How to Mod Your Xbox 360 to Prevent Disk Damage

[Conner Dain]

Team XBox (http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/9932/How-to-Mod-Your-Xbox-360-to-Avoid-Disc-Scratches/) brings word that our man Llamma (http://www.llamma.com/) fixed the disc scratching issue.

The Llama guys discovered that when adding a rubber pad on the opposite side of the laser.

This way, all discs hit the rubber instead of crash against those bumps that produce the perfect death ring.
Easy enough.

[Reanimated]

There's a brilliant idea - let me go void the warranty on my console so that I'll have the ability to flip my console in circles while there's a spinning disc in the drive.

HEY! I could do this with my PC as well! That way, when I'm using my computer insinde of my massive hampster wheel, I won't have to worry about those pesky disc scratches that come from excessive movement!

[AniAko]

There's a brilliant idea - let me go void the warranty on my console so that I'll have the ability to flip my console in circles while there's a spinning disc in the drive.

HEY! I could do this with my PC as well! That way, when I'm using my computer insinde of my massive hampster wheel, I won't have to worry about those pesky disc scratches that come from excessive movement!

*Gasping for air from throws of laughter*
AWESOME

I want to see pics of your massive hamster wheel

[jacktion]

If this was so easy why didn't MS do it?
cuz they're dum.

[phantomhitman]

I dont think some people have read the stories of discs being scratched by NON MOVING 360s. This could be the only solution, but then again, you obviously know more than they do. :rolleyes:

[Abash Alarmist]

I have also heard that a solution is to vertically sit your console.

[ghost]

Such a simple solution...way to drop the ball, MS. Unless you wanted to damage a majority of the games you sold, requiring customers to buy more copies...sneaky sneaky...

[Suicidal ShiZuru]

I seriously doubt this happens if the system is not moved.

[AniAko]

If this was so easy why didn't MS do it?
cuz they're dum.

Actually, the hardest part of design, whether it be hardware or software is end-user interaction. They bring in test subjects to analyze how they utilize designs like software interfaces, controllers, and the like. I guess they missed the small demographic of "neanderthals" that treat it like a medicine ball. I'm sure they never even had the problem, otherwise they would have addressed it.

I've seen this before. If anyone has seen the new iPod nano accessories there's a "lanyard headphones" set where the nano hangs off of a tiny dongle that has tiny clips to hold in the data connetion and the headphones jack. They work great, and you typically don't risk the nano falling to certain doom, unless you're like the brilliant users who posted that they're pissed because they went jogging with those headphones and it dropped off and broke. Seriously does it need an idiot tag? Do companies need to tell people that you should not use their product while "doing backflips"? How about "suit does not give the wearer the ability to fly"? Do people need a warning that says, "do not change the orientation of the disk that's spinning at 60,000 RPM"?

[bapenguin]

I dont think some people have read the stories of discs being scratched by NON MOVING 360s. This could be the only solution, but then again, you obviously know more than they do. :rolleyes:

Because disc scratching from non moving consoles is NOT HAPPENING. These people probably have their 360 situated 2 feet from a 500W subwoofer. Common. Fucking. Sense.

[Wombat]

How do laptop drives handle movement? While I certainly wouldn't spin one around, I've used one in very bumpy vehicles without damage.

[RGetz]

Because disc scratching from non moving consoles is NOT HAPPENING. These people probably have their 360 situated 2 feet from a 500W subwoofer. Common. Fucking. Sense.

Put it looks so pretty there! It's feng shui!

[Conner Dain]

I have also heard that a solution is to vertically sit your console.


I wish that someone would clarify which orientation is the safest. There seems to be conflicting information about which is better: horizontal or vertical. It would be nice to know.

[RGetz]

I wish that someone would clarify which orientation is the safest. There seems to be conflicting information about which is better: horizontal or vertical. It would be nice to know.

Just play it safe and put it on a 45 degree angle. That should work, right?

[joruussuun]

How do laptop drives handle movement? While I certainly wouldn't spin one around, I've used one in very bumpy vehicles without damage.
In laptop drives you have to push the disc down over the spindle thing that holds it in place.

[Worldcrafter]

How do laptop drives handle movement? While I certainly wouldn't spin one around, I've used one in very bumpy vehicles without damage.

While I don't know the specifics of the technology, I will point out that all laptop drives I've used have a ball-bearing and spring based mechanism that requires you to click the disk into the drive tray. That way it's secured, and won't get tossed around by user vibrations. This mechanism is used with the Game Cube, and Dreamcast, among others, and I've always liked that solution better than the trays you lay your disk on. With traditional trays, parts of the disc's underside are touching a surface, while with the locking mechanism, only the very center of the disc, where there isn't any data, touches anything.

As far as hard drives, I know that Apple laptops actually have a gyroscopic device that senses rotation changes and will quickly lock the hard drive platters in the event of sudden movement, such as the laptop falling. Someone apparently figured out how to read information from the device, and created a marble madness type game where you control the ball by tilting your laptop.

[AniAko]

How do laptop drives handle movement? While I certainly wouldn't spin one around, I've used one in very bumpy vehicles without damage.

Laptop disk drives secure the disk RIGHT to the drive itself, so the disk can't shift on the motor. In typical disk drives, you put the disk on a tray and the drive mounts the disk underneath, although not as securely.

[Kelegacy]

I seriously doubt this happens if the system is not moved.
Who actually moves their system when it's on? Are there that many retards out there?

So there have been no reports of disc scratching from stationary systems? Sitting it vertical is not an option in my entertainment area.

[phantomhitman]

You have to design for the lowest common denominator. Also, accidents do happen, kids and animals are not hte brightest of creatures.

[AniAko]

You have to design for the lowest common denominator. Also, accidents do happen, kids and animals are not hte brightest of creatures.

True, but there's a diminishing return due to cost (resources, engineers, time). So most things are always left with room for improvement.

You're right about accidents. You can't prevent accidents from happening, but I don't think the 360 naturally turns itself horizontal and vertical. It requires human interaction. In which case the user is responsible for acquiring the knowlege and if need be skills to operate and handle the product. "I didn't know" isn't covered on the warrenty.

100-1 says there's a passage in the 360 user manual that says you should not move the system while it's on. It's printed there for a reason. Any takers?

[phantomhitman]

I am almost positive the manual says not to move the console while its on. I am not saying its ok for stupid people to get away scott free, but this should have been handled by microsoft. I will getting the tansparent disc covers just in case, hopefully they will be enough to stop the scratches. Does anyone know if this scerws up the lens on the laser? There is no way in can hold up to a cd if this continually happens (I know, it should never happen).

[Chimpbot]

Who actually moves their system when it's on? Are there that many retards out there?

So there have been no reports of disc scratching from stationary systems? Sitting it vertical is not an option in my entertainment area.

It's not really a matter of who moves the console while it's on, it's a matter of who moves the console while a disc is still in the drive.
If you change the orientation of the 360 while a disc is in the drive, it can create the situation in which your discs will be scratched to Hell and back by the drive's internal components. It can shift the position of the disc in the drive, causing it to scrape against the lens.
You don't have to be a neanderthal treating the thing like a medicine ball in order to break your software. You just have to be somebody who is innocently switching their console from vertical to horizontal(or vice-versa) while forgetting to remove your disc from the tray.

When the 25th rolls around and I finally get my 360, I'll seriously consider voiding my warranty to perform this little fix. Granted, I'm not one to jostle my consoles around while they're in use, nor am I the type to even change the orientation of my consoles all that often...but it's a precaution I'll definitely consider.

[Wonka]

I have had a 360 since launch.

Mine absolutely does NOT eat disks while stationary.

The manual says not to flip the console with a disc in the drive. Also there were other paper warnings in the box when I unpacked it...


My personal theory is that this was caused because of some TV spots where they demo that if you flip the unit (while on, but with no disc in the drive), that the lights move around the ring of light to indicate the 1st controller in the upper left of the circle... So then all these people got their consoles and they wanted to show off their new consoles by flipping them to show that the lights move and then OOPS they didn't remove their disc from the drive, and so NOW there is a circular gouge in their new copy of PDZ and so naturally they are pissed off. Pissed off people always want to blame someone else for what just happened to them, that is just basic human nature...

Should MS have put foam pads into their consoles? Maybe. But then there would be problems in 3 years when the foam dries out, falls apart and then clogs up the insides of everyones consoles.

[Zanzibar]

Should MS have put foam pads into their consoles? Maybe. But then there would be problems in 3 years when the foam dries out, falls apart and then clogs up the insides of everyones consoles.

ACK! Didn't think about this. Wow. Brilliant foresight, Wonka.

[Cyrano]

I just watched the episode of "Icons" on G4 about the Xbox 360. A designer from Microsoft was flipping the 360 from horizontal to vertical to show off the way the light on the front changes. He seemed to think that flipping his 360 was pretty neat. Hope he remembered to take out his disc.

Having a cool feature that changes the light on the front of the console when it's flipped + having a warning in the manual about flipping the console when there's a disc in it = Microsoft's left hand didn't know what it's right hand was doing. Or, they just didn't care about discs getting scratched.

[AniAko]

I just watched the episode of "Icons" on G4 about the Xbox 360. A designer from Microsoft was flipping the 360 from horizontal to vertical to show off the way the light on the front changes. He seemed to think that flipping his 360 was pretty neat. Hope he remembered to take out his disc.

Having a cool feature that changes the light on the front of the console when it's flipped + having a warning in the manual about flipping the console when there's a disc in it = Microsoft's left hand didn't know what it's right hand was doing. Or, they just didn't care about discs getting scratched.


ACK!!! You watch G4???

You shouldn't move any disk drive while a disk is in. This has been common sense for over a decade. If you don't have common sense you don't deserve a 360, a computer, a walkman, a DVD player.......

[BabyJesus]

I just watched the episode of "Icons" on G4 about the Xbox 360. A designer from Microsoft was flipping the 360 from horizontal to vertical to show off the way the light on the front changes. He seemed to think that flipping his 360 was pretty neat. Hope he remembered to take out his disc.

Having a cool feature that changes the light on the front of the console when it's flipped + having a warning in the manual about flipping the console when there's a disc in it = Microsoft's left hand didn't know what it's right hand was doing. Or, they just didn't care about discs getting scratched.

Or perhaps they thought people should RTFM. I've seen people jump cars and thought it was pretty neat, but I then didn't go out and try and jump mine because of it.

[Pumped'Up]

nah, just replace the laser in the 360 with the one from the Xbox. it will fit perfectly. presto, no more scratches or bummed discs...from a $500 next gen console.