Original Xbox Philips drive just went fubar in an instant and gives error 12

I was playing Conker live and reloaded on a Xbox Crystal I got on craiglist this summer. The console worked very well with no fussiness and fast loading times.

Suddenly out of the blue after playing 1 hour with no issue I hear weird rattling noises from the DVD drive. Immediately the music stops in the game. I could still play but It would struggle immensely each time It wanted to access the disc and made the rattling noise a couple more times.

I tried to eject the disc but the tray would not open. I reset the console and it Gave me error 12. Which is a DVD drive error. I could not get the tray to open no matter what so I had to get my disc out by taking the console apart.

I noticed that the Console and DVD drive had already been taken apart, so maybe the problem happened before I dont know. There is a repair shop warranty sticker on the console so I would think the repair was done by professionals back in 2005. I installed a spare Samsung dvd drive in the crystal xbox and it is now back to normal.

I tried the bad drive in another good working Xbox and it still wont even start. So I know the problem is limited to the philips drive.

I took the drive apart and manually tested the moving parts around and everything looks fine. All the connectors appear secured. I even reflowed a ribbon connection that looked suspicious. Still no go.
I am about to scavenge the laser unit out of it to try to resurrect another drive but I wanted to ask here for opinions first.

Has anyone had this happen before? I mean the drive went from working A1 to paperweight in a matter of seconds.

 

I didn't have that specific problem but I also had a crystal Xbox (1.6, don't know what drive model it was) in the past with a broken DVD drive so it may seem that these specific units didn't have the greatest DVD drives to begin with.

 

I've never heard of this issue before. Also, you don't have to take the entire console apart to remove a disc from a drive that won't eject using the eject button. Most drives have a manual release. The original Xbox has this in a hole under the DVD drive. It's where the piano gloss part surrounding the buttons meets the matte(?) case in the top right-hand corner. Simply stick a paper clip in the hole and push until the tray pops out. How come not many people know this exists on most CD/DVD drives?

 

I know right that small hole where you insert an unbent paper clip but for some unknown reason It would not work on this specific drive. First time I had this happen. It is like there was noting inside.

 

That's odd. Maybe this drive revision had it removed?

 

I think I've seen this before too.

 

The repair label was probably a laser swap. Phillips drive version 1 had a horrible laser pickup. It could've been badly aligned and a small knock or a draw close could have cause your issue. Xbox DVD-ROM drives vibrate like a motherfucker too...

The grinding noise could also have been caused by the top part of the drive case not making good contact with the spindle.

Manual release isn't very... well good most the time. It hasn't worked for me very well, so you're not alone @MaxWar.

 

some drives dont have emergency eject

 

Thanks for the emotional support everyone
I have over a dozen faulty Xbox around in the basement. When I have some spare time I will find myself another bad philips drive and see if i can make a good one out of two.