The Xbox 360 video game console is subject to a number of technical problems that can render it unusable. Many of the issues can be identified by a series of red lights flashing on the face of the console; the three flashing red lights (nicknamed the "Red Ring of Death" ) being the most infamous. There are other issues that arise with the console, such as discs becoming scratched in the drive and "bricking" of consoles due to dashboard updates. Since its release on November 22, 2005, many articles have appeared in the media portraying the Xbox 360's high failure rates, with the latest estimate by warranty provider SquareTrade to be 23.7%, and the highest estimate being 54.2% by a Game Informer survey. There has been legal action taken attempting to hold Microsoft responsible for the Xbox 360's failure rate and provide compensation for those affected.
Three flashing red lights
Three flashing red lights around the Xbox 360 power button (nicknamed the "Red Ring of Death" or "Red Lights of Death"), in lieu of the one to four green lights indicating normal operation, represent an internal problem that requires service. Warning signs may include freeze-ups, graphical problems in the middle of gameplay, such as checkerboard or pinstripe patterns on the screen, and sound errors, and the console only responds to pressing the power button to turn it off. These events may happen once or several times until the hardware failure occurs, or not at all. If the console freezes occasionally, the error will not necessarily follow. When the error does occur, on the user's attempt to turn the console on, the three red lights are seen and the console does not function.
This error code is usually caused by failure of one or more hardware components, although it can indicate that the console is not receiving enough power from the power supply, which can either be due to a faulty power supply or if the power supply cable is not fully inserted into the console. The 3 flashing lights can also be caused by power surges; if the console is connected to an outlet that receives a power surge, it may have a failure and the 3 lights will appear as long as the console is plugged into the outlet. Turning off the console, unplugging all power cables and plugging them back in, and restarting the console will fix the issue in this case.
Distinct from the General Hardware Failure is a similar-looking error warning where four red lights appear, in which case the console does not detect an AV cable is plugged in. The four lights can sometimes also be seen when power surges or very brief power outages occur while the console is running, in which the console needs to be unplugged and plugged back in again to reset the error. Two red lights appear when the system is overheated.
Response to rate of failure
In the early months after the console's launch, Microsoft stated that the Xbox 360's failure rate was within the consumer electronics industry's typical 3% to 5%. Nevertheless, Microsoft has not released its official statistics on the failure rate of the various versions of the console; the company's press relations policy is to focus on the prompt resolution of any technical problems.
On July 5, 2007, the Vice-President of Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business division published an open letter recognizing the console's problems, as well as announcing a three-year warranty extension for every Xbox 360 console that experiences the "general hardware failure" indicated by three flashing red LEDs on the console. A source that has been identified as a team leader and key architect in the creation of the Xbox and Xbox 360 and a founding member of the Xbox team provided insight as to the high rate of failures. The interviews suggest that Xbox 360 units that fail early in their life do so because of problems in the system design, parts supply, material reliability, and manufacturing issues as well as a system not tolerant to faults. These issues were alleged to be the end results of the decisions of management in Microsoft's Xbox team and inadequate testing resources prior to the console's release. A second source cited that, at one time, there was just a 32% yield of one of the test production runs. 68 of every 100 test units were found to be defective.
On the 8th of February 2008, during the Game Developers Conference 2008, Microsoft announced that the "Failure rate has officially dropped", but without mentioning any specifics. The same month, electronics warranty provider SquareTrade published an examination of 1040 Xbox 360s and said that they suffered from a failure rate of 16.4% (one in six). Of the 171 failures, 60% were due to a general hardware failure (and thus fell under the 3 year extended warranty). And of the remaining 40% which were not covered by the extended warranty, 18% were disc read errors, 13% were video card failures, 13% were hard drive freezes, 10% were power issues and 7% were disc tray malfunctions. SquareTrade also stated that its estimates are likely much lower than reality due to the time span of the sample (six to ten months), the eventual failure of many consoles that did not occur within this time span and the fact that many owners did not deal with SquareTrade and had their consoles repaired directly through Microsoft via the much publicized extended RROD warranty.
People who experience the problem will find that they have to send the Xbox 360 away for repair or replacement and it may take up to 3 weeks to repair or replace. During the time of the Xbox being replaced, Microsoft and UPS will keep the client(s) updated with the current status of where the Xbox is and whether it is being repaired or replaced.
On October 17, 2008 a class action lawsuit was filed in California against Microsoft over the RROD problem.
On August 28, 2009, SquareTrade published a report saying that "early indications point to the problem abating in 2009", projecting that 1-year failure rates with the Jasper chipsets might be below 4%.
Causes
Electronics industry newspaper EE Times reported that the problems may have started in the graphics chip. Microsoft designed the chip in-house to cut out the traditional ASIC vendor with the goal of saving money in ASIC design costs. After multiple product failures, Microsoft went back to an ASIC vendor and had the chip redesigned so it would dissipate less heat.
One possible cause of the General Hardware Error may be cold solder joints. The added mass of the CSP chips (including the GPU and CPU) absorb the heat flow that allows proper soldering of the lead-free solders on the motherboard, therefore, the solder has not properly melted underneath these chips, which can lead to voids (air bubbles) and weak spots in the solder known as cold solder joints. Because of prolonged constant temperature changes inside the console, the voids cause cracking. Some officials claim this issue does not exist, and claim it is caused by a confusion over this issue. They have suggested that the dull appearance only suggests that the joints are cold soldered, as lead-free solders, even when properly soldered, take on a dull appearance that non-professionals might mistake for a cold solder joint (as the older lead/tin solder solder-joints became dull when not heated sufficiently). This suggestion is, however, rejected by the majority of experts. Lead-free solder requires a greater amount of heat (213 degrees celsius) to solder properly when compared to older lead/tin solders (185 degrees celsius). The Nyko Intercooler has also been reported to have led to a general hardware failure in a number of consoles, as well as scorching of the power AC input. Microsoft stated that the peripheral drains too much power from the console (the Intercooler power cord is installed between the Xbox 360 power supply and the console itself) and can cause faults to occur, and stated that consoles fitted with the peripheral will have their warranties null and void. Nyko has recently released an updated Intercooler that uses its own power source. Nyko claims this problem no longer occurs with new versions of this cooler. However, Microsoft still considers it an unlicensed add-on and will void the warranty of machines showing signs of its use. There is no data available to indicate whether the Intercooler decreases the chance of hardware failure. However, if the Intercooler fails, it can hinder rather than help the overheating problems.
The game console heats up during use, and given enough time, the temperature inside can reach very high levels due to insufficient cooling. An overheated Xbox 360 is indicated by both left quadrants lighting up red. Because of the way the Xbox 360 is constructed, this may result in stresses building up between the delicate ball grid array solder joints of the CPU and GPU and the motherboard, causing them to break. The problem is exacerbated by the specific type of lead-free solder used, a type which is more brittle than the older tin/lead solder that was used in the past and the GPU's location directly underneath the DVD drive. Microsoft needed to make room for the DVD Drive, so it shrank the heat sink.
German computer magazine c't , in an article titled "Jede dritte stirbt den Hitzetod" (tr. "Every third One Dies of Heat"), published in July 2006, blames the problems primarily on the use of the wrong type of lead-free solder, a type that when exposed to elevated temperatures f
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