Mister RRoD comes to town...

[Wrestlevania]

So, finally, after owning a 1st-generation 360 for about 18 months, the dreaded 3 lights finally decided to turn up whilst I was playing Burnout Paradise last night.

Switching the machine off and then back on again didn't work the first time. But pulling out the power lead, leaving it for 10 minutes (whilst I registered the console on service.xbox.com) and then plugging it bag in again seemed to bring it back to life. At least, for about 20 minutes or so.

So I called the MS support line, pretty much got straight through - rather refreshingly - and they talked me through that "X, X, LB, RB, X, X" voodoo in the System menu. This seems to have fixed it; some hokum about LIVE downloading tiny software updates that can build up over time and fuck up the DVD drive's firmware.

Sounds like bollocks but it is working again. For now...

[Spaff]

my 360 had a rrod fit recentlly but then forgot about it after i unplugged the powerlead for a few seconds and put it back in, i think he was having a bad day.

[ThunderPeel2001]

I just did all mine online... Whole thing (from send off to return) took two weeks No mention of any controller tricks though... Sounds very weird?!??

[toblix]

The only problem I've had with mine is a "disc is unreadable" error while playing Assassin's Creed. It gave me the creeps, but I've never had any trouble since.

[Nachimir]

my 360 had a rrod fit recentlly but then forgot about it after i unplugged the powerlead for a few seconds and put it back in, i think he was having a bad day.

Mine does the same thing once every few months. It did it the first time I ever switched it on and I just about shat myself.

[Wrestlevania]

Mine's had sporadic disc read errors, but only with specific games--Forza 2 mysteriously being the only repeat offender here.

[miffy495]

As I made a thread to express my frustration over, mine did that temporarily the day that Geometry Wars 2 came out. No problems since, and I'm about to go have a Rock Band 2 marathon, so fingers crossed.

[ThunderPeel2001]

Bah! My 360 just RRoD'd on me. Second time -- first time was in warranty and it was replaced quickly.

This time it's apparently it's outside the warranty, so I have to pay to get it "serviced" -- a mere £62 GBP ($100 USD). Except I can buy a new "Core" 360 for £55 inc. delivery!

Will my HD transfer smoothly over to a new machine?

I'm wondering if I should splash on an new S Console (sans HD) for £129. Does anyone know if the RRoD is exclusive to the original consoles? Did they fix it in the new 360?

[Erkki]

Welcome to the club!

They didn't fix it in new models AFAIK. Although, I haven't been keeping track so I don't know what "new" means.

[shammack]

Will my HD transfer smoothly over to a new machine, does anyone know? I'm wondering if I should splash on an new S Console (sans HD) for £129. Does anyone know if the RRoD is exclusive to the original consoles? Did they fix it in the new 360?

Don't take my word for it, but it's my understanding that the "S" consoles are not compatible with pre-S hard drives (because they sit in the console in a different position or something).

I never owned a pre-S model, but I bought the diskless S and quickly discovered that there are a lot of things you can't do without a hard drive even if you have the space available in onboard storage, so I had to buy one, and at that point I researched it and learned about this.

[ThunderPeel2001]

Don't take my word for it, but it's my understanding that the "S" consoles are not compatible with pre-S hard drives (because they sit in the console in a different position or something).

I never owned a pre-S model, but I bought the diskless S and quickly discovered that there are a lot of things you can't do without a hard drive even if you have the space available in onboard storage, so I had to buy one, and at that point I researched it and learned about this.

Huh. That's pretty fricking annoying! I can't believe they make you buy a new HD - to replace a perfectly functioning old one. That's actually quite shocking.

Edit: Apparently there are some ways around it... kind of: http://flicktitio.us/how-to-replace-the-hard-drive-in-an-xbox-360-slim-4gb-arcade

[Sno]

Will my HD transfer smoothly over to a new machine?

Short answer is yes.

If you only have one account on that hard-drive, and always have it online, you won't even notice anything different. You'll plug the hard-drive into the new system and keep going like nothing has changed.

If you use that system offline or want to let other accounts play XBLA games or use DLC you purchased, you need to update the licenses to tie into the new hardware. (I believe the current Metro dashboard finally has this option built in somewhere, it should be a fairly painless process.)

I'm wondering if I should splash on an new S Console (sans HD) for £129. Does anyone know if the RRoD is exclusive to the original consoles? Did they fix it in the new 360?

The RROD issue was more or less resolved by the time the original batch of Elites hit the market, and i've heard almost no stories of people having problems with the Slims. (I have had plenty or RROD's, myself. I am on my fifth or sixth 360, a black Elite that has lasted longer than all of the others combined. Rarely, the sound will cut out and necessitate a reboot, but it hasn't died yet.)

As for the Original/Slim hard-drive issue, the pre-Slim drives sit in an external shell that affixes to the side of the system, while the Slim drives slot into the system itself. From a purely technical standpoint, my understanding is that the drives should be compatible, and it's more the form factor issue that prevents old drives from being used with newer Slim systems and vice versa.

If you're thinking about upgrading from an old-style 360 to a Slim, just make sure to get one that has a hard-drive included in the package. (Also, with a certain cable Microsoft provides, you can plug two drives into one system and transfer the old drive's contents to the new one.)

Edited March 4, 2012 by Sno

[ThunderPeel2001]

Thanks for that. It helps a lot.

I think it makes sense just to buy a new Core. The HD will work. It's cheaper. And I get three years of RRoD protection. I can't see what benefits I'd get from buying a Slim now I think about it.

Edited March 4, 2012 by ThunderPeel2001

[Roderick]

Wow, buying the old system? I guess with the warranty it makes sense, especially if you plan to dump the console once the 720 checks in. I'm in much the same boat; my system RRod'd a few weeks back and I've been deliberating stalling buying a new one ever since.

[ThunderPeel2001]

Oh no! I thought I'd found a place selling "new" Cores, but it turns out they're used... Damn. Not going to buy a second-hand 360.

Back to square one.

[Roderick]

No, you should, it's a great idea, what could go wrong?

[ThunderPeel2001]

No, you should, it's a great idea, what could go wrong?

Lol. Right!

I just checked and if I pay the £60 ($100) to get my 360 repaired, it's only under warranty for 90 days! If I get another RRoD, it's another £60. And so on.

This blows.

Looking at a new Slim 360 with a 250GB HD: £178 ($280). All so I can have what I already own...

I can see MS losing customers this way. I knew I should have bought Super Street Fighter IV Arcade on Steam

[ThunderPeel2001]

Other options are for me to try and repair it myself. There's quite a few guides, like this one:

ZayE6SDudXk

[Roderick]

I had heard that fixing it yourself was a perfectly valid option - provided your problem is the overheating one. It looks like a pretty hardcore solution to me, but if you've got the tools for it, whelp... sounds like a cool adventure!

[ThunderPeel2001]

Yep, an adventure all right Could be fun. Plus there's sense of satisfaction of doing a job yourself.

I've drilled down to my secondary error code (who knew?) and apparently it's specifically this: http://www.xbox-experts.com/errorcode/E20/0110/

I'm a total layman, but it seems that the "towel trick" might be a somewhat legitimate way to reflow the RAM. Hmm.

[Gwardinen]

I've used the towel trick on 360s with the RROD many times in the past. It almost always does work, but it is only a temporary solution. How temporary varies, and it can be applied more than once, but you probably won't get more than 2-3 months out of it even if you do it multiple times. Even that would be somewhat lucky.

[ThunderPeel2001]

Well I've done more research and it seems that my particular RRoD error code (0110) is a particularly annoying one. The only way to fix it is to "reflow the RAM", and often that doesn't work... which leaves the only option of binning the whole console.

I may just pay MS after all... but I'm tempted to try the towel trick, first. Just incase. I wonder if MS get upset if they think you've "towelled" your console and then asked for a repair? :-/

[Roderick]

Even if they fix your machine, there's no telling it won't die on you again quicker than you want. Frankly, there's no way I'm paying 60 moneys to Microsoft to fix a console they deliberately engineered to break down after a few years (or at the very least knowingly used cheap parts prone to disintegration for). I'd fork over for the new model, which should be a lot sturdier in the long run, or alternatively, fuck console gaming until the new batch comes out.

[ThunderPeel2001]

Even if they fix your machine, there's no telling it won't die on you again quicker than you want. Frankly, there's no way I'm paying 60 moneys to Microsoft to fix a console they deliberately engineered to break down after a few years (or at the very least knowingly used cheap parts prone to disintegration for). I'd fork over for the new model, which should be a lot sturdier in the long run, or alternatively, fuck console gaming until the new batch comes out.

I know, I know. You're right. But the last fix they did for me has lasted several years... and I'm possibly naive enough to believe the next refurbished model I get will be newer, and less prone to RRoDing.

Also, I just bought a Madcatz Street Fighter Joystick and a copy of Super Street Fighter IV Arcade, and I kind of want to play them. *sob*

[ThunderPeel2001]

Ok, well I spoke with some other forum, and I do believe sending it back to MS is the most sensible option. I'm not even going to try the "towel trick".

What about you, Rodi?