You can find out what the problem is with your system by holding down the sync button then tapping the eject button. Each time you press it, you get a number, represented by flashing lights (video example). I got 0022, which is apparently is an error form the GPU over heating. This was what I expected as the system kept freezing and displaying some odd stuff before the RROD appeared. There is a huge list of error codes and their descriptions here.

It seems the RROD are displayed when the system detects an error, and locks it down to stop it working. The only way you seem to be able to reset it, is to overhead the system. This can be done by the “towl trick” or better yet jamming the fans. Lots of examples of these can again be found on YouTube.

This didn’t work for me, so I did some more research for my error code 0022 and found this solution by xx_mimic_xx

There is a very simple fix to this issue and I am not sure why it is not being talked about. I will have to make a video and post it for everyone to see, but in short, you need to overheat the GPU while keeping the CPU cool.
Now, if you do not know what you are doing, I would wait until I make a video about it. However, if you are comfortable taking your Xbox apart then it is simple.
You will need to disaseble the box all of the way down to removing the top cover and exposing the board. You do not need to remove the DVD or the fan, however you will need to take off the plastic piece that vents the fan air into the heat sinks. After you get that far, take the fan out of the case. DO NOT UNPLUG IT, as you will need it. Just pull it out of its holding spot. Next, you will want to move the DVD drive off to the side, away from the GPU heat sink, but leave it plugged in. Then set the fan on top of the CPU heat sink, the taller one, so that it does not overheat. Then turn your system on and let it RROD, then leave it on for about 10-15 min. What this will do is overheat the GPU and reflow the solder underneath it. After 10-15 min, turn your system off, let it cool, put it back together, and you should be good to go! I have done this on 3 systems that came up with error codes related to the CPU or GPU, and all 3 are now working again. Good luck!

So first off you need to get the case off, and in this modern age YouTube comes to the rescue with loads of really useful videos of people doing just that. Videos are great as I often find normal tutorials will miss something out the author thinks trivial (yet vital) or just aren’t very clear. After all seeing is believing. This one is as good as any: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaxIB6cXTYM You don’t need any special tools, but the do make things easier (I was making the best of a swiss army knife)

Then as xx_mimic_xx said, you need to place the fan on the CPU (the taler one) and leave it for about 20 minutes. The system shouldn’t show the 2 flashing red rings when it overheats (as we a cooling the CPU). Instead the GPU should over heat and stay over headed apparently reflowing the solder.

Once done, let if cool for as long time and then hopefully it should turn back on without the RROD. You may need to do a standard overheat to reset the system though. It wont be a permeant fix mind, but should keep you going for a bit…

NOTE: Make sure not to be connected to Xbox live when your tinkering with your system, as it may ban you if it thinks you modding the system. Also make sure you careful when running the system with no covers, as there is a risk of electrocution and be sure to ground yourself too ;)

I am currently re-writing the flex application that displays statistics for Ceros. We are adding a lot more detail to what’s being recorded and the old interface lacked the navigation to display the finer granularity we now have.

Starting fresh on a project you have already done is great, because you have done all your planning without any dull paperwork… I guess it’s like a hard core prototype! But it makes stuff so much easier! I have also chosen to use the Cairngorm framework from Adobe consulting, mainly because of it’s good documentation, but also because I wanted to learn some best practices and design patterns, and personally I learn a lot better from practical experience than reading books.

Cairngorm is often critisised for adding a lot of overhead, however as long as your not creating a banner, I don’t find this much of an issue (yet). It has really helped, and even if you use it once and then create your own framework, there is a lot you can learn from using it. However the excessive use of MXML in examples is rather annoying.

I have a few example of problems I have solved that I would like to add to this blog soon, such as creating your own custom loading screen, and pitfalls when using change watchers. I will try and do that soon, when I get the chance.

I have also been meaning to try out the Fire Eagle API, although again I have not found the time, and as I’m off on holiday on Friday I can’t see it happing for a while :(

In other news, I started running again… ouch! Been owning on PES:2008 and loving online COD4!

Initially I had teething problems with both. Change to something you are so used to is not always easy to take, and with PES2008, as with all new version I struggled to get to grips with the new look and feel, especially as this is the first real version in HD. Have to say improvements in hardware have been felt in graphics as well as AI, the computer is now far more intelligent and frustrating to play on hard. New additions such as diving seem to be quite a skill, and I am yet to get anything than booked for trying!

Leopard also had a hard start! I initially got an apple blue screen of death when upgrading, something I later found to be a fault with Application Enhancer, a framework tool that hadn’t managed to upgrade, or warn it’s users of the fault!

I was relaxed knowing how OS X works, and was assured to know nothing would be tampering with my home folder! I eventually got it working, and it’s a lovely OS. Spaces is a desktop manager with some usability built in. Being able to keep some applications on all desktops, will stop you skipping back and forth, while stacks make my dock much more organised and smaller.

Networking had really been simplified, browsing, controlling and connecting is now a breeze, and iChat’s screen share makes helping my sister in Scotland a LOT easier!

I’m sure I will find gripes and more great features in both releases, but it’s great for stuff to live up to their hype, well done to Konami and Apple!

Having a week off I managed to get quite a bit of time to play BioShock on the 360. The game has just come out, and is one of the first AAA games since Gears Of War. So I thought I would put up a little review.

As a summary before I start, the game lives up to it’s AAA status, it’s beautiful, quality, deep and long. Everything you want from a £40 investment, and something you don’t always get back. Well not from only single player games anyway. It’s not quite up to the level of detail of something like Metal Gear Solid, and I doubt I will be playing it in a years time like PES6, but it’s almost as good as you can get from a game in it’s genera.

Presentation: The story is strong, and game polished. There are very few cut scenes, and of those they are all in game, or let you roam around while they happen which makes you feel much more involved. Most of the narrative is played through recordings you pick up and play, although often you get attacked while listening to these (or enter automated narrative which stops them) but it is easy to replay them, or read the scripts (handy when they contain codes). The story is also quite adult, containing gene splicing, morality and some rather sick characters, which is nice to see, as often they are rather dully Hollywood rip offs with, America the great and no choice but to do the moral thing, in Rapture it’s all about choice…

Graphics: The graphics are great. The city of Rapture is stunning, with Art Deco straight from roaring twenties America. The style is carried off thought the game, from the symmetry of the menu screen to the handles on fridges, characters costumes and posters. There are some gripes I have though, it seems the Xbox 360 struggles to load in all the textures and I often find myself running up to a machine to see the high resolution textures load in one at a time, rather like polygon counts in last generation games. This is a slight annoyance but easy to ignore. The only other gripe I have is the splicers, I was trying to have a look for screen shots on the web but they all looked great… I however seem to notice that most of the time they are quite simple with low polly counts and stretched textures, perhaps to allow a lot on screen at once, and perhaps covered up by the story of being mutated… cunning! This shouldn’t mar the game though, as it generally looks fantastic, the big daddies are stunning, but it’s just not quite Gears of War.

The environments are huge and some rooms serve only to waste your time, which makes the game feel much more open. A number of the items can be smashed or knocked about, and the designers often place items on top of one another to cause them to fall when you pick them up or bash into them. Levels are separated by a metro/lift kind of thing, with I think the botanical garden level being the most stunning.

Sound: The sounds or Rapture are really good, hight quality authentic and with some great voice acting. The only annoyances are that some of the sounds get rather repetitive in most games it’s the enemies comments, which here are numerous and clever, but for BioShock it’s the sounds of searching for items, the vending machines (“welcome to the circus of vaaaaalue”….. again and again), and swishing back drinks. Although it’s a small gripe for a game that has got most of the sound so spot on.

Gameplay: BioShock presents you with choice, not necessarily over the physical route you take (although there is a good and bad option) but over how to kill enemies and build up your character and arsenal. The environment can be used to your advantage allowing you to electrify water and set fire to olil spills, and burn and freeze furniture, but in some ways it’s inconsistent. For example you can often melt ice to water, but never freeze water to ice, which is just enough to make you feel it’s not totally up to you, but rather set up for you. It would be great to knock over barrels to create oil spills, or make holes in windows to flood rooms but this isn’t the case. The AI is also very good, I have heard reports of enemies being very clever, and have witnessed them healing themselves, putting out fire by jumping in water and taking alternate routes through rooms. Although I think I have been conditioned by so many other games to ignore this, or put it down to a bug in their AI. In BioShock they have started to develop the AI into something less straight forward and perhaps something I have wanted to see for ages… AS (artificial stupidity).

One of the most annoying things in the game play has to be the hacking… It’s great at first and a clever way to make you choose if you want to spend money or time, but after 10 hours of game play it’s tedious… I’m sure they could have found a few other simple games to use, but now I choose not to hack things, not because they are hard, but because I can’t bare to go through it all again.

Lasting Appeal:
This game is long. I have put in about 10-15 hours I think and there is still a way to go. I am not sure I will play through it again, although there is clearly another route to take, not because of the game but more because it’s a bit of a commitment, and PES2008 will be out soon.

Summary: In summary after writing the review I feel I have been harsh, but I though it would be nice to focus on the flaws (if you can even call them that) rather than building up even more hype. It’s a great game, and one of the first games I have played of this generation that really sets the bar.

It honestly sounded like an angel grinder, so I quickly turned it off, only to find that it now won’t read any disks, and makes very loud clunking noises when I put one in. I have tried turning it on it’s side, different disks reboots… everything I can think of but with no joy.

So now I am on hold trying to contact the Xbox 360 customer support line… joy. Shoddy shoddy Microsoft…. especially when I have only had it about 3 months and played on it a relatively small amount of times.

UPDATE:

So I finally got through to customer support and they are sending me some stickers…. for UPS to send it in. I then have to arrange a pick up and can expect to get it back in 3 weeks!!!!

I remember I had a similar problem with my launch PS2 (you can expect the odd problem from launch machines) and Sony sent a new one to my house for me to swap with my old one, no waiting 3 weeks for repair! I also had a problem with an Apple battery which they just sent me a new one for… I didn’t even have to send the old one back… poor service really for such a big company like Microsoft (not even an apology over the phone mite I add!).

Check out the quake wars video interview here…

I have to say I agree with him and think the PS3 is a great machine which is far from overpriced for what you get (in fact cheaper than the 360 by quite a way)! But that does not mean I regret getting my 360, as I feel the PS3 has about 6 months to a year before it’s worth getting, hell I only got a 360 a month ago because until then there were no great games out there, and the Wii because its a great toy off the shelf!

Anyway have a read of the 10 reasons why the PS3 will win this console generation!

But read it before your comment… please!

I started by playing a bit of single player to get a hang of the controls, which I though would be more or less the same as Rainbow 6 Vegas, but no they changed everything! The cover is now automatic (a bit like GOW) and due to the open terrains the players move a lot faster. The campaign was really cool though, controlling the UMV and remote controlled ammo trucks (Mule) worked really well, as did the game play, which thus far has included some sort of new game play feature on each level (controlling APC’s, Air Strikes, Mini Gunning from Black Hawks etc).

It was great playing along at the same time as Tom but chatting over Xbox live, one of the best features (now he has got is sorted).

We played a bit of online action too, which was really confusing as they seem to have removed the cover system??? The games were cool though, but really need some team work to play well and get the most from it, which I hope will come with time :)

Another night on xbox live last night without being able to hear my friends or play in a private game with them!

Aparently its an aggressive NAT routing problem, but sounds like shoddy M$ to me, as sometimes it works fine and sometimes not at all…

As this is a trial, it makes me thing twice about getting it for real :(

First off the idea is fatastic. You can have a list of friends, be notified when ever they come online, invite them to private chats or even into the game your playing.

The problem is it’s not quite all there yet, and a bit buggy. Sometimes the voice chat echos or doesn’t work at all between some people. It also sometimes crashes and feels a bit slow. I would say I’m looking forward to them ironing out the bugs, but then it’s been out for long enough for this to happen surley.

Anyway I am impressed and really like the team talk (when it’s working well) and am loving the terrorist hunt on Rainbow 6 vegas.