Fixing a dead Samsung SG605B laser with parts from a SD616T.

I'm not sure if this is known much or not but I'll share anyways.

My Xbox 1.2 came with the beloved Samsung SG605B drive in it but the drive refused to read any disks. The drive would still register as working on my console so I knew the problem was laser related and not the driver board. After failing to adjust the pots for the laser I chucked the drive into a corner and started using a Phillips drive from a 1.6 I have on hand. I later decided to try the infamous Samsung SD616T mod. That failed miserably with a burned out driver board. So that drive went into the corner too. I recently got another SD616T to try this again. But I also recently read somewhere (don't remember where...) that a dude had a SG605B with same problem. He fixed his by using parts from a SD616T. I decided to try this myself. I was amazed at the similarities between the 605 and the 616. The seem to have the same driver boards with the Xbox one being slightly revised for their custom control cable. Otherwise the control chips are pretty much the same. Even better is the fact they both have THE EXACT SAME LASER ASSEMBLY. I simply swapped them out, metal base and all. They are mounted differently but both drives have the proper mounting holes for either sled mounting setup. I didn't have to adjust anything at all. I bolted it in, slapped the drive together, and went to town.

So now I have a working SG605B with SD616T laser sled that is extremely fast at reading disks, (possibly faster than stock?) a good SD616T waiting for modding, cruddy working Phillips, and a completely dead SD616T with bad SG605B laser sled.

Hope this helps you people with dead 605 drives that adjusting the pots doesn't fix.

EDIT: Forgot to add that yes, this setup does read original Xbox game disks for those wondering. That's what I tested it with. I also tested with a DVD I burned myself for Auto Installer Deluxe. Didn't test with CD media but I'm sure it works fine. I'm wondering if the reason the SG605B sometimes has problems with different media is due to the laser more than the driver board or firmware. After all, the SD616T mod uses modified SG605B firmware and I can confirm both drives seem to have almost exactly the same controller hardware. Only difference seems to be in the laser sleds. If this is true, then I can ditch the idea for putting a modded SD616T in if the modified SG605B has the same capabilities as a modded SD616T.