Someone recently dropped by our computer repair store in Lindenwood Park with an X-Box 360 that was experiencing the infamous red ring of death.
The red ring of death is an indicator of a boot failure of the X-Box 360. This could be caused by a number of things, but the most common by far is an issuinside of xboxe that results from overheating.
The X-Box 360 produces a huge amount of heat, and sometimes the fan system isn’t enough to handle it all. Over time, the heat can cause the silicon motherboard to warp out of shape. As a result, it can’t make good contact with the CPU anymore and therefore cannot boot, resulting in the RROD.
So how do we fix it?
Well, first, let’s say how not to fix it. There’s a rumor going around on the Internet that wrapping your X-Box in towels will fix the problem. This is definitely not true. When you wrap your X-Box in towels, it just keeps the heat in, and bends the motherboard even more. This may make the board make good contact with the CPU again, but it lets the CPU and other parts rise to ridiculous temperatures. Like this, you will end up basically melting the components of the unit, and it definitely won’t work then.
The real way to fix it is to re-seat the CPU and GPU, and tighten down the heatsinks so that they can make a good connection with the motherboard. Unfortunately, this really has to be left to a professional. The parts that you have to deal with in there are pretty sensitive, and if you don’t know what you’re doing, it’s possible to break them just by touching them.