I place a game disc or dvd into the xbox, I can here the disc spinning but it then comes up with open tray. I have tried different discs and I have also tried clearing the system cache, removing the hard drive, and taking out the leads and putting them back in again but nothing is working.

Hello Shawn Francis,

This problem happens to a very high percentage of consumers of the Microsoft Xbox 360 Console, so there is no need to fret. The "Open Tray" problem is a common problem, thus' there is a way you can fix it. Most solutions require you to open the console, unless the solution is banging on the top of the console, which I don't recommend.

- Reader -- When your Xbox 360 console is opened, open the disk tray and inspect the reader. This may be dirty. Try to clean it off with rubbing alcohol and a q-tip. There is NO need to assemble the xbox back together when doing each step. Plug in all needed cables into the Xbox 360 and try BEFORE you re-assemble it.

- Magnet -- Inspect the top cover of the disk tray and you will see a black circle, and on the other side, (underneath the sticker,) a silver circle. That silver circle is the magnet that keeps a game disc in place as it spins. It may be out of place, and causing the game disc to move everywhere, not letting the reader read it. There are several methods to take the magnet and the black holder off of the disc tray top cover, just try a YouTube search. Once that is off, you can place the magnet and the black cover onto the Xbox 360 disc spinner, and the disc tray problem will most likely be solved.

If you have any other problems, or concerns, feel free to contact me at any time.

This is going to be a bit long -- but very detailed, so please read it carefully. There are several reasons that an xbox 360 system will have problem reading discs. The error messages also vary from unreadable disk, no message at all but the game skips, "please insert disc in a 360 console" to "open tray." There are a few reasons this may happen:

1. Bad disc. Check the back of your disc for scratches. If it looks good (or plays fine in another console), then the disc is probably fine. Also-- try more than 1 game to be sure.

2. Bad laser. The XBox 360 has a DVD drive very similar to a PC's DVD drive inside. The drive contains a bunch of parts including a few motors and gears and a laser. The laser is the part that actually reads the disc. The reality is... with all the hours and hours of gameplay, lasers do eventually wear out. The laser isn't very easy to replace, but it is replaceable. You can find any and all XBox 360 lasers at the following website:

http://store.richspsxparts.com/xb360ac.html

3. Bad DVD Drive. Sometimes other components inside of the DVD drive can become bad such as the motor that spins the disk, the motors that open the tray, etc, etc. You can get a new DVD drive to just replace everything, including the laser, in one shot but there is a catch. The XBOX 360's DVD drive is tied to the motherboard using a software lock. The easiest way to overcome this lock is to buy the exact same manufacture DVD drive that is in your system now, remove the circuit board from the old DVD drive (which contains the software key) and transfer the circuit board into the new DVD drive that you purchase. If you do this simple procedure, there is no flashing involved. The following website carries DVD drives and also provides instructions on swapping the circuit board from the old drive into the new one.

XBox 360 parts: http://store.richspsxparts.com/xb360ac.html

DVD Drive Swap Info: http://store.richspsxparts.com/imnooninxb36.html

try replugged in all your cords and cables
if that doesn't work your game might be scratched bad
or your dvd drive's censor is dirty
i dont recommend opening your console to clean it because that voids your warranty.

try putting the game disc into your game console and close the lid with your hand without pressing the close lid button. hold the disc tray with your hand and turn off the game console. Turn on the game console. If problem still persists try cleaning the xbox with a blower or a vaccum. Pm me if problem still continues. Thank you .

I just found a post on this and it worked for me. My warranty is past. So I took matters in my own hands. I took it apart which was fairly simple cleaned the lens and surrounding areas but it didn't work. But this is what I found out its not reading the disk because the disk isn't spinning. With the box apart and drive open I put it back in the system and turned on the power I noticed the drive would spin slowly I then while the disk was trying to load I spun the disk by hand to help it along and wala it started spinning I powered down put it back together and as of 10:45 2night my gaming nightmare is over. I hope this was helpful. Good luck all!!

HI, the DVD-ROM drive is malfunctioning. this will usually start with a failed optical lens assembly issue but, this is a bit different. The actual spin motor has failed first in this case. due to this damage, you will need to replace the DVD-Rom drive asap. this will fix this issue.

Dvd drive needs service or replacement. Email us if your interested.
[email protected]

it's the disc or the dvd drive is dirty and needs to be cleaned

u need a new drive

If its still under warranty, and the seal hasn't been cracked, contact Microsoft.

Try what hijackthis1 suggested, if that doesn't fix it, try this.

Since you have the 360 apart, and the top cover off of the dvd drive, here we go...

There's a circular cut-out that's glued to the top cover that you removed from the dvd drive, right below the sticker with all of the drive information. I was able to pop out the cut-out. After that you now have (3) pieces in your hand, the cover, cut-out, and a plastic piece.

Connected the dvd drive back in the 360 with the top cover off.

Put a game or movie in the drive, don't hit the eject botton, just put the disc in the tray.

Now with the disc in the tray, put the plastic piece in the center of the disc. Its magnetic, so it should kind of lock in to place.

Connect the power/av cords in the 360 and turn her on.

You should see the disc try to spin. (It may spin once or a couple times around, but it will stop). When you see the disc start to spin, GENTLE, spin/turn the disc in the direction in wants to go. It should load the game or dvd with no problems.

Reassemble the cover and put back on the dvd drive.

Now use the eject botton, and try games and dvds.

If disc fails to spin, do process over again.

I've done this with one of my 360's with no problems.
The drive I used was an Hitachi 0059DJ.