Xbox Repair Thread - Blatant Artic Silver Promotion!

[Inferno]

So basically me and pyong are the only ones on this forum that do this but this is were we talk about Xbox error codes and methods of repair.
I've repaired and sold 3 xbox 360's so far. I reflowed all 3 of them by wrapping them up and baking them in the oven. They were 0102, 0102 and 0022. I have fan modded one of the xboxs to run 12v at all times (this xbox was extremely fucked it had nearly 15 degrees of warping in the center) and I've also fixed 0020 by changing a screw depth on the mobo. :iamafag:


I'm currently working on a 0102 that has been re flowed 3 times and still fails to run. I've reflowed the CPU and GPU at 425 degrees and I have reflowed the RAM bricks (top and bottom separate) at 430. No change in error code but hey, It's trial and error.

Anyone else do this? And does anyone else have a Jtag besides pyong?

[Pyong Kawaguchi]

protip: 12v fan mod kills xbox's
do the 9v or 7v or 5v fan mod
its killed two of them because it causes the solder to crack due to temperature.

[Inferno]

It was odd. On the one I 12v modded even after the 12v mod it got pretty warm on the CPU heatsync. I guess if your box is pretty cool then you can do a 5v.

[=sw=warlord]

I've got an Xbox that I'm working on fixing, has the error code 0110 and has a Jtagable firmware.
So far i've done the Xclamp, looking into getting a heatgun.

[Inferno]

Don't do a heatgun. Wrap the thing in 2 layers of tin foil. 2 layers of cloth and then 2 more layers of tin foil. Cut a hole above and below the GPU and CPU and put it in the oven at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. It will reflow the entire processor evenly and make it "good as new". As long as you don't blow a cap that is.

If that doesn't work. Reflow the ram as well.

[=sw=warlord]

Don't do a heatgun. Wrap the thing in 2 layers of tin foil. 2 layers of cloth and then 2 more layers of tin foil. Cut a hole above and below the GPU and CPU and put it in the oven at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. It will reflow the entire processor evenly and make it "good as new". As long as you don't blow a cap that is.

If that doesn't work. Reflow the ram as well.
Out of curiosity, how would wrapping the components help protect them when their in a oven?
If the ambient heat is equal then i really doubt the tinfoil will do anything.
Plus, with that said, wouldnt the ram get reflowed at the same time as everything else considering it in an oven?

[Inferno]

Out of curiosity, how would wrapping the components help protect them when their in a oven?
If the ambient heat is equal then i really doubt the tinfoil will do anything.
Plus, with that said, wouldnt the ram get reflowed at the same time as everything else considering it in an oven?

It does help. Oddly. I've reflowed 6 times and never had a cap blow or anything burn.

[=sw=warlord]

It does help. Oddly. I've reflowed 6 times and never had a cap blow or anything burn.

Ever noticed any smells from the flux afterwards?

[Pyong Kawaguchi]

Sometimes it smells when I've done it, sometimes it doesn't.

[Inferno]

It's more like the smell of melting scotch tape.

[Pyong Kawaguchi]

Oh, my jtag is broken btw :(
Unfixable error
bridged solder joints inside the cpu D:

[Inferno]

What error code does that cause?

[Pyong Kawaguchi]

0003

[Inferno]

Do you think it's possible that 2 solders are linked under GPU on that one 360 I've been trying to fix?

[Saggy]

Don't do a heatgun. Wrap the thing in 2 layers of tin foil. 2 layers of cloth and then 2 more layers of tin foil. Cut a hole above and below the GPU and CPU and put it in the oven at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. It will reflow the entire processor evenly and make it "good as new". As long as you don't blow a cap that is.

If that doesn't work. Reflow the ram as well.
I have an Xbox with error 0022 and was thinking about doing this, but it just sounds so stupid and risky. Got any detailed instructions going through step-by-step on how to properly "reflow" using an oven?

[Inferno]

There's a really good tutorial that pyong linked me too but I don't know where it is. I've just been doing it from memory.

Strip the board down completely. Remove heat syncs as well.

Wrap the entire thing in tin foil (2 layers).
Cut a Tshirt and wrap it around the xbox (1 or 2 layers depending on the size of the shirt)
Wrap tin foil around the xbox again (2 more layers)

Then cut a hole above and below the CPU and GPU. After that I suggest your take some more tinfoil and make sure there's no gaps where you cut the holes. After it's all sealed up put it in the oven with the usb slots facing the door of the oven and start the oven to run to 425 degrees. Put a timer for 15 minutes and when it's done open the oven and let it cool for 30 minutes. Then unwrap it and put it all back together with some new heat sync paste.

[Saggy]

There's a really good tutorial that pyong linked me too but I don't know where it is. I've just been doing it from memory.

Strip the board down completely. Remove heat syncs as well.

Wrap the entire thing in tin foil (2 layers).
Cut a Tshirt and wrap it around the xbox (1 or 2 layers depending on the size of the shirt)
Wrap tin foil around the xbox again (2 more layers)

Then cut a hole above and below the CPU and GPU. After that I suggest your take some more tinfoil and make sure there's no gaps where you cut the holes. After it's all sealed up put it in the oven with the usb slots facing the door of the oven and start the oven to run to 425 degrees. Put a timer for 15 minutes and when it's done open the oven and let it cool for 30 minutes. Then unwrap it and put it all back together with some new heat sync paste.
I just want to make sure I'm understanding you here; are you saying put the motherboard into the oven WHILE it is heating up to 425 degrees? Then once the oven hits 425, you set a timer for 15 minutes?

[Inferno]

Start the timer as soon as you start the oven and don't preheat. Basically if you put the board it after pre-heating it will cause thermal shock.

[Cortexian]

I've baked 5 360's for people so far, made a few bucks off it but I just do it if they ask or a friend refers them to me... It's a boring and time-consuming process so I don't like to advertise that I can fix them lol, I've also X-Clamped a couple boxes as well as played wit the 12v fan mod. I undid the fan mod however since it doesn't work very well.

[Inferno]

I can fix a regular error code xbox in about a hour and a half? Time consuming?

[ThePlague]

Buying a 360 from one of my friends for $40 that has the unable to read discs error. Don't know the error code because I haven't checked it out yet, but hopefully it's fixable. (she dropped off the xbox at my house, but i'm at a friends currently.) If I can fix this as easily as I think I can, I might resell it and do it few more times to get some easy money)

e: just spent about 2 hours with it, took apart the disc drive and fiddled with things, and it works now :D

[Inferno]

http://incredimazing.com/static/media/2009/11/12/Coolstorybro/CoolStoryBro.jpg

But seriously. Awesome.

I had a xbox 1 waaaaay back in the day. I borrowed it from a friend because he said it wouldn't read discs. So I broke it down and opened up the DvD drive and cleaned off the laser and shit and it started reading again. That's how I got my first xbox. :iamafag:

[n00b1n8R]

I'm confused as to how baking hardware fixes it, care to explain?

[Inferno]

The reason xbox's break is because as they heat up they tend to warp (since microsoft uses shitty materials to build them) and so the solder joints underneath the CPU and GPU have a tendency too break causing the RROD. So basically we re-heat the CPU and GPU which causes the solder to melt and reconnect with the processor.

It's called reballing or reflowing.

[=sw=warlord]

The reason xbox's break is because as they heat up they tend to warp (since microsoft uses shitty materials to build them) and so the solder joints underneath the CPU and GPU have a tendency too break causing the RROD. So basically we re-heat the CPU and GPU which causes the solder to melt and reconnect with the processor.

It's called reballing or reflowing.
Ugh No.
Reballing involves removing the SMD package from the PCB and removing the solder, once cleaned new balls of higher grade solder is applied and the SMD package is placed with a machine called a rework station back over the terminals.
Once placed the rework station will heat the SMD package and only the SMD package to melt the solder, meanwhile flux is blown under the chip to encourage a better connection joint, more often than not while the process is taking place the technician will use a X-ray machine to keep an eye on the joints and to ensure that there are now distorted connections.

The reflow method works in a similar way but has more limited success than reballing.
The technician uses a rework station and heats up the SMD packages while flowing flux to again ensure good connection, the main issue with this is you can occasionally get jointed connections, the solder flows too much and then ruins the entire array of connections, with a rework station you have usually got a powerful xray scanner so you can watch the connections as they are formed but with the method inferno are mentioning you have zero idea if it worked until you power it on, by which time it maybe too late as the damage may be done as soon as power flows through.

The only guaranteed way of fixing broken solder joins is reballing, which requires a tool that costs upward of $3500.
This method although proven to work, is still limited as shown by pyongs Jtagged xbox.
Contrary to infernos opinion, Microsoft doesn't use "shitty" solder, the issue here is the lead free solder they used combined with the X-clamp heat sink design, lead free solder has a tendency to be more brittle than standard leaded solder.
Lead free solder also melts at a higher temperature than leaded solder which deteriorates the situation even more.
Leaded solder melts at 370 °F or 188 °C where as unleaded solder melts at 211–215 ˚C.

I don't mean to go off on a wall here, What inferno said was completely and utterly wrong.
This is not reballing, nor is it reflowing, this is a cowboy'd way of repairing the issue, it may resolve it for a few days, weeks or maybe a year or sometimes even make it worse, but this is by no means a permanent way of fixing the issue.
This is actually a subject that came up while I was studying this very thing at college, we had it beaten into our brains to get it right and then shown the results when you take the alternative route.

Here's what a real reflow station looks like.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VySTIRoPtt4
And here's the cheapest rework station I could find for if anyone is interested in doing this the legitimate way.
Xytronic 550w ceramic rework station (http://www.rapidonline.com/Tools-Fasteners-Production-Equipment/Soldering-Equipment/Soldering-Stations/High-power-lead-free-SMD-rework-station/82402/kw/85-1224?source=googleps&utm_source=googleps)

[Inferno]

Welp.

I was being sort of general. If you owned a rework station (and the only time I've seen someone use one to fix a xbox was my friend who has one at the UAB engineering department) then you would use that but this is sort of like a ghettofied solution. It's the wrong term but there isn't a really good term for this anyways.

[=sw=warlord]

Welp.

I was being sort of general. If you owned a rework station (and the only time I've seen someone use one to fix a xbox was my friend who has one at the UAB engineering department) then you would use that but this is sort of like a ghettofied solution. It's the wrong term but there isn't a really good term for this anyways.
Well hopefully what I said might give some insight on how this works in the proper trade.
I'm aware its the ghetto way of doing it but the explanation also helps put the risks into perspective, plus if you're interested in going into this as a trade that rework station is a good starting point.
It's the same model we were shown at college, I don't normally go off the rocker like that but there seemed to be a few people interested so I thought I would give my $0.02.
The only ideal term for this is a bodge repair, kind of like kicking the side of a car to get it working.

[Inferno]

Haha I'm doing this for extra cash man. If I were starting a actual "business" I would invest in some equipment like that but a 3500 dollar machine isn't worth fixing 200 dollar xboxs.

[=sw=warlord]

Haha I'm doing this for extra cash man. If I were starting a actual "business" I would invest in some equipment like that but a 3500 dollar machine isn't worth fixing 200 dollar xboxs.
The reflow station I linked is priced at $256.98.
Thus why I linked it.:v:

[Inferno]

Ah. I'm still not going to invest that much in a repairing these boxes. Hell I don't even own any xbox power cables I just borrow them off friends. :downs:

[Futzy]

Anyone know what to do with a rrod that gives no error code. I have an original from 2005 that I'd like to fix.

[Inferno]

You call Microsoft and tell them you bought it 4 months ago. Then send it in to be repaired.

[Futzy]

I opened it and painted it black four years ago.

[Inferno]

Acid bath? Though it would probably ruin the plastic.

[Cortexian]

I can fix a regular error code xbox in about a hour and a half? Time consuming?
Anything over 45 minutes is to time consuming for me to work around most of the time. I was averaging around 2 hours to diagnose and fix the 360's I went through.

[Pyong Kawaguchi]

I can fix a regular rrod xbox in about 45 minutes.

[=sw=warlord]

Well, I've just tried the oven method and got the results I expected.
Every capacitor has gone pop, well every cap that I covered with tinfoil anyway.
Oven was set to 220C as required went to check on it and got what sounded like popcorn going off.
Interesting how it was only the bigger caps that blew.
Error code 0002.

[Pyong Kawaguchi]

Did you cover it in a couple towels/ some cloth as well?
You're supposed to.

[=sw=warlord]

Did you cover it in a couple towels/ some cloth as well?
You're supposed to.
I covered all the large capacitors with tinfoil, bright side out, covered the rest of the board with tinfoil with only the GPU & CPU exposed with the underside also exposed.
Then wrapped the entire thing with a shirt with the two main chips exposed, opened it all up and all the covered capacitors were popped.
Unless anyone has any other ideas I think this board has about had it.
Looking up the error codes, 0002 is apparently network related which means the error has now changed, it was previously 0110, then with xclamps to 0102 and now 0002.

[Inferno]

I covered all the large capacitors with tinfoil, bright side out, covered the rest of the board with tinfoil with only the GPU & CPU exposed with the underside also exposed.
Then wrapped the entire thing with a shirt with the two main chips exposed, opened it all up and all the covered capacitors were popped.
Unless anyone has any other ideas I think this board has about had it.
Looking up the error codes, 0002 is apparently network related which means the error has now changed, it was previously 0110, then with xclamps to 0102 and now 0002.

That's kind of odd. Never had a single cap pop while doing this.

[=sw=warlord]

I've just put the clamps on and I'm now back to 0110, looks like all the baking did was make the kitchen smell and blow some caps.
Time to get the heatgun out I think, or see if my old tutors would allow me to use the reflow station at college.

[Inferno]

If all your caps blew why are you trying to heat gun it...


edit-

Also what kind of oven do you have?

[=sw=warlord]

If all your caps blew why are you trying to heat gun it...


edit-

Also what kind of oven do you have?
Just a average oven, not a toaster oven.
reason I'm going to try to heatgun it is I can replace the capacitors no problem.
I'll put it this way, when you've had to design and construct make a sig-gen that produces sin, square and saw-tooth signals replacing a few dud caps is a cake walk ha ha.

[Inferno]

I've hardly ever even soldered so I don't know shit. But aren't the caps like pin point solders?

[=sw=warlord]

I've hardly ever even soldered so I don't know shit. But aren't the caps like pin point solders?
Not really, the caps on the xbox are same as the kind you see in electronics shops.
Melt the solder on the underside use something to suck the solder out remove capacitors put new ones in and solder in place.

[Inferno]

I got another 0102 today. I'm guessing it's your standard cold solder on the GPU. Should I bake it like before or should I try that trick you showed me pyong? Which would give better results?


Also I just realized this box might be Pre-NXE. Did somebody say jtag?

[=sw=warlord]

I got another 0102 today. I'm guessing it's your standard cold solder on the GPU. Should I bake it like before or should I try that trick you showed me pyong? Which would give better results?



If it's worth fixing, it's worth doing it correctly, get a soldering iron remove the capacitors, use a heatgun to reflow the solder and install solid state capacitors on it.

[Inferno]

Assuming I can actually do that!

I can barely solder 2 wires together. I've never had someone actually teach me.

[=sw=warlord]

I can barely solder 2 wires together. I've never had someone actually teach me.
Practice makes perfect, just don't trying holding it like a pen or you will burn yourself.
Remember these things can go up to 300 degrees.
If you want to fix electronics you're going to need to learn how to do it correctly or it's not worth the effort really.

[vistea]

So I have perfectly good Xbox 360. Except for the dvd drive, which refuses to play games. It will read dvd's, but whenever I put in a game, it either plays a video and says "Please put this disk in an Xbox 360" or it wont read the disk at all and say open tray, even with the disk.

Any tips, team? Its way past warranty, but It would be nice if I could fix it somehow without paying whatever for repairs.

[Pyong Kawaguchi]

Did you buy it like that, or did it eventually happen?
If you bought it like that it is missing the dvdkey, which means unless it is a jtagable xbox 360, its useless.
Else, you can get a new dvd drive/ if you have a multimeter do a pot tweak for the dvd drive.

[Inferno]

It could just be a bad DvD drive or a bad Sata connection. And maybe the drive just stopped working (there is dust or scratches on the laser). You should probably open it up and see if the connection on the drive is any good.

[vistea]

Did you buy it like that, or did it eventually happen?
If you bought it like that it is missing the dvdkey, which means unless it is a jtagable xbox 360, its useless.
Else, you can get a new dvd drive/ if you have a multimeter do a pot tweak for the dvd drive.
It just eventually happened over time. It was a launch 360. I opened up the 360 itself and made sure everything was connected tight, but still nothing. Maybe I'll try opening up the drive itself whenever I have the time/ don't feel lazy.

[Inferno]

I'm baking another xbox in a little bit. Looks like it's from 2006 and it's never been refurbished by Microsoft (it has the original heat syncs). Wish me luck guys!

[Inferno]

This old xbox is up and running again. I'm currently screwing it back into the case. My friend is probably going to buy it now that he has a job.

:iamafag:

[Inferno]

Welp. This xbox runs way hotter than it should. I think I'm going to fan mod it.

Should I 12v or 10v?

[=sw=warlord]

Welp. This xbox runs way hotter than it should. I think I'm going to fan mod it.

Should I 12v or 10v?

8V, 12V draws too much which could make the problem worse.

[Pyong Kawaguchi]

12v can make it too cool and cause solder cracks as well.

[Inferno]

How does running at room temperature cause the solder to crack...

[=sw=warlord]

How does running at room temperature cause the solder to crack...

Temperature difference.
Same as when it's hot on one side of glass and freezing cold the other.

[Inferno]

But if the fans are running faster wouldn't that mean the entire box is running room temperature...

[=sw=warlord]

But if the fans are running faster wouldn't that mean the entire box is running room temperature...
wind chill effect.
the current running through the circuit causes meets resistance which causes heat thus causing a temperature differentiation.
Microsoft also uses lead-free solder which is more susceptible to cracks.

[Inferno]

So in the case of microsofts shitty hardware, a little to hot is better?

[Pyong Kawaguchi]

Yep.

[Inferno]

Welp! So anyways, I'm ordering one of these http://xbox-experts.com/news/xbox-360-usb-jtag-spi-flasher--price-drop-/ to Jtag my xbox. Hopefully it will be here in the next few weeks. Can't wait to mod Halo 3.

[annihilation]

So, when I put a disk in my tray it stops for a minute. It starts making a crackling sound and acts like it's going to read it but it stops again.
I tried it on Halo 3, Modern Warfail 2 and Gears of War.

Gee, I wonder what could be wrong with it this time.

[Inferno]

The cracking sound means that Microsoft needs more money so you should buy a new one.

Or Jtag it.

Or swap your DvD key onto another drive and use that one.

[Futzy]

http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/1631/img6769a.jpg

?????? :(

[Inferno]

That's called, "Your GPU is fried like a KFC hot wing".

[Futzy]

So all I can do is call up microsoft? Going to be my second time

[Pyong Kawaguchi]

You should be able to, it means E74 is coming, easy fix with a heatgun though.

[Futzy]

Mind linking to how to do it? I have a heatgun and I just checked my warranty, which ran out long ago apparently.

[Inferno]

Oven Re-Heating supremacy.

Heatgun isn't as evenly heated as a oven IMO.

[Pyong Kawaguchi]

Heatgun is safer when it comes to the H/ana chip.

Google the E74 Fix.

[ThePlague]

Just finished soldering my friends controller. He bought a new clear smoke case, and we just set it up so it lights up. He also got a bunch of other parts, i'll probably take a video or something of it.

Also, the xbox disc drives suck :\

e: And so does the Whisper Legacy fan's nitro switch

Here's his box, and take into consideration this is the same one that we originally spent $40 on, because it had a 'broken disc drive'

http://johnflasser.scifi-frontier.com//storage/pictures/Brandins%20Xbox/IMG_1667.JPG
http://johnflasser.scifi-frontier.com//storage/pictures/Brandins%20Xbox/IMG_1668.JPG
http://johnflasser.scifi-frontier.com//storage/pictures/Brandins%20Xbox/IMG_1669.JPG
http://johnflasser.scifi-frontier.com//storage/pictures/Brandins%20Xbox/IMG_1671.JPG
http://johnflasser.scifi-frontier.com//storage/pictures/Brandins%20Xbox/IMG_1672.JPG

I have that in pieces again because of the nitro switch for the fan, and have to solder it yet again.

[Inferno]

Very nice job. So I assume you managed to flash the key for the DvD drive?

[ThePlague]

Nope. It never worked in my computer or his, so we're using the old dvd drive. And now the fan won't work at all that I put in, even with the nitro switch out. When the xbox turns on the fan stays off.

[Pyong Kawaguchi]

lol!
Try to return it?

[ThePlague]

Probably will have to.

[Inferno]

http://tekgems.com/Products/tg-la-pci22-vt6421a.htm

Use this. It will let you flash the drive. It's the exact same model I used to flash my drive back in the day.

[Pyong Kawaguchi]

I just got a working jtagable xbox for 37$
:)

[Inferno]

Em El Gee

Can't wait to get that USB thing and Jtag mine.

[DEElekgolo]

Xclamp for my RROD should be coming in today. I bought this xbox and modded it so it doesn't have any warrenty. Is Xclamp a reliable fix?

[Inferno]

Depends on the error.

[DEElekgolo]

Typical RROD. I had it happen once in a while but it became for frequent, then it just kept doing it. I have another xbox but it isn't modded which leaves me with half the awesome.

[Inferno]

What code? It will help as the error is CPU or GPU related.

[DEElekgolo]

No error code shows up on screen. It either freezes on the intro video or randomly in a game if I can make it past that.

[Pyong Kawaguchi]

Hold down the sync button and press the eject button
lights will occur if you do that 4 times

error code info:
4 lights = 0
1 light = 1
2 lights = 2
3 lights = 3
do that and get the error code plox.

[DEElekgolo]

0102 (http://xbox-experts.com/errorcode/E18/0102/)

[Inferno]

Yeah XClamp will help but you might want to oven/heatgun as well.

[DEElekgolo]

I'll try the xclamp first before I go ghetto.

[Pyong Kawaguchi]

http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/9738/img110lw.jpg
:)

[DEElekgolo]

Xclamp is done. Xbox works now :)

[Pyong Kawaguchi]

Congrats.

[Cortexian]

OCZ Freeze might drop a degree or two off from Arctic Silver, rename the thread now.

[Inferno]

I use stock thermal paste from my computer store.

Welp.

[ThePlague]

Uhh, so my friend's fan isn't working anymore. I'm thinking it has something to do with the power on it. The regular fan it came with doesn't work either. Is there any way to fix it?

[Inferno]

I had a problem were the fan ran at minimum speed because the CPU thermometer was broken. Maybe that's your case?

I just tapped the fan onto a different power source.

[ThePlague]

How do you do that?

[Inferno]

Look up 12v or 8v or 6v fan mods. There's plenty of places to tap power from.

[Llama Juice]

http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/9738/img110lw.jpg
:)

I just kinda wanna see all of these on, and red ringed. I think that'd make the picture better.

[ThePlague]

So I got another xbox today, and the problem with it is when it's plugged in and everything, but it isn't showing a picture. We tried multiple plugs and still nothing.

Got an idea on what's wrong?

[Inferno]

Bad solder between the board and the AV Port or just bad GPU points. Maybe a Hana chip problem.

[ThePlague]

Easy fix or hard?

[=sw=warlord]

Bad solder between the board and the AV Port or just bad GPU points. Maybe a Hana chip problem.

If it was GPU point's it would have a triple light error.
Check the inside of the socket and see if you see any damage inside the socket, also check the solder points for the AV port, maybe a short connection or loose connector.
I doubt the issue would be HANA as that would also release a error code.
Definitely seem's like it's related to the AV socket though.
As for difficulty, I can't say as it's all relative, Inferno apparently can't even tin two pieces of wire together, something that's relatively easy to most people doing repairs on Xboxes.

[Inferno]

I've read a million threads on Xbox-Scene. Any of those things is possible but the AV port is most likely the problem.

Though a problem with the AV port almost always returns 4 red lights.

[=sw=warlord]

I've read a million threads on Xbox-Scene. Any of those things is possible but the AV port is most likely the problem.

Though a problem with the AV port almost always returns 4 red lights.

I've never had 4 red lights on my console when the AV has been taken out.
So that's not always the case where as a faulty GPU would be a hardware error which causes the 3 red lights.

[Inferno]

Hardware errors can also cause 2 red lights and occasionally no red lights. Xboxes have a tendency to be unpredictable.

[=sw=warlord]

Hardware errors can also cause 2 red lights and occasionally no red lights. Xboxes have a tendency to be unpredictable.

They can also cause the red lights to flip from top to bottom and back.
My point is, if the xbox seems to be working fine other than no visual feed it's most likely going to be AV related and not necessary the hana or GPU.

[Inferno]

I realize that. That's why I put listed that it was probably a AV port problem first.

[ThePlague]

Okay, I have it apart, where should I be looking?

[Inferno]

See how well connected the AV ports are to the mother board. See if the board is warped at all.

[Pyong Kawaguchi]

I'd take the first step and try the x-clamp fix (would need it eventually anyways) and see if that works.

[Saggy]

Ok, so my friend wanted me to take a look at his Xbox 360 drive. It's a BenQ with stock firmware. No matter what you try to do to close the drive, it just will not stay shut; the drive constantly ejects. Think of it as a Hitachi drive in ModeB I guess. Anyway I can fix this or is the drive done for?

[Pyong Kawaguchi]

get key, backup fw, install new stock fw from the internet (must be same drive) and spoof it to see if its the FW, if not, take out the disk tray and check to see if theres anthing in there that shouldnt be there, if not, get a new drive.

[Inferno]

Just dump the firmware and compare it with a stock firmware.

Also, maybe the eject button is jammed on the board?

[Saggy]

Just dump the firmware and compare it with a stock firmware.

Also, maybe the eject button is jammed on the board?

I already tried putting in a different drive into the box, and it ejected and closed fine so I know it's the drive. Will be attempting to dump firmware shortly.

[Inferno]

The it's either a hardware issue or the FW.

Have you taken apart the drive to see if anything is fucked up inside of it?

[Saggy]

Well, it wasn't a problem with the firmware. I opened up the drive and nothing looks messed up. Obviously there is though but I don't have the intelligence to figure out what it is. I was able to get the key from the drive so I just replaced it with another one I had lying around.

[ThePlague]

So my friend got the parts today, and he's bringing them over now. Do I really need to use a heatgun? I don't see why it's needed.

Also, can I use something other than rubbing alcohol to clean the cpu/gpu? I don't have any...

[Inferno]

Take razor blade and just scrape the layer of heat sync paste off. Works fine for me.

[EX12693]

How the hell you sync heat?

Also, can anyone explain to me why there is... something that looks like soot around the GPU?
The xbox works fine, btw..

[Inferno]

How the hell you sync heat?

Also, can anyone explain to me why there is... something that looks like soot around the GPU?
The xbox works fine, btw..

Has anyone even been so far as to even have synced heat?
There was a chimney sweeper in your xbox!

[EX12693]

Yeah... My Xbox IS a chimney...
Aw fuck the black stuff is all over the bottom of the heatsink too.... :/

[ThePlague]

X-clamp fix didn't work for me. Do I need to bake it now or something?

[Inferno]

X-clamp fix didn't work for me. Do I need to bake it now or something?

Pretty much.