XBOX 360 Red Ring of Death FAQ: Soon to be known as the Red Dot of Death! :P

Haha! Mine came back yesterday and the UPS guy had to call me cause the bell was being repaired. He knew what it was and I told him I had to get it fixed and he said yeah we get a lot of these.

I got my original console back and in pretty good condition. I wish they didnt stick the live card on the console with the tape since it left a slight residue on my console but no big deal.
 
I bought my 360 off a friend who slept out front a best buy to get it the first day it came out. So I have done a significant amount of gloating over the fact that I may have one of the last original boxes that hasn't died... well it finally did. I found a neat trick to get it working again that involves unplugging the av cord, turning the machine on and while the 4 line ring flashes, plugging the av cord back in. This worked for me 3 or 4 times but no longer works. Anyone else use this method before and know why it wouldnt work anymore? Anyway Im sending mine out to get fixed tomorrow.

Sorry if this method has already been discussed here, 83 pages is just too much to sort through and couldn't think of a good way of searching for it. (av plug in red ring fixer trick?)
 
[quote name='shinryuu']Same story here. I'm kinda disappointed though. My 360 had some rough marks on it and they didn't bother clean it-- unlike that one guy who had all those Bungie autographs on his! =p Also, I was talking with the UPS guy and he said when sent his in, he got a brand new 360 instead. Hmph.

But oh well, back for some gaming.[/quote]
UPDATE

So, I noticed that the faceplate on the 360 feels really tight. For example, it takes more force to press the power button than it before. I might take out the faceplate just to see why it is what it is.

Also, I noticed the CD/DVD drive was much more faster when opening/closing. I thought they might've switched out the bands and tighten something, but after further inspection, I noticed that the tray looked different. After I looked up online of the different DVD drives I may have, figures I have the BenQ one. It's supposedly "quieter," but honestly I don't hear a difference.

Still deciding if I should trade it in and just get a Jasper. =p
 
I got the rrod on my refurb console. Its on its way back from repair center. So a friend loaned me his xbox (that worked at his place.) I hooked up my cords and hdd, powered it on, and got instant rrod. I took off hdd same thing. I checked brick and it had chew marks. I even stripped insulation and shielding to check for a nick or break in a wire and it looks fine. I get green light on the brick when powering it on. Any Ideas? I just don't wanna rrod my 360 again when it gets back. I've been without one for over a month now.I also tried taking it out of powerstrip and plugging it directly to an outlet. Can a bad brick or hard drive cause an instant rrod?
 
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My sons 360 just RROD for the 1st time the system itself is a launch console so I'm guessing it's no longer under warranty. Am I right? would I need to pay for repairs or just buy a new one(depending on costs for repair)?
 
Well fuck, my 360 of about 1 year and 3 months has died. No red rings, but the video fucks up and it freezes. fucking shit. So do I A) Send it in and pay the $100, B) Send it in as an RRoD and not pay to get it fixed, or C) Buy a new arcade (with the chip that's cooler, no?).

I guess I could also combine some and sell the one I get sent back on eBay or something.
 
[quote name='mattfoley7']My sons 360 just RROD for the 1st time the system itself is a launch console so I'm guessing it's no longer under warranty. Am I right? would I need to pay for repairs or just buy a new one(depending on costs for repair)?[/QUOTE]

I had launch console out of warranty and it looks like all 3 red rings are covered by MS. Other red rings, you're SOL.
 
Yeah mine is a launch console and they didnt even question it. They just asked for the Serial # and said they were sorry it would take so long to fix. Its at least worth checking into.


edit: I also found that The Fonz Technique (firmly smacking the left side of the 360) work for temporarily fixing a rrod.
 
R.I.P. 360 #1: 11/11/2007 - 1/19/2009. Return box is on the way. The thing gave me NO indication anything was wrong - all of a sudden, it couldn't spin discs anymore and made a terrible, terrible rattling noise when I rebooted it to confirm.

Just when I had a day off work to try to finish off Treasure Trove in Lost Odyssey, too. :|
 
[quote name='falcon815']R.I.P. 360 #1: 11/11/2007 - 1/19/2009. Return box is on the way. The thing gave me NO indication anything was wrong - all of a sudden, it couldn't spin discs anymore and made a terrible, terrible rattling noise when I rebooted it to confirm.

Just when I had a day off work to try to finish off Treasure Trove in Lost Odyssey, too. :|[/quote]

Damn, mine was only a month older than yours and died the same day (different problem though)...

It's like they set a death timer on these things.
 
[quote name='SpazX']Damn, mine was only a month older than yours and died the same day (different problem though)...

It's like they set a death timer on these things.[/quote]

Actually, in double-checking, I typo'd that - it should be October instead. I ordered it on that awesome Fry's bundle with Bioshock, Orange Box, the Forza/Marvel bundle, and Two Worlds.

[Edit: Return box came already. That was fast!]

[Edit 1/22: Took the box to the local UPS depot today. As soon as I walked in the door, the lady taking dropoffs said, "Got an Xbox, huh? Come on down!" Heh.]
 
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i had mine die this morning. I just printed out the shipping label and used a box from work to mail it. I knew this day would come and the system did act funky with Fallout 3 where it froze and another time took a long time loading. I'm in TX, so i hope my turn around time won't be so bad.
 
I play all my games off the hard drive now and xbox #2 just bit the dust. Right after I added $25 in points and downloaded the Fable 2 expansion
 
[quote name='Pratt75']Can you still get red ringed if your playing a game off of your hard drive. Has anyone heard of this happening?[/quote]

its not the disc drive that's causing the heat and bending of the motherboard so yea you can still get it. If your warranty is void/expired already I'd suggest installing a Whisper fan which would help keep it cooler.
 
Wtf, its been about a week and so I wanted to check on my repair status. I don't have any consoles associated with my live id that's being repaired? I then register the serial number and it says do you want to request a repair?! Checked the tracking number and it says it arrived the 20th.
 
so, i RRoD'ed again last sunday. this is my 3rd console, and 3rd repair send off. bummer. one was for a bad disc drive and two for RRoD. anywho, i had a box and those nifty styrofoam end pieces for the xbox left over from my last repair, so i was able to mail in out on that monday (1/19). i just got the email that it is repaired last night (1/22), and i'm guessing it'll get shipped out today. not too shabby as far as turnaround time. my package weight is 8 lbs, so i'm assuming i'm still getting old innards. hopefully not though.
 
I hope they fix mine that fast. I went to ship mine yesterday and UPS wanted $18 for the box and packing. So I gotta wait another day for someone to bring the box their 360 came back in.
 
Got my back in 2 weeks (10 business days). Sent out on a Monday and got it back the week after on a Friday.

They didn't fix it and just sent a refurb. They didn't not send me a system with HDMI since the one I sent in didn't have it.

I live in CA.
 
[quote name='OGHowie']Got my back in 2 weeks (10 business days). Sent out on a Monday and got it back the week after on a Friday.

They didn't fix it and just sent a refurb. They didn't not send me a system with HDMI since the one I sent in didn't have it.

I live in CA.[/quote]

Hrm... so being a nervous "parent", I keep checking on my tracking number and on my repair status. They haven't received my Xbox yet as of the repair webpage, and UPS is saying "rescheduled delivery: January 27th" on their site. I know it's not the 27th yet, but it says on their site: "Departure scan: Wyoming, Michigan January 23 @ 6:25AM" ... And it has not updated since then.

Should I be worried? I dunno. This is my first time sending in an Xbox, so this isn't "routine" for me yet... I'm worried. Someone, please calm me down :( I noticed before that somebody said that their Xbox did not get delivered to the repair center on one day, so it went on the next day... do you all think this is the case?
 
[quote name='xerocalibur']Hrm... so being a nervous "parent", I keep checking on my tracking number and on my repair status. They haven't received my Xbox yet as of the repair webpage, and UPS is saying "rescheduled delivery: January 27th" on their site. I know it's not the 27th yet, but it says on their site: "Departure scan: Wyoming, Michigan January 23 @ 6:25AM" ... And it has not updated since then.

Should I be worried? I dunno. This is my first time sending in an Xbox, so this isn't "routine" for me yet... I'm worried. Someone, please calm me down :( I noticed before that somebody said that their Xbox did not get delivered to the repair center on one day, so it went on the next day... do you all think this is the case?[/quote]

Is the repair center the same as mine? Mesquite, TX? I received an arrival scan in Mesquite, TX this morning but same as you its been "re-scheduled" until the 27th even though it's already in Mesquite as of this morning?

I sent mine out January 22nd, so I wouldn't be to worried.
 
joining the club I guess. submitted the request this morning :wave:

it was weird though...over the weekend it started freezing periodically with distorted picture and sounds, sometimes the controller would be stuck vibrating. the system would only respond to the power button to turn it off, nothing else. this happened several times over the last couple of days but this morning when I turned it off and back on I got the 3 red rings. I turned it off and back on once more and got 3 red rings again. I decided to try it again 5 minutes later and this time the game worked...for a minute. it froze again and this time when I turned it back on I got the 3 red rings again. nice.

so I guess I'm hoping that MS will take a moment to do some troubleshooting since the red rings don't seem to happen every time I turn on the system. this happen to any one else? am I going to get screwed if one of their techs turns on the system and it works properly?
 
[quote name='chad2261']joining the club I guess. submitted the request this morning :wave:

it was weird though...over the weekend it started freezing periodically with distorted picture and sounds, sometimes the controller would be stuck vibrating. the system would only respond to the power button to turn it off, nothing else. this happened several times over the last couple of days but this morning when I turned it off and back on I got the 3 red rings. I turned it off and back on once more and got 3 red rings again. I decided to try it again 5 minutes later and this time the game worked...for a minute. it froze again and this time when I turned it back on I got the 3 red rings again. nice.

so I guess I'm hoping that MS will take a moment to do some troubleshooting since the red rings don't seem to happen every time I turn on the system. this happen to any one else? am I going to get screwed if one of their techs turns on the system and it works properly?[/quote]


While I never got the distorted picture or sounds problem... my Xbox would work fine for a bit and then the next time I'd boot it up I'd get the 3 red flashing rings(RRoD).

From what I've asked my friends, it's pretty common for that to happen where you might get the RRoD and then it works, RRoD then it works, etc. It's probably because the system was cooled down and then it "overheats" again.

So yeah I wouldn't worry to much about them turning it on and it working... they'll fix it.
 
[quote name='icyjones']so, i RRoD'ed again last sunday. this is my 3rd console, and 3rd repair send off. bummer. one was for a bad disc drive and two for RRoD. anywho, i had a box and those nifty styrofoam end pieces for the xbox left over from my last repair, so i was able to mail in out on that monday (1/19). i just got the email that it is repaired last night (1/22), and i'm guessing it'll get shipped out today. not too shabby as far as turnaround time. my package weight is 8 lbs, so i'm assuming i'm still getting old innards. hopefully not though.[/quote]

So I should get my xbox at my door tomorrow.
My time line: 1/18 - RRoD
1/19 - Called, Got e-Label, Shipped the bitch off
1/22 - Got email telling that it was repaired
1/28 - Hopefully at my door

If it does come tomorrow, that will be a 9 day turnaround. Pretty impressive. I guess?
 
[quote name='icyjones']So I should get my xbox at my door tomorrow.
My time line: 1/18 - RRoD
1/19 - Called, Got e-Label, Shipped the bitch off
1/22 - Got email telling that it was repaired
1/28 - Hopefully at my door

If it does come tomorrow, that will be a 9 day turnaround. Pretty impressive. I guess?[/quote]


Where was the repair facility in terms of proximity from your house? I'm all the way in the East Coast and my repair facility is in Mesquite, Tx so I doubt I'll have a turnaround time anywhere near close to that.
 
I sent it from Auburn, Al to Mesquite, Tx. So, definitely closer than upper east coast. But I also didn't have any of this, "rerouting" or "delayed shipping" business. Again, this was my 3rd send back, I don't know if they expedite someone's console that has been sent many times.
 
[quote name='chad2261']joining the club I guess. submitted the request this morning :wave:

it was weird though...over the weekend it started freezing periodically with distorted picture and sounds, sometimes the controller would be stuck vibrating. the system would only respond to the power button to turn it off, nothing else. this happened several times over the last couple of days but this morning when I turned it off and back on I got the 3 red rings. I turned it off and back on once more and got 3 red rings again. I decided to try it again 5 minutes later and this time the game worked...for a minute. it froze again and this time when I turned it back on I got the 3 red rings again. nice.

so I guess I'm hoping that MS will take a moment to do some troubleshooting since the red rings don't seem to happen every time I turn on the system. this happen to any one else? am I going to get screwed if one of their techs turns on the system and it works properly?[/quote]

Damn, that is strange as I also couldn't turn on my system with the guide buttons on the controllers and thought it was the rechargeable battery pack's fault. I'm still waiting for mine though but yea I'm in NY so east coast corner.
 
[quote name='icyjones']I sent it from Auburn, Al to Mesquite, Tx. So, definitely closer than upper east coast. But I also didn't have any of this, "rerouting" or "delayed shipping" business. Again, this was my 3rd send back, I don't know if they expedite someone's console that has been sent many times.[/quote]

Yeah the only weird thing was my delivery date was "re-scheduled" from yesterday to today.. but not sure as to why.

It does show as being delivered to the facility though, which is a good thing, this is also my 1st send-in so yeah you may be right for those sending it in for like a 2nd or 3rd time may be expedited.
 
I'mm bacckk! System came today, thought I heard the truck and looked out on the backstep, nothing and then in the garage, wait its a white box the size of a 360! Checked the serial and its a new one too. ^ ^ About 2 weeks return time and xbox.com said I didnt have an xbox that needed reapair lol.
 
[quote name='Spybreak8']I'mm bacckk! System came today, thought I heard the truck and looked out on the backstep, nothing and then in the garage, wait its a white box the size of a 360! Checked the serial and its a new one too. ^ ^ About 2 weeks return time and xbox.com said I didnt have an xbox that needed reapair lol.[/quote]


so they just dropped it off you didn't have to sign for it?
 
[quote name='Spybreak8']About 2 weeks return time and xbox.com said I didnt have an xbox that needed reapair lol.[/quote]


Be careful that they still renewed your warranty. I was reading the "Do you think this is fair" thread where the poster had a problem with a returned 360 and xbox had no history of his repair so the warranty was not renewed.
 
Hmm, I'm now starting to get worried. Sent one back a bit ago, and just this past friday (Around 1pm EST) I got the email saying the repair was complete and my console was shipped. I didn't however get the email with my tracking information from UPS. I figured meh it's Friday no big deal I'll wait til Monday before I get worried. So Monday comes and still no tracking info, and on the support site for Xbox it now says "In Transit" and it's in Mass. I'm concerned because I live in an outdoor apartment complex and UPS has a habit of leaving packages that require a signature without even knocking or ringing my doorbell. I REALLY wanna know what my tracking number is so I can be sure to be home the day its scheduled to arrive. Any ideas of what I can do to find that out?
 
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[quote name='ArJay2k8']Hmm, I'm now starting to get worried. Sent one back a bit ago, and just this past friday (Around 1pm EST) I got the email saying the repair was complete and my console was shipped. I didn't however get the email with my tracking information from UPS. I figured meh it's Friday no big deal I'll wait til Monday before I get worried. So Monday comes and still no tracking info, and on the support site for Xbox it now says "In Transit" and it's in Mass. I'm concerned because I live in an outdoor apartment complex and UPS has a habit of leaving packages that require a signature without even knocking or ringing my doorbell. I REALLY wanna know what my tracking number is so I can be sure to be home the day its scheduled to arrive. Any ideas of what I can do to find that out?[/quote]
call MS customer service
 
[quote name='cmart05']so they just dropped it off you didn't have to sign for it?[/quote]

Yea I thought that was strange as well but nope he just left it in our garage. I wonder if he signed for it then.

Be careful that they still renewed your warranty. I was reading the "Do you think this is fair" thread where the poster had a problem with a returned 360 and xbox had no history of his repair so the warranty was not renewed.
Click to expand...

As for the warranty, I always document all of this, on one little sticky note lol, and have actually used what I wrote down last time to assure the tech agent that my system was within warranty due to getting a brand new one last time. Yea lets hope this baby keeps chugging another year.
 
Received "coffin" 1/21/09 via UPS
Sent out "coffin" 1/22/09 via UPS
Arrived at Repair Facility in Mesquite, TX from New Jersey 1/27/09 (Transit time of 3 business days, 5 total days which is not bad at all)
Fixed as of 1/28/09
Shipping out 1/29/09

Not a bad turnaround time at all... I just hope it's genuinely fixed.....
 
[quote name='cmart05']call MS customer service[/quote]
D'oh! I don't know why I didn't think of that. Anyways, called em, don't know why I didn't get the email with the tracking number but the guy I spoke to gave me the number no problems and it's scheduled to arrive tomorrow!!! Good thing I called cause I have errands to run that I was gonna do then, but now I can put em off til Saturday. Thanks Cmart for the quick response and the so obvious answer I didn't think of!! LOL :lol:
 
[quote name='ArJay2k8']D'oh! I don't know why I didn't think of that. Anyways, called em, don't know why I didn't get the email with the tracking number but the guy I spoke to gave me the number no problems and it's scheduled to arrive tomorrow!!! Good thing I called cause I have errands to run that I was gonna do then, but now I can put em off til Saturday. Thanks Cmart for the quick response and the so obvious answer I didn't think of!! LOL :lol:[/quote]


haha yeah no prob.. I had to do the same this morning. I wish I had known a signature is required for delivery though because I'm at work during the week... and UPS is awful as it is.. get them to re-route a package and all hell breaks loose... grr.
 
[quote name='ArJay2k8']Hmm, I'm now starting to get worried. Sent one back a bit ago, and just this past friday (Around 1pm EST) I got the email saying the repair was complete and my console was shipped. I didn't however get the email with my tracking information from UPS. I figured meh it's Friday no big deal I'll wait til Monday before I get worried. So Monday comes and still no tracking info, and on the support site for Xbox it now says "In Transit" and it's in Mass. I'm concerned because I live in an outdoor apartment complex and UPS has a habit of leaving packages that require a signature without even knocking or ringing my doorbell. I REALLY wanna know what my tracking number is so I can be sure to be home the day its scheduled to arrive. Any ideas of what I can do to find that out?[/quote]

Hey, thank you for mentioning this, and the CAG forum being here for a quick answer. I had gotten an email saying my Xbox had been repaired, but no follow-up email with the tracking number. Called up Xbox support, and was able to get a tracking number rightaway. Put my mind right at ease! :D

Y'know, they have some really nice tech support operators. At least, I've had some really good experiences conversing with them.
 
[quote name='cmart05']haha yeah no prob.. I had to do the same this morning. I wish I had known a signature is required for delivery though because I'm at work during the week... and UPS is awful as it is.. get them to re-route a package and all hell breaks loose... grr.[/quote]

Can't you call the number on the "Sorry we missed you" slip UPS leaves, and schedule it to be picked up at your local UPS depot the next day, by yourself? At least I *think* you can do that... And then you just need to make sure you can go there during their hours of operation to pick it up.
 
[quote name='xerocalibur']Can't you call the number on the "Sorry we missed you" slip UPS leaves, and schedule it to be picked up at your local UPS depot the next day, by yourself? At least I *think* you can do that... And then you just need to make sure you can go there during their hours of operation to pick it up.[/quote]

Yeah if that's an option I'll probably have to do that.
 
[quote name='cmart05']Yeah if that's an option I'll probably have to do that.[/quote]
I'm 100% sure that IS an option. Cause I called my local UPS store yesterday to ask a few questions about the delivery of the 360, more specifically if they'd leave it if I wasn't there, and they said if nobody was there to sign they'd do the come back 2 times thing etc etc, and said I also had the option to call them and arrange for me to pick it up there.
 
[quote name='dolemite']My fifth xbox just died today. How long is it taking for it to get returned to you and is anyone getting the new chips?[/quote]
UMM Yea maybe you need to play PC games
 
[quote name='OlDirtyBastard']Anyone know if they ship boxes to you to ship your 360 to them? I cant find a box anywhere.[/quote]

yeah just order it on-line.. they ship you a box with instructions via UPS.. usually arrives in 2-4 business day.
 
So I get my xbox back for two weeks just for it to "occasionally" flash the 4th quadrant. Turned on my xbox today to get System Error 68. Although it went away after I unplugged everything. Does 68 have anything to do with the harddrive? A couple of times I start the Xbox and get that I have no storage Device plugged in. Now its back to working but still be weary..
 
E68: Voltage Error... This error means that the Xbox 360 has insufficent power to function properly. This can be caused by an error in the hard drive or the fans that make them suck up too much power, it can also be caused if you have unnecessary accessories attached to the console like an external fan unit. Attempt to remove unnecessary accessories first, and then necessary components such as the hard drive and USB devices. If you have any case mods you may want to investigate those as well.
 
[quote name='hutno']Just a quick question, are they not sending out boxes anymore?[/quote]

They should be still sending out coffins.



I've been waiting for about a month now for my 360 to get back to me.
 
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