DRE's XBox

[lazyfatbum]

the discs are fine but i keep getting them, i'm in texas so i cant really take it anywhere to get it looked at and i'd really like to pwn nubs at burnout so does anyone know of a fix?

Is this like when my GC had to have its lens calibrated?

it's shake and bake and I needs halp.

[Dark Jaguar]

Is Dr. Dre's XBox a 360 or the original? What do you keep getting?

[Paco]

which dvd drive do you have? If it's a thompson then you're likely fucked. I had to replace mine a few years back. Good news is that you can probably find a working DVD drive for cheap now. I recommend the Samsung, then Philips.

[Dark Jaguar]

I think he's talking about an XBox, and I don't even know which one (360 or original). I doubt he'd want to bother physically recombobulating the system with a new drive that not only will void warrentee, but eventually be detected by some later firmware patch banning him from Live.

[A Black Falcon]

The original Xbox has some quality problems, but it's the 360 that is the bad one. It's not known as the least reliable console ever for no reason...

[Dark Jaguar]

It is weird. The original XBox had some issues at first but those were ironed away and my current XBox has worked perfectly for years. The 360 however has the worst quality control I've ever seen. I don't know how it happened but I think rushing to beat Sony to market had something to do with it. It's really rather shameful. Don't get me wrong. The 360 is great in terms of it's technical merits interface and XBox Live is a great service (as I've said, I have notes of complaint about those but they are minor compaired to some companies I could name). However, all of that is moot if the system won't last but a few months.

[A Black Falcon]

Yeah, and it's really hurt MS too, with all the millions and millions of dollars they've lost on fixing systems... it really has been something of a disaster for them, and it has definitely negatively affected console sales.

I mean, when you're saying "Wow, my 360 lasted a whole year! It had a good life, for a 360!", you know that you've had a problem... a friend of mine's 360 recently died, and that was what he (accurately) said about it, pretty much. It's pretty bad.

It really is amazing that MS is STILL having so many problems... they seem to have slightly improved things, but it's still a huge problem.

[Dark Jaguar]

From what I understand, the failure MAY have been addressed in the latest models, but when MS "repairs" systems they use older models and will continue to do so. They apparently have a billion dollar budget dedicated to system repairs, and their terrible customer support isn't helping matters much either.

[Paco]

I'm talking about the original Xbox. The Thompson DVD drive is known for failing. Mine took two years from launch and then I replaced the drive when Halo 2 released. It's been working great ever since.

IIRC, there were three different DVD drive Xbox models: the Thompson (mostly at launch), Philips, and Samsung. The Samsung is the most expensive replacement, but it also reads more DVD and CD formats. It's mega easy to take apart the original Xbox and install it, just don't touch anything else!

No kidding about the 360's failing, I think it's what pushed me to get a PS3 and stop waiting for teh next-gen. I still see myself getting one, especially considering the new Banjo is due out this year!

[A Black Falcon]

Wow... even X360 power supplies get red lights of death!

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=261364

[lazyfatbum]

Update: If you get DRE's turn your XBox on its side, just like when the PS2 went bad.

Also, add this to your list of ohshit, if your game has scratches apply a thin layer of toothpaste to the surface and let it dry. Wipe it off with a tissue and omg teh scratches tey r gone. It doesnt matter what brand you use. Also works great to clean your DS/PSP screens from scratchs and leaves them smelling minty fresh.

[Dark Jaguar]

That's an old urban legend.

Anyway, what problem are you having anyway? Details! I don't even know what "DRE" means.

[lazyfatbum]

Disc Read Errors.

It's a MYTH, an OLD WIVES TALE, ***URBAN LEGEND***, but it does actually work, i've done it to 3 of my games/movies that had deep scratches and wouldn't play right - now they do i'm not kidding oh my gawd?

[Dark Jaguar]

Let me ask you one question about that.

Did you try cleaning them in any way before applying toothpaste and, I assume, cleaning it all off afterwards?

Here's the thing. You can't "fill in" the scratch via toothpaste, and if it dissolves the surface, there's a lot of fine tuning you need to do to make sure you don't completely ruin the disk instead of fixing it (it's why most people need to go to a local shop to get their disks resurfaced). That's why I have to know if it had anything to do with the toothpaste at all or if it's simply because you cleaned it.

So here's my next question.

See my initial post. Is this a 360 or original XBox?

After that, do you get the read error right from the start, in that it can't even load any games, or does it happen during the game at random intervals? That's basically an issue of finding out how bad the problem is. Also, how many games are you getting this error with? One game, or all of them?

As annoying as it may seem, sometimes the only way to answer a question is with a lot more questions.

[lazyfatbum]

No I understand. ;D

Its the original XBox and I have three games with me: Halo 2, Burnout Revenge and KOTOR. All of them will pop a DRE randomly after about 15 minutes of play. My GC did the same thing and I took it a part and followed the directions to adjust the attenuator on the drive to refocus the laser and Humphrey Gunnysacks it done work like a dream. Unfortunately I dont have a way to open the XBox case so after much headscratching I just tried it upside down and on its side and praise Allah no more DREs.

As for the toothpaste, mind you I haven't looked up the properties involved but my theory is this: I disc scratch removal kit or device fixes hairline scratches by actually filling in the micro-holes with microscopic "thingies" in the form of a liqued. For deeper scratches, a device will shave a thin micro-layer off the disc, almost like getting laser therapy to remove human wrinkles. So by shaving off a thin layer, you shave past the scratch and create a newer, raw layer over the entire surface of the disc. But this can only be done a few times before it removes too many layers and the disc can no longer be read.

Tooth paste has two properties to it: A gentle abrasive quality and microscopic "thingies" that fill in microscopic holes. The idea is that it can fill in micro holes on teeth to help prevent decay or sooth sensitivity while the abrasive quality is what removes stains and particles of all that Big League Chew you tried to gnaw on before your jaw muscles gave out.

So using it on say, plastic viewing screens or plastic disks, it achieves the same goals. You can fill in hairline scratches much in the same way you can fill in hairline scratches on your car's paintjob using whatever liquid or compound containing those elusive and powerful micro "thingies" (which i think is just microscopic flecks of silicon or in the case of toothpaste: gnome sperm).

To do it right:

Use your finger to rub a very small amount in to a thin layer over the surface of the disc.

Let it dry.

When dry, use a soft tissue and rub the toothpaste off from the hole outwards (dont rub in a circle)

Use multiple passes to make sure all the toothpaste is gone. (this will also make your disc extremely shiny)

For handheld screens:

Rub a thin layer on to the screen (avoid getting too close to the edges where it can get stuck behind the borders)

Let dry.

Once dry, rub in small circles (buffing! Its what Buffalo's do best!) until all the toothpaste is removed.

Shiny super screen magic hooray look.

[Dark Jaguar]

I think you oversimplified a bit there. The exact chemistry is a must when it comes to things like this.

Namely it still seems like all you are doing is washing off the disk, only you are also washing off some toothpaste now. Before speculating on "filling in stuff with stuff" or how it might work, we've got to figure out if it's responsible at all. So, did you test just washing it without the toothpaste, or with pretty much any sort of other cleaner you have lying around?

[lazyfatbum]

Yup, in fact I tried a little windex and a eyeglass cloth 4 times, all resulting in the same read errors. Tried to just 'buff' with the eyeglass rag to no avail. Used the toothpaste and whoosh, like a charm. In fact the reason i brought it up is because there was a blurb about it on one of the blogs for news that I frequent during my no-pants-time.

I'll try to find it later. Until then you can absorb some info on scratch removal kits that I think wiki has a page on which explains the "thingies" and microscopic yummies that help man kind, like dogs, or planes.