Xbox 360 unable to read game disk

C

ck9791

Rear Admiral
Has anyone else had an issue where their Xbox 360 has problems reading a specific game?

My Xbox seems to have a lot of problems with the Lego Star Wars Complete Saga, more than any other game. I received my first copy of the game last Christmas and the surface of the disk is scratched and scuffed, the case is also cracked. The game was bought from Best Buy and my thought was that they cracked the case and may have rubbed the case against the disk when they were trying to jam it into that hard plastic shell. The game seemed to work though and we don't have a best buy in our town, the nearest one is over 100 miles away, so I decided to keep it and play it anyway. It would work, but sometimes I would notice things like the music not playing in certain areas, or it taking longer to transition back to the cantina after completing a stage. The game would stop and I'd get an unable to read disk message. I'd usually have trouble getting it to restart then, getting the same unable to read disk message or no message at all.

A couple days ago I decided to buy a new copy of the game figuring my problems had to do with the scratches and scuffs on the back of my other copy. I bought it at the local Wal-Mart here and inspected it as soon as I was home. There were no scratches or anything on the back of this copy. So i put it in my Xbox and it starts, then after free playing three or four stages I get the "unable to read disk" error. I check the disk and the tray and then try again, now my xbox won't even read the game. I hear it trying to spin it and read it but nothing happens, the status just says "reading" and then goes back to "open tray." I try my old scratched copy of the game and the same thing occurs. I keep trying for a few moments but finally get frustrated and put in Civiliation Revolution which runs fine.

Yesterday, I had the same problem, I put in the newer copy of Lego Star Wars the Complete Saga and it starts fine but then after a few stages I get the "unable to read disk" message. After checking the disk and the tray and trying again, it won't read the disk, it trys reading it but then just goes back to the "open tray" status, not even an "unable to read disk" message. I try the old copy again and it also has the same problems. I put in Lego Indiana Jones and it runs fine.

Has anyone else had problems with Lego Star Wars the Complete Saga, or another game like this?
 
This will probably start happening with every game. That's how it happened to me the second time my Xbox died.
 
I think this is a sign that the disc drive is going bad -- I believe it's happening to me, too... I ran into several disc read errors while playing through Lego Indy.
 
Here's a good question; are you standing your 360 vertically, or horizontally? The latter is good, the former is bad.

In a perfect world, the vertical configuration works fine - but add a slight tilt or uneven surface, and the drive begins to ware down. Mine began making an alarming groaning sound at certain intervals until I started using it horizontally, at which time the noises ceased. The drive since got replaced with the newest iteration (3rd) when I got my RROD repaired.

Also, not every disc is created equal. Depending on how the pressing was set, the way some are written can deviate slightly from one another. A perfectly clean laser handles these variants fine (typically a whole run of CDs pressed on the same equipment will have the same trait), but if your drive is dusty, you'll have problems with specific discs. I learned this over a decade ago, when multiple copies of Crusader: No Remorse wouldn't work in my PC. I finally cleaned the drive, and it began working.
 
I am keeping mine horizontally. Vertical consoles bother some core point in my brain.

Also, a horizontal Wii is great because everyone wonders why you have an ancient external 5.25" drive in your entertainment center.
 
I keep mine horizontally. It is on a shelf with open sides and an open back. There is a foot between the back of the Xbox and the wall behind the shelf, and at probably 6 inches between it and the item next to it on the shelf. There's nothing on the other side of it but open space.
 
I've kept mine vertically. I only got the disc read error once before I got RRoD. Since then the console has been fine.
 
My problems seemed to get worse over the weekend as my Xbox 360 had the same problem with other games. On sunday it seemed that about half my games wouldn't want to play, but the other half would. Of course it was the ones that I didn't want to play, that I was just testing that would run fine. Later sunday night after i tried moving the Xbox a little and plugging it in to a different outlet it seemed to run ok. However last night I was playing Mass Effect and it ran fine for awhile but then I received the "unable to read disk" message and it wouldn't want to play the disk or even another disk after that.

My Xbox 360 has no other problems, I have never received a red light, the operating system or whatever seems to run fine as do Arcade games. The problem really seems to be with the disk drive or the laser. I am wondering if either the drive itself is having problems or if there is some dirt that is interfering with it. Has anyone ever used any compressed air on their system or a lens cleaner. I know the instructions say not to, but I was just wondering if anyone has ever tried it. How else are is someone supposed to get dust or dirt out of their drive?
 
What do the botom of your discs look like? Wasn't there an occasional 360 unit that had a disc drive that was scratching discs?
 
LeHah said:
What do the botom of your discs look like? Wasn't there an occasional 360 unit that had a disc drive that was scratching discs?
Click to expand...

They look fine to me. The only disc that has any scratches or scuffs that I can see is my first copy of Lego Star Wars TCS. All of my other discs don't appear to have any scratches, scuffs or marks on their surface. I remember hearing about some 360s scratching disks, was there a particular spot they'd scratch?

My machine is about a year and a half old. It has occiasionally had trouble reading a disc in the past but that was remedied by me taking the disk out and wiping it off after which the disc would play fine. It was never like this where even after wiping a disc clean it still wouldn't play, or the discs would just spin up for a moment and then stop without even giving an error message. Its frustrating because it doesn't seem to have the problem with all of my games, just the ones I am currently interested in playing. And sometimes the games will work fine, especially when I first power up the system. They will load and play fine for a little bit, then after a little while they will start having problems. Once the problems start, checking the discs, removing them and then putting them back in the machine, or powering it down and powering it back up don't seem to help. If i start the system up the next day though and put the same game in, it will start up fine, and run at least for a little bit.

The problems don't always occur at the same spots on the game either, or after the same length of time of the system and game running. I can't say it always occurs when I do X in a game, or after I've been playing for 15 minutes.
 
Sorry - it sounds like your drive is dying and that you'll need to call tech support for a replacement.
 
Darn. I was hoping that there was just a piece of dust or something in there that was getting in the way of the laser or the mechanism that just needed to be knocked loose.

If I send it to Microsoft for repair will they fix it and send me the same machine back, or will they send me another console? I have heard some people saying that they received their same 360 back and others that they received another refurbished console. Also, for those who have sent their consoles in for repair, do you send it with the hard drive or do you detach the hard drive and keep it?
 
ck9791 said:
They look fine to me. The only disc that has any scratches or scuffs that I can see is my first copy of Lego Star Wars TCS. All of my other discs don't appear to have any scratches, scuffs or marks on their surface. I remember hearing about some 360s scratching disks, was there a particular spot they'd scratch?
Click to expand...

You can find a billion links on Google if you look up 360 Scratched Discs.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=360+scratches+disks&aq=1&oq=360+scratche
 
LeHah said:
You can find a billion links on Google if you look up 360 Scratched Discs.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=360+scratches+disks&aq=1&oq=360+scratche
Click to expand...


Thanks. The reason I was asking was because I noticed a faint ring on my discs that was closer to the inside, maybe a 1/3 of the way out on the disc. It looked like it was underneath the clear layer though and manufactured that way. There is nothing in the clear layer, and it looks nothing like the pictures online. I just looked at some cds here at work and they all have a ring in the same location on them, some more noticable than others.
 
That is a bummer about your disc drive. I don't really know much about how the warranty works for non-RRoD issues.

I just got a replacement 360 from Microsoft yesterday after my old one of about 18 months RRoD'd. It had a lot of disc read errors over the course of its lifetime but they were never as numerous as yours seem to be, and they didn't lead up to the eventual RRoD or anything, that I know of at least. I'd get errors while playing Mass Effect and Grand Theft Auto IV mostly, but it would always work fine once I restarted the game.

I agree with the consensus, you should call up the tech support guys and let them know.
 
I have one more question. My Xbox 360 is about a year and a half old and this isn't a RRoD issue so it is out of warranty. When I purchased it, I also purchased one of Best Buy's product protection plans. I do so because the RRoD was a known issue at the time but Microsoft had yet to extend their warranty. My question is, will Best Buy believe me and give me a new Xbox if I take my console up there, even if it doesn't seem to have a problem when they test it? Or do they have to be able to see the problem? My Xbox 360 seems to run fine when it is first started up for the day and doesn't start to experience problems until about 15-30 min or longer of playing a game. Or some games haven't experienced the problem yet.

I've used Best Buy's product protection plan once before on my original Xbox. But there the problem was obvious, the machine wouldn't start. They could plug it in and easily see that It wouldn't start. But if they plug in my 360 it will probably look fine for a little bit and they wouldn't be able to see the problem unless they played a game for at least 15 minutes. I don't know if they will take my word for it, or need to see the problem. I now live 2 hours away from the nearest Best Buy, so I'd be pretty mad if I drove up there and they told me it worked fine after turning the machine on for 5 min.
 
Best Buy *should* believe you - this is an issue that many people run into which is well documented.

The issue you may run into, though, is that the people at Best Buy are jerks.
 
I find I either have a great experience at Best Buy, or a terrible one - never anything in between. Perhaps you should call ahead first to speak with a manager since the distance to the store is so great for you.
 
Yea I agree with that. Call up the manager. They're usually more reasonable and your-business-desiring than the ground floor guys.
 
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