Topic: Hitachi Will Read Cds, Won't Read Dvds, Won't Work In Firmware (Read 59 times)

rmcelwee · « **on:** October 15, 2007, 10:04:00 PM »

OK, I bought a broken 360. It was dropped on the floor and never read DVDs after that. I am wondering if I should buy a new drive or just a laser OR if none will work for me since I want to change the firmware. Here are some particulars:

- It is a Hitachi 78FK drive
- I decreased the DVD laser pot from 4.68 to 3.15
- It will play a CD through Windows Media Player while in Mode-B and in WinXP
- I use a PCI card with a VIA chipset for my SATA access
- When I try to save my firmware key in Firmware Toolbox I either get a "cannot read drive" or "insert game/movie and wait 20 seconds".
- Windows XP recognizes that the drive is there and gives it a drive letter. I can see music files on a CD in Windows Explorer but a DVD movie doesn't show up (filenames, etc) in Explorer.
- I want to swap firmware but I cannot save the key if I cannot get any further than I am now.

Any suggestions?

RDC · « **Reply #1 on:** October 15, 2007, 10:42:00 PM »

A new laser should resolve the issue. You have a couple of other options to get the key, but that's only gonna be good if you plan to replace the whole drive, if you're after hacking the FW on that one you need to get it fully functional first and that means either a new laser or swapping your logic board into another Hitachi drive. If that fails you'll have to have it dumped with an external programmer to get the key.

From the sounds of it, I'd start with just a new laser since it still reads CDs, the laser can be that picky about only reading one or the other type of media, so a new one should get it going again.

rmcelwee · « **Reply #2 on:** October 16, 2007, 10:19:00 AM »

Purchased a new laser off ebay (China) for $17 shipped. Will be interesting to see if it fixes the problem (or if the "cheap" laser is any good).

rmcelwee · « **Reply #3 on:** October 25, 2007, 03:36:00 PM »

Nope, just put the new laser in and it still will not read DVDs (only CDs). Any ideas???

Author Topic: Hitachi Will Read Cds, Won't Read Dvds, Won't Work In Firmware (Read 59 times)