Had to happen I suppose

DaveI · 17-09-2008, 18:55

Xbox has finally given up, it will only work for a minute or so before it just locks up. Screen either goes black or whatever is currently displayed freezes with loads of artifacts all over the screen.

So where is currently cheapest on the high street for an XBox 360 Arcade package?

***Neo_VR*** · 17-09-2008, 19:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaveI

Xbox has finally given up, it will only work for a minute or so before it just locks up. Screen either goes black or whatever is currently displayed freezes with loads of artifacts all over the screen.

So where is currently cheapest on the high street for an XBox 360 Arcade package?

Xbox's are DIRT cheap now try your usual game/gamestation/HMV shop etc.
they are £149 on Play.com (199 for the 60gb premium)

Robshaw · 17-09-2008, 19:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaveI

Xbox has finally given up, it will only work for a minute or so before it just locks up. Screen either goes black or whatever is currently displayed freezes with loads of artifacts all over the screen.

So where is currently cheapest on the high street for an XBox 360 Arcade package?

Is there any "Red lights" on the box at all - or does it just crash as stated above?

If no lights show - It should technically just be a hardware problem. If it's under warranty send it back to Microsoft!

DaveI · 17-09-2008, 19:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robshaw

Is there any "Red lights" on the box at all - or does it just crash as stated above?

If no lights show - It should technically just be a hardware problem. If it's under warranty send it back to Microsoft!

No red lights, just the freezing.

It was purchased second hand and went out of warranty an age ago.

Just got it in front of me gradually taking it to bits. Found a guide which basically means re-doing the thermal compund and re-jigging the heat sinks so they don't stress the MB as much.

Hedge · 17-09-2008, 20:23

Good luck. It may be worth a call to Microsoft as they fixed mine for around £60 even though it was out of warranty. They basically stuck my serial number on a new box and sent it back.

DaveI · 17-09-2008, 20:52

Too late!

djswivel · 17-09-2008, 21:19

You can get an 360 arcade for £129.99 now. Get one of those, and stick your hard drive in. They're all shipped with HDMI now, just the arcade has a different disk drive so will not play xbox original discs.

DaveI · 17-09-2008, 21:53

I didn't fix it:

There goes my dream of an internet based Xbox 360 repair service!

cheezemonkhai · 18-09-2008, 00:03

Check the capacitors on the board for bulging and replace any of them. Also check the solder joints on the VGA connector and make sure any heatsinks are help firmly in place.

Blade404 · 20-09-2008, 16:18

I thought all 360's had a 3yr warranty?

EDIT: At least according to this Clicky...

Hedge · 20-09-2008, 16:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blade404

I thought all 360's had a 3yr warranty?

Only for the 3 red lights or red ring of death.
Any other problems then it is only a year.

DaveI · 24-09-2008, 00:47

Everything appears to be right with the world again, the sun will shine tomorrow, the birds will sing as I have appeared to have fixed my XBox!

Bought the screws and washers etc from ebay and followed these instructions:

Untitled Document

It's been running ok for the past 3 hours or so where as before it wouldn't manage more than ten minutes. Better get back in my Astra and see if I can beat Bengies ring time!

cheezemonkhai · 25-09-2008, 20:08

What on earth are they doing with those bolts?

Just put in a better heatsink or replace the (I imagine stretched) nuts in the heatsink of the whole heatsink and clean out the fans.

DaveI · 26-09-2008, 17:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by cheezemonkhai

What on earth are they doing with those bolts?

Just put in a better heatsink or replace the (I imagine stretched) nuts in the heatsink of the whole heatsink and clean out the fans.

The mounting of the heatsinks are a bit strange with just an X shaped bracket on the back of the mainboard stretched over the 'legs' of the heatinks.

I don't know the exact science behind it but it all seems to be working now! Cleaned out the heatsink dust, replaced the thermal paste and have a (supposedly) better fan to fit this weekend.

cheezemonkhai · 26-09-2008, 22:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaveI

The mounting of the heatsinks are a bit strange with just an X shaped bracket on the back of the mainboard stretched over the 'legs' of the heatinks.

I don't know the exact science behind it but it all seems to be working now! Cleaned out the heatsink dust, replaced the thermal paste and have a (supposedly) better fan to fit this weekend.

That's fairly common for Xeon and other older server chips that I'd seen.

My guess, and it is just a guess, would be that the bolts somehow stretch and can't get enough of a pull to keep the heatsink pushed down on the CPU or GPU and it has a funny.

I wonder if just cleaning it up, applying the new heatsink compound and doing it all up would work fine.

DaveI · 26-09-2008, 22:53

It didn't, see post #8. That was my first effort at just re-seating the heatsinks and replacing the thermal paste.

cheezemonkhai · 27-09-2008, 00:08

Guess the bits you remove from the heatsink just stretch or lose their thread.

Not a piece of genius design.

Blade404 · 27-09-2008, 06:25

From what I've been told, by someone who has fixed a few RRD 360's it's some of the connections on the cpu it's self that break with all the expansion and contraction of the cpu as it's heats up then cools with use.

In order to fix the problem you have to increase the pressure on the cpu so that these connections are pushed back together.

DaveI · 27-09-2008, 12:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blade404

From what I've been told, by someone who has fixed a few RRD 360's it's some of the connections on the cpu it's self that break with all the expansion and contraction of the cpu as it's heats up then cools with use.

In order to fix the problem you have to increase the pressure on the cpu so that these connections are pushed back together.

According to the repair procedure I followed it's the GPU that has dodgy connections:

Quote:

This step requires you to overheat your GPU & keep the CPU cool at the same time.

Quote:

The reason for this is to keep the CPU cool while we overheat the GPU under the DVD Drive. The heat generated helps to secure the GPU chip and embed the "reflow" of the BGA solder connection that has failed.

I dunno, I did it and it worked!

philje123 · 29-09-2008, 13:30

I did Something similar on my old iBook quite some time ago that had a similar issue with the BGA solder connections on the GPU.

So... took the back cover off, turned it over, powered it up and placed a lit tealight candle on top of the GPU.. it worked!

It finally gave up a couple of months later unfortunately!

Glad you got it sorted!

cheezemonkhai · 29-09-2008, 15:52

Sounds like the BGA soldering wasn't up to it and the extra pressure fixes the joints well enough to work.

I'd have thought this might have something to do with the Lead Free Solder as when the 360 came out this would have been very new. Does anyone know if the XBox 360 is RoHS compliant and if so what level it is (5 or 6/6 etc?).

If it was down to the lead free solder not being up to the job, then I'd be fairly certain some people could put in a nice claim for replacement of the goods FOC as they were not fit for purpose due to the original design.

The leaded and lead free solder have pretty different characteristics in this aspect and IIRC most leaded connectors the solder was enough to hold it strong but the lead free ones needed extra pins to take the insertion forces.

17-09-2008, 18:55	#1
DaveI Briskodian Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: North East Posts: 1,054 Members Car: Seat Leon FR TDi Thanks: 52 Thanked 18 Times in 18 Posts	Had to happen I suppose Xbox has finally given up, it will only work for a minute or so before it just locks up. Screen either goes black or whatever is currently displayed freezes with loads of artifacts all over the screen. So where is currently cheapest on the high street for an XBox 360 Arcade package? __________________ 2007 Seat Leon FR TDi 170 Bluetooth / Convenience Pack / 18s / Rear Parking Sensors / Front Centre Arm Rest / Passenger Airbag Disconnect / Free Dealer Mats / Brodit Mount + Brodit Tom Tom One Active Holder Used to have an A5 Skoda Octavia 1.9 TDi Elegance Combi and Missing somewhere comfy to rest my right arm!

17-09-2008, 20:23	#5
Hedge FORE!!!! Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: North East Hants Posts: 2,055 Members Car: Shanks Pony Thanks: 45 Thanked 76 Times in 73 Posts	Re: Had to happen I suppose Good luck. It may be worth a call to Microsoft as they fixed mine for around £60 even though it was out of warranty. They basically stuck my serial number on a new box and sent it back. __________________

17-09-2008, 20:52	#6
DaveI Briskodian Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: North East Posts: 1,054 Members Car: Seat Leon FR TDi Thanks: 52 Thanked 18 Times in 18 Posts	Re: Had to happen I suppose Too late! __________________ 2007 Seat Leon FR TDi 170 Bluetooth / Convenience Pack / 18s / Rear Parking Sensors / Front Centre Arm Rest / Passenger Airbag Disconnect / Free Dealer Mats / Brodit Mount + Brodit Tom Tom One Active Holder Used to have an A5 Skoda Octavia 1.9 TDi Elegance Combi and Missing somewhere comfy to rest my right arm!

17-09-2008, 21:19	#7
djswivel Getting a flat! Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Redruth, Cornwall Posts: 981 Members Car: Fabia vrs Thanks: 94 Thanked 50 Times in 49 Posts	Re: Had to happen I suppose You can get an 360 arcade for £129.99 now. Get one of those, and stick your hard drive in. They're all shipped with HDMI now, just the arcade has a different disk drive so will not play xbox original discs. __________________ http://www.myspace.com/lackofpower

18-09-2008, 00:03	#9
cheezemonkhai Briskodian Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 15,665 Members Car: Thanks: 123 Thanked 527 Times in 488 Posts	Re: Had to happen I suppose Check the capacitors on the board for bulging and replace any of them. Also check the solder joints on the VGA connector and make sure any heatsinks are help firmly in place. __________________ Cars make CO2 and trees absorb CO2. By driving your car you're feeding a tree and helping the environment.

17-09-2008, 21:53	#8
DaveI Briskodian Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: North East Posts: 1,054 Members Car: Seat Leon FR TDi Thanks: 52 Thanked 18 Times in 18 Posts	Re: Had to happen I suppose I didn't fix it: There goes my dream of an internet based Xbox 360 repair service! __________________ 2007 Seat Leon FR TDi 170 Bluetooth / Convenience Pack / 18s / Rear Parking Sensors / Front Centre Arm Rest / Passenger Airbag Disconnect / Free Dealer Mats / Brodit Mount + Brodit Tom Tom One Active Holder Used to have an A5 Skoda Octavia 1.9 TDi Elegance Combi and Missing somewhere comfy to rest my right arm!

20-09-2008, 16:18	#10
Blade404 Briskodian Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: The land of smoke & mirrors Posts: 4,295 Members Car: Black Focus Thanks: 80 Thanked 95 Times in 67 Posts	Re: Had to happen I suppose I thought all 360's had a 3yr warranty? EDIT: At least according to this Clicky... __________________ One brush to tar them all! Ford Focus Titanium in Panther Black For information about joining the briskoda.net folding team click here..

24-09-2008, 00:47	#12
DaveI Briskodian Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: North East Posts: 1,054 Members Car: Seat Leon FR TDi Thanks: 52 Thanked 18 Times in 18 Posts	Re: Had to happen I suppose Everything appears to be right with the world again, the sun will shine tomorrow, the birds will sing as I have appeared to have fixed my XBox! Bought the screws and washers etc from ebay and followed these instructions: Untitled Document It's been running ok for the past 3 hours or so where as before it wouldn't manage more than ten minutes. Better get back in my Astra and see if I can beat Bengies ring time! __________________ 2007 Seat Leon FR TDi 170 Bluetooth / Convenience Pack / 18s / Rear Parking Sensors / Front Centre Arm Rest / Passenger Airbag Disconnect / Free Dealer Mats / Brodit Mount + Brodit Tom Tom One Active Holder Used to have an A5 Skoda Octavia 1.9 TDi Elegance Combi and Missing somewhere comfy to rest my right arm!

25-09-2008, 20:08	#13
cheezemonkhai Briskodian Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 15,665 Members Car: Thanks: 123 Thanked 527 Times in 488 Posts	Re: Had to happen I suppose What on earth are they doing with those bolts? Just put in a better heatsink or replace the (I imagine stretched) nuts in the heatsink of the whole heatsink and clean out the fans. __________________ Cars make CO2 and trees absorb CO2. By driving your car you're feeding a tree and helping the environment.

26-09-2008, 22:53	#16
DaveI Briskodian Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: North East Posts: 1,054 Members Car: Seat Leon FR TDi Thanks: 52 Thanked 18 Times in 18 Posts	Re: Had to happen I suppose It didn't, see post #8. That was my first effort at just re-seating the heatsinks and replacing the thermal paste. __________________ 2007 Seat Leon FR TDi 170 Bluetooth / Convenience Pack / 18s / Rear Parking Sensors / Front Centre Arm Rest / Passenger Airbag Disconnect / Free Dealer Mats / Brodit Mount + Brodit Tom Tom One Active Holder Used to have an A5 Skoda Octavia 1.9 TDi Elegance Combi and Missing somewhere comfy to rest my right arm!

27-09-2008, 00:08	#17
cheezemonkhai Briskodian Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 15,665 Members Car: Thanks: 123 Thanked 527 Times in 488 Posts	Re: Had to happen I suppose Guess the bits you remove from the heatsink just stretch or lose their thread. Not a piece of genius design. __________________ Cars make CO2 and trees absorb CO2. By driving your car you're feeding a tree and helping the environment.

27-09-2008, 06:25	#18
Blade404 Briskodian Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: The land of smoke & mirrors Posts: 4,295 Members Car: Black Focus Thanks: 80 Thanked 95 Times in 67 Posts	Re: Had to happen I suppose From what I've been told, by someone who has fixed a few RRD 360's it's some of the connections on the cpu it's self that break with all the expansion and contraction of the cpu as it's heats up then cools with use. In order to fix the problem you have to increase the pressure on the cpu so that these connections are pushed back together. __________________ One brush to tar them all! Ford Focus Titanium in Panther Black For information about joining the briskoda.net folding team click here..

29-09-2008, 13:30	#20
philje123 Briskodian Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: York Posts: 2,017 Members Car: Skoda Felicia Laurin & Klement 1.3 Thanks: 62 Thanked 106 Times in 97 Posts	Re: Had to happen I suppose I did Something similar on my old iBook quite some time ago that had a similar issue with the BGA solder connections on the GPU. So... took the back cover off, turned it over, powered it up and placed a lit tealight candle on top of the GPU.. it worked! It finally gave up a couple of months later unfortunately! Glad you got it sorted! __________________ 96 Felicia Laurin & Klement 1.3 spi Hatchback called Nelly

29-09-2008, 15:52	#21
cheezemonkhai Briskodian Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 15,665 Members Car: Thanks: 123 Thanked 527 Times in 488 Posts	Re: Had to happen I suppose Sounds like the BGA soldering wasn't up to it and the extra pressure fixes the joints well enough to work. I'd have thought this might have something to do with the Lead Free Solder as when the 360 came out this would have been very new. Does anyone know if the XBox 360 is RoHS compliant and if so what level it is (5 or 6/6 etc?). If it was down to the lead free solder not being up to the job, then I'd be fairly certain some people could put in a nice claim for replacement of the goods FOC as they were not fit for purpose due to the original design. The leaded and lead free solder have pretty different characteristics in this aspect and IIRC most leaded connectors the solder was enough to hold it strong but the lead free ones needed extra pins to take the insertion forces. __________________ Cars make CO2 and trees absorb CO2. By driving your car you're feeding a tree and helping the environment.

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