The trouble with Xbox

Freeshack

hi,
Just wondering if anyone else has experienced the same problems as me. basically whats gone wrong is that my xbox has stopped playing DVD's, it just keeps trying to load them up with no success. it started about 6 months ago but didn't worry too much since games were still working grand. but now its the games too. they often cut-out during gameplay, telling disc is dirty or damaged which isn't the case as they always work fine on other xbox's. bought KOTOR2 other day but never loaded up, tells me to check its an Xbox game(which it is!!). spoke to the guy in Gamestop but he didn't know of anyone that could fix it. anyone else know if this is repairable and where i could get it done?

kaimera

afaik there's threads/posts about kotor2 being bugged somewhat.

clean the dvd drive?

Ciaran500

Sounds like the DVD drive is on its way out. If its still in warrenty send it back but if not you could easily fix it yourself. All you need is to find a new drive and a few special screwdrivers, then just swap them out. Its just like installing one in a pc.

Freeshack

yea, got a cleaning disc but didn't make any difference. so looks like im gonna have to get a new drive. which means im gonna have to buy a memory card to keep my saved games. ah well. cheers lads

quarryman

aren't the saved games saved to the hard disk?

Freeshack

oh yea, im just stupid

mukki

problems with the dvd rom is very common, if you got 2 finger sized holes in the dvd-rom tray you should be okay

they made the lazer power very weak so that it is difficult to play backups but it can cause problem with originals too when the drive gets worn, you can open up the drive and tweak the lazer pot a bit, but this only makes it slightly better

get one for $30-$60 of ebay, just search for
xbox thompson
xbox philips
or xbox samsung (dearer, but best)
don't bother with the lazer replacements, i've had no joy with them

i'd watch this one
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=20385&item=8178402688&rd=1

elmer

you can do a tweak on the laser if it's not too far gone - i've replaced a few lasers before but for the price/skill level required i wouldn't recommend it. how old is the xbox?

I'd recommend a philips, the thomsons are cheaper and the samsungs are more expensive but the thomsons have the most problems and unless you're using rewritable media the philips will generally read the discs - i did come accross one before that needed to be tweaked to read dvd-r but red dvd+r and cds fine

I might have a spare philips drive that'll read cd-r dvd-r and dvd+r if you're interested

Nige

Freeshack

jesus that all got a bit too technical for me there. but that dvd drive on ebay looks like it'll do the job, cheers for that. xbox is about 18months old by the way. but think i should be ok now. thanx for the feedback everyone

KeRbDoG

try http://www.divineo.co.uk for a replacement if needed, £ 34.95 before shipping though