Please add error code 0030 to the list.

No idea what it is. I initially had 0102 and did the bolt trick and got 0020, so I took the GPU heatsink off, reapplied AS5 and remounted it and now have 0030. The '3' is upper left, upper right and lower right quadrants.

Well, another one bites the dust. We just got the "Ring of Death" with the 0020 error. I sent an email to Micro$oft to see what they will do. Our machine is a 12/2005 vintage so here's hoping!!

The past few days we were getting the dirty disc failure on Test Drive. After a couple of reboots, it would fire up and play fine, except for a few dropped frames now and then.

If MS will replace it I'll go that route since the case is intact. If they demand payment, then we will tell them where to stick it, and crack the box open.

I'm thinking that with all the poor solder connections causing problems, I may go the soldering pencil route with some fine wire wrapped around it for a micro tip, to touch up the connections. As opposed to exposing the components to the extreme temperature of the heat gun. Anyone have experience with that approach?

Another heat gun success story! I got out today (finally) and went to my local computer shop. I bought some heatsinks for the RAM, and another for the northbridge. I had originally planned to do this repair/upgrade one step at a time to identify what exactly makes the difference, but I think we all know that no single solution is universal. I tore my 360 apart and removed the old thermal compound and prepped for the heatgunning. Then, I heated my motherboard with my sweet heat gun made by black and decker at 500 degrees F. After letting the board cool for about an hour, I put new thermal compound on my CPU and GPU. the heatsinks I bought for the RAM and northbridge had a thermal adhesive tape already on them. I started to reassemble my 360 and realized that the orginal GPU heatsink is too big to use in combination with a heatsink on the RAM so i basically mutilated it by trying to trim it with all the wrong tools. I'm a Marine stationed in Okinawa, so I dont exactly have much at my disposal. Either way, I managed to keep the heatsink in somewhat acceptable condition and mounted everything back up. It all fit flawlessly. I figured something would have to go wrong because the whole operation went frighteningly smooth. But, nothing has *YET*. I've been playing Rainbow Six Vegas for about an hour now with zero complications. I'll be sure and post up again tomorrow, with any updates. Finally, Much thanks to all who contributed to this solution. It may not work for all of us, but the people it does work for are grateful beyond understanding. You guys made it possible for me to take my basic knowledge of electronics and fix something most people wouldn't touch. Thank you xbox-scene.com community.

Well it's been a few days now and so far so good. Wrapping it up in a blanket while powered on and sitting it in front of an electric heater for about 30 minutes has done the trick so far lol. I'm sure it won't hold up in the long run but at the least it enabled me to become Arch-Mage of the the Mages Guild in Oblivion lol. I've also watched a couple DVD's and done some online playing. I'll keep everyone updated.

Is doing the blanket trick dangerous?

Not sure

All I know is that my box is still working.

Success!!! Games and DVD's galore!!

Had the dreaded ROD and the 0020 error. System up and running fine now for about 2 hours after administering the Heat Gun solder re-flow technique.

Some of the problems I incurred and what I did to over come them:

Arctic Silver....Not at Best Buy, RadioShack or CompUSA. Although they have similar compounds that will work I'm sure, I had to go to an independent computer store to purchase the Arctic Silver. That took a few hours of roaming around Greenville, SC. Cost was $12.00 for a very small syringe. Not to worry, it doesn't look like much material, but if you apply it correctly, you will have about $11.75 worth left over! See their site arcticsilver5.com for cleaning and application instructions. I used CVS 91% Isopropyl Alcohol, jewelers screwdriver and a single edge razor blade to remove the old heat sink material. Razor blade worked great for applying the thin film of Arctic Silver upon completion.

Use the youtube video technique to heat the board. I used a heat gun that I have for applying Monokote material to RC airplanes. I tested it on a piece of rosin core solder and it melted it fine. (I don't believe a hair dryer will work as it doesn't get hot enough) A total of 4 minutes of heat was applied. Rotating every 30 seconds from the top of the board and then to the bottom. Keep the nozzle moving the air around the CPU and GPU areas smoothly for even heat application.

I won't list them here, but while getting the Xbox 360 apart I did invent a few new four letter words. My advice here is PATIENCE. Take your time, you can do it. Micro$oft designed this to defeat you! Look at it as a game, take your time, cause the case clips will drive you nuts but you can beat this challenge! This is where the jewelers screwdriver set works great for getting into all those small holes to release the clips. To see a very good article with pictures on getting the box apart visit: http://www.anandtech.com/systems/showdoc.aspx?i=2610

The site does a very good job of showing what must be done. To remove the faceplate I used the coin method. Worked like a charm. Looking at the unit from the front, the right side cover came off very easily. But the left side cover, where the hard drive mounts, is a little different. To get the two forward clips loose on the left side cover you can use the jewelers screwdriver by going into the slots where the hard drive latches engage.

I used the jewelers to remove the heat sink clips from the bottom. Once you get two sections loose, it's a piece of cake. It will also take a lot of pressure to reinstall these when you are doing the re-assembly.

My wife cleaned the dust from all the plastic and chassis parts. Windex worked great. I popped the fan assembly out and she cleaned it with Q-tips. I vacuumed the heat sinks out with the brush attachment. None of them were that dirty, but we know that we need all the airflow we can get, and with it all apart this was the opportune time. (Cause I just knew it was going to work when we got it fixed!)

Some true happiness was in putting it back together. With the exception of getting the heat sink clamps back on, the rest is literally a snap. All those case clips that kept wanting to get back together while you're taking it apart have not lost their desire to be mated. Snap right back where they belong.

Altogether it took about 3 hours of actual labor. So, after costs, I figure I was paid about $40 per hour as opposed to having sent it back to Micro$oft. Not bad for a guy that's retired.

To all those that have posted here providing ideas and encouragement, bless you!

To anyone that has a question of someone that has been there and done it, ask away. I'll be glad to help if I can.

Some other things I intend to do and you may too. Letters to the FTC, BBB, my state attorney, and my US congressmen. I think that this is a serious manufacturing defect and Micro$oft should be required to initiate a recall. And yes, for us that have defeated the void tapes to correct their manufacturing blunder, to be included.

Rod (No, that's not the Ring of Death, my name is Rod!)

The wife and I went shopping at Wal-Mart. We like to go about midnight as it's quiet.

Stopped by and looked at the games and the wife asked me to look down at the demo 360 in the show case.

Yup, you guessed it. Flashing the dreaded Ring of Death!

But Micro$oft doesn't have a problem!! RIGHT!

I had another thought too. In addition to the contacts I promised to make in my previous post, our local TV station has a "Buyer Beware" segment. As I have been interviewed by this newscaster once before, I think I'll rattle his cage a little too and see what happens.

If everyone makes some noise we may just get heard. Remember, the squeaky wheel gets the grease!

Rod

Or Shot by The Microsoft Mafia

Just kidding

Actually the Micro$oft corrective action to the squeaky wheel problem would be to "remove the wheel"!

Rod

Follows below is a portion of the email I sent to the Buyer Beware reporter at our local TV station.

Some more things I gleaned from the WEB. Microsoft feels that as long as their failure rate stays 3 to 5% that it is acceptable. Hmmmm...let's look at this from a statistical point using their worst case of 5% failure rate because the number is a little easier to work with.

For $1 I can enter the Powerball and have a 1 in 146 million chance of winning. Not good. But Microsoft can improve the odds for me. For $400 I can buy an Xbox 360 and have a 1 in 20 chance of getting a bad machine. Gee, that's better! Why am I not happy.

How about one more. Atlanta Hartsfield airport had nearly 1 million combined takeoffs and landings for the year of 2006. According to Microsoft's thinking 50,000 of those could have crashed and that's entirely acceptable.

Rod

You may ask if I have been up all night and the answer is yes. Getting as much play time out of my working 360 as I can. Taking breaks and posting. But I caught an Infomercial some may be interested in:

For only three payments of $39.99 and $14.99 (US) shipping and handling you can get a genuine Micro$oft Red Hot Heat Gun. It has a Laser Sight for targeting the heat and plugs into your USB port. Comes with a 30 day warranty that starts the day your order is placed and you can expect delivery in 8 to 10 weeks. For an additional $49.99 a one year warranty is available. This is not for a new replacement. Exchanged units may be labeled Zippo.

Unfortunately you may be wasting your time. MicroSoft is a huge corporate sponsor. Unless they are an independently owned News station affiliate, it won't get much mention. Did you ever hear about the Monsanto corporation and the news story about a local fox station did about the effect of the growth hormone, long story short, they got fired and the segment never aired again. (http://www.projectcensored.org/publications/2005/11.html) google around you will find the actual video report court cases etc..
Granted this has less to do with health or underlaying safety of jets that puts lives at risk..
On a plus note BBC Watchdog did do a report on MS in the UK.
Now what you should do is check sites out like digg.com, do some viral marketing..and netscapes rip off version of the site. That would get the attention of the masses.

Put xbox logo and and bomb picture on it , with some graphical artifacts coming out of the bomb .(photoshop/flash skills anyone)...or a balooned up xbox about to burst with streams of graphical glitches followed by 3red light? A flash animation would be good.

Although be careful on the viral marketing to avoid another Boston hoax

Now back to error codes..how to repair 0003 anyone?

*****************ATTENTION PLEASE READ*******************************

Hi all, I was one of the many people on here that got the three rings of death. So... I called Microsoft and they informed me that THEY EXTENDED THEIR WARRANTY TO ONE YEAR AFTER PURCHASE. I just spoke to them and they are going to repair my box for free. Thought that might be some useful info. and hopefully no one cracked their boxes open if they didn't have to. I'm glad I didn't. Good luck everyone.

And I wish you luck also. Not to put a damper on things but I do have a theory. My warranty expired January 16, 2007 and the unit failed February 18, 2007. I fixed it with the heat gun cure that reconnects the cold solder joints on the board. Some folks have fixed their's by giving it several good wacks, and this is where my theory comes in. If the unit is under warranty, and has the cold solder connection problem, it will get bumped around pretty good on it's way to the repair center. They get it, power it up, and it works just fine. Since they have shipped out a replacement to the customer, this one goes on the refurbished shelf as serviceable, soon to go to some other unlucky sole. This is why some folks have had up to 5 units shuffled back and forth with the repair center.

I know we all wish you luck, but I don't think anyone on this forum will be suprised if you have another problem.

Well, after the heat gun fix, all was well for about 2 days. I started my 360 up cold and threw in a DVD, and before i could even hit play, it froze with the "graphics errors" (lines in the screen and whatnot). I just gave up at that point . Anyway, I can;t even begin to imagine why my 360 did this when it was COLD still . Same 0102 error code as before. After venting for about 2 more days, I decided that if the heat gun fix worked once.... why not twice? So I did it. And, everything is fine again. Buit for how long? Maybe I'm an idiot.... or maybe my 360 just doesn't love me anymore. Is it possible that I didnt heat the board well enough the first time? Any suggestions as to why the fix might have failed? It's not like I have time to play it for any serious period of time -- maybe 4 hours in a sitting MAX. Someone, please get back to me with some thoughts and theories as to why the fix might have failed. All is greatly appreciated.

Per my previous posts, I have done the Heat Gun and I am on day 6 of our machine running just fine. Only problem we have is the "insert a disc" error on occasions, but it did that from the day we bought it.

You must remember that when they wave solder the boards, it is molten metal flowing, so to re-flow the solder on the board the gun has got to get it HOT. But you don't want to "smoke" it. I did the gun for a total of 4 minutes, alternating from the top and bottom every 30 seconds. Waving the air flow back and forth from the CPU to the GPU.

Where on Oki are you. I spent much time at Kadena and my son is doing a tour there now.

I only know a little about the techie stuff. But so far I havent seen anything for the error code 1023. So I thought I would try the blanket trick for the hell of it. At 1st all I got was the 3 lights for hours. After I did it, it booted to the dash for a min or so before freezing. I did it longer and it actually stayed on the dash. the backups I used stopped being read by the drive but Halo 2 went up no problem. Dunno what help this will be just thought any info might help.

Hey Guys, first i'll note that this is my first post in these forums.

Now i'll go and tell you guys what has happened so far between me and my xbox 360

first i bought the thing today at about 1:30 for 100 bucks, knowing that it was broke.

next i took it home, noted it had the three rings of death and found out the secondary code, in this case it was 0102 - general hardware failure.

I went and did the heat up the chips thing and then found an error code of 0022 - gpu failure, which i know was not due to overheating. I know everyone will probably say "im not supposed to do this" but after i found this issue i put the whole thing in the freezer and then immediately hooked it up and still got the same error, thus this indicates it is not an overheat if everything is still pretty cold. (also putting it in the freezer is not especially terrible for computer components, it usually allows me to bring hard drives back to life long enough to pull data). this opinion usually differs from person to person though.

i then redid the heat up the chips tutorial, but found that i had lost track of time and was probably on high heat for about 7 minutes...

i then got an error code of 0003, which isnt yet described. I can conclude however that it is probably the equivalent of "your xbox is f***ed" or that the cpu isn't responding. this happens instantly on startup, im almost completely sure it's a cpu error because it sounds like it tries to start and just doesn't. I left the heatsink on the cpu (like a retard) because i wasn't directly applying heat to the cpu...little did i know it pretty much collects heat and gets pretty hot anyway, and stays hot. So i probably burned out the cpu.

either way i can still sell it on ebay and make a profit. it came with all the cables...

any help in getting this (probably fried) hunk of junk working again would be greatly appreciated...

so i guess 0003 can be added to the list as cpu/gpu error.

I'm having the 0021 error sometimes and NOT because of modified dvd firmware. My 360 is still under warranty.

Here's my weird story, I'll try describe the error if the helps anyone who are doing research on these error codes.

--
My 360 is a core version with an added hdd.
(BTW, this is a refurbished console I got from xbox repair center. My first one died after a month from launch.)

Sometimes I'm getting three red lights. When I check with sync button + eject, I get error 0021.
I have NOT modified my 360's DVD firmware. I haven't even opened the case. It is still under warranty. I'm posting this let people know that 0021 isn't caused my modifying your dvd firmware. It might have something to do with south bridge, I don't know, I am not a tech expert.

The funny thing about this error is though, that for the most part my 360 works fine. I've gotten this error a couple of times during the last few months. Last friday, however, I thought the console was done for. I kept on rebooting it and it wouldn't start. When I finally got it to work (after like 20 times power off/power on) I started to play Crackdown. It worked for like three minutes and then the whole system hang. So I let it be for a few hours. Then I came back and again red lights for a few time, then it worked. I was able to play for about an hour and then it hang again. The screen just froze, sound stopped and nothing happened. I was like f* it, I was gonna call customer support monday.

Then saturday morning the box gave red lights (still error 0021) a few times and after that it has worked like a charm. No errors for two days.

Very weird, maybe there's some bad soldering there that causes this. My xbox has done this already a few times, sometimes it seems that it decides "I'm not on the mood today and today I will give the user three red lights". Then later, it works like a charm.

I will send it to customer support soon. It's just weird that for most of the time, it works brilliantly.
--

Hope this helps even a little in finding out more about error 0021. If you need additional information I can give you without opening my console, please ask and I will answer.

I just got off the phone with Micro$oft a few minutes ago. They were responding to my complaint to the BBB. They can't do anything for me as my machine is working. They asked what I wanted to resolve the complaint and I said to fix the machines.

If you want to help all concerned, fire off an email to the BBB, we need to have a great number of complaints so they can see the magnitude of this problem.

If you enter the National BBB site you will be re-directed to the local BBB for MS. Use the MS Headquarters for the complaint to be filed against.

Now it's time for you to file your complaint and let's load them up.

DVD Drive Not Connected, Connect Drive to Boot

I got in a console the other day (brand new) and when i try to boot it without the power cable connected to the drive i get 1 red light and 1023

Update: This one is Really Weird, I'm thinking it has something to do with either CPU or Power, today i tested it a little bit more and now it will work when the drive isn't plugged in and wont when it is

Update2: I'm pretty sure its the ana chip, after getting the error 3 boots in a row (drive connected and not) i reworked (from underneath) the ana chip and it seems to work fine now...but for how long?

Update3: Ive had it on for about an hour and a half now and have rebooted it 3x still no error, will run it for longer tomorrow

Update4: I Have been testing it for a good 5 days now and its still working, This Error code is most likely an onscreen but since it didn't output any video i wasn't able to tell what code it was

Ive been getting 3 red lights and the 1023 code. Wrapping it in the blanket allows it to boot. But games freeze soon after. Would the error code mean the same thing with just 1 light on compared to 3?

i have no clue i dident even know you could get the same error code from different # of red lights

oi Im sorry after calming down abit. I redid the code it was the 0102 error. Sorry for the trouble. will make sure to check my problems more throughly before posting again.

its cool, if you read back its happened to me a couple times before, its just the anger of having it not work and the panic of thinking it wont work again mixed with the frustration of trying to get it to work, it gets to you i know

well considering Im pretty much screwed with this system. Which is modded. Would I be able to get a core and just add on the hd and switch the dvd drive to to the new one? Because I can get it to actually boot and play dvds with the blanket trick but anytime a game actually does decide to boot it freezes and gives the lights again.I can take the system apart with no prob but I have no idea how to use a heat gun right or anything.

I have just turned on my xbox 360 and yes got the dredded red lights (3 of them), I also have the error code 1023 but is very little info on it compared to other codes, anyone please help?

Hi,

My other 360 is still dead even after a BGA reball now using LEAD balls.
The error code is 0102. I remove the CPU by myself and switched the unit
ON. The error changed to 0003, so I think 0003 is CPU related.

I hope you can add this to the list.

B/.R

Ive been gettin the 0102 error. I wrapped it up in a blanket and it would let it boot and play dvds. But games always froze. Right now I just took the top off the 360 and am letting it play a game like that. So far its working fine. Are we sure some of the codes dont mean multiple things or maybe one code can take the place of a more serious one or something like that? Maybe something in the 360 makes it think its gettin hotter then it actually is and causing the error. I dunno much about the technical stuff just enough to be able to understand whats bein said. But maybe sometimes a lil basic level trouble shooting works. Just trying to pitch in whatever I can to help people with there busted systems. Hope this is useful to someone

you mean 0102 right?, because 1023 is 1 red light most likly E74 or another onscreen, the only reason why i wasent able to see the onscreen is because it wasent outputing video


actualy you can just get another motherboard and flash your drive with the key from it and you should be good


0003 is power related just like all the other errors that start with 000

0003 has something to do with the power going ether to the CPU or the gpu, I'm sure you can replicate these conditions by messing around with all the resistors and capacitors under either the CPU or gpu

Yeh, your right mine is 0102, I read the code wrong.

anyone know a good place to buy a new motherboard for the 360. Also any guides specifically for flashing the drive with the key?

Mine is a 1022 thats for a av cable i tried defferent av cables, what am i suppose to do?

After a few days of not playing, I sometimes get the error code "E86" with just the lower right light in the red. Restarting the console seems to fix this and I can play a few days in a row without problems. Is this something I should be worried about? I let my 30 days past purchase go by without signing up for the extended warranty.

omg i get the error 0103 this its the second 360 the other 0102!!!!
Whats worse... i live in south america theres no 1 400 my xbox theres no support here..........!!!!!!
what can i do?
can someone help me?

xbox 360 2006-06-08 MD problem error 0103
thanks in advance

Section 4 is flashing red
- Hardware Failure

E76: (not yet known)


- I fixed E76 by loosening up mobo and case screws, not sure which yet as for I still have to tighten them back up. But I dont see how this caused the error?

-Adam

interesting thing happened with the 0102 error, the system wasnt working so I heated it up with a blanket over it. let it cool down a lil then turned it back on. Wasnt booting at 1st then I touched the av cable and it booted with the lights still flashing. It went out but then I pushed down on the av cable and it worked. So maybe the bad sodder is in that area?

Just for the record,

I had error 0102, the 3 flashing lights o' doom and fixed it with the heat gun trick. I wrapped everything else in aluminum foil to avoid blowing up capacitors or melting plastic pieces. Except the GPU and CPU and immediate area around them.

Blew hot air with the gun in low (600 F) for about 5 minutes (2.5 minutes per side all together intercalating up and down of the mobo) and then I set it up on high (1000 F) and blew hot air directly above and below these mentioned component chips in very fast circular motion ALWAYS. I then let it sit for 40 minutes without even breathing close to it and redid the thermal compund with ArcticSilver 5 once the 40 minutes were up, right before connecting it.

I put the board back in the casing with just a few screws, connected the fans, DVD unit, and RF board back but when I plugged it just to check, I had quadrans 3 and 4 flashing. I wished really badly that it was a grounding problem, put it back together like it should go, and plugged it again.... IT WAS BACK TO LIFE !!
Be careful when you're doing this trick, don't over do it. Just follow directions and you'll get it back on.

Good luck my friends.

Heres one for ya, I got the 3 red lights, error code 4424, wish my box hadn't been opened.... Any ideas on what that error is? I didnt wanna read 30 pages of stuff, I figured if anyone knew about it, it would be on the 1st post.

read the 1st page again about how to read the lights. ur code is 0020

I had 0102, and 0110. I tried everything that was on here and it didn't work. So i got a new 360 yesterday for my birthday and now SUREPHILLYFAN is back on Gears!!! WOOOO!!!!!!!! If anyone wants to play send me a friend request.

Guess you cant edit your posts here, sorry about that, I did miss that tidbit.... But its unknown, so Im still SOL. Out of frustration I gave the box a good hit and it came back on, shut it down to re-attach the HD, and went back to the lights... I hate MS for there shitty workmanship and myself for not getting the warranty.

wow, is this for real?

i've had a modded xbox for the last ~4 years. never any problems. still works perfectly. went out today and bought an xbox 360 with some bday money. started up fine at first, gamed for a good hour or so. went downstairs to eat a bit, come back up and it's frozen. now it will turn on every ~10th time, otherwise it gives me an E71 or an E79. I just bought this thing today!!!! What kind of crap is microsoft selling these days? Jesus.

Did the Heat Gun on Feb 20th and the Xbox 360 crapped out yesterday Mar 13th. ROD with 0020 error. Same as I had before. Just got finished with a second dose of the Heat Gun and it's back up running again. We'll see how long it lasts this time.

The Heat Gun Treatment should fix your machine. I've had the same problem twice and it got us going.

Hey my xbox 360 became a 25lb paperweight after installing a patch that def jam:icon told me I had to install. After talking to microsoft and reading hundreds of post I had nothing to try to workaround my problem.

I stubled apon a workaround for mine .

(1) with the xbox powered of push the little white button and hold it down.
(2) Now while holding it down push the power button.
(3) Hopefully you should no longer have the ring of death.

Now a note here when i did this my system ran normal for about 1 minute than froze. I reset tried again and it ran for about 10 minutes this time. Then the third time it is still running and i played def jam icon & Graw 2 almost 14 hours straight. She still runs.

This leads me to believe that when installing the patch so i could play the new def jam icon game, that somewhere when the patch was being installed it became corupted and was being held in memory somehow. Somehow but holding the white button while powering on it manageged to clear it out...... Idunno I may be wrong thats just what i think but either way im not happy with microsoft telling me it would cost $168 to repair when it is most definantly asoftware issue. But my xbox works again so im semi happy.

please everyone getting error code 0102(4lights 1light 4lights 2lights) try this it cant hurt.

and please spread it around if it helps anyone else at least we are making progress for everyone else that has a good workout weight instead of a xbox360.

After reading the forums for 4 hours... I decided to revive my 360 with the heat gun methode.
And... it worked. The 0102 code is gone for now. I am now in the process of making my xbox cooler with all the other mods in the forum.

I also read about clamping the heatsinks without using the x bracket at the back but screws directly from the metal shield to the heatsink, creating a more uniform clamping force and without warping the main board when everything heats up.
How many of you did perform that mod? I have the toothpicks in place right now, but this is hardly high tech nor a durable setup in my books.

I would like to hear from you on that subject.

Yesterday we played all day and things were fine. Today, ROD with 0020 again. So I will be re-heating the motherboard again. Instead of using the tooth picks on the heatsink clips, I purchased an eraser to use under the clips. Will see how that works out.



This photo is a 60X shot of a section of the motherboard. The sign of a good solder joint is that it is, Bright & Shiney, Smooth, and that the copper pad is fully tinned with the solder. Dull and lumpy means it is a cold solder joint and a very poor connection. Not having the pad fully covered with the solder can permit some corrosion to form.

You be the judge, but I think it fails miserably.

The company that I recently retired from builds industial computers for industry and the military. The above would have been rejected in a heart beat. How would you like that kind of work on the aircraft flight director system the next time you travel! Oh, you don't fly, well remember, you want them to go over your house, not through it.