Xbox 360 Slim - Won't Turn off - It Goes Crazy

I sadly do not :/ ill try to find a data spread sheet on the pinouts!

 

More weird additions: Sitting here messing around with it more. So we saw the Remote Control menu in the settings was making the drive open/close and beep. Decided to go through the rest of the settings menu and try other stuff. Finding that the Clock menu opens and closes the disc tray whenever you confirm options in the Date and Time, Time Zone, and Daylight Saving options. Changing the Time Format does not do it. And you have to confirm these changes for it to do it. If you enter one of those settings and then hit B to back out, it won't do it. But if you enter one of those settings and hit the A button, it will do a beep and do something with the drive. You don't have to change a setting, just confirm whatever with the A button to go back.

I'll also note that the two RF Modules seem to have slightly different behavior. The original one has the disc tray open in a much more regular way. It'll beep and open or beep and close, sometimes when you don't prompt it too. The replacement one has the drive constantly beeping and the tray moves in and out very small distances. It'll also do it when the tray is closed, you can hear it inside cycling the tray to open and close really fast which can be seen and heard in the videos. They both exhibit roughly the same problems when you try to power down the system though.

I would want to say that means somehow this other replacement module is also broken in an almost identical way but they are not the same part numbers. The original is a X821259-006 and the replacement I got is a X821259-008. These RF Modules should work in any Slim system, apparently it doesn't matter. But maybe the slightly different behavior is just some dumb minor difference in the board.

I might just order another RF Module to really rule this crap out. Thing is already a giant money pit anyway.

 

as long as your not putting in the amount of a new console to fix it xD no problem there haha

This is some bullshit man, i've never had a phat encounter such an issue, you would think slims would be flawless? lol

 

Well I got this thing to hopefully repair it and sell it. Can't remember if I wrote this in the original post but the seller said it was having video output issues and was turning itself off and not turning back on or something. When I got it, it did have video output, but after letting it sit for a little awhile, the PSU overheated and shut the system down. But I fixed the PSU and tried it again and it was fine. Ordered a new PSU anyway. Cleaned the entire thing out because it was super disgusting tar-like substance all over the inside. Next day it started all this crazy crap on its own.

I've already got my own mint launch Xbox 360 Premium that has never had RROD 8 years going now. And my launch 60gig PS3 has been going just as long without a hitch.

So yea I don't need this thing for myself lol I already fixed one phat (why do they call them phat btw? Phat meant "cool" back in my day. Fat makes more sense because it's the big 360 model..) RROD 360 and used it heavily for a week without problems and sold that finally. Fixed another phat RROD 360 and gifted that to my friend. Failed to fix a third phat 360 that had a failed network chip (I was inexperienced and accidentally lifted trace pads which I was not able to salvage) so thats a parts donor now. Picked up two broken 60gig PS3s, both ended up having more than just YLOD, one I failed to fix because logic board blu-ray crap sucks (there's a whole other recent thread with that fiasco) and the other one I've fixed all the issues and has been working great for a few days now. One small hitch with it was it shut itself off at one point with a blinking red light. I shut it off and waited a minute and turned it back on and it was fine. Hasn't done it since so not sure what was up with that. I will play test it more til I'm confident in it and then put it up for sale.

Some other stuff here and there. This is all just because I really enjoy tinkering with things and learning stuff the hands on way. Plus I've got no job so I could use some money, but so far that hasn't worked out at all as I somehow end up with broken systems that have issues that no one has ever had before or haven't documented lol. I also enjoy trying to fix the problems and then have this information on the forum so if anyone else comes across similar issues, they might find this stuff useful.

 

wow quite the console history you got there i got my thing for the "phat" if you will 360's, I've personally never owned a slim as it doesn't fit my liking, i find its a bit oddly shaped, its a beautiful console non the less. but the double concavity look of the original 360 is impossible to beat IMO, Add a sidecar onto it, and its one of the most aggressive looking developer consoles I've ever seen. makes me understand why there is people out there with such connections to their Genesis, or their SNES's, and they wouldn't choose anything else over it, the 360 is my personal console haha xD always has been and i doubt ill ever grow out of it, talking to people who share the same knowledge and appreciation for the console is what keeps me going through out the day! always great to learn new things hear and there, and i love teaching/helping out all the time.

I too have had my share of 360's xD my current total collection through out my life (not all with me now) has been a total of at least 15 360's, reasons are either getting great deals on them, specialty versions like the launch team bundle (green), or consoles i had for a while, but then sold off (or RROD'ed beyond repair) i'm always down to talk 360, whether its modding or just hardware specs/topics, i'm there!

I can't believe this will be your 3rd RF board IF you choose to go down that road, that really sucks man, but again, sellers over the internet can be risky little buggers. i've gotten scammed a few times my self, been there, done that. though paypal had my back the majority of the time lol

IF you go out and buy another RF board, and the issue persists, its fair to say its the consoles motherboard its self that is fucky. and not the RF XD

 

I've got a Xenon that I towel tricked to death two years ago... One day I did it so bad and it worked for like 2 weeks straight and then it was dead. The thing won't even power on anymore, rofl.

 

yeah its deffinitly the last resort kind of thing to do, i did it to a 460$+ XDK and i cringed the whole time doing it, runs fine now. Though i rarely use it (im to scared to use it, i wanna keep it for long)

 

Fun Facts: So the system would occasionally open or close the disc tray even if it was just sitting there and you're not doing anything with it. I decided to time it and see if there was an actual pattern.

8 mins 44 seconds on the dot. I tested both RF Modules under the exact same conditions. Each for about 40 min duration.

Every 8 mins 44 seconds the disc tray would open and then 8 mins 44 seconds later it would close. Repeat.

The replacement RF Module did its crazy quick open close thing twice. One for about 35 seconds and then it would stop and the other was around 53 seconds I think. Sometimes it didn't do it. The original RF Module did not do this.

I've already ordered another RF Module because what the hell.

I also took the system downstairs to the opposite end of the house and tried it plugged into a different TV, with an outlet that should be on a different circuit of the house. Still did all the same behavior.

 

I've been reading your plight and I'm really intrigued! I have worked on a ton of phats, but I'm not too familiar with the slims, unfortunately. I'll try to help if I can, though.



My next step would be to take every battery and battery pack out of every controller you have to make sure that there is no stray controller signal from a sticky button or anything like that. Controllers can do strange things. At least rule that out. Same for any Xbox remotes or other peripherals you may have.



Next, I would inspect the socket that the RF board plugs into. A bad or damged connection to the motherboard would make sense since both boards behave similarly. I am kind of assuming that the slims are similar to the phats in having a socket connector.

 

Yeap all batteries removed from wireless controllers. I don't have any Xbox Remotes or anything. Went a step further and pulled the batteries out of every TV and other remote I have in my room.

Still does it.

I've looked at the RF socket a bunch today and yesterday and can't see anything wrong with it. No bent pins. I've tried jiggling around the RF Module to see if its a loose connection there but nothing. Pulled the motherboard completely out today and checked the underside for issues and don't see anything noticeably wrong or odd. Only thing that seemed maybe odd was the top left pin I mentioned earlier had a fluctuating voltage. I think testing the RF socket on the motherboard itself had the same effect on that pin. I believe I followed the trace and it was uniquely paired to another trace- I say uniquely because they were both thicker traces than the rest of the stuff around it. They lead across the bottom of the motherboard to the HANA/video controller chip I think it is.

I Jiggled every other wire going in and out of this thing with no results. Checked the disc drive connections to see if they were loose or a wire got pulled or a pin pulled etc.

I've read that people have issues with bent USB socket pins causing the system to power on/off weird ways so I've checked every USB socket and don't see any bent pins. Checked the Component and HDMI sockets for bent pins.

Tested the voltage coming out of the new PSU and it's a solid 5v. Tried plugging in the old PSU anyway and it still did it.

Tried cleaning out the disc drive last night seeing how people have issues with that clip breaking or something. Everything was intact, albeit dirty as hell like the rest of the system was. Cleaned it all out.

Tried unplugging the little wireless network card. It plugs into a USB slot hidden inside the case btw for people who aren't familiar with Slims.

I've tried it without the HDD in it.

I tried formatting the system cache and HDD.

I tried setting the video output to 480i. Tried HDMI and Component.

I tried turning off every useless setting in the options like Windows Media Center PC connection, Display Discovery, 3D TV etc

All nothing.

Edit:

As a refresher, lets run down what we do know for a fact:

1. The system exhibits similar, yet slightly different behavior with two different RF Modules. They are two different part #s.

2. The system does not exhibit any weird behavior when no RF Module is plugged in.

3. With either RF Module, if the system is left sitting powered on with no controller attached, every 8 minutes 44 seconds the system will send a signal to open/close the disc tray.

4. Using the "A" button to confirm settings under the "Remote Control" menu and the "Clock" > "Date And Time" / "Time Zone" / "Daylight Savings Time" options except for "Time Format" (12 hour/24 hour) will cause the disc tray to open/close or go crazy.

4. Wireless controllers will sync and function with either RF Module.

5. The system is able to read and play games with or without either RF Module installed. But it will still eject the tray on it's own, seemingly 8 mins 44 secs after putting the game in, thus exiting the game.

 

I might just have to take my slim apart and get friendly with the internals next chance I have. You seem to have been pretty thorough in your troubleshooting.

 

Added a refresher list to my post above and to the original post.

It's 5:45 AM so I'm off to bed.

Thanks for everyone's ideas, interest, and curiosity!

 

You mean the "fat",white 360?
May I ask what wizardry you did to it so it doesn't RROD?

 

Nothing really. The only hardware issue I ever had with it was the tiny magnet that sits on the top of the disc drive spindle I think. That came loose many years ago and would make a wicked buzzing sound when a disc was in it. I just re-glued it.

The system would freeze fairly often when playing games though so I still think the thing is a mess of hardware design junk (every person I know who has had a 360 said they went through like 10 RROD. I briefly worked at a Gamestop and heard similar stories from both employees and customers). My PS3 would freeze but it happened so little it was just eh.. the X360 did it so frequently it was frustrating.

Both systems I've left on for days at a time probably. And I typically do long 8 hour gaming sessions if it's a game I'm really into. I occasionally dust them off and shoot some air into the vents but that happens maybe once every year or two?

The entertainment center I've had for awhile now is open on all sides and black glass shelves (really shows off the dust.) My previous smaller entertainment unit had individual boxed in shelves so pretty poor air circulation. I maaaaybe had that unit for the first few years of these systems?

I don't believe I've ever used them on carpet? And I hardly ever move them.

PS3 is always in stand-by mode when not being used. Doing the same thing with the PS4 so far.

I use the PS3 waaaay more than the 360, especially in recent years. The 360 will get turned on maybe once or twice a year now. PS3 is almost every day.

I don't know why they still work. I think I take care of these things in a pretty average way, as I would expect/hope any reasonably smart person would. With the heavy use I put into mine with no issues, I can't fathom how people overheat theirs and I just assume they are placed on a carpet and buried under a pile of clothes during use.

Edit: Oh, I never use them vertically is another.

 

Think of the issue like this. When a disc drive is open for a given amount of time it automatically closes after a uniform period of time. If this part were to malfunction the drive would not only automatically close but may also be given the signal to open given that this piece has the power to send an eject signal to the drive. This piece is likely set to a given time (explaining the uniformity of your drive opening and closing) To test this I would open the disc drive and check if it automatically closes. If it takes the 8:44 then this piece (I don't actually know what it is lol) is your issue. This also would explain changes to the clock causing it to go haywire as it is dependent on it to determine the automatic closing.

 

To test your theory, I ran the system with no RF Module installed. If there were an auto tray close system, I imagine it would be built in somewhere on the main board. I'm also sure the clock stuff is there as well.

So with no RF Module installed (when the system behaves perfectly) I fired it up and then opened and closed the drive to again double check it was working, then opened the tray and started the timer. 25 mins later now and the tray has still not closed.

:/

 

When you adjust the clock without the RF does it go haywire and remember the time?

 

Well, I come bearing bad news.

The second RF Module I bought came today and guess what.. System still goes crazy. I would be more upset about this exceeeeeept...

...the other night I was checking voltages on the MOSFETs and, because of Murphy's Law, the one probed slipped and touched the gate and drain pins and I heard it spark (Q6B2 on the board to be exact). The system wouldn't turn on now. I then spent hooouuuurs over the span of two days trying to figure out if any of the MOSFETs from an old phat 360 board (which I have laying here) will work for this but hitting dead ends down every path I could find. I was able to find Data Sheets for the old phat 360 MOSFETs but not for the ones on this Slim Trinity board.

For some reason, people want like $80 for Slim motherboards. So I tried one of the MOSFETs from the phat board (I'm guessing it's a Xenon or something) and it blew immediately. The phat mobos have like 40 MOSFETs on them but only two different part numbers. I tried the other one and was able to get the system to start, but noticed a different little (SOT?) thing pop right next to it but the system still works. But I can feel the other MOSFET which is probably downstream of it getting hot.

So I guess this is hopeless now. I'm not going to spend a ton of money to get a junk Trinity board so I can swap some components off and the thing is still never going to work.

I don't know wtf is wrong with this thing. Even if I got it all fixed, I could probably only sell it for $80 which is not far off of what I paid.

 

sucks to hear, was hoping you would nail this one down, maybe someone will chime in with more info on what you might of blown so you can get a replacement part.....in the mean time see if the seller will accept his RF board back

 

Well since I blew out that other little thing, Id need that part as well. And for the price of buying these little parts with the shipping from Newark or something, I feel like it would be more beneficial to find a junk Trinity motherboard and salvage exact parts from it plus whatever I might need in the future. And maybe I could swap HANA chips if that could be the problem (are they interchangeable?). That would all make sense if I could get a dead board for cheap. But people are selling them for chunks of money. It would be cheaper to buy a whole other junk system. It's all headaches.

I'm going to just keep the stuff for parts I guess.