Xbox 360 DVD Laser Adjustment

If your xbox360 dvd drive does not work reading games or dvd's your laser may be at fault. After time the laser becomes weak and can be adjusted using the dashpots on the back of the laser.
Required tools:
Philips #0 or #1
Multimeter that measures Ohms
Get an initial reading and then adjust the dashpot till Cd's and DVD's read in your DVD Drive. Without a multimeter adjusting the dashpots may lead to damage of Game disks or the DVD drive itself.

[@ghostprospecte3300]

Xbox died 6 years ago, and then i stumble upon this solution. Dig it up from under my bed and tried it, less than a quarter turn on each screw counter-clockwise. WORKED LIKE MAGIC. Now for a nostalgia session. Thanks Dude

[@leso204]

Nice nugget of information for 2022' 360's now being over 15 yrs old 👌

[@spud69g]

You good sir are awesome. Thank you for being much more informative than other videos I saw. My box was just a media player for months, and after a few seconds she's working like a champ again. Hats off to you!

[@PrincernPrince]

Should have showed the measurement not just talk

[@Maliboo74]

Quarter turn worked for me, thanks for the descriptive demonstration.

[@Tessa_Wolf_]

I’m going to give this a try, been having intermittent disk reading issues

[@phillipjackson8102]

Thanks it really worked man my son got happy when he saw his Epic Mickey 2 say play game

[@baronvonblackheart715]

Good advice. I stopped using volt meters and multi-meters though. My buddy in the Geek Squad showed me this new tool and it's awesome. I can see wave forms like an oscilloscope but it auto-sets and in under a minute I have the laser lens adjusted. It;s called Service Scope and it's sold by Hickok Tools. It's a lot cheaper than a regular scope too.

[@tylerbare380]

Thanks! Quickest and most efficient explanation I could find! Good video!

[@shiBuyaking109]

Worked like a charm 5 clicks counterclockwise and my Xbox is reading my Halo CE anniversary disc like she’s brand spanking New!!!! Thanks

[@sacey21]

Great info....you just save my disc drive...thank you! Worked like a charm.. I kinda had to fiddle with the two screws to get a proper setting but once I got them to read 3.4 I hooked everything back up an my drive is once again reading my games like new!!

[@pianomanplayer5762]

Thankyou very much this helped a lot I tweaked the left screw by 1-2mm and it fixed the disk reading errors

[@chevywes2320]

Thanks for this vid. Had my 360 since 2008 and was ready to trash it. did what you said and it works just fine now.

[@Jay-May]

Awesome! I'm always glad to help people fix their stuff.

[@mickchuknit324]

@@Jay-May wher do i touch the test leads to it at?

[@Jay-May]

My understanding is the right one is for reading CDs. It usually way lower then the DVD. Lets say DVD is 4.0 the CD is 1.2 .. Maybe 2.1

[@Jay-May]

No, randomly turning them is not good. If you turn the laser to high it will burn your DVD's, turn it too low and the disks won't read. Its better to use a multimeter and get the readings off the pots before you adjust them. All drives are factory set and have different settings, although a general setting say 4.0 could be set and then work up or down from there.

[@mickchuknit324]

Wher do i touch the tes leads to and what should i set my multi meter on? I wish you had shown testing it.

[@rustyshakleford7809]

1000 blessings good sir, has worked for 3 arcades now . I wondered just how GamePlop was cleaning them special for 50/60 bucks lol. and for thirty more i got trade ins hence 3 arcades. If only the manufacturers were honest. ive had the ports wiggle lose from moving the xbox room to room, Since I've now "modded" my xbox I've also taken advantage of the open top disc share method so i can enjoy the games with my brother in the same house without buying a 2cnd copy. Awesome video, to the point and well put.

[@Jay-May]

good for you, Many blessings, continue the good work!

[@BabyGirl8057]

I wouldn't recommend doing this without the multi-meter. IF YOU DO, don't do it a quarter turn or half turns. Turn it about the thickness of a penny test it, do another small adjustment, test it until you get it to read. IF after only like 3 adjustments it doesn't work put it back to where it was this isn't your problem. After that stop messing with it. I did a quarter turn and it worked, i went to bed woke up the next day kids were playing it. I decided to borrow my uncles multi-meter I checked it and had it running way to hot. It would've burn out the laser in no time. After tweaking it and checking it with the multi-meter I found out that even the smallest turn makes a HUGE difference in the ohms. Don't do it without the meter if you do, then only turn in in VERY small increments while testing it. And I mean SMALL turns like the thickness of a dime or the thickness of a penny.

[@phillipjackson8102]

No more banging on my Xbox just to get a game to read

[@babystepps3726]

Phillip Jackson felt that

[@1969RSCamaro]

Sometimes you can just drop a new laser in and it's set to go. Other times you absolutely need to adjust the laser resistance. Otherwise the disc won't spin up. You can take a perfectly running drive and adjust it so it's out of whack, that can cause it to not spin up. If the drive doesn't detect a disc right off, it won't spin.

[@johnpettibone8672]

Saved my xbox, glad this worked. Mine went at 3.3 and 2.3

[@johnpettibone8672]

Phillips benq

[@WolfPackStudios100]

your Problem might basicly be dust in the console you would need to clean it that has just happen to me but be careful when doing so Cause when I was cleaning out the dust I messed up the laser soo now all I get is disc unreadable "Sad life now"

[@billsbodaciousboogiebits6429]

Hey buddy! Guess what? Because of your super nifty and seemingly unique video I FIXED MY XBOX!! That being said, i did it wihout a multimeter. I turned it approx 1/10 a turn counterclockwise because it was less of a turn than you made. My xbox has never worked this well. If theres a way to tell that this is the issue without a multimeter thatd make a great video.

[@pdtechbigbot9363]

Old post but I was hoping I could shed some light on this. My Lite-On drive read 5k-ohms for the left screw and 0.7k-ohms for the right. Assuming you guys mean k-ohms, I adjusted the pots to 3.4k-ohms and 1.2k-ohms and unfortunately no change in performance here, so I adjusted them back. This xbox 360 is having a tough time reading backups but I'm not sure it's the drive. It works when the drive is not screwed together but not when it's put back together. Some discs show static like video in dvd scenes but I'm thinking now might just need to flash the os.

[@markusaurelius4015]

Mine also read kohms. He definitely meat kohms since a couple ohms can happen just from a straight wire and the potentiometer adds resistance.

[@Bscribes]

If anyone is sitting at home mad they can't get their disk drive to work and have tried other things then you need to try this. Took some time with adjustments which were very touchy for mine. But its up and running again. Was gonna go buy a new xbox tomorrow. But all good. Get a multi meter and turn the screw in small amounts. Don't rush it with huge turns.

[@mickchuknit324]

I may need a tutorial on how to use the multimeter. I have one, but hsvnt learned to use it yet.

[@TechnicFreakJulian]

Mine was tweaked to 5.6 ko but I turned it down to 3.9 now it works perfectly

[@Jay-May]

Awesome, glad the video helped.

[@spencerwebb2054]

Awesome video dude. Kept getting open tray. I turned both screws about 1/8 turn reverse clockwise. Popped game in and it fired right up. Just wondering, how long will this bandaid the laser?

[@Dark_Jaguar]

I know it's been over a decade, but I'm curious what values I should aim for with the HD-DVD addon drive, if you're aware? Looking around online I'm drawing up blank information.

[@Jay-May]

@@Dark_Jaguar that's a good one... I would take values, write them down and adjust the value up, testing DVD's as you go along. Iusta work at a video game retailer, and never was the expansion hd-dvd, rare find indeed!

[@sklive1035]

i changed my laser and it works just fine now

[@shahradmousivand7233]

Thank you so much it worked perfectly

[@Jay-May]

Your welcome, glad it helped with your Xbox!

[@chewchewjr]

yea little bit less than a 1/4 a turn and bam it works TY!!!!!!!!!!!

[@ricicloriparazionimr.g]

Hi, congratulations on the video, I have a problem, I insert the game, the disc starts, spins a little and stops, you can see the laser LED light up, but it doesn't load the game, it tells me to open the CD compartment, I have to calibrate the laser? what values? I have a Philips, thank you very much

[@Jay-May]

You can try and adjust the laser manually by trial and error, my best suggestion is to get a cheap volt meter and follow the instructions in the video

[@ricicloriparazionimr.g]

@@Jay-May hi Bro, work in progress ☺️💪 thanks , greetings to Italy 🇮🇹

[@thegamingcomputer_68]

My drive laser has a light but doesn't recognize CDs or DVDs, will adjusting the potentiometers work?

[@Jay-May]

It should! Please use a multimeter to gauge what voltage and adjust till it works.

[@7tenactivities]

my xbox laser is working my promblem is that it doesnt glide on the rail it stay in the same place?

[@Jay-May]

Sounds like a problem not related to the laser. Sounds like maybe the drive motor is shot.

[@KSmile-p1l]

How do I know how much to turn the screw?

[@jacobblank3635]

okay, so the left pot needs 2.5k to 4k Ohms? The right pot needs 1.2k to 2.1k Ohms?

[@justinmiler314]

thanks this fixed my Xbox

[@Jay-May]

Not accurately. You need a multimeter to properly adjust it. Harbor freight has them for cheap.

[@KogaNja]

ty for your education to us friend.

[@pacman32isotr]

Thank You So Fucking Much. Wish I Would Have Done This 2years ago When That Problem First Occurred. You Sir, Are Fucking Awesome For This Video!💪

[@alanpayne1989]

quick question.. my xbox was playing up abit reading game.. works, but takes a little longer than normal.. so i took it out and cleaned it with a bud and abit of vodka.. now it makes a noise trying to read, but doesn't read games anymore! :(

[@pascalmbuyi9729]

I have my dvd player , the problem is , when loading dvd disc, still the player is remained in loading .Can you help me my dvd player is SONY SP-200

[@eastonetter7648]

I really need to know when my lasor should be on. It appears to be on after the disc is done spinning, or isn't spinning. Please help, going to college soon

[@Jay-May]

Are you refering to Jasper/Falcon motherboards? As far as I know there is no standard falcon drive.

[@BastianKevin666]

Not clear at all. You have a screwdriver. Point at it instead of using your fingers. If you cant do that. Left right up down helps.

[@HypaXLink]

I looked at the two pots. They don't look like Philips screws or like a philips screw driver can turn them. I have a Ben Q, is that normal?

[@toni0034]

so how many Ohms should it be? I have problem with old XBOX 360 Elite dvd drive. It doesn't read anything anymore, and this is the only thing I haven't tried (well, next step would be buying a new drive from Ebay) I'm studying electrical engineering, so you don't have to avoid fancy words :P do I need to turn it on while tuning the potentiometer or what

[@Jay-May]

Since your measuring resistance there is no need to have it powered.

[@toni0034]

Jay May I figured it out. it was 5.56k, and noe its 4.46k and it works perfectly

[@BDLII2020]

I done every thing you said and can't get my multimeter to read all it keep saying is 0.00 I have it on 20k and plug the laser to my xbox and turned it on and the laser is blank no red dot at all. what am i doing wrong

[@peterp3102]

nice...the left pod for DVD..to make the laser less power full you need to turn it to anti-clock wise ??? please confirm...

[@pianomanplayer5762]

I did the thing and it fixed so yes

[@tyler2610]

Hi, I just put a laser in my DVD player from a brand new unit and it won't read two sided discs. The other unit will not play at all now. Both units were working before the swap. Does the laser diode need to be adjusted? These are both NOS units and the parts are identical so the lasers should not be weak. Any ideas?

[@GreenSkyFalling]

I'm 33...I am too stupid to try this stuff...Just wanted some young guys to know that if they can do it they might be smarter than the average bear ( or maybe Im just dumber than most everybody). My point is, if you can fix this, than maybe you would be good at this sort of thing for a living? I'm good at cashier the groceries and cleaning. And cooking! But too stupid to do this thing. it literally hurts my head thnking about how t make it do what you're doing. thanks for listening, staynschool

[@mickchuknit324]

This hasnt helped mine at all. It went from always playing music disks, but only movies and games if i tap on it right to barely playing music.

[@TakenGTs]

Yeooo thank you for this video!!!! very informative

[@Jay-May]

+Taken GTs Your welcome, I'm glad its helped so many people.

[@kawkaw142]

Hey thank you for the videos firstly, I have an Xbox that give me unreadable disc error on my backup drives that I burned almost all of them what should I do I tried to clear the lance but it didn't work ps: the other games work fine please help

[@Alexrifa]

i adjusted the laser and it worked but it started doing the same thing again and i cant get it to work now what can i do

[@geekrj]

My driver is a Philips & Lite-on (Xbox 360 Slim). What is a good value for the DVD pot and for the CD pot?

[@stighj2]

+Artur Pitanga The potmeter on my Philips/Lite-on drive was reading 6.02 before the adjustment. I turned it counterclockwise until it read 3.50 and now it reads all my game discs again. Jay, thanks for making this guide and mentioning the 20K ohm setting on the multimeter. This is crucial to getting proper readings!

[@girtman46]

hello please hep me i have an benq drive and its all messed up can you please tell me the factory holms or the reading for the left and right pots for the benq please this is urgent

[@ajcampbell94]

Hey my xbox says play game but it fires up then just stop it scans but doesn't show the right game

[@nathanaelrairdon7]

That did it, thank you.

[@MRRHORHO]

Can u a just the screws without a meter?

[@joshuahb.8006]

Hey... jay may I turned it several times and it still couldn't read my games. i did work on it without a multimeter. i turned it a quarter. and halfway. still couldn't read. i think it could be another problem. my xbox makes sort of a grinding sound twice...then it goes..."open tray" every time. does anyone else know about that? am i not turning it right? or is it really is another problem. should i find another laser?

[@Jay-May]

You need a multi meter other wise your blindly turning the dash pot without knowing EXACTLY what the readings are.

[@FK7WRLD]

+joshuah b. your only supposed to turn it a sliver other wise you just going to burn out your laser !

[@twistedmisery666]

How do we fix open tray error lite on ? Spins then stops?

[@SineXSt4N]

Thanks my friend

[@StormOneUK]

I'm turning the pots randomly bak and forth is that OK?

[@minethecryingsky631]

fantastic!thank you!

[@arturvip1]

True good helpful clip

[@ukhardsounds3701]

what does 3.1, 1.4 ect mean??? could send me a vid plz? :)

[@Jay-May]

ukhardsounds Its Ohms of resistance measured by a multimeter. Turning the potentiometers will increase or decrease the amount of Ohms, therefore sending the laser the proper amount of power to operate correctly.

[@petermclennan5108]

what you need to do is buy a new laser for £4.50 of ebay as this fix will not keep you going long

[@rayray1418]

thank you this is helpful ♥

[@futubecocksckrs]

great vid ty

[@brittanyclark8010]

reading the disc but it will not play the game

[@Jay-May]

may be a bad disc.

[@brittanyclark8010]

No the disc is brand new.

[@darkreavenger2054]

What happens to the disc?

[@Jay-May]

Your welcome.

[@0tc3l0t]

very nice !!!!! thank you ;)

[@eastonetter7648]

I just added a video

[@eastonetter7648]

Please look.

[@dr.philismysaviour4350]

im says 15.30

[@dr.philismysaviour4350]

mine*

[@killer12kv]

If ya dont know how to open an xbox with out breaking it wouldnt try this lol

[@silentrape]

Thank you. after hours of doind minor adjustments. got it working

[@MRRHORHO]

Can u a just the screws without a meter?