Ask any Xbox 360 owner what their greatest fear concerning their
$300-$400 piece of machinery is, and you might receive a variety of
answers. For some, the words “
Halo 3” and “cancelled” being in
the same sentence might bring nightmares to their otherwise soothing
dreams. For others, terror might set in at the mere idea of trying to
afford a new HD television to take advantage of all the bells and
whistles associated with their beefy console. However, one concept that
is sure to make the blood run cold in any Xbox 360 owner’s veins is the
sight of the dreaded “red ring of death”. More appropriately, the ring
of light on the front of an Xbox 360 flashing red, indicating some
major trouble is about to go down.
Since its initial launch, the Xbox 360 has taken on a bad rap-
in the media at least- as a system that constantly overheats, is poorly
manufactured, and is too unstable to be on store shelves. The
aforementioned problems are just a few of the reasons people claim to
have experienced when the dreaded flashing lights illuminate on their
beloved console.
Whatever the reason for seeing them, these lights are never a welcome
sight. We’ve read the plights of our forum members who’ve had to go
through the process of getting a new Xbox 360 when they’ve gone caput,
and heard the problems experienced with trying to get a new system. So
when several of us at TeamXbox had our systems go the way of the dodo,
we decided to record the process from beginning to end, to see what all
is involved, and maybe offer up some friendly advice for those who’ve
yet to experience this issue. We also gave Microsoft a chance to chime
in on the subject, and they’ve obliged, which does show us that the
console maker is all about righting the red-ringed fleet.
The dreaded flashing red lights of death!
Houston, we have a problem.
Before we take a look at our Xbox 360’s journey to the repair center in Texas, first we must take note of
why
a system would have to be sent there in the first place. Flashing red
lights on the Xbox 360’s normally green ring of light is a bad sign, no
matter how you cut the cake, but all red lights don’t mean a visit down
south is necessary. Some issues can be resolved from the comfort of
one’s own home. The Xbox 360’s ring is divided into four separate
quadrants. Each division turning red indicates a separate problem, all
with a different way of resolving the issue. It should be noted that
when gamers call the support line about their defective unit, the
standard procedure of operation is to have gamers unplug all cables
from the unit, reinsert them, and try booting the system again. The
support worker will also have players remove their hard drive and
reboot the system to check and see if that is the problem. In the hope
of speeding the process along, it might be a wise thought to run
through those procedures before calling the Xbox 360 support line.
As mentioned, each quadrant on the set of flashing red lights
indicates a different issue. If all of the lights but the first section
are flashing, this means a general hardware failure has occurred. There
is little to be done other than trying to unhook and reattach your
cables. This problem is a sure sign a visit to the repair center is in
your console’s future. If the problem is indicated in the second
quadrant of the system, it is merely overheating. As too many hours of
GRAW
will do that to a unit, the proposed cure here is to unplug the unit
from the power supply, let it sit to cool down, and perhaps begin
scouting for a better location to store your precious investment.
A problem indicated in the third quadrant of the Xbox 360 ring
of light is diagnosed as a hardware failure. Once again, try
re-inserting all of your cords and cables, but this problem should
definitely be dealt with by the repair center. If all four lights are
flashing on the front of your console, this is perhaps the easiest
problem to fix. This is an issue with the AV cable not being properly
inserted into the back of the console. The cure? Just make sure the
cord “clicks” once it has been inserted into the unit. If that doesn’t
work, of course call the repair center, but the four lights are the
easiest of the problems to rectify.
Assuming that the assistance is needed, a phone call to the
helpful people at the Xbox 360 support center is the next step. Every
day from 9:00 A.M. to 1:00 A.M. Eastern time, and 6:00 A.M. to 10:00
P.M. Pacific Time, gamers can call 1-800-4MY-XBOX to get the repair
process started. International users can dial 425-635-7180. Once the
call has been made, and the problem identified, an empty box is then
sent out to gamers. The particular problem at hand will determine what
all contents are shipped back to the repair center. Unless you are
experiencing a problem with the hard drive of your console, all you
typically send back is the system itself. Detach the hard drive, remove
and store all discs, and keep
all
controllers and cords. There are warnings throughout the instruction
page sent out that if you send in anything not needed, it might not be
returned.
