This post originated from an RSS feed registered with .NET Buzz by Doug Thews. Original Post: Xbox Thompson Drive Replaced w/Samsung Feed Title: IlluminatiLand Feed URL: http://apps5.oingo.com/apps/domainpark/domainpark.cgi?client=netw8744&s=JETBRAINS.COM Feed Description: A technology blog for people enlightened enough to think for themselves Latest .NET Buzz Posts Latest .NET Buzz Posts by Doug Thews Latest Posts From IlluminatiLand

I finally got tired of getting the dreaded DDE (dirty disc error) and swapped out the Thompson DVD drive in my Xbox for a Samsung SDG-605 (the best of the supported Xbox DVD drives). As I mentioned in an earlier post, a lot of the v1.0/1.1 Xboxes with Thompson drives are just plain defective. There are a lot of FAQs out there about Thompson drive issues, and even repair tutorials on how to adjust the POT or replace a defective drive lens. In my case, every time it gave me a DDE, I could hear the DVD drive spinning round and round, until finally the DDE message would pop up. I decided to just dump the drive and get the better Samsung drive (which is supposed to be a faster drive).

So, I went out on eBay and found one of the Samsung SDG-605 drives (one of only 3 types that works with the Xbox without a mod). Once I received the drive, it took about 20 minutes to get the Xbox open and perform the swap (I need extra time because I was stupid enough to leave a Links 2004 CD in the old Thompson drive). Be warned, that opening the Xbox invalidates the warranty, and Microsoft put the heavy duty serial number stickers over the torx screws you need to get at to open the Xbox ... so they WILL know that you opened it. Mine was out of warranty, so it didn't matter.

If you're interested in how to swap out your DVD drive or even repair the POT or laser lens in your current DVD drive, hop on over to The Llamma's web site. They've got a good forum on Xbox repaird & mods, plus an online store for replacement Xbox parts & mods. I also found out how to open the Xbox and swap the DVD drives by looking at this tutorial.

Anyway, everything seems to run great now. I notice a huge difference in game load time and the load time of cut scenes as well as the time transitioning from a cut scene back to the game. My old Thompson drive would "whir" away during this process, but I can't even hear the Samsung drive at all. I hope this does the trick (knock on wood)!