Well, it finally happened...

[CFFJR]

Tonight, after 5 years of reliability, my launch 360 has red ringed.

I kinda knew it was coming. Its been freezing occasionally. Last week I got the truly ancient E73 error.

Its such a shame. The only problem I ever had up to now was the disc tray occasionally getting stuck, which was so rare I'd forget about it. I really thought I was going to get away with it no problem.

After ruling out the usual suspects cause wise (with the cables and all) I've been looking at some do it yourself repair info, and it seems like a big pain in the ass. Anybody here who's fixed their system after the 3 red lights? Is it as annoying as it seems, or should I give it a try?

Or maybe I should send it off to one of the repair companies. I've heard good things about 360 pros. Anybody use them?

It might seem like an excuse to get a new slim instead, but that's way too much hassle. I don't want to go to the trouble of transferring the saves on the hard drives (though I don't even know if you can transfer between the old HDs and the new internal ones, though it'd be ridiculous if you couldn't) and I definitely don't want to screw around with downloading everything all over again for the stupid license transfer nonsense. And all that doesn't even take the cost into account.

I dunno, I haven't decided. I'm still just sad about the whole thing.

[yomomma1]

You can get a data transfer cable. It will transfer the data from the old hard drive to the new hard drive, not much of a hassle. It is easy to transfer licenses, actually. http://www.xbox.com/en-US/Support/LicenseMigration/Home

[Krooner]

You can transfer saves and such with any decent sized USB stick now, they also provide the data transfer cables free but delivery seems to take a while. Get a slim or a Jasper unit if you can still find one.

If you get a 4GB slim you can open your current HDD and just slot it in, it's only a SATA connection.

Congrats on the 5 years!

[Ziggy]

I helped my friend try and repair his 360 after it RROD'ed. Stupid fixes that he read about online. They didn't work.

[xan_racketBOY_fan]

My launch 360 got the rrod last July. After doing some research, I discovered the X-clamp fix. Gathering the supplies and the tools were relatively simple. Taking apart the console, replacing the thermal paste on both the gpu and CPU, and changing the clamps all took about 45 minutes and cost only $15 in supplies. Since your console is no longer covered by the warranty (as mine was), I recommend taking a stab at it. Not only do I feel great knowing I repaired my own 360, but I managed to change the case as well. It's been a year and half since the fix, and my 360's been running perfectly since.

[fvgazi]

My launch 360 got the rrod last July. After doing some research, I discovered the X-clamp fix. Gathering the supplies and the tools were relatively simple. Taking apart the console, replacing the thermal paste on both the gpu and CPU, and changing the clamps all took about 45 minutes and cost only $15 in supplies. Since your console is no longer covered by the warranty (as mine was), I recommend taking a stab at it. Not only do I feel great knowing I repaired my own 360, but I managed to change the case as well. It's been a year and half since the fix, and my 360's been running perfectly since.

I did the same thing. Opening up the damn thing is harder than the actual fix. Those Xclamps are a pain in the ass if you put them back on. There are videos showing that most people use washers and bolts to hold the CPU and GPU back in. Should hold better than the clamps.

I fixed my friend's xbox a few months ago and its still working. Don't know about the long term though.

[xan_racketBOY_fan]

I did the same thing. Opening up the damn thing is harder than the actual fix. Those Xclamps are a pain in the ass if you put them back on. There are videos showing that most people use washers and bolts to hold the CPU and GPU back in. Should hold better than the clamps.

I fixed my friend's xbox a few months ago and its still working. Don't know about the long term though.

Yea, part of the X-clamp fix is to remove the original clamps and replace them with a few bolts and washers
Opening up the console is a little tricky, but nothing too difficult if you're using the special opening tool. Since the clamps are out, the chance of the board warping due to heating are slim to none, making this a more permanent fix.

[Dakinggamer87]

My launch system also recently died as well after 5 years so I decided to upgrade to a Slim. I plan on eventually fixing my original unit to use as a backup unit.

[hashiriya1]

I am getting the E68 error a lot lately. I hope it's not a sign!

[Hobie-wan]

I did the xclamp for bolts replacement and heat gun treatment on a friend's 360, and one I acquired myself. I did it 'properly' with flux, but it would only last a while before it died again. Both were 2006 non HDMI models. Maybe it will work, maybe it won't. I wouldn't trust just replacing the x-clamps and thermal paste though. At minimum flux and a heatgun should be used and at best a real BG rework station. After fighting 2 360s for months I just bought a slim.