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Inside Source Reveal the Truth About Xbox 360 "Red Ring of Death" Failures

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout' started by Faos, Jan 20, 2008.

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  1. Faos

    Faos Member

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    Read entire interview HERE.

    Inside Source Reveal the Truth About Xbox 360 "Red Ring of Death" Failures

    Since it's launch in Fall of 2005 Xbox 360 systems all over the world have had major hardware failure problems resulting in millions of costumers having to mail their Xbox back to Microsoft. No one really knows what has been causing these problems since the official lines never divulged the specific problems or rates of failure. All a person has to do is to press the power button on their Xbox 360 and there is a chance that it will just up and fail to boot up and shine the "Red Rings of Death". Microsoft decided to extend the warrantee for the Xbox 360 but the cloud of fear and uncertainly still hang around the game system.

    Xbox 360

    This past week I met and interviewed an individual who has worked on the Xbox 360 project for many years and they had some things that they wanted to get out into the public. I have the fullest confidence in the integrity of this confidential source. While respecting and protecting their rights we were able to have an in-depth interview of working in the Xbox project and just how things progressed to this point. Just keep in mind that a while back I broke the story that Bungie was leaving Microsoft and had all the details a full week before the official PR announcement Once again I have a confidential source from inside Redmond and I't all checks out to me.

    Now on to the Interview:

    Q: So what do you think the real failure rate of the Xbox 360 is? Some have estimated it as high as 30%. I got my Xbox in early 2007 and so far so good but what do you think the chance is that it's going to die on me one day.


    It's around 30%, and all will probably fail early. This quarter they are expecting 1 M failures, most of those Xenons. Some of those are repeat failures. Life expectancy is all over the map because the design has very little margin for most of the important parameters. That means it's not a fault tolerant design. So a good unit may last a couple of years, while a bad unit can fail in hours. I have a launch unit and have not had a single problem with it. And it's used a lot. But I don't know anyone else with a 360 that hasn't broken, except you now. There's no way to tell when yours might die. But the cooler you can keep it, the longer it will probably last. So stand it up, keep it in free air, etc. :Note : Xenon was the code name for the first Xbox 360 mother board.

    READ MORE
     
    #1 Faos, Jan 20, 2008
  2. Angkor Wat

    Angkor Wat Member

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    Ok, so to keep it "cooler", keep it vertical and not laying down? Mine died once already, got it fixed via 3rd party and its working fine now. Didn't think it mattered which way you put the 360.
     
    #2 Angkor Wat, Jan 20, 2008
  3. Apollo Creed

    Apollo Creed Contributing Member

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    I bought a 360 for the first time a year ago, kept it vertical, and the disc tray broke within 2 days.

    11 months later, I decided to give the 360 another try...problem free so far...but I keep mine horizontal. That disc tray seems too flimsy to do anything else with it.
     
    #3 Apollo Creed, Jan 20, 2008
  4. SamFisher

    SamFisher Member

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    I have had mine for almost2 years, aside from the occasional crash, which seems almost exclusively to happen with EA games, I haven't had a single problem. Maybe I just got a good one? or it's wellventilated? who knows.
     
    #4 SamFisher, Jan 20, 2008
  5. FlyerFanatic

    FlyerFanatic YOU BOYS LIKE MEXICO!?! YEEEHAAWW
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    mine died, when it was up vertically, have had it horizontal ever since. havent had a problem. doesnt having it vertical block one of the vents?
     
    #5 FlyerFanatic, Jan 20, 2008
  6. mogrod

    mogrod Member

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    Bought mine at launch and hod no problems AT ALL until I got the red rings in November. I got a refurbished one for MS 3 weeks later but the CD drive has problems and I have to get a new one sent to me.

    The refurbished system they sent me has been running A LOT cooler then my original.

    If they know what is causing the problem, is there not a way to fix it so that the system doesn't continue to have problems throughout the 360's existence?
     
    #6 mogrod, Jan 20, 2008
  7. DaDakota

    DaDakota Balance wins
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    The add on fan that clicks on the back makes a big difference, you would think that MS would send those out complimentary to limit their exposure.

    DD
     
    #7 DaDakota, Jan 20, 2008
  8. Storm Surge

    Storm Surge Rookie

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    Holy crap 1 million failures this quarter? I'm surprised the BBB doesn't step in and force Microsoft to make better hardware or they will get sued out of the planet. I wonder how Microsoft is getting away with a 30% failure while a smaller company with a 10% failure would have been sandbagged by now, they probably bribe them with $$$.
     
    #8 Storm Surge, Jan 20, 2008
  9. tinman

    tinman 999999999
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    how many windows blue screens do you think there are? ;)
     
    #9 tinman, Jan 20, 2008
  10. Dr of Dunk

    Dr of Dunk Clutch Crew

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    Bribe who? The BBB? lol. The BBB is laughable.


    I've had my 360 for a few months now and haven't had any problems with it, but then it's pretty well ventilated.
     
    #10 Dr of Dunk, Jan 20, 2008
  11. Ziggy

    Ziggy QUEEN ANON

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    The fact that the fanboys seemingly don't ditch Microsoft astonishes me. I realize the library of games is sweet. But that red ring of death problem has been unforgivable IMO.
     
    #11 Ziggy, Jan 20, 2008
  12. KingCheetah

    KingCheetah Atomic Playboy

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    I can't believe MS hasn't done a minor redesign to fix this problem -- seems crazy IMO.
     
    #12 KingCheetah, Jan 20, 2008
  13. tinman

    tinman 999999999
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    they have, the newer 360s have the smaller chip and a better heat sink.
     
    #13 tinman, Jan 20, 2008
  14. RC Cola

    RC Cola Member

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    As tinman said, they've done some tweaks to improve reliability. It is mentioned in the article:
    This "source" seems to imply that there are a number of things wrong with the design of the 360, which lead to the RROD (or other reliability issues). If that's true, it wouldn't be easy to fix this problem, especially with just a a "minor redesign."
     
    #14 RC Cola, Jan 20, 2008
  15. thatboyz

    thatboyz Member

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    Is keeping the 360 horizontal more safe than keeping it vertical?
    I don't think so. Vertical exposes more surface area and volume to heat exchange with cooler room air. And I think opens more vent holes. Just don't let it fall over.

    From the interview
     
    #15 thatboyz, Jan 20, 2008
  16. tinman

    tinman 999999999
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    <object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/DkpMhZxlkWs&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/DkpMhZxlkWs&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>
     
    #16 tinman, Jan 20, 2008
  17. Bassfly

    Bassfly Member

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    ive had my 360 for about 2 years and ive always kept it vertical. never had any problems except occasional crashes (with EA games).

    disadvantage of having it vertical though is that one time my cat knocked it over while i was playing fifa 07 and it got scratched. my system made a really bad sound, but everything was fine with the 360
     
    #17 Bassfly, Jan 20, 2008
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