The Xbox 360 was released in the year 2005. Detailed graphics, wireless capability and an enhanced multiplayer networking system gave original Xbox fans something to drool over. However, the bad news is that the console is filled with problems. Some users do not get problems, while others are flooded with them.

One of the more major system problems is one called The Red Ring of Death

What is the Red Ring of Death?

The red ring of death refers the to flashing red lights around the console’s power button. The error message indicates that there is a hardware malfunction within the console. You will not be able to play games or even access the dashboard until it is resolved.

How Can it Be Fixed?

With my experience in gaming I have come up with two solutions. Both of them will solve your problem, but one may work better than the other for some people, it all depends on how you wish to fix it.

• Mail the Console Back to Microsoft – Microsoft repairs hundreds if not thousands of consoles each day. If your console is under warranty then you can have it fixed for free. If it’s not, then you will have to shell out $100 or more in order to have it fixed. Microsoft will not tell you how the problem was resolved and it will take around 4-8 weeks.
• Buy a Repair Guide – Repair guides are a valuable source of information. They cost around $20-$30, but often come with a money back guarantee. If you buy a repair guide you will learn how to diagnose and fix the problems yourself, so if it should ever happen again you will know how to fix it.

The Xbox 360 has a power ring which is nothing but the power button and the lights surrounding the power button. The lights are programmed to blink according the operating conditions of the console. The lights are arranged in a quadratic circle manner as a thin ring around the power button. The lights blink either in green or red depending upon the condition. Also the console is designed to display error messages on the screen when any problems occur within the console. Basically the codes are displayed in an alphanumeric fashion. The light blinks in green color when your console runs without any problem. But, in case any problem occurs it turns to red in color. Apart from this the number of lights glowing during an error also changes. There may be one, two, three or four lights glowing according to the situation.

DESIGN ASPECTS

Basically the hardware runs on two processors that are the CPU and the GPU. These processors are provided with heat sinks to absorb heat radiated from them. The problem now is many Xbox user have complained about hardware failure and also overheating problem of the console. The overheating is because there is no enough air circulation for natural cooling of the processor. Though the motherboard consists of an intercooler, the console is still facing the overheating problem. All these problems aroused because of poor design, insufficient testing and poor ventilation inside the console. This overheating has caused an error in the console. The error E 74 occurs on the screen when the console gets overheated. Also you can observe three red lights will be glowing in the power ring area. This problem is widely known as the ‘Red Ring of Death’ or RRoD.

REPAIRING

The console can be repaired in two ways. One is by giving the console to the Microsoft service centre or else repairing it by your own. Free service is provided by Microsoft for those consoles which are under warranty period. But, for others repairing is charged. One more draw back here is that you need to wait for up to 3 months to get your console back and hence you can’t even see your Xbox for the next three months. Few suggest a method called towel wrapping. This is done to ensure that the weak solder joints in the motherboard gets melted and gets fixed properly when you wrap a towel around the console and made it to run for an hour. But hardware experts say that by performing this kind of technique will damage the components in the mere future.

EASY WAY TO REPAIR:

The simple and the easiest method to solve this problem is by repairing the console by your own. For this you need to watch some videos from the internet which gives you a step by step instruction to repair the console. The main objective is that you need to remove the X clamp from the motherboard that supports the heat sinks. After which the heat sinks are fixed back in their appropriate positions with the help of a screw and blot. This ensures that your processor gets enough air and gets cooled naturally. The main advantage in this method is that you can do the repairing work within one or two hours so that it gets ready on the same day and you can start playing your favorite game.

Red light errors are nothing but the pre-programmed error messages that are setup in the memory of the Xbox 360 console and are made to pop up whenever there is a problem in the working of the console. These messages will help the users to know where the error has occurred. The error messages are in the form of alphanumeric codes. Each and every kind of red light error has its own code so that the users can also understand and solve the problem.

Red Rings of Death

There are many red light errors like the single red light, two red lights, three red lights and four red lights error. Out of these four types, the “Three Red Light Error” is the most dangerous one because only in this type there is possibility of the console’s hardware being damaged to the maximum level if left unnoticed. The Three Red Light error is otherwise known as the “Red Ring of Death” or simply as RRoD. The name is because they signify its hardware death.

Reason

Main reason for the three red light error to occur is the cooling problem. The heat sinks function is to cool the surrounding air when the air passes by its grills. The temperature inside the console due to its compact packing and hence the cooling was not sufficient. As a result the processors below the heat sink are getting affected. Out of the two important processors the graphical processing unit is the most affected area because of this problem. So whenever the problem arises, immediately there might be problem with the display. This clearly shows that there is a fault in the cooling system of the Xbox 360 console.

Solution

The three red light error can be solved by slightly repairing the hardware. The main objective is to provide adequate cooling to the motherboard. The possibilities of providing cooling to the system are by adding an additional inter cooler to the system and by removing the X clamps.

The repairing can be also done by giving the console to the Microsoft service center. But you need to wait for 4 to 12 weeks depending upon the number of incoming consoles. Microsoft won’t repair modded consoles at any cost. For this you need to get a repairing guide from the internet. These guides will help us to solve the red light errors. These guides are video tutorials so that they will explain the steps to be taken while repairing the console.

Instead, you can repair your console in your home with the help of repair videos which are available in the internet. The advantage in repairing the console on your own is that the cost of repairing is less and the time taken will be just an hour or two.

The Xbox 360 is a video game console where multimedia game software can be installed and played in the console. Now-a-days, almost all the devices that are built today are designed with the latest technologies available in the market. These technologies have reduced the size of the gadgets and showcases improved features in them. The Xbox type consoles are the latest consoles that are built with advance processors. The processors working speed is much greater than that of a personnel computer. With advance graphical processors the multimedia games looks great and looks very real. Though there is much applause for these devices, feedbacks from users are not satisfactory. The reason is the hardware problems in the console. Such a case has been reported with the Microsoft’s Xbox 360.

FEEDBACKS FROM USERS

Xbox 360 was introduced in the market in the year 2005. Since then many changes were made within the consoles hardware. Even the Xbox 360 comes with three different types of motherboards. The latest motherboard pattern has been reported with major hardware problem. The users have complained about the consoles overheating problems. The console gets overheated within a short period of time and pops up an error message on the screen. This error is accompanied with glowing of red lights in the power ring area. The error is known among gamers as the “Three Red Light Error”. This is also famously known as the “Red Ring of Death” or RRoD.

RED LIGHT ERRORS

The console is programmed to display error messages to the users then and there. When any problem occurs, the console operation is interrupted and an error message is displayed on the screen along with red light glowing in the power ring. The power ring is a thin ring shaped LED lights placed around the power button. There are totally four LED lights placed in four quadrants. The number of lights glowing during an error depends upon the type of the error. Generally, the number varies from error to error. The three red light error occurs because of the overheating of the console. The console consists of heat sinks which are placed over the processors to cool the hot air that are radiated from the region. The heat sink collects the hot air and cools them. The heat sinks are attached to the motherboard by means of two X clamps beneath the motherboard in order to give a firm support. Apart from the three red light error there are also other red light errors. These errors are not considered as serious as the 3 red light error as they do not cause much damage to the motherboard when compared to that of the three red light error.

REMEDIES

The possible solution to this problem is to provide enough air supply to the console, so that they always run in a cool environment. You can send your console to Microsoft by paying around $125 for the repair work and you need to wait for up to 3 months. Recently, many have tried to repair the console on their own with the help of a repairing videos and guides. These video guides are available in the internet and you can watch them and repair your console on your own with the help of normal household tools. These videos will be dealing about the various ways with which you can repair your Xbox and also about the removal of the X clamps from the motherboard. This is highly recommended by gamers instead of sending the console back to Microsoft.