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TheWheelMan
08-23-2004, 10:53 PM
Well i got my xbox back in around the first week of december 2003 it was my birthday present even though i payed for most of it by trading in alot of games but i was happy with the purchase indefinately.I was a playstation fanboy very the longest time but nereing the 2003 holiday season i had a change of heart and just decided i wanted the xbox more then the ps2 and deep down i believe i made the best damn choice ever and for the past 9 months ive been happy with my xbox.....well not completely. In around may or june i discovered something wrong with my baby it was small but it was still a problem i discovered that while it may only be the one song i did find im sure maybe theres more in my soundtracks anyway ya i found that this one song has the beginning 12 seconds cut out of it and i can swear it wasnt like that before but whatever it is small but it was still bugging me.....the same week this happened i also discovered that Hunter:the reckoning and DOA3 were skipping pretty bad like i would try to watch some of the ending videos in DOA3 and sometimes they would just freeze and it was odd i concluded that it was probably just scratches on the disk even though i had rented games before without this problem now today i go to put in psi-ops:the mindgate conspiracy rented yes but it was working fine but i go to play the game but my xbox wouldnt load it and it was making a very strange noise something ive never heard it make before so i restarted it and it eventually kicked in but i mean all this is very unsettling i mean it has the newest drive in it i believe its the samsung and ive only had it 9 months i discovered problems maybe 5 or 6 months in but it bugs me what if my xbox is dying?? i suppose ill just have to get a new one but i really dont have the cash for one which means i could be left with no system if god forbid my baby dies for a very long time and it scares me!!

l Maximus l
08-23-2004, 11:07 PM
That was the longest single sentence I have ever read...

Anyone have a broken violine handy?!

Jamo
08-23-2004, 11:08 PM
I have a cousin who is having the same type of problem. And my Xbox is showing signs of fualty hardwar. However our Xboxes are old and are showing their age. But I see some of the same problems that I have with DOA3. The ending movies you say freeze right? Mine barely start. And they jump and skip and freeze however the gameplay is just fine. (It's starting to take a while to load though and it has skipped during gameplay before) Anyway it could be a problem with the lense. And even if it is a samsung there are still bound to be fualty ones out there you were one of the unlucky ones. Could be a dirty lense or it may be out of alighnment or something. All I can say is that it may pass. My Xbox has done some funky stuff but will work just fine most of the time (When I mean funky I mean funky) I still however plan to get a new one. I can't afford it though either. Is the loading taking longer with games?

Brutus
08-24-2004, 08:52 AM
Wow. This again. Yeah. My first Xbox got really old & then it took a dump on me too. What did I do? I fixed it. NOT MODDING IT! I replaced the drive. You can find a brand new drive right here:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=20385&item=8125611627&rd=1#ebayphotohosting

You can see that it's a lot cheaper than the $150.00 for a new one. & you get to keep your game saves which was important to me, because I had a good 2 years worth of saves on it!

Oh yeah; & Here's a step by step in how to replacing it: (Courtesy of Llama.com)
http://llamma.com/xbox/Repairs/xbox_dvd_repair.htm

I don't approve Modding, but I was recommended to this site for the repair service that my Xbox drastically needed. Make sure that it's the same model!

On a personal note, I'm just going to say that my Xbox got to the point where it would drop out of my LAN's that I have at my house! It couldn't load games & it was stuttering all the time: Wouldn't download DOA3's movies. Stuttered Halo's LAN's; Ruined the AI in Brute Force, Ninja Gaiden wouldn't load... So what I did was replace it with the same drive for $30.00 & it's been like a brand new Xbox ever since!

I'm glad I could help guys.
:cool:

Raaarrrrrgghh! Spirit of Vengar!!!!

TheWheelMan
08-24-2004, 09:22 AM
That was the longest single sentence I have ever read...

Anyone have a broken violine handy?!

Ahh dont start with that **** i really dont care about periods and all that punctuation crap


Is the loading taking longer with games?

um not really its only happened the one time when it didnt load psi-ops at all but i restarted the xbox and it kicked in but like i said it made a funky noise also it got me worried

CMX Jedi
08-24-2004, 10:32 AM
mine was doing the same thing, but it just went away so did the service required screen. strange. :watchout:

TheWheelMan
08-24-2004, 10:42 AM
I havent had the service required screen......yet!

SoundX
08-24-2004, 11:42 AM
There are really loads of things that could be causing this. Read the manual for once. Go through that and make sure your doing everything right. For instance, placing your Xbox in a small closed in area can result in problems like crashing, it needs air so check the surface you've put it on.

But then again, to me, it sounds like you've been sticked with the all mighty thompson drive. Or a dustry drive, one or the other. From what you've described it does point to that.

Hope you can fix it.

I think we should have a troubleshooting section on XBA, there are a damn lot of people with regular problems with their Xbox.

Soundscape
08-24-2004, 05:23 PM
if i replace my thompson with a phillips or samsung will i still be able to get on xbl with it?

Brutus
08-24-2004, 06:07 PM
if i replace my thompson with a phillips or samsung will i still be able to get on xbl with it?
Y
Just like if your PC Drive went out. You would do the same thing as I did. I unplugged my old & broken TGM600 Thomson Drive (Power cable & the ribbon) & I plugged in my new & fresh TGM600 Thomson Drive (Power Cable & the Ribbon)

You don't have to reset it, or do anything. It's just like it was before, only the drive isn't defective. :cheers:

Soundscape
08-24-2004, 06:28 PM
well, i know if i replaced it with another thomson it would be alriht...but i didn't know if xbl would detect that i had performed this modification and not allow it.

LiquidX
08-24-2004, 07:21 PM
well, i know if i replaced it with another thomson it would be alriht...but i didn't know if xbl would detect that i had performed this modification and not allow it.

A thompson Xbox wont work with any other drive besides a thompson unless its "special". There are special codes that have to match up and if they dont you get a sevice screen.

Soundscape
08-25-2004, 02:35 AM
what? i've read that you can swap it out with any of the 3 dvd drives, and it will be fine!?

SoundX
08-25-2004, 05:40 AM
A thompson Xbox wont work with any other drive besides a thompson unless its "special". There are special codes that have to match up and if they dont you get a sevice screen.

Who told you that? When I purchased a Samsung Drive for my Thompson Xbox, they said it was just a simple matter of unplugging this, and putting in that. I never actualy put it in, I ended up selling it off but I think it's pretty safe that any of the three XBox DVD Drives will work.

It's the hardrives that have special codes.

Brutus
08-25-2004, 09:12 AM
These three drives are specifically detailed for the Xbox only. These three should work for you. The difference is the Thomson costs about $25.00; Thomson costs about $59.00 & the Samsung is close to a Hundred. Obviously if you do the Samsung, you're getting the better drive, but I just went with the cheap one. It did me just fine for 2.25 years before it broke. I can afford to do that every 2 years!

TheWheelMan
08-25-2004, 09:28 AM
i dont have a thompson drive i know that like i said i believe its a samsung

Brutus
08-25-2004, 11:00 AM
Thomson= Single Flat Slot for DVD drive opening

Philips= Keyhole Shaped Slot for DVD drive opening

Samsung= Slot & two holes on Door opening side

SoundX
08-25-2004, 11:16 AM
Let me explain it better for you. :p

TheWheelMan
08-25-2004, 11:43 AM
yes i have a samsung

Soundscape
08-25-2004, 11:54 AM
These three drives are specifically detailed for the Xbox only. These three should work for you. thanks....i'm aware all 3 will work in my xbox, but that wasn't my question.

let me try again...
if i replace my thompson with a phillips or samsung will i still be able to get on xbl with it?

TheWheelMan
08-25-2004, 12:01 PM
you know what though? we shouldnt have to replace the drives every 2 years the system should be flawless how could microsoft mess up that bad.....the xbox should last for a long time without problems unless you dont properly take care of it but other then that there shouldnt be any driver problems it sucks but i still love my xbox better then that crappy gamecube or lower quality ps2 :p

Soundscape
08-25-2004, 01:35 PM
the system should be flawless how could microsoft mess up that bad does microsoft make the dvd drives? i don't think so....but i think they should have to fix or replace the drives at no charge.

can anyone answer my question, btw?

CRAYMAN
08-25-2004, 02:35 PM
you know what though? we shouldnt have to replace the drives every 2 years the system should be flawless how could microsoft mess up that bad.....the xbox should last for a long time without problems unless you dont properly take care of it but other then that there shouldnt be any driver problems it sucks but i still love my xbox better then that crappy gamecube or lower quality ps2 :p

Yes, but you have to take care of it. If it's in a poorly ventilated, dusty area it needs more attention and won't last as long as one that isn't.
It has to be blown out with compressed air and have the lens cleaned periodically in order to have the longest life. No DVD player lasts forever.

TheWheelMan
08-25-2004, 03:11 PM
i have my xbox in a tv unit sorta thing but i think it still has enough air around it its not closed in its in the open and like dust well what else am i suppose to do i actually had the xbox in the basement but thats where i discovered some problems what i think might have cause it was i had it in a van with furniture and stuff also in it and maybe it just got shook around to much even though it was in the box with stirofoam around it but i dont know for sure

Brutus
08-25-2004, 06:10 PM
Yeah. But then again, at the time they pushed a boat load of 64MB Video Cards & a shiz load of Pentium 3's (Even though both were slightly altered for the console only, that's what they are; in a sense) for a small sum of $299.00!!!!!
I know I was stoked. I don't blame them when some Chinese company comes along & says they can get a DVD-9 drive shipped to them for a measely (I don't know, but a quantity order, may be only 10) $10.00! I mean, If I was losing money on a console I'd like to not lose so much either.
I have two XBox's. One with the Philips & the other is the Thomson. The philips is faster & it even slows it's speed when not in use. It's really quiet too. But it all comes at a price.
Someone said you can determine which drive is in your Xbox by the serial # but I'm not going to try to hack the Serial #. My Drive lasted only two years... But it was a good 4 different young peoples 2 years. Making it closer to about 8 years of normal use.
My Xbox is my DVD Player, My stereo, CD Player, Personal Game Console & my LAN party Frag Fester! It couldn't have done any better of a job, even if it did have a Samsung, it's that one... THe Xbox of mine that's a little loud while it spins. I can hear the whiz of the fan blowing on the Pentium 3... Ahhhhh... It's custom Silver Metallic Paint job... it's 2.5 years of game saves because there's no need to erase them....
Man, I couldn't get rid of that Xbox for nothing!
Oh yeah, if you want to De-Frag your Xbox, which will help it's speed, open your Memory File. Go to Xbox Harddisk & just listen to it. You'll hear it go to work instantly. It's a program the developers put into the Windows program to have it done automatically, but they don't tell you it optimizes it to have it done (If you use it a lot) at least once every few months. At least!

tsrdawg
08-25-2004, 09:21 PM
does microsoft make the dvd drives? i don't think so....but i think they should have to fix or replace the drives at no charge.

can anyone answer my question, btw?

the answer to your 1st question is Yes, you can still access XBL with either the thomson, phillips, samsung, or pioneer DVD drives...
You ll be banned from XBL if you rearrange the BIOS, which is related to the dashboard and the HD...
2nd question: I dont think MS themselves make DVD drives...Theyll fix your DVD for free if you are within the regular or extended warranty...but you ll still get stuck with the shipping and other piggybacked charges...
If you want repairs after a lapsed warranty, prepare to spend a little more than a Cnote...
Its not difficult to change the DVD drive...all you need are 2 torx screwdrivers, sizes 10 and 15...
hope this helps...

Whisper
08-25-2004, 11:08 PM
Yes.. I know someone who did it.

TheWheelMan
08-26-2004, 11:39 AM
yea i tryed that de-fragment thing and i think it worked i did hear the xbox doing something inside so hopefully that will help something out

visiontekk
08-26-2004, 12:12 PM
i have a philps i got the limted edtion xbox thats green and says halo on it i wonder if all of them have philps dvd drives anyone know ?

Soundscape
08-26-2004, 05:11 PM
the answer to your 1st question is Yes, you can still access XBL with either the thomson, phillips, samsung, or pioneer DVD drives...
You ll be banned from XBL if you rearrange the BIOS, which is related to the dashboard and the HD...
2nd question: I dont think MS themselves make DVD drives...Theyll fix your DVD for free if you are within the regular or extended warranty...but you ll still get stuck with the shipping and other piggybacked charges...
If you want repairs after a lapsed warranty, prepare to spend a little more than a Cnote...
Its not difficult to change the DVD drive...all you need are 2 torx screwdrivers, sizes 10 and 15...
hope this helps...

right on! thanks!
does anyone know if the phillips drive can read mp3's and wma files off a cd-r?

Brutus
08-27-2004, 08:18 AM
De-fragmenting = more efficient save & load times. Everything is all placed closer together so it doesn't have to go so far searching for it.

Philips drive in the HALO SE Xbox. Man, I have a Philips in my HALO SE too! Coincedence? No. They have one of the three in that console too. They are super sweet though... I like the way those LED's light up the front face. It's sweet!