Microsoft Bans Class Action Lawsuits Against The RROD

Last year, Microsoft changed their EULA (End User License Agreement). Not a big deal huh? These changes happen every few months or so, don't they? Well, when was the last time you bothered reading it? Or for that matter, any user agreement or Terms and Conditions.

Well, you might want too start researching, because in April 2011, the court ruled that businesses can use contracts to deny class action lawsuits, as long as they agree to the licence. Notice that it was round about this time that Microsoft changed the EULA on the Xbox 360. This ruling has stopped many, many people from claiming against the Red Ring of Death, a software bug that be may considered fraud.

Instead of a proper class action, your court case will now be held in front of an independent arbitrator - This method is called arbitration. There are several downsides to arbitration, such as the fact that you cannot appeal against the decision made by the arbitration, and the public does not get to review the findings of the judge.

Let's hope the high court starts to come to their senses - and stop companies like Microsoft unfairly protecting themselves against their high profile screwups!

How To Fix The Xbox Slim RROD

Before I get blasted in the comments, I would like to point out that the Xbox Slim RROD is real, and is a very real thing. I’ve even posted video of it once in a while. Look down at my previous posts to find it.

The Xbox Slim RROD is not caused by overheating, as the previous one was. This is because the previous Xbox did not shut down when the heat of the Xbox got over a predetermined limit. The new Xbox Slim does have this feature, effectively cancelling out this cause. Other claimed causes for this include flexing of the main motherboard, like in the old Xbox. However, Microsoft have fixed this old issue by applying epoxy to the corners of the processors and the motherboard to stop it from flexing.

So what is the cause of the Xbox Slim RROD? Well, it’s actually quite simple - The problem stems from an error with the hard drive. This means that something has gone wrong with the HDD, which means Hard Disk Drive, and is where you keep all your game data, saves, downloaded movies, and all of your Xbox Live Downloadable Content.

Many people have reported hearing “The Click of Death” when their Xbox Slim RROD happens. This is a small squeaking noise that occurs before your Xbox Slim RROD’s. It has been reported to be quite creepy to listen too, and when you reboot your Xbox, you have a RROD on your Xbox Slim! The Xbox Click of Death has been reported to happen whenever you try to access data off your hard drive, like watching a movie or maybe playing DLC. The click can be very light, or it can be loud enough to hear across the room.

The Click of Death comes from your hard drive skipping across the surface of the drive, which either scratches the disc or corrupts the hard drive with all your saves on. The best thing to do when you hear the click of death is to immediately turn off your Xbox to stop your Hard Disk Drive from getting scratched. If you don’t do this in time, you may end up with an Xbox Slim RROD.

Image - Renjith Krishnan 

The hard drive skips across the surface of the Hard Disk Drive because each time it hits a “Bad Sector” on the hard disk, it has to go to where the sector was remapped too - So if your disc is jumping a lot, then you need to fix it fast!

The best thing to do to stop your Xbox Slim getting the RROD like this is to back up your hard drive contents regularly so when it stops working, you can just replace it with a new one, all your saves and movies and DLC available again!

However, there are bound to be a few people reading this article who have not backed up their disk drive, and I am sorry to say, that if you have not backed up your hard drive and your Xbox Slim gets the RROD, then you have lost everything on that disk. You will need to take out the disk and replace it with a new one, but first take the disk to a hardware specialist to see if you can get any data recovered.

Halo 4 Release

Thought I'd talk about some Xbox games for this post, It gets a bit weird writing about the same topic every day!

So today - The soon to be released, highly debated Halo 4! I've been a massive Halo 4 fan ever since I started playing the first game about 7 years ago. So, I was very happy to hear about the new Halo 4 game coming out, with loads of new content, allies and weapons, like the Brute Plasma Rifle, The Gravity Cannon and the Plasma Mortar, along with an entirely new story centring around the ever popular Master Chief.

Click Here To Watch The Halo 4 Trailer

The trailer is quite short and features Master Chief waking up from his Cyro-Pod to the ship he is on being caught on fire and being sucked into a bigger spaceship that may be covenant, or something else? Who knows?

The planned release date for the game is Fall 2012 with no specific date, so Halo fans will have some time to wait before the next game comes out. However you can already preorder the game now, with many sites allowing you to order now and get free shipping.

Buy Halo 4 Today!

Gamestop Stops Selling Used RROD Xbox's

Yes, thats right, Gamestop released the following memo.

“As of Saturday 3rd September we will not be selling Pre-owned Xbox 360 Cores, Arcades and 20GB non HDMIs. This is due to the high failure rate of the console and the difficulty and cost of repairing them. We will continue to trade these consoles in but they will need to be sent back to the DC as a regular faulty return where they will exit the business,” 


Th only thing that springs to my mind immediately is - What were they thinking selling Xbox 360's that had had the RROD before. Statistics show that 60% of Xbox's that have had the RROD once and been fixed by Microsoft, will have it again. Further, 30% of consoles with some other error, will have another error again.


Surely Gamestop could not have been as incompetent to not take heed of that statistic?

RDOD At Walmart

Red Dot of Death Footage

X-Clamp Fix

If you are looking to fix your Xbox 360 Red Lights then you have probably heard of the Xbox X-Clamp Fix. Many people claim that this fix repairs the Red Ring of Death. But does this fix actually work? Or are they simply trying to get you to buy Xbox Repair Kits?

X-Clamp fix in action

You may notice with this method of fixing the RROD that it involves actually taking apart the Xbox completely. If one screw gets lost, or one washer isn’t put on properly, then you have a major problem, and your Xbox may stop working altogether. And whats worse, but your warranty has been voided by opening the case, so you won’t be able to replace it by sending it to Microsoft.

Also, this video assumes that the cause of the RROD is the X-Clamp, but this has not necessarily been proven. I wrote a post on the many suspected causes of the Red Ring of Death a while back, and concluded that there was no definite answer as to what caused it.

Overall, I highly doubt the effectiveness of this fix.