For jrfhoutx xbox problem :)

[Rodent]

jrfhoutx: power light turns on, fans spin, 1 second later it shuts off... I just don't get it... I know everyone is gonna say it's a short, but I pulled the board out of the cage hooked everything back up and same thing...

Jr i had this problem once came to find out that the heat sink on the gpu was causeing the problem try a different heat sinc on that , Mine was warped along with the board when I reheated the board and made it flat again the heat sinc was warped also so tried another one.

For some reason it must of been hitting on one of the resistors or something and causing it to shortout, if you look closesly to the gpu heatsink it is very close to some smd resistors, and the voltage regulator.

I shouted in the shoutbox not sure if you read it so heres my answer give it a shot let me know if it solved the problems of shutting off on you now.

[jrfhoutx]

OK so I used different heat sinks on both the CPU and GPU (I also tried to start it up with no heatsinks just to see if it would actually start up, but no go) and still the same thing. I've used different power bricks and checked them both with other 360s to make sure they were working before I used them on this unit.

OK so here's the deal, this is the xclamp fixed Sound/No Video unit matt sent to me. when I got it it powered up and like he said you could hear the start up sounds but the unit had no video signal, I messed with it a bit, did the video settings reset procedure and still had nothing. so I decided to break it down clean it up and reaply some heat sink paste and try again (I've seen this work before so I thought I'd at least give it a try). I opened it up, found the paste was all hardened and that the high stand off hadn't been ground down, so I ground it down, reapplied the paste, put it all back together and now I have this issue... so it was working until it was torn down, I've checked all the components and nothing's missing, I've tested all the power resistors I can think of, everything is fine, but still I have this problem... Once I can get it to actually power up again I'll do a reflow, but first I need to get it powering up...

Here's a video of what it's doing so you guys have a better idea of what's happening...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOYqiv1Yrxc


So, any ideas?

[Rodent]

Ok Like I said I have also had the same problem and I totally understand what it is doing...but its good you added the video for future cases, for others to help them understand the problem. Few other problems I have had like this was that the fan could be the problem also. bad bearing or its drawing alot of amps causing this to drag down the system.

also I know you reflowed it , double check the board to make sure that the board isnt warped , I have had this problem after a reflow and even though I let it cool for 20 minute or so sometimes you may need to reflow it . What happens after the reflow, just like when welding something it becomes brittle and if you move the board or flex the board you will hear it crack and will cause the solder to break free.. Sounds stupid but it happens, So preheat the board for about 10 minutes using your griddle and then reflow it and let it cool for 1/2 hour get everything ready during the time you are waiting for this to cool helps the time pass...I have also had this problem with PS3 the very few I have worked on, but has seem to work very well and I know its a pain in the ass to take it apart over and over again.

Also make sure all the connections are good on the DVD drive any type of connection that isnt good can cause this also . Power supply is good as long as it turns on and turns green, even for a split second, I have had them turn red for a second then back to yellow do to the fact the heat sink was touching something, agervating as hell but hey thats how we move forward and find things wrong even the simplest things, I would also try to reflow all the memory chips i thing thats what they are the four small chips on the bottom of the board the the four small chips on top of the board surrounding the GPU . maybe even use some no clean flux for a better connection.

Let me know if you have any luck. It worked before, so I am sure you can get it to work again.

I think your rubbing off on me damn , now I am writing parragrahs now...lol 

[jrfhoutx]

Lol thanks for the help, I haven't done the reflow yet, but I'll give it a shot and reflow all the mem chips as well while I'm at it, and I'll try a new fan and DVD cables as well...


Hey, writing paragraphs is a good thing, you can never have too much information when it comes to this stuff, but being too brief is sometimes not very helpful lol. I'd rather read a couple of paragraphs and getthe whole picture right and questions answered the first time than have to keep asking stuff because not enough info was provided. Plus, like you said, it is helpful for others in the same boat in the future

[Rodent]

Whats the verdict? solved or unsolved yet?

[FOOKz™]

try it with no fan, isolate the problem.

When these problems arise and stump me i ask myself: what has changed since last normal operation?

[jrfhoutx]

Whats the verdict? solved or unsolved yet?

Not yet, still waiting on a BGA nozzle...

try it with no fan, isolate the problem.

When these problems arise and stump me i ask myself: what has changed since last normal operation?

dude, seriously... I've done that already... I've tried with and without fans, heatsinks, etc. etc.... I've done all the basic troubleshooting bull:censored: and the only thing that has changed (aside from being disassembled new paste added and reassembled) is that I ground down the one high standoff that the really early cages had (the one right by the fans) other than that, nothing has changed

[Rodent]

I ground down the one high standoff that the really early cages had (the one right by the fans) other than that, nothing has changed

Try a different case then, that might be the problem not being grounded properly or the fact that when you bolt it all together it has flexed the motherboard, and causing a problem with the gpu, and flexing away from the motherboard, suprised you dont have any errors or red lights .

[crazy-modder]

You dont need to cage for it to be grounded properly. Infact you dont even need the cage at all to turn it on, but yes a warped cage could cause a short. I have had the problem your having and it will most likely require a proper Reballing.

[FOOKz™]

Just curious what version of power supply you're using. Might not mean anything but still. What happens when you push the power button a whole bunch of times before it shuts off by itself?

What helped me once before with these mysterious problems is inspecting an identical motherboard and comparing every part with the faulty board before the reflow/reball is done only if the issue is unknown.



Off topic: What would be a neat project for expert reball techs would be to mod the CPU and GPU chips so they could attach to a LGA socket to the circuit board and figuring out how to put the chip on the socket...

[crazy-modder]

oooo fookz, i like that idea. That would be pretty sweet lol then we wouldnt have to worry about reflowing/reballing.....Could do a nice cooling mod on it also. I have a couple extra mobo i might be able to mess around with but is there even a socket that is big enough for a gpu/cpu chip?

[Rodent]

ALL chips have a point marked on them so you can get them clocked the right way and WOW FOOKZ  I was just thinking of the same thing the other day, if it was possible to just change it out and make it so you wouldnt have to reball or reflow it or even upgrade the cpu or gpu for better grapics. or adding more memory to it?

I was going to ask FOOKz about this the other day and havent seen him in a while, guess we will figure this out 

[jrfhoutx]

it has flexed the motherboard, and causing a problem with the gpu, and flexing away from the motherboard, suprised you dont have any errors or red lights .

That's what I was thinking, and it won't turn on long enough to give me any red lights, it won't turn on long enough to do anything...

Just curious what version of power supply you're using. Might not mean anything but still. What happens when you push the power button a whole bunch of times before it shuts off by itself?

What helped me once before with these mysterious problems is inspecting an identical motherboard and comparing every part with the faulty board before the reflow/reball is done only if the issue is unknown.

OK, look, I'm not trying to be a , and I appreciate the troubleshooting help and all, but wtf kind of idiot do you take me for that you think I haven't done basic troubleshooting things like checking to make sure my power supply is correct and comparing to a known good board? it's actually kind of insulting...

[Rodent]

OK, look, I'm not trying to be a , and I appreciate the troubleshooting help and all, but wtf kind of idiot do you take me for that you think I haven't done basic troubleshooting things like checking to make sure my power supply is correct and comparing to a known good board? it's actually kind of insulting...

lmfao that is some funny LoL you tell him Lmfao....

NO offence fookz but you did make him feel like he didnt know anything,...lol

[nEoVaLoR]

it's actually kind of insulting...

why must you take insult to everything brah, u sound kinda mad

[FOOKz™]

What would happen if you held the power button in?




^{Hey listen everyone i don't do it to insult anybody. It is a habit to troubleshoot with people regardless of how much experience somebody has, its what I do. There has been times when I couldn't figure out a problem too and it was caused by silly mistakes... trust me it can get you when you're not paying attention. Silly mistakes are like driving your head into a brick wall.}

[Rodent]

^{Hey listen everyone i don't do it to insult anybody. It is a habit to troubleshoot with people regardless of how much experience somebody has, its what I do. There has been times when I couldn't figure out a problem too and it was caused by silly mistakes... trust me it can get you when you're not paying attention. Silly mistakes are like driving your head into a brick wall.}

I cant argue with that,  so many times you can over look the problem and think damn i checked that and you check it again and problem solved. even checking things 3 or 4 times can solve the problem or find other problems

[Nam3o]

sometimes you never figure out whats wrong it just works. happens to me at work all the time. I will be troubleshooting a problem for hours then bam it just works. 

[Rodent]

sometimes you never figure out whats wrong it just works. happens to me at work all the time. I will be troubleshooting a problem for hours then bam it just works.

must have used the BFH!

[Anonamous]

take the rf module out and put it back in lol... maybe its got something to do with the power switch. also try turning it on with a controller and see what happens

[whuthefxk]

from the video it reminded me of one of my boxes that did that after an x-clamp heat up (back in 09).  when you press the button it would cut on for a second and power off.  what i did to get it going was kept pressing the button over and over again quickly.  it may sound stupid but it some how got the fans revving up again to keep it on. (hearing the fans rev up reminded me of pretending to start up an engine of my race car LOL)