3 Red Lights all of a sudden...can anyone help?

[eggedd2k]

I loaded up NBA Live 09 last night and was just about to start a game when the xbox froze. I switched everything off and then switched back on again say 20 seconds later.
I got 3 red lights: top left, bottom left and bottom right.
I switched off and on again - same problem same lights.
Switched off and on again and this time it started up but froze part way through the opening xbox logo animation.
Repeated the off and on again procedure but just got the 3 red lights each time.
I switched it on this morning to see what would would happen and it booted up to the dashboard fine.

Tried it tonight and it booted up to the dashboard so I put in Call Of Duty 4 and got the the lobby and it froze.
Rebooted and tried Rock Band and that froze at the main menu.
Switched off and on and I'm now getting the 3 red lights each time.

Sounds foobar'd to me.

So far I've tried:
Turning off the power at the wall and unplugging everything. Plugged all but the hard drive back in and still get the 3 red lights. Hard drive plugged in next still get 3 red lights.

I guess all I can do is call Microsoft support? It's probably just over a year old.

Anyone know what's likely to be wrong with it?

[Akira181]

The cheap Microsoft design has probably resulted in a bad connection developing between the GPU processor and the motherboard. A fault that develops in some consoles from general use.

If it's just over a year old, best send it back to M$ and get them to fix it instead of opening it up and voiding the warranty. They'll most likely replace it meaning you get the new falcon board with the extra heatsink, which seems to be a bit more reliable, but chances are you'll also get the new liteon drive as well. It's unflashable, but it can now be replaced.

If it's already been opened, you could still try sending it back and see if you're lucky or not. Other than that, there's the x-clamp fix that has mixed results from anything as little as 3 weeks to what seems to be permanent. Every console's flaws are slightly different so there's no guaranteed results, which is the reason why some break and others don't.

[Ogs]

3 Year warranty on 3 Red Rings.

Send it back.

[eggedd2k]

cheers chaps.

i'll ring Microsoft get it sent back.