CD/DVD scratching in 360 kiosks [Archive]

winstonsmith1978

06-Nov-2005, 15:54

a rumor is going around that some of the xbox 360 kiosks are defective and the games are getting scratched by some manufacturing problem.

the scratches are circular around the dvd. Now, could this problem be from the laser lense touching the cd/dvd or is it something else?

I remember the early xbox's for japan had this same problem and Microsoft had to do a recall. I'm just wondering what the problem could be.

mckmas8808

06-Nov-2005, 16:15

valioso

06-Nov-2005, 17:15

what dvd? i thought the demos were stored in the hard drive?

Hardknock

06-Nov-2005, 20:18

what dvd? i thought the demos were stored in the hard drive?

They're stored on DVDs, a demo unit near me didn't even have a HDD hooked up.

btw, it's kinda hard to believe this story with no link.

Carl B

06-Nov-2005, 20:22

Winstonsmith right now I'd just be happy if you could prpvide a link as to the problem the early Xbox's in Japan had with this, to judge plausibility. I've not heard of this before, and it seems almost as if a lens-DVD contact would more readily effect the lense in a negative fashion than the DVD itself. It just sounds a little strange, not to say it's not possible though.

OtakingGX

06-Nov-2005, 21:00

Here's a blurb about the original Xbox scratching discs:

http://www.gamesradar.com/?pagetypeid=2&articleid=24848&subsectionid=1586

Not sure where the Xbox 360 scratch rumor is coming from.

Carl B

06-Nov-2005, 21:05

Man that is strange, never knew that.

Hardknock

06-Nov-2005, 21:07

Man that is strange, never knew that.

Yep, MS lost all consumer faith in the Xbox with that fiasco. It was a nightmare from a PR standpoint. I'm positive MS will not repeat that mistake...

Tap In

06-Nov-2005, 22:03

....
Not sure where the Xbox 360 scratch rumor is coming from.

FUD? :D

winstonsmith1978

06-Nov-2005, 22:29

Someone at the 1up forum said that he went to walmart and the system was out of order. the person woking there showed him the disk and it had circular scratches.

this made me think of the origional xbox problem in japan.
http://it.asia1.com.sg/newsarchive/03/news005_20020309.html
http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,50923,00.html

so i was wondering what could do this? Lets forget for the moment if this is real or not. I was hoping the tech people could figure this out.

Mefisutoferesu

07-Nov-2005, 00:41

Actually, I'll say this... though, anecdotal, I remember seeing a shot of a Xbox 360 with the tray open and noticing that one of the corners produced from the space cut out of tray for the laser to read was bent up towards the the DVD. I just shirked it off as my imagination or just some weird annomally, but it could explain this problem.

fallguy

07-Nov-2005, 00:42

What they heck is a " kiosks"?

Powderkeg

07-Nov-2005, 00:49

Not sure where the Xbox 360 scratch rumor is coming from.

I rather suspect it originated with someone going by the name of winstonsmith1978.

wireframe

07-Nov-2005, 00:50

What they heck is a " kiosks"?
What are kiosks. It would be the plural of kiosk. definition (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=kiosk)

Could it be that these demos are on "soft" burned DVDs that are more senstive to scratching?

Still, sounds like a problem even then, depending on how much playtime and swapping is going on. Maybe the managers are being careless swapping discs.

winstonsmith1978

07-Nov-2005, 02:07

I rather suspect it originated with someone going by the name of winstonsmith1978.

Is it me or is this guy annoying.

http://boards.1up.com/zd/board/message?board.id=xbox&message.id=79089

Hardknock

07-Nov-2005, 03:20

Gholbine

07-Nov-2005, 03:33

I doubt the retail units will have this problem. I imagine there would have been extensive testing done on all the units while production was in progress, so I don't see how something like this could slip through the nets. Then again, are the demo consoles and the retail consoles one in the same?

Carl B

07-Nov-2005, 03:47

Okay, I just left from Wal-mart. The Demo unit was working, but none of the games would load. I asked one of the guys about it, and he said something about the disc had a ring on it and they were shipping the disc off to get another. I don't know if the disc itself was faulty or if the 360 was causing the damage....

Oh my God it's just drama after drama I swear. I can't believe this thing is true. What if the design-element Mefisutoferesu saw is actually the case on most production units, rather than a fluke of that unit? It indeed will be important to know whether it's the 360's or the discs most responsible for the scratching.

One question for those who've seen these messed up 360/discs in action; were the consoles vertical or horizontal? In the end for launch unit owners it may come down to playing your games in the 'safe' position to ensure that disc scratching rsk is minimized. I play my consoles hoizontal anyway, but I do seem to remember the one at EBGames I checked out being vertical. Of course that game/disc was working though.

BlueTsunami

07-Nov-2005, 03:59

This is a good thing in a sense. The whole Kiosk system is wonderfull to see if theres anything defective with the systems. I wonder if these are just flukes?

expletive

07-Nov-2005, 04:01

Sounds like it could be people placing the discs in the tray incorrectly? I cant imagine that at this point in the DVD-drive lifecycle that we're still sorting these types of issues out. If the units are really broken, ouch! Maybe thats why all the preorder numbers being slashed so much recently?

Mefisutoferesu

07-Nov-2005, 04:14

Well, if it does turn out to be what I saw, then it shouldn't be TOO big a deal. The corner was bent up and a bit white-ish, which to me suggests that during the tray production process -- I'm guessing the part is cut out or molded and during the release from the mold or the cutter the last part to stick to the device is that one corner, thus it gets bent. What's causing this could be a number of things... the release mechanism could be crap on the cutter or they may not let the plastic cool properly in the mold, though regardless of the process I'm willing to near garuntee that part of the problem is they're making the trays a little too thin. That said it shouldn't be too hard a fix in the production line, and probably something that can be caught early. If not just bend the darn thing back or get a pair of good sicssors (sp) and cut the darn thing off, it won't affect play or unbalance the drive in anyway. 1st thing 1st check the drive and if you see something bent fix it and happy sailing.

bRoNx

07-Nov-2005, 04:22

the scratches are circular around the dvd
It's part of the "Ring Of Light" campaign!!! ;)

http://www.ilovexbox360.com/fr/sendbinaries.aspx?file=fond%20xbox12.jpg&Width=540&folder=wallpaper

ImaginaryIndustryInsider

07-Nov-2005, 04:32

One question for those who've seen these messed up 360/discs in action; were the consoles vertical or horizontal?

The general Wal-Mart setup is horizontal.

(Best-Buy, Gamestop, EB-games, etc, have the nicer looking vertical setup for the most part.)

mckmas8808

07-Nov-2005, 16:40

This is a good thing in a sense. The whole Kiosk system is wonderfull to see if theres anything defective with the systems. I wonder if these are just flukes?

I don't think demostrating your system in front millions of people before finishing testing it is a good idea.:???:

scooby_dooby

07-Nov-2005, 16:42

I just wonder how the percentage of successfully installed kiosks compares to the number of f***-ups.

I wouldn't be surprised to see 99% + working well, could just be getting overblown cause of the interent.

london-boy

07-Nov-2005, 16:52

I remember hearing similar horror stories for... Well, for every disc-reading console ever released really.

There will always be lots of people complaining about something. the main point is that for every complainer, there's 10000 happy customers. We only hear the complaints though, cause the 10000 happy customers don't go round telling everyone how happy they are. The complainers on the other hand, well they complain that's the whole point.

Shifty Geezer

07-Nov-2005, 17:36

Remeber the outrages over PSPs release? The spontaneous ejection of disk, hugely disfigured screens covered in dust and bubbles and dead pixels, reports of battery only lasting 2 hours on RR... People only make a big noise when they complain. How often do people in a resturaunt demand to see the manager and shout at him/her how wonderful the meal was and how they'll be visiting again and recommending the place to their friends? That's why companies tend to err on the side of caution, granting benefits to complainers even when complaints are unjustified. It's a sort of media blackmailing, threatening to shout about how evil a company is if they don't refund the product or something.

Powderkeg

07-Nov-2005, 18:49

How often do people in a resturaunt demand to see the manager and shout at him/her how wonderful the meal was and how they'll be visiting again and recommending the place to their friends?

I used to do computer tech support for a living, and I always wanted to see someone call up tech support just to say their system is working great.

jvd

07-Nov-2005, 20:05

Our disc is fine . Not one scratch on the thing. I can take pictures when i get back from virgina

Carl B

07-Nov-2005, 20:22

Our disc is fine . Not one scratch on the thing. I can take pictures when i get back from virgina

JVD why in the world would you take a picture for us of a disc that's *not* scratched? I mean, that is the default state of these discs, right? ;)

jvd

07-Nov-2005, 20:58

JVD why in the world would you take a picture for us of a disc that's *not* scratched? I mean, that is the default state of these discs, right? ;) so i can't be accused of making a conspiracy to cover up a conspiracy about scratched disks :shock:

Shifty Geezer

07-Nov-2005, 21:00

What'd be more fun is if you heat up the disc so it warps and stick a circular coffee stain in the middle and post it on the internet saying 'OMG Look what XB360 did to our demo disk!!!11! :shock:'

:twisted: