Red ring of death and E74 bugs? Fix them yourself at home in less than 1 hour and keep playing

So do you have the Red Ring of Death or the E74 bug? The good news is that, in most cases, these errors can be repaired at home for little cost without having to pay excessive fees to take it to a shop.

The first thing to understand before disassembling your console (if your console is still under warranty, this will void your warranty, so DO NOT open your console), is what Red Ring of Death and E74 errors really mean. Both Red Ring of Death and E74 Error are very similar, as both are classified as “general hardware” failures.

Next, I’ll cover what all the red light combinations mean:

1 red light

This will be accompanied by a 2 digit error code on the screen, usually the E74 error. This indicates that there is a problem with the ANA chip or the GPU. Most of the time it’s the GPU, which is easy to fix. If it’s the ANA chip, it can still be fixed, but it’s much more difficult. However, this may be a fault with the AV cable, so you should check the cable before opening the console. Common symptoms before getting the error are game crashes and graphical issues.

2 red lights

This simply means that your console has overheated. The game will pause and the fans will be full until the console has cooled down, then you can use your console. If this happens, you should check that your console is well ventilated and free of dust, as if this happens frequently, 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 the graphics chips or processors. Common symptoms before getting the error are game crashes, sound issues, and graphics issues. It is possible that if there was a power surge, that could be the cause of the Red Ring of Death. In which case, you need to turn the console off and unplug all the cables, then plug everything back in and turn it 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 correctly.

So now that you know what it all means, how do you fix the red ring of death and E74 error?

First of all, you will need to buy a few things (don’t worry, they can be bought very cheaply) as follows:

Button screw M5 x 12mm x 8

Flat washers M5 x 3

Thermal paste (check on eBay, Amazon, etc.)

Once you have them, 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, reapply the thermal paste, reapply the heatsinks (using the washers), reapply to flow the chips, close the case.

Once you’ve done these steps, you should have fixed the E74 error and the red ring of death, and your console should be ready to use again.