Despite its popularity the Xbox 360 has been plagued by technical failures. The phrase 'red ring of death' has entered popular lexicon and is from the warning lights that are at the front of Microsoft's games console. This is one of the most common of the technical issues that has caused the Xbox to develop its reputation.
"General hardware failure"
The three red lights indicate a "general hardware failure or "core digital failure," meaning that the console may be "fatally" damaged. Although when the console first launched, Microsoft said that the Xbox 360's failure rate was the typical 3 to 5% of the rest of the electronic industry's goods, in fact, it is purported to be much, much higher than that. Today, Microsoft has not released official statistics on the failure rate of the console and instead has a "public relations" policy to promptly resolve any technical problems customers have.
However since its release it has become obvious that the percentage rate is far higher. Microsoft have refused to release any statistics on the exact failure rate but it is very telling that in July 2007 they were forced to offer an additional 3 year warranty extension to any of their customers that had experienced the ring of death.
What causes this error?
Any number of reasons, but it is looking likely that most can be traced back to poor business practices initially, if a source is to be believed. One of major sources of information on the Xbox 360's technical problems has been an anonymous tipster, who is suggested to have been one of the team leaders on the Microsoft development teams. The source suggests that it could be any number of things from parts to material quality, manufacturing to system design.
Basically the source has called the management into question as testing had suggested that there was a technical unreliability that was evident, with some suggesting that as many as 68 units in every 100 tested suffered some for of faults. It, the source claims, was obvious that the system was ill equipped to suffer any sort of failure and still work.
What is the main cause of failure within the Xbox 360?
Overheating. When the cooling systems within the Xbox 360 are unable to keep the console cool the machine will overheat. When this happens the thermal plates contained within the console will become too hot and start causing electrical failures. Microsoft have recognised this problem and, in October 2008, introduced a new motherboard system called 'Jaspar' that is designed specifically to work with reduced heat emmissions, which it is hoped will help reduce technical failures.
What do to if the 'red ring of death' strikes
As mentioned earlier if this happens Microsoft have offered an additional 3 years cover for anyone who suffers from a technical fault indicated by the 'ring of death', though this only counts for the warranty holder so is not of use if you have bought the console 2nd hand. If you took out the extended warranty on the machine when you purchased Microsoft will also repair it and give you a 1 month gold card subscription. Should you not be covered like this there are repair services available for you to pay for.
Some Xbox console users have found ways to repair their own service, but be advised that this voids Microsoft's warranty, so take care to only do this if there's no other way to try to repair it and you won't be out anything anyway.
"General hardware failure"
The three red lights indicate a "general hardware failure or "core digital failure," meaning that the console may be "fatally" damaged. Although when the console first launched, Microsoft said that the Xbox 360's failure rate was the typical 3 to 5% of the rest of the electronic industry's goods, in fact, it is purported to be much, much higher than that. Today, Microsoft has not released official statistics on the failure rate of the console and instead has a "public relations" policy to promptly resolve any technical problems customers have.
However since its release it has become obvious that the percentage rate is far higher. Microsoft have refused to release any statistics on the exact failure rate but it is very telling that in July 2007 they were forced to offer an additional 3 year warranty extension to any of their customers that had experienced the ring of death.
What causes this error?
Any number of reasons, but it is looking likely that most can be traced back to poor business practices initially, if a source is to be believed. One of major sources of information on the Xbox 360's technical problems has been an anonymous tipster, who is suggested to have been one of the team leaders on the Microsoft development teams. The source suggests that it could be any number of things from parts to material quality, manufacturing to system design.
Basically the source has called the management into question as testing had suggested that there was a technical unreliability that was evident, with some suggesting that as many as 68 units in every 100 tested suffered some for of faults. It, the source claims, was obvious that the system was ill equipped to suffer any sort of failure and still work.
What is the main cause of failure within the Xbox 360?
Overheating. When the cooling systems within the Xbox 360 are unable to keep the console cool the machine will overheat. When this happens the thermal plates contained within the console will become too hot and start causing electrical failures. Microsoft have recognised this problem and, in October 2008, introduced a new motherboard system called 'Jaspar' that is designed specifically to work with reduced heat emmissions, which it is hoped will help reduce technical failures.
What do to if the 'red ring of death' strikes
As mentioned earlier if this happens Microsoft have offered an additional 3 years cover for anyone who suffers from a technical fault indicated by the 'ring of death', though this only counts for the warranty holder so is not of use if you have bought the console 2nd hand. If you took out the extended warranty on the machine when you purchased Microsoft will also repair it and give you a 1 month gold card subscription. Should you not be covered like this there are repair services available for you to pay for.
Some Xbox console users have found ways to repair their own service, but be advised that this voids Microsoft's warranty, so take care to only do this if there's no other way to try to repair it and you won't be out anything anyway.
About the Author:
Are you looking at a remedy for that scary xbox 360 rrod ? There are many remedy guides floating around out there. And a lot of them will have you doing crazy remedys that can and will permanently damage your XBOX 360.
No comments:
Post a Comment