Xbox One X plays Blu-Ray movies but won't read game discs

[Vigilant_Veggie]

Hello friends,

This past weekend I did a complete teardown on an Xbox One X that I'll be gifting to a family member for Christmas. It'll be their first game console, so it's very exciting. This console was given to me by a friend, so I've only had it in my possession for a short time. I have ran into some issues though. I'll provide a sequence of events:

- Before teardown, I tested the disc drive with a Blu-Ray movie and it worked just fine. I assumed that if it reads a Blu-Ray movie, then it would also read a game disc, so I did not test a game disc.
- I did a complete teardown, cleaned the case and chassis, replaced the thermal paste, and replaced the internal HDD with an SSD.
- I reassembled the console, installed OSU 1 via USB, and then started testing discs.
- When the discs didn't work, I tried clearing the persistent storage from the system settings, as well as the trick where you hold a disc halfway in and allow the uptake mechanism to cycle. Neither made a difference.
- Did a full factory reset to no avail.

After reassembly, the console would not recognize any game disc that I put it into it. I did a full factory reset, and that still did not fix the issue. The console still reads Blu-Ray movies just fine, but Xbox 360 discs and Xbox One discs don't get read period. The console doesn't even give an error message, nothing pops up on screen. The disc drive can be heard whirring a couple times after a game disc is inserted, but then will cut out shortly after. I am at a loss as to what the issue is! Maybe the disc drive was broken when I got the console, but then why would it play Blu-Ray movies just fine?

The only thing I can think to do is to take it back apart, and make sure that the disc drive cables are all properly connected by unplugging them and plugging them back in. If anyone has any ideas as to what the issue could be, please let me know! I am really banking on this thing being able to play game discs because I already bought physical copies of GTA to gift them as well.

Thanks

 

[console]

Game disc and regular DVD movie are using DVD where going to red laser only for read data on disc. Red laser is burn out so bad like become defect / fault, cause not read game disc data anymore. Not for Blu-ray have blue laser.

You have to replace disc drive in Xbox One X.

 

[Vigilant_Veggie]

Game disc and regular DVD movie are using DVD where going to red laser only for read data on disc. Red laser is burn out so bad like become defect / fault, cause not read game disc data anymore. Not for Blu-ray have blue laser.

You have to replace disc drive in Xbox One X.

Xbox One discs are in fact Blu rays though, so the fact that it plays Blu Ray movies should mean that it should be capable of reading XBone discs. Nonetheless, I will try a regular DVD as well and see if that can be read by the console

 

[console]

Exactly. Your disc drive only have one blue laser is working for Blu-ray movie and some few big game disc data like 25 GB to 50 GB (Dual layers). Not many games use Blu-ray, just most are DVD only for less capacity than big Blu-ray 25 GB - 50 GB.


PS3, PS4, PS5, PS6, Xbox One, Xbox X Series have both red laser (DVD) and blue laser (Blu-ray).

Note for Xbox Series X only have Blu-ray XL that support 4K movie disc and bigger game data like 100 GB to 128 GB.

Note for PS5 and PS6 support Blu-ray XL up to 128 GB (Quad layers) on disc, also can read bigger data on game and movie disc to play 4K Blu-ray movies which are bigger than 50 GB capacity to read data like up to 100 GB to 128 GB disc.

Note for Xbox One does not support 4K Blu-ray XL, just regular Blu-ray disc like 25 GB to 50 GB (dual layer) is similar to PS3 & PS4.


Older console systems like Nintendo GameCube/Wii have red laser only. Wii U have both red and blue laser (special format compare to old Blu-ray to read up to 25 GB) but Blu-ray disc movies will not work on Wii U.

PS2, Xbox and Xbox 360 have red laser only (both CD and DVD).

PS1 and Dreamcast have red laser (CD format up to about 700 MB - 800 MB).



You should able to replace disc drive in your Xbox One system. After replace new disc drive will start working normal again for both DVD and Blu-ray disc (both game and movie).

 

[tech3475]

Does anyone know what happens if you swap the ODD without also retaining the original drive PCB?

I know the drives are married like on the 360, but I haven't seen anyone say about what happens i.e. can this situation happen.

 

[rusty shackleford]

Does anyone know what happens if you swap the ODD without also retaining the original drive PCB?

I know the drives are married like on the 360, but I haven't seen anyone say about what happens i.e. can this situation happen.

There's two wires attaching the pcb to the drive itself. Just desolder the two wires from the old drive and move the old pcb board to the new drive. Then solder the wires from the new drive onto the old board and hook it up. I've done this to a 360 and Xbone, it's pretty easy. Just make sure you get the exact same drive.

 

[Vigilant_Veggie]

Exactly. Your disc drive only have one blue laser is working for Blu-ray movie and some few big game disc data like 25 GB to 50 GB (Dual layers). Not many games use Blu-ray, just most are DVD only for less capacity than big Blu-ray 25 GB - 50 GB.


PS3, PS4, PS5, PS6, Xbox One, Xbox X Series have both red laser (DVD) and blue laser (Blu-ray).

Note for Xbox Series X only have Blu-ray XL that support 4K movie disc and bigger game data like 100 GB to 128 GB.

Note for PS5 and PS6 support Blu-ray XL up to 128 GB (Quad layers) on disc, also can read bigger data on game and movie disc to play 4K Blu-ray movies which are bigger than 50 GB capacity to read data like up to 100 GB to 128 GB disc.

Note for Xbox One does not support 4K Blu-ray XL, just regular Blu-ray disc like 25 GB to 50 GB (dual layer) is similar to PS3 & PS4.


Older console systems like Nintendo GameCube/Wii have red laser only. Wii U have both red and blue laser (special format compare to old Blu-ray to read up to 25 GB) but Blu-ray disc movies will not work on Wii U.

PS2, Xbox and Xbox 360 have red laser only (both CD and DVD).

PS1 and Dreamcast have red laser (CD format up to about 700 MB - 800 MB).



You should able to replace disc drive in your Xbox One system. After replace new disc drive will start working normal again for both DVD and Blu-ray disc (both game and movie).

Thank you for all this info, this is super helpful and good to know! I'm still gonna mess with it tonight, but if my efforts are fruitless then I will look into getting a new disc drive and transfer the old board into the new one (gotta learn how to solder first but that is on my to-do list anyways)

My only concern is this: I was under the impression that the physical copy of GTA V had most if not all the game data on it, which was one of the games I was testing. I may be mistaken on this, but if that is the case, then wouldn't it be registered as a Blu-Ray and therefore activate the Blue laser? A game that for sure has all the data on disc is RDR2, which I do own a physical copy of, so I can try that to see if it activates the laser! If it does then I think I'll have my answer

 

[tech3475]

Thank you for all this info, this is super helpful and good to know! I'm still gonna mess with it tonight, but if my efforts are fruitless then I will look into getting a new disc drive and transfer the old board into the new one (gotta learn how to solder first but that is on my to-do list anyways)

My only concern is this: I was under the impression that the physical copy of GTA V had most if not all the game data on it, which was one of the games I was testing. I may be mistaken on this, but if that is the case, then wouldn't it be registered as a Blu-Ray and therefore activate the Blue laser? A game that for sure has all the data on disc is RDR2, which I do own a physical copy of, so I can try that to see if it activates the laser! If it does then I think I'll have my answer

I looked at a few of my Xbone discs and they looked like BDs to me e.g. Halo MCC, Sonic Forces, Gears 1 Ultimate, etc. At least comparing how they look compared to a 360 and PS4 game (silver vs blueish).

Frankly, this is also the only time I've heard about DVD being used to distribute Xbone games, I always thought they were BDs.

There's two wires attaching the pcb to the drive itself. Just desolder the two wires from the old drive and move the old pcb board to the new drive. Then solder the wires from the new drive onto the old board and hook it up. I've done this to a 360 and Xbone, it's pretty easy. Just make sure you get the exact same drive.

Thanks but my post was more curious about whether a mismatched drive/motherboard may cause OP's issue.

 

[Vigilant_Veggie]

Got it figured out! Thank you so much @console for your input. GTA V is indeed a DVD, surprisingly. I tried RDR2, and lo and behold, it recognized the disc and started to install. So the red laser is busted in my drive. Now I'll have to see if i can get by just by replacing the laser assembly, if that is even an option. Otherwise.. may just have to gift it as a digital-only console, because I dont think I'd be able to replace the entire disc drive before Christmas

 

[console]

Welcome anytime! I'm happy to get your messages and agree with you about red laser is burned out. Amen.

 

[tech3475]

Got it figured out! Thank you so much @console for your input. GTA V is indeed a DVD, surprisingly. I tried RDR2, and lo and behold, it recognized the disc and started to install. So the red laser is busted in my drive. Now I'll have to see if i can get by just by replacing the laser assembly, if that is even an option. Otherwise.. may just have to gift it as a digital-only console, because I dont think I'd be able to replace the entire disc drive before Christmas

I'm curious, which version of GTA V do you have?

 

[Vigilant_Veggie]

I'm curious, which version of GTA V do you have?

The Xbox One version. And I also have a 360 copy of GTA IV

 

[tech3475]

The Xbox One version. And I also have a 360 copy of GTA IV

Are you sure the Xbone version is a DVD? I ask because this topic is literally the only time I've heard about Xbone games using DVD (not including 360 BC).

Did you ever try anything else which uses the red laser e.g. a CD, DVD video, etc?

 

[Vigilant_Veggie]

Are you sure the Xbone version is a DVD? I ask because this topic is literally the only time I've heard about Xbone games using DVD (not including 360 BC).

Did you ever try anything else which uses the red laser e.g. a CD, DVD video, etc?

Yes I tried out a DVD movie that my girlfriend owns and it also didn't work. I was also surprised at the notion that a Xbone game was on DVD as opposed to Blu-Ray, but after some research it seems that a lot of games did just that. Put the "key" on a DVD which just tells the console to download it from the store. Very unfortunate for game preservation though

 

[TomChaai]

Does anyone know what happens if you swap the ODD without also retaining the original drive PCB?

I know the drives are married like on the 360, but I haven't seen anyone say about what happens i.e. can this situation happen.

Do not do that, the console will complete brick at the next update if you forgot to swap the drive board.

Post automatically merged: Dec 14, 2024

Exactly. Your disc drive only have one blue laser is working for Blu-ray movie and some few big game disc data like 25 GB to 50 GB (Dual layers). Not many games use Blu-ray, just most are DVD only for less capacity than big Blu-ray 25 GB - 50 GB.


PS3, PS4, PS5, PS6, Xbox One, Xbox X Series have both red laser (DVD) and blue laser (Blu-ray).

Note for Xbox Series X only have Blu-ray XL that support 4K movie disc and bigger game data like 100 GB to 128 GB.

Note for PS5 and PS6 support Blu-ray XL up to 128 GB (Quad layers) on disc, also can read bigger data on game and movie disc to play 4K Blu-ray movies which are bigger than 50 GB capacity to read data like up to 100 GB to 128 GB disc.

Note for Xbox One does not support 4K Blu-ray XL, just regular Blu-ray disc like 25 GB to 50 GB (dual layer) is similar to PS3 & PS4.


Older console systems like Nintendo GameCube/Wii have red laser only. Wii U have both red and blue laser (special format compare to old Blu-ray to read up to 25 GB) but Blu-ray disc movies will not work on Wii U.

PS2, Xbox and Xbox 360 have red laser only (both CD and DVD).

PS1 and Dreamcast have red laser (CD format up to about 700 MB - 800 MB).



You should able to replace disc drive in your Xbox One system. After replace new disc drive will start working normal again for both DVD and Blu-ray disc (both game and movie).

EVERY Xbox One and above games use blue laser, DVD Xbox One games do not exist.

Post automatically merged: Dec 14, 2024

Yes I tried out a DVD movie that my girlfriend owns and it also didn't work. I was also surprised at the notion that a Xbone game was on DVD as opposed to Blu-Ray, but after some research it seems that a lot of games did just that. Put the "key" on a DVD which just tells the console to download it from the store. Very unfortunate for game preservation though

No he’s wrong, EVERY Xbox One and above games use blue laser, even for those games that just have a key. This is because DVD-based XGD3 is no longer considered secure and MS moved to blu-ray based XDG4.

 

[Vigilant_Veggie]

Do not do that, the console will complete brick at the next update if you forgot to swap the drive board.

Post automatically merged: Dec 14, 2024

EVERY Xbox One and above games use blue laser, DVD Xbox One games do not exist.

Post automatically merged: Dec 14, 2024

No he’s wrong, EVERY Xbox One and above games use blue laser, even for those games that just have a key. This is because DVD-based XGD3 is no longer considered secure and MS moved to blu-ray based XDG4.

Hmmm, interesting. It appears youre right, in regards to the XGD3 / XGD4. I didn't know MS used proprietary discs!

Regardless, the only thing I can think to do is to replace the laser assembly in the drive. I ordered the replacement part, it only cost $10 after shipping! I've never taken apart a disc drive before so I'm very excited for the new experience. Hopefully it fixes the issue, I'll report back here with the results

 

[Vigilant_Veggie]

UPDATE: Hello all, I just wanted to report back and say that I fixed the issue! The disc drive did in fact need a new laser assembly. After replacement, both DVDs and Blu Rays are being read with no issue. It definitely appeared that the red laser crapped out on the original assembly. Thank you everyone for your input and guidance. BTW, this is where I bought the replacement part:

https://www.repairsuniverse.com/products/xbox-one-laser-lens-drive-dg-6m1s-dg-6m2s-hop-b150

And I also followed this guide from one of my favorite Youtubers:



After shipping, it only cost me $9.53! Very pleased with how this turned out. Now this Xbox is ready to serve its new owner for years to come ^.^