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Xbox 360: Four lights flash red on the Ring of Light

Article ID:906652
Last Review:September 20, 2007
Revision:5.3
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SYMPTOMS

All four lights on the Ring of Light (ROL) flash red on the front of the Xbox 360 console.

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CAUSE

This issue may occur for one of the following reasons:
The audio-visual (AV) cable is not connected correctly or plugged into the Xbox 360 console.
The console is not detecting the cable.
This issue does not occur if the AV cable is plugged incorrectly into a television, a stereo, or a VCR.

Note This issue occurs only on Xbox 360 consoles that do not have a High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) AV port.

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THINGS TO TRY

Here are some things that you can try to fix the issue or to determine what the cause is. If you cannot fix the problem yourself, please contact Xbox Customer Support. Visit http://www.xbox.com/support/contact (http://www.xbox.com/support/contact) for information about how to do this.

Make sure that the AV cable is connected correctly to the Xbox 360 console. To do this, disconnect the audio-visual (AV) cable from the Xbox 360 console, and then firmly reconnect the AV cable to the Xbox 360 console.

Note When you plug the audio-visual (AV) cable into the Xbox 360 console , the cable meets slight resistance before it is fully inserted. If you do not fully insert the cable, either all four lights will flash on the Ring of Light, or no video may be displayed on the screen. You know that the cable is fully inserted when the largest part of the connector is almost touching the case of the console.

For more information about how to connect the AV cable to your Xbox 360 console, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
906144 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/906144/) Xbox 360: How to connect the Xbox 360 console by using the Xbox 360 Composite AV Cable
906303 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/906303/) Xbox 360: How to connect an Xbox 360 console to a TV by using the Component HD AV Cable
906202 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/906202/) Xbox 360: How to connect the Xbox 360 VGA HD AV Cable
906203 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/906203/) Xbox 360: How to connect the Xbox 360 S-Video AV Cable

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Check to make sure that the AV cable is clean

If four red lights continue to flash, unplug the AV cable from the back of the console. Then, try wiping the metal area of the AV cable that plugs into the console. Do this by using a dry, soft, clean, chemical-free cloth. The metal area of the cable is the end that plugs into the console. Clean and wipe the metal area thoroughly, and then plug in the AV cable again.

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Try another AV cable

If the AV cable is connected correctly but the four red lights are still flashing, try using a different AV cable if you have one available.

If none of these steps resolved your issue, your console may have to be repaired. For information about how to start the repair process online, please visit http://www.xbox.com/support (http://www.xbox.com/support), and then click Console Repair? in the upper-right section of the Web page.

Note Online console repair service is currently not available in all countries or regions.

If you would rather contact Xbox Customer Support directly, please visit http://www.xbox.com/support/contact (http://www.xbox.com/support/contact) for information about how to do this.

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APPLIES TO
Microsoft XBox 360 Video Game System
Microsoft Xbox 360 Component HD AV Cable
Microsoft Xbox 360 Core System
Microsoft Xbox 360 S-Video AV Cable
Microsoft Xbox 360 VGA HD AV Cable
Microsoft Xbox

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Keywords: 
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