Before You Replace Laser Pot On Your Drive Try This..please Read Options

[Ph33r K0rpV]

right ..

i read alot on your forum about the problem with disc read error and close tray problem ...

i read sorting out the calibration of the pot and thought il try the rubber band tweek first ..

so i flashed a hitachi drive 046 rom version and it would not recognise any media discs at all besides genuine games and movies..

list of discs it wouldnt recognise as follows
these are all burnt on a pioneer 111d (version 1.29) also a nec optric using image burn v2.2

media used

verbatum (dye mkm 001) (printable face)
ridisc 2.4x (dye mag do4) (printable face)
ridisc 2.4x (dye mag do1) (printable face)
ridisc 8x (dye RICOHJPND01) (printable face)


at first it would not recognise any of the above untill i did the rubber band trick .But then it would recognise VERBATUMS MKM001

Ok now i thought i was getting somewhere so then i tried the ridiscs but it still gave me tray closed error or cannot read disc error...
Now i played around with the rubber band to no avail at all .. (couple of hours gone now ) still only able to get the verbatums to work .. now all the above discs are working on my other 360 with the same dvd drive ..

i thought has no one gone down the route of trying to clean the laser itself ???

so i grabed the misses nail polish remover and grabbed a cotton ear bud and cleaned the laser to the best i thought i could ...

NOW ...>>>
i have verbatims and the ridisc 2.4x working everytime ...
so i then took the drive apart again and cleaned the laser more with the nail polish remover ..

NOW..>>> i have all the discs above working fully ..

all the above working have the rubber band trick applied ..

i removed the rubber band and all the above still work ..
my conclusion is CLEAN YOUR LASER FIRST BEFORE YOU DO RUBBER BAND OR POT CALIBRATION ...

like to say thanks to the lads who have posted about rubber band trick and pot calibration the TUT have been a great help ..

please post if cleaning the laser head has worked for you also ....


rgds Jaime

[RDC]

For anyone thinking of doing this, don't. Most fingernail polish remover has Acetone in it and that's just gonna fog up your lens something awful and cause it to work worse or not at all. Use some 99% Rubbing Alcohol preferrably, though for cleaning just the lens 50% or 70% will work also, just make sure ya get it all cleaned and dried off there good. There is polish remover without Acetone as well, but using a good rubbing alcohol is the more recommended of the two. Most people do try, or at least they say they do, a lens cleaning before laser POT tweaking or replacement and yes a good cleaning should be attempted after making sure your discs are in good working order.

[Ph33r K0rpV]

For anyone thinking of doing this, don't. Most fingernail polish remover has Acetone in it and that's just gonna fog up your lens something awful and cause it to work worse or not at all. Use some 99% Rubbing Alcohol preferrably, though for cleaning just the lens 50% or 70% will work also, just make sure ya get it all cleaned and dried off there good. There is polish remover without Acetone as well, but using a good rubbing alcohol is the more recommended of the two. Most people do try, or at least they say they do, a lens cleaning before laser POT tweaking or replacement and yes a good cleaning should be attempted after making sure your discs are in good working order.

after i read your reply i went and checked the nail polish remover .. it has no acetone in it so i was lucky there ...

all i have to say is all works perfectly now after cleaning laser

cheers

[brywalker]

Do NOT use ANY nail polish remover on the lens, even if it doesn't have acetone or you will be buying a new lens.

Use rubbing alcohol (NOT WITCH HAZEL). I use 91% or higher, you can get it at WalMart for like $1.

[poover]

I think I'm gonna try cleaning the laser in my drive (NOT with nail polish remover). Mine can't read any burned DL media (Verbatim DVD+R DL); it can read all other types of media, though.

[Djpj]

Does a laser lens clean disc works too? It's a disc especially for xbox 360 and have those rubber brushes on it which will brush the lens clean.

[RDC]

Does a laser lens clean disc works too? It's a disc especially for xbox 360 and have those rubber brushes on it which will brush the lens clean.

That type of "lens cleaner" isn't the best and will only brush off any light dirt that's on them. If you want to clean the lens properly it needs to be done with some good rubbing alcohol and a couple of Q-tips. Use some compressed air to clean out the other parts of the laser that can't and shouldn't be touched.

This post has been edited by RDC: Apr 22 2007, 05:35 PM

[adriana]

Great tip and thank you!
Anyone know where I could read or watch more info on how to open the DVD-ROM case? And how to clean the laser? (I already know how to open the 360 case).

[RDC]

Great tip and thank you!
Anyone know where I could read or watch more info on how to open the DVD-ROM case? And how to clean the laser? (I already know how to open the 360 case).

There isn't much to opening the DVD dive, 4 screws in the Samsung and 6 in the Hitachi that hole it together. After that ya pull the cover off and there ya have it. Removing the laser assembly isn't something ya should do without looking into it first, or tearing apart a drive ya don't really care about too much. To my knowledge there's no complete tear down tutorial of any specific drive, might have to work on that.

[DJ_L3ThAL]

also from jaycar (australia) you can get "circuit board cleaner" which is basically metho but better for cleaning solder joints, with a cotton bud and this stuff (evaporates instantly) it works perfect for lenses i have used it for about 7 years now and i find it better than isopropyl (spelling?) alcohol as it does not leave any mark after you gently rub around the lens where as the alcohol is fiddly to get the lens crystal clear. Its also great cos the one can has so many uses! It works awesome to remove the heatsink thermal compound when doing xclamp removals or changing to AS5

bed time

[jimbobjim]

I use some aftershave I got about four christmases ago and a couple of cotton buds to clean any lens I get... never had any problems.