March 22, 2008

  • Last month I mentioned that I fell victim to the "Red Ring Of Death" issue that plagues many xbox360s. Although I never guessed what may have caused it back then, I'm concluding that while I was in the "background download" mode, there was a power outage in my house that may have caused a short circuit in my xbox360 and gave it the permanent hardware failure. Verizon was installing FiOS in my neighborhood last month, which were causing the temporary power outages. Well, after a month since my console got the "RRoD," Microsoft has sent me back my repaired xbox 360 through their free three year warranty program. While the majority of people usually just get a refurbished xbox360 as a replacement to their broken consoles, I actually got the very same one I sent out (serial number checks).

    While I may not have gotten a more recently manufactured console (that has HDMI), getting a refurbished console would have just introduced me to another huge issue, Digital Rights Management. Microsoft's DRM prevents a gamer from playing their paid content (arcade games, Rock Band songs, videos, etc..) from the xbox Live Marketplace, on another console that isn't the original one they bought it for. One work around for a gamer to play their paid content on a refurbished console would be if they were connected online using the original "gamertag" they used to pay for the content. Since not everybody goes online, that is a glaring problem. The other solution is to call Microsoft customer service and request to get their content "relicensed" to the replacement refurbished console, but I hear that can take more than three months just to get that done. So luckily in my case, I don't have to worry about this since I got the very same console back.

    One reason I can think of why I actually got my own xbox360 back, is because it was a hardware failure that wasn't impossible to completely fix. I also did not do the "towel trick" that temporarily fixes the RRoD issue, which would have worked for a limited time until it permanently doesn't work anymore. Microsoft did say that the "towel trick" instantly renders the hardware irrepairable in the end, which guarantees sending back a refurbished console. So to all xbox 360 owners out there, do not bother with the "towel trick," if you want the chance to get the same console back.

    I'm just glad to be back gaming again with my xbox 360, if for any other reason than I get to once again play "Rock Band." In fact, the first thing I did when I turned it back on was to download some new songs for the game. As for those of you wondering how they can prevent the RRoD problem in the first place, it'll honestly eventually happen due to the fatal design flaw in the hardware. For optimizing the lifespan of your xbox 360, you simply need to make sure to keep it in a well ventilated area as possible, away from any other electronics, which also means that you do not put it inside an entertainment center. It also helps to own an updated xbox 360 model that has the "falcon chip" in it, which you can tell by the sticker on the box in regards to power wattage (175W for Falcon, 203W for older models).

    For reference to how long the warranty took for me, the timeline is below. I hear that people who get a refurbished console in return gets their xbox 360 in half the time it took for me.

    Feb 19 - permanent RROD + request for UPS box
    Feb 25 - UPS box arrives
    Feb 26 - sent 360 in UPS box
    March 03 - Microsoft receives my 360
    March 12 - done with repairs, MS sends me my 360
    March 17 - I receive my repaired original 360
    That took 27 days or 19 business days.