Xbox 360 Another Red Ring of Death Victim :(

[jpr27]

Well just got the dreaded "three red lights of death" on my Xbox 360 this morning. An interesting thing to note on this is that I have never had any issues with my 360 since day 1. I rented the Table Tennis Game from Rockstar and it asked prompted for an update. I proceeded to do the udate but after after completion my Xbox locked up. After download was complete Bam Ring of Death. Called Tech support (which I must say was pretty painless) and went through the testing etc. but no go. (They deny that the patch could have caused this but just in case anyone else experiences it I wanted to throw that in.)

Strange thing is I can use the normal Xbox 360 interface but once a game is started it crashes into the three red ring scenerio. Oh well made arrangements on getting it fixed or replaced. My Xbox was one of the first batches (got it on day 1) to bad I sold the other one (greedy what can I say ) Now without my 360 for 10-14 days Kind of funny but my Xbox 1 is a day one console with a Thompson drive and it still works !!! lol

A suggestion to anyone else who has a early (on or near launch Xbox 360). Call up MS Tech and get an extended warranty. Its $30 for one yr and $60 for two years. From the forum investigations it seems that alot of the launch systems have had issues and now that I've done some investigating (and its happened to me along with a few friends) its seems like the claim from MS of 3-5% is suspect in my opinion. Then again forums are not the most credible either Guess I'm just trying to say anyone who has bought an early version of the 360 be safe and get the extended warranty if able. And yes you can still get one from MS as long as you have a working Xbox 360 now. (May 4th was the cut off factory warranty date for anyone who received the Xbox 360 around the first week of launch). Even at $30 it will save you alot of heart ache. If you dont have a warranty or would rather chance it, your looking at around $130 to get it fixed.

P.S. Many of my friends but one have had to return their Xbox 360's to get fixed or a new one sent to them. (Out of 7 people). Out of the 7 one other has gone through 2 although I must admitt his first one probably died due to poor ventilation area.

Just thought I would throw that out there to help all the early adopters. Game on...

 

[Guden Oden]

I've only seen the red LEDs once with my box, and that was when the power blinked out during a thunderstorm for just a fraction of a second. I heard my computer UPS click and the lights dimmed momentarily, my LCD TV didn't flinch, but the 360 crashed and produced a black screen and full red circle on the front. I cycled the PSU power switch and all was fine again. Just had to manually button my way to the same scene of the DVD I was watching when it happened.

Not too much in the way of capacitors in that gigantic power brick it seems. Has anyone screwed it open and posted some shots of its guts? I've not seen a single dissected image of the PSU innards.

 

[Jabjabs]

You should of tried it without the hard drive to see if the patch was causing it.

I've done some investigating (and its happened to me along with a few friends) its seems like the claim from MS of 3-5% is suspect in my opinion. Then again forums are not the most credible either

Remember you only hear the bad news, you don't get people posting threads about "My 360 is working perfectly" to often.

 

[drpepper]

Remember you only hear the bad news, you don't get people posting threads about "My 360 is working perfectly" to often.

Well, typically you hear of those in this type of thread.

 

[Acert93]

Well, typically you hear of those in this type of thread.

True, but not to the same degree. If MS's 3-5% number is correct, that is 150,000+ defective units in consumer hands. That is a TON of people. The old folk business rule is for every 1 upset customer you need 10 very happy ones to equalize the bad word of mouth. Complaints are always more noticable, consumers with defective products are more vocal than happy ones, and typically the media focuses on negative news over positive news.

Forums are not the best format either due to no verification, and with a mixed console forum it is far worse. I can remember more than 1 discussion where people have been very negative about a game they have never played at all, it is not unlikely that some of the more childish posters on certain forums post stuff just to get a rise. Even a simple poll, "Has your console had issues?" will attract more negative responses because such people are more motivated. I know I have never bothered to vote in such a poll. Why? Because almost none of my consoles have ever had issues.

That was until my GCN. And I am happy to report that Nintendo happily fixed the system after the 1 year mark (CD reading issue). Sadly my SSBM game still does not work (all the others do though), and Nintendo would not replace the game disk. I think the disk was defective (too thick and unbalanced?) and it causes the GCN to crash. But I don't usually comment on it. Stuff happens.

3-5% is still very high, but on the other hand that means there are 150,000 upset customers out there. On the other hand every report I have heard has said MS tech support was very good to them. We could only imagine 150,000 people's rage if MS had poor support... ouch

 

[scooby_dooby]

Well, typically you hear of those in this type of thread.

Then my launch day 360 is working perfectly Typically I don't post in these threads though, what's the point, I'm sure most other people feel the same way.

 

[pipo]

Then my launch day 360 is working perfectly

Ditto. Even with the Table Tennis update.

I've seen the red lights though, one time on a brand new unit (removing and attaching the HDD solved that problem), and one time after a power failure.

 

[tcrews]

My launch day 360 is working perfectly as well.....

I was demo'ing it to some friends and had a poweroutage.....when the power flicked off then on my 360 had the nice red ring.... I turned the 360 off from the console, then turned it back on and all was well. No issues at all with the unit. Doesn't seem to get hot, doesn't seem to make too much noise.......just an all around very satisfied experience with it so far.

Tom Crews

 

[GB123]

My 360 died not long after am update aswell.

I've never had a console break on me before so i just put it down to running out of luck

It's no big deal as long as you get it replaced.

Although i must say i'm a little worried how well this one will fair through the summer heat..

 

[standing ovation]

Undoubtedly, Microsoft's claim of a 3 to 5 percent return rate are amiss by factors of ten.

But six months into the launch, IGN is still receiving [three rings of death] complaints on a daily basis. Of course, we also receive death threats and porn solicitations, so our emails are always taken with a grain of salt. Around the office, too, we've experienced the problem first-hand. At last count, nine Xbox 360s that belong to IGN editors have completely crashed. Two editors, Hilary Goldstein and Jessica Chobot, have had two systems go kaput.

After months with his fingers crossed, IGN Editorial Director Tal Blevins finally saw his machine crash.

Blevins' boss, IGN Vice President Peer Schneider, experienced the same problem.

As a numbers game, this is hard to play. Given the small sample size of the IGN office, what Microsoft calls an "anomaly," the informality of our polls and the lack of hard data on returned consoles, it may very well be impossible to know the exact amount of returned Xbox 360s. So all we have is our personal, first-hand experience, which is basically one half of the office ... is haunted by a series of blinking red lights, which is a lot to pay $399 for.

 

[mestaice]

I had the "red light" too yesterday few hours after the update..while playing Tennis table..strange?

Yesterday the boot held 5 minutes. Now, crash immediatly.

 

[Tap In]

Although my machine is well ventialated and I've had NO problems since launch, I AM in Arizona (dry 112* ) so I'm thinking of buying an "Intercooler" ($20) just in case. I also bought a 1 yr extended warranty from Game Crazy.

Oh, I have TT update also. :smile:

Intercooler

http://media.gear.ign.com/media/825/825615/img_3552922.html

 

[Acert93]

Undoubtedly, Microsoft's claim of a 3 to 5 percent return rate are amiss by factors of ten.

30-50%? I don't think so. As it is, 5% means there are over 150,000 defective units in the wild. That is a lot as it is.

 

[pakotlar]

30-50%? I don't think so. As it is, 5% means there are over 150,000 defective units in the wild. That is a lot as it is.

You don't know what the failure is any better than he does. I think that the "factor of 10" comment came from IGN's assertion that 50% of their units have failed. Though it is a small sample, it is indicative that it is a problem. On the other hand 2.5million units does sound very high; nigh impossible. Just pointing out that while it may not be 50% it may not be 5% either.

And I've heard the "oh yeah, the failure rate on our product is no higher than statistical average before". Namely with my Crucial Ballistix 2GB PC4000 kit, which after 2 returns still wouldn't run longer than a month without dying, and the failure rate on that particular SKU was nearly 100% (I ended up only getting 50% of my money back...never going with Crucial again). Yet Crucial did not admit there was a problem until they pulled the product from market. That is an example, I'm not saying that the X360 is the same; it is most likely not that severe.

 

[valioso]

You don't know what the failure is any better than he does. I think that the "factor of 10" comment came from IGN's assertion that 50% of their units have failed. Though it is a small sample, it is indicative that it is a problem. On the other hand 2.5million units does sound very high; nigh impossible. Just pointing out that while it may not be 50% it may not be 5% either.

And I've heard the "oh yeah, the failure rate on our product is no higher than statistical average before". Namely with my Crucial Ballistix 2GB PC4000 kit, which after 2 returns still wouldn't run longer than a month without dying, and the failure rate on that particular SKU was nearly 100% (I ended up only getting 50% of my money back...never going with Crucial again). Yet Crucial did not admit there was a problem until they pulled the product from market. That is an example, I'm not saying that the X360 is the same; it is most likely not that severe.

listening to the gamespot podcast, they said that none of their units had broken down.. so

 

[Acert93]

You don't know what the failure is any better than he does.

I know it is not 30-50% as he stated. Feel free to prove his assertion.

Though it is a small sample, it is indicative that it is a problem.

Or since they all live in the same city it is indicative of the lot they received. Or of the heating/cooling in their office. Or use. Or any other number of factors.

I could make the same arguement that I know nearly 2 dozen people with 360s and only 1 has had to return his. The sample size of my survey (real btw) indicates there is no problem. That is the problem with small unrandom samples.

Just pointing out that while it may not be 50% it may not be 5% either.

You don't know what the failure is any better than he does to be making that kind of statement

And there is no 'may' about it, the Xbox 360 does not have a 50% failure rate. That is the nicest way to put that.

 

[Synergy34]

OMG, if any of you think the 360 has 50% failure rate, get that out of you head now. That would be a disaster bigger than the orignal XBox.

Whatever, one thing I am very impressed about MS is their customer service and how fast they respond. I always hear good things about it. When I drop dime on my 360 in about a month or so, I will not have one worry about my system.

 

[NavNucST3]

I have only had an issue with one of my systems, but that was due to me not putting the hdd on all the way.

I will say that having bought both on the same day there is a noticeable difference in noise. One of them is extremely quiet, the other is more of the "jet engine". Oh, on the jet engine one, the tray doesn't always close if I hit eject/open/close or when I shut down the 360, if i push it lightly it will close immediately. The whisper quiet one, is perfect...

 

[standing ovation]

30-50%? I don't think so. As it is, 5% means there are over 150,000 defective units in the wild. That is a lot as it is.

Neither I nor IGN know what the actual return rate is. However, I am certain Microsoft has understated this figure.

Until its memory woes had become public knowledge, I'd be willing to bet that a disproportionate number (i.e., greater than 3 to 5 percent) were defective. *

But overheating could be an even broader issue, and one that is unlikely to be resolved until both CPU and GPU have migrated to a smaller 65-nm process.


[size=-2]* Having contract manufacturers weed out good chips from bad ones seemed mute, particularly when their income is wrapped up in assembly.[/size]

 

[Sis]

Neither I nor IGN know what the actual return rate is. However, I am certain Microsoft has understated this figure.

You are certain of this, based on what? You ignore Acert's number of 150,000 defective units. That's 150,000, with a large percent of those being sold to early adopter, hard core gamers. This group is highly likely and highly motivated to voice their complaints online.

I'd like to know how you can tell the difference when a problem affects 150,000 consumers versus say, 300,000 (10% defect rate) or 600,000 (20% defect rate).