Xbox 360 Optical Sensor

[Cayman]

Hey folks, not sure who around here has messed with repairing or modding 360s, but I currently have one that doesn't read game discs. A while back, I completely disassembled it, cleaned the optical sensor, and checked that everything looked right, but it still won't read discs. Having done some research, I know this is a known issue with aging consoles, but I'm wondering if anyone has any experience, tips, or remedies for this issue. Failing that, anyone know a good way to buy 360 disc drives? I'd like to get this fixed so I can stream my rare copy of Child of Eden one day.

[Galuade]

I know that one of the potential solutions for dying optical drives (other than laser replacement) on consoles like the gamecube and dreamcast is recapping the ODD, but I have no idea if that applies to an off-the-shelf contained unit like the kind the xboxes use

[Cayman]

Probably not. From what I'm seeing the error just comes with age, and rather than trying to repair the sensor, it may be best to just replace it. I fear getting a sketchy drive from ebay that might have the same problem though

[Galuade]

I mostly deal in the prior generation, and frankly I hadn't even considered that 360s were getting old enough to start having their ODDs die of old age

I don't care for the reminder of the passage of time

[Cayman]

Nor do I, I just want to be able to play this rare game I have on disc. Maybe if I can find someone willing to give up a working 360 I can cannibalize a drive...

[Cayman]

Actually, maybe I should check the caps. Is the ODD on its own board, or does it slot in via PCI? Not sure if I have the patience to try to recap a 360 but maybe it's worth a shot. Not sure how old this one is though--it's a second gen, so I'm gonna guess 2008/09?

[Galuade]

I've only been inside the guts of my 360 S but iirc all models have a self-contained 5.25" disc drive that looks physically identical to a standard computer drive. I believe it even uses SATA data and power

[Cayman]

Maybe I'll pull it apart tomorrow. I think I remember the ODD connecting via SATA. Not sure what else they'd be using at the time, pretty sure it's not hardwired.

[Cayman]

I long for the days of putting your console in the oven to fix the shoddy microsoft soldering.

[Galuade]

I long for the days of putting your console in the oven to fix the shoddy microsoft soldering.

I long for the days of consoles not being ephemeral little shits