I had to open my xbox 360 to fix the laser. when I put it all back together, everything works except when I put on the face cover. Then the power button no longer works. If I leave the one end of the face plate loose, it works. I don't really want to leave the one end open like that. Any ideas?

XBOX 360 repair guide available that covers this problem and also all other common XBOX problems. You can get your copy XBOX 360 Repair Guide, you can download it and get help to fix your console....
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Open the disc tray and blow inside a couple times real hard to get the dust off of the glass laser eye lens. You can also buy a can of Airduster which will do the same thing. And if you really feel like it, you can remove the cover of the xbox, get a cotton swab, dip it in rubbing alcohol and clean the glass laser eye lens.
If the unit is dirty, this will fix it.

If cleaning doesn't help it, then you probably have a faulty laser lens circuit. This is caused by leaving xbox on it's side and not flat like they we're originaly designed to do . Putting the xbox on it's side and standing it up will ruin your xbox and can cause the red ring of death!

Check your discs are clean, if they are buy a laser head cleaner and put that in, if that does not help then it could be a couple of things, one is that the xbox is prone to dropping a magnet out of the DVD drive spindle that caused all sorts of problems, it will eject the disc for you when this happens(Probably) it could be that the Laser has given up, check your warranty and send *** back to Microsoft if you can.

you need to get a cd/dvd cleaner

this is your laser thats losing power and needs either cleaning or the power adjusting so that its optimum again.

dont clean with the common disk cleaners as they are very abrasive and can actually damage the 360 laser eye.

instead strip down the console, then strip down the dvd drive and clean the laser eye with a cotton earbud with a little spit on the end of it. wipe the laser eye with a very gentle clockwise motion.

put everything back together and test if it works then you have done it. if it still does the same then you need to adjust the laser to make the power stronger so it will start reading again.

email me if you need help adjusting the pots on the laser.

ps: this can also happen if the disc is damaged or has the rings around it.

This sounds like your laser is faulty m8, you could try adjusting the power on the laser to see if that fixes the problem but more than likely you will have to install a new laser pickup unit.
strip the machine down, take out the dvd drive and strip that down (usually 4-6 posi screws) remove the cables from the laser then turn upside down and remove the logic board. if you look at the laser there is 2 pots which can be adjusted. if the laser is upside down then you need to adjust the left hand pot to around 282.

put the machine back together and test - if it works then youve fixed it, if not then you will have to replace the laser unit. strip everything down again and this time take out the laser pickup unit itself. remembering how everything went together. look under the laser unit and there should be a part number. look on ebay and you should be able to get a new laser for around £15 inc p&p. this will save you a lot of money and may be the only way to fix.

www.fixmyconsole.co.uk

The disk tray button on the unit is probably being pushed in from the outer cover. When you took it apart and put it together you may have pinched the button in. Very carefully inspect the disk tray button area. The button needs its full range of motion. The faceplate is pushing the button in and that is why it works without it. Or the face plate is making the top cover to press in on the button. Go over the area and watch what the pieces are doing when you assemble the front in regards to the tray button. I had the same problem. Remember these pieces are plastic and after being run (heat) the plastic may want to warp a little since new.

i think you need to take it back, but if you get it back together get rid of all the data you dont need from your xbox it works. and the rings go away.

I've figured it out!All you need to do is make sure there's no game inside of your 360 (for this to work it need's te be turrn it off) take the HDD off the top of your console then turn it back on (without the HDD) then put the HDD back on top of your 360 and put your game back in.If it doesn't work the first time,do it twice or thrice or more.

My problem was the magnet that is supposed to be in the black rotator that the DVD is placed had come out and was sticking to the top of the DVD drive lid... I opened up the XBOX 360 by removing the hard drive on the top first then on the sides of the XBOS you will notice air holes but if you look closer looking from the front of the box on the right hand side you will notice there are more holes then the left and side. I will try to put everything in steps and hope you understand them

1 - Removed the hard drive from the top
2 - Starting from the back pushing a pen in the side holes on the right hand side to unclip the Gray cover
3 - Do the same on the bottom to remove that Gray cover as well.
4 - Unclip the front white face cover and remove it
5 - you will see 4 cover clips on the front holding both side of the case together "unclip them BUT don’t force apart" there is more on the back
6 - Unclip the back by pushing the pen point in all the 7 small holes in the back THEN you can pull the cases apart
7 - Remove 6 long screws from the bottom then take the othe side of, Unplug the cables from the back of the DVD drive and lift it out away from the XBOX
8 - Unscrew the 4 side screws of the DVD drive and take the top cover off.
9 - Take the magnet of the top cover from the white plastic
10 - Use some very good adhesive glue on the black rotator wheel (not to much) wait for the glue to part dry for 3 or so minutes then place the magnet in where it belongs
11 - Leave overnight to dry (don’t try and hurry the glue or you will be doing this again.
-- ** now revers all the steps from 6 till 1 to put everything back together ** --
Mine is fixed now and I hope this worked for you (I did get it working sometimes by just keep opening and closing the draw) but this fixed it for good and now all is working well again