C&P from my similar post on Gearheadsofwar.com.


An update on my escaping-teh-red-death endeavor for you:

My 360's dead.

The good news?  It lasted almost a week.  The bad news?  I might be playing Halo 3 and Bioshock in October.  FOR THE FIRST TIME.  Which sucks.

But that's beyond the point.  The following photos were all PrintScreen'd off of a video I made during my last night with the 360 (alive).  I originally took a video of it.. but the long "black" moments waiting for, say, the Halo 3 video to get to the actual video part were awkward - both for the blackness and because you can see <i>everything</i> in my room :).  I'd edit the awkward long parts out, but Windows Movie Maker doesn't allow for QT files (of course), so I'm outta luck with the video part.

To set the scene: I made one last attempt at playing the 360, which had "died" the day earlier, for good apparently.  Well, I was treated with the expected flashing red lights, but also the ability to <i>use</i> the 360.  Even play games and download stuff (not shown).  A glitch maybe?

Anyway, here are the photos.  After them you'll find my expanded "trick" that I created for eeking out a little more time with your flashing 360.

<b>Edit:</b> On second thought.. the images won't show up (at least on the Preview), so here's the page that houses them all.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/89358924@N00/?saved=1

As for the trick..

First, try the "15 minutes without hard drive out" trick Zoso described earlier.  If that doesn't work, try this "expanded" tactic. 

Take out all controller (or like USB) cords and hard drive/memory card.  Place a pillow snuggly against the exhaust holes near the fan in back.  Wedging it in between the video cable and power cable works effectively.  Now, leave <i>this</i> setup going for a good 15-20 minutes. 

Take pillow off and proceed by banging the living daylights out of the 360.  Slap the sides, punch it, pound it - whatever.  Why?

The problem with the 360 is its design.  The double concavity makes it so neither boards on the inside fit securely with the outer plastic frame.  The solder that holds it to the frame, when it becomes hot, lets the boards "slip" creating a displacement.  This is one of the theorized possibilities as to why the "general hardware failure" of the three lights pops up.  The innards are still good - it's just their out of alignment.

So, by effectively making the solder plyable again and banging on the sides, it's possible to set the innards "right" again.  And it worked for me.  For a week.

My trick isn't as brutal as the towel trick or hairdryer trick (the latter will void your warranty, too), and probably not as permanent either.  But it gave me a good week to check out Xbox Live to its fullest extent (finally) and get in some good time with Halo 2 and Gears (I highly prefer Gears, by the way; nicer people, better game).

I recommend ordering your box for your faulty 360 the minute you see the flashing lights.  Then, do my little "tactic" and see if it works.  If it does you'll be playing your 360 in the time waiting for the box to come, rather than twiddling your thumbs!

~MS