QUOTE(digitalink @ Sep 23 2008, 10:57 PM)

My first post, but after looking through the forum, many of you seem to know what your talking about and it is your experience I need.
Last night I was playing The Force Unleashed when in the middle of the game it looked like the bit rate of the colors dropped dramatically. Then my TV screen would go black saying "mode not supported" the game would flicker back on and then off (with the xbox running the entire time, I could still feel the vibrations of the game play). So I powered down and rebooted the XBox and it just gave me the "mode not supported" error on my TV. I swapped HDMI cables and component to see if it was a cable issue and nothing. Changed TV to a standard def one and I get a black screen but I can hear the audio of the XBox booting up and the game running.
Called Microsoft and they want to charge me $100 because I'm a month out of the 1 year warranty and no RROD . So I began some online research, found out this is a common problem. With a possible solution.
What I want to know is this, is there a possibility that the graphics card is shot and it isn't just a case of a bad connection? Not sure the model of my 360 but it is a Pro with a HDMI port. The reason I ask is because I'm willing to try the XClamp fix along with the heatgun method to try and strengthen the connection. But if the problem is something else, then once I open the case Microsoft will no longer work on the console period if I'm not mistaken. So then instead of giving them $100 I would have to go buy a new one. Not willing to shell out that kind of money for something that can hardly last a year.
Sorry for the long post and my ignorance on the inner workings of the system itself, never had a reason to learn about it. Thanks in advance.
Try doing the x-clamp repair..i did three last week with this issue...If you need help PM
All the gpus had dried silver thermal...once i added some works like a charm first boot.
QUOTE(towelly @ Sep 28 2008, 04:49 AM)

i jsut bought one with the same problem your talking about for 70 bucks lol, it a solder problem wether the gpu or the videochip i opened it up it already had the x clamp kit so i thought mine as well try a towel before i resell it for parts, first time i wraped it in a towel for about 15 minutes, let it cool 30, nothing, then about a hour after that i gave it anotehr try for about 30-40 checking it every 10 minutes to make sure it wasnt on fire, the towel i use was a tiny bit damp not wet so it would trap more heat and keep the case cool, i let it cool for about a hour because i had stuff to do i turned it on and it works and i have turned it on 10 times since no problem, and played lost planet for about a total of 10 hours and that game was the killer of my first 360 along with oblivion and the item cheat. try a towel it worked for me, if anything get the clamp kit and after you put it on jut leave the case and fan off turn it on and get it hot then let it cool put the rest back together, a free towel or $10 clamp kit is better then selling it if you dont have a warrentiy, ive left the xbox on for about 10 hours today no problem and it was on almsot all yestarday except for when i was leaving it off and turning it on to check it
Wrapping it in a towel will not get it to the near 300C it needs to melt the solder, it'll only get it up to around 90C which will kill your capacitors...
The proper way to fix this is to replace the xclamps (the good way) and heatgun the board or get it professionally reflowed. Letting the console bake in it's own heat will not do the console any good... it may be a quick fix which, somehow, works but it's far from ideal.
Besides, xclamp + 360s own heat has not fixed my Sound no Video 360, it only removed the 3 red lights... but it's still in a worse state now than before it went to RROD...
By all means, try wrapping your 360 up, it does work for some reason, but it's no perminant fix and doesn't do the components any good, not to mention it is a serious fire risk (check every 10 seconds, fire kills and spreads rapidly, 10 minutes check times are not good... in 10 minutes the towel could have set the rest of your house on fire!
However, power it on and off a few times and try getting it to work without opening it. That's how my RROD was caused. Get that RROD and MS will sort it for free. Or just tell them it has a hardware fault so it's a free repair.