X-Box owners----We have a problem can you help?

[flamingpie2500]

My son has an x-box system that is about 2 years old. He is driving me nuts with it for this reason:
He will rent a game for it and for some reason it won't load up (especially the new releases) He sits and shakes the thing until miraculously it starts up-- sometimes he loads it with the system upside down.
At the same time he can put in an older game--say Halo-- and it will load instantly.
Anyone experience this same problem? Any solutions--other than the obvious(buying a new system)?

[Kamika]

1. hmm

Well obvious thing would be to like ask some guy repairing x boxes

[Kellanved]

2. hmm

I've heard something about some batches of XBOX DVD drives breaking after 1.5- 2 years.

If your drive looks like the Thompson, then this might be the reason.


http://groups.msn.com/XboxDDE/thompsondde.msnw


Edit: and http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/news/7onyourside/wabc_121803_7onyoursidestory_xbox.html

[lcooksey]

3. That is weird

It seems to be the DVD reader, not the hard drive, which is good. I'm no expert on XBoxes but I don't think it could hurt to spray some compressed air in there after opening the tray. Maybe there is some dust that is causing the laser read head to misread only certain tracks that are more likely to be used on newer, presumably bigger, games.

I also recommend searching on Google for "XBOX" and "repair". You might find some suggestions there.

Halo rules! And Secret Weapons Over Normandy is pretty good, too.

[tridim]

4. I had the same problem

Some first generation X-Boxes had faulty DVD drives (made by Thompson). You have a few options, pay Microsoft $100 to fix it, buy a new DVD drive on E-bay and install it yourself, or buy a new X-Box for $179 (thus still paying Microsoft about $100 but at least you have a new unit). I bought a new X-Box. It wasn't such a bad deal because I got another controller and two free games, plus a brand spankin new machine. I'm planning to "mod chip" my old X-Box and use it as a PVR.

[flamingpie2500]

5. Thanks for the info--Will pass along this to my son.

I knew I could count on all the DU'rs out there.
Thanks again.

[proud patriot]

6. Rentals tend to be dirty

We often have this problem with rentals .
Clean the disk before putting it in .

You can also request the store clean it before you
take it home . :hi:

[Az]

7. Laser alignment

Playstation 1 had a similar problem. The laser would go out of alignment and turning it upside down would often be enough to get it back in line. Real solution is buy a new one or get it fixed.