360 Having trouble reading discs

DEL 707 · 3 Mar 2008 at 00:12

Been a slowly progressive problem, but now it's starting to throw up reading errors on my brand new, scratchless Lost Odessy disc.

What kind of lens cleaner can I use? A standard DVD cleaner?

wedgie · 3 Mar 2008 at 00:15

Lens cleaner won't help, disc read errors are one of the most common problems with the 360 after red rings.

PiKe · 3 Mar 2008 at 00:50

Might be a weak lens.

DEL 707 · 3 Mar 2008 at 11:11

Not what I wanted to hear

JaFFa · 3 Mar 2008 at 11:34

Ive seen quite a few people with problems with lost odyssey in particular. Worrying stuff, its a bad game to randomly stop working.

PiKe · 3 Mar 2008 at 14:46

DEL 707 said:
Not what I wanted to hear

If you're out of warranty tweak the dvd pot, fixed mine.

steinooo · 3 Mar 2008 at 15:25

PiKe said:
If you're out of warranty tweak the dvd pot, fixed mine.

what does that mean?

PiKe · 3 Mar 2008 at 15:56

It means, if you're out of warranty, ie. 12 months + old drive failures aren't covered.

Therefore, take the 360 apart, take the dvd rom out, dissassemble it following a guide, on the laser there are two pots (potentiometers) these regulate the voltage that gets to the laser. Over time lasers weaken, which is nothing new, to compensate for this you have to adjust the pot so there is less resistance and more voltage, giving a brighter beam and making it easier for the drive to pick up the pits.

That's all there is to it.

steinooo · 3 Mar 2008 at 16:12

thanks for that, I might need to do that in future as mine seems to have problems reading discs sometimes.

ScarySquirrel · 3 Mar 2008 at 16:50

I get the odd problem with FIFA, which sucks, as I am now out of warranty.

simo182 · 3 Mar 2008 at 17:02

My 360 is out of warranty next month and I'm just about to phone MS to get it repaired as every time I game, I either get a disk read error or the console locks up. Doesn't matter whether it is Lost Odyssey or something like RSV. I've also lost 2 online games of Fifa as the the graphics cards appeared to corrupt.

fish99 · 3 Mar 2008 at 19:15

Checked the discs for scratches? I know they're new but the 360 has a habit of scratching discs and ruining them. Hapenned to my Forza 2. The best theory is that a build up of heat makes the disc warp and hit some badly placed and completely unnecessary bits of plastic in the drive (esp the Samsung drive).

Sucks because the warranty on the drive is just 1 yr and they don't replace your game disc for free as they should.

Of course could equally be any of the other issues mentioned above.

thedoc46 · 3 Mar 2008 at 19:54

fish99 said:
Checked the discs for scratches? I know they're new but the 360 has a habit of scratching discs and ruining them. Hapenned to my Forza 2. The best theory is that a build up of heat makes the disc warp and hit some badly placed and completely unnecessary bits of plastic in the drive (esp the Samsung drive).

Sucks because the warranty on the drive is just 1 yr and they don't replace your game disc for free as they should.

Of course could equally be any of the other issues mentioned above.

Personally if it were me, I'd look at alternative methods of getting a warranty exchange... After all the 3 red rings are now covered by a 3 yr

Call em up tell them you have the 3 red rings, have them generate an RMA. If you honestly think they thoroughly check each of the 3 million 360's that comes back think agaon. Especially as some start to come back alive after the rings.

steinooo · 4 Mar 2008 at 09:41

Thats a good idea thedoc.

I had a thought about if an Xbox 360 malfunctioned (with a non-3RLOD problem) - has anyone tried returning their console to the vendor under the Sale of Goods Act?

If a 360 broke and it was bought from a shop and MS wouldnt repair it, I think it'd be worth trying to take it back to the seller as a £180+ console will be expected to last more than a couple of years?

just a thought.