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Xbox 360 Xenon
September 21, 2022
A while back I picked up a white Xenon Xbox 360 from a thrift store which was labelled as having an RROD problem. The case was in pretty nice shape so I thought I would take a crack at getting it running, and if all else failed at least I could use it for replacement parts.
I had never taken apart a phat console before, so I looked for some guides online to point out where some of the latch points were and I proceeded to strip down the console. It wasn't long before I realized that I was not the first person to have cracked it open. Many of the tabs holding in the end caps were broken, and in once case completely missing.
With the number of broken tabs I was a little concerned about what I would find inside, but also curious. Getting a little further along I noticed that the screws which would normally hold the X Clamp to the lower shield were missing.
After removing the top case section I could see inside and things generally looked OK, other than I could see that the X-Clamps had been removed in favour of the 'crank it down as hard as you can' washer and bolt approach.
Shortly after the Xbox 360 was released and RROD problems were surfacing, the washer and bolt method was used to supposedly improve thermal transfer from the CPU/GPU and the heatsinks and prevent cracked solder joints that some thought were causing the issue. It became so popular that it was sometimes done even before there were any signs of RROD as a preventative measure. I think time has shown that this isn't a good practice and in fact can be harmful to the board warping. In December 2021 a documentary series about the Xbox called Power On: The Story of Xbox revealed the actual cause of the RROD failures wasn't cracked solder joints between the CPU/GPU and the board but rather within the GPU itself. You watch the explanation here.
With the patient now open on the table and better understood, it was time to attempt to see if we can Band-Aid this RROD. I recognize that any fix using a heat gun to reflow solder is potentially damaging, and fixing an RROD on these early units without replacing the GPU is at best a temporary solution. But, with nothing to lose other than time, it seemed like it was worth giving it a try.
There are many resources online with different perspectives on how to approach the RROD problem. On YouTube, Borderline OCD has a nice video which walks through their approach to the process. I've always been impressed by their attention to detail and the care taken on repairs, so it seemed following their suggestions should be a good start.
I removed the thermal pads then heated the CPU/GPU slightly with 100C so that the plastic anchors around the CPU/GPU could be removed. Next with the board sitting on the bottom shield I used a heatgun at a 3" distance and 400C to warm the back for a minute. Constant motion is important here to avoid overheating any one area. I moved on to flipping the board and I heated the front for 1 minute at 3", with an additional 20 seconds focused on the CPU/GPU. Borderline OCD suggests adding flux around the CPU/GPU and then moving on to heating the CPU/GPU and memory chips, for 5 minutes at a 1" distance. While doing this, avoid the capacitors and other components as best as possible. With the reflowing complete it is important to let the board cool as any rough handling as this point could dislodge small components from the board.
With fingers crossed I reassembled enough of the system to give it a test, and....
It lives! For how long is unknown, but for now it works. With the console working it was time to order a glitch chip to allow moving forward with an RGH mod. Stay tuned!
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