Xbox 360 RROD Permanent/Temporary Fix

Xbox 360 RROD permanent/temporary fix



So you have experienced the dreaded three red lights or otherwise known as RROD (Red Ring of Death). This guide will help you perform a method that can bring your Xbox back to life. Please keep in mind that this solution should be considered temporary. Sometimes this fix will work 10 minutes or it might work 10 years (doubtful). I have one Xbox that has been going for a year and a half strong doing this fix. It is just hit and miss with the success rate because it is unknown how long the solder will hold up under the GPU chip. If your console is under warranty (1-800-4-MY-XBOX) or you do not have any patience then DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS FIX.

Since the Xbox is classified as a child's toy, it is illegal to use leaded solder for the motherboard connections. Now tell me what child is going to open the Xbox up and chew on the motherboard??? As you may or may not know, non leaded solder melts at a higher temperature than leaded solder; however the non leaded solder is not as flexible so it cannot shrink and expand like leaded solder. Over time, the heating and cooling of the non leaded solder soon develops small stress cracks that over time, will lose connection with the motherboard.

Combine the solder factor along with the shitty cooling design and you have a catastrophe waiting to happen. If this fix works for you then that is awesome. If the fix only lasts for a short time then you are going to have to send it off to have the chips removed and re-balled. Shown below is a few RROD examples of what the underside of these chips can look like. The third photo is what the chips solder points are supposed to look like.





First off, you are going to have to disassemble the 360 console. Also, since the console has overheated, you may want to consider doing the 12 volt fan mod.

You are going to need the following items:

Q-tips
Isopropyl Alcohol 97% or better
Some kind of adhesive remover like Goo-Gone or WD-40
Arctic Silver 5 or Stars thermal paste
24 5mm flat washers
8 M5 x .8 x 10mm machine screws (Phillips pan-head)
Phillips screwdriver
A pick set or a small flat-head precision screwdriver
1/4 wide thin piece of plastic like a cut up credit card for spreading thermal paste
1/4 wrench, I use a screwdriver/nut driver tool that I lost the bits too.
Masking tape

Turn your motherboard upside down and you will be presented with the x-clamp. To remove these abominations takes quite a bit of patience. Eventually you will find a technique that best suits you to remove them. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO PRY X-CLAMPS LOOSE BY USING THE MOTHERBOARD AS A PRY POINT. The way I do it is insert my small flat-head as shown in the picture. I then gently pry in the direction of the arrow. I GENTLY work my way around the post, using it as a pry-point, to eventually free the clip. I then repeat on the next clip and then the third clip. After the third clip is released, the x-clamp can easily slide off.



Once the x-clamp is off, repeat for the other one and then turn the motherboard over and gently pull the heat-sink off. You may have to use a little force to break it free from the old hardened thermal paste.



Now you see the mess that needs cleaned. Get out your adhesive remover and Q-tips. Get the end of a Q-tip wet. Apply enough so the thermal compound is coated well. Allow a minute or two for the adhesive remover to set in. Get the other end of the Q-tip wet and start rubbing on the thermal compound with a little amount of friction. The compound should start turning to goo, thus making it easier to remove. Remember to do this to both chips and both heat-sinks.




Once that is done, use your wrench to remove the posts on the bottom of both heat-sinks.



Grab your Isopropyl Alcohol and a Q-tips. Get a Q-tip wet but not soaked and clean the entire surface of the heat-sink and the dies that sit on top of the chips. The dies, when cleaned right will have a mirror shine as shown in the picture. If your dies have a reddish tint that may or may not fade to blue, then you have had some serious cooling problems with the Xbox that has caused the chip to discolor like that.



Apply a small amount of heat-sink compound as shown in the picture. Then use your thermal paste spreader to even out the compound over the die.




Now gather your hardware and set it out like below. Tear off four pieces of tape and place next to the hardware.



Now lets take a time out and take a close look at the washers. It is VERY important to know the difference between a finished side and an unfinished side. The left washer is showing the finished side, notice how smooth and shiny it is. Now look at the other washer. The unfinished side is not shiny and rough around the edges. Always make sure that the finished side of the washer is facing towards the motherboard.



Take a screw and set it on top of the sticky side of the tape. Add a washer remembering the previous red text. Repeat this process until you have all 8 of your screws setup. Take the set up hardware and insert the screws through the back of the motherboard. Apply pressure to the tape so that the screws will stay in place when flipping the motherboard back over.




Next, add two washers to each of the screws for the heat-sink you are installing....(red text). Once the washers are added, turn the motherboard to where it is standing up just enough that the washers do not fall off of the screw. Grab the appropriate heat-sink and align the holes to the screws. LIGHTLY hold the heat-sink against the screws while you use your Phillips head screwdriver to get the screws started. Once the screws are started, remove the tape and turn the motherboard over and repeat for the other heat-sink.





Turn the motherboard on its side and take a look at how close the washers are to those tiny circuit traces. If you were to use the unfinished side of the washer facing the motherboard, you run the risk of the jagged edges cutting into those traces thus resulting in a RROD. Tighten the screws in a criss-cross pattern to where the screw stops with no force. Try to make sure the washer is center when doing this step. Now tighten, in a criss-cross pattern, to where the heat-sink screws are firmly snug. Repeat for other heat-sink.



Now insert your motherboard into the chassis. Insert the R/F board (power button board) into the slot. Insert the A/V cables and hook up the power supply. You can install the fan and shroud but DO NOT HOOK UP THE FAN yet. Turn the Xbox on and you should still be greeted with the three red lights. Let the console run until it starts flashing two red lights. Once the two red lights are flashing, countdown 2 minutes and shut the console off. Let it cool off for about 30 minutes. Hook the fans up and turn it back on. The console should boot up!!