Replace Xbox 360 DVD drive?

[snepp]

Has anyone here replaced an optical drive in the 360 themselves? Google magic tells me there are a few problems doing so, just wondering what the power of OS has to say about it.


What I gather so far, with no guarantees toward accuracy...

1. There's some kind of key in the firmware that matches a drive to the system.

2. You can replace it with any drive model you want, but you'd have to pull the key off the old drive, and put it on the new drive (a major pain in the arse).

3. To keep the system Live capable, you need to replace the drive with the same model.

4. If you get a drive of the same model, you can swap control boards between the old and new drives rather than messing with firmware.

5. MS can go to hell.

Does that about sum it up?

[bkfount]

Quote: Originally Posted by snepp

Has anyone here replaced an optical drive in the 360 themselves? Google magic tells me there are a few problems doing so, just wondering what the power of OS has to say about it. What I gather so far, with no guarantees toward accuracy... 1. There's some kind of key in the firmware that matches a drive to the system. 2. You can replace it with any drive model you want, but you'd have to pull the key off the old drive, and put it on the new drive (a major pain in the arse). 3. To keep the system Live capable, you need to replace the drive with the same model. 4. If you get a drive of the same model, you can swap control boards between the old and new drives rather than messing with firmware. 5. MS can go to hell. Does that about sum it up?

#4 is probably the easiest option. However, there's the possibility that the existing board on your console could be bad instead of the drive itself.

[snepp]

Quote: Originally Posted by bkfount

#4 is probably the easiest option. However, there's the possibility that the existing board on your console could be bad instead of the drive itself.

Unfortunately that's a good possibility. Or maybe the control board on the DVD drive went crap (though not likely). I don't have the machine here to take a closer look at it yet.

From what I've been told, it's having problems with both game and movie discs, so I'm hoping it's just a problem with the optics and a $25 replacement will do the trick