Here's How Microsoft Solved The Xbox 360 Red Ring of Death

[@jamesgriffyn]

Her: What are you watching? Me: *History Channel*

[@valrond]

Fun fact. This is more history than what they show in "History" channel.

[@jamesgriffyn]

@@valrond History channel needs to cut our boi a check.

[@andremalerba5281]

Her: Sooo..where's the Aliens?

[@stuartcole4845]

Juanfra Valero I don’t know if it is like this elsewhere, but in Australia the History channel is known as the “Hitler Channel”, because they show so many documentaries about Hitler.

[@CyberDragon10K]

@@valrond "What happened to you, History Channel? You used to be cool."

[@thelonewolf8333]

If my memory serves me correctly, they fixed the red rings by implementing a new motherboard design and the new Jasper chip set. That was the reason why I bought the 360 elite modern warfare 2 edition back in 2009. I previously had the original 360 which died numerous times with red rings. Since I bought the elite in 2009, I never once had an issue especially with the amount of hours spent playing Modern Warfare 2, Halo and Gears. Then with Microsoft’s ridiculous new policies for the new Xbox One in 2013, I jumped ship back to PlayStation and bought the PS4. Now, in 2021, I bought the new Xbox Series S. It’s nice to be back. Edit: I forgot to mention that I took out and played my 360 elite a few months ago and it still works like new. Had some nostalgia moments especially seeing my friends list. Most of them are offline since 10 years ago. You wonder what they’re all doing now in life. 2007-2012 was a unique time for online gaming as a teenager. Great memories. Time is flying

[@toopienator]

Elite. 2009 Jasper chipset *I wonder what the correlation is?* The Jasper chip was introduced in the 2009 Xbox 360s, Elite included. If you got an Elite in '09, chances are it hasn't and won't red ring.

[@Clawopus007]

I have 2007 falcon

[@Boogerdick69]

My original 360 was an arcade model I got in 08, it got the red ring in 2010 and Microsoft fixed it for free. I ended up getting a 09 elite around 2013 from a friend for dirt cheap with controllers. Legit using it as we speak. Works really nice, cools nice and isn’t loud

[@CliffNark]

@@toopienator Jasper was introduced in November 08

[@CliffNark]

@@Clawopus007 Same, works like a charm

[@rodmunch69]

I returned my 360, seven times for RROD - after the 8th time of it breaking, I just gave up and eventually bought a new redesigned model. My friend however, he returned his eleven times, then magically got an original design model that is still working today. The entire thing was a huge cluster.

[@dslking]

7 systems for me.

[@alx54723]

0 times for me Cuz I still have my Xbox 360 slim And had out for 11 years

[@rodmunch69]

@@alx54723 amazing story, thanks for adding.

[@kory7698]

I have an original 360 since released. I red ringed once and sent it back in to be fixed and never had an issue since. Oddly enough my slim had a red dot of death and after it overheats the second it turns on.. Now it's a glorified paper weight.. Completely useless

[@alx54723]

@@rodmunch69 yeah well the reason is probably cuz it's a slim I have a white one which isn't slim and still doesn't have rrod But it has a broken hdd

[@MrBirchieBirch]

"How Microsoft solved the Xbox 360 Red Ring of Death" Money...lots and lots of money!

[@omegatimes6014]

So butt-hurt trying to scare buyers lol SONY HACKED AGAIN!!! Quote The 2011 PlayStation Network outage was the result of an "external intrusion" on Sony's PlayStation Network and Qriocity services, in which personal details from approximately 77 million accounts were compromised and prevented users of PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable consoles from accessing the service.The attack occurred between April 17 and April 19, 2011, forcing Sony to turn off the PlayStation Network on April 20. On May 4 Sony confirmed that personally identifiable information from each of the 77 million accounts had been exposed (HACKED). The outage lasted 23 days.unquote (This is in history books forever) are u doing nothing about ps4fakestation leafe blower or the burnt out HDMI issues with ps4fakestation... Can we expect a talk on those subjects from u spawn? are you going to do a talk about HOW SONY IS the MOST HACKED CONSOLE IN HISTORY. Or u just fanboy geek fear mongering 🤔😐 my guess the later

[@TrevorFosterTheFosterDojo]

@@omegatimes6014 wow you are a joke lol

[@rockl79]

@@chrisgotgames6405 psn was actually hacked in 2011.

[@Not_cee]

@@omegatimes6014 better than having to buy a new Xbox and you didn't lose your account and when you get the red ring you technically lose your account until you buy a new Xbox so who really got hacked?

[@james-xf1ox]

@@Not_cee ps really got hacked.

[@_strayfer_]

They removed the red LED lights. Problem solved.

[@wesleywyndam-pryce4081]

🤣🤣

[@SahilG23]

😂🥴

[@bluechand9235]

LMAO 😂

[@IanHsieh]

🤣

[@wesleywyndam-pryce4081]

@Star Scream 🤣🙃

[@thedavegamer5279]

I remember taking apart my 360s for the first time for a deep clean... it took me 4 hours

[@flagshipbuilds]

Those latches...

[@christiangomez7947]

S C R E W S

[@Troll_Account_Police]

I just do it the same thus quarantine but nothing happens

[@christiangomez7947]

@@Troll_Account_Police them goddman screws and that stupid metal cage covering the board.

[@DustinBigMac]

When I took mine apart I spliced the fans power with the cd drive power and everything worked well the fan being a bit louder from the full 12v constant I gave it. But never had a system failure of any sort and I did this back in 2012. I had a special tool I got on Amazon for around 10 bucks to take it apart effortlessly

[@AlexanderDiviFilius]

Fair play to Microsoft, they’ve always ensured that something like the hardware issues that plagued the early 360s can never happen again. Every Xbox One and Series model has had overbuilt cooling, allowing it to consistently outperform the equivalent PlayStations, both thermally and in terms of quietness.

[@akkibajaj705]

That is completely incorrect. Many tests have shown ps5 to have overall better cooling especially the new redesigned ones that will be out in the market soon. Don’t get why y’all don’t do enough research

[@AlexanderDiviFilius]

@@akkibajaj705 maybe the new PS5s are the best things since sliced bread, but my comment was made ages ago, so it’s not like I’d have known of them. What tests are you referring to, and who performed them? I’d be interested to see how they differ from what Gamers Nexus did, since they’re usually the standard with this stuff, and their conclusions don’t seem to line up with yours.

[@realgroovy24]

@@akkibajaj705 he was meaning Xbox One/PS4 generation. I'm not sure about the latest generation but I've heard no problems with either.

[@gorydoughnut9789]

The Xbox one is really quiet. The series s is so quiet I can't even hear it and the ps4 is a airplane

[@greengamma569]

@@akkibajaj705 are you fucking delusional? The series x was literally built with Cooling in mind- that’s why it looks like a pc tower. the ps5 was built with aesthetics at the forefront

[@awesomeferret]

That momont when you realize that externally, the PS2 Slim is more impressive, but internally, the Xbox 360 slim is more impressive.

[@PrinsessePeach]

You can’t replace the DVD drive in the Xbox 360 as it’s paired with the console via encryption key. This was to prevent users replacing the stock drive with a modded one.

[@dantehall9744]

I got one from a pawn shop and someone tried replaced the driver so I cant play games on it

[@TheDavidish]

RGH it and it’ll work

[@UptownErik]

I remember getting my 360 back in late 2006 with TES: Oblivion, super excited when unboxing the system. The first fault right out of the box was the external power supply that had a weird creaking sound and terrible coil whine. Later that week the disc drive stopped reading my discs. Replaced it, the second one did the same thing. Replaced it a second time, got a system that would stop reading the disc in the middle of a gaming session. After this my local Gamestop (EB Games in Sweden back in the day) stopped believing me and made me contact Microsoft directly. With them I had to get the same machine replaced three times, two for RROD (one day before the release of Halo 3, thanks Microsoft!!) and one more time for the faulty disc drive. My friends with Xboxes had to get them replaced at least two times, one of them four times. Oh boy, how I miss gaming with my old pals in Gears of War and Halo 3, the quality of the Xbox hardware on the other hand not so much...

[@waltersobchak7275]

@@chrisgotgames6405 just as bad

[@waltersobchak7275]

@JohnDoe 1 yeah 1 of my 4 phat models works great too.

[@waltersobchak7275]

@@MisfitoX yeah that’s what it is

[@autolife2785]

@@chrisgotgames6405 if you do get a PS3, don't get the fat one nowadays. Those things are prone to getting the yellow light of death once they get old. I had to learn the hard way after buying a used fat one that went out on me. I tries fixing it twice, but no luck.. The first 360 I owned: the Slim one that you see in this video, gave me the red ring of death after having it for 9 years. Now, I just got the 360 E, and I got the PS3 Slim. Both of them are super reliable.

[@autolife2785]

@@chrisgotgames6405 for some reason the one I got (the second model - 80 gig), gave me the yellow light of death. I think the previous owner didn't take good care of it. The slim still goes strong. I got it at an arcade store that sells retro consoles. I see it was made in 2009. Whoever had it knew what they were doing, because it still works like new after all these years.

[@Rowlett54]

“I got this on eBay, and there’s stuff floating around inside, so this could be fun”

[@Exzticy]

Best Quote In Years, When You Get Something From Ebay, Stuff Floats Around.

[@Tangible_D]

As long as it's not roaches

[@ChiruKobra]

Or like that guy who found drugs on an NES cartridge.

[@kevin46942]

Hi I have an Xbox one S if I should get an opportunity should I get an Xbox 360?

[@digidex4557]

That's how I introduce my wife to people

[@Kai-vo5zq]

Watch Peter Moore’s (Former Head of Xbox) interview with Phil Spencer and Seamus (Founder of Xbox). Its amazing how he went in depth with how they had to deal with it. If it wasn’t for Steve Balmer, the Xbox brand literally would have been dead. He did not hesitate throwing down over 1 billion dollars to save the Xbox brand. IGN interview Xbox bosses @ 51:00 in case you wanna see how they had to deal it.

[@j.k.1239]

Ballmer gets a lot of hate but all the things that Microsoft is proud of today was created under him.Everyone wanted to kill Microsoft surface too but look now, It's a two billion dollar brand just this quarter.On the other hand, New CEO would rather prefer to kill unprofitable business than to lose money.

[@face76]

The board of directors have wanted to sell Xbox before and I’m sure now. As the current ceo said no. MS’s money is in windows and that is windows for businesses. I would bet that the Xbox brand has been running at a loss for a few years now. Maybe they started to gain something within the last year but the 360 never getting fixed of the RROD and the X1 just being a bomb hasn’t made it easy. The 360 is their best selling console and had an extra year on competition and still came in 3rd. I know it’s not a race but you could see the momentum shifting. The 360 was huge but the RROD, the Wii, and the exclusives the PS3 got was just too much for the 360 to handle. Btw, Ballmer putting down 1 bil was nothing for the guy. He was worth 40 times that. He was in the top 5 riches people in the world at the time. So he was especially making himself more money. The difference between the surface and the Xbox is the surface has been hit. It struggled at first but now it’s huge. While the Xbox’s best run was the 360. I can see this being the Xbox’s last run as a console if it does as bad as it did last time. The X1 didn’t sell well and that hurt double as they were sold as a loss to begin with. The software wasn’t there. BC didn’t break them anything. Game pass was there big hit but it’s tied into pc too. But the game pass as a service can’t sustain a console that doesn’t sell and exclusives that are free with game pass.

[@omegatimes6014]

Here sony was dead.. So butt-hurt trying to scare buyers lol SONY HACKED AGAIN!!! Quote The 2011 PlayStation Network outage was the result of an "external intrusion" on Sony's PlayStation Network and Qriocity services, in which personal details from approximately 77 million accounts were compromised and prevented users of PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable consoles from accessing the service.The attack occurred between April 17 and April 19, 2011, forcing Sony to turn off the PlayStation Network on April 20. On May 4 Sony confirmed that personally identifiable information from each of the 77 million accounts had been exposed (HACKED). The outage lasted 23 days.unquote (This is in history books forever) are u doing nothing about ps4fakestation leafe blower or the burnt out HDMI issues with ps4fakestation... Can we expect a talk on those subjects from u spawn? are you going to do a talk about HOW SONY IS the MOST HACKED CONSOLE IN HISTORY. Or u just fanboy geek fear mongering 🤔😐 my guess the later

[@tHeWasTeDYouTh]

he did not hesitate to throw 1 BILLION to fix it because it was his fault. It has never been stated but we do know for a fact that Microsoft cheaped out in the testing of the Xbox 360 before it was release. They did not pay a company extra money to do additional test on how the hardware was taking in all the heat. Microsoft wanted to beat Sony with a next gen console for an entire year they cut a lot of corners.

[@omegatimes6014]

@@tHeWasTeDYouTh idk about that dude, I have a side thought that keeps coming to mind when I think of this rrd. I think ebgames gamestop had huge contracts at the time to fix this issue. I think or wonder if the XB360s were sabotaged by ebgames/gamestop who just raked in multiple millions off this with their extended warranties. Pfff who really knows though, either way Microsoft quickly put up every dollar to make good on righting the problem and that's what matters.

[@smgofdvld]

I was playing Nintendo ds during this time but yeah the amount of replacements my friend got oof he got his changed like 4 times lol

[@boxking5948]

Same. my ds was my best friend back then

[@GamerBoy870]

It only happened to me once and I had the Xbox 360 elite

[@CommodoreFan64]

I was a DS lite, Wii, and PC guy during the life of the Xbox 360, but I can remember one of my coworkers at my 2nd job having gone through 3 different Xbox 360 units before giving up, and selling off her system, and games to just fund a PC build.

[@GamerBoy870]

@@CommodoreFan64 same I had a DS lite played the fuck out of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of the sky and Plants vs Zombies on that and I still have the games also custom Robo arena

[@CommodoreFan64]

​@@chrisgotgames6405 She had 2 replaced for free under the Microsoft warranty, and 3rd we went on our day off from work to a local Play N' Trade, and she got it used for 1/2 the price of a new one someone had traded in, and it lasted maybe 6 months before doing the red ring. Far as the PC build, she just wanted something for her money that could do more than just gaming, and the price of a PS3, and a cheap but decent laptop did not make sense to her, as it was during the first couple of years the PS3 was out, and they were also having Yellow light of death issues due to thermal issues, way smaller numbers than XB360, but they happened, and lastly at the time the PS3 did not have the games she wanted to play. I was able to turn a few of my friends, and coworkers in that era into PC gamers, and/or Nintendo gamers due to all the early issues MS, and Sony where having.

[@TubbyJ420]

when my 360 elite finally died, i remember white dots on screen while playing Outrun XBLA. only a day or 2 later i got my RROD. It died on a Thursday, and the next day was payday, so i went right out and bought a Xbox 360 S after work was finished. I remember moving the licensees and re-downloading data took a whole day though.

[@thebaccathatchews]

It wasn't a flaw, it was a feature.

[@nu52927]

No

[@tanman7568]

Don't you mean death sentence?

[@Yinzermakesvids]

It was a flaw. Just like PS3 fatboy's. All had issues

[@Ian260m]

Brandon T. r/wooooosh

[@instahawk8422]

I was definitely a festive feature by microsoft it gave colour to your living room the red and green all playstation had was piss yellow

[@MPYarnall]

Love my 360 S. I bought it brand new in 2010 and it's been perfect ever since.

[@Ylylguru]

Just looking at the 360 alone made me feel so nostalgic

[@Tgbec]

When my original 360 died, I took it apart and kept its heat sink in its memory.

[@Theultrazombiekiller]

I have a 1st generation model (Q1 of 2006) that still works perfectly somehow. I do keep it very clean on the inside, have extra fans on the back, and I have gone in and replaced the thermal paste twice over the last 12 years on both chips to keep it active. Still works like a champ.

[@Preskryption]

Experienced RROD 5 times, my console was always well ventilated. They refused to warranty it the last time and I was forced to buy the slim. Pretty shitty.

[@adamklase8547]

Same exact story with me. Except it was four times I got the RROD. Then my gf at the time bought me a slim. No problems since but man.. I thought I was the only one with so many red rings.

[@XBX1MASTER]

Try going through 3 different Playstation 2's. I hate Playstation.

[@XBX1MASTER]

El-ahrairah not true. I still have an original 360. Still working.

[@shortyorc121]

@@XBX1MASTER what do you use it as a paper weight? I bought 4 Xbox 360s because of failures, and all my friends at the time bought multiple 360s too. The Xbox 360 sales number where extremely inflated because of it. I think the real number of 360s users are around the Xbox ones.

[@HKgaming86]

Og ps2 and Og 360 are trash consoles, Og ps1 had it's share of problems too

[@wrldonwill]

Aww man... You're uncovering many past wounds for me. Got the Ring of Death on the first Xbox and the 360. Ended up selling my One before it let me down..lol.

[@KitchenerLeslie2]

After my 360 experience I vowed to never buy an Xbox again regardless of the exclusive they release, it has not been an issue. Cup Head was the one from this generation I was missing, then it came to ps4.

[@izakomandaz2895]

@@KitchenerLeslie2 xbox are way better now. No problems like that with the xbox one or series. You should give them another chance. Just because they released a console that had a major fault once doesn't mean their entire brand is terrible.

[@KitchenerLeslie2]

@@izakomandaz2895 I don’t care. I will never give them my business again after that BS. There are also no exclusives on that console worth a damn.

[@izakomandaz2895]

@@KitchenerLeslie2 you do know the ps4 has the same problem! The ps4 has the blue light of death which indicates the same problem the xbox 360 had - solder balls on the apu breaking. Its not quite so widespread but it is a relatively common problem.

[@KitchenerLeslie2]

@@izakomandaz2895 I only played my 360 25% of the time compared to my ps3. I bought 3 additional 360s and returned their shells with my 360’s fried guts. I’m on my fifth 360 (and final Xbox). They were garbage. Mine had plenty of air and I vacuumed them fairly regularly. My original ps4 is in my teenage daughter’s room, never been vacuumed and cocooned in clutter. I can hear the fan from my living room, but it still works fine. Launch ps4, btw. My second ps3 still works fine. I retired my launch ps3 because it was loud.

[@zeroturn7091]

Went through five consoles that had RROD. I ended up with three slims that work to this day. I liked the memory functionality, back then a certain website hosted slider settings and roster updates.

[@Bammarge2]

I love how no one ever mentions the 360 elite

[@Bammarge2]

@Johny Hw right lmao it’s like yeah no one likes that one screw it it’s just like the rest lmao

[@WhirlwindQuest]

It’s probably cause the xbox one come out right after

[@Bammarge2]

@@WhirlwindQuest the elite was technically the launch 360 but it was a special edition black console with a 120gb hard drive instead of the plain white pro / arcade console

[@alessandroplays8525]

@@Bammarge2 Actually, that’s just the “Jasper” model. Basically, Microsoft slightly redesigned the 360 twice before the Slim model. There were two different Jasper versions. One dubbed the “Arcade” model where it came with no HDD and a matte plastic finish on the outside of the disc tray, and the other was unofficially dubbed the “Elite” model which did come with an HDD and the chrome plastic finish on the outside of the disc tray like the original model from 2006. Both versions of the Jasper model had HDMI. The true “Elite” model was the Xbox 360 E which resembled the original model Xbox One. It was shortened to Xbox 360 E much like how the Slim was shortened to Xbox 360 S.

[@Bammarge2]

@@alessandroplays8525 strange my elite has a matte black tray that matches the HDD and console itself I’ve never seen another one like it

[@randysmith7094]

No, you can't just replace the DVD drive. They are locked with firmware encryption and married to the main board.

[@decm8]

I thought that when he said you could replace them

[@reddev5420]

True. It's not just swappable. You can reprogram the flash chip on the drive with the correct encryption key, but that can get complicated and is not for everyone.

[@deeplaysgaming4754]

dvd cant be changed unless you get the same model replacement and changed the daughterboard thats on it, each drive is locked to the 360 it was made with, those details are on the daughterboard. ive done it and this works.

[@deeplaysgaming4754]

@@reddev5420 have to change daughterboard thats on the drive and donor it to a same model working drive, then you dont need encryption key or any mod knowledge.

[@deeplaysgaming4754]

@@bloodbath-and-beyond i didnt say you cant extract he key, but if you aint good with flashing its way easier just to change the board why you are trying to correct me on something i never said? hers my previous reply....have to change daughterboard thats on the drive and donor it to a same model working drive, then you dont need encryption key or any mod knowledge.

[@WhiteInk47]

I had been stuck with my family’s Wii for a while, then I got an Xbox 360 Slim and Halo Reach for Christmas one year. Made a ton of memories with that one, I love that thing. All the Halo’s, Borderlands 2, Saint’s Row 3, Crackdown, there were so many great games on that console.

[@CaveyMoth]

You put a console tear down video inside of this tech history video? What a treat!

[@VibingCat39]

I used to repair the fat Xbox 360s for a computer store back in the days, the biggest problem was the cooing fans didn't run fast enough, the CPU pretty much got hot to the point of de-soldered itself from the motherboard. Microsoft also used very cheap solder too. I believe they were using lead free solder. To fix it I would use lead base pellets to re-ball the CPU and snug the heat sink down to the motherboard with quality thermal paste. Microsoft really f**ked up running the cooling fans at only 5v, I fixed that by re-wiring the fans to run at their full speed at 12v. The system was a little loud afterwards but I rarely ever had anyone bring one back.

[@EricasTouch]

That’s very interesting to know they took the knowledge from a previous system’s problems to make something even better. I have always liked their systems but waited until a truly portable variant came along. I love my little Series S even more now I know how it came about.

[@drd5455]

The jasper board revision was also very good at keeping red ring away. Mines still going to this day

[@rockl79]

Yep. Its lasting longer than many s/e consoles.

[@chromium5988]

Yes! I've got 3 Jaspers, all still going strong. My Xenons and Falcons are long dead :(

[@skuzzyj]

Same. Keeping my fingers crossed it keeps kicking

[@leonhantz6383]

I bought a Res Evil 5 red Jasper 360 console, because I thought my launch 360 would eventually die. They both still work 100% Unlike my launch 60GB PS3 which YLOD in 2014

[@rockl79]

@@leonhantz6383 the reason many old 360s die is because of defective gpus. Either the one you got was not defective or is and is dying slower than others.

[@RelentlessOhiox]

The RROD was caused by the solder contacts heating and cooling repeatedly and eventually breaking.

[@nororengo286]

I think they fixed the RROD issue with the Jasper Motherboard revision in the Phat models before the Slim came out.

[@daveshank1921]

Yes the Jasper is the most reliable mobo.

[@eatanotherzio6811]

Still have my 2008 60GB Pro Model Think its Jasper chipset Still works

[@Cbamptronious]

I did the x-clamp removal mod way way back in the day after mine RRODed, fixed the issue for like 8 years, but then last year I decided to repaste it just to be proactive. Ended up killing it, must have overtightened it. I was so pissed that I lost that system because I was so proud after I fixed it.

[@pancon5]

Great video, I had a glossy black 360 S for a while, beautiful little box, felt heavy and premium too.

[@davicito4841]

I'll never forget the summer of 2008, super hooked on CoD 4 and GoW then all of a sudden, That dreaded E 74 error with 1 red light almost traumatized me. Luckily Microsoft covered me and i only had to wait 2 weeks. (Also did the towel trick)

[@Rab1dGAMER]

Funny how this video comes out today after my one 360 got the RRoD

[@AlbertoJMarcano]

The 360 was awesome. The first time I saw Gears and Halo 3 play, I was actually blown away. Haven't felt that new ''awe'' until RD2.

[@TheCoderbad]

I still play on my Xbox 360 Slim, a lot of great games!! It was the best generation

[@matthewbryant2972]

Red Ring of Death caused a lot of 360's to be stolen at college parties back in 2005-2007

[@RobertAshbyMod]

Just a note from exp. If you want to replace the disc drive you also need to replace the motherboard both with the same "key" in order for it to work.

[@wisteela]

Excellent video. I recently acquired a 360 S 4GB that I've upgraded with a hard drive. Really interesting to see inside one. That's great with the USB WiFi module.

[@Cookberg]

You wanna know how I fixed it? Pennies thermal pasted to the mother board

[@jrchmgn.]

It's just a band aid solution doesn't fix it permanently.

[@rockl79]

Thats dumb and I suggest you stay away from "fixing" 360s. You are damaging the motherboard beyond repair. If you want to properly fix it replace the parts that are defective.

[@Cookberg]

It worked for the last year I needed it, I was like 16 at the time I regret nothing

[@omegarugal9283]

your 360 was not rrod, just overheating..

[@sneezyferret6482]

The xbox 360's RROD failures are now well documented. The lead free solderballs under the gpu would crack in places because of the heat stress it was put under. Lead free solder is very brittle compared to lead solder (The lead helps the thermal expansions and contractions as it undergoes use and non use....that's why it's there and why the military still use lead solder for mission critical applications. Consumer grade electronics? meh. They'll just buy another one). The passive heatsink was too small; the early GPU's used a lot of power and put out a lot of heat. They plonked a full size DVD drive directly over the small gpu heatsink so there was literally no room for any active cooling. I think if they had used a slim DVD drive they might've had enough room for some active cooling. But they were financially commited to that design so had to keep going. Fast forward a few years when the Jasper revision came out, that used a lot less power and therefore less heat being generated and Microsoft more or less had the problem solved. Then they integrated with CPU and GPU onto single chip with a massive active cooling fan on top with the Slim design. If you have an early revision 360 like the xephyr, Xenon or Falcon with a RROD, the *only* proper fix is to remove the GPU and reball it with lead solder. In fact, if you want a belt 'n braces repair, use a brand new GPU because the even smaller solder balls underneath the chip itself could also be going bad. If you still have a Zephyr or Xenon that's still going, that's great! But you can still help it by fitting a second gen heatsink and fitting a fan to the top of the heatpipe extension and drilling holes in the case to expel all that heat. Oh yes, and it's soLder not sodder. Rhymes with coLder, oLder, foLder etc. there's an L in there. Please use it 🙂 😉 p.s. LOLing so hard at the wifi module that plugged in via USB...so typical of Microsoft cheaping out on the design, even with the Slim 😁

[@shanez1215]

Issue was actually between the die and the substrate, not the substrate and the console. And it was from thermal cycles rather than overheating. So typical cooling mods didn't help at all for preventing RROD. Overkill ones like water-cooling did though.

[@thunderbolt10031]

That was not the issue at all. It was not an issue at the motherboard level, it was an issue with the GPU and/or CPU themselves. The Xbox 360's cooling solution is actually perfectly fine for the system and keeps the system well within safe thermal ranges. The 360 if I recall never rose above 85 C fresh off the assembly line. Like Shanez mentioned above, the issue was the connection between the chip die and the substrate. Essentially it was a complete internal failure of the chips, mostly the GPU, though the CPU was prone to this as well, but it was a bit rare for that to occur. To fix these consoles, the chips have to be replaced, whether it's the CPU or GPU. Any original system that was manufactured from mid-late 2008 and up as well as older systems that were serviced by Microsoft during that particular time will likely never see the RROD, because they were upgraded with newer chips that no longer had this problem. Oh and the pronunciation of solder depends on where you live, because there's two pronunciations of it. American is "sodder" where the British pronunciation is "soLder" Also, that is NOT a USB port for the WiFi card on the 360 S. It's a custom connector that looks like USB, but isn't. It's significantly larger than USB.

[@StandTallTx]

Only British pansies pronunciate the L in solder. We took your language and made it better. You're welcome.

[@gurjindersingh3843]

3:44 Why does the Hard Drive have the same shape as an HDMI port?

[@HybridAngelZero]

This was the model of 360 I got back in 2011! It's still trucking on to this day.

[@traceyates1506]

Seeing how much space the disc drive takes up makes me wonder just how small a digital 360 could’ve been.

[@omegarugal9283]

a digital only 360 made withb current tech would be smaller than a wii and run under less than 60 watt total

[@CosmicFox2007]

it would be smaller than a disc box lol

[@CliffNark]

The 360 never had a problem with ventilation or overheating, the problem was the GPU had low TG under fill which accelerated thermal fatigue in the solder bumps

[@MmntechCa]

A big reason why I went for the PS3 instead of the 360 was due to the RRoD issue. Sony's systems were supposedly more reliable, so of course mine had to YLOD after only two years of ownership, twice, even after getting it officially repaired. I replaced it with the CECH-2000 Slim, which has been rock solid. That era was just bad though for hardware failures. There's a reason why Apple ditched IBM PowerPC for Intel.

[@leftysquared]

i still have my original 360 from 2007. i never had the rrod, but my dad and sister cycled through multiple systems. it’s so interesting to me.

[@ThaMizphit74]

I had 3 360's replaced by MS because of RROD.

[@chriswiandt4907]

Same

[@mitchellblu3]

I still have my original Xbox 360 Elite that I got back in the day. Some how I never got the red ring of death and it still works to this day. I did have a laser go out in the disc drive but 10 bucks on ebay for a new one I replaced it and it was good as new again. This thing has been a trooper as it went everywhere with me when I was younger and I'm amazed it never failed on me lol. My sister wasn't as fortunate with the Xbox 360 Arcade and hers failed after a few years.

[@DoGuov]

The RROD. Man I had to get it repaired and sent it to Microsoft to get fixed twice. The third time it happened, the warranty just ran out lol. I was so irritated, but still good times with the 360 haha.

[@HeenaPatel253]

D G they fixed it not replace it?

[@Omegapork]

I still have a working 360 that was manufactured on October 31st of 2005. Its safe to say that that thing is a ticking time-bomb.

[@mattslagle4159]

So much nostalgia and good fun. I love this system.

[@artificialfrontiers4603]

I got my 360 slim for $5 because it had parental controls. All I had to do was call Microsoft to have them removed and it turned out to be one of the best console purchases I've ever made. You can still buy games on the online store. So many good games like Darkstalkers Resurrection and Hydro Thunder Hurricane. Plus tons of Sega arcade classics. The best home port of Daytona USA.

[@danlynx1387]

I still put my trust on the Jasper model, because My friends went with the Slim model and those models are dead, and my jasper is still kicking

[@brandontyler1754]

I would argue that the yellow light of death on the early PS3s was more common than the red ring of death on the 360. I personally have had both a PS3 with the yellow light and a 360 with the red ring but I don't know anybody else who's had the red ring of death but I know a lot of people that have had the yellow light on their PS3

[@hx8457]

The slim isnt the best revision. The Jasper is, it's the most reliable console. Slims are starting to fail more and more now.

[@alx54723]

My one hasent for 11 years

[@MrVitalic85]

Yep!! I see many rrod slim on reddit nowadays. I have three jasper V2, all running without issue. One of them get heavy heavy usage, still today (rgh on aurora and dual nand for netflix).

[@rockl79]

@@alx54723 its the defective ones that are dying. Yours might be fine but there is no way to tell until its too late

[@rockl79]

@@MrVitalic85 I use my v2 as my main. Runs cooler and quieter than my old s, its got a dual nand chip installed so I dual boot the blades and the newest dash.

[@joesterling4299]

Interesting. I had a 90nm-CPU/90nm-GPU launch 360 (Xenon? Zephyr?) originally, and it RRoD'd. The warranty replacement was another 90nm/90nm unit, which also failed, within about 6 months. That made me bite the bullet, and seek out a $200 Jasper (65nm/65nm) Arcade, brand-new SKU in 2008. Moved my HDD over to it from the dead 360, and I was good to go. This Jasper (V1) unit still sits here a few feet away from me, connected via VGA to my PC monitor, and still works just fine. Never owned a Slim. Never had to. So I don't know how reliable they are by comparison. It's weird that they'd fail more often, since the underclocked 45nm integrated chip is loafing in comparison to the older stuff.

[@whoisdanielsong]

Very informative! Great video, keep it up :)

[@JamesLee해외주식]

Me : RRoD again! Towel : Hey, u know where to find me

[@ItzYinzburgh]

😂 in hindsight, what a dangerous method to temporarily play Halo 3 lol

[@pl_nd_]

i dont think towel works with a broken processor, im going to open up my xbox 360 again (i own 2)

[@ishiahlucas3005]

Wow 20 years and my 360 still works ... awesome

[@fierceopposition9462]

That mgs t-shirt is sick

[@TheAwey21]

i'll always remember when my friend got a 360 on xmas and her mother was cleaning the living room and moved it with the disc running. Our faces when we heard the sound, our faces when we saw the result! good days...

[@ChiruKobra]

"The Xbox 360 board flexed so much it caused the RROD." ME: "Dammit, Nux Taku!"

[@daveshank1921]

It wasnt the flexing. It was the constant temp changes. Heating and cooling. Heats when you use it and coola when you turn it off. The solder balls under the GPU were terrible and couldnt hold up to the temp changes and they would break.

[@GamerBully]

Glad you mentioned the disc drive. I had 4 disc drives fail on me in the era and only one rrod.

[@JamesOsyris]

I solved this problem by getting a full cash refund from Costco without even needing a receipt. True story. I used the cash money to buy another 360 plus two games since the console had gone down in price. So the red ring of death was a good thing for me

[@sonicstarman9663]

Both console revisions looked really slick and both console revisions after that looked ok. In terms of design the Xbox 360 Slim I don't know the official name lol and the PS3 slim had a great design that improved the original design and solved issues that was plaguing both consoles.

[@Snotnarok]

This is baffling, why didn't they talk more about this in depth? To know that they went through this much effort to fix the defect with the OG 360 is amazing. I had been given one of these by a friend who was moving and I wound up selling it because I had so, many, problems with my own 360's. I wasn't aware that this thing was improved to the point where it might have been worth keeping after all

[@chaosordeal294]

Because when you lie and say that the problem is the consumers and you're not going to extend your warranty, you don't later admit that you were lying.

[@ilichio]

Infact the red ring of dead was solved in the previous model by reducing the size of the processor from 90nm to 65nm even the jasper revision reduced the GPU to 65nm

[@Christopher-md7tf]

"So Microsoft's actual response to every 360 breaking down was: Hey, buy this new black Xbox 360, this one actually works!"

[@gamble777888]

Actually the RROD had a pretty much infinite warranty. I returned mine three times at no cost (including no shipping cost) and had it fixed twice, and they sent me an identicle new model the third time.

[@Christopher-md7tf]

@@gamble777888 It's a dunkey quote. Watch his video on Microsoft. Yes, they did extend the warranty, but it was not uncommon for people's Xbox to continue to keep breaking after they sent it in (apparently, you can even personally attest to that). dunkey sent his in 6 times for example. And when the extended warranty ran out and your Xbox broke again, you were on your own. What they should have done is get people a new model with the new board (I believe there was already a hardware revision that ironed out the ROD issues before the 360 S), instead of sending them back the exact same model of 360 that was almost destined to break again.

[@gamble777888]

It was probably not feasible for them to sent customers a new upgraded model for free. As the video illustrates the S was not just a slight revision it was a completely re-done system.

[@Christopher-md7tf]

@@gamble777888 As I said, I think there was already a hardware revision of the original 360 that ironed out a lot of the issues. They could've switched out the components for new ones. And that may have been even cheaper than all this back & forth with millions of people over so many years. Also, "not feasible"? It's Microsoft. They've got the cash, they just have to be willing to spend it. If I buy a brand-new console for 400$, I expect it to work.

[@gamble777888]

@@Christopher-md7tf I've never met anyone who had their warranty denied for RROD, I myself sent in my Xbox 360 for RROD repairs as late as 5-6 years after purchase and had it repaired. BTW every RROD repair necessitated new parts as I believe the GPU required outright replacement. Was it the optimal solution, perhaps not? But everyone who paid 400 bucks was getting a free repair as many times as they needed free of charge. So while definitely not ideal I wouldn't call it a rip off, or say MS refused to own up to the mistake. They probably lost millions and at the end of the day anyone that owned the Xbox had access to as many free repairs as necessary.

[@saxojon]

These videos are really educational. Thanks!

[@TheAlphaWoomy]

The E Model was better, if you combine the official Microsoft 500gb HHD for the 360 and that model loading times and overall speed of the systems OS are enhanced slightly. In my experience I saw these enhancements.

[@mandc20022]

What is an HHD?

[@mandc20022]

Did you mean SSD or HDD?

[@dex6627]

Yh but it doesn’t look as good as the S

[@rockl79]

Not really. They run the same as all other 360s in terms of speed, are less reliable than s models (both of their board revisions are known to die), and the s models are less reliable than jasper revisions.

[@seans2012]

Wait my launch xbox one only has 365 gb hhd and sizes ended up bigger

[@XxTWMLxX]

9:50 considering I did the full speed fan mod to my old 360 it was LOUD. Cut the fan power wires scrap the pwm 3rd wire and wire the 12v+ directly to the 12v for the drive. Running them at full rpm all the time... kept it a lot cooler though.

[@nonufurbussiness7259]

I remember being 12 and took all the plastics off to keep it cool and then the disk drive would fail and I would use the handle of a screw driver as a hamer to beat the top of disk drive and then it would work mint. Lmfao I didnt even realize how frankinstiened that was till now.

[@bonorbitz]

I remember listening to an episode of 1Up Yours podcast and one of the hosts mentioned that they heard someone had to send their red ringed 360 in to get fixed 11 times.

[@williambrewer771]

I need to apprentice in this type of field man, I am so freaking curious about it all lol

[@williambrewer771]

@@Matanumi Oh I am not intending to learn this for profit, just very curious about this type of work and I'd love to know more and actually gain hands on experience. plus useful skill in case any of my own equipment breaks down.

[@lucastekkan]

@@williambrewer771 start buying small or old videogames broken, I started with Nintendo Handhelds and its cool for me

[@Real_Sgt_Tom]

I got my RROD about 2 years after getting my launch console. It came back still having a new video issue but after that second repair, it still gets used today with no problems.

[@lewd211AMVS]

Sadly over 40% of them got sent back not fixed and in worse condition Edit: its true info but you know people kinda forget about such things since they wanted people to shut about it. So they then fixed it.

[@theadventuresofbillythebig8320]

I got the red ring sent it in and got my console back. Believe it or not it actually still works I don't use it anymore lol but it still works maybe I was just lucky.

[@theadventuresofbillythebig8320]

@Mr. Obama Jr. did you send it in? If I remember the process what actually quick they did a good job in my eyes like I said it still works disc drive is a little sticky from time to time but it will still play game.

[@theadventuresofbillythebig8320]

@Tsyuna Desu I don't use it because well it got shelved when I got the new one. And that new one will be switched out for the new tower and shelved and in 10 years I can say my vcr gen 1 xbox one will still work i have faith lol. Sorry for sharing my experience or opinions 😅

[@MobileDecay]

I got the Arcade edition and that still works till this day. I had a jammed disk tray but I fixed it by just cleaning a little piece of rubber that helps the gears spin. I gave the system to my best friend and he plays it all the time with no issues.

[@lewd211AMVS]

@@chrisgotgames6405 lol

[@youngzay1ftw649]

I remember being a kid and getting the red rings while playing L4D It was one of the most heart crushing moments for me I wanted to cry I probably did being it was my fav console at the time before I had just got a ps3 a year later

[@kxmiiiiiiiiii7984]

Me having it for 5 years and still having the ring of death

[@Nesmaniac]

The longest any of my white 360's lasted was like 8 months. Went through 3 RROD. Back of them felt like a space heater. I kept sending them back in and microsoft sent one that had the added heatsink with cooling pipe and it didn't last either. I take the best of care of my stuff and all my original systems back to my 1988 NES still works fine and looks new. I ended up getting the halo reach 250gb limited edition off ebay which was like new and it still works great 10 years in. That thin heatsink sandwiched between the GPU and DVD drive was a recipe for disaster simple as that.

[@GroovyGhoul1e]

they didn't solve anything, I went through five 360's. after the fifth one I said screw it and got a ps3, I still have the ps3 and it still works

[@RanaRandom]

360's have a *PLASTIC ventilation system* (as shown at 9:24) which is unnecessary, IMHO. When that thing heats up shit happens so, I *promptly* removed the said PLASTIC ventilation system. Now you know the *SECRET* , shhh :D

[@MrShokzZ]

I used to get the single red ring every now and then but there was a simple fix for it

[@RanaRandom]

@@MrShokzZ the *TOWEL TRICK* :D

[@sonecaii8306]

Had the rrod on an elite version , send it to fix under warranty in europe, received and still works today. Its connected with kinect next to series x :)

[@cardinaloflannagancr8929]

Actually they did ps3 btw had the same thing except yellow lights. Actually slightly worse as the board often was still left twisted even if reballing the solder worked. They didn't extend the mfg warranty either like MS did. A redesigned, heatsink with heat pipes and hq thermal paste was the MS fix. Like you it sounds Some however did not get that. Whether MS was just getting lazy or they subcontracted who knows. Though at least they made an effort my ps3 died and Sony never would acknowledge an issue none the less fix it. They did change the design in subsequent models but that didn't do anything for current owners.

[@Starkeyfamilygaming]

I agree with you on the s model that you took apart . I own several in my collection from the first Xbox to the e model . The s model is the best . But I do have a question, I have had several of the small square e models fail , so much I would not buy to resale any as I do buy , fix , repaired to a certain extent on all consoles. My question is being the S model that you tore down and the smaller E model that’s square are close on the builds of the board , any ideas on why I find so many different problems on them ? I have spoken to the workers at a local game store that I deal with and they said it’s not just me , the E model they would rather not carry at all , but when they do take them on trade when they resale them threw the store , they will not sale them locally , only on eBay as is no warranty. The other models they will warrant. Please let me know your thoughts . And yes I have followed you on both of my KZbin channels for a long time , you do a great job !

[@edwardspan396]

I’m glad my game stop guy 1. sold me a red ring 360 that I sent in 2. Sold me a external fan and advised me to lay on its side. 14 years later and my $50 360 still runs great and my kids love the retro games.

[@NJTCOMET]

1st gen 360’s with Falcon and Jasper chips where much better then the first batches from 05/06. I purchased my 360 Pro in 2007 and it hasn’t ever RROD’d, plus it had the HDMI port in back unlike the earlier variants which is nice. The later versions lost some cool features like the Faceplates and memory cards which is kinda a bummer, plus I think there way uglier.

[@mph8er]

DVD drives easy to replace you say. This assumes the DVD drive circuitry isn't the problem and you can find the same vendor and version for replacement. These systems had a UID encoded into the DVD drive firmware that made that drive only work for the console it shipped with. Rewriting the code on new drives was easy enough, but getting it off the old drive was such a pain.

[@ilive4retro]

I still have a dead 360 in my closet. Might open it up this week

[@nickabbott319]

Lol you ever get around to doing that?

[@ilive4retro]

@@nickabbott319 not yet I need to buy some AV cables for it. I’ll get to it eventually though.

[@delmarrali-khan4019]

Hey spawn not sure if you will see my comment I just wanted to say that I learnt a lot from your videos thanks to you I could have repaired my joycons myself. Keep up the good work 👍🏻

[@einsp227]

I would've loved to of been a fly on the wall at Microsoft when all these systems were failing and they were talking to their engineer's.

[@tmillermann700]

Love your videos man very informative thank you for taking the time to do this

[@ICARUS_I]

Oh yeah I remember my OG 360 red ringin. I specifically remember it happened after I had moved, and wanted to play Medal of Honor 2010 and the damn thing lit up red. No fun.

[@kenshirogenjuro873]

I still have two slims, purchased after my two OG 360s died. I was still using them for travel gaming until the last couple weeks; the new Series S is so small, and natively rendering all games old and new at 1080p is too hard to not have for only $300.

[@abelperez1434]

Hey Spawn Wave can I send you my Sega Nomad to put a new LCD into it. You can make a video out of it.

[@BrandonGavin_EDC]

My original 360 lasted 5 years before RROD, my slim still works. The first one I fixed for $9.95. About 1.5 hours of time to take apart and put back together.

[@kingarthur6173]

Interesting video to release... just as Xbox/Micro$oft is getting a ton of positive buzz.

[@ergonomics_of_flatulence]

what for?

[@mikuneverdies6288]

"Talking Hands" I love that group :D

[@aarondevola5433]

Thanks for not making stupid faces in your thumbnails I appreciate how serious about gaming you are haha

[@gameskyjumper1721]

I gain a strange sense of satisfaction when I know that a system has been cleaned and is free of any broken pieces rattling inside a console.

[@goblinbilly2726]

Love your tear down vids! I am fortunate enough to have an Xbox 360 arcade that still works flawless. I guess I got one of the good ones. Lol.

[@SuperFriendBFG]

It's a big contrast to how Microsoft now designs their console thermals nowadays. I mean I absolutely love Microsoft's cooling solution for the Series X. In a way, Sony improved a lot too, since they also had thermal issues with Fat PS3s. Less prominent than a Red Ring, but as someone who worked in Game Testing for a good portion of that Generation, I've seen my fair share of PS3s get fried.

[@JL-cn1qi]

Note here when you say the sales numbers at the end of the generation were pretty close to that of PS3. The numbers that Xbox release are not mentioning systems sold but systems shipped. I'm not sure but i think they are very much counting the replacements. A mate of mine had 3 xboxes fail on him before he switched to PS. Tho he might end up in the numbers like 3 happy costumers buying an Xbox because they had to ship him 3. ( He ended up voiding his warrenty as he got so frustrated with it he slamed it to the ground and then got a playstation)