DescentBB

I've actually fixed my XBox but I didn't need to replace anything, I just cleaned the laser and the magnets inside.

I'm not fixing my girlfriend's, brother's, XBox and I've tried cleaning the magnets and the laser lens (even though it was clean as it was), to find out that the problem wasn't initially what he claimed that it was. He actually has an error screen and it won't play XBox games but it will play DVD's/CD's just fine. I noticed that it will play sometimes and the drive seems to make a lot of funky sounds like it is jamming up or it isn't spinning the disk correctly. However, an error pops up, claiming that the game isn't an official XBox 360 game, however the game I have IS a 360 game and works just fine on my machine.

Now, I'm familiar with other issues and what causes them, but I'm not familiar with some of the error screens that pop up, such as this one.

My theory, is that the firmware was somehow damaged or has some kind of issue or perhaps the chip is damaged? In which case, flashing it could be useless. Or it could be a memory issue I suppose but this sounds like more of a software issue than a hardware issue possibly? However, the sound that it makes, is making me wonder if I should just replace the entire drive in and of itself?

Now his box is completely out of warranty. There is a place in town that can fix these things but you pay someone by the hour to do so, where I'm willing to do it for free if I can figure out what this error message is exactly?

I've checked the alignment inside the drive a few times and everything seems to check out so I suppose it could be the gears but everything seems to open fine and it acts just fine other than the noise.

Any idea what causes this error screen exactly?

This is a regular standard XBox, it is NOT an elite.

Perhaps there is dirt on the laser which causes it to fail when reading certain types of copy protected disks.

mod chip? im just throwing out ideas here

I doubt he has a mod chip. He is a teenager and wouldn't be asking me how to fix it if he knew how to mod it more than likely.

And no, I already checked the laser for dirt.

In fact, the most common problem (which I had), wasn't the laser. It was caused by the magnets in the elite that hold the disk in getting out of alignment, usually from gunk building up inside.

How old is the Xbox 360?

I've read some where about a firmware update to the older xbox 360 models that can cause a read errors with the dvd drives.

Like 2-3 years.

Actually, he uses live so he probably has any current software updates to run live. How do you update firmware specifically or does it update with the rest of the xbox software (operating system so to speak).

The failure rate of xboxes is higher than preferred, thanks to some poor design by Microsoft. If you cannot fix it yourself, call MS and get an RMA to have it repaired.

It looks like you could switch out the drive and use a regular dvd rom. That sounds like your best bet. At least you'd be able to rule out a hardware issue.

No you cant, you need a special unit and you need to do some \"unlocking\" and flashing of the new drive... This may be the place to look;
http://www.keepgaming.com/totsdvdrforx.html

It may also be the laser block;
http://www.keepgaming.com/xb360lalesf.html
This requires adjustment, knowledge, and a scope to align the block... you just don't swap it out and voila it works.

Actually, you don't have to flash it, if you take the old chip out of the hard drive and put it inside the new one. There is a video on YouTube that shows how to do this. They claim that there is no need to flash it using their method.

It looks like you swap the logic board out as I really doubt you could remove or install surface mount IC's, and as I watched I noticed buddy didn't release the pressure clips on each side of the ribbon cable connector before removing and inserting the cables. Umm good way to rip cables and totally amateur. Your logic board has to be good too... whats to say it isn't the problem? Just pointing out the facts.

That could be true. The other thing is that the old drives don't seem to be as well built is the ones inside the elite. The elites have two magnets in them I believe and make a better connection. The old ones have some kind of plastic thing in the top to hold the disk in.

Its called the clamper assembly and it can bork things up too.

Ah, so that's what it's called? The guy that described it to me didn't have a name for it.


Any good videos on how to flash the drive?

Most of them describe how to swap the circuit boards, I did see a few partial tutorials to read and flash but the authors already assume you have all the software and knowledge to use it. You may need to drop down to DOS so be prepared.

Try searching the tutorials here;
http://www.xbox-scene.com/
http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=593705

You also need to be wary of your computer's chipset so pay attention! Good luck.