Dvd
problems
If your Xbox is freezing during games
or returning the dreaded Dirty Disc Error you have a
DVD drive problem.
If this all sounds like too much work you can always buy a replacement drive.
Steps to take in order to
resolve Dirty Disk
Errors-
1. Use a standard cd or dvd
cleaner, they look like a normal CD
but with eight miniature brushes on them. This
will only clean the lens. Sometimes this is all
you need to fix this error.
| Hitachi GDR-3120L Drive |
3. Clean the
lens and mirror
manually
Tutorial
(same
tutorial as Thompson tear
down)
4. Adjust the
Potentiometer (pot) on the
laser.
Thompson
Tutorial
5. Replace
the Laser in the DVD drive,
purchase
replacement
Samsung
Phillips
and
Thompson
lasers.
6. If none of
the above options revive your
drive you can rest assured you
have tried it all... Get a new
drive, they do go dead and
it’s probably not your fault
or the fault of your younger
sibling-relative-friend that
was messing with your Xbox
without your permission (yes I
hear that a lot).
Replacement
Xbox DVD
Drives
You may
notice that some of your
games play fine while
others do not. This is
usually because some games
are on DVD media and some
are on CD media. CD's are
single layer media while
DVD's are multi layer
media. This means it is
easier to read a CD than it
is to read a DVD. The
concept of a DVD is to have
several semi transparent
layers of data. It is sort
of like taking a few CD's
stacking them together and
smooshing them into a
single disc. To read the
2-4 layers of data you must
ignore the previous layers
and pay attention to ones
deeper in the disc.
Obviously this is a more
complex task and more
subject to read errors. My
description is not entirely
accurate to keep the
concepts easy to
understand
For
instance the double disk of
Jet Set Radio Future and
Sega GT 2003 is a CD while
Munch's Odyssey/Halo is on
a DVD. Most often you will
notice the bottom of the
media is one of two colors,
gold DVD's and Silver CD's.
It is not 100% that
gold=DVD and silver=CD so
if you find this rule of
thumb to not be true in
every case... that's
life.
If
you know you have a DVD
problem because the
drive will not open or
close, stay opened or
closed or makes
grinding and popping
noises...then
The
number one quick fix
for the DVD drive is to
re-align the tray. This
is common with CD
players, CD changers as
well. Many times just
from normal use a gear
will skip or something
will jump track, unless
all the pieces are in
the right place at the
time it powers up it
will not work. So by
removing the tray,
aligning the internal
parts to their starting
position and
re-inserting the tray
you can often bring a
drive back from the
dead
Thompson
DVD Drive Tray
Alignment
Procedure
2.
Scratched
discs
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DO NOT CHANGE
THE POSITION OF
YOUR XBOX 360
WHILE IT IS ON
WITH A DISC IN
THE DRIVE OR
YOU RISK
POTENTIALLY
DAMAGING YOUR
GAME
DISC.
Below is the
DVD
laser
Microsoft does
in fact say the
following in
the Volume 1:
Setup manual
that ships with
the Xbox
360:
Remove
discs before
moving the
console or
tilting it
between the
horizontal and
vertical
positions.
Never
use cracked
discs. They can
shatter inside
the console and
jam or break
internal
parts.
When
the console is
vertical do not
use discs that
are smaller the
standard DVDs
and
CDs."
I wonder how
many of us 360
owners read our
manuals..lol. I
guess this is a
good example to
do so in the
future; not
that it would
have sunk in. I
had games to
play not read
and learn
important
documentation
about "the most
exciting
product on the
planet!"
Although it
should be
common sense
when operating
a high speed
disc based
device like
this not to
move it and we
are warned of
the problem; it
is still a
surprise how
easy it is. It
does not take
much effort to
ruin one of
your games by
doing
this.
Here's a 1.5MB
video clip of
how easy and
dramatic it
is.
Those of us
that have
experienced the
problem will
have to pray to
have our discs
replaced. I'm
sure we will
all know
Microsoft
official stance
on disc
replacement
soon. The good
news is that if
you don't move
the unit around
while a disc is
in the drive
you will
probably never
have a problem.
I don't need a
third strike to
learn that I
should not move
the unit while
it is powered
on while a disc
is in the
drive. It is
cool to show
off how the
player
indicator
lights move
with the
position of the
unit... just
take your disc
out first
;)
How to fix
the above
problem.
Refurbishing
the Xbox 360
DVD
Drive
If you add
a foam
rubber pad
on the
opposite
side of the
laser it
could
prevent the
damage that
would
otherwise
occur.
Notice the
arc near
the top of
the rubber
pad in this
photo? That
is where
the DVD now
hits when
we quickly
tip it from
a vertical
to
horizontal
position.
Foam rubber
pad kit now
available!
The pad
restricts
the upward
movement of
the disc on
one side of
the pivot
point and
in turn
restricts
the
downward
movement on
the other
side of the
pivot
point.
Notice only
the Thomson
includes
the rubber
bumpers to
protect the
disc.
In this
shot of the
HL 360 lid
below we
can see the
three black
pads. The
two pads
across from
each other
should be
installed
about a
half inch
further out
from the
ring to
optimize
performance.
With the 3
foam rubber
pads from
the Thomson
in place we
now are
unable to
scratch up
the
disc.
Video prior
to pad
installation
Similar but
softer buzz
sound, but
not the
dramatic
buzz saw we
had
earlier.
What do you
know no
scratches!
A better
photo to go
by for
proper
placement
of the
pads.
The fourth
pad is
taller than
the metal
bump in the
lid, this
serves to
significantly
quiet the
noise from
the drive
(when
moving it
around).
Notice the
width of
the center
pads, it is
important
to move
them out to
the edge of
the tin so
they will
contact the
disc
sooner. I
should also
note that I
tried this
with a
single pad
at the
front and I
was able to
scratch the
disc. With
the
addition of
the side
pads at the
width above
I was
unable to
scratch a
disc.
Foam rubber
pad kit now
available!
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