360 Hardware Failure

[PricklyPete]

The fact that my Xbox 360 bit the dust this weekend is really not news worthy as obviously a lot of people have had this problem. The only reason I'm posting this is that I've responded several times on this forum regarding the quality issues that neither I nor any of my friends (8+) who have 360's have had any issues with our systems...well I'm officially the first one of us to get the 3 red rings of death.

I'm bummed that I won't have a system for the next couple of weeks. I almost went out and bought a second one just to have as a second system upstairs...but I held back. I then contemplated getting a PS3...and then realized there were no games I'm all that interested in for the $500. I think I'm going to just stick with playing my old Xbox (need to brush up on Halo and Halo 2) until I get the system back.

 

[agibby5]

Not to be cynical, but when I read your posts in this thread, I thought you were overexaggerating... I never knew 8 people who had 100% unaffected 360s.

 

[purbeast0]

Heh when my 360 broke, I too went and tried to play my Xbox again. I would play Halo 2 often, and I tried to play burnout 3.

But my 360 broke a few weeks after I had burnout revenge on the Xbox360, and man the graphics on Burnout 3 for normal Xbox just looked so awful when I went back. It was just crazy because I remember when Burnout 3 came out for Xbox it was one of the greatest looking games for the system.

 

[PricklyPete]

Originally posted by: agibby5
Not to be cynical, but when I read your posts in this thread, I thought you were overexaggerating... I never knew 8 people who had 100% unaffected 360s.

I can understand. It was hard for me to believe all of the stories I heard on the net just because I had never experienced any problems with mine or any of my friends...and I had had mine for a year and a half. I looked at the actual receipt and I bought it on February 2, 2006...and it had been manufactured on 1/03/2006. So it was an early version. I thought I had bought it a month or two later but apparently I was wrong.

I eagerly await a working console again. I didn't realize how much I used the 360 (as a media extender and game machine) until it was gone.

 

[PricklyPete]

Originally posted by: purbeast0
Heh when my 360 broke, I too went and tried to play my Xbox again. I would play Halo 2 often, and I tried to play burnout 3.

But my 360 broke a few weeks after I had burnout revenge on the Xbox360, and man the graphics on Burnout 3 for normal Xbox just looked so awful when I went back. It was just crazy because I remember when Burnout 3 came out for Xbox it was one of the greatest looking games for the system.

yeah...I imagine the graphics are going to be bad. I think I'm going to take this opportunity to finally mod the old guy and use it as a Media hub as well....I'll definitely get use out of that upstairs once I'm done.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Sorry to hear you have joined a large and growing club, full of members that wish they weren't members.

I also hope the significant number of ATers that have suffered RRoD will silence those that blame the owners for the failure. It amazes me they have the audacity to site reasons such as putting it in a enclosed space/restricted airflow situation, moving it while on, ect. to a forum filled with both professionals from every tech sector, and enthusiasts, with extensive knowledge and experience in the proper care and operation of things hardware tech related. The observance of which, is 2nd nature to most of us. MS would not have extended the RRoD warranty to 3yrs were that the case either. I personally expect to see some sort of owner friendly policy regarding the drive issues to also emerge.

About the modding, I don't keep up with the current mod chips and software, but I know my old xecuter2 modded xbox is not allowed on XBL, just a heads up in case you were planning to use it for that.

 

[tatteredpotato]

Hey, at least it broke now, so you should hopefully get it back before the big holiday rush, and you'll probably even get that extra heat sink.

 

[agibby5]

Originally posted by: PricklyPete

Originally posted by: agibby5
Not to be cynical, but when I read your posts in this thread, I thought you were overexaggerating... I never knew 8 people who had 100% unaffected 360s.

I can understand. It was hard for me to believe all of the stories I heard on the net just because I had never experienced any problems with mine or any of my friends...and I had had mine for a year and a half. I looked at the actual receipt and I bought it on February 2, 2006...and it had been manufactured on 1/03/2006. So it was an early version. I thought I had bought it a month or two later but apparently I was wrong.

I eagerly await a working console again. I didn't realize how much I used the 360 (as a media extender and game machine) until it was gone.

Needless to say, I am sorry for you

 

[Oyeve]

This is my 3rd. Been sent back twice. So far so good. I'm happy about the 3 years warranty but I feel it's just a matter of time before it has to back yet again. Last return took over a month.

 

[Queasy]

My launch 360 was replaced after the first mandatory patch before the first Spring Update. The replacement has been running well for the last year and a half. My 2nd 360 has been running fine.

I can only hope that they both get the RROD at such a time as I can get a 65nm 360 as a replacement. :laugh:

 

[Fingolfin269]

I'm in the same boat as you OP without the failure part. I don't know anyone personally, other than someone in my WoW guild, who has had the red ring of death. I have no doubt it is the system's fault so I hope no one reads too much into this post. I finally scored Fifa World Cup and have a feeling the system is going to get pushed harder now than it ever has so we'll see how I stand in a month...

 

[PricklyPete]

Originally posted by: DAPUNISHER
Sorry to hear you have joined a large and growing club, full of members that wish they weren't members.

I also hope the significant number of ATers that have suffered RRoD will silence those that blame the owners for the failure. It amazes me they have the audacity to site reasons such as putting it in a enclosed space/restricted airflow situation, moving it while on, ect. to a forum filled with both professionals from every tech sector, and enthusiasts, with extensive knowledge and experience in the proper care and operation of things hardware tech related. The observance of which, is 2nd nature to most of us. MS would not have extended the RRoD warranty to 3yrs were that the case either. I personally expect to see some sort of owner friendly policy regarding the drive issues to also emerge.

About the modding, I don't keep up with the current mod chips and software, but I know my old xecuter2 modded xbox is not allowed on XBL, just a heads up in case you were planning to use it for that.

Yeah...I never thought it was the users as much as I just thought that it was a group that was just speaking particularly loud...with MS going to the 3 year warranty...obviously those people complaining had a point. Now that I've gotten the problem...it only drove home the point more.

 

[PricklyPete]

Originally posted by: BlameCanada
Hey, at least it broke now, so you should hopefully get it back before the big holiday rush, and you'll probably even get that extra heat sink.

Very glad it happened now and not later as I would have been really pissed if it happened right in the middle of playing through Mass Effect I am a bit bummed I won't be able to play some DiRT against friends for the next few weeks (I hope it doesn't take a month).

 

[PricklyPete]

Originally posted by: Queasy
My launch 360 was replaced after the first mandatory patch before the first Spring Update. The replacement has been running well for the last year and a half. My 2nd 360 has been running fine.

I can only hope that they both get the RROD at such a time as I can get a 65nm 360 as a replacement. :laugh:

A girl who works for me has had hers since launch day...and still is having no problems with it...pretty amazing. I sure hope they've improved whatever fix they have going so that this won't happen again...although I wouldn't mind going through a month of agony to get a 65mm version sometime next year.

So can I just plug my old hard drive back in when I get the new machine back or will I have any DRM issues?

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: PricklyPete
So can I just plug my old hard drive back in when I get the new machine back or will I have any DRM issues?

With the replacement 360, as long as you are signed in to the gamertag that purchased whatever content you have on the HDD (arcade games, tv shows, etc) you'll be able to use them no problem.

You may want to take an inventory of what you have purchased and call MS support to give you credit for the games you have purchased. That way they can be tied to the new console as well just in case.

 

[CPA]

Mine went with GHII, but it took some time. Did the XBracket fix, replaced the chip thermal paste with my own and haven't had a problem since.

 

[Yreka]

Originally posted by: PricklyPete

Originally posted by: Queasy
My launch 360 was replaced after the first mandatory patch before the first Spring Update. The replacement has been running well for the last year and a half. My 2nd 360 has been running fine.

I can only hope that they both get the RROD at such a time as I can get a 65nm 360 as a replacement. :laugh:

A girl who works for me has had hers since launch day...and still is having no problems with it...pretty amazing. I sure hope they've improved whatever fix they have going so that this won't happen again...although I wouldn't mind going through a month of agony to get a 65mm version sometime next year.

So can I just plug my old hard drive back in when I get the new machine back or will I have any DRM issues?

How often does she play it though ?

IME, it seems like the failures are almost directly linked to the hours played. For instance, my bro in law has a launch console, it only gets turned on a couple times per month. It is still working fine.

My launch console lasted almost a year. I played it maybe 20-30 hrs per month.

Couple other guys at work ( FPS-halo type dudes) are always on XBLive, probably play 5-8 hrs per day. Both of those guys claim to go through a console every 3-4 months.

 

[DaveSimmons]

If the main cause of redrings is the solder cracking, though MS hasn't admitted anything, then the number of on/off cycles could matter most, not how many hours the 360 was used while on. Some people have had redrings with very light use, so it's still no guarantee of safety.

Hopefully MS has looked at this carefully enough that the 65nm Reliable Edition will fully fix the issue.

 

[PricklyPete]

Originally posted by: Yreka

Originally posted by: PricklyPete

Originally posted by: Queasy
My launch 360 was replaced after the first mandatory patch before the first Spring Update. The replacement has been running well for the last year and a half. My 2nd 360 has been running fine.

I can only hope that they both get the RROD at such a time as I can get a 65nm 360 as a replacement. :laugh:

A girl who works for me has had hers since launch day...and still is having no problems with it...pretty amazing. I sure hope they've improved whatever fix they have going so that this won't happen again...although I wouldn't mind going through a month of agony to get a 65mm version sometime next year.

So can I just plug my old hard drive back in when I get the new machine back or will I have any DRM issues?

How often does she play it though ?

IME, it seems like the failures are almost directly linked to the hours played. For instance, my bro in law has a launch console, it only gets turned on a couple times per month. It is still working fine.

My launch console lasted almost a year. I played it maybe 20-30 hrs per month.

Couple other guys at work ( FPS-halo type dudes) are always on XBLive, probably play 5-8 hrs per day. Both of those guys claim to go through a console every 3-4 months.

She and her husband play fairly regularly...maybe not quite as much as my wife and I do (a couple hours a day with media extender usage)...but pretty close. Still working...but I do agree that the problems I've heard online seem to line up with the hours used.

 

[PricklyPete]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
If the main cause of redrings is the solder cracking, though MS hasn't admitted anything, then the number of on/off cycles could matter most, not how many hours the 360 was used while on. Some people have had redrings with very light use, so it's still no guarantee of safety.

Hopefully MS has looked at this carefully enough that the 65nm Reliable Edition will fully fix the issue.

I'm sure it is the absolute most critical design priority for the next major manufacturing iteration of the console. This isn't just giving MS bad press...it's hitting their pocket books...so I'm sure they are as anxious to address it as we are to have a reliable console.

 

[Thraxen]

Originally posted by: agibby5
Not to be cynical, but when I read your posts in this thread, I thought you were overexaggerating... I never knew 8 people who had 100% unaffected 360s.

I'm still in that boat. The only places I've ever seen the RRoD in person is in kiosks. I know a fair number of people with 360s and no one has a failed system yet.

 

[hans030390]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
If the main cause of redrings is the solder cracking, though MS hasn't admitted anything, then the number of on/off cycles could matter most, not how many hours the 360 was used while on. Some people have had redrings with very light use, so it's still no guarantee of safety.

Hopefully MS has looked at this carefully enough that the 65nm Reliable Edition will fully fix the issue.

Hehe...that would be funny if that was the actual label for the system.

Buy the Xbox 360 Reliable Edition today!