Original Xbox DVD tray doesn't always close

[topper]

At least not when I press the button. If I give it a nudge, it closes. But I'm concerned it's on its way out. I seem to recall that Xboxes need special DVD drives - is that the case? Mine's whatever the latest revision was.

Or is this something that I could hope to fix without replacing the drive?

[smouty]

I'm guessing it is a Samsung drive as they were most prone to sticking. It is quite an easy fix but you need to remove the DVD drive cover as it is usually the drive belt on the tray mechanism that slips. I replace mine with an elastic band.

[topper]

Thanks, I'll have a go. Problem is I have no idea where to find an elastic band, have barely seen one in the last 15 years.

Must be all that technology...

[fallenangle]

You can get the correct Samsung drive belts off Ebay quite easily, at least last time I looked. But you can 'recondition' the old one by putting it in a glass of near boiling water for 30 - 60 seconds and then drying it off thoroughly on clean kitchen roll. The idea is that this shrinks the belt back to it's original size and shape. Do not handle it with bare hands as you need to keep it grease free. It is only a semi-permanent fix but I've done this myself and can confirm it can last for over a year before needing to be repeated.

Problems with the Samsung disc drives can also be due to the tray itself being slightly bent out of shape or just dust and gunge on the runners. The motor for the tray also raises/lowers the laser array so it can be a problem with that too.

The Xbox disc drives are pretty unique - they read Xbox games from the outside in, the opposite of how most drives read discs. You can replace the drive with a standard PC one but it won't read Xbox discs because of this. Back in the day there were some PC disc drives that could be modified to read in reverse but they required a special firmware update too.

Secondhand Xboxes are relatively cheap and really not much more than a PC disc drive so if the Xbox disc drive goes it's no big problem. You might as well buy a replacement and use that keeping the one with the bust DVD drive for spare parts. Alternatively before your disc drive goes softmod the Xbox, fit a larger HDD and use the DVD2Xbox app to copy all your original Xbox game discs to the HDD and play them from there bypassing the need for the disc drive. There are few that won't work or require patching but otherwise it is the best way of playing Xbox games in any case.

[topper]

Thanks, I already have softmod / XBMC with most of my games running from the hard drive, but I've also been using it as a DVD player of late. I can use my HTPC for DVDs but want to fix the Xbox before parts dry up - maybe I'll buy a game in the future and be annoyed that I can't play it.

What do I search for on Ebay? "Samsung DVD drive belt" gave me lots of Xbox 360 results. Is it the same drive belt?

[Jei]

Il repair this for a pint if you want? Pop me a PM bud.

[fallenangle]

I'm fairly but not 100% sure the Samsung XB360 and Xbox disc drive belts are interchangeable, I'll see if I can confirm it. I know there's a thread somewhere at Xbox-Scene which details the actual specs of the drive belt. In the US, of course, you can quite easily get a matching replacement ie. correct size/square profile, off the shelf from specialist AV retailers. The ones I've bought in the past in the UK work fine but tend to be round profile and slightly smaller than the original.