Red Ring of Death and E74 Errors? Fix Them Yourself at Home in Under 1 Hour and Carry on Gaming
So, you have either the Red Ring of Death or the E74 Error? The good news is that in most cases, these errors can be repaired at home for little cost without having the excessive fees for taking it into a shop.
The first thing that you need to understand before taking your console apart (if your console is under warranty still this will void the warranty, so DO NOT open up your console), is what the Red Ring of Death and E74 Errors actually mean. Both the Red Ring of Death and E74 Error are very similar, as they are both classified as “General Hardware” failures.
Below i will cover what all the red light combinations mean:
1 Red Light
This will be accompanied by a 2 digit error code on the screen, this will usually be the E74 Error. This indicates that there is a problem with either the ANA chip, or the GPU. Most of the time it is the GPU, which is easy to fix. If it is the ANA chip, it is still fixable but just a lot harder. However, it is possible that this could be a fault with the AV cable, so you should check the cable before opening up the console. Common symptoms before getting the error are in-game freezes, and graphics problems.
2 Red Lights
This simply means that your console has overheated. Game play will stop and the fans will go onto full until the console has cooled down, then your console will be OK to use. If this happens you should check that your console is well ventilated and free of dust, as if this happens often it can damage your console.
3 Red Lights
This is what is commonly known as the Red Ring of Death, and is a General Hardware error. This is a fault with one or more of the hardware components, usually in either the graphics or processor chips. Common symptoms before getting the error are in-game freezes, sound problems, and graphics problems. It is possible that if there was a power surge, that may be the cause of the Red Ring of Death. In which case, you should turn off your console and disconnect all your leads, then re-connect everything and tur the power back on. This may fix the problem, so always try this first.
4 Red Lights
This simply means that the AV cable cannot be detected, so check that it is connected properly.
So, now that you know what everything means, how do you fix the Red Ring of Death and the E74 Error?
Firstly, you will need to buy a few things (don’t worry though, they can be purchased very cheaply) as follows:
M5 x 12mm Button Screw x 8
M5 flat washers x 3
Thermal paste (check on eBay, Amazon etc..)
Once you have these, you are ready to repair your console.
What you need to do is open up your console, remove the x clamps, remove the heatsinks, clean the chips and heatsinks, re-apply the thermal paste, re-apply the heatsinks (using the washers), re-flow the chips,close the case up.
Once you have done these steps, you should have fixed the E74 Error and Red Ring of Death, and your console should be ready to use again.