Hardware Wii got really loud - dying drive?

[powerpuff]

Ok all of a sudden yesterday my Wii (D2B, circa Christmas 2006, modded with WiiFree and later with OpenWii) DVD drive got REAL loud. Vibrational, sounds like it's vibrating the whole case. Buzzes, if you will.

Games still load and run fine.

I have never bothered to change defaults, so for all I know OpenWii has been overdriving it...

What are my basic steps in troubleshooting here? I haven't even cracked it back open yet, but assuming I rule out "oh hey look a loose screw", what's next?

If it comes down to it, can I get a D2B replacement drive (for any reasonable price, I've seen drives for $150 which seems silly on a $250 unit)?

 

[powerpuff]

Aaaaand... now it won't boot apparently. The 7 year old is in tears. Looks like eBay has drives under $75. That's not too bad, I can just buy a replacement D2B, resolder the MOD to it...

'Course I still haven't opened it. Guess that's my first step.

 

[Tichinde925]

You dont need to go with a D2B drive. You can go with DMS if you wanted to. All wii dvd drives are swappable.

 

[Twiggy12]

well that happens to me when i use ocarina (cheat app) but when i turn wii off its fine, do u have homebrew?

 

[powerpuff]

Nah this is Lego Batman, an original actually, new and unscratched. It was doing it with Lego Indiana Jones as well, also an original (I buy the 7-year-old the games he actually plays a lot of...)

Good to know they're all swappable. Which would you recommend? Are the DMS's better? I found a ton of them on eBay - DMS, D2A, D2B, D2C, everything.

 

[coolbho3000]

Unless you plan on getting a new modchip, buy a DMS, D2A, or D2B. Anything newer will require a new modchip. Absolutely don't go with the D2E which might have epoxy.

I'd personally go with a D2A if they're available - more recent than the DMS, and no chance of cut legs like the D2B. But that's only if they're available.

 

[powerpuff]

Well ok here's what happened.

I opened it up, reminded myself of the hack job I did on the mod chip because I wanted it externally socketable (I modded this so long ago that the WiiFree project was still ongoing and releasing new firmware once a week!), and took out the drive.

It's... definitely the drive. I guess I could disassemble it even further, to see if I can get to the actual drive component that's vibrating, but I suspect that it's just an off-kilter drive. It happens. I guess now it's time to look more seriously at eBay, maybe order up a D2A. I presume the entire drive unit that I've lifted out of here ships all as one piece?

 

[powerpuff]

Looks like it's hard to find a NEW DMS/D2A/D2B, they're all refurbed which I guess is ok for $60-$65.

Are all D2C's pretty much guaranteed to suck for modding? I presume so.

 

[coolbho3000]

D2Cs don't suck for modding (anymore) - you just need a new modchip.

 

[powerpuff]

Yeah, I just saw this free-clip thing for $25 that has a 683 in it, which I was tempted to pick up anyway since it has way more address space than the 629 I'm using now. Will it work for a D2C?

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.12714

 

[Diffusion]

Only works for DMS, D2A, and D2B no cut legs. Sorry.

 

[powerpuff]

Crap. So D2C, which I can get new, and which is arguably a newer/faster drive, requires a $75 mod chip I'm guessing? Bleh.

 

[Diffusion]

Crap. So D2C, which I can get new, and which is arguably a newer/faster drive, requires a $75 mod chip I'm guessing? Bleh.

around $35-$60 depending on which one you want.

 

[powerpuff]

Hrm. What are the pros and cons? It's tempting to just get a new chip to go with the new drive, mod it up before I install it, and be done with it. The whole "remove chip, reflash, reinstall chip" thing gets old after a while.

 

[taiguy]

http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=113...=0#entry1520901

Fixed mine, maybe it can help you

 

[powerpuff]

I actually fixed it last night in a VERY similar way. Instead of loosening those screws, I shimmed (with a thin piece of cardboard insulated with electrical tape) the cage just above where those screws are. I may take mine apart tonight and try this method, I like it better than shimming!