How to fix an Xbox 360 with sound but no video
My brother-in-law recently gave me his broken Xbox 360. Unlike most other broken 360's out there, there were no 3 red-rings-of-death (RROD) indicating some major problem. Instead, when you turn it on, it seemed to start up just fine. Well, you could hear the audio of the startup, but there was no picture.
I cannot guarantee these will work for everyone. For a more comprehensive solution, you should buy the XBox 360 Red Light fix. They guarantee that it will work in less than 2 hours or your money back.
So I took the think apart, to see if I could find any obvious loose connections or solders. Nothing. So, I did some digging online. I found out that you can fix it much the same way as you would the common RROD issue, by removing the x-clamp from the GPU, and using screws to reseat the heat sync.
I pieced together the fix from the following pages:
- A guy with the same problem
- A step-by-step tutorial on removing the x-clamp
- A number of videos on Youtube showing how to disassemble the Xbox.
I did however make a mess of some of the plastic casing of the system, but who cares, it's working! I also managed to actually get the RROD when I put all the casing back on, so now I just leave the top off. Go figure.
Digg this
post to del.icio.us
on August 13th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
I have the same problem… any luck on a fix?
on August 13th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
yes, just follow the three steps.
on September 14th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
What three steps?
Thanks
on September 16th, 2008 at 8:00 pm
u should make a video tutorial. it would help alot of people on youtube.com there are no videos on how to fix this problem.
on September 19th, 2008 at 7:59 pm
Thank you so much for your help[ on this problem i was getting ready to buy another 360 but now mine seems to be working fine your a life saver
on September 24th, 2008 at 5:32 pm
Thank you so much for the fix! I tore my xbox apart, removed the clamps, did the fix and the thing works beautifully now. And I didnt even mess my case up!
on September 29th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Also make sure the switch on the plug hasn't been switched to high def by accident,,,happened to me,,lol.. this will render the regular plug useless
on September 30th, 2008 at 11:03 am
i really need to get back on line to play halo3 because imk really behind
on October 4th, 2008 at 1:25 am
The x-clamp mod worked for me, too (so far). I just did the x-clamp mod and did the 'overheating' procedure this evening. Viola! I can see the picture again. We'll see how long it holds up. I used this tutorial because it seemed to distribute the pressure more evenly. Good luck to you, fellow xbox-owners-with-no-video people.
on October 7th, 2008 at 10:32 am
Thanks Justin for this posting. I recently experienced this problem with my console, and it is just under two years old, making it a waste of time to send it to MS for a repair. I've seen a lot of posts all over the place about this, but it seems that many people are getting the RRoD with this issue, however I am not.
Since the machine is basically a $430 doorstop, I think I might give it a shot at fixing this sucker myself instead of paying someone to just change the cover on it and send it back to me with the same problem. I did spot an article about how MS changed the heat sink (http://www.xbox360fanboy.com/2007/06/13/ms-installing-new-heatsinks-in-refurb-360s/) to supposedly avoid any more RRoD, but I haven't heard anything about them really changing the soldering methods. I am curious about something though with this problem. What is the date that your 360 was made? I bought mine 12/25/06 and it was made in 11/06, and I'm wondering if that particular model of that quarter or year seem to be more liable for this design flaw.
I'm a little wary of ripping apart the console, as I've seen a video or two on the removal of the case and it looks like a giant pain in the fanny. I'm not surprised you mangled the case, and as of right now I don't really case if the case is held together with duct tape when I'm done as long as the stupid thing works again for at least another two years. I'm surprised no one is just selling the 360 cases for people who have had no other reasonable option but to fix their own consoles, despite the cosmetic problems that occur from taking them apart. I think I might be tempted to destroy something on it just to vent the frustration! I don't want to send it to MS because I know either they will 1) send me a refurbished one minus copying the hard drive (bye-bye saved games) 2) change the case on the console I sent in and just send it back and fix nothing but charge me anyway or the highly unlikely 3) actually FIX the problem and send it back within three weeks. I've already spent enough money on this thing when I bought it, and I am not contributing more than $20 for MS to fix this when I can do it myself for less than that in a day.
on October 9th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
Ok if you havent opened your xbox yet and you get this issue just call xbox customer support and say that you have the RROD (red ring of death)
on October 11th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
i had the same problem, i followed all the step and it actually worked. it only cost me about $20 to do it myself.
on October 13th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
I got mine about the same time godklown. I think it is the time we bought our consoles that is giving us so much trouble. I have already had to send it in for the RROD and this is just retarded. if I have to send this one in I am just going to buy an arcade version and put my harddrive on that one. then I am going to take my xbox after I get it back from microsoft and trade it in a gamestop and let them deal with it. it will be 100 to fix it and they should give me about 150 trade in value
on October 19th, 2008 at 1:13 am
I have the same issue and that step by step link looks a little scary for a guy who does not do computer type repairs or anything in that feild. How hard is that ? For $20 I'm willing to try it but dang I dont like the idea of getting into the guts of the unit with NO CLUE of what i'm looking at.
HelP…..
on October 27th, 2008 at 9:57 am
I called Xbox today and they wanted £60 to fix this problem, and they wanted the xbox for a month to do it!!!!!!!
cant believe it!!!!!! Ba*tards
on November 7th, 2008 at 11:17 pm
I had the same problem. rite before i was about about to ship it off back 2 microsoft i decided 2 try 2 fix it one mroe time. What you do is you wrap up your xbox real good in towels and leave it on for bout 15-20 min. This will cause the xbox 2 over heat this the chip will reset i think or some shit i dunno but i did that and it worked fine…no this will not set your house on fire. Email me and let me know how this works for you bryan_lee53@yahoo.com
on November 24th, 2008 at 11:23 pm
DO NOT attempt the towel method, thats what me and my friend tryied with his XBOX, and it overheated and nearly melted the case, and still didnt fix the problem…
But on the lighter side, I was able to fix my XBOX completely witht his fix, everything went smoothly, and it really isn't THAT hard, just make sure you have all the right hardware and tools.
Awsome job putting this tutorial together Justin, works like a charm!
on November 26th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
I fixed my 360 that had the "no video" problem by doing the x-clamp fix. I cleaned the GPU (graphics processing unit) to a mirror shine as well as the CPU. Fixed it just today. Don't send your 360 in to Microsoft. The x-clamp fix method that is all over internet sites like youtube works for the Red Ring of Death and the "no video" problem. Fix your 360 yourself for $20-30 depending on what tools and hardware you need to purchase.