Red Ring of Death

The "Red Ring of Death" is a failure mode of the Xbox 360 console developed by Microsoft, named after the three flashing lights that show when the console is affected by this issue. This issue was common on the original model of the Xbox 360.

Background
Warning signs may include freeze-ups, graphical problems in the middle of gameplay, such as checkerboard or pinstripe patterns or strange green blotches on the screen, and sound errors; mostly consisting of extremely loud noises that can be affected by the volume control, and the console only responds to pressing the power button to turn it off.

This error code is usually caused by failure of one or more hardware components, although it can indicate that the console is not receiving enough power from the power supply, which can either be due to a faulty power supply or if the power supply cable is not fully inserted into the console.

The 3 flashing lights can also be caused by power surges; if the console is connected to an outlet that receives a power surge, it may have a failure and the 3 lights will appear as long as the console is plugged into the outlet. Turning off the console, unplugging all power cables and plugging them back in, and restarting the console may fix this issue in some cases.

Reaction
In the early months after the console's launching, Microsoft stated that the Xbox 360's failure rate was within the consumer electronics industry's typical 3% to 5%. Nevertheless, Microsoft has not released its official statistics on the failure rate of the various versions of the console.

On July 5, 2007, Peter Moore, the Vice President of Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business division published an open letter recognizing the console's problems, as well as announcing a three-year warranty from the original date of purchase for every Xbox 360 console that experiences the "general hardware failure" indicated by three flashing red LEDs on the console.