jim.flack
CAG Veteran
My XBOX has been having a lot of problems over the last few months, getting a LOT of DDEs, a poor picture image, out of synch audio and video and games just not booting up. After a lot of research and reading your forums, I decided to replace the laser lens for my Thomson drive for $18.95 ((s/h included) from eBay. Six days later, it arrived and I attempted to install it last night. I would have been clueless if I hadn't done some research on the 'Net because despite the seller saying "All instructions included," there was NO support or instructions whatsoever. Plus, the lens came WITH the metal tray, not just the lens. Hmm..
So anyways, I opened the box, moved the HD out of the way, got out the DVD drive and first tried to clean the original lens with cleaning solution/Windex. Nothing. Still had problems reading games. So I replaced the original lens with the replacement. I powered up the XBOX and that was fine, but despite a game being inside, it would not boot up or load. I only got the dashboard as if there was no game. That led me to believe that the DVD drive was not communicating with the motherboard or the HD. So I opened it again, checked all connections....everything looked good. I wonder if the lens had to be set in a certain place on the rails or would it reset itself (?). I took it back down to the living room, turned it on...nothing. Got the dashboard, game would not boot up. Wouldn't even recognize (or not recognize) a DVD movie in the tray. Argh. :banghead:
So the next logical step would be to buy a new drive. But I was a little fed up having to have open the thing and maybe messing around with something that was beyond me. Plus, buying a drive off eBay, paying for and waiting again...So I went to a local game shop and bought a used Halo Special Edition XBOX with controller for $99.00.
So I guess the morale of the story is if you're going to replace the lens, be careful. Really know what you're doing. It would be MUCH better to replace the entire drive itself. Plus I wondering if anyone has any solution to my older XBOX's problem? I could sell it for parts or just "XBOX with non working drive" and a buyer could just replace it and have a working XBOX for $50?
So anyways, I opened the box, moved the HD out of the way, got out the DVD drive and first tried to clean the original lens with cleaning solution/Windex. Nothing. Still had problems reading games. So I replaced the original lens with the replacement. I powered up the XBOX and that was fine, but despite a game being inside, it would not boot up or load. I only got the dashboard as if there was no game. That led me to believe that the DVD drive was not communicating with the motherboard or the HD. So I opened it again, checked all connections....everything looked good. I wonder if the lens had to be set in a certain place on the rails or would it reset itself (?). I took it back down to the living room, turned it on...nothing. Got the dashboard, game would not boot up. Wouldn't even recognize (or not recognize) a DVD movie in the tray. Argh. :banghead:
So the next logical step would be to buy a new drive. But I was a little fed up having to have open the thing and maybe messing around with something that was beyond me. Plus, buying a drive off eBay, paying for and waiting again...So I went to a local game shop and bought a used Halo Special Edition XBOX with controller for $99.00.
So I guess the morale of the story is if you're going to replace the lens, be careful. Really know what you're doing. It would be MUCH better to replace the entire drive itself. Plus I wondering if anyone has any solution to my older XBOX's problem? I could sell it for parts or just "XBOX with non working drive" and a buyer could just replace it and have a working XBOX for $50?
