[Gothch1ck]

Dun Dun dun naaaa dun na na naaaaa.... (*rest of halo 3 theme*) ((// http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1qwCO38rC4//))

This song pretty much played the entire fix.... while I was working on the rig.. So enjoy it. The Journey is nearly over.

The paste finally arrived. 5 minutes before sheets of deadly ice started raining down on my neighborhood.

Didn't bother me one bit, inside messin with it , tightening the screws (turns out.. full tight seems to work... for this one) Now.... to make a movie- live style- of the final outcome...

Did it work?
Does my system function?
Will my head a'splode?

Soon, we shall see.

------

I couldn't take the movie myself... I got scared at the possibility of total failure.. so.. my roomy did it... (hince the gesture at the end)

The results are in. Here is the YouTube clip movie of it:
YouTube - Movie 0003


If you don't wanna watch it, then here are the answers
Worked
System functions, for now
and - no- no head a'splodey.


Yay! Thanks for all the help here and at xboxexperts.com and llamma.com

Everyone rocks!
Now... to get some bloody games!

Oh and I broke my USB door, but fixed it with a big glob of Hot Glue to replace the little button plastic that broke out. Yay. Fixed working door too!

[CalcProgrammer1]

Nice work! Even has NXE, I'd have thought a broken 360 would still have the old dashboard. Did you have to use the penny trick or did the X-clamp replacement work? I'm getting ready to change mine to the hybrid fix (got a sheet of foam, found my X-clamps, and am going to bend them soon) but forgot my torx driver at school so I'll have to wait until I get there to finish the install. I don't have any credit cards so instead I'm going to try used Xbox Live 1 month and 1600 MS points cards.

[Gothch1ck]

I had no luck with the penny trick, so I just started it up as a test run, still apart, with all but the shroud on it, and placed the fan on the CPU and let it run for like 15 minutes blinking the 1 red light. Then gently tightened the screws all the way I could on it and ran it again, at this point I thought it failed though, since the blinking light still went, so I let it cool off , put it together and had my roomy do the Final Movie and Test... surprisingly it worked out.

I guess I didn't let it heat/cool properly the first time, or perhaps it was tightening the screws that did it... now I just have to wait and see how long a fix this is. Was just going to RMA it back to the ebay seller since he FINALLY caved in when I got Ebay on his butt about the wrong description, I have like 8 days before I have to send it in, so we'll try it out a week or so and see if it blows. Lol.

Nothing like creating a false warranty in the end eh? lol.


and yup I just used bright orange craft foam from Hobby Lobby, although its the same stuff at Wal-Mart, Hobby Lobby has bigger pieces (and more expensive) but also some brighter choices and off-colour choices. (bright pink, greens, etc) it's like $0.33 at Wal-Mart for a standard piece of paper size, which is plenty to do a fix or 2.

Make sure you get a credit card you can cut up (or old gift card) and you'll probably have to sand it down, I did mine a bit, til the color came off evenly, and my thermal compound print was nearly perfect. I'll have more pictures later, but sadly I must go to work, it's my 1 night this week and I better not skip out on what little income I make.


And it IS very satisfying to see the green lights blink around when it works.. I just hit the button again to make sure it wasn't a dream ^.^

[CalcProgrammer1]

I got some nice light-green foam today, matches the Xbox 360 logo I bent my X-clamps down but I'll have to wait until I get back to school (I left my Torx driver and set of small screwdrivers in my dorm room) to finish it. My X-clamp replacement (regular one) is working but I like the idea of evening out the pressure and want to make it work more permanently. The old (used) Xbox Live cards are a little thinner than credit cards but are still plastic (not paper like the new ones) so they should work and I got my Arctic Silver 5 ready. I'm taking pictures so I can document the fix if it works.

[Gothch1ck]

Currently testing music on it, no scratches to CDs or anything yet, no odd noises, and no errors on the xbox 360's side. (some scratched discs caused read errors, no big deal)


I decided to do something stupid.

I put my Audio CD in, and hit play, and then rotated the unit Vertically to it's upright position...


I was started at the results...

Nothing happened. By that I mean the Xbox360 adjusted its LEDs properly to the new orientation- and the CD kept playing, no grinding noises were heard and upon taking the disc out, no scratch marks (no new ones anyway)

Shocked, I repeated the process about 15 more times, even holding it at a 45degree angle in between modes.

nothing.

If I "shake" the machine trying to screw the disc up (going from vertical to horizontal in a quick jerking motion) I can hear what seems to be a soft skid noise, perhaps this BenQ drive has preventative measures already inside? (even though it is factory default..)
I do believe my DVD drive is godly.

[CalcProgrammer1]

Stupid Toshiba-Samsung drive...ah well, I leave mine in one place and don't touch it...I also rip my games to HDD at least on my new console (which I think has the Lite-On drive), but I may try a drive mod when I have my old one open. I wouldn't dare move my console, I already know my drive is bad, scratched a few discs when I first got it and had it apart.

Also my old console's rotation switch must be off, it only adjusts the LED's if you push it slightly past vertical and often times it will jump between orientations while it is vertical, works fine horizontal though, I guess I can try bending the sensor while I have it open, it's a switch that uses a metal ball and contacts to detect orientation so maybe the ball is moving around when the drive is spinning.

[Gothch1ck]

It might also be knocked over, I found (even though mine was still stickered and "factory fresh") that some of my capasiters and such were bent over, unknown why, some of the foils on the CPU heatsink were also knicked and bent slightly.

I actually had to Sand the bottom of my heatsinks down since the paste would NOT come off, it seemed... burned on... if thermal compound can do such a thing... but I just rubbed lightly in 1 direction with the 400 grit paper until it was shiny and smooth, then I 91% alcohol rubbed it a few times to ensure all the little metal dust bits were gone.

My home made sand block works well. I'll get the rest of my pictures loaded.

http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s...Picture068.jpg

1inch thick by about 5 inches long pieces of wood, screwed together, with sandpaper held in by the pressure between the blocks.

Total cost $0.00, scrap wood.

[c0rr0sive]

To get better results you should move up in grit, possibly 1500, or 2000 grit.... Give the best results as long as you make sure you have a perfectly flat surface.

[CalcProgrammer1]

I'm back at school (eww!) but I do have my torx driver now (yay!). I brought all the stuff for the mod but forgot to cut the ends off the X-clamps...had to go to Wal Mart and buy sandpaper and a pair of cheap pliers to fix it, no problem though as it was only $4 and it worked. At first I didn't get enough paste on the GPU and it overheated a lot but I fixed that. The pad on the back does seem to help quite a bit, it absorbs a lot of heat and the even pressure makes my GPU work fine even at lower tightness on the screws. I am changing the mod slightly to fit my system that I had modded (standard X-clamp fix) earlier. I also decided to use an extra piece of foam under my fans to help reduce vibration noise, not sure how much it actually does but anything to cut back on noise is good for old systems (which are LOUD!). I finished the GPU already and then played some GTA4 without problems, so now I'll do the CPU and hope everything works. I have pics but I'll upload them when I'm done.

[Gothch1ck]

actually I can get the same result (but much longer time) with 400 grit as with 1500 grit or what not, just light sanding repeatedly, you can get mirror finish on sheet metal with just 400 grit and a whole lot of elbow grease, trick is not to push hard, you push hard and the grits dig grooves to work out later, if you "lightly buff and sand" with it, and make sure you move it around so the same grits don't hit the same place all the time, then you get it much smoother.