Original Xbox Flashing Green & Red Light - Can I Fix it?

I purchased this original Xbox from eBay as faulty. it cost £20 and has a fast flashing Green and Red light (FRAG) after boot looping a few times. Can it be fixed?
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Remember that this is just for entertainment and I am not an expert in these repairs. The processes in the video may not be the best way, the correct way or the safest way to fix these things. I do love fault finding and trying to fix broken things, so I hope that comes across in this 'Trying to FIX' series. Many thanks, Vince.

[@Asriazh]

The capacitors you replaced seem to have mainly been the main filter capacitors. Without them working properly, "ripple/ noise can get into the dc low voltage line, messing with the chips that prefer "clean" steady dc voltage. I guess that's what mainly was the cause why the lights spat out a general error code, cause nothing was really defective, just not in an operational state. Good job figuring out the cause! :D

[@MyRegardsToTheDodo]

The Xbox is either working or gives out a general error code. Kind of like the YLOD on the PS3.

[@thongquehanoi]

OG Xbox should fully support widescreen

[@Tooohardtofindone]

😢

[@portnawak]

​​@@thongquehanoithere's patches for those wich dont support 16/9 natively😊. But thanks yo the OP, searching for a clue that could be my case too

[@jamesmatlock2001]

6:15 - ‘And it can kill you’ said with such a soft tone 😂😂

[@eathenalexander2836]

Seen tronic fix with a my mate Vince shirt on today in his new video fixing 3 ps5. Love to see the KZbin repair community supporting each other.

[@BuyitFixit]

Nice. I noticed the tronic fix one. Going to have a watch now!

[@Coopzzz360]

I’ve missed your console videos especially the Xbox ones. Good to have them back👍🏻

[@dannyhtheretrogamingmaster9548]

Good fix there mate, OG Xbox's seem to be showing more problems now they are getting older. Removing the clock capacitor has probably eliminated another future fault from happening so you've done the right thing there. I wonder if different power supplies are required as there were a number of OG Xbox motherboard/hardware revisions throughout its lifespan?

[@Mymatevince]

Cheers Danny, maybe some boards needed more power or maybe the later ones are more efficient 👍👍👍

[@abzhuofficial]

@@Mymatevince The earlier Microsoft Xboxes had a structurally design-flawed PSU whereby the "figure of 8" connector can wobble and break off/be solder-cracked due to the port merely being held down by two small clips, and if it breaks off, smoke can come out. Microsoft somewhat acknowledged the problem by supplying power cords with safety features built-in like a Nintendo adaptor from the 1980s which is designed to detect potential shorts caused by said problem, and will blink red if it does detect such an issue. Also, systems with capacitors made in the 2000s were plagued by the infamous Capacitor Plague, whereby an incorrectly copied electrolyte formula was used to make the capacitors, resulting in a less-than-stable formula that can cause havoc on boards. The cause of that: possible/reported industrial espionage involving someone working in Japan trying to copy the electrolyte formula and then taking that to China and then Taiwan.

[@HavingFunRepairs]

Nicely done. I think we're starting to see the average lifespan of power supply capacitors (depending on use) somewhere around 10-20 years. It may just be worthwhile to preemptively change them if ever working on another eBay purchase. Enjoyed this video!

[@Mymatevince]

Cheers Shawn 👍

[@Mymatevince]

@ProMasterTheGamer Live Sunday or Monday I think it will be👍

[@promasterthegamer523]

@@Mymatevince Nice That is the best series you have

[@liamt1452]

I love watching you fixing consoles makes me feel so relaxed lol fix more !!!!!!

[@thedylanshow1]

Great video! Was fun to follow along! I'm in the process of replacing my laser for my Thompson drive. I ordered a new one after getting disk read errors and trying to clean it. Here's hoping!

[@BuyitFixit]

Nice Fix Vince, Faulty caps. Used to get that a lot on TV PSU's when I used to repair TV's. The electrolytic stuff dries out with age / heat and they no longer work. On another note Vince, I've just repaired a Milwaukee soldering iron, fairly easy fix, you might fancy one for yourself. Uploading the video for that one soon!

[@nathanw851]

I've fixed a few bits with bad caps. First port of call for investigating older stuff.

[@CTCTraining1]

Good diagnosis. It might be sensible to suspect all caps of the same vintage once you know one has gone for certain. Keep up the great work 😀👍

[@vf90045]

I believe the fix is something unexpected. Let me explain. I took apart a working Xbox that absolutely stinks like smoke and was extremely dusty. I tore it all the way down as much as possible and did a deep clean. When I put it back together, it was giving me the exact error that you have. After investigating, the metal sheathing on the bottom housing serves as a ground plain and touches on multiple parts of the motherboard board. I realized that I had done a bit of cleaning with a rag that had goo gone on it which is pretty oily. So I suspected that it wasn’t able to make a good contact to ground. All I had to do was clean the sheathing really well with alcohol and it works like a charm!

[@jamesdye4603]

As far as I'm concerned your video can be as long as necessary, I will still watch every minute of it.

[@NiceABCD]

The light you were confused about on the broken Xbox is the Red Ring of Death which is when an important processor dies on the inside of the console like the GPU, fans or clock capacitor. Meanwhile, the Orange Ring of Death, when you unplugged the AV of your working Original Xbox, is when the Xbox can't detect an AV cable plugged into a television and so turns that colour, but it will still work as normal and open its disc tray. If it's flashing only green, that's when the actual BIOS is corrupted, which usually happen when a bad jailbreak is done, a failed jailbreak or when bad soldiering is done when modifying. It sometimes (but usually) occurs when you buy modified Xbox's that have been entered (will usually show VOID on the bottom) and messed around with. If you get the Green Ring of Death, your console is basically bricked. If the Eject button is flashing green without you pressing it, that is definitely GRoD. Greatly done. Most of the capacitors in them original Xbox's are dying nowadays, I'm surprised how my limited edition one which you can see through isn't dead yet.

[@yorkshirebikerbitsnbobs]

It not a "Ring" of anything. Don't make things up. It's called a "FRAG" FLASHING RED & GREEN or just an error code.

[@NiceABCD]

@@yorkshirebikerbitsnbobs No there are GROD its not a made up thing, but it is very rare and often happens on consoles that have been modified incorrectly.

[@andersmmvfc.8376]

Just wanted to say thanks for the information. My butifull xbox started to blink red and green this weekend, and i had the same problem as you. No fault finding is needed, and it is working after 1,5 hours of work. I'm going to put it back when i get this heatsinks of. They are properly stuck 😀 Brilliant content as always!

[@Mymatevince]

Thanks Anders, well done on the fix 👍👍👍

[@SegaDisneyUniverse]

It's been quite a long time since I've visited this channel, and his tinkering expertise is as sharp as ever!😁👍

[@Jungleroomreptiles]

I saw TronicsFix wearing one of your my mate Vince T shirts, That is funny shit right there

[@mgcservices7524]

Brilliant - thanks for not editing too much out as that really helps to understand fault finding - we’ve just switched our Xbox 360 on for the first time in ages - guess what!!!…….

[@fmdof]

TronicsFix rocking a MMV shirt today.

[@nicoful86]

I never thought I would say this, but I crave a car video after this one 😂

[@ralphj4012]

Well done. Always test power supplies under full load (with the drives connected). You can also test for AC noise on power rails using the AC range on the DVM, or, better still, a scope (comparing with the working unit). Touching the capacitor was probably just power on resetting the IC, but this is pure guesswork on my part. Your hot air station will be better at directing heat than a hairdryer and a can of freezer may be a prudent purchase for the future.

[@ralphj4012]

@@willywonkawhitecaneman I have no knowledge of phones, my reference to using freezer spray or hot air was to pinpoint faulty components in power supplies, but this also works on IC's etc, so may also work on phones.

[@kiseli1000]

Repaired one 6 months ago, had same error. I gave a board good IPA cleaning and it turned on. As is Halo edition i kept it and still works.

[@AJComputerServicesUK]

Believe I’ve got 3 of those Xbox’s, 2 which have been modded, All still working from what I remember, At: 27:00 you mention a Cap that’s just out of tolerance, I had a similar issue with a Big Yamaha AV Receiver, Took it to my Brothers a few years ago and he checked a Capacitor which tested ok & I asked him to replace it anyway & he did & voila, It turned on fine, We believe the Capacitor had gone out of tolerance just enough to prevent it from turning on, Good Video as always Vince! 🙂

[@TomMannCenturia]

Mind your back moving that thing around! The thing is a beast. I do like my OG Xbox though, enjoyed modding mine and changing the hard drive, and playing in glorious ish HD.

[@anycolouryoulike75]

WOW man, mine has the same problem and putting the finger in the same position made my xbox start without red/green flashing. Now I'm gonna recap the PSU. Thanx a lot by now....

[@MrFittb]

been troubleshooting a 1.6 my friend gave me for free from his childhood that supposedly just the disc drive didnt work so I ordered a new disc drive and then started getting the same exact fraging , i will now look into a replacement power supply. thanks!

[@technixbul]

That thing you push is a crystal resonator at 32768Hz, they fail from time to time, it is for time keeping oscillator, so without stable power it breaks normal oscilation. You can put 2x1000uF in parallel in the place of one 2200uf

[@Mymatevince]

Thanks Technixbul👌

[@GarthBeagle]

Capacitors, always capacitors (well not always, but when it's an item like this, this old, thermally constrained, yeah caps is certainly a good place to start). And yes, that stuff on the logic board certainly looked like cap leakage. I've seen the same many times when working on Apple Macintosh logic boards from the 90s - the best part is when you get a dusty system that's had cap leakage the dust/dirt tends to stick to the leakage making it very obvious.

[@Omega_Mark]

Great job tracing down the problem to the caps. I would still take off all the caps in that region where the leak occurred and clean up the space under them. You will also have a chance to test them to see if any are out of spec. Using IPA and a brush to clean the board may not be enough, as you are not changing the pH of the spilled electrolyte. When the IPA evaporates, that stuff is still on the board, but just less visible. You could use a spray bottle to douse the board and let it drip off to one side, but I think using a solution of vinegar mixed with distilled water (or at least filtered) would help neutralize the pH, then you could follow up with a rinse of distilled water and finish with IPA spray/douse to replace and remove the particles. You may want to look into replacement of other old line filter capacitors in all of your devices. This includes LCD panels, radios and external power bricks. All these noisy devices will pollute your power in your house. Could make for a good video series:).

[@sleepwalker29]

vinegar is a acid. You nutralize acid with a base, not another acid. You are better off using soap and water instead of vinegar.

[@chrissheppard342]

​@@sleepwalker29wrong. Batteries are alkaline based and the vingear is an acid so it will definitely neutralize it.

[@sleepwalker29]

@@chrissheppard342 Yeah, but vinegar is a acid. So it causes corrosion if not cleaned off. Rust will appear if vinegar is not removed. So you need baking soda to nuteralize the vinegars acid. Vinegar will rust and corrode the steel holes where the solder goes, and then solder will not stick to rusty holes.

[@manlikemarcell1659]

The one that requires more electricity is might be an older generation or older than the good. The 1.0-1.6b boards kind of different. Good job and keep up the goog work

[@karenharvey7197]

Enjoyable to watch. Anything you do is enjoyable. You are so smart.

[@AcornElectron]

Well, that’s a conclusive conclusion. Keep up the good work and, as always, stay safe!

[@user-wj9xq7ig2v]

Nice video as always. That big cap on the psu always makes an impressive spark when dragging a screwdriver across it. This is in 120v land.

[@wisher21uk]

You can use a soldering iron to heat up individual caps

[@cjackfly]

Thanks. This video really helped me. Discerning between what the orange and red lights mean and how they differ, I was able to fix the problem.

[@peterroy3052]

Excellent work Vince, well done again

[@brutlern]

And here I was, expecting some PGR gameplay.

[@ahears1]

If heat fixes your problem then it is bad solder joints. Heat from the device running will create heat on it's own and after a while of being on, it may start working in it's own. This can be show with a hair dryer... I wish you tested this too as heat causes the joints to expand and then get a good connection. So your caps may actually still test good but the fix was really new solder on those joints. FYI :)

[@denniss4951]

cool video now I gotta find a working power supply to test this system out thanks

[@JustARandomDudeOnline]

Vince if you want to get the stickers down without damaging them you can use IPA on them, and you can restick them afterwards

[@Yorkie0362]

14:34 definitely heard the HDD spin up when you pressed down on the chip that time, makes sense if it contains the IDE controller.

[@Yorkie0362]

I really should comment after watching the WHOLE thing 🙂

[@MickeyFKNMouse]

A tip for cleaning under bga. Use a modelling air gun with the pressure cranked up with ipa then a follow up with deionised water with a blow dry

[@abdulhkeem.alhadhrami]

I really missed console trying to fix, nice!

[@spooktasticaparanormal]

Great easy fix. I have the same issue with a vintage miltitrack cassette recorder.

[@OPUS_TV]

I have a 1.6 that started doing this. Will give the power supply a look and swap the caps if needed and see if it works on mine

[@dodgydruid]

Personally and some might think it pedantic but I would change all the capacitors because they have long long exceeded their lifetime expectancy and you don't want to have to keep dropping the hood off and doing them piecemeal and it would give you a peace of mind that for the next 20 years they should be good.

[@dennisp.2147]

Not to mention that the early 2000's were the time of the "capacitor plague" with shoddily built capacitors flooding the market.

[@williamduncan5679]

Love all your videos m8 from William Duncan AKA foggy❤❤

[@GarlandTexasSpotter2024]

Yay! Original Xbox! Love these things!

[@rodolfonelson2823]

Thanks I have my Xbox doing the same thing now I know what to do

[@BlackAdderall]

Thanks for another video, Vince!

[@qwertykeyboard5901]

I don't like to do reflows. A lot of the time the problem is something else or the chip itself being dead. So you just end up adding unnecessary heat stress to the board.

[@TheDefpom]

@18:00 that capacitor is a load capacitor for the 32KHz crystal, so my thought is that the crystal is bad or the capacitor is cracked, they are usually about 20pF.

[@drunkonsuccess779]

I got this problem when I removed the clock capacitor, put it all back together and never worked again, gonna try and fix it.

[@brendonelton]

Class upload once again Vince!

[@jochenwuerfel]

I recall from another video that specific PCB version have very "cheap" clock cap which breaks and can kill your console.

[@leem4017]

When the casing fell on your finger 🤣🤣 awww🤣

[@Tim_3100]

Great video vince cracking fix

[@TheDefpom]

@21:00 as my phrase goes on my merch shirt, it’s always a crapacitor.

[@RetroReviewYT]

OG Xbox Live will be coming back soon enough through Insignia Live.

[@jimmythecricket25]

No worries Vince, another great video. 👍

[@MrEwool]

Removing the capacitor on a motherboard version 1.6 will result in a boot loop, it will need it to start 1.0-1.5 no problem other than there beeing no clock

[@myagi20000]

This board is not 1.6 suggested by the 2 vacant RAM slots

[@MrEwool]

It was more of a informative post I made 😊

[@myagi20000]

@@MrEwool 👍

[@rsuryase]

can't believe the hair dryer trick actually work lol

[@revengenerd1]

I wondered where my air duster was, did you nick it!

[@takemebacktothe80s15]

Ahh my fave console after the Sega satern 💯

[@rfr653]

Good job mate 👍

[@flashbond]

25:26 are you licking the tip of hot iron? 😂😃

[@flightofapaullo72]

Great video! Really like that blue mat. Is that something I can find on Amazon?

[@AnEnglishmanOverseas]

'just a quick recap' as he re-caps in fast motion lol

[@gamingcorner107]

why have you got a grey and red joy con on your Nintendo Switch?

[@tcraigers8520]

You are great at fixing things! I was particularly interested in the Eufy Robovac since I just bought a brand new 30C which was on sale on Amazon for $159 US. With all due respect, if you have a full time job and young family how do you have the time to fix all of these gadgets?

[@williamharris8367]

My impression was that Vince's job _is_ this channel; I recall a comment to that effect some years ago. He presumably derives his primary income from it.

[@ChefSora]

I'm curious on what would happen if you put the bad capacitors back in the eBay Xbox console, but then tried to insert a game and play it WHILE you had your finger on the capacitor shown in the red circle. I wonder if it would've turned off or not, or maybe just boot-looped itself again? Idk, just an interesting thought.

[@michaelmcmahon8312]

There's a break in the traces under the board you have to use wire to fix traces

[@Blue-Crits]

Mr vince Do you always work on the floor?? 😂

[@tumbles8350]

Xbox one is two generations newer then the og xbox? News to me. You silly billy.

[@tipfox9212]

There are ESR-meters which work with high frequency (about 100KHz). I bet these would have shown the faulty capacitor. Using myself a (home brewed) one I find such capacitors in seconds - they don't need to be unsoldered.

[@andrewsawesome]

For pi filter circuits, you need to desolder the positive leg, but for most orher situations, you can test them un circuit.

[@tipfox9212]

@@andrewsawesome Well - it depends on the L. But even 1mH has an impedance > 600 Ohms at 100KHz so it should work ;-)

[@richardstone8615]

Awesome work big fan cheers mate

[@bliss788]

1:41 the green and orange flash light is not an error its just signaling that theres no av connection to the xbox

[@zipzopbeesopdro]

I would replace the main capacitors on the pcb because other than the clock cap the other caps can still leak soooo

[@DragoKraner]

Nice video, will be nice, to mod this xbix with modchip, the real beginers guide... Keep on gret repair videos...

[@jeromejones61]

Like the way u talk through all the steps and say what your thanking and explain what and and y u might thank what might be the problem!! Keep up the good work .. I have a og ps3 phat the backwards compatible one I'm lost on ... do u have any good info ??????.. I wish I could send it to u to fix but I don't thank it would be worth it ...

[@TheSkaldenmettrunk]

Just some Caps which are broken and the whole Xbox stopped working. I liked fhat console. Weird that this happens on Xbox Ones too. I wonder if this happens to the Xbox Series as well?

[@Spinningininfinity]

Nice fix 🎉 Digital fault finding at it's finest🤭

[@jasonbucy]

This was a great video!!! 😊

[@Djmatrix2310]

Cap at C4F9 looking a little worse for the wear. I think it's popped up slightly based on the way the light is hitting it.

[@alphab01mcoc83]

There's a second hand shop near me that has a working Original Xbox for £40

[@8bitnation419]

I would love to see a Pico PSU mod for the OG Xbox. Take some of that heat out of the system.

[@aspinia]

I also got the green red flashing light on 2 of my xbox, both are partially working, one turns on as soon as I plug it in, you can play games without any issue but sometimes I get the red green flashing lights, the other one has issues booting, very few times I'm able to play with it, I opened it and saw that one of the ram chips is rusty, maybe exchanging that ram chip the xbox will work fine, I think so.

[@hank804]

What does heating the capacitors do? Someone commented it reflows a cold joint, but the way you were heating them didn't seem hot enough to reflow.

[@vjha99]

Getting issues with my Xbox flashing green and orange like you're second one, any fix for this

[@jefftrainer7128]

Is that a landline telephone?! lol

[@mrjsv4935]

Interesting fault, seems Xbox is a bit picky about capacitors, they seem to have to be in absolutely tip top shape. My latest trying to fix project was -trying- to fix a dragging rear disc brake in my car. Lubricated the slide pins and cleaned the brake pad channels at the caliper, so they can move more freely. There was also annoying squeeky, metal-on-metal sound, I thought it's the brake pad wear indicator, but there's still so much material left, that it wasn't the reason. Brake pads had rust contamination though, I washed it away with brake cleaner and wire brush. Now they don't drag anymore and most of the sound is gone, only in slow speeds, still intermittently there is little squeeky sound, so not perfect fix so far. I tested also the wheel bearing, but no play and no noise when rotating the wheel by hand. It's of course still possibe, that the wheel bearing is going faulty, and makes the random squeeky sound under load, or then there's still some contamination at the brake pads. Tried to clean the brake disc too.

[@elsalsmens-hs6yl]

Amigo yo cambié los capacitadores y no hizo nada sigue igual que me aconsejas que haga

[@JustinFrost302]

you have to have the A/V plug in

[@JensReparerer]

Did you buy a third Xbox ? There is one In the frame last In the video

[@Mymatevince]

That is one that I tried to fix a couple of years ago with an orange and red flashing light. I wanted to see if the power supply had the same connector but it didn't. I still need to do a revisit on that one 👍

[@cristianoribeiro8566]

Hi, I recently got a Xbox original with motherboard revision 1.0, with works and display image on tv but it doesn't show the green light on the eject button. It's normal?

[@fightingelia]

Hey mu orginal xbox just stays on the xbox logo screen when the game is running then after awhile it goes back to the menu settings what should i do i tried cleaning the laser air drying everything

[@anthonyaviles8665]

I have a bunch of them and all the caps on the main board are going bad

[@usedvhs]

The WHAT capacitor?? Haha great video?

[@playerroku4412]

All caps need to be changed on these by now.

[@juliomaldonado7979]

Hey I got the same problem and I try to find the C6E5 capasiter to put my finger on it to see if that the problem in my case like you did but my model is different, I got another power supply to fix it but I need to make sure, to fix the problem I hade to replace all the not 2200uF capasiter from the power supply with 2200uF or just replace the 2200uF capasiter?

[@anthonyaviles8665]

They used leaded solder i havent see bad southbridge on a original xbox