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Microsoft Insider Details Xbox 360 Red Ring Problems
kylemonger writes "A blogger at the Seattle PI has interviewed a Microsoft insider about the Xbox 360 project. The insider purports to have the background story on the 'red ring of death' (RROD) failures and why they are so common. 'RROD is caused by anything that fails in the "digital backbone" on the mother board. Also known as a core digital error. CPU, GPU, memory, etc. Bad parts, incompatible parts (timing problems) bad manufacturing process (like solder joints), misapplied heat sinks or thermal interface material, missing parts, broken parts, parts of the wrong value, missed test coverage. Any one or more, on any chip, or many other discrete components, would cause this. And many of the failures were obviously infant mortality, where they work when they leave the factory and fail early in use. The main design flaw was the excessive heat on the GPU warping the mother board around it. This would stress the solder joints on the GPU and any bad joints would then fail in early life. There are also other significantly high failure rates in other areas, like the DVD.'"
Even though I just sent in my third XBOX 360 for RROD repair after the great XBOX Live failure of 2007/2008, something about this interview just doesn't seem right. Why would a Microsoft "insider" risk their employment spilling well known issues about the XBOX 360 as "secrets" to a blog very read. That doesn't sound like a good career move.
Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.
The insider purports to have the background story on the 'red ring of death' (RROD) failures and why they are so common
What background story? Cheap parts, not enough testing blah blah...Where are the specifics?...and the causes mentioned for RROD were already known ages back.
Notably, none of these things had a GPU, CPU, heatsinks of any kind.. They did have a nice solid feel and reliable switches though.
http://www.xkcd.com/354/
So yeah, my HDD died and it's gonna cost $100 to replace, is there any way to force a RRoD so they'll fix my xbox under warranty?
You simply cannot trust a product from Microsoft not to screw up. I seriously doubt any of us Windows users haven't had to reformat at least once (of the Windows users here anyway). I bought a Zune and it was dead in a month. On top of that me and 3 friends got x-box 360's one way or another and 2 of them got the 3 RRODs(I honestly don't use my 360 much, this computer completely blows it away as far as gaming, it can boot 3 different OS's, it allows me to network myself without paying a forced subscription fee, AND it doesn't get hot enough to warp its own motherboard. Beat that Microsoft.)
The "hand test" is pointless. *puts hand on the back of my computer* Well, I can feel warm air! My computer must have poor design when it comes to dealing with heat. Except that is how it is designed to work. I put it together in a way that funnels heat out the back of the computer. And I can monitor temperatures of my CPU, GPU, and hard drives, which could reveal a potential for failure. But sticking my hand on it is a sure fire way of figuring that out too?
We are one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively. Back to you with the weather, Bob!
Windows succeeds for the same reasons the Xbox 360 will continue selling despite its reliability problems - software. It's the platform with the software people want to run, and nothing will change that unless the other platforms start getting killer apps.
Dude, my SNES has PENNIES rattling around in it and it still plays. There's no excuse for the crap we put up with on these over-priced consoles.
The eternal struggle of good vs. evil begins within one's self.
Are you high? Don't buy first-rev hardware, and don't buy add-ons for "next-gen" video formats that are (a.) only marginally better than current-gen offerings and (b.) are in the middle of a format war. Problems solved. The 360, a gaming console, sold itself to the crowds because it has good fucking games.
And while I do know people that are MS-exclusive fans, I honestly have never met anyone who has said-- of virtually any product-- "I will buy a product from any random manufacturer as long as it's not X, Inc." Anyone who's that concerned about who the "Evil Manufacturer" is isn't going to just blindly choose any secondary option, especially not from Microsoft. They're not exactly a "warm fuzzies" megacorp.
When did the future switch from being a promise to a threat? -C. Palahniuk
"Digital backbone" and (my favourite) "core digital error". As usual, Microsoft having to come up with their own terminology for what the rest of the real world would refer to as "hardware flaw" or "engineering mistake".
We'd better start calling the RROD the "ruddy halo of definitive binary turkey washout".
Microsoft -- reinventing the wheel... into some kind of odd mix between a rhombus and a Moebius strip.
What a load of BS. Yes back in the days heat was a big deal, going at 50 degrees Celsius was bad, but these days its less of a problem. My CPU is running at around 70 degrees Celsius, my GPU is at 80 degrees Celsius under load, my room however is at 20 degrees Celsius, so quite significant failures at +20 isn't happening.
Most new consumer hardware can sustain temperature to a point close to 100 degrees Celsius before critical failure happens.
Oh and smart consumer putting a hand on the product? are you fucking insane? The heat sink on my stuff will burn your hand under load.
Since this is the natural place for living room electronics: neatly installed in some under-TV cabinet, surely it behooves the manufacturer to design their equipment to live where many people are going to instinctively put them?
Oolite: Elite-like game. For Mac, Linux and Windows
Manufacturers are still learning how to deal with lead-free solder, and until they do, you can expect your shiny electronic gadgets to turn into bookends and doorstops with grim regularity.
there are 3 kinds of people:
* those who can count
* those who can't
Microsoft catering to the needs of the user? Come on, everyone knows it works the other way around.
USE HOT GRITS WITH STATUE OF NATALIE PORTMAN (NAKED AND PETRIFIED)
Ohhh - you mean the PS3 was properly designed as a domestic appliance...