XBOX Drive dying?

[Corizzle]

I have an unmodded, launch XBOX. Lately I have been getting DRE with some games (DDR Ultramix 3, MVP Baseball 06, etc.). Sometimes it doesn't play at all, sometimes it plays with slowdowns during the game

Is this a sign of the XBOX drive dying? If so is there an easy way to fix it? I have tried a DVD Lens cleaner, it helped a bit but the problem still happens.

[Mistersprinkles]

I have an unmodded, launch XBOX. Lately I have been getting DRE with some games (DDR Ultramix 3, MVP Baseball 06, etc.). Sometimes it doesn't play at all, sometimes it plays with slowdowns during the game

Is this a sign of the XBOX drive dying? If so is there an easy way to fix it? I have tried a DVD Lens cleaner, it helped a bit but the problem still happens.

Its very likely your HD isn't happy... It sounds fragmented pretty bad... I'd move any saves off it onto memory cards and just add a new HD. it isn't difficult to do and an 8GB hard drive should cost you jack squatt...

Im pretty sure it autodetects and formats the drive for you.
If you EMAIL microsoft and ask they will tell you. You'll have to mail the appropriate branch for XBOX

Make sure you tell them that you accept all liability for damage you might cause to your Xbox and that you exempt them from any liability or responsibility for telling you how to open your XBOX (which voids your warranty). Just make it very clear that you will not use the information they give you, which they aren't supposed to, maliciously.

Alternately, Im sure 10 minutes will get you an excellent DIY site to use.

OR you might be able to put a sector on the drive with a windows installation to defrag the drive... assuming thats all it is, which I doubt... iuno...

[darkz]

http://www.freewebs.com/xboxdrives/Drives%20Up.jpg

If your drive is the Thompson, then it isn't hard to believe your DVD drive is dying. If it's any of the others, then I would figure it has something to do with age, though I may be wrong.

There isn't an easy way to do it, but if you aren't afraid of getting into the DVD drive, you can try a pot tweak found here: http://www.llamma.com/xbox/Repairs/thompson_potentiometer.htm

I did it to both my drives and it showed noticable results (before they both wouldn't play a brand new copy of Halo 2, running fine now)

[Corizzle]

The XBOX Drive dying seems more likely as it is a Thompson. I don't really feel like opening up my XBOX and playing around with it, so I got another question.

How reliable are refurbished systems from EB? They are the only place around me that seems to have any systems left and I need an XBOX for all of the games that my 360 can't play

[bug]

The Thomson drive in my ver.1.0 xbox recently started giving me dirty disc errors etc. I bought a Samsung drive from ebay, swapped it and it's working fine now.