Red ring of death just "mass hysteria"?

There's an interesting theory on the Xbox 360's Red Ring of Death phenomenon: We all know that Microsoft is dealing with so many console returns, but there's a possibility that some 360 owners just caved in to the Xbox 360 red ring of death "mass hysteria". They immediately turned in their consoles upon seeing the four red lights, contributing to the reported high failure rate of the console.

[BlLL GATES]

when it comes to the 360.
its a system designed to work for a short while, and fail accordingly.

[FreedomReign]

My explanation - a really nice ora.

[bumnut]

anyone else getting bored with bill gates comments?

i will stick my neck out and guess yes.

[devi8i]

I have already put BG on Ignore and I suggest everyone else follow suit...

as for mass hysteria, I think not. One cannot simply send in their unit for repair. You have to call the support line, and after being walked through many steps including unplugging all your cables, removing the hard drive, plugging the console into a different power outlet, reattaching all the cables in the order they tell you to on the phone, rinse and repeat, THEN and only then will they issue you a return number and packaging.

PS - If you disagree with me, please speak up as to why. If you believe I am wrong then please show me the error in my ways so that I can change my opinion.

[MikeGdaGod]

yea..........i bet thats what MS hopes it is

[reaperxciv]

is the E68 - video cable error.

In order to fix this, power down the xbox360 and reattach the supplied AV/HD cable in it's specified receptacle.

[ben hates you]

three red lights internal error(i know because i droped my first xbox 360 and other) and four means cable error i know because when i got my new one it had four the second i hooked it up and freaked out and reattached all my cables and then i got the green light

[sfinXters]

Could be true, but not likely. Mass hysteria could only affect those on-line and reading gaming sites, but most of xbox (and other console) users don't and probably don't even know about the scale of the issue.

[Gizmo_Logix]

And back in 2006 when RROD was just starting to gain critical mass. Gamers weren't just automatically turning in their consoles. It's like any electronic device that acts funny. You walk up to it, check the cables, look behind it, reset it a few times, take the disc out, clean it, etc..You check it out.

Even today. You'll sill get people try to "fix" their 360 BEFORE sending it in. It's not like there's some robotic box that pops out of the wall, ready to ship it in, and whoosh it away to Microsoft's HQ like The Jetsons conveyor belt. No, first people try to fix it, shake it, wrap it in a towel or any of the other tricks they use, BEFORE going to the trouble of actually boxing it and actually shipping it.

Just look at the YouTube vids. The moment someone gets the RROD they try many things before sending it off.

What this means is that in addition to the 33% there's a small few (knuckle heads) that send it off without first trying to check it themselves.

[FreedomReign]

When I got the 4 red lights, for the first time.
I thought my console had fried. This is before I knew 4 was different from 3.

True I did the troubleshooting and it worked, but only after disconnecting all cables, USB devices, controllers, and the HDD. I can see, how some would just bring it back to the store.

I can also see how phone support would miss it.

I work in IT, and you just can't underestimate the user. Of those who call at least half just don't care to try ANYTHING before calling, and the other half, are determined they know the problem before you even try to help.

That's IT in a nutshell.

[Rageanitus]

The problem is if you get the 4 rings often and you have to remove all cables , there is a problem

I had very very similar problems on a PC power supply and guess what power cycling and physicaly pulling the cords is the first signs of a faulty power supply.

I spoke to a few individuals who work on desktop support and they say this eventually leads to a fried component on the mobo.

In essense dont underestimate the stupedness of clients but also dont over estimate the capablitly of hardware. This type of troubleshooting just seems like a temporary fix and its not solving the rootcause of the problem

[FreedomReign]

This happened last december after a power outage. Thanks for the heads up though. Sorry if it sounded like I had to do this more than once.

That was the first, and only time I got the 4 lights. Since then np.
Console was purchased Nov 22, 2005.

So you can see why I feel somewhat blessed. Only reason I've called Xbox is to try changing my American XBL account, to a Canadian one. Wouldn't let me. Damn you MS!

[caffman]

since none of the people on my friends list (98) have had 3 rings, and it's supposed to happen on 33% of consoles, this could be an explaination. However, I'm now waiting for the SDF to say that I'm lying and the story was put on by one of the biggest xbox fans on here.

[FreedomReign]

I mean launch console or not, they owe you $139. So did they pay you?

[WaggleLOL]

Yes, Microsoft is wasting 1.1 billion dollars on Dreamcast 360 owners who can't tell the difference between 3 and 4 lights...

So let's just sum up what this article and submission accomplished:

1) Made the submitter looking like a pathetic fanboy
2) Reminded everyone of what a POS the Dreamcast 360 is

High five!

[caffman]

Look to yourself young man

[rev20]

in a fanboy manner.

His point is correct theres no way they extended the warrenty on that particular fault for 3 years and spent 1.1 billion dollers on mass hysteria, just looks like a pr spin to make it look positive.

I have no doubt some people may of made this mistake, but would of been a minority

[barom]

Wasn't the 33% percent rate reported BEFORE Microsoft announced the three year warranty? Also I believe someone approximated that the repairs of a third of the X360s sold would be around 1 billion.

[Gizmo_Logix]

Just like Peter Moore said. The failure rate is a moving target. We'll probably never know the real failure rate.

[mcgrawgamer]

I still think the failure rate is higher than normal, but I do believe that the 4 red lights only made matters worse

[FreedomReign]

RROD - Where does it say 3? In the body of the text but not the headlines.

[FeralPhoenix]

I would just disagree slighty with your statement because I think its safe to say the failure rate was MUCH higher than normal, but again I do believe that the 4 red lights did in fact cause some to falsely believe their console was broken.....OK now somebody is going to come ranting at me for saying that I don't believe 360's have a hardware problem.

[ThaGeNeCySt]

i doubt it's true

[Captain Tuttle]

I know that I was massively hysterical when my first 360 died 2 days before Gears of War came out. No, the 360 has (had?) a legitimate problem. It can't be denied.

Hopefully the new ones are fixed.

[Bathyj]

They cant cant still be making out like its not a problem. How likely is it a significant number of people sent back working xboxes without checking the cables? Isn't that the first thing everyone does when you get a red light? And surely people dont chuck their Xboxes straight into the cardboard coffins as soon as they break. You would try it agin the next day wouldn't you?

For the record, I've had 6 red lights in total. I guess both of mine were actually broken.

The problem way out in the open now, so theres no point trying to make out like its not that bad. M$ still wont even give us real numbers.

[Rageanitus]

What the fanboys say, or how they twist the situation.

The xbox 360 is an electronic that is part of your living room

Most electronics should withstand the heat in a semi enclosed area. Although the ps3 and xbox are small computers the ps3 manages to survive in an enclosed area.

Please MS next time either test your product or make it the size of the xbox 1.

I know ppl who are xbox 1 fans that refuse to purchase the 360 due to the failure rates. And even halo will not push them (maybe they got really dissapointed with halo 2 vs halo 1)

Not to bash the fan boys but it's quite funny to hear an xbox fanboy on this board state "they wont mind the break downs" yet they bash the ps3 for it's "high" price

[monkey602]

I'm really a Sony person at heart i have a Wii but I love my PS3 most, I'm considering getting a 360. The problem is the RROD has me worried about wasting my money, I'm really eager to play Gears Of War, Bioshock and Dead Rising but I am not really convinced I should get one. I'm really hyped over some of the PS3 exclusives on their way so I guess I'll have to wait (what's new?) and just save my money up for something like car insurance. What I'm trying to point out here is how something like the failure rate really effects people's decisions