(Ring of Death) Spike in Death rates

[bunghoolio]

I doubt the new GPU heatsinks M$ are adding will fix this problem. In my opinion the HEART of the problem is that the GPU and CPU are directly soldered to the MB, and the Xclamps certainly don't help. They need to socket the GPU and CPU just like PC mainboards have CPU socketed and a sure connection for Graphics cards (PCI Express).

So... we wait and see if new heatsinks works.
I hope so....

[foodex]

hi all

how many of these machines have been dying in australia, just wondering

[bunghoolio]

One worker at EB Games told me his 1 store sent off 40 machines last month. That's just EB Games. What about the rest?

[Hami]

I dont know if it just me but this month has seen a huge amount of early & late model 2006 360s $#!tting themselves. I have had a lot of enquiries for repair and stickers for warranty. I have been joking to my mates that their machines are about to die and they actually do the next day. Soon they say to me that they have frozen up they drop off a day or so later. I have just been giving out the xbox repair service phone number for the past couple of weeks solid. I want nothing to do with M$ crappy manufacturing!!

Its no longer a joke but a fact about the lifespan of the 360 8 -15 months. I dont know how long M$ are prepared to replace thousands of machines without effecting their business profit margin.

Has anyone noticed the higher amount of death rates recently?

I have seen a MASSIVE increase over the last 3 weeks (ones i sold and ones i fer repair). I got some warrenty stickers in and they have been flying out the door.
Thank god for the extended warrenty!!

[bunghoolio]

What do you mean? "Got some warranty stickers in"
Can you buy M$ warranty stickers?
If so where can I get some?

[Pringle]

If you have a Rrod console m$ will repair it anyway:

1. with a modded drive
2 .with a bricked drive
3. without m$ seal
4. without a matching serial nr.  ( cover and mobo ) 
5. without ANY serial nr. ( I believe one had black covers on it, he got the same returned )


Let's say 50% of the consoles i've modded get returned to m$,
Some have the patience to come back for a restore flash, most of the people just put their banned, hacked, no warranty, trashed dvd-drive 360's in a box and send it back.

I've not heard of one person not getting a repair / refurbished unit.

[st0ner]

just got the RRoD 
bought my 360 2/10/07 and it ran fine all the way until last thursday.
turned it on, froze at the bootup screen. i shut it off and started it back up, 3RRoD.
sent it to em to be repaired. what a $#!tty deal, my $400 hardware didn't even last
6 months. and i only use the xbox maybe 2 hours a night and thats it!!

*yay first post*

[Hami]

What do you mean? "Got some warranty stickers in"
Can you buy M$ warranty stickers?
If so where can I get some?

My supplier got some REAL warrenty stickers from somewhere and i bought some off him. I can pass the guys email on if you wish and/or if it is allowed on this board?

[bunghoolio]

Please PM me Hami. 

[muller1000]

Sent a dead 360 in a week ago for repair/replacement to Sydney Australia and received a new system with the improved dual GPU heatsink. When I switched the console on the default language was set for French not English and had a Hitach 47 inside sweet!!

They just swap your case for a new improved one !!! Everthing was brand new inside.....

[Oneohm]

It is known in the reflow business that changes in room temperature and humidity can effect the ability of the solder to be reflowed properly. I can imagine that since this post started in may that the change in weather while the consoles were in use played a role in their death. It would be interesting if it could be proven.

[archangel9]

If you have a Rrod console m$ will repair it anyway:

1. with a modded drive
2 .with a bricked drive
3. without m$ seal
4. without a matching serial nr.  ( cover and mobo ) 
5. without ANY serial nr. ( I believe one had black covers on it, he got the same returned )


Let's say 50% of the consoles i've modded get returned to m$,
Some have the patience to come back for a restore flash, most of the people just put their banned, hacked, no warranty, trashed dvd-drive 360's in a box and send it back.

I've not heard of one person not getting a repair / refurbished unit.

My third 360 Rrod on me just nowI bought fans I played only a couple times a week in air conditioning cooled room wtf I hate this nothing theyll do for me I suppose not, I will have to swap it out it's 2006 03 02 and never did I hate a gaming system so much....DAMN....and it's my birthday too.

[InterestedHacker]

I am now on my 3rd 360 in less than 12 months!  I got so p***** off with RROD I went and bought one on EBAY last week.  Took around an hour to find out where the loose BGA connection is, now it works fine =D

Just found this article which makes interesting reading:-

https://www.manncorp.com/expert_04.6x_xbox_repair_station/Xbox%20360%20Repair_071207a.pdf

[muller1000]

Well it has finally happened!!!

My 1st 360 bought on june 2006 has got the RROD. It never had a case on it from day 1 and also had the internal fan inside but still failed.  I have gotten 18 months out of this one which is quite sad!!! I thought I would get a least 2 years, but was wrong.

[muller1000]

Out of 30 people I know who purchased a 360, all have had them replaced. Even the newer ones with the revised gpu heatsink still get the RROD.

There is no real improvement on the GPU solder problem!!!!

I can't wait until this thing is hacked completely M$ deserve it for the crap they produce!!!!

[gigabite]

The "revised heatsink" you referring to does nothing...literally - as I have mentioned before, it lowers the temperature by .2 degrees...yes that's right, proper readings (by 2 various people) - not even a degree, and how much extra cost...pathetic, however...one good thing M$ did was the epoxy on CPU and GPU.  In my customers, it has stopped alot of problems (BUT...nearly every customer has had cooling mods done, so that alone combats most of the problem) - Recently went to k-mart to return and get a new 360, out of 3 stores: 1 had the "arcade" (core) pack...the other two had nothing and the last store I went to had a quote "couple" of 360 premiums left (thank god...4 stores) / when I went to the shop (I had been there previous times to do the exact same things) the store person also said that they had been getting a massive ammount of wii returns also (odd, no one I know complains...though some have told me of freezing problems (wich seemed to be corrected when the "newer" updates came out...due to the fact that they have turned on the fan via software when the wii is in standby mode (as this caused alot of problems...the problem was basically like the 360...the GPU was becoming de-soldered due to excessive heat and 0 fan what so ever, been corrected...wii is the best made console ever (little low on hardware specs) ) ) )  anyway...im bored of hearing all this stuff about broken 360's, so now...for all those people who have a broken one...im going to play mine..two of them, at once..or I might just leave them on for fun XD

gigabite (a.k.a giggles)

[Surrido]

people are just too used to these things being "no big deal"

you guys have NO respect when it comes to technology and how difficult it is to make this stuff. most of you do not even know how a transistor works. so complain about a machine that cost 400 $, making almost a teraflop (dont flame me on how differently this can be calculated)

the xbox 360 is an impressive piece of hardware. none of you appreaciate the fact that you are holding a masterpiece of chip manufacturing in your hands. The GPU and the CPU are both on the edge of what was possible in therms of speed in 2005 when it was made. (let alone it had to be cheap!)

and you just consider it a toy, not a super computer, which is what it really is.

make a better one if you know how to!

and for your hacking comment. what they have made is a very thick layer of armour that has hardly been scratched by many very very smart people.

have some respect! 

[darcwolf]

The "revised heatsink" you referring to does nothing...literally - as I have mentioned before, it lowers the temperature by .2 degrees...yes that's right, proper readings (by 2 various people) - not even a degree, and how much extra cost...pathetic, however...one good thing M$ did was the epoxy on CPU and GPU.  In my customers, it has stopped alot of problems (BUT...nearly every customer has had cooling mods done, so that alone combats most of the problem) - Recently went to k-mart to return and get a new 360, out of 3 stores: 1 had the "arcade" (core) pack...the other two had nothing and the last store I went to had a quote "couple" of 360 premiums left (thank god...4 stores) / when I went to the shop (I had been there previous times to do the exact same things) the store person also said that they had been getting a massive ammount of wii returns also (odd, no one I know complains...though some have told me of freezing problems (wich seemed to be corrected when the "newer" updates came out...due to the fact that they have turned on the fan via software when the wii is in standby mode (as this caused alot of problems...the problem was basically like the 360...the GPU was becoming de-soldered due to excessive heat and 0 fan what so ever, been corrected...wii is the best made console ever (little low on hardware specs) ) ) )  anyway...im bored of hearing all this stuff about broken 360's, so now...for all those people who have a broken one...im going to play mine..two of them, at once..or I might just leave them on for fun XD

gigabite (a.k.a giggles)

I have to disagree with the whole heat thing, I admit I didn't use any tools to measure heat but the old 360's you could stick your hand by the back with the fans and it was like a mini heater, the new one I played for almost 12 hours straight last weekend and stuck my hand by the back and there was NO heat at all! But it does seem a little wierd that the new ones seem to transfer ALL the heat to the new heatsink. It does get VERY hot even while just flashing the dvd firmware, while the other 2 stay virtually cold.

I wish they could have properly distributed the heat between the heatsinks using heatpipes or something.

[gigabite]

well surido, I do have much respect for the piece of technology...minus the many design flaws it's a very good console and powerful piece of hardware (wich has yet to be harnessed) - as for "new ones being cooler" - could be 65nm CPU/GPU or both (yes I know "apparently" there is no 65nm GPU yet...but for now I believe oneohm )...and IMHO earlier boxes had problems with temperature sensors - anyway if you don't want to believe the facts then don't...but it has been proven, the "new GPU heatsink" does 0...literally

gigabite

[sliverstorm]

While they may have excellent chips, and be on the edge of the limits of engineering, I don't think anyone is complaining about speed or chip design.
The problem as best I can tell is insufficient ventilation/heat removal, which is compounded by the use of lead-free solder.  However, I don't think
anybody uses leaded solder in production anymore so everyone has to deal with that.

P.S. I've heard ppl saying they should have done socketed before.  I understand that would be more expensive and they were trying to keep costs low
but why couldn't they have at least done something as simple as put holes through the board and use a chip w/ pins like a regular CPU, and just solder it in?

I don't think it's a lack of respect.  Extreme performance just doesn't really make up for high failure rates when you're talking about the consumer market
Notice our cars use engines that are first and foremost supposed to be reliable.  Performance comes second.  And when an engine goes fast and makes a lot of HP but has a lot of failures, people do NOT say 'oh well it's ok, cause the engine is just so powerful'.  Would YOU want to have your engine rebuilt every month just to keep your daily driver functioning?  Reliability is, as I see it, step one to 99% of the consumer market.  Nothing else matters if the product is not reliable enough.  When you get into the high-performance end with the people who are in it for a living (for example, a top-fuel team) they will tolerate instability because it is part of what they do.  But when you make a box you want in every house across the US, you are NOT targeting that market.