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[frozenballs]

QUOTE(Wilhelm_I @ Aug 16 2008, 01:14 AM)

Fixed a couple of these, give my credit card method a try(link in signature).
Play around with tightnesses of the screws, start with loose screws then keep tightening them until they are pretty snug.
For how long did you heatgun it by the way and what did you concentrate on?
Did you do the bottom and top and did you let it cool down properly?

In general 0020 is a bridged solder joint under CPU/GPU or RAM, often happens when you tighten the screws too much. And it can also occur if this certain area isnt powered properly,( missing capacitor or so)

definatly not a tightening issue think im going to sell this mobo with the dvd drive mobo on flea bay , or just keep it for donors . i heatgunned it as with all of my pcbs for 5 and 1/2 minutes and did so around the cpu gpu ram and surrounding area

[Wilhelm_I]

QUOTE(frozenballs @ Aug 16 2008, 05:47 AM)

definatly not a tightening issue think im going to sell this mobo with the dvd drive mobo on flea bay , or just keep it for donors . i heatgunned it as with all of my pcbs for 5 and 1/2 minutes and did so around the cpu gpu ram and surrounding area

The solderballs will be too bridged then probably some have like become a big one or so.
Just make sure you put it in the description that a repair was already attempted..

[Wilhelm_I]

QUOTE(Arakon @ Aug 16 2008, 12:57 PM)

If you get an instant ROD (i.e. no delay after turning on, push the button and it's immediately red lights) then you have a short beneath the GPU or lifted part of the GPU off the solder points. it's pretty much impossible to fix this, short of removing the GPU completely and reballing it with the proper devices.

You always get an instant ROD if the secondary error code is 0020 had this one for various reasons already and it always showed up at the same time...

[brandogg]

I really don't think 0020 is a bridged solder joint, if it was, it would pretty much impossible to fix without reballing the chip that was causing the area. Also, the system on it's own won't ever get anywhere nearly hot enough to reflow the solder to begin with. The only way you could get a bridged joint would be from a bad reflow, or it was "born that way", though I'm sure each system is power cycled and tested before it's placed in the box and shipped.

[Wilhelm_I]

QUOTE(brandogg @ Aug 16 2008, 08:12 PM)

I really don't think 0020 is a bridged solder joint, if it was, it would pretty much impossible to fix without reballing the chip that was causing the area. Also, the system on it's own won't ever get anywhere nearly hot enough to reflow the solder to begin with. The only way you could get a bridged joint would be from a bad reflow, or it was "born that way", though I'm sure each system is power cycled and tested before it's placed in the box and shipped.

I had a few 360s that make me come to this result.
One of the 360s I am talking about is one that I bought cheaply on ebay, the GPU was flatly pressed on the mainboard and was shorting out completely, it had 0020.
Another one I bought on Ebay had 0102, so I did the X-Clamp replacement and got rid of it, however it showed 0020 afterwards(0102 overrides 0020 since the number is higher), so I loosened the screws a bit because it sometimes happens when you over tighten them...
I couldnt get rid of the 0020 so I checked the mainboard and found 2 of the bottom RAM out of which the solder leaked by the look from the side.
They were completely flat as well...
And I could manage to get the error a few times when I was searching for a 3.3V source for the 9V mod, when you draw power from the regulator that powers the GPU and RAM you get it.
Missing capacitors under the GPU can also cause it.

The fact that solder balls are completely shorting out sounds pretty weird imo as well the only thing I could think off is that they move around/ crack when you tighten the screws too much and make them short out like that.
It also doesnt make much sense that you can often get rid of it by reflowing the GPU/RAM.
Someone posted a quite interesting thread that somehow didnt catch too many eyes but the guy had a quite nice theory that would actually explain this.

He was talking about a phenomenon called "Tin whiskers" it is like that solder can kind of get little antennas that can grow up to a length of 1mm per year and shorten out other stuff if they get in contact with them.
If you regard that the solderballs under the GPU are like a lot smaller than 1mm this actually makes a lot of sense since if this is the case they can short stuff out within less than a year.
When you reflow the chip/ take it under pressure/ overheat it you break these little antennas and the solderballs are disconnected and get back its original form and are no longer shorting out.
Here is some more information on this phenomenon http://en.wikipedia....ki/Tin_whiskers

It sounds pretty far fetched to me as well but it is an addition to the X-Clamp theory that explains this certain issue very well imo.

On the wikipedia article it also says that "mechanically induced stresses" and "thermally induced stresses" support the growth of these tin whiskers which obviously is the case for the solderballs under the main chips of the 360
And it is mainly lead free solder that is effected by it which is also the case here.

[brandogg]

I read about the tin whiskers, and it's a pretty interesting idea. I just think that 0020 is more of a generic error, as is 0102, etc. It's an error related to a specific component, but it's not precise in telling you what exactly is causing the error, whether the problematic area has a short, bridged joint, cold solder joint, etc. It would be very nice if Microsoft (or a sneaky, sneaky person) would get the fact sheets for all of the error codes, since obviously the companies that Microsoft hires for repairs have to know what they need to fix.