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Xbox360 Forums => Xbox360 Hardware Forums => Xbox360 General / Hardware Chat => Topic started by: ssjdave80 on September 17, 2006, 10:26:00 AM

Title: 3 Red Lights (xbox Fried/died/crashed)
Post by: ssjdave80 on September 17, 2006, 10:26:00 AM

Yesterday I just got home from Gamestop in which my friend bougth dead rising. We pop it into my xbox 360 all hyped up to play and at the start menu it freezes. I think no big deal it has frozen and srahed a few times before. So we try again this time getting a little farther in which it crashes again. I start getting annoyed and i restart the xbox 360 once again without the disk in. It goes to the dashboard veyr sluggisly and then when we put the game in , it freezes. We retsrat the xbox at it gets forxen at the "xbox 360" screen. Being very annoyed by now we unplug everything and plug it back in. We turn on the xbox 360 and it makes a screeching sound and a pink- purple screen in on the tv.  We restart it once again and the screen glitches out makes a screech and the video goes out. We try to restart the box wihtout the hardrive and nothing happens. THe xbxo is on with no video. We unplug and replug the av cable and still nothing. We finally retsrat the xbox and its flashing the 3 red lights with error code 0102. I have a box from launch manufacture date 10/17 although i bought it from best buy in february-march. I recently downloaded the update and I have the nyko intercooler which previously seemed to make my 360 crash and freeze. Everyone who has had a problem similar to this one with the 3 red lights and same symptoms please post here to maybe find a a cause to the problem. I have seen many similar posts within these 3 days with the same problem. Hopefully we can find out the cause and the solution.

Title: 3 Red Lights (xbox Fried/died/crashed)
Post by: t3h1337n00b on September 17, 2006, 11:44:00 AM

I'm having a similar problem, and I have a feeling it's related to the auto-update:

http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=548229

Title: 3 Red Lights (xbox Fried/died/crashed)
Post by: t3h1337n00b on September 17, 2006, 12:12:00 PM

I posted a similar, more in depth thread here at xbox.com: http://forums.xbox.com/6845618/ShowPost.aspx#6845618

Title: 3 Red Lights (xbox Fried/died/crashed)
Post by: Neo Vex on December 15, 2006, 12:59:00 AM

I got my 360 april 22nd. Never hooked it up to live untill last month, I downloaded a update and all of a sudden all my game save data, achivement points, everything was wiped off my hard drive directly after start up after the update. Microsoft said they were sorry but could not do anything about it. Now i am haveing the same exact problem as you were my screen freezes, i get the black screen, and the three rings of light. and yet again Microsoft says sorry again, but now I have to send my system to them.


Need help please, I want my Gears back.

And yes that was my first post, that is now upset I am about this.

Title: 3 Red Lights (xbox Fried/died/crashed)
Post by: woods3336 on December 15, 2006, 06:39:00 AM

QUOTE

I'm having a similar problem, and I have a feeling it's related to the auto-update

No, it's nothing more than coincidence IMHO. You guys are all showing signs of E0102, and ssjdave80 even said he had the error.

Straight from the FAQ's::\ "0102 unknown error - though it's most likely GPU related literally means the console does not know what is wrong. possibly a short or cold solder joint somewhere. So far there is 1 major theory for what causes most of these errors is that the Ram, CPU, or GPU are not soldered properly to the mother board due either to poor manufacturing or excessive heat up and cool down cycles that stress, weaken and eventually break the soldered connection. This can be solved by re-Heating the chips DO NOT attempt this if your console is still under warranty. If your console is still under warranty return it to the store where it was purchased or call MS to have it replaced. I have also heard of limited success by simply switching the AV cable from "HDTV" mode to "TV" mode."

All of the problems you guys are describing are symptoms of this error. The most likely scenario is your ram, gpu, cpu are not soldered properly. You can try the heat gun fix: LOOK HERE or send it in to M$ if it's under warranty.

Dig through this whole thread: HERE

This should give you lots of info and help you get started. Good luck....

Title: 3 Red Lights (xbox Fried/died/crashed)
Post by: Neo Vex on December 16, 2006, 04:41:00 PM

Thanks for the info Woods. My console displays 0102 as a secondary code after your info.  Ended up calling Microsoft again they said my console was still under warrenty and they would replace it for no cost. In my heart, I would like to believe this, I would also like to believe that it would be back to me within a week like the agent said. But after some of the horror stories ive heard on here, I'm leading towards being real skeptical, but I guess I will have to see. I think im gonna try to take it back to the store i got it from first, i doubt thats gonna work though. Would it be  better to send it back or find other methods of fixxing it? I heard about a mod chip bypassing the problem, and if I went that route would I still be able to get on Live? Unfortunaly, I am a real Noob at this and any info would greatly appreciated.

Title: 3 Red Lights (xbox Fried/died/crashed)
Post by: woods3336 on December 18, 2006, 08:00:00 AM

QUOTE(Neo Vex @ Dec 16 2006, 06:12 PM)

I think im gonna try to take it back to the store i got it from first, i doubt thats gonna work though. Would it be  better to send it back or find other methods of fixxing it? I heard about a mod chip bypassing the problem, and if I went that route would I still be able to get on Live?

In your earlier post, you said that you got the console on April 22, your odds of getting a store to let you return your 360 would be very slim. There are alternate methods for fixing it (heat gun, thermal paste, etc.) but why do something that is not 100% guaranteed, as well as voiding your warranty? Sending it to M$ is your best option as you stated it was still under warranty. Even if it takes well over a week turnaround time, wouldn't it better to be patient and have a working console?

There is no modchip that will bypass the problems you are having, the only thing close to a modchip are the chips for the dvd firmware which will not solve any of your issues. And btw, you can still play on live with modified firmware / backed-up games, but no one knows if M$ is tracking this info or when / if they will start banning.

If it were me, I'd send it in, just MHO.....

Title: 3 Red Lights (xbox Fried/died/crashed)
Post by: Odieone on December 20, 2006, 01:12:00 AM

I purchased 2 systems in late January; both were manufactured on 12/17/05.  I gave one to my son-in-law as his belated Christmas gift and kept the other.  His system occasionally makes a screeching/grinding noise and has caused minor scratches on a several of his game disks, not the “death to the game disk” type scratches that have occurred when moving the Xbox while a disk is in the tray.  My system was performing fairly well; I had the occasional freeze or lockup which generally resulted in a reboot.  The lockups began to increase during the first couple weeks of November; I was mostly playing “Lego-Star Wars” and “G.R.A.W.”   On 11/21 my son-in-law gave me an early (he just couldn’t wait) birthday gift, “Rainbow Six” which I played that evening and most of the next day.  On November 22, 2006, (early evening) I booted RB-6 and as the game was loading I experienced a lockup.  I rebooted the 360 and in the middle of the “Xbox 360” splash screen it locked up again, this was odd because I had never had it lock up when powering up.  I powered down and when I turned the power back on to reboot I got the “Three Red Flashing Lights of Death”.  I called Xbox support and was told by a well trained, polite individual that I would be sent a prepaid shipping box and, upon my receipt to package the 360, without accessories and return it for repair.  Well, if it weren’t for bad luck, I would just be shit out of luck.  As it turns out 11/22 is Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, and guess what, the service center is closed until Monday, 11/27.  The empty box is sent on 11/27 (UPS Ground) and I receive it on Thursday, 11/30, I quickly package the dead 360 and take it to a local UPS store.  I track the delivery process and it makes it to Houston, TX., the following day Friday, 12/01 where it sets until late Sunday, 12/3 and is finally delivered to the repair center (they are closed on weekends, there is no 24/7 in Microsoft’s repair center) in McAllen, TX., at 12:52 p.m. on Monday, 12/4.  I think, all right, from what I have heard and read, turn around is 4 or 5 days, I should have a replacement by the end of the week.  With this thought in mind, on 12/05 I call Customer Support to get the return tracking number, but there is no information and I’m told to call back the following day, there should be an update because the service center enter the update late in the day.  I call on 12/06 and get the same information, but the Customer Service (“CS”) Rep tells me he will fire off an email requesting a status update and to call back tomorrow.  I did and I also called on Friday, 12/8, there was no updated information, but wait, the CS is closed on weekends, so I’m advised to call back Monday.  I call again on Monday, 12/11, and Tuesday, 12/12, I ask to talk with a supervisor, boy, are these CS Reps trained well, I am told by the supervisor that they are sending an email to the Service Center and that it usually take 24 to 48 hours to get a response.  I call again on 12/13, and 12/15, (skipping Thursday) and after a dead end conversation with a CS Rep. I again ask to speak with a supervisor, I’m placed on hold for about fifteen minutes and then given the same dead end answers to my questions.  Did you know that the Service Center in McAllen, Texas does not have any telephones, the only way they can communicate with the outside world is via email, which, they don’t respond to?  This supervisor tells me she is going to send another email request to the service center and they should have a response in a couple of days, but wait it’s Friday and the service center is closed on weekends.  Further, she is the top dog at customer service, she does not report to anyone else, there is no one else I can call for assistance and there are no telephones outside of CS.  Needless to say I am not happy with CS and I am abrupt with her, I fire off questions that she has no intention of answering.  Therefore, if you have a problem there is no course of immediate action that you can take, CS is your only remedy.  I even logged on to Xbox Live and sent an email to customer support and received a quick reply directing me to “Customer Service”, it’s a catch 22.  So, I didn’t call on Monday 12/18 and I waited until early evening to call on Tuesday, 12/19 still no word, the service center has not responded to any of the messages sent by CS.  Well, if you think that the squeakiest wheel is the first one to get the grease, think again, I think the emails that CS is sending to the service center are telling them to put this guy’s 360 at the bottom of the pile.  On 12/20 it will be a month since my 360 died, I can live with the bad timing of its demise right at the Thanksgiving holiday.  What I am having a hard time accepting is the fact that the service center has had my box for 16 days and nobody knows what the status is.  If the service center has been flooded with an enormous amount of repairs then Microsoft needs to address the problem.  Microsoft should step up operations at the service center and go to 2 shifts or possibly around the clock 24/7.  They are failing miserably in customer service and customer satisfaction.  Why do they have only one service center in the United States, the country where the majority of the 360’s have been sold?

Sorry, but I had to vent this somewhere besides CS.  If you have been fortunate enough to send in a dead unit and get it back repaired or replaced within 5 to 10 days within the last month, I envy you, consider your self very lucky.  Whether or not I am to blame for the delay in service is neither here nor there, the fact is, nobody should have to wait 2 to 3 weeks for a repair/replacement from the date it is received at the service center.  In September, Microsoft made a press release stating that because the failure rate for systems manufactured in 2005 is greater than what the average (less then 5%) should be, they are going to extend and honor the warranty for those units.  Thing is, I purchased an extended warranty from Microsoft, either way my warranty or their warranty I am not receiving customer service and I’m still waiting for my 360.

The wireless steering wheel, wireless headset and games I put on my Christmas wish list, at this rate, probably won’t get any use this year.  Hell, Microsoft is so generous, I would almost bet that the service center will probably close early this Friday, 12/22 and not reopen until January 2, 2007, like I said “If it weren’t for bad luck”.  Oh, and I have been on vacation since 12/06.  So much for enjoying RB-6, G.R.A.W. and finishing up Lego Star Wars. And Merry Christmas to you too Microsoft…..