Owning an Xbox 360, this has always been a worry to me.
A beauty, ain�t it? This is the fabled �Red Ring of Death� (snappy title). If you haven�t heard of it, and know someone who owns a 360, then clearly you�ve been living on Mars these past few years.
Being designed and built by Microsoft, it�s no wonder something was going to go wrong. Now, being a proud 360 owner and loving the thing to bits, I�m never going to slate it and declare it the worst thing to come out of the minds of Microsoft (God knows the Blue Screen of Death proves otherwise). But after years of PC crashes, technical errors and computers throwing fits when you ask it to do more than load Paint, I�m not surprised in the least that this venture had problems, too.
I first heard of the Red Ring when a friend of mine texted saying his 360 had �blown up�. I can picture the local paper headlines now. That WOULD be an achievement to tell the grandkids:
�Guess what I designed, it destroyed more homes than the Cornwall floods...�
But it wasn�t completely exaggerated � the Red Ring is a sign of major internal hardware failure. Basically, some dodgy wiring and bad design causes the 360 to overheat when on for longer than the intro sequence for GTA4. This melts practically everything except the little LEDs at the front, which then turn a frightning shade of red and flash at you, telling you it can do no more.
I could understand this thing happening after five years, but I�ve seen machines brought into my workplace that are younger than six months, with this problem. Six months?? I�ve had egg sandwiches that lasted longer than that. And when you�re forking out over �200, it�s a bit annoying when you then spend another �300 getting in touch with Microsoft to yell at them about how crap their technology is.
I�ve seen so many Red Rings without explanations, so I did a bit of scouting on the Internet. It fascinates my inner geek. And I found a few things and had a few thoughts, that probably aren�t very accurate at all, but oh well...:
1. After YouTubing for a bit and looking at pictures and stories, I�ve found a lot of the machines that Red Ring are placed on their side. Obviously, having the 360 on its side is convenient, and it stops it from being knocked and getting nice laser burns on discs while playing. And there are standy-uppy machines that have suffered the plague of Microsoft�s engineers, too. But the majority I�ve seen and had in have been placed on their side.
Therefore: Xbox 360 + placed on side = more surface area on the floor and therefore less surface area for the heat to escape from?
Heck, I�m no technician. And obviously the heat is vented out of the back of the machine, where an optional bolt-on fan can be placed to help vent said heat. But surely it seeps out of other areas of the 360, too, and if quite a chunk of this area is blocked off, quite a bit of heat can�t escape.
Just a thought...
2. There are different types of Red Ring, and all have different meanings. Some Red Rings don�t need repairing because they can be saved at home.
If all four segments are lit, this is a connection problem, NOT an overheating problem. It�s telling you the AV cable isn�t plugged in properly. My sister had a fright when I unplugged it one day while the 360 was still turned on, and she yelled that we had to get a replacement or the world would end. All four segments were blinking red at her, an intimidating thing when we�re so used to the gentle green glow.
It will not end. Check the connections, unplug everything and reconnect if necessary, and check that the AV switch on the chunk that plugs into the 360 itself is turned to the right setting. One setting for normal TV, one for HD.
If you�re still getting the four lights, then ring Microsoft (and good luck with that one), and for goodness sake, mention it�s four segments. Chances are they can repair it over the phone for you, meaning you won�t lose a few weeks of your life fretting that you won�t have anything to play Gears of War 2 on. If you get it back in time.
Two segments is more serious, but not console-threatening. It means it�s too hot, but hasn�t caused a massive failure. Turn off the machine for a good couple of hours, and if possible, move it to a more ventilated area. Sticking it out of the window will not help. Neither will mounting it on the roof.
One segment is extremely rare, but this is unfortunately something for the repairman. This is a general hardware failure, not necessarily caused by overheating, but something in there is arguing with something else. Get on the blower with good ol� Mr. Gates (or one of his million minions), ship it off and start fretting about not being able to send Niko flying through another windshield on GTA4.
The Ring of Death is shown when three segments flash at you. This means it�s given up the will to let you have fun, and has completely packed in. Microsoft actually extended their warranty to three years� cover against it. Not that it really helped � about a year ago, if your 360 died then it was replaced with another 360 that would die the same death. They didn�t really do much to improve the heat problem.
Now, they�ve released newer machines that are apparently protected against the Red Ring of Death. Good news � if your 360 packs up, you get a new shiny one that might last longer than off-date milk. Bad news is that the warranty on these new machines is NOT extended, so if you�re unlucky enough that it does it just out of its standard warranty, you can�t get a replacement.
Don�t you just feel the generosity oozing out of Bill Gates.
3. There is an apparent technique that may repair your 360 and give it a new lease of life after the dreaded Red Ring. Wrapping towels around your machine may actually squeeze a few more hours of game play out for you.
...I kid you not. Type it into YouTube and you�ll see for yourself.
If you wrap the 360 in towels, ordinary bath towels will do, turn it on for about fifteen minutes, turn it off for another fifteen and then try it out, it will work again. Goodbye Red Ring. The 360 has to be completely covered for it to work, but there�ve been a lot of success stories.
...I�ve not tried this. Firstly, I�m lucky enough to have a non-Red Ringer (at the moment, it�s still less than a year old). Secondly, if Microsoft get wind that you�ve been tampering with it (by wrapping it in towels... hardly tinkering with the insides, is it?) they void your warranty and tell you to bugger off. But hey, if you�ve just got yourself a copy of Guitar Hero 3 and are dying to try it out, and aren�t worried about Microsoft�s crummy warranty, give it a shot.
I�ve actually ordered myself a Red Ring of Death t-shirt from eBay, that place of geek-satisfying. A sort of tribute, if you will, for all the people that have whinged at me to replace their Red Ringer when we have no replacements in. It even comes with a caption, something that�s worth saying every time something new of Microsoft�s gets released, and then inevitably breaks:
