New Xbox 360 Can Shut Down to Prevent RRoD-Style Damage

[Ares]

New Xbox 360 Can Shut Down to Prevent RRoD-Style Damage

Rather than the red rings, you get a red dot and a message telling you the 360 is shutting off.
By Chris Pereira, 06/21/2010

A listing of the differences between current models of the Xbox 360 and the new black one announced at E3 last week revealed that the new systems would no longer be able to give the Red Ring of Death. More specifically, it lacked the red light around the power button to display the error; it's not that the system is necessarily invulnerable to suffering the issue.

But the new 360s are smarter about trying to avoid a potential RRoD-style death -- if the system isn't properly venting, the power button will turn red and the system will shut itself off in order to avoid any serious damage. It'll display the message you see above (via NeoGAF, Engadget) which explains the situation and informs you that the system can be turned back on once the power light has stopped flashing.

It might be somewhat annoying to have your 360 shut off on you in the midst of a play session, but that still seems highly preferable to ending up with the Red Ring of Death and being unable to play for a few weeks while your system is off at Microsoft being repaired.

Source: 1up

 

[Audioholics]

I would say that if that notice comes up, ever, during normal use (ie, you didn't lose AC in your sealed closet or have the thing stuffed under a blanket) then they are entering the realm of epic fail. No laptop shuts down, no PC does that... You design it to adequately ventilate under even extended use. Period.

 

[j_garcia]

The fact that they included this tells me one simple thing: they haven't fixed the problem.

 

[GlocksRock]

The fact that they included this tells me one simple thing: they haven't fixed the problem.

I'd say it's too early still to tell. Some people will still cram the box into a tiny enclosed cabinet that isn't properly ventilated and still want to blame Microsoft when thier console overheats. They are just being proactive if you ask me. But the new 45nm chip with larger fan and more vents will definitely help with overheating.

 

[MinusTheBear]

I am pretty proactive about keeping my 360 and power brick as ventilated as possible. My first console I got the RROD after 1 and half to 2 years. My first refurbished console lasted about the same but the fan and operation was very noisy and it ended up having problems reading disks for certain games. The second refurbished console I have with a date of late 2009 does run cooler and is much quieter than the previous versions . When it starts up to load a game it doesn't have that sound of a "jet engine" starting up in your living room. This is with reference to playing the disk directly off the console and not downloaded onto the HDD. I am quite pleased with the latest refurbished model I have.

 

[Shock]

No laptop shuts down, no PC does that... You design it to adequately ventilate under even extended use. Period.

Gaming laptops run notoriously hot prompting them to throttle back, or simply restart. Considering all the stuff that's packed into that chassis I'm not surprised that ventilation would be a problem.

I don't own a 360 or a PS3 for that matter, but I can see where a feature like this would be desirable.

 

[MinusTheBear]

Gaming laptops run notoriously hot prompting them to throttle back, or simply restart. Considering all the stuff that's packed into that chassis I'm not surprised that ventilation would be a problem.

I don't own a 360 or a PS3 for that matter, but I can see where a feature like this would be desirable.

You make a great point. It would be even a better feature for those that overclock their computers.