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.

When there is a problem within the console, then you will notice that red lights are blinking in the power ring instead of the green light. These are called as the red light error. The Xbox 360 is designed to inform the users the various kinds of error it undergoes during its normal operation. For example, when there is a loose connection between the console and the display, an error message occurs on the screen and also you can see a red light glowing in the power ring. The number of red light differs for each error. It may be one or two or three or even all the four. The lights are arranged in a quadratic ring fashion of four lights. When an error is displayed simultaneously the red light will glow.

TYPES OF ERROR

The one red light error is a normal kind of error. For this you can restart the console and the problem may get solved. Sometimes there may be some technical error like loose connections. When the AV cable is not properly connected then there will be two red lights glowing in the power ring area. The most damaging kind of error is the three red light error. It is commonly known as the “Red Rings of Death” or RRoD. The problem occurs because of the overheating of the console. When the temperature inside the Xbox 360 exceeds the normal withstanding capacity, the components inside gets affected and fails to work properly. This error sometimes may lead to the failure of the entire motherboard. This error is accompanied by three red lights in the power ring. When the error occurs, an error message E 74 is flashed on the screen interrupting the game in the middle. The error mainly affects the graphical processing unit and blocks the display resulting in a black screen without any video output.

METHODS TO SOLVE

There are various methods employed to solve the red light error problems. When the problem occurs you can give your console to the Microsoft service centers. If your console gets repaired within the warranty period, then the repair work is done at free of cost. But, if the warranty period is over then you have to pay for the repairing work. In addition to this when you are sending it to the service centre you have to pay for the shipping charges too. This is considered to be costly and also you need to wait for up to 3 months to get the console back from the service center.

The other way is to repair by our own which is very easy to do. For this there is no need for any complicated devices. A simple screwdriver will do the job for you. There are some video tutorials and repair guides available in the internet. These videos will explain clearly the steps to be done to eliminate the red light error. The advantage is that, you can save over $150 and can complete your repair work within one or two hours. This will also give you a permanent fix which is not guaranteed if you send it to Microsoft. Once finished repairing restart your console and you will observe all the lights are glowing in green color.