Need Help w/ NEW Toshiba/Samsung TS-H943A Replacment Drive!

[IzzyOwnsYouAll]

Hey guys,

My brother's XBox will not play any of his games, but plays movies, Cd's etc. Basically, it's the old, infamous "open tray" error that people seemed to get back in the day. Since the XBox is old, it's way past its warranty, and it would cost him over $100 to get it fixed. I decided to give it a stab and fix it myself. I came to the conclusion that I should replace the drive, instead of playing with the potentiometer on the laser (the Toshiba/Samsung TS-H943A has a different laser, and the knobs are very difficult to work with). So I ordered a new drive and installed it. When I put a game in the drive, it acknowledges that it has a game in it (instead of just getting the open tray error), but doesn't play the game at all. When I attempt to play the game, the screen goes black as if it's about to start up, then goes right back to the home screen. Any ideas, anyone?

[Steeps5]

You are aware that you were supposed to replace the old PCB in the drive into the new drive correct?

Easier wording: move the old PCB into the new disc drive.

The reason for this is that the disc drive comes with a key that only works on the specific Xbox. The other thing is that this whole process requires soldering talent.

[IzzyOwnsYouAll]

Why would I need a soldering iron? The ribbons pull in and out easily. Is there something I'm neglecting?

[Steeps5]

There should be some white and black wires on the side of the PCB... is there not?

[IzzyOwnsYouAll]

Actually, no. Neither one of the drives that I opened had those wires. I've seen other drives that do, though. These are the only times that I've opened ms28 drives before, but neither of them had those wires.

[IzzyOwnsYouAll]

Also, I have replaced the PCB boards, and once again, the drive reads DVD's but not games. This time around, when I put a game in the drive, it says "reading," but gets frozen at that point. Is this an issue with the pot on the laser? If it is... bah!

[Steeps5]

Well I think the Samsung and Toshibas are different models. 100% sure they are the same exact model?

[IzzyOwnsYouAll]

Yeah, I'm sure they're identical. I swapped the boards easily, but am still stuck. Whenever I load a disk, it starts to read, but then gets stuck in the "reading" phase. I then adjust the pot slightly (.2k to .5k ohms), but still get no results. From what I've read, the pot reading should be between 3k to 4.2k Ohms, but I get nothing no results in that range. Sometimes I'll adjust the pot, and the disk drive won't even spin. Sometimes it spins, sometimes it doesn't, which I'm guessing is based on the pot value I have at the moment.

Has anyone done this before, and had the problem I'm dealing with? Why am I not getting this thing to read? I can't put my finger on what's going wrong!

[Steeps5]

To be honest, not really anyone here has that kind of experience lol. I highly recommend you look for an Xbox modding community for hardware support :P.