Gaming | March 20, 2009 | 24 comments

Xbox 360 hardware failures on the rise?

source: http://hackaday.com/2009/03/19/hackit-xbox-360-hardware-failures-on-the-rise/

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MiguelSanchez
joystiq has been tracking the new starlet of xbox 360 failures: the e74 error. it appears as the lower right light on the console turning red and an on-screen message telling the user to contact support with the error e74. the number of reported e74 errors seems to have risen since august 2008 and people are wondering if the more recent increase in errors are related to the release of the new xbox experience (nxe) dashboard update. did microsoft reclass red ring of death (rrod) failures as e74 to avoid warranty replacements?

From day one, the xbox 360 has been plagued by hardware failures. so many failures that microsoft ended up pushing the 90 day warranty up to a full year. less than a year later they acknowledge the systemic rrod problem and extended replacement for affected consoles to three years. the rrod is named because of the three red lights displayed when the console failed. the culprit appears to be poor cooling of the console’s components. components like the gpu would overheat causing solder joints to fail. people were able to repair their own consoles by reflowing with a heatgun. microsoft has never officially disclosed why these systems fail. our console purchased on launch day rrod’d, but [bunnie]’s solder joint inspection of it proved inconclusive. every xbox owner on joystiq’s staff has had an rrod.

the e74 error is apparently not new. while microsoft officially calls it a “general hardware failure“, users have been calling it a general video error since launch. it can occur when you have a bad video cable attached to the console. users are blaming the hana video scaler chip for the latest issues. there have been five different motherboard versions of the xbox 360 so far. each version upgraded the cooling and/or the size of the gpu and cpu. the hana chip was introduced when the consoles started supporting hdmi. the original ana video scaler on the xenon board was a quad-in-line style smd package with pins around the perimeter. the hana chip on newer board designs is a ball grid array (bga) package, which means it can fail the same way the gpu does for an rrod.

did microsoft change the error reporting on the xbox 360 so they’d replace fewer consoles? no, we don’t think so. is this a similar hardware failure? most certainly. unfortunately, e74 errors are only covered under a one year warranty instead of the rrod’s three year despite it being the same failure mode. why are so many e74s happening now? there aren’t any hard numbers on how many failures there have been or how it compares to the rrod. we think that it’s just a result of more people having xbox 360s with hdmi support now. a large portion of the xenon 360s have been replaced with more reliable hdmi consoles, but that just means a larger install base of e74 prone consoles. more consoles means more possible failures.
  1. groups:
    Gaming
  2. tags:
    Technology,  Gaming,  Xbox 360,  RRoD
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24 comments // Xbox 360 hardware failures on the rise?

  • Gozy
    • 0
      Gozy  

    • The 99% fix is to seat the heat sink on tighter. I did this with a simple manual found online and 4 small washers. The washers allowed the heat sink to sit tighter on the CPU. No problems since.

    • 3 years ago
  • MiguelSanchez
  • Gozy
    • 0
      Gozy  
    • Gozy:

      That is what you get when 10 year old China kids are making our products. Just say NO to the technology! Just to be clear it was not mine it was a friend at works. I just knew what to do. I personally would never buy a game system with all the things a simple PC can do. Who has that kind of extra money?

    • 3 years ago
  • ayashe
    • 0
      ayashe  

    • I guess if I ever do buy a console it won't be this one. Why can't they just make one that works, if they can't do it they shouldn't even be in that business.

    • 3 years ago
  • Slusho
  • Slusho
    • 0
      Slusho  

    • No, they didn't reclassify rrod as e74. I just got rrod and I had the nxe and took it back to costco, and even though it was a little over 3 years old they still replaced it with a new one (with a bigger hard drive, hdmi out, and it's quieter, and five games included). So e74 has to be something different.

      And you can't replace an xbox with a ps3 because they don't have the same games.

    • 3 years ago
  • Wessagusset_Oracle
  • Jiji_Kero
  • psphenom
    • 0
      psphenom  

    • I must be lucky when it comes to the XBox. I won mine in the original Mountain Dew contest & haven't had a single glitch. Never a red ring of death.

    • 3 years ago
  • Sam_the_Wizer
  • Jiji_Kero
    • 0
      Jiji_Kero  

    • I got the E74 error 3 months after buying my Xbox 360, 13 months later I got the 3RROD, and then 13-14 months later I got another 3RROD. I've spent around 400$ getting our console fixed, speaking of which it's time for me to extend my warranty. I love the PS3, but it doesn't have Halo 3 or GOW 2 and I worked my ass off for that level 47 in Team Slayer so I'm willing to pay for the repairs.

    • 3 years ago
  • earrachanam
    • 0
      earrachanam  

    • I get the e74 error all the time on my xbox...usually all i have to do it turn it off and on a couple of times, and it works just fine....mind you, this is an xbox that microsoft had sent us because our first one had the "3 ring" error..

    • 3 years ago
  • decidedlyindecisive
    • 0
      decidedlyindecisive  

    • Mine already broke twice; once b4 the three year waranty and once after. Now I still get an occasional rrod but I have been able to turn off the system and turn it back on to fix the problem 4 the most part.

      If it breaks again I will give up on the thing, even with all the time and money that I have sadly already invested in this unreliable but fun system.

    • 3 years ago
  • DangleBerryBlack
  • jeckersly318
    • 0
      jeckersly318  

    • The failbox 360, yeah fvck that machine. I have had 2 die to RRsOD. If my last one goes, I give up.

      I take care of my systems, my Xbox, PS3, PS2, Wii and GameCube are all working, but that piece of crap 360, FVCK'EM.

    • 3 years ago
  • xxxCiscoKiDxxx
    • 0
      xxxCiscoKiDxxx  

    • As a long time windows user, XBOX player and owner of multiple 360s all i can say is, what else do u really expect from microsoft anymore?

      Everyone I know has had either problem. I've had both. Not to mention working in retail and selling them daily, I hear the same sad story from many customers...

      Bottom line, from vista to e74 back down to windows 2000, microsoft's track record is getting uglier every year. It's companies like this that favor planned obsolecense over a quality products that we should let die and fade away...

    • 3 years ago
  • wehat
    • 0
      wehat  

    • I get an e74 maybe a fifth of the time I start my xbox. I just have to shut it off and immediately back on and it works fine.

      This is only one of the many quirky little things it does though.

    • 3 years ago
  • Snuff99
  • Giganticus
  • MiguelSanchez
  • bigloutech
  • knightlynight200
    • 0
      knightlynight200  

    • that recently happend to me and it took forever to get a new xbox, but it hasn't happend anymore, but I have noticed that it has been happening to my friends

    • 3 years ago
  • VegaNerDiva
  • Giganticus
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