Hi,
I got a x-ecuter mod, and 160GB harddrive in. My DVD-ROM is a philips.
I used to get my imation40X CD-R boot flawlessly every time. And CD-RW works just fine too.
But recently, I tried my old CD-R and CD-RW, I really have some hard time to get them boot. It takes maybe 7-8 failure before one successful boot. The CD-R and CD-RW(memerax) are still the same old CD that boots nicely the first time before. I tried my original Halo DVD, it seems booting fine with three consercutive successes. I don't have a DVD burner, so I don't know about booting DVD-R backup.


Anyone have the Same problem? ANy solution to this?

THANKS!

QUOTE (jimmyc @ Sep 4 2002, 05:56 PM)

Hi, I got a x-ecuter mod, and 160GB harddrive in. My DVD-ROM is a philips. I used to get my imation40X CD-R boot flawlessly every time. And CD-RW works just fine too. But recently, I tried my old CD-R and CD-RW, I really have some hard time to get them boot. It takes maybe 7-8 failure before one successful boot. The CD-R and CD-RW(memerax) are still the same old CD that boots nicely the first time before. I tried my original Halo DVD, it seems booting fine with three consercutive successes. I don't have a DVD burner, so I don't know about booting DVD-R backup. Anyone have the Same problem? ANy solution to this? THANKS!

Poor tracking...

what does poor tracking mean? Does other people have the same problem?

The discs are very clean and scratch free. Before, if I had one disc in the drive, once I switch on power, it would boot to the game directly, but now it
goes to the dashboard. I tried 3 different discs that used to boot 100%, all failed. two Imation40X cd-r and one memorex cd-rw(I THOUGHT CD_RW guaranteed pretty much) The only thing I can think of was that I burned those disc in 32X and 10X respectively. The strange thing is it worked for 10 days flawlessly on maybe 30 boots before. I just don't get it.
Well, Today I tried the "magical method of booting CD-R", it work on my no brand CD-R. I did three discs, all worked well. I will try same other brand later, but those no brand CD-R didn't work before, so I think it should work with other brands too. I will see if those disc "fade" like my old ones or
not.

QUOTE (jimmyc @ Sep 5 2002, 02:45 PM)

...I THOUGHT CD_RW guaranteed pretty much...

Not entirely true... I've had problems booting CDRW.

:d:

QUOTE (jimmyc @ Sep 5 2002, 06:45 PM)

what does poor tracking mean? Does other people have the same problem?

There is a VERY TINY distance between tracks on a CD.

With even a minor amount of wear (or "out of roundness") a CD/DVD reader can fail to properly follow the spiral. Normally the drive itself compensates for this.

However since the Xbox's DVD is not really "tuned" for the media "color" used on most CD-RW's the slightly out of round condition results in exactly what you've seen.

You might have much better luck if you

1) BURN as slow as you can tolerate, never more than 4x, 2x or 1x is even better.

2) Try switching media. The xbox is very "color" sensitive to the media.

This is an old CD trick... run the wooden part of a pencil (where you grip it) around the outside of the CD-RW, so that it presses on the very edge.

Do it with a little force. Sometimes this will "wear" away just a tiny amount of plastic that may be jutting out due to manufacturing, correcting the tracking errors.