This business of developing with XNA would be all great and stuff, if the Xbox didn't keep breaking. Today, I got my third (3rd) RROD. This on a box that I've owned for about two years. Here's hoping I get a new motherboard this time...

At least you are still under warrantly... my day 1 (well 3 actually) xbox is now out of warranty - I expect the RROD any day now.

It is my understanding that MS will still replace/repair systems with RROD even after they are out of warranty.  I just sent back a day 1 system for RROD repair...no problems at all.  Got it back in less than a week.  

Allan

That is good to know... Still not good new for Jon though...

If you haven't yet had a RROD, you're probably OK. Mine has gone less than a year between each.
This time, I requested a motherboard replacement.

Yea I got the RROD and the E74 error, but I've had my box in a server rack with various enterprise servers and A/C system. It has worked for 6 months now (is there a sign for fingers crossed? ;) ).

Ah well iv got the same problem at the mo, well actuly for the last 3 months my xbox is in peaces as i keep fixing it but its only working for an hour or two between fixes now! think iv got to get a new one!

I was so nervous about this happening when I was gearing up for Peer Review.  Thankfully, it didn't.  My first RROD, before that, sucked, though.

These days I keep my 360 on a wire platform in open air (one of those bathroom holders you see in Wal-Mart and such) so that it stays well-ventilated.

Check my sig, that says it all. About 13 months after I got it too. And it crashes several times a day (at the most inconvenient time possible, of course) when launching a CG. And don't get me started on the 1 minute wait at the Game Library for everything to refresh.. >:-(

I got an Elite so I could test my multiplayer games more easily. No problems whatsoever with it! :-)

UberGeekGames:

And don't get me started on the 1 minute wait at the Game Library for everything to refresh.. >:-(

Thats a known issue to do with the dashboard and not CG.. just that CG developers see it more often than everyone else because we go in and out of the game list. I have no idea if its being worked on but we can hope..

The ZMan:

Thats a known issue to do with the dashboard and not CG.. jsut tht CG developers see it more often than everyone else becuase we go in and out of the game list. I ahve no idea if its being worked on but we can hope..

And what do RRODs have to do with CG? :-) Yeah, I know CG is unrelated.
The software (XNA) is totally awesome, but the hardware could use some work.. Here's hoping the Xbox 720 is more stable!

Mine is fairly well ventilated, too. It's in a media cabinet with two 120 mm fans that suck air from the cold basement and exhaust into the garage, including holes in the shelf right under the box (which stands closest to the fans, too). The Xbox has a few inches of clearance on each side. Other units in the same cabinet that are on as much, or more, include a PS/3, a Mac Mini and a TiVo Series 3, all of which are as old as the box or older, and haven't failed once. As opposed to this third time that I get to send it back.
Grump.

Yep, I'm on my third now. Was really hoping I got one of the new ones with the lower power consumption, but they sent me back another dodgy old one that will eventually break.

How did you guys kill yours? My first was down to racking up 100+ hours on Oblivion, and the second was Fable 2. It's these damned RPGs making you play for so many hours :)

Mine happened last April less than a week before I had to present an XNA game at a conference. Luckily, a good friend was able to loan me one.

Deej:

How did you guys kill yours? My first was down to racking up 100+ hours on Oblivion, and the second was Fable 2. It's these damned RPGs making you play for so many hours :)

With mine, I was working on my game and deploying it, trying to fix a very strange crashing bug that only happens on the Xbox. I had it on for about an hour prior to it (it was in the morning), and it kept crashing when I started a CG. So I was resetting it a lot, and I was getting pretty frustrated near the end (partially because of the bug, and partially because of the hardware crashing). I guess I didn't wait long enough before turning it back on again at the last time, and I got those 3 red lights...

The rest of the morning was shot as I spent it on the phone to tech support. I didn't get the RROD again, it actually started back up. Except it would then promptly crash whenever I started a game or went into the Game Library. And the person on the phone didn't really know what they were talking about, and wanted me to delete everything on my hard drive 'to see if that's the problem'. Eventually I got a supervisor on the phone and got it straightened out. I got it back repaired in about two weeks.

Fortunately I had gotten my Elite unit literally two days prior to this, so I could still work on my game. Needless to say, not a very fun experience...

Amongst my group of close friends, we've had 8 RROD between our 5 360s.  An Elite is the only one that hasn't yet.  So really, that's 8 across 4 360s.  Two have had 3 apiece, while two have had 1 each.

The silver lining is that I just bought Killzone 2 for the PS/3 for my gaming fix, and I can get Netflix streaming through my TiVo. Their UI isn't nearly as good as the Xbox UI, though. Let's hope they actually honor my request for a new mobo this time...

I'm only on my 2nd 360. I bought the first shortly after launch. It RROD'd maybe 6 months later. I've had 0 problems with the 2nd one.

I believe that they replace your xbox completely

at least thats what they did with mine. I got one in december after the launch, and it rrod'd the next january (1 year 1 month) so we had to pay for it.

About 6 months later, Microsoft completely reimbursed the money for replacement.

The second one I have has rrod'd twice, but if it is left alone for a while it recovers (probably heat). I keep my xbox 360 on a shelf with my old xbox underneath, a shelf above, a wooden wall to the right, and DVD cases to the left. The area in the back is very small and also contains the power supply. It hurts to put my hand back there. Probably not good, but it works.

I'm getting pretty scared that my 2nd XBox is going to RROD before too long.  It's starting to freeze up every once in a while, and it was about two months after that started that my 1st one RRODed.  Ugh.

Well if your Xbox gets RROD and your warranty has ran out you could always overheat your Xbox (Ducktape the back our your Xbox up till it overheats 2 red lights) and it works perfectly trust me iv done this plenty of times with mine.

TalentoNZ:

Well if your Xbox gets RROD and your warranty has ran out you could always overheat your Xbox (Ducktape the back our your Xbox up till it overheats 2 red lights) and it works perfectly trust me iv done this plenty of times with mine.

I wouldn't even trust my mother if she gave me that advice.

Wasn't there some guy who immersed his Xbox in ice water (wrapped up in plastic) and ended up electrocuting himself?
I guess that's the reason they have the Darwin Awards :-/

jwatte:

Wasn't there some guy who immersed his Xbox in ice water (wrapped up in plastic) and ended up electrocuting himself?
I guess that's the reason they have the Darwin Awards :-/

What?!! Why would anyone think that was even remotely a good idea?! There are some universal mathematical truths about electronics:

Expensive electronics + heat = sadness
Expensive electronics + water = sadness and pain
Expensive electronics + thrown against other expensive electronics = sadness and sparks (mainly Wii owners)

..Sounds like the worst DIY water cooling setup ever.
Back on topic, I try to keep mine as well ventilated as possible, and they seem to do okay.. I guess some units just have bad components to begin with, and they're ticking time bombs. :-(

My Xbox just died with one red light in the lower right quadrant and the E74 code.  The real trouble is that the xbox.com repair page is not working, so I can't start the process of sending it to the repair ward!