Fixing the RRoD on your XBOX 360

[crashN2u]

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EDIT on 8/15/07: I see that this walkthrough has taken off. Just want to remind everyone that this isn't a fix-all. Also, when I did this, I had no idea Microsoft had extended the warranty to 3 years otherwise I would have sent it in. Another thing I've noticed on other boards is people talking shit that it will fail again and it's only a temporary fix. I am going to buy another 360 with the HDMI output in the future. I just wanted it up and running so I could play Bioshock.

A lot of people have been asking me how I was able to go from

this


to this






So I put together a little walkthrough of what I did. It's pretty simple really and if you've been using the towel trick, try this instead before you burn up the rest of your components. ***Remember, this may not fix what's wrong with yours. It's just something that worked for me.***

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First off, sorry for the size of the pics. I decided halfway through dismantling to take pics so I reassembled it and started over. Didn't adjust res, just started shooting. Also, I outlined what I was talking about in red. Anything outlined in blue isn't mandatory at that point, but I suggest doing it anyways.

These are the tools I used.

Arctic silver $9.99 at PC Club
Precision screwdriver set $16.97 at Home Depot (you just need a Torx 10 and 8, the awl and small flathead)
(not pictured) Can of compressed air I had lying around


First thing first. Remove the hard drive(if it applies to you), then remove the faceplate. The tab is on the right(bottom if 360 is standing up). Push down on the tab while pulling on it and it'll pop right off.


Next, remove the gray panels on the sides. I started with the panel on the right(or bottom depending on how you have it set up). Each gray panel is held in place with 6 tabs. When pushing in the tabs, it's easier to alternate sides, top and bottom, it's not impossible to do one side first then the other though. On the right one, you can see all 6 in the vent holes, 3 on each side.


Closeup of tab


The left panel is a little more tricky. Looking at the top of the 360 you can only see 2 tabs.


The 3rd is located here(I highlighted the area because there was insufficient light). Use a flat head and pry it back while gently lifting.


Same applies to the other side.


On the bottom, the last tab is hidden under the footpad. Remove it and push in the tab.


Since the guts are attached to the top panel you'll want to flip the 360 upside down for the next step. You'll see 7 little holes. 2 by the A/C and 5 on the other side. I accidentally cut off the last hole on the left, but it's there. Just follow the arrow.


Aim for the bottom of the hole. You'll know when you've released the tab because you'll hear a snap and think you broke something. This part is a little troublesome. It's easier to start at the A/C side and pull the case upwards as you hear the snaps. After you get the 2 on the right, you can pull the case apart pretty wide. Finish the other 5 and this is what you get. Notice the tabs are highlighted so you can see what you're dealing with.


Spin it around and pop the tabs highlighted.


This is what you should see. The screws in red(Torx 10, all other screws are Torx 8) are the 6 that need to be removed to open the case. The ones in blue can be removed now or later, your choice.


You can tell the screws apart by the shape of their head.

Ones holding case together


Ones holding motherboard to case


After removing the screws turn the 360 over and remove the eject button. It pops right off. Use a flat head where it's highlighted.


Pull off the case and this is what you should see.


The DVD drive lifts straight up. Disconnect the power and data cable from the back and put it aside. Next, remove the air duct, the tab is highlighted. Lift it straight up.


Unplug the fan and lift the metal shield up to release the tabs. Pull it towards you and up.


On the front of the console, remove the white plastic over. Pop the bottom, then lift it up.


After removing these 3 screws. Pull the board forward to unplug it.


Flip the case over again and remove all other screws(ones not highlighted). If you haven't removed the ones in the blue box, do it now.


Flip the case over again and remove the motherboard. Because of the metal shield it's easier to lift the front first and pull it towards you and up. Now flip the mother board over. These two brackets hold the heatsinks in place.


You must be careful at this point. If you're too rough you can damage the circuits or break the board. If you damage the circuits, I hope you have a microscope and are handy with a soldering iron. Here's a closeup of what you'll be dealing with.


You can use needlenose pliers, but since I didn't have any handy I used the awl that comes with the screwdriver set.


What I did was insert the awl on one side, as shown, and pull the bracket away while lifting up. I switched to the other side and did the same. Once the leg comes off repeat on the second leg. Once the second one come off, you can remove the other two legs by hand. Do it again for the second bracket. After removing the brackets the heatsinks will fall out. Make sure they don't fall and damage the fins.


When it's fully disassembled it should look like this.


Now this is where I got carried away and stopped taking pics. I used a knife to scrape away the thermal paste and foil that microsoft used. You can see the rectangular area on the heatsink highlighted in the pic above where the old paste was. For an idea of what they did, the GPU had thermal paste but a little piece of foil in between the paste and the chip. For the CPU, only 2 little spots were touching the chip and both were less than the size of an eraser tip. The paste that's there now I put on myself and did a test fit. I cleaned it up and redid it after the pic. I also used the can of compressed air to clean the fins of the heatsinks, air duct, and fans. I then put it back together.

When putting the brackets back on, the first thing I did was pull the legs back so that there would be more tension when I put everything back together.apparantly it has come to my attention that you shouldn't bend the legs to add tension, that the RRoD will return. I had no idea. I thought there wasn't enough tension. Worked for me regardless. =/ I pushed down on the heatsink(or leg depending on which one you're doing) while pushing the brackets on. 2 legs will slide right on, it's the other 2 that need to be pushed on. When putting the motherboard back in the case, make sure the black posts are in their respective holes or it won't sit or screw down properly.



Also, slide the rear of the board in first before the front and it'll go in easily.

When all was said and done, I fired it right up and tested out the HD-DVD player first. It went over an hour without any problems. I got the itch to play so I launched street fighter for a couple rounds and loaded Gears of War.

Good Times are here again.

[Crono139]

Nice write-up, sir.

Repped.

[backlash]

Fuck the 3 RROD. They can suck a bloody cock.

Your write up is excellent though. :)

[crashN2u]

Originally Posted by backlash

Fuck the 3 RROD. They can suck a bloody cock.

Your write up is excellent though. :)

Thank you. I'm just glad I can play the Stranglehold and Bioshock demos right now.

[Chubz]

this thread is number 1 on google when you search
Fixing the RRoD on your XBOX 360

[backlash]

Fack, I'm gonna try the towel trick tonight or tomorrow. My POS is still under warranty, so I don't want to crack it open and void it........it is tempting though.

[Jerome]

i think i'd still be more inclined just to send it in to get fixed; i'm nowhere near capable of not breaking anything while attempting this. great write up though.

[Brandon]

Thanks for the article, I may pick up someone's broken 360 to try it out on.

[Chubz]

holy crap this thread in almost 3 days got 4000 hits,,insane,,,i hope some of the visitors register as a thanxs to crash for his hard work

[crashN2u]

Originally Posted by Chubz

holy crap this thread in almost 3 days got 4000 hits,,insane,,,i hope some of the visitors register as a thanxs to crash for his hard work

No problem. Posting this up for you was the least I could do after your generous donation when I was doing the MS walk.

Just wanted to update. Console is still running strong. Played for 6 hours the other day without a hiccup. Noticed that there were some haters out there on other boards where this was linked. Don't really care since I'll be playing Bioshock in a few days.

Added edits to original post in red.

[daveinoc]

Forgive my ignorance here, but I really like the idea of avoiding the towel trick, if possible. I'm not too sure what you did that worked so well here. You took off the heat sinks, then scraped away the thermal paste and foil. Did I miss something? Is that all I need to do, or is there another step?

Thanks for your patience with an amatuer.

Originally Posted by crashN2u

No problem. Posting this up for you was the least I could do after your generous donation when I was doing the MS walk.

Just wanted to update. Console is still running strong. Played for 6 hours the other day without a hiccup. Noticed that there were some haters out there on other boards where this was linked. Don't really care since I'll be playing Bioshock in a few days.

Added edits to original post in red.

[Jerome]

incredible... just look at the hits and number of "refbacks" for this post. a fine contribution. definitely my nominee for thread of the year (though my mlb mock draft thread will certainly give you a run for your money :p). a fine effort. nice job.