XBOX 360 - Flashing Red Lights Overview

XBOX 360's can be tricky little systems. Great for gaming of course, but definitely a pain when it comes to technical problems...

There are several different forms of technical problems with the XBOX 360, the most common is the 3 flashing red lights sometimes called RRoD / Red Ring Of Death / Red Ring of Light amongst various other names. They can happen for a variety of different reasons such as over heating, loose cables etc.

All four sections are flashing red:

The A/V cable cannot be detected. You can try to solve this by making sure the A/V cable is properly connected to the console, disconnecting and reconnecting the A/V cable, use a dry wipe cloth to wipe the end of the A/V cable and if you have another A/V cable try to use it as a substitute.

Sections 1, 3 and 4 are flashing red:

This is the infamous RRoD/ 3 flashing red light / Red Ring of Death or whatever term you want to use for it. You are covered by Microsoft for 3 years after date of purchase for this kind of error, but it does take 4 -6 weeks to ship and return your console. If you want a different solution, check below.

Sections 1 and 3 are flashing red:

This is an overheated system, this is also caused by removing the heat sink from the GPU when reflowing air (A technique used when fixing XBOX 360 errors). Let the XBOX 360 FULLY cool, this could take up to 7 hours, do not under any circumstances place your console in the fridge or freezer in attempt to cool it faster. Extremely cold temperatures are just as bad if not worse and rapid cooling could cause condensation which can short your system.

Section 1 flashing:

This is usually accompanied by an on screen "E" error in the format, E-XX, XX being a 2 digit number. The most common of these errors, which is also very similar to the RRoD is the E74 Error. Unfortunatly, you are only covered for one year from date of purchase for these types of errors. If your not covered, or seek a different solution check below.

E45: -

E64: DVD Drive Error: Possibly DVD timeout, DVD lacking F/W chip, wrong xBox 360 firmware.

E65: DVD Drive Error: Possibly DVD timeout, DVD lacking F/W chip, wrong xBox 360 firmware. Can also be caused by tray not being fully closed.

E66: DVD Drive Error: DVD model, or version does not match that of the version expected by the dashboard. OR the firmware version on the drive is older then the firmware version expected by the dashboard. Make sure the DVD drive is of the same version originally included with the console and that it is using either the original firmware included with the console or newer.

Fix your XBOX 360 within 1 Hour!