Xbox 360 bad laser?

[tom66]

I'd like to know if I may have a case of a bad laser on an Xbox 360.

The drive will read DVDs fine.

Attempt to play a game and it will usually (98% of the time) read it as if it is a DVD. However it will work from time to time.

Does it sound like the laser is bad?

[cheapie]

Re: Xbox 360 bad laser?

I have a PlayStation(1) that has a similar problem - it launches the CD player instead of the game most of the time.

[ben7]

Re: Xbox 360 bad laser?

If I recall correctly, they had some problems with the drives in Xboxes. I don't own one, and I hate violence games... LOL

[newtothis]

Re: Xbox 360 bad laser?

Tom yes they are notorious for having bad drives....

if you change it beware... the firmware is written to the dvd drive memory and not the system, change it for the wrong one and you will either A) Get banned from xbox live or B) have your console shut completely down (yes this happens to stop people modifying the system.

[tom66]

Re: Xbox 360 bad laser?

Tom yes they are notorious for having bad drives....

if you change it beware... the firmware is written to the dvd drive memory and not the system, change it for the wrong one and you will either A) Get banned from xbox live or B) have your console shut completely down (yes this happens to stop people modifying the system.

I am not intending to swap the drive, just the laser. Would that fix most of the problems with not reading game discs properly?

[t.j.]

Re: Xbox 360 bad laser?

they have 3 differ types for the fat360's make sure ya get correct one! the controller boards are married to system! i found it cheaper to get complete drive then laser assembly.

[Andyd1970]

Re: Xbox 360 bad laser?

Hi Tom,

Yes replacing the laser will fix your problem 100% the lasers on xbox are not great and similar to cheap caps! often fail, I have a customer whos laser has failed about 4 times!

[Andyd1970]

Re: Xbox 360 bad laser?

Hi Tom,

I can recommend a company on ebay called "Games Cavern" I have copied below the item number for one of there xbox lasers:

270916124864

You do need to check which one you have fitted. I have used them for loads of parts from xbox, PS3, iPhones, and iPads. Highly recommended company.

[Elysarian]

Re: Xbox 360 bad laser?

Had the same thing happen to our PS3...

We sold the fat (40GB) one and bought a new 120GB slim - buyer came back a week later because it would no longer play games.

Sony aren't microsoft though - new Bluray drive installed and problem solved

[tom66]

Re: Xbox 360 bad laser?

I bid on a Like New drive on eBay and won it for £10.50. I bought the exact same Toshiba Samsung drive. I tried it with the existing PCB and it did not work, as expected, although I had heard some advice saying it would only stop Xbox Live access, which I did not care about. I then tried with the old PCB and it works great. Yay.

I decided to swap the whole drive assembly because this Xbox was bought faulty; the guy had clearly put a big-ass CRT on top of it and bent the drive so it would not eject properly unless fiddled with. So I took the case off, and poked the drive up slightly; it worked. But I had to leave the whole plastic case off, which sucked.

Now I have put the case back on... and it looks like an Xbox 360 again.

Thanks all for help.

[luke10050]

Re: Xbox 360 bad laser?

From my experience in xbox modding, you CANNOT EVER replace the drives circuit board (without flashing custom firmware) as the drive is linked to the system with a unique number.

Oh nevermind he probably modded the drive firmware or something, try playing a game

[tom66]

Re: Xbox 360 bad laser?

Plays games fine.
To be clear, I am using a new drive mechanism with my original PCB.
The encryption keys are stored on the flash memory, globbed in glue...

[Uranium-235]

Re: Xbox 360 bad laser?

I recently ran into a young man of a customer of mine (his mother) who said his PS3 games no longer play. I'm going to try to clean the laser, if that does not work, there is a procedure to actually replace the BD laser assembly inside the bd drive. Assembly is like ~$25 new on ebay, seems rather easy to replace

[Elysarian]

Re: Xbox 360 bad laser?

I recently ran into a young man of a customer of mine (his mother) who said his PS3 games no longer play. I'm going to try to clean the laser, if that does not work, there is a procedure to actually replace the BD laser assembly inside the bd drive. Assembly is like ~$25 new on ebay, seems rather easy to replace

It's a fairly simple fix, took me about an hour to do on an older "fat" PS3.

I've not had a slim one apart yet so I can't comment there

I seem to recall that there are a couple of different BD drives used in PS3s though so make sure you order the right laser assembly.

[Uranium-235]

Re: Xbox 360 bad laser?

I know, which is why hes taking it here for me to clean it first

[momaka]

Re: Xbox 360 bad laser?

If you don't want to buy a new laser assembly and just want a quick temporary fix, you can also just fiddle with the pots on the old laser assembly and just bump up the current slightly. This will in turn burn out the laser quicker.... but who cares anyways when the laser is already on it's way out.
But again, this is for a temporary fix and nothing else.

[luke10050]

Re: Xbox 360 bad laser?

yeah i did that with a PS2, got it playing games a bit better but i need either a new drive or a new ps2... anyone got any ideas where to get a ps2 laser assembley?

[Elysarian]

Re: Xbox 360 bad laser?

yeah i did that with a PS2, got it playing games a bit better but i need either a new drive or a new ps2... anyone got any ideas where to get a ps2 laser assembley?

Probably as cheap to get a replacement console tbh - I'm seeing lasers for £20 on ebay, PS2 consoles for £25.

Especially when you factor in the time taken to do the repair.

[kc8adu]

Re: Xbox 360 bad laser?

if you need to swap the whole drive try jungleflasher.

[RJARRRPCGP]

Re: Xbox 360 bad laser?

I have a PlayStation(1) that has a similar problem - it launches the CD player instead of the game most of the time.

And a damaged or dirty CD usually results in the message telling you to insert a PlayStation disc when one is already in the CD-ROM drive.