What to do when you get RRoD? (official RRoD thread) [Archive]

XboxEvolved

10-07-2007, 05:29 PM

Everything rrod goes here for now on.

So normally I am playing Halo 3 like Sylvester Stallone arm wrestles in over the top--for custody of some kids. Well I have always downplayed the whole Red Ring of Death thing, but the truth is, I have had problems with my first 360 before..in fact,my first 360 was bad before Xbox 360 even officially launched in United States. The problem with that Xbox 360 however is incredibly rare, my Xbox 360 couldn't detect Xbox Live. I alerted the proper people of this and I received a brand new Xbox 360 that worked fine.

That Xbox 360 to this day works fine, and in fact I gave it to my little brother whom enjoys it throughly. I got another Xbox 360 for myself, one made in 2006, my old one was made in 2005. It would have a few problems here and there, and since Halo 3, it mysteriously will not work at all, and I am now down to the point where it has ceased to function in any proper manner. I did the "towel trick" and punched it a few times, which actually got the thing to turn on, but it would freeze up with a patteren of butt fuckery shortly thereafter.

I put one of my 360 debug XDK updates in there to see what it would do, and for a minute it did strange things like turn on but not show the screen, then it reverted back to it's bullshittery of not wanting to work at all.

I believe this has to do with a few issues as to why my Xbox 360 has ceased to function properly:

1- the GPU: If i had to guess it is the GPU; sometimes when I plug the AV out from the retail to the debug, and retail back I get strange errors.

2- I also get the whole weird static thing, the heat sink is also bad, I took a picture of it from the outside only to reveal that it wasn't dark like some sites suggest, but there was space in there, suggesting that yeah, my 360 was doomed to die eventually.

3- Halo 3, I don't really want to get into massive details but the irony of the best game on next-gen right now destroying Xbox 360s (and over half of my friends are getting some kind of errors maybe not always RRoD but errors) is pretty fucking sad. Sadly, I think Halo 3 is what pushed my 360 to the edge of RRoD and now Im stuck here pissed.

So yeah, I'm writing an editorial about shit you can do while your box is in repairs for RRoD..look for it soon

IEatFriedPikmin

10-07-2007, 05:55 PM

Great idea for an article. Fortunately I have a friend who doesn't play his 360... he let me borrow his.

But during the time that I didn't have it, I caught up on some of my Wii games that I never beat. I was also able to focus on school better.

XboxEvolved

10-07-2007, 05:58 PM

Here is a video that will accompany the article.

458FtV_AFSw

woundingchaney

10-08-2007, 12:08 AM

Well honestly John I feel bad for enjoying that brief demonstration of RROD.

"What the hell, what the hell, what the hell"

Good addition man.

IEatFriedPikmin

10-08-2007, 12:11 AM

What are all those markings on your faceplate?

BigfootGus

10-08-2007, 12:13 AM

master chief dont give a fuck

XboxEvolved

10-08-2007, 12:17 AM

The markings? They are for this:

NfGmyek1PiM

dork

10-08-2007, 03:18 AM

well that's nice of her.

XboxEvolved

10-08-2007, 03:44 AM

Yes it is nice of her, and I would like to hear what everybody has to say about their own RRoD experiences and make a list, or suggestions of how to pass the time while their "trusty" Xbox 360 is off in some foreign land being worked on, where the person working on it probably doesn't have electricity in the first place.

Dakota Grabowski

10-09-2007, 06:34 PM

What to do when your 360 is in for repair (http://xboxevolved.e-mpire.com/article/Xbox_360/4171.html) by John Olin - Xbox Evolved Director.

IEatFriedPikmin

10-09-2007, 07:06 PM

I don't think it is fair to blame Halo 3. Millions of people are playing Halo 3. Many 360 owners haven't actively played their 360 owners this much....due to an increase of people playing their 360s, there will definitely be an increase in people having issues with the RRoD.

I guess it may be somehow possible (although I don't understand how a game can cause a hardware malfunction...which is what the RRoD means)...

Also in the intro... it is "too," not "to."

I tend to not be such a grammar nazi, but when it comes to written articles, I believe that kind of stuff is important.

=NukeBlaze=

10-09-2007, 07:28 PM

http://forums.e-mpire.com/showpost.php?p=1504466&postcount=19

JasonXe

10-09-2007, 07:30 PM

I don't think it is fair to blame Halo 3. Millions of people are playing Halo 3. Many 360 owners haven't actively played their 360 owners this much....due to an increase of people playing their 360s, there will definitely be an increase in people having issues with the RRoD. .

I tried to explain that to John and I think he understood. The same thing happened with Gears of War and Forza which in user response (complaint) caused a warranty. A game cannot crash the 360 hardware, only the 360 fuck up design can do that. You'll see the same complaints when Mass Effect comes out about the same issue where talking about now.

Btw, (on the list) A Wii is a great alternative if your 360 gets a rrod. Its a good way to pass time and good fast food entertainment.

NoZ

10-09-2007, 08:11 PM

That is one ballin ass 360 faceplace!

Master Chief doesnt care about blac... 360s

XboxEvolved

10-09-2007, 09:54 PM

Yeah I don't think he cares about black people either. Did Master Chief give a fuck when Sgt Johnson died? No.

Actually Master Chief dont give a shit about anything..

IEatFriedPikmin

10-09-2007, 09:55 PM

... accept being a BAMF

JasonXe

10-09-2007, 10:11 PM

Master Chief has had cyber sex with cortana. Cyber sex > real life sex. Susposly their is a leak video of them doing it.

XboxEvolved

10-09-2007, 10:13 PM

I am not convinced that Halo 3 has nothing to do with the destruction or malfunction of Xbox 360 systems. Allow me to list some examples:

I have 3 personal friends that have had their Xbox 360 systems for about a year, all of them for some reason or another LOVE FFXI and Far Cry Instincts, and they play them constantly. One friend, whom has played his Xbox 360 the most, plays Halo 3 a lot, more than the other two. His Xbox 360 is completely fine, and he never experiences problems. This is most common amongst 360 owners, otherwise, more and more people wouldn't be just brushing this problem aside

The other friend typically plays more causually, barely has played Halo 3 half as much as me or the other friend (one of the ones I quote in my Halo 3 bricking article) and will receive DRE mid-game in Halo 3, and can't even load certain levels. He will not receive DRE errors or errors in ANY OTHER GAMES (as he still plays Far Cry alot). This is a common problem that I have found upon research

The other friend receives DRE, the occasional RRoD, and at first only got DRE in Halo 3, now he gets it in other games, and even in demos he plays on the 360 HD. This is how my problems began.

Now my 360 went into these RRoD "fits" two seperate times before it completely died. I went on a 2 day hiatus of playing 360 and came back from playing it on my own account at a friends, recovered my account on the 360, and my gf I guess was playing Catan or something. Well then I loaded in Halo 3; freezes. I take out Halo 3, HD, etc, I go through all the tests to guage my 360. it has since RRoDed. This is a rare problem, and I do not directly account Halo 3 as being the complete cause of RRoD, rather a catalyst that sends the 360 to permanent RRoD

I have one other friend whom JUST GOT his 360, brand new, with Halo 3. Granted, Halo 3 is the only game he has, but he gets random DRE errors in game, while trying to load the game, the 360 says its a DVD, etc, etc. this is a problem quite a few people are having actually.

On a bungie.net forum thread over 614 (including myself) have claimed to have had some kind of hardware problems since getting Halo 3, almost all of them fit into the issues my friends are having above. Now if 614 of the most hardcore Halo players are having this problem, and this is just a small cross section, how many gamers do you actually think could be having this issue?

Just a thought.

JasonXe

10-09-2007, 10:29 PM

There are about the same or more forza 2 & Gears players with the same problems that people are experiencing on bungie.net as on Forzamotorsport.net forums and others. When Forza 2 came out, I complained on the forza board along with a 88 page complaint list that other people wrote on. It was so bad that the forum mod decided to delete it or move it to a private section. I even wrote a news column (http://xboxevolved.e-mpire.com/article/Forza_Motorsport_2/3902.html) about it and similar news was posted around the net. The Halo problem isn't going to get any attention because they are already doing something about it; replacing Xbox 360s. At the moment the forza communities complain, there was no warranty in placed and customers felt screwed b/c there was no other resort.

When I had my rrod problem, I reacted the same way as you; it was the Forza that killed my 360. But now seeing that Halo also has this problem, I can see a different view that this is just a cycle and Forza alone didn't killed my 360 or any other software could have. It just the fuck up 360 hardware design and was a matter of time before it bricked on me. If you’re waiting for something to be done by MS, then there is none. Bungie can't do anything because there is no coding in Halo 3 that caused or to stop a hardware failure. The most MS can do is admit that they have faulty hardware and apologize to consumer who have this problem. There is nothing wrong with Halo 3 that can cause your halo 3 to brick. The only thing I can see that causes DRE is the scratches on the halo 3 disc (http://www.informationweek.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=202101826). Even then that isn't Bungie or halo 3 problems because they don't manufacturer the disc. And if scratches on a cd can cause a console to brick then the xbox 360 (not Halo 3) has to be the shittest hardware console ever.

D3adcell

10-09-2007, 11:08 PM

I have to say that article needs to be fixed. You can not blame the RRoD on a game and then tell users to not buy the game because there is a problem with it. That is bullshit. The game doesn't even install anything on your 360 other then save files and films. So how is it going to destroy your 360? It would have to either have a virus in the game (which how the hell is anyone going to program a virus for a gaming consoles OS), or some how corrupt the bios of the 360 (which once again is not happening).

Your 360 has a hardware malfunction, software does not cause hardware problems. I always hate those articles when people bitch and say that a game messed up their 360 because it is completely ignorant and makes you sound like a technological fool.

I could say that my PS2 stopped reading discs when i started playing socom II. But it wasn't the games fault, it was the dvd lens being dirty. Yeah so thats the game I was playing at the time that it happened. It's not a reason to blame the game, it was going to happen sooner or later no matter which game I was playing at the time.

There is NO evidence of Halo 3 bricking 360's, none.

People that are playing Halo 3 get a RRoD is not evidence. Who knows maybe you can be watching a DVD and then get a RRoD, is it then that DVD's fault? Lets stop trying to put the blame elsewhere and put it on microsoft for the horrible cooling system, where the problem is caused.

Ok how about another example. Driving your car and it breaks down, what are you going to do, bitch and say "Fuck this street, it caused my car to break down". Was going to happen sooner or later, just learn to accept it. Send it in and get it repaired.

IEatFriedPikmin

10-09-2007, 11:17 PM

Yep... you need hard evidence. As far as I know software can't physically damage your hardware. Unless Microsoft is mistaken on what the 3 red lights mean, then Halo 3 ruining 360s is simply implausible.

Edit: Kotaku is reporting the issue... not blaming halo 3, but just covering how users are blaming halo 3 on the RRoD. They aren't really taking a side:
http://kotaku.com/gaming/defective/halo-3-disc-read-errors-rampant-304600.php

JasonXe

10-09-2007, 11:48 PM

Ok how about another example. Driving your car and it breaks down, what are you going to do, bitch and say "Fuck this street, it caused my car to break down".

Ok so what happen if there was a huge pot hole in the middle of the street HUH HUHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! lol . Maybe we can view each game as a pothole, each game played causes your lemon of a 360 to break down (Overheat) futher. 360 hardware design sucks major balls and that all there to it. 360= lemon but it great on everything else. Lotr is on the marketplace next week so I'm gonna watch that.

Btw, When Mass Effect comes out, your gonna see the same complaints.

NoZ

10-09-2007, 11:53 PM

When Microsoft gives you lemons, bitch and whine for some mother fuckin' strawberries.

IEatFriedPikmin

10-10-2007, 01:59 AM

^lawl.

Is it possible for a game to overheat the processor? That's what some people are claiming... I don't think so though. I know you can damage a computer processor if you overclock it carelessly.

XboxEvolved

10-10-2007, 05:43 AM

As I said in the beginning of my editorial, you can take or leave anything I say in the editorial, I am not going to edit it for any reason other than grammatical errors.

Also, Microsoft has said RRoD can be caused by not just one problem, but a number of problems inside the console; software included. Also a virus, or something that is malicious towards the console is completely possible, and could cause hardware malfunction; it was done with Xbox, and can be done with Xbox 360.

Here is another, but less widespread example. I have a friend whom plays Battlefield constantly, at one point, it started freezing at the exact same time everytime. He thought it was his console, well he went to a friends house to play and recovered his Gamertag there. When he was on a completely different console, different disc, hard drive, etc, it gave him the same exact error, basically something about his gamertag, or the game completely fucked up for him. Again, that isn't a software issue, but if something that strange can happen, then I wouldn't rule out Halo 3 being a catalyst.

Why would I--better than probably everyone in this thread at Halo 3; someone whom would swim in Halo if it were liquid based post something like this unless their was indeed evidence?

I mean, why is it that there are quite a few people out there that are getting DRE at least that just got their 360s when playing Halo 3 at random times?

Why is it that many people that just got their 360s are having the same issues? This is more than just a coincidence.

frosty

10-10-2007, 08:57 AM

XboxEvolved

10-10-2007, 09:17 AM

lol no, you didn't read, he used a completely different disc and gamertag.anyways, does anybody else have lists?

D3adcell

10-10-2007, 09:21 AM

Nukeblaze hit the nail on the head as to what causes the RROD. Halo 3 could cause it simply because it is a game that demands a lot of play time, with the hardware maxed out, so it generates a lot of heat. The battlefield 2 thing you talked about sounds like an error on the disc, be it a scratch or a manufaturing flaw. Doesn't sound like something in the code itself as you would hear about this happening to a lot of people. Halo 3 I can't speak for though, as I don't know if there are bugs in it or not.

I know a guy that plays Halo 3 nonstop. He already has the highest ranking in the game I believe. He has over 500 experience points, he basically only stops playing to sleep and go to class. He has not had the RRoD and he plays it more then anyone I know. Of all my friends, none have gotten a RRoD after playing Halo 3. If the game was causing the problem, it would be a little more widespread then this.

Halo 3 sold what, 2 million units or more already? If the game was causing the problem, say even 1/4th of that number would be 500,000 360's bricked. If the game were causing the problem microsoft would already know about it and be doing something to cover their asses before they get a class action lawsuit against them or something.

Dakota Grabowski

10-10-2007, 01:37 PM

I know a guy that plays Halo 3 nonstop. He already has the highest ranking in the game I believe. He has over 500 experience points, he basically only stops playing to sleep and go to class. He has not had the RRoD and he plays it more then anyone I know. Of all my friends, none have gotten a RRoD after playing Halo 3. If the game was causing the problem, it would be a little more widespread then this.

Halo 3 sold what, 2 million units or more already? If the game was causing the problem, say even 1/4th of that number would be 500,000 360's bricked. If the game were causing the problem microsoft would already know about it and be doing something to cover their asses before they get a class action lawsuit against them or something.

Figures have been thrown out there around 5 million now. I've seen higher experience points on H3 already then that.

IEatFriedPikmin

10-10-2007, 02:24 PM

Let's stop using other people's experiences as "proof."

None of my friends IRL have had issues with the RRoD since Halo 3. I got it, but that was the weekend before Halo 3 came out. By this logic, I am just as qualified to say that Halo 3 isn't causing any problems.

D3adcell

10-11-2007, 06:01 AM

frosty

10-11-2007, 06:06 AM

I'm definitely not trying to say Halo 3 has anything to do with it other than the extended play sessions causing excessive heat buildup which leads to what Nukeblaze so kindly describes in his post he linked to on page 1.

XboxEvolved

10-11-2007, 08:51 AM

No..because just because your set of friends doesn't have it, and mine do have it, doesn't change the fact that many people are having similiar problems, and their claims can be found all over the place.

The way the game is coded can actually affect how the machine works, because the machine tells the inner workings what to do and when to do it.

woundingchaney

10-11-2007, 08:55 PM

If it was a software problem it would be universal as each copy of Halo 3 is essentially the same program. Seeing as how only some users are experiencing difficulty playing Halo 3 or getting the RROD this would lead one to believe that they have faulty hardware.

Dakota Grabowski

10-11-2007, 09:24 PM

I feel less intelligent from reading this thread.

Ocelot9

10-11-2007, 11:43 PM

So I fired it up the other day and it was freezing up a few times then it worked. Then today it was doing the same thing. So I tried to un hook the cables and HD then I got the 3 red lights.
I tried everything from securing the cables to troubleshooting with and without the HD....it's DEAD!

I'm trying the Towel trick to see if it works but I think it's fubar!

Scary part is, it's not even 6 months old.

masteratt

10-11-2007, 11:45 PM

Man we should just get a BOT to post one of these threads every few weeks.

Sorry for your loss blah blah.
Read the other threads for my response lol

And it's going to keep on happening because 360 design is flawed so don't act so surprised or annoyed.

Dwhitten

10-11-2007, 11:47 PM

It should be under warranty if i'm not mistaken..especially since it's only 6 months old. That's why you always save the box materials and receipt because you never know when a product can go to hell.

Coded-Dude

10-11-2007, 11:47 PM

"Microsoft is committed to making sure the small number of consumers having any problems is taken care of right away." -MS Spokesman, December 2005

the poe collector

10-11-2007, 11:50 PM

There should be an Official Red Ring of Death thread.

Viper

10-11-2007, 11:54 PM

It's Halloween anytime of year here. Tell us about your Red Ring of Death horror stories.

Viper

10-11-2007, 11:54 PM

There should be an Official Red Ring of Death thread.

http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?p=1710928#post1710928

:uhh:

the poe collector

10-12-2007, 12:03 AM

Nice, maybe this will cut back on the number of RROD threads. Pikmin makes at least two a week. Personally, I've only had to ship my console off once and I got it back pretty quickly, no problems since.

Jesus loves me.

Greg

10-12-2007, 12:49 AM

never had a problem but I'm sure its coming, unfortunately mine is a launch console so I'm sure its not under warranty.

Ocelot9

10-12-2007, 02:16 AM

Well I tried that towel trick and so far it booted up...no red lights. I haven't really played for long periods but I hope to get a few weeks or month of use till it burns out again.:Carrot:

woundingchaney

10-12-2007, 02:32 AM

woundingchaney

10-12-2007, 02:33 AM

never had a problem but I'm sure its coming, unfortunately mine is a launch console so I'm sure its not under warranty.

Yes it is still covered by MS warranty.

XboxEvolved

10-12-2007, 03:19 AM

I decided that this RRoD thread will be the official one, despite Viper's attempts.

I still would like to know what people did to pass time before they got their 360 fixed though.

IEatFriedPikmin

10-12-2007, 05:27 AM

my new one just came in that they sent me yesterday...

No HDMI, so I am guessing it doesn't have the improved processor.

XboxEvolved

10-12-2007, 09:42 AM

Ocelot9

10-12-2007, 10:30 AM

If you unhook the cables you will get an error message upon boot or whenever the cables are unhooked.

Yeah, I remember when that happened just before summer...I was frozen with fear, then I checked the cables and they were simply loose. This time I think was the real deal. I managed to get her working again but for how long....?

Thanks for the tip anyway Wounding!:cheers:

IEatFriedPikmin

10-12-2007, 02:14 PM

When you sent it how long did it take? I got my box about 3 days after I called in, and then I sent it yesterday. I bitched at some MS PR guy and asked them if they could put some Ds on that bitch.

Apparently press -can- get special treatment with their boxes if they "catch them in time" so he will try..otherwise, how long did it take you? I see you live in Texas, and their facuility is in Texas so..yeah

It took 2 days less than 2 weeks, which was the minimum of time they told me it would take. In fact it was a few days faster than when I had to send my old one in the first time.

The facility in McAllen is located in the deep south part of TX. I have never been there, but I would guess that it is like a 7 hour drive from here.

I thought it would take longer due to the high number of consoles being sent in.
You should probably expect to get yours in about 2 weeks... give or take a few days. I highly doubt you will wait 4.