So my xbox is not longer working properly. I will be playing a game for maybe half and hour, or watching a movie and suddenly it stops and says “cannot find disc.” This always happens. Obviously, it is almost useless in its present state. Any ideas what might be wrong and whether is is something I might be able to fix myself.
With only your short description of the problem I can only guess laser fatigue or some other sort of thermal breakdown. What do you have to do (or how long does it take) to get it to start working again?
OEM lasers cost between $40-$100, and generic equivalents can be found for half of that, but I’ve been out of the consumer electronics service industry a while now and have no idea what kind of laser the x-box uses. Replacing them is not hard if you are mechanically savvy and have an aptitude for disassembling/reassembling small gearshaft type mechanisms.
Eh, I found it. Not the easiest to replace but still not all that difficult if you have a knack for small mechanisms. Caution: Semiconductor lasers are ESD sensitive and this might solve your problem so proceed at your own risk and expense.
You may be able to just adjust the drive, rather than replacing the laser. Here’s a
link.