The Dreaded Red Ring of Death - Repair This Xbox Plague

If you have had an Xbox for a couple of years and have a son who plays it as much as mine, you have probably suffered the dreaded Red Ring of Death or RROD which has plagued the Xbox from the beginning. There was even a class action lawsuit filed against Microsoft due to the issues.

I remember the first time we saw it on our console it was still under warranty. We did a little research looking for an Xbox 360 fix for our problem and determined we needed to contact Microsoft to have it repaired. I mentioned it to a peer at work and interestingly, his system did the same thing shortly after ours. It is very likely, if you have an Xbox, you have seen this manifestation. If not, consider yourself lucky. There is actually about a 30% hardware failure rate in the Xbox game consoles. If yours does fail you don't necessarily have to send it in to Microsoft and wait a few weeks like we did. You have other options such as finding an Xbox repair guide which I'll discuss later.

The RROD is caused by well documented overheating issue inherent in the Xbox. It seems many who play the Xbox system will play for hours on end and the Xbox wasn't really designed to be played without stop 24/7. What happens, is the console senses there is an overheating issue and basically shuts itself down to prevent damage to the components. There are a few warning signs which generally occur before you get an RROD or other major console casualty. You may notice random periodic freezing of the video or the audio dropping in and out from time to time. You may also just notice some random pixilation of the video. These are generally signs that you are about to have an Xbox problem and may need to have it repaired.

Remember, your Xbox is a powerful computer system and you need to take care of it if you want to continue to enjoy it. Some things you can do to prevent a RROD or an Xbox plague of some other sort are:

• Don't stack things on top of it or around it. It needs a lot of ventilation. Make sure air can flow around it freely.
• Don't keep it in an Entertainment Center but rather in an open space. Again, airflow is the key here.
• Make sure the power "brick" is kept well ventilated as well. There have been many instances of the power brick overheating and being destroyed because of the heat.
• Lastly, as hard as it is, try to limit your game-play. These systems are known for great graphics but all of the number crunching ends up creating a lot of heat. Play nonstop for a day or so and it is likely you will have some issues. As stated, only 70% of the Xbox systems out there don't have hardware issues.

So, if you end up having a RROD or other issue and can't get your Xbox to boot up, what should you do? There is a lot of information on the internet about ways to correct an RROD. One method you will find on various web sites is to cover your Xbox with a blanket and make it get very hot. The hope is that any solder connections that may have become fractured will re-solder themselves. DON'T DO THIS! It can actually damage your system.

If your system is still under warranty just give Microsoft a call and have it repaired. It will take awhile but you may even get a brand new Xbox out of the deal. I have a friend who did. If it is not under warranty you have a couple of choices:

• Send it to Microsoft for Repair Anyway. This will cost you somewhere between $140 and $200.
• Find a local Repair Facility. These are sometimes difficult to find but they are out there. This too will cost a bit of cash.
• Repair it Yourself. There are quite a few inexpensive DIY Xbox 360 Fix it guides and manuals on the internet which will give you step-by-step instructions on just how to accomplish this. Many include high definition videos. Some of these are good and others are not. Some will even try and show you the blanket method. Note that if your console is still under warranty and you try to repair it yourself you will void the warranty so I don't suggest this method if it is under warranty. But if not, what do you have to lose? You could buy two or three new games for the cost of getting it repaired by Microsoft or a local repair Shop!

I've done a quick review of three of the most popular Xbox 360 repair guides and posted my findings online. You can read the review here: Xbox 360 Repair Guide Review.

To your gaming pleasure!