Recently I've had some issues with my 360. I think it decided that it would rather kill itself than let me play Viva Piñata ... but that was its decision not mine. So, I sold it "as-is" and picked me up a new one locally, pretty new box and all! Though I noticed an interesting quirk after playing Gears recently. I noticed something that didn't happen on my previous 360 model. When playing Gears, throughout multiplayer (specifically when sitting in a lobby), the humming of the disc drive couldn't be heard, because the spinning of the disc actually slowed down. My previous Xbox 360 kept rotating the disc full speed, never missing a step, and never altered the spin speed ever. My spiffy new 360 must be uber smart and knows when it doesn't have to spin at 400 MPH, thus creating a moment of silent bliss. At first it startled me as I wondered why the disc quit spinning, but now it's just a welcomed surprise to hear the quiet. Does your 360 spin down when playing certain games or am I just drinking too much Pepto-Bismol?
Update 1: It looks like I found the answer to my perplexion! Previously, my other console was rocking a Hitachi DVD drive (the more common LOUD version) as opposed to the Samsung model (which is known to be quieter and more rare). I checked out my new console and it looks like I have a Samsung DVD drive in my 360. This could be why certain games read differently by slowing down etc. Let's do some more investigative work ... anyone whose disc drive spins down during games (like mine) head over to Llamma's site and verify which drive you have. I'm thinking this is how the Samsung drive works, but we'll get to the bottom of this as a team. Teamwork FTW!
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 2)
12-08-2006 @ 12:14AM
Hagfish said...
My original 360 did this (spun down during some games) It didn't do this from the start though. Only after I'd had it about 8 months. Then it started doing that "get quiet" after a while.. It then died about 3 weeks later.. got a refurb now which once again keeps the disc spinning all the time.
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12-08-2006 @ 4:22AM
C0ldf1r3s said...
I have a Hitachi Drive in mine, had it for half a year now. This slow-down that you mention, it just started recently and always in Gears of War. First when I played Gears, this didn't happen. Now this happens a lot, especially when I'm about to load a chapter and when the cutscenes are on. Now I seem to be getting Unreadable Disc error and this is my third copy of Gears I use. I do now know what's going on because this is an individual case and only happens in Gears. VIVA is fine, Vegas is fine and so are all other games...except GEARS. Strange!
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12-08-2006 @ 6:36AM
jon said...
yeah, mine slowed down too until it became so slow that it said disc is unreadable. It happened with gears and cod3
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12-08-2006 @ 11:17AM
Bennyishere said...
The drive likes to slow down here and there on my console as well. I always get a little concerned when it becomes almost completely silent in the middle of a major Gears of War battle... It still works like a charm, though. My console is from '05.
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12-09-2006 @ 12:47AM
bynary said...
This problem could easily be solved by Microsoft (or the drive manufacturer) releasing a DVD drive firmware patch. However, due to all the security on the 360, I'm not sure a firmware patch is possible. I had a C series Apple iMac with a horrendously loud CD-ROM drive. Within a couple months of purchasing the unit Apple had released a firmware update for the drive that quieted it down to whisper-quiet levels. Come on, MS, where's the firmware update?!?!
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12-09-2006 @ 5:05PM
Go Sox said...
Yeah, I got a 360 on launch day, and it was pretty loud. It broke like a month and a half ago and I got it replaced by Microsoft. It slows down now, like you mentioned, and is noticeably quieter. One thing that is wrong with my new 360 is that any OXM Demo Disc I try to use on it just freezes at the menu. Other than that, shes a quiet box and I can actually fall asleep at night when I leave my 360 on to download big files.
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12-10-2006 @ 11:39AM
Kellydude025 said...
Yea...I'm noticing the same thing. I sent my xbox in a week ago. It kept freezing, and they couldn't figure out the problem. And when i unpackaged the box, i notcied a little sumthin sumthin with the sound. And it turns out that it was a lot quieter than my old one...(not to mention SHINEYER).
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12-12-2006 @ 7:52PM
ALH said...
I just traded in my glitchy 360 for a new one yesterday and have noticed a big difference in the spin sound area too. My original one, which was only bought this november, roared like a beast whenever a disc was in. This new one is a lot quieter, and when it does spin its nowhere near as loud. Its actually quieter than my wii now D:.
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12-25-2006 @ 11:01AM
Jayman said...
I have a Hitachi and it is very quiet my system has a 3/2006 date on it. I had a system previous to this one that would not read the bonus disk from Oblivion very well. It would skip alot would not eject all the time. Not sure which one that was. Not an attempt to disqualify the writers statement, but it is possible drives from both manufacturers have improved since launch. My system in general is very quiet.
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