360 Issues thread

[Pilotwings]

Why what internet guide did you follow to fix your 360's?

[dannywhac]

Done quite a few repairs for peeps over the last year n' half (not really surprising due to the reliability of the x-clamps and the solder joint quality on the GPU...).

Found the best and only real fix to be that recommended by RBJTech (cheers RBJ ) at this site here.

Basically what you need to do is replace the x-clamps by dremeling the original heatsinks and adding nuts, bolts and washers to form a clamp that 'clamps' from the outside of the chips (ie the reverse of the existing x-clamp setup) using the case as a stable base to stop any further departing of the m'board and chipset from each other and remaking the broken coldsolder joints on the GPU (generally isn't the CPU).

Also, cut away the honeycomb metal casing where the fans expell air from the case (leave the plastic outer case alone), and add the air divider as recommended on RBJTech's site - it makes a hell of a difference in airflow and allows the GPU more cooling - you can also add better fans (although this is personal preference - news fans = more noise ).

However, I don't recommend these fixes if you still have MS warranty on your box, as you have to open the case to do these......just send it back to MS and hope you get a Falcon chipset back

[stainboy]

Well mine's still alive but still doing the 2 red light thing, today it gave me barely any time to even start a game!

[anephric]

Although they only lasted a year before dying, the Whisper fans I stuck in certainly gave good airflow and were quieter than my OEM fans (although there are two types in 360s, aren't there?).

[Myth]

Console number 4 off to Microsoft once they come and collect.

Lucky for me my brother rarely plays his 360 so he's lending me his core unit which means I'm still going to have one to play

[tonyk100]

I'm just sending off mine for the 3rd time, after chatting to the bloke about the labels etc, I mentioned being a bit unhappy about missing out on the free game this week after the live troubles at Christmas he mentioned a free game or accessory then listed

Games
PGR3
Kameo
Viva Pintia
VP Party Animals
Forza 2
PD0

then Accessories
Wireless Controller
Wireless Headset
Plug & Charge kit

I was rather chuffed to be honest (went for Forza although I knew it was probably one of the cheapest options for them)

Not getting 800 points or Undertow though (would have like points for REZ HD tbt), but I was still impressed, it is a good console I like the available games, the realiability is poor but Microsoft at least make it easy. (my previous returned consoles have had 1 month live free as well)

[Alex_976]

I'm just sending off mine for the 3rd time, after chatting to the bloke about the labels etc, I mentioned being a bit unhappy about missing out on the free game this week after the live troubles at Christmas he mentioned a free game or accessory then listed

Games
PGR3
Kameo
Viva Pintia
VP Party Animals
Forza 2
PD0

then Accessories
Wireless Controller
Wireless Headset
Plug & Charge kit

I was rather chuffed to be honest (went for Forza although I knew it was probably one of the cheapest options for them)

Not getting 800 points or Undertow though (would have like points for REZ HD tbt), but I was still impressed, it is a good console I like the available games, the realiability is poor but Microsoft at least make it easy. (my previous returned consoles have had 1 month live free as well)

I've been trying all morning to get this but they aint budging. Just got my console back from repair today. I don't really want any of these or even undertow but free stuff is free stuff.
I'll try again later.

[tonyk100]

It was my third time returning a red ring of death console, maybe that was what swung it I was put on hold for 2 minutes while he 'talked to a supervisor'

Good luck - but don't tell them I sent you

[Mada]

Just got off the phone to the helpline after being plagued with dirty disc errors (+ its other forms), just to see if they would fix it without me paying ?80 as I thought that disc read errors are outside of the extended warranty.
First bloke was helpful and once I explained the situation he just said try without the hard drive, and a different user profile then phone back if there's still problems. HDD came off - no way to create a user profile! I went to play a game and got the "please insert into a 360 console to play this disc" message - cue a wry smile.
Phoned back and got through after a couple of minute wait to a nice lady, reference given and the problem explained again and she says its covered by the warranty, I mentioned it being my 2nd console and she put me on hold for some reason, came back and offered me any of the above games/accessories, I was stunned! Don't want any of the games or need any of the accessories but went for another wireless controller in the end. She said turnaround is 2-3 weeks at the moment.
Really shoddy hardware but my experiences with customer support have been surprisingly pleasant, both sounded American so at least language isn't a problem.

[Gouk]

even Elite's are not reliable..
well i'm not sure about all this Falcon business being more reliable ok granted their is no guarantee my elite was a falcon but it didn't prevent the 3 rrod I got 2 weeks ago note this was a brand new console manufactured in August 2007 - bought in September. Still waiting for MS to get it repaired & sent back...

I hate the reliability of 360s - Will they ever produce a 360 that wont break down easily?

[dannywhac]

even Elite's are not reliable..
well i'm not sure about all this Falcon business being more reliable ok granted their is no guarantee my elite was a falcon but it didn't prevent the 3 rrod I got 2 weeks ago note this was a brand new console manufactured in August 2007 - bought in September. Still waiting for MS to get it repaired & sent back...

I hate the reliability of 360s - Will they ever produce a 360 that wont break down easily?

You'd know if your Elite was a Falcon if it had a 175watt power supply rather than the usual 220watt - admittedly if the manufacture quality doesn't increase then the same problems will return (see Bunnies article on the chip solder points after an ink flow test ).

[capcom_suicide]

You'd know if your Elite was a Falcon if it had a 175watt power supply rather than the usual 220watt - admittedly if the manufacture quality doesn't increase then the same problems will return (see Bunnies article on the chip solder points after an ink flow test ).

It's 203 Watt.

Also some elites shipped with 203 watt PSU's but Falcon chipsets. If you can see a coper heatsink tube, you have Zepher. No copper = Falcon.

Of course since about Nov all machines that have been supplied with Falcon have 175watt on the box.

I have an Elite with Zepher (Built OCT 2007) and an arcade with Falcon (Built Nov 2007) Both with BenQ DVD drives.

Both are as loud as each other, but DVD's are noticibly cooler on the Arcade after extended use.

[dannywhac]

'parrently some of the Falcons have 203w on the box but 175w supplies inside, just to add to the confusion.....
Still doesn't alter the fact that if MS skimp on manufacture they're gonna fail ( linky to Bunnies article....)

[NecronomiconUK]

'parrently some of the Falcons have 203w on the box but 175w supplies inside, just to add to the confusion.....
Still doesn't alter the fact that if MS skimp on manufacture they're gonna fail ( linky to Bunnies article....)

I had my first ever red ring a few weeks ago. Had the box for about 10 months as i'd swapped the previous launch unit out for a DVD drive issue. Swapped the xbox in store at Currys without hasstle. The new one had 203w on the box but a 175w power supply and a falcon unit inside. Really happy with my new box, soo much quieter. DVD drive is still fairly audible but when in the dash watching videos or XBLA it's as quiet as I could want.

[Uli]

my "disc not readable or damaged"-errors get more and more frequent. that's very annoying, since this causes my console to return to the dashboard and i lose my progress.

anyone here having the same problems and/or has a solution for it?