Gaming 360 disc drive dosen't recognize discs :S

[vergilite]

well i lent my 360 to a friend for about a month and upon getting it back it has just a *little* trouble reading discs and by a *little* i mean A LOT most of the time il put a disc in and it won't recognize there is a disc in it, it will just say "open tray" and when it does recognize a disc it just keeps saying reading..... it does play discs sometimes and when it does play them they run very smoothly.

.so anyone experienced problems like this before ?
.i have removed my warranty sticker to check the disc drive make (liteon YAY

)
.the friend i lent it to is a good friend and takes very good care of things so i don't believe it was of his doing
.if i were to buy a replacement drive would it work out the box or would i have to somehow "spoof" it
.my last resort is buying a warranty sticker of ebay, do you guys think that would work or would microsoft realize it has been tampered with.

EDIT:i haven't modded my 360 so im trying to read retail discs and one time it actually played the disc then showed me a screen saying "put this disc in a xbox360 to play i" it was in my f*cking 360, also sometimes the games show up as a CD or DVD not games

 

[lenselijer]

you should tweak the laser to 3.0kohm, then it should start reading discs properly.

this was on a refurb xbox i had to mod, it wouldnt read copy discs, only after this laser tweak.

 

[vergilite]

you should tweak the laser to 3.0kohm, then it should start reading discs properly.

this was on a refurb xbox i had to mod, it wouldnt read copy discs, only after this laser tweak.

maybe but the majority of the time it doesn't even know there is a disc in the tray

 

[Blaze163]

my friend Scott was having this problem too. he spent about 5 hours trying to get his disk drive read anything. In the end we just gave up and his mum gave him the Elite he was supposed to get for xmas. He wasn't using any sort of illegal activities, but he does have a nasty habit of leaving his 360 on for weeks on end.

 

[vergilite]

my friend Scott was having this problem too. he spent about 5 hours trying to get his disk drive read anything. In the end we just gave up and his mum gave him the Elite he was supposed to get for xmas. He wasn't using any sort of illegal activities, but he does have a nasty habit of leaving his 360 on for weeks on end.

wow thx for the help there, now all i have to do is break into your friends house and steal his elite and im sorted.

 

[Blaze163]

my friend Scott was having this problem too. he spent about 5 hours trying to get his disk drive read anything. In the end we just gave up and his mum gave him the Elite he was supposed to get for xmas. He wasn't using any sort of illegal activities, but he does have a nasty habit of leaving his 360 on for weeks on end.

wow thx for the help there, now all i have to do is break into your friends house and steal his elite and im sorted.

Well it'd work. I'll turn a blind eye if you like, he's been getting on my nerves all afternoon.

 

[vergilite]

lol its ok i was only joking

but i really need help!


BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP ! BUMP !

 

[triassic911]

Have you tried the laser tweak mentioned above?

 

[FAST6191]

Your laser is probably dying (not detecting a disc is a symptom too), POT tweak is an OK idea but in the end you will probably have to replace the drive (you can buy single parts but I sense this is not the sort of thing you will want to be doing.

Those laser cleaning kits I do not really rate.

It is not drop in like a PC or a wii and you will have to dump keys before making a new firmware (you might be able to make a "stock" firmware but why not flash it. Online retailers tend to ship them for about £50 although you might be able to pick up a RROD xbox for less (of course then you have a used drive which may or may not mean we repeat this situation sooner than you might like).
On the other hand I saw gamestation offering them for about £100 the other day and I have not checked prices on things since then.

I do not think I will be back in Liverpool any time soon (3 or 4 months at least), there are a few long time 'tempers in that area with 360 knowledge and skills though so it might be worth a request somewhere.

 

[Originality]

With the classical "Open Tray" error signalling a failing/ailing DVD drive, it's usually down to a dirty lense, a worn down laser, a faulty motor, the SATA in the rear, or the lower electronics being faulty from the heat from GPU. Each of these possibilities have their own fair share of annoyances. If you still have warranty though (not likely by the time the drive fails), use it. If not...

With the two non-reading Xboxes I fixed up, one I attempted cleaning (manually), then tried the POT tweak (not for those who don't have or know how to use a multimeter), and after finding that nothing worked at all (it would only be able to read CDs, but never any DVDs), I eventually swapped it for another drive (I happened to have a spare anyway).

The other, I put a DVD in, listened for the sounds it made, didn't hear much so I ejected and tried again. That time I heard spinning so the motor was definately fine. I repeated again and I heard strange noises. Repeated again and heard it making more strange noises. The fifth time I ejected the DVD and put it back in, it played. It then played the game I put in after that, and has been working just fine for everything for some time now.

Basically, first step is to stick a DVD in and listen to the sounds it makes. If it spins even a little, the motor works. If it tries reading and failing several times, it's likely the laser. If you don't hear much at all, then start to worry. If you open it up, start by replacing the SATA and cleaning the laser (isopropyl alcohol, IIRC, is the recommended laser cleaner, or using a microfibre cloth so that you don't leave tiny fibres on the lense. You should also have a quick look at the PCB incase you can see any signs of cold/burnt solders/parts. The final step is to try adjusting the POT for the DVD (left screw, the right one is for CDs only). Really you should only do this if you know what you're doing and have a multimeter at hand to know what the POT is set at. They say never let it go below 2.8 kohm for BenQ, Sammy or Hitachi drives, or 3.0 for LiteOn. With LiteOn, you have to turn it the opposite direction anyway (I forget which direction is which at this time).

What I can say is that if you turn the POT too low, the laser will no longer even try to read a disk, be it CD or DVD, so turning it back up will enable it to start trying again. This is what I observed for LiteOns, so I don't know if it applies to the other drives. However if none of the above works, then you may have to look into either replacing the laser, or the whole drive. Lasers can be found cheaply, but require a good knowledge of electronics because one of the steps does require a soldering iron. Replacing the entire drive means you'll also have to retrieve the Key in order to spoof whatever drive you replace it with. Understandably, replacement drives cost more than lasers, but are easier to deal with.

 

[vergilite]

UPDATE: thx guys for the help so far i have recently lent last odyssey of a friend to try it and it seems to play fine, i used halo 3 before that only thing is the halo disc is in perfectly fine condition and plays on my friends 360 o.O i think when i dissembled my disc drive i unscrewed something i shouldn't have and lowered the lasers power so i was wondering how i check the laser is running optimally

-Verg