My XBOX360 RRoD Ultimate fix.

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NateN34
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Re: My XBOX360 RRoD Ultimate fix.

Post by NateN34 » Mon Mar 22, 2010 4:06 pm

rbz wrote:Hello!

First post on here :D

Basically, my friends xbox got rrod and he asked to take a look at it, so i did the usual thermal compound fix etc. Worked for <2 hours and then gave up again.

So, i got it back and decided to take a closer look. Firstly i noticed that the bottom of the DVD drive was 'stained' black with heat, if i rubbed the colouring it wouldn't move. This obviously was a major problem if the heat had damaged the metal on the metal DVD drive case, it was clearly getting really hot to burn that.

It seemed they sacrificed the heatsink on the GPU to make room for the DVD drive. This sucks and causes errors.

What i did was

a) Screw a fan into the GPU heatsink.
b) replace the tiny sata cable with a longer one.
c) modify the fan plastic so it fit together again.
d) cut a hole in the top of the xbox to further help with heat and another for the DVD drive cables.
e) check the console with a >2 hour session on HL2 :D - worked FINE.
f) place the top case on and screw into position.
g) install the dvd drive by screwing it into place. One of the holes on the top of the xbox was fine for this purpose and i made the other - i screwed it into place by sacrificing 2 case screws.
h) Put together and test!

it worked fine. even the eject button. It hasnt given him any problems since.

This will fix your xbox RRoD (for good, i think) but however you'll have to make your drive external.


ANYWAY! Imagez:

http://www.snorksoft.co.uk/rrod/20100323105.jpg
http://www.snorksoft.co.uk/rrod/20100323106.jpg
http://www.snorksoft.co.uk/rrod/20100323107.jpg
http://www.snorksoft.co.uk/rrod/20100323108.jpg
http://www.snorksoft.co.uk/rrod/20100323109.jpg
http://www.snorksoft.co.uk/rrod/20100323110.jpg
http://www.snorksoft.co.uk/rrod/20100323111.jpg
http://www.snorksoft.co.uk/rrod/20100323112.jpg

Please, Post what you think.
Pretty good idea, and doesn't look too bad.
overlordlink wrote:alright well i was kinda deabating whether or not to finish my SnesP, Or to slightly romance something that existed to met my needs but it appears as if im gonna stick with the SnesP. At least for now lol

john585
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Re: My XBOX360 RRoD Ultimate fix.

Post by john585 » Mon Mar 22, 2010 7:56 pm

Can't argue with results- good work! But it ain't pretty no more :wink:

IMO the popular cold-solder joint hypothesis (a manufacturing defect) contradicts with the inefficient cooling by design hypothesis (a design defect) though. Part of the popular x-clamp fix involves allowing the GPU to overheat in a controlled way, and the Xbox will throw out a temporary Q1 and Q3 signal. My little experience supports this - 6 successful fixes out of 8 Xboxes. So you cant argue with results, but IMO I do not really know if I'd agree your fix as much chased away a 3RROD condition, or you maybe fixed it by reseating the heatsink over again.

NateN34
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Re: My XBOX360 RRoD Ultimate fix.

Post by NateN34 » Mon Mar 22, 2010 8:05 pm

john585 wrote:Can't argue with results- good work! But it ain't pretty no more :wink:

IMO the popular cold-solder joint hypothesis (a manufacturing defect) contradicts with the inefficient cooling by design hypothesis (a design defect) though. Part of the popular x-clamp fix involves allowing the GPU to overheat in a controlled way, and the Xbox will throw out a temporary Q1 and Q3 signal. My little experience supports this - 6 successful fixes out of 8 Xboxes. So you cant argue with results, but IMO I do not really know if I'd agree your fix as much chased away a 3RROD condition, or you maybe fixed it by reseating the heatsink over again.
When the Xbox 360 runs too hot, it begins to reheat the solder and some joints loosen on the GPU or CPU or both. That is the reason the Xclamp fix works, is because it puts more pressure back down and straightens out the motherboard, therefore making the lose solder connection make contact. The towel trick also works because it re flows the solder on the chips.
overlordlink wrote:alright well i was kinda deabating whether or not to finish my SnesP, Or to slightly romance something that existed to met my needs but it appears as if im gonna stick with the SnesP. At least for now lol

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eagle5953
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Re: My XBOX360 RRoD Ultimate fix.

Post by eagle5953 » Mon Mar 22, 2010 9:47 pm

If you are going to have the disk drive external, you should see if you can find an XBox 360 HD-DVD add-on to house it in. People who bought them just for the laser may still have the casing somewhere.

Edit: you've been hackadayed

catsaiyan
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Post by catsaiyan » Tue Mar 23, 2010 7:53 pm

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Last edited by catsaiyan on Mon Sep 02, 2019 3:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.

tandynor
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Re: My XBOX360 RRoD Ultimate fix.

Post by tandynor » Wed Mar 24, 2010 5:06 pm

I think if you do this Crazy mod, you should do it when You first get your 360. Or if your 360 is crapping out, and you cant get better parts. then yeah do it. seriously if you are going to go through all that trouble then you should use a Fan that is actually Cooling the whole heatsink. like this. http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=130 they have a newer one called the JET series.

It blows air equally all over the GPU heatsink. I used to have one of these back in the da on my Socket 939 amd chip. the have a JET series also. At least make the mod look Pretty, Damn.

They also Make Thin Fans, but not that thin that you can put the DVD drive back in. like this Link

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Hifeno
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Re: My XBOX360 RRoD Ultimate fix.

Post by Hifeno » Thu Mar 25, 2010 9:49 am

NateN34 wrote: When the Xbox 360 runs too hot, it begins to reheat the solder and some joints loosen on the GPU or CPU or both. That is the reason the Xclamp fix works, is because it puts more pressure back down and straightens out the motherboard, therefore making the lose solder connection make contact. The towel trick also works because it re flows the solder on the chips.
Can't happen. In order for that chip to get hot enough to reflow the solder it would fry the chip. Also with the towel trick you would have to let it get hot enough that it would fry caps and many other thing inside the unit. Towel Trick = Very bad option and causes more damage than good. Xclamp fix only works on 4 out of 10 xbox's I have done.
That's Hacking Awsome
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phrost
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Re: My XBOX360 RRoD Ultimate fix.

Post by phrost » Mon Mar 29, 2010 1:48 pm

Great hack, did it about 5 months ago to my own, even bought a sweet vent cover for the hole in the top :d (Got a nice cut from the sheet metal too)

Question is, how did you power it? I've been using a molex power supply for powering up external hard drives (Came with my IDE-to-USB adapter) to power the fan, Any hints to your secret would be appreciated :)

Goldy
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Re: My XBOX360 RRoD Ultimate fix.

Post by Goldy » Tue Mar 30, 2010 4:03 pm

I did something very similar, replaced the GPU heatsink with another CPU one, using the original fans of the xbox360, and a modified fan shroud the xbox360 runs fine now

Image

Duct-tape holding the 2 half shrouds together xD

nomad707
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Re: My XBOX360 RRoD Ultimate fix.

Post by nomad707 » Mon Apr 19, 2010 12:36 am

i do not mean to offend in any way, but half of these "fixes" seem ghetto or halfassed.
there is absolutely no reason to have to use cpu heatsink on GPU, cut holes in your case, move dvd drive, add more fans, or reflow the board (using a heatgun)

the 360's worse enemy is heat, so why would you use a heatgun?

there are two flaws in the 360, the X-Clamp, and HEAT (which is an irony because the xclamp flaw produces heat). the combination of both can be quite frustrating. if both of these flaws are affecting your 360, you could be getting redring even after one fix or the other (and you might think you didnt fix it!)

this is what i do on a regular basis, and is a permenent solution, that has never failed, it doesnt look ghetto, funcionality does not change, and (almost) anyone can do it.

-Stock 360 fans are rated for 12V, and they run on 5V. So yes, find a 12V source on the board, its very easy, there are perfect donors on the DVD drive cables, some on the mobo, just use you voltmeter! get your fans 12v power and they will be keeping your 360 cool.
Red+Brown on the fans is +, else is -. do not cut the negative wires, keep them on the plug, and leave them plugged into the motherboard, makes things easier.

Doing this is the easiest, quickest, and MOST effective FREE mod you can do (given you have a tiny bit of wire and shrinktube)
I do this to my box's and the amount of airflow is insane. My box never gets hot anymore, and exhuast air is never even warm. this SOLVES the VPU heat issue.


XCLAMPS, REMOVE ASAP, get m5 .80 pitch screws with 16 1MM thick washers, and 16 1MM thick nylon washers, remove clamps, clean processors and add new thermal compound. I use arctic silver ceramique, i have my reasons.. But when it comes down to it, thermal compound is thermal compound. just make sure you get some to take the heat =)
youtube xclamp fix, many vids online on how to do it.


The combonation of these two eliminates all threats to the xbox (except MUCH more remote errors, which are quite uncommon compared to E74 and 3 rings)

sometimes going into it with patience, pays off.
sometimes adding 13 fans, changing heatsinks and destroying your box, is going way too far


again not trying to bash or talk crap, just trying to explain that some of these things are completely unnessacary.

sorry for the spelling.

-R

gven45
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Re: My XBOX360 RRoD Ultimate fix.

Post by gven45 » Fri Aug 05, 2011 5:50 am

After installation, everything worked fine for a couple of weeks.. now, I’ve got no audio and video with either a black screen or gray vertical lines.. It’s strange because done it comes and goes.. If I power it on and off it works for a couple of hours only to return later.. I re-disassembled my 360 and tightened the screws thinking the GPU wasn’t stable enough.. that worked for a couple of days but the no video/audio issue has returned, sometimes with a noise.. any ideas? thanks in advance!
Last edited by gven45 on Fri May 24, 2013 1:55 am, edited 3 times in total.

Haunted360
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Re: My XBOX360 RRoD Ultimate fix.

Post by Haunted360 » Fri Aug 05, 2011 1:05 pm

gven45 wrote:After installation, everything worked fine for a couple of weeks.. now, I’ve got no audio and video with either a black screen or gray vertical lines.. It’s strange because it comes and goes.. If I power it on and off it works for a couple of hours only to return later.. I re-disassembled my 360 and tightened the screws thinking the GPU wasn’t stable enough.. that worked for a couple of days but the no video/audio issue has returned, sometimes with a noise.. any ideas? thanks in advance!
Your X/HANA IC is starting to lift on one of it's BGA pads...

NO ONE, SHOULD PERFORM THIS HEATSINK MOD. Besides, you can not put the drive back in ^_^

You would rather off do a top mount fan. Kind of like computers. You want cold (room temp) air to pull or push the hot air off of the heat sink. In the photo above, it is just sucking it barely off of the top of the heatsink.

Microsoft can not design hardware for [insert swear word here]...

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humakabula1
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Re: My XBOX360 RRoD Ultimate fix.

Post by humakabula1 » Mon Aug 08, 2011 6:03 am

gven45 wrote:After installation, everything worked fine for a couple of weeks.. now, I’ve got no audio and video with either a black screen or gray vertical lines.. It’s strange because it comes and goes.. If I power it on and off it works for a couple of hours only to return later.. I re-disassembled my 360 and tightened the screws thinking the GPU wasn’t stable enough.. that worked for a couple of days but the no video/audio issue has returned, sometimes with a noise.. any ideas? thanks in advance!
reflow the gpu.
if that fails, the (h)ana or northbridge

also, the guy 3 posts up is a complete idiot.
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Re: My XBOX360 RRoD Ultimate fix.

Post by Haunted360 » Tue Aug 09, 2011 6:24 am

humakabula1 wrote:
gven45 wrote:After installation, everything worked fine for a couple of weeks.. now, I’ve got no audio and video with either a black screen or gray vertical lines.. It’s strange because it comes and goes.. If I power it on and off it works for a couple of hours only to return later.. I re-disassembled my 360 and tightened the screws thinking the GPU wasn’t stable enough.. that worked for a couple of days but the no video/audio issue has returned, sometimes with a noise.. any ideas? thanks in advance!
reflow the gpu.
if that fails, the (h)ana or northbridge

also, the guy 3 posts up is a complete idiot.
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