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I bought a refurbished deck with a laser already assembled from ebay and also recapped the logic board 'correctly' with a cap kit from console5. I also replaced the dvd drive belt. I swapped out the deck assembly for the new one. I connected all of the ribbon cables and soldered the red and blue wires back. So dvd drive ejects very nicely and the cd that tested didn't get scratched or didn't stay stuck. The dvd drive emits a loud vibrating noise and I get the pop-up that says that the disc that I inserted is not an Xbox disc. Its a cd music disc that I inserted to test the dvd drive. What I suspect that I did wrong is that I applied too much lithium grease to the rails because the laser doesn't stay put in a single place anymore but it moves back and forth when I tilt the dvd drive. I also didn't pay attention to the laser position before I disassembled the dvd drive. I also don't know the correct level of the disc tray. The disc tray elevates up and down while the laser is reading a game. Its my first time repairing an Xbox dvd drive and I'm out of troubleshooting ideas. Edit: I just remembered that usually refurbished lasers have two pads bridged to protect the laser from being damaged by static. Well the two points were not bridged and there was a lot of burned flux residue too.

Hi Guys; Thomson drives at it again! I have a bunch of Thomson's drives which surprisingly work but they all need to be hit on the top of the dvd cover for them to open. I have opened them up and cleaned them and re-oiled the rails, as well as cleaned the belt etc. Does anyone know a fix for this issue?

I’m having a difficult time finding a replacement flex cable connecting the laser to the pcb. Sumitomo G Awm 2896 80c Vw 1 20 Pin. If anyone has an old dead drive or can help me find this, I would greatly appreciate it.

Looking for two replacement lasers for Thomson TGM600 disc drives. I found some for about $45 shipped but you can get whole units for about the same. Anyone know where to get a better price?

A friend gave me a v1.0 board that was causing problems for him. I put it in a standard early case, attached everything and proceeded to test it. I wanted to update the BIOS (TSOP) so I attempted to run the Hexen DVD. The DVD tray would open, I placed the disk in the tray and pushed the button to close. The Unleash X menu continued to show "Open". I tried this with two known good working DVD drives - one a Samsung and the other a Hitachi.. I changed cables and PSU with no difference. I also checked to see if there were any bent pins for the DVD power cable. All good. I switched-out the power button/DVD drive button harness. No difference. Then I tried a good Thomson DVD drive. Everything worked flawlessly.. What is that all about? Is there a different command structure for the early v1.0 boards that limits which DVD drives will correctly operate with them?

I just replaced the Laser and belt in a Thomson DVD drive and I am having trouble getting it back together properly. The white tooth arm that raises and lowers the spindle does not want to cooperate when I am putting the tray back in. I can get the try back in fine but the drive spindle is not raising and lowering. Anyone know the correct procedure to get it back it? It has to be some kind of alignment issue with that white arm.

Video tutorial on how to pot tweak the Thomson TGM600 DVD drive found in the Original Xbox. It is recommended to have an ohm meter so you can see your adjustments before powering the drive back up.