch 360 die.

I still can't believe you actually did all that after that post was made same-day lol. You don't procrastinate, do you?

This comment was edited at 05/16/2007 12:47 AM
"GUY"s are stupid. EMO_GUY needs to cut himself.
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Haha mine still going strong and I hope it stays that way, but I expect things like this when you are an early adopter so this is exactly why I paid that extra $50 at best buy to get a 2 year warranty.

And even if my warranty does expire thanks to some very nice MS employees on my Xbox Live friends list that I play with often they'd make sure I get a new one :D

Yea Pepper L INSTANTLY drew me into the anime he owned him so hard with that tactic he used lol. I love it like i said it impresses you with acts of intelligence rather than your typical fight scenes.

Oh and HALO 3 RELEASE DATE SEPT 25th!!!

This comment was edited at 05/16/2007 1:25 AM
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anesh

putting computer-parts on a carpet like this makes me wanna slap you all around the world...
posting crap on gotfrag is my life http://img134.imageshack.us/my.php?image=..
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I didn't even notice that in his picture #18.
"GUY"s are stupid. EMO_GUY needs to cut himself.
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I originally had a cardboard box that was under it, but I threw it away, that picture was after I determined that there is no hope for this puppy. And plus the exterior of the insides of the console is an aluminum/metal thingy, the motherboard isn't sitting directly on the carpet.
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im not sure how old this forum is but i think i found a fix for the red ring of death for the xbox 360.

first you will have to overheat your xbox to get it to work, then leave your xbox on for weeks and weeks and weeks......i just turned my xbox off last night after leaving it on for close to a month now and woke up this morning and turned it on and sure enough it turned on with no complications. im not too sure how long this fix will last but i will surely update if the redness comes back.....

it would be nice to spread the news if any of you guys are on other forums. this is the first game forum ive ever signed up for and im most likely not gonna sign up on another one.

peace
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if it works then good fix but instead of waiting weeks/months for it to fix itself you could just send it in and wait like 8-9 days ;)
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I got a red ring of death so I punched it on the side and it worked :)
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wheres optimus now?
#mRevolution
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last i heard, jail happened and then... disappeared. he's sorely missed though.

:(
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JAIL?>
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possession.
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25 TO LIFE MAN 25 TO LIFE
"You have no dignity."