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Official X360 DIY Repair Success Thread

Straightballin said:
Now what should I do? Overheat it again and tighten the screws?
Click to expand...
Well, I do not want to put the blame on you. Maybe I should have been clear that you should check to see if any other mods have been done on the X360.

I guess, well, just overheat it and see what happens.

Usually, when I do something that requires this much work, it is good to triple check and make sure you have a clear understanding what is going on before pursing it.

The first Xbox 360 I fixed (first post in this thread) had the eraser mod, and it was fixed by removing those pads and screws.
 
HaloFans said:
Well, I do not want to put the blame on you. Maybe I should have been clear that you should check to see if any other mods have been done on the X360.

I guess, well, just overheat it and see what happens.

Usually, when I do something that requires this much work, it is good to triple check and make sure you have a clear understanding what is going on before pursing it.
Click to expand...

Yeah I really didnt know what those were i thought they were orignally supposed to be there then i went back to the original post and saw that they arent. Im over heating it now and then tightneing the screws and going to see what happens.

Can you answer the questions about how important the paste are and only one fan working? Thanks
 
Straightballin said:
Yeah I really didnt know what those were i thought they were orignally supposed to be there then i went back to the original post and saw that they arent. Im over heating it now and then tightneing the screws and going to see what happens.

Can you answer the questions about how important the paste are and only one fan working? Thanks
Click to expand...
I think it's been mentioned several times.

In X-Scene, people say to use the AS5. To me, I don't see a difference.

If only one of your fans are working, then you should buy some replacement ones:
Talismoon fans!

Blue: http://www.divineo.com/cgi-bin/div-us/zz-360-wfan
Green: http://www.divineo.com/cgi-bin/div-us/zz-360-wgreen

However, the X360 should work without the fans on if the fix is applied correctly. It'll just soon show you 2ROL if the fans aren't present after like... 5 minutes.
 
sigh. my 2nd 360 broke at the start of the month. i borrowed one from work. and it just broke. looks like i'm going to have to fix them myself. thanks for this guide. hopefully it works out for me.
 
HaloFans said:
I think it's been mentioned several times.

In X-Scene, people say to use the AS5. To me, I don't see a difference.

If only one of your fans are working, then you should buy some replacement ones:
Talismoon fans!

Blue: http://www.divineo.com/cgi-bin/div-us/zz-360-wfan
Green: http://www.divineo.com/cgi-bin/div-us/zz-360-wgreen

However, the X360 should work without the fans on if the fix is applied correctly. It'll just soon show you 2ROL if the fans aren't present after like... 5 minutes.
Click to expand...

Yeah i used AS5, i meant cleaning it off and applying it good. I believe i did a very good job just want to make sure though, because thats my last resort i guess.
 
is the thermal paste in the 360 silver based?

The only thermal paste cleaner I can get today is this one: Link

which says its citrus and works on thermal pads and silver based thermal grease. Will it work?

I tried nail varnish which didnt work too well, and has oils and scents in it so I'm not gonna try that on the chips.
 
f*ck yes the fix worked! thank you so much guys, great guide and advice along the way. Seriously thank you! Been running gears for like 5 minutes now and no crash, lets see how it holds up!
 
I am on my third 360 and have only had this one less than a month. Last night while i was playing shadowrun i started to notice what looked like a block of pixels missing on one spot on the screen. It would go on and off depending on what color/texture that exact spot of the screen was displaying. as the night went on i started to notice more and more of these spots appearing and it looks like they are grouped in vertical strips going across the screen. The spots are not there on the dashboard as well as the xbla games i tried last night. On shadowrun, they only start appearing once i actually get into a game and on GRAW 2, I start seeing them on the Title menu. I think it might be something going on with the GPU. any opinions on what I should do?
 
blahness said:
I am on my third 360 and have only had this one less than a month. Last night while i was playing shadowrun i started to notice what looked like a block of pixels missing on one spot on the screen. It would go on and off depending on what color/texture that exact spot of the screen was displaying. as the night went on i started to notice more and more of these spots appearing and it looks like they are grouped in vertical strips going across the screen. The spots are not there on the dashboard as well as the xbla games i tried last night. On shadowrun, they only start appearing once i actually get into a game and on GRAW 2, I start seeing them on the Title menu. I think it might be something going on with the GPU. any opinions on what I should do?
Click to expand...

That's exactly what I started seeing on my 360 about two weeks before it died. Also, never in dashboard or XBLA.
 
HaloFans said:
I think it's been mentioned several times.

In X-Scene, people say to use the AS5. To me, I don't see a difference.

If only one of your fans are working, then you should buy some replacement ones:
Talismoon fans!

Blue: http://www.divineo.com/cgi-bin/div-us/zz-360-wfan
Green: http://www.divineo.com/cgi-bin/div-us/zz-360-wgreen

However, the X360 should work without the fans on if the fix is applied correctly. It'll just soon show you 2ROL if the fans aren't present after like... 5 minutes.
Click to expand...


IIRC, AS5 will lower the CPU temperature about 1-2° Celsius. Not much really, but overclockers tend to be pretty anal about that stuff. :lol

For anyone interested, my local Office Depot carries AS5 so you may want to check with your local store if you need it quick.
 
Ok just got another broken 360 and the same exact thing is happening. The only thing different is that its taking longer for it to go to the 3 red lights it takes about 10 secs from start to go to the 3 red lights which it didnt when i first plugged it in after doing the mod, this is after i let it cool.

Im going to show my steps to make sure everything is correct.

1. Take apart 360
2. Clean the cpu and gpu to get a mirror finsh
3. Apply AS5
4. Screw in the screws and washers (the first time i do screw them in pretty tight but not all the way)
5. Turn on wait about 4 minutes get 2 red lights
6. Tighten screws all the way
7. Wait half hour to cool
8. Power on

and then i get the 3 red lights

its must be something im doing, im gonna give this one another hour to cool down and see if it will work then
 
Straightballin said:
Ok just got another broken 360 and the same exact thing is happening. The only thing different is that its taking longer for it to go to the 3 red lights it takes about 10 secs from start to go to the 3 red lights which it didnt when i first plugged it in after doing the mod, this is after i let it cool.

Im going to show my steps to make sure everything is correct.

1. Take apart 360
2. Clean the cpu and gpu to get a mirror finsh
3. Apply AS5
4. Screw in the screws and washers (the first time i do screw them in pretty tight but not all the way)
5. Turn on wait about 4 minutes get 2 red lights
6. Tighten screws all the way
7. Wait half hour to cool
8. Power on

and then i get the 3 red lights

its must be something im doing, im gonna give this one another hour to cool down and see if it will work then
Click to expand...

If the screws are on really tight, then there is no point to this mod. You will see 3ROL.

Try to find that inner balance.

But... before you do all of this, please post your error code. The fix works for 0102 (also 0103) and 0020.

blahness said:
I am on my third 360 and have only had this one less than a month. Last night while i was playing shadowrun i started to notice what looked like a block of pixels missing on one spot on the screen. It would go on and off depending on what color/texture that exact spot of the screen was displaying. as the night went on i started to notice more and more of these spots appearing and it looks like they are grouped in vertical strips going across the screen. The spots are not there on the dashboard as well as the xbla games i tried last night. On shadowrun, they only start appearing once i actually get into a game and on GRAW 2, I start seeing them on the Title menu. I think it might be something going on with the GPU. any opinions on what I should do?
Click to expand...

Wait for the 3ROL to appear. Do the fix.
 
HaloFans said:
If the screws are on really tight, then there is no point to this mod. You will see 3ROL.

Try to find that inner balance.

But... before you do all of this, please post your error code. The fix works for 0102 (also 0103) and 0020.



Wait for the 3ROL to appear. Do the fix.
Click to expand...

I got 4412 red lights

which is 0012 it is an overheating problem

So, I cant fix this one?

Edit before over heating it is 0022 which i see is a gpu error or gpu overheating
 
What Xbox Scene Says:

0010 over heating
0011 over heating - If you are receiving this error after disassembling your console make sure to all 8 of the heatsync screws are tightened securely to the board/heatsink holes.
0012 over heating

You said you got 0022 which is GPU overheating. My guess?... good one =P. You said you screwed them very tight, maybe let them go a bit and try again. If the same happens, take off the top metal washers and test again. Out of suggestions right now =P
 
hrm... my RBJ fixed box failed 2x already since I implemented it... after it failed the first time I even went the extra mile by putting some heatsinks over the exposed ram and reinforcing the bottom of the GPU with some rubber pieces I cut from an eraser.

I am still waiting for a 3rd party heatsink/fan combo solution or something... i'm actually surprised nothing more then a few fans were released..
 
Straightballin said:
and the other xbox 360 im getting 0010

So i cant fix either of these?
Click to expand...

i'm betting the heatsinks arent making contact to either the CPU or GPU... try using less washers.

same for the 0012
 
i got the three red light, but i use the towel method and the three red light is gone, but now every 5 minute my game freeze so do u guys think it a overheating problem?
 
Relix said:
What Xbox Scene Says:

0010 over heating
0011 over heating - If you are receiving this error after disassembling your console make sure to all 8 of the heatsync screws are tightened securely to the board/heatsink holes.
0012 over heating

You said you got 0022 which is GPU overheating. My guess?... good one =P. You said you screwed them very tight, maybe let them go a bit and try again. If the same happens, take off the top metal washers and test again. Out of suggestions right now =P
Click to expand...

Ok i tried lossening didnt work. Now i took of a metal washer and its blinking 4 red lights once then going straight to 3 red lights instead of taking 10-15 secs to go to 3 red lights. The error code has also changed to 0020
 
goku3000 said:
i got the three red light, but i use the towel method and the three red light is gone, but now every 5 minute my game freeze so do u guys think it a overheating problem?
Click to expand...

Dude, the towel method is worthless, won't fix it, it only resolders the BGA points, its only temporary, will die in a day or something.

Ok Straight, 4 initial red lights is because the AV cable ain't connected to the 360. 0020 is overhating. Now do this... take OFF the top metal washers, all eight of them. Now put the heatsinks, please do NOT tighten the screws too much at this time, because there is one top washer missing, and the contact between die and heatsink is much more, tightening could break the die. Keep testing and tightening a bit as you go, 0020 is caused because there is not a very good heatsink contact with the die, and make sure that you are using AS5 and that it is evenly spread.

EDIT: Oh crap, you took off the metal washers already lol. Still, try playing around with the pressure on the screws and check what I said about the AS5. The problem definitely is heatsink not making good contact with the GPU, CPU or both.
 
Relix said:
Dude, the towel method is worthless, won't fix it, it only resolders the BGA points, its only temporary, will die in a day or something.

Ok Straight, 4 initial red lights is because the AV cable ain't connected to the 360. 0020 is overhating. Now do this... take OFF the top metal washers, all eight of them. Now put the heatsinks, please do NOT tighten the screws too much at this time, because there is one top washer missing, and the contact between die and heatsink is much more, tightening could break the die. Keep testing and tightening a bit as you go, 0020 is caused because there is not a very good heatsink contact with the die, and make sure that you are using AS5 and that it is evenly spread.

EDIT: Oh crap, you took off the metal washers already lol. Still, try playing around with the pressure on the screws and check what I said about the AS5. The problem definitely is heatsink not making good contact with the GPU, CPU or both.
Click to expand...
What? i think u are confuse with another guy i didn't start to do the mod yet. i have the green light but the game start freeze after 5 minute of play
 
goku3000 said:
What? i think u are confuse with another guy i didn't start to do the mod yet. i have the green light but the game start freeze after 5 minute of play
Click to expand...

No no =P. The first sentence was for YOU, the the second paragraph and on was for Straightballin. The towel trick is only a temporary fix, keep doing it and you will b reak your 360 PERMANENTLY
 
I'm tempted to buy a $100 broken 360 from ebay. I love fixing things so I can see myself having fun with that, and having a new console for cheap on top of that.
 
GSG Flash said:
I'm tempted to buy a $100 broken 360 from ebay. I love fixing things so I can see myself having fun with that, and having a new console for cheap on top of that.
Click to expand...

Some people have already done that (Mercury is one of those). The mod is easy to do... even I did it =P. Go for it hah! And make sure the console is not banned on Live, original stock DVD drive and that the problem is three red lights. Go for it!
 
goku3000 said:
i got the three red light, but i use the towel method and the three red light is gone, but now every 5 minute my game freeze so do u guys think it a overheating problem?
Click to expand...
as Relix stated, the towl trick is not a fix and all it does is temporarily resolders the BGA.

the games keep freezing because the GPU is warming up the solder again and losing connection.

sooner or later it will return to the 3 red lights.


to be honest, none of these are true fixes.... unless someone can come up with one hell of a cooling replacement these will eventually fail aswell...
 
Just fixed my X360

I had 0020 error code and it was really a pain to find the needed tightness of the screws. I used (screw head > metal washer > fiber washer > mobo > fiber > heatsink)

I tried using a metal washer between the heatsink and the fiber, but one of the heatsinks was not touching the paste and gave me 2 red lights instantly, so I removed the metal washers mentioned above from both heatsinks. do you think I should return the metal washers between the heatsink and the fiber or leave it as it is?

I left the console on yesterday for about 2 hours on the dashboard (previously, when I use the towel trick it would open but stuck after about 5 minutes).

I bought some small RAM copper heatsinks with sticker on the back. Do you advice me to fix them on the RAM chips of the console?

Thanks a lot Lawdawg, HaloFans and Relix!
 
Nah you can leave it like that vjoe, the heatsink is making proper contact so its all that matters. And yeah, adding heatsinks to the RAM chips is a great idea too, many have been doing this with great success so I say go for it.:D
 
pCeSlAyEr said:
I'd have to say the talismoon fans
Click to expand...

Agreed, 20 bucks. Try Ebay or Amazon. Make sure you get Talismoon Whisper Fans, really, really quiet and great airflow.
 
I just finished with Lawdawg's method. I only let it cool down for about 5 minutes after it overheated, so I assume that is still the problem.

Whenever I turn it on, it boots up, but the fans go into overdrive before the XBOX logo finishes. It then does the 2 red light mess again.

I just assume I should let it cool down longer?
 
evilernLeGG said:
I just finished with Lawdawg's method. I only let it cool down for about 5 minutes after it overheated, so I assume that is still the problem.

Whenever I turn it on, it boots up, but the fans go into overdrive before the XBOX logo finishes. It then does the 2 red light mess again.

I just assume I should let it cool down longer?
Click to expand...

No, the heatsink ain't making proper contact with the chips. You need to tighten the screws =) (yeah, even if it seems impossible =P).

You can also try taking off the top washers, etc, there are countless options, most are posted here =D
 
Just reporting back that my 360 has been going strong since doing Lawdawg's mod over 4 weeks ago. Not a single freeze, glitch or reboot.

Lots of varied game sessions, some 4 hour+ others it's on for only 30 minutes or so.
 
i might be trying this soon if MS doesn't send me my coffin. where did you guys buy all these tools? i checked lowes but they didn't have half the crap needed (including Torx Drivers and Artic Silver 5 Paste)
 
FrenchMovieTheme said:
i might be trying this soon if MS doesn't send me my coffin. where did you guys buy all these tools? i checked lowes but they didn't have half the crap needed (including Torx Drivers and Artic Silver 5 Paste)
Click to expand...

If you are still under warranty why do it? If you are out of it and you feel like you can do it then by all means GO. I bought the Torx Drivers online, Ebay and Amazon are your friends =P. You won't find AS5 in Lowe's either, you need to go to CompUSA, Radio Shack, etc... any computer shop, and ask especially for AS5, trust me it does wonder keeping the temp down.
 
FrenchMovieTheme said:
i might be trying this soon if MS doesn't send me my coffin. where did you guys buy all these tools? i checked lowes but they didn't have half the crap needed (including Torx Drivers and Artic Silver 5 Paste)
Click to expand...

Go here for the unlock kit and SecurTorx driver:

http://www.totalconsole.com/servlet/the-64/CASE-UNLOCK-KIT-FOR/Detail $9.99

Check with your local Office Depot for AS5. You don't have to use AS5, the regular white thermal paste will suffice, but AS5 is generally regarded as slightly better.
 
"$9.99 for the Torx drivers... $14 for shipping!" :lol

ill head over to radioshack or something tomorrow at lunch and pickup this stuff. thanks for the input fellas
 
FrenchMovieTheme said:
"$9.99 for the Torx drivers... $14 for shipping!" :lol

ill head over to radioshack or something tomorrow at lunch and pickup this stuff. thanks for the input fellas
Click to expand...


Oh wow. I didn't see that $14 bit for shipping. That is some rapeage. There are other online places that sell this stuff so look around if you can't find them at Ratshack.
 
FrenchMovieTheme said:
"$9.99 for the Torx drivers... $14 for shipping!" :lol

ill head over to radioshack or something tomorrow at lunch and pickup this stuff. thanks for the input fellas
Click to expand...

Holy sh!t. The shipping costs more than the product, WTF lol. Yeah better go local and buy them haha.

And.. YOU HAD TO PAY 140 TO FIX YOUR 360? *raises middle finger to Microsoft* That cost was the reason I did this myself, but why fix it if you already paid (or you haven't?)
 
Ok redid it and it still doesnt work. Should i do the towel trick ive been reading the xbox-scene forum? It seemed to work for a few when they did the towel trick on top of the x-clamp replacement.
 
If you would be so kind and helpful, please post the error codes each time it doesn't work. Please. Please. Please.

Also, try posting a thread on Xbox-Scene with your error code to see if they can help you better. (Google may be a faster tool.)

The ones I have done in the past had 0102 and 0020, which are the most common 3ROL.

I think the purpose of the fix is explained clearly in the guide and mentioned countless times in this thread. Basically, with the original X-Clamps on the X360, at high temperatures, the solder connections between the motherboard and the GPU and CPU disconnect since heat expands objects. When the system cools down, the connections are now not aligned, causing the system to show checkered board patterns.

You can try doing the towel/carpet/sweater/jacket/coat/underwear/lingerie method to help you overheat it. Not sure if it'll help you. Just don't do it more than like twice.

Someone mentioned on Xbox-Scene with the same error said that he had his CPU heatsink oriented the wrong direction. Check if it's in the right direction from pictures.

Another said that his 0012 came from putting the bolts too tight. Eventually, the bolts snapped, making his implementation worse than the original X-Clamp method. In other words, he made the problem worse.
 
Some of the things I'd like to share

0011 -> (2RL) CPU overheating (tighten or check your spacers)
0012 -> (2RL) GPU overheating (tighten or check your spacers)
0020 -> loosen the CPU side screws (or better, return the X-clamps)
0102 -> focus on the GPU (balance the pressure, and cook often(heat to 2RL then cool))
 
Ok lets work on this one...

Im getting error code 0022

Ive cleand the paste really good and put a very thin layer of artic silver. I let the thing over heat then let it sit for 2 minutes then tightened the screws. I let it completly cool down and turned it on. It waits about 10-15 secs with only the middle green light flashing and then goes to 3 red rings. 0022 is the error code im getting. The cpu heatsink seems to stay pretty cool in the beggning compared to previous times using it and the other 360 so maybe that cpu one is working? The gpu one seems to get warm really fast. Ive messed with the screws tightnes and get nothing currently Im using metal-plastic-board-plastic-metal washers. I feel that is better and working better and ive tried it with no metal washer. So were should i go from here boss?
 
And.. YOU HAD TO PAY 140 TO FIX YOUR 360? *raises middle finger to Microsoft* That cost was the reason I did this myself, but why fix it if you already paid (or you haven't?)
Click to expand...

yeah i paid them but i still haven't received my box to ship to them. i figure if i fix it before the box gets here they can F off and refund me.
 
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