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[nickXrider]

Hello All,

Hoping you guys can help me resolve the problem here.

My Xbox 360 Elite started freezing on me a month or two ago (no RROD). I ordered a RROD repair kit and a tailsmoon whisper fan.

Per the kit, I removed the existing clamps, used the screws and the washers. It included Artic Silver Ultra 5 (I believe) and the removing agents which I was very thorough, spent about 3 hours doing the repair.

I also added some cardboard to the GPU to cover about 2/3's of it vs 1/4.

I also used cardboard to seperate the plastic funnel on the inside.

The day I fixed it I tried it with the demos and all that. No problem all worked and I used it for quite a while, watch movies, etc.

Since that day I have not turned it on again. That was about a month ago.

Now today I finally got another monitor with a DVI connector so I used HDMI 2 DVI and got it working. Microsoft told me I had to update so I did. The tutorial / walk through started and on step 3, wham I got the RROD with error code 0102. I don't know whats going on as I really did everything exactly as specified.

Now it's not working, i'd love to fix it if you guys have any suggestions, please help me out.

Thanks, Nick

[kipper2k]

QUOTE(nickXrider @ Nov 14 2010, 12:03 AM)

Hello All,

Hoping you guys can help me resolve the problem here.

My Xbox 360 Elite started freezing on me a month or two ago (no RROD). I ordered a RROD repair kit and a tailsmoon whisper fan.

Per the kit, I removed the existing clamps, used the screws and the washers. It included Artic Silver Ultra 5 (I believe) and the removing agents which I was very thorough, spent about 3 hours doing the repair.

I also added some cardboard to the GPU to cover about 2/3's of it vs 1/4.

I also used cardboard to seperate the plastic funnel on the inside.

The day I fixed it I tried it with the demos and all that. No problem all worked and I used it for quite a while, watch movies, etc.

Since that day I have not turned it on again. That was about a month ago.

Now today I finally got another monitor with a DVI connector so I used HDMI 2 DVI and got it working. Microsoft told me I had to update so I did. The tutorial / walk through started and on step 3, wham I got the RROD with error code 0102. I don't know whats going on as I really did everything exactly as specified.

Now it's not working, i'd love to fix it if you guys have any suggestions, please help me out.

Thanks, Nick

As you are using hdmi and probably a higher resolution your 360 is now working harder and therefore generating more heat. Your GPU probably failed. Freezing is the early signs of GPU/Ram failure.  Seeing as you have already replaced the clamps then the problem has not been resolved.

 The GPU needs to be reflowed/reballed.  Heat gun will work but you gotta watch the temperatures you expose the chip to and must protect the other components by covering them with aluminium foil. Heat gun fixes will fail sooner rather than later. A professional reball using lead solder on the GPU is the best long term solution available.  Read up on it before you pick up the het gun

This post has been edited by kipper2k: Nov 14 2010, 03:10 AM

[fischju]

(New here, may not all be accurate)

What's the model and board?
http://i.imgur.com/w3VVK.jpg

Freezing like that can be caused by a couple of things, from the beginnings of a GPU cold solder RRoD to a RAM problem. But an 1020 RRoD is usually caused by the perfect storm of 3 different design flaws in the 360.
1) The GPU heatsink is shrunken to give clearance to the DVD drive, which results in insufficient cooling.
2) Larger standoffs for the x-clamps that bend the board
3) Non-lead solder is used in the BGA so 360s are RoHS compliant. It's more brittle than lead solder and has a higher melting temperature, some think that many 360s were never flowed properly by Microsoft.

With these powers combined, the result in this:
http://www.pcrepair-stockport.co.uk/images/bga_cracked.jpg
Cold solder joints on the GPU's BGA. Most x-clamp fixes address this problem by making the board flat, making the solder squishy by 'baking' the system, then screwing the two together tightly, temporarily bridging the connection. But it is a temporary fix, and can damage the board. The only real solution is a reflow where  specialized BGA equipment is used to precisely heat the GPU BGA enough to melt the solder again, essentially restoring it to a factory condition (if it even came out of the factory right) then addressing the heat and board issues, or a reball, where the non-lead solder is replaced by lead-based solder. Both require expensive equipment, I recently drove 2 hours to get mine reflowed for $50. Reballing is more labor intensive and requires more expensive equipment. (Check craigslist). You can also mail off, to a place like this: http://www.cvxgameconsolerepair.com/CVX_Ga...Repair_XBO.html (many people offer reflows in ebay, but I'd find somebody with a reputation here or at llamma like CVX)

In the mean time you could try re-appling the x-clamp. If it does start to work again for any length of time it would confirm without a doubt it's a cold solder joint, even so that's the most likely problem.

From what I've read only somebody with a good thermocouple and experience working on BGAs has even a remote chance of properly reflowing a 360 with a heat gun, and even less of a chance on their first try. It's a good way to completely trash your system, see the latest thread: http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=723707

This post has been edited by fischju: Nov 14 2010, 03:23 AM

[nickXrider]

QUOTE(kipper2k @ Nov 13 2010, 08:07 PM)

As you are using hdmi and probably a higher resolution your 360 is now working harder and therefore generating more heat. Your GPU probably failed. Freezing is the early signs of GPU/Ram failure.  Seeing as you have already replaced the clamps then the problem has not been resolved.

I originally had the Xbox 360 on a 1080p 52" LCD and I really never used it anywhere else. Since I bought the machine 6 years ago the usage has been light to say the least. If i've played more than a 100 hours on this thing i'd be surprised.

Currently though I don't have it on a 1080p actually the screen resolution that I set was the native screen size for the LCD monitor which is 1280 x 1024. Not really that high in comparison to the 1900 x 1200. Granted the freezing issue started on the 52" LCD before I moved to the monitor.

QUOTE(fischju @ Nov 13 2010, 08:20 PM)

What's the model and board?
http://i.imgur.com/w3VVK.jpg

Acording to that photo it's a Xbox 360 Zephyr. It's a 360 Elite with a 120gb HD and it came with the HDMI and Digital Audio cables in the box.

QUOTE(fischju @ Nov 13 2010, 08:20 PM)

Cold solder joints on the GPU's BGA. Most x-clamp fixes address this problem by making the board flat, making the solder squishy by 'baking' the system, then screwing the two together tightly, temporarily bridging the connection. But it is a temporary fix, and can damage the board.

Well the one  point I haven't mentioned yet is that I live in Costa Rica, it gets hot here in this tropical enviroment so I have read that this may have been the factor driving knife through the heart.

QUOTE(fischju @ Nov 13 2010, 08:20 PM)

The only real solution is a reflow where  specialized BGA equipment is used to precisely heat the GPU BGA enough to melt the solder again, essentially restoring it to a factory condition (if it even came out of the factory right) then addressing the heat and board issues, or a reball, where the non-lead solder is replaced by lead-based solder. Both require expensive equipment, I recently drove 2 hours to get mine reflowed for $50. Reballing is more labor intensive and requires more expensive equipment. (Check craigslist). You can also mail off, to a place like this: http://www.cvxgameconsolerepair.com/CVX_Ga...Repair_XBO.html (many people offer reflows in ebay, but I'd find somebody with a reputation here or at llamma like CVX)

I might actually do that. I'll probably find out if I can just send them the board, but they will probably want the entire console. Getting it back in Costa Rica is the only pain without having to pay taxes but I really wouldn't mind paying the money to get it working again if it will work right. At least long enough to sell this POS and get a PlayStation 3.

QUOTE(fischju @ Nov 13 2010, 08:20 PM)

In the mean time you could try re-appling the x-clamp. If it does start to work again for any length of time it would confirm without a doubt it's a cold solder joint, even so that's the most likely problem.

I think that's not such a bad idea. I will remove the GPU, clean it off again. It's possible that some of the thermal paste when squished ran off the chip. Who knows but if I try again maybe i'll be able to get it to resolve. I never did the burn in because they only referred to that in the manual as necessary if you had a RROD which at the time of the fix I didn't, only had the freezing. Probably better that I didn't from the sounds of it.

QUOTE(fischju @ Nov 13 2010, 08:20 PM)

From what I've read only somebody with a good thermocouple and experience working on BGAs has even a remote chance of properly reflowing a 360 with a heat gun, and even less of a chance on their first try. It's a good way to completely trash your system, see the latest thread: http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=723707

Yeah really i'm not gonna try that. It's delicate and unlikely the work correctly. It's like telling me to go build a house and not having the knowledge on how, something is gonna get screwed up lol..

I know about that other thread saw it when I posted this one. Kid lost his console that's for sure (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif).