The Xbox 360 comprises of a power ring which is the power button and surrounding the power button are the lights. According to the operating conditions of the console the lights are programmed to blink and they are arranged in a quadratic circle manner around the power button. The lights blink either in green or red based on their relevant condition and they also display the error messages in the screen when there is any problem faced by the console. The codes are displayed in an alphanumeric manner, if the console does not face any problem the green color light blinks and if the console meets with some problem the red color light is turned on. Apart from all this the number of lights glowing during an error also changes as one, two, three, and four and so on based on the situation of the console.
Design aspects
The Xbox hardware comprises of two processors and they are CPU (central processing unit) and GPU (graphics processing unit is also known as visual processing unit VPU) which is a dedicated graphic rendering device for a personal computer, work station or game console. As usual these processors are also provided with heat sinks in order to absorb heat radiated from them. Many Xbox users have complaints of hardware failure and over heating problems and the overheating problem occurs because the processor is not provided with enough air circulation for natural cooling even though the motherboard consist of a intercooler still the problem of overheating persist. Because of the overheating problems of the console error E 74 occurs on the screen with three red lights glowing in the power ring area and this problem is referred as “Red Ring of Death” or RRoD. The reason behind all these problems is nothing but poor design, testing insufficiency, and lack of good ventilation for the console.
Repairing Ways
After facing these problems only option is to go with the repairing technique, here the console can be repaired in two ways:
1. By giving the console to the Microsoft service center.
2. By repairing yourself.
If you go by first option you have some positives and some negatives, positives are it is a free service provided by Microsoft for those consoles which are under warranty period but for others it is charged and the negatives are to get a console repaired you need to wait for a long period of three months to see your Xbox.
Option two goes with a technique called Towel Wrapping which can be done by yourself and this is done to ensure that the weak solder joints of motherboard gets melted and fixes properly when you wrap a towel around the console and run that for a hour. But experts claim that performing this technique will damage the components in mere future.
Easy way to repair
As stated above that going with option two is preferable i.e., repairing on your own this can be done by watching a few videos on the internet which explains an gives step by step instruction to carry out a console repair. The main objective behind repairing of the console is to remove the X clamp present in the motherboard that supports the heat sinks. After this action on the motherboard the heat sinks back in their appropriate positions with the help of screw and blot. This method ensures that your processor gets enough air and gets cooled naturally. The main advantage of this method is that you can complete the repairing work within an hour or two instead of waiting for it for months together and get started the same day and relish with your favorite games.
Microsoft has designed a video game console Xbox 360 with its own hardware components and with its own codes running on chips. This is the first innovation in the history of Microsoft for designing its own hardware, even though developing gaming software is a well known tactic of the Microsoft Corporation but developing hardware of there own is very new to them. Developing things for the first time does hold some flaw; because of this reason the hardware designed by the Microsoft Corporation has different kind of errors within the console and the RED LIGHT ERROR is the most common kind of error occurring with the Xbox due to hardware failure.
FAULT IN DESIGN
The Microsoft Corporation has stated many reasons for the errors occurring in the Xbox. One of the main reasons for the error to occur is the failure of heat sinks to absorb heat developed in the GUI and causing overheating of the console. The main reason behind the overheating of the console is poor design architecture and the console is not designed efficiently to handle the overheating problems. Other reason behind these errors is that the Microsoft has keenly concentrated on the compactness, weight and its external appearance instead of designing the console to provide enough air inside the console from the external environment. Apart from the above mentioned errors the other main drawback is that poor hardware components were soldered to the motherboard i.e., weak soldering joints also have a role to play in the faulty design.
SOLUTION
The above problems can be easily resolved by several methods. If the console you’re using has the same problems then you can send them to the Microsoft service center for repairing. The repairing of the console is done free of cost for those which has the valid warranty period but for those whose warranty has expired has to pay a amount of $125, apart from this you need to wait up to three months to get it back from Microsoft.
The best solution for this problem is that to repair your console by yourself, you may feel how is it possible? Quite, simple you just need to watch some Xbox repair videos from the internet in order to make your console perfect or to repair your console. These videos are very helpful as they explain each and every step to perform the repairing of your console and this operation can be performed within few hours and your Xbox is ready to play. Thus, this method is considered to be the easiest and not a time consuming one most reliable and you need not wait for weeks together to play your favorite games instead just see some videos and get it done within a hour.
The Xbox 360 has been reported for many hardware problems and the most common is that of the red light error and these errors occur due to overheating of the videogame console. The console consists of the power button around which are green and red lights placed in a quadratic fashion to show the working condition of the hardware consoles.
When the console faces some problem the lights near the power button turns red and simultaneously a warning is sent to the user by means of a display message over the screen. The lights around the button is called power ring.
RED LIGHT IN THE POWER RING
Whenever you start your console it should glow in green color if the booting is normal. But, if there is some connection or hardware problem the power ring glows in red color.
According to the problem of the hardware the numbers of lights vary they may be one, two or three lights glowing when there is a problem. For instance, if there is a problem with the AV cable then only one red light glows. But, if there is a problem of overheating in the console, due to weak soldering or inadequate natural air flowing for cooling process of the processor then three red lights glow at a time.
REMOVAL OF X CLAMPS
The red light error can be resolved by removing the X clamp from the motherboard of the console which holds the heat sinks of the processor. The heat sinks are again placed in the motherboard by screw and a bolt arrangement instead of the X clamp arrangement. This screw and bolt helps provide enough air circulation to the motherboard and avoiding the overheating effect of the console. As a result, on restarting the three red lights are stored for the green light in the console. The other name for red ring error is “Red Rings of Death” or RRoD.
SUGGESTION
The removal of Xbox can be performed in many ways one of it is by giving it to the Microsoft service center. The main drawback of giving to the Microsoft service center is that it is comparatively costlier than the other methods and apart from this the service period taken by the center is too lengthy and you need to wait for three months.
Many Xbox gamers suggest self repairing of the RRoD problem. For this, there are some video tutorials available in the internet these videos explain each and every step of fixing your Xbox without any problems. This method is very easy and the main benefit of this method is that your console gets ready and you can play immediately without waiting and wasting the time and relish with the games.
The Xbox 360 is a video game console specially designed for playing high end graphics games as and when you wish for. The Xbox has no similarity with the other gaming device in which installing games is not possible, and there are few drawbacks in the normal gaming consoles like less storage capacity and poor graphics, etc which has paved a way for the second generation of video gaming console. The Xbox 360 was developed by Microsoft Corporation and the most prominent feature is that the hardware has also been developed by the Microsoft Corporation and the codes for the motherboard chip have also been written by the Microsoft programmers.
PROBLEMS WITH THE NEW VERSION
Xbox and the Xbox 360 are two different versions. Xbox 360 came out in the year2005 with some advance technology than the older version. But, unfortunately Xbox 360 failed in many aspects of the hardware performance. Many Xbox 360 users have complaints of bad hardware performance than the older version. Among the complaints the most common is the blinking of the red ring very frequently in the power ring area. Xbox 360 has a power button surrounded by which are the green and red lights which is known as the power ring. When the console starts the light will glow in green and shows the user that it has been started without any problem. But, if there is some problem the red light blinks in return even after the console gets started.
ACTUAL CAUSE OF THE ERROR
The main reason behind the errors to occur is the overheating of the console. There are heat sinks placed above the processors which actually fail to absorb the required heat. Even though internal coolers have been fixed for the processors cooling process the heat developed is more and the provided coolers are inadequate. Because of this problem the hardware specifies the problem to the user via red light. If your console faces the similar problem then you can see three red lights glowing in the power ring which is referred to as the “The Red Ring of Death” or simply RRoD.
METHOD TO SOLVE
This error can be solved permanently by sending your console to the Microsoft service center if you have a valid warranty but you have to wait for a long period of about 3 months until it gets shipped back to your home.
Apart from the above solution, you still have an alternative solution and that is by repairing on your own by watching some videos related to repairing the consoles over the internet. These videos will help you repair the console perfectly. The only change to be done in your console according to the video suggestion is the removal of the X clamp from the motherboard which will leave your Xbox without any kind of troubles in future. The main advantage of this method is that it is not a time consuming task and you can switch on to your games within few hours instead of waiting for three long months for its return.
