dogbert Posted April 1, 2004 Report Share Posted April 1, 2004 So, as is well known, certain Xbox DVD drives are very prone to generating lots of "Dirty Disc Errors". The longterm solution is to get the drive replaced, either by Microsoft or by yourself. The shortterm solution that's frequently mentioned is "clean it with a can of compressed air". Is it really as simple as ejecting the drive tray & spraying the air into the drive "hole"? Or is there a particular technique that works better? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robot Monkey Posted April 1, 2004 Report Share Posted April 1, 2004 I never tried this. I thought (maybe incorrectly) that the DDE's usually come from a misaligned laser. -j Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeyN Posted April 2, 2004 Report Share Posted April 2, 2004 ive used a cd cleaning kit. a few say "works with xbox " and so forth on then. It is a short term solution at best. Still had to send the box in to get fixed capt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Zot Posted April 2, 2004 Report Share Posted April 2, 2004 dogbert- It's a bunch of BS, once a laser goes, it goes. Dirty Disc Error (DDE) is really a misnomer, it claims that any drive failure is due to fingerprints, smudging, whatever. If the discs are new or reasonably clean, what is really happening is that the focus coil on the laser sled is going wongo. It can't focus the spot beam correctly to get the information back, but as far as the chip is concerned it looks just like really dirty fingerprints on the disc. So it gives you a DDE, even though it is really the laser sled's problem and not the disc. Only way to really get rid of it is to either buy a new xbox or drop in a new DVD drive. You can replace the laser sled, but unless you are an EE or extremely comfortable with electronics that route is more pain than it is worth. I worked for one of the companies that put chips in those early xbox DVD drives, they were crap. Matter of fact, it's probably our chip that is the culprit, those early thompsons just sucked. The good news is it is really easy to replace the DVD drive on the xbox. You need a torx screwdriver to remove the 6 screws on bottom of case, then just pop the top and pull out the HDD and DVD trays (have to remove 3 more screws to do this). Unplug the IDE and power cable from the DVD-ROM, pop out the unit, and replace with new one. Pop off the "Xbox" bezel from old, pop on the new drive, put it in tray, connect cables, and screw it all back together. Turn on the xbox and you have a new DVD drive! If I had any extra drives lying around I would offer to swap yours out for shipping. I'm pretty sure I'm all tapped out though, been trying to get rid of all that stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer Monkey Posted April 2, 2004 Report Share Posted April 2, 2004 The good news is it is really easy to replace the DVD drive on the xbox. You need a torx screwdriver to remove the 6 screws on bottom of case, then just pop the top and pull out the HDD and DVD trays (have to remove 3 more screws to do this). Unplug the IDE and power cable from the DVD-ROM, pop out the unit, and replace with new one. Pop off the "Xbox" bezel from old, pop on the new drive, put it in tray, connect cables, and screw it all back together. Turn on the xbox and you have a new DVD drive! I think you need a specially hacked drive, standard IDE DVD drives will not boot official XBox discs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buck Posted April 2, 2004 Report Share Posted April 2, 2004 I think he's referring to replacing it with another Xbox drive. Though you can get certain OEM drives to work in the Xbox, just need to flash the firmware. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer Monkey Posted April 2, 2004 Report Share Posted April 2, 2004 Where can you buy another genuine XBox drive? Here is an article about hacking a Samsung 616T to work on the XBox: http://dwl.xbox-scene.net/~xbox/xbox-scene...ls/samsung3.pdf Here is one about hacking a Sony: http://dwl.xbox-scene.net/~xbox/xbox-scene...ony_DDU1612.pdf Looks like some custom wiring and such, not just firmware. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buck Posted April 2, 2004 Report Share Posted April 2, 2004 I haven't checked in awhile but you can usually find genuine Xbox drives on Ebay. Though they usually go for over $80. Thanks for the links to the other drives, I wasn't aware of the amount of wiring that needs to be done. Though, I may try one of those Samsungs myself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Zot Posted April 2, 2004 Report Share Posted April 2, 2004 Sorry, I forget to mention that I meant another Xbox DVD drive. THe best place for finding almost anything Xbox is here: http://www.xbox-scene.com Click on the Forums button, then scroll waaaayyy down to the Buy&Sell forum. It is carpe diem in there, so be warned. You can find any kind of drive you want and most folks are honest, just be wary of the guy that joined yesterday, has 1 post, and wants you to western union him the money for something Let me see if I have an extra at home tonight Buck. I probably don't, but never hurts to check... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan FB Posted April 4, 2004 Report Share Posted April 4, 2004 You can actually buy a Thomson replacement lens assembly from here, and they're pretty reputable. Now how one goes about actually installing that, I'm not quite sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merlot Posted April 5, 2004 Report Share Posted April 5, 2004 I just checked on Ebay, and you can find a number of DVD drives that have already been modded for Xbox duty. Also available are new drives as well. I may go this route if I need too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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