“…it just seems that having your XBOX 360 die on you is not a threat, but an inevitability.”
Sometimes I hate being right. I mention the RROD factor in all my XBOX 360 vs. Playstation 3 articles (check our Year 1 and Year 2), but until it happened to me, I didn’t have the true perspective of what a pain in the ass it could be.
And yesterday, on my 30th birthday, my 3-year-2-month-old XBOX 360 decided to RROD on me.
I’m going to spend the day trying to fix it, playing with the X-Clamp. If all goes well, I may document it here. Stay tuned! Will Carl’s XBOX 360 get fixed?
*Update* Unfortunately my efforts were in vain. After 2 attempts at installing the heatsinks using the “X-Clamp Fix Method” (here’s a decent enough guide), I am still getting the RROD. So until further notice, I’ll be PS3 and PC (and Wii) exclusive. Time to play some Trine! I’ll probably pick up an Arcade when some really good 360 exclusives start showing up.
Sorry Carl but no, if it’s a classic RRoD you’re not going to be able to fix it without the help of an automated BGA soldering machine. Real shame you’re just out of warranty too. Hopefully they’ve fixed it in the newer revisions but if not it’d be nice if mine failed before 3 years.
I just finished the re-installation of the heatsinks (it’s easy to see why the X-Bracket system fails so often) and am currently overheating the GPU in an attempt to have it “resolder” itself. Sure, it’s not exactly like using a BGA soldering machine, but it’s the best attempt I can make.
I do have some hope, because before doing this, I did let it sit in RROD mode for a while. The next time it booted up, it did try to get into the dashboard. So there is some potential.
I’ll be booting it up in about 15 minutes and finding out if it worked. Wish me luck!
my friends xbox had the same thing happen & he went ahead & purchased a second. so apparently its quite common. now i want to hear the xbox junkies (im ps3) argue about how it was cheaper in pros v cons. my ps3 runs pretty much all the time & wait…it still works. xbox owners r like far left liberals, even when they no they were and still are wrong they just won’t man up & except defeat.
First attempt didn’t work. I tightened the screws again, this time as tight as they would go. Going to try to ‘bake’ it again and see what happens.
Didn’t work :(
I had a similar issue, it would only sometimes rrod. I took my x-clamps off and just used rubber washers and screws to hold the heat sinks on. I found that if the motherboard bends just slightly it will cause a rrod. Now my xbox is on it’s side with the bottom part of the case off and never had any issues for a while now. a bit ghetto but it works.
oo just on your 30th birthday? that really sucks =O!!