If you have the new kinect xbox 360 dashboard and you cannot get your xbox 360 console to read your game discs or DVDs, you are not alone. An update that was recently applied through Xbox Live makes your discs unreadable.
Remove the update by navigating to:
System Settings->Memory->STOP HERE!
You should see your Hard Drive highlighted, if not move to it and then enter this on your controller:
X,LB,RB,X,LB,RB,X
Delete System Update will appear, make sure there is no media in your disc drive and select YES. You system will restart and appear to hang DO NOT TURN IT OFF OR MESS WITH IT!
After a couple minutes your system will start and you should be able to play discs again. If that didn’t work try deleting any NETFLIX data on your drive and also look for deletion suggestions by hitting “X” when browsing the hard drive (you will see the selection at the bottom of the screen). Once you have cleared out any strange culprits- REBOOT.
You should be playing your games again in no time! :) This article is for Isadora’s Mike.
- xbox wont read disc
- xbox 360 wont read games
- xbox 360 wont read disc
- xbox 360 wont play games
- XBOX WONT READ GAMES
Oh yes, one more thing. When you navigate to the Hard Drive you can press “Y” for additional options and then CLEAR CACHE. I recommend doing this in addition to the steps listed above if you are still having problems. On one of my Xbox 360s I had to perform this step as well to get the system to read discs again.
To answer some questions I received about this on Facebook- YES your drive will again read DVD-R Dual-Layer but sometimes you must take the disc in and out of the system a few times before it loads. Once the game loads it will play smooth for as long as you are in game.
my xbox is not connected to the internet,it will read the first 2 discs of ff13 but not the third.When i go to its memory all i have is x bow improvement program data does this need to be deleted to read the third disc?
If i clear my cache will it delete any saved game data?
No it won’t erase your saves. I am having the same problem right now in fact on the same game! An update was just installed last night by Dragon Age II which caused this. Removing stupid update now so I can play FF 13 disc 3!
I have something additional to add- last night I ended up having to delete the “system update” about 5 times and then turn off the Xbox 360 for about 20 minutes before things would calm down and work properly. I know it’s weird, but after all that it FINALLY worked again and I was off playing FF13 disc 3! Give it a shot. Don’t forget to delete any crap you don’t use anymore and clear out ALL Netflix data.
will it delete the data off your HDD if you do the X, LB trick?
can this problem solve if I installed the game to the xbox 360 hard drive?? I didn’t try it yet because my brother will kill me if he know I do something to his xbox. can you try it for me??
None of these worked for me even the clear cache. Ive had the new kinect dashboard for since it came out and I’m just now having problems I put in a game it just says open disc
I’m sorry it hasn’t worked for you. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. It really depends what model of Xbox 360 you have and what game you’re trying to get working. Honestly I recommend ditching the stupid Xbox 360. After owning 5 of them and having all of them break (even after multiple repairs) I am sick and tired of those POS consoles. I bought a super charged PC and I LOVE IT!
thankyou jonathon it worked all i had to do was clear my cache
ok here’s my problem my dad got pissed off and threw my xbox and it was dark and he hit m face and the xbox landed in the back of my bed then after that was done i got my xbox back praying to god if it still works ok it did work but with one problem it made weird noises when it read a disc and later and later it got worse and worse it took an hour for 1 game to start and when i got halo 4 i kept telling me can’t read dvd movie and i just got a new disc reader but now wont read disc’s at all please what do i hav to do
Nerdtrek.com does not support piracy or copying games. It is a crime to download and burn games. Some people burn copies of games they own in case the original disc becomes scratched and is no longer playable (such as my original Oblivion disc).
Please support the gaming companies that produce products you enjoy. If you support them they will continue to release great games for years to come. (I just pre-ordered SKYRIM for PC & Xbox 360! Thank you Bethesda Softworks!)
I tried doing what your posts say and no change. My xbox still wont read the discs. If this is truly an issue from the Kinect Update, is Microsoft doing anything about it. My xbox worked without problem, I plugged in the Kinect (for the 1st time), it stated that there was an update, hit ‘yes’, immediately afterward xbox will not read discs. I am about ready to throw the whole damn system out the front window. If they created the problem, then they should fix it. Let me know if you have any other ideas or if you know of anything that they are going to do about it. thanks
I wrote an article just for you Tim, share it with your friends and spread the word!
http://nerdtrek.com/microsoft-broke-my-360/
I understand how mad you are because my older Xbox 360 has never been the same since that stupid Kinect update. I think they included some software to try and block the DVD drive from reading pirated discs but for some reason on the older machines it completely screwed us over.
If I were you I would email Microsoft and see how they respond. If they fail to do anything about it please come back and comment here and we can write a blog article together and gather a mass of supporters to make Microsoft replace our fucked up Xbox 360s! They have no right to ruin our consoles with their shitty firmware updates.
Please let me know what they say!
I put in the code, it’s been an hour, and I am freakin out that my xbox is toast. This is our 4th in two years. How long should this take, and is there anything else I can do? PLEASE help!!
ugh. I followed all the steps, including taking out Netflix. Still not working. I’m about to chuck the whole thing out the window at the fat neighbors!
i was connecting to live when it asked for some update. i said yes and it downloaded and installed 1 update. again it asked to update , and while it was i pressed B to cancel . now it is reading all my GAME dvd as Vedio dvd. also all my avatars are missing. i have followed all ur above steps but console is still that way. please help!!!!!!!!
When I delete the updates it comes back and my console is the kinect.
What comes back? The update? Sometimes you have to delete multiple updates, make sure you navigate to the hard drive as well and clean off anything you don’t need. Sometimes system updates hide there as well. I finally got sick of the Xbox Live updates destroying my older system and cancelled LIVE completely. I haven’t had a single problem since uninstalling all updates and cancelling LIVE. Besides, LIVE is a rip off.
Same problem with me. i used above mentioned steps and in order to be ensure that every unwanted file is deleted i formatted my hard drive but still it is not playing any game. my xbox is new so no drive issue. this issue arised since i had connected to LIVE.
What to do???
I know this sounds weird but just keep repeating the above steps. On one of my Xboxes I had to transfer all my saved over to a flash drive and delete EVERYTHING off the Xbox. You basically want to get everything back to factory specs. Yes, you’ll lose your precious “avatar” but who cares? If you can’t play games it doesn’t matter.
If you refuse to give up LIVE then you’re out of luck. It’s your choice- Xbox Live or a flashed Xbox dvd drive. You can’t have both anymore…. at least for now. I have two Xboxes- one with live and one without. Actually truth be told I finally let my Xbox LIVE expire because I was tired of Microsoft’s lame tactics. They force you to apply updates that mess up your Xbox. It even messed up one of my Xboxes that does NOT have a flashed DVD!
Once again, try clearing EVERYTHING and doing the code I show above over and over again. Unplug all your cables, do a fresh reboot. Clean it up!
And my Xbox 360 was flashed with LT+, Does updating to LIVE destroyed my LT+? Do I have to flash LT+ again to play games?
Please Reply!
Keep repeating the above steps. On one of my Xboxes I had to transfer all my saved over to a flash drive and delete EVERYTHING off the Xbox. You basically want to get everything back to factory specs. Yes, you’ll lose your precious “avatar” but who cares? If you can’t play games it doesn’t matter.
If you refuse to give up LIVE then you’re out of luck. It’s your choice- Xbox Live or a flashed Xbox dvd drive. You can’t have both anymore…. at least for now. I have two Xboxes- one with live and one without.
Once again, try clearing EVERYTHING and doing the code I show above over and over again. Unplug all your cables, do a fresh reboot. Clean it up!
I dont want Xbox Live, I just want to play games offline so i think i should reflash my 360 with LT+ and before that i will above mentioned steps again and again. if that doesn’t work then i will go for reflash..
Thanks for instant reply!
Regards
You could have specified that we would lose our god damn avatars, all my friends have their accounts on my console and that’s gonna fall on me, how about you specify the fuckin’ risks before you just throw out one-sided advice.
I’m sorry, I was not aware of that. I guess when I was battling this mess I didn’t really care since an Xbox with avatars that you can’t even use is pretty worthless… pretty dress though!
One more question. About Reflashing to LT+, will it work for sure?
can this problem solve if I installed the game to the xbox 360 hard drive?? I didn’t try it yet because my brother will kill me if he know I do something to his xbox. can you try it for me??
My sister like Beat the fudgee out of my Xbox 360 Kinect and then it made a Stupid weird sound then the scrren went black then it was ruined and then I truned it off and on the the thing wouldn’t read any disk….. so yeahh what should I do? ):
Just goes to show that the PC still rules over the console Crap-Box any time.
You can have your console box and still have the Microsoft retard-ware work it’s magic.
HAHA!
Ah Bobby, your such a quality poster… :rolleyes:
I have the new x-Box “slim” model and I keep having this issue where it won’t read the disc for a bit, then it’ll magically start reading it again. I tried this and deleted the latest update, then did the update again.. and magically my game started working again. I really don’t understand what’s going on.. Some days it works PERFECT, other days, I have to fiddle with it forever to get it to just play my freaking game.
Same thing happened i wanted to play Battlefield 3, but the disc kept saying that it requires an update, when i did that nothing was working even my old game’s that were working fine before stopped working……. anyone has any solution for this ??? bastard’s Microsoft people. They will pay for all this mess..fucking Idiots.
Yup, Skyrim doesnt work for me neither. Im so tired of MS and the crapbox 360, I was expecting problems with this such as overheating and other stuff but CMON. I guess that Ill go back to Sony
Finally I had to Flash My Xbox 360 to play copied games again,,,,,,, i am surely disposing off this console…. Sony here i come.
thank you so much this worked like a charm
tengo una xbox 360 y se me ocurrio conectarla a internet y la actualice y ahora no me pesca los juegos piratas y se bloqueo que puedo hacer tiene arreglo la xbox 360
This happened to me to. First time I got online for mw3 I received an update and I downloaded it then after it finishes I get the error. But 5 minutes earlier while I was offline the game was working with no problems.
I only had one game that wasn’t playing and I tried this so many times that even other games are no longer playing. Kinect wouldn’t even work again. What I’m saying is be careful. I know Nerdtrek says to keep doing it but I suspect I went so far back that earlier needed updates were deleted. I am now downloading the updateds again in the hope that I can at least get Kinetic working again.
Hey i have a modified xbox not connected to the internet and I had a problem with an update that I pushed yes by mistake. I fixed the problem, or so I thought. Now it will only play movies and real games, not burned games. It just reads burned games as movies and I cant play them. What do I do?
Have you already followed the steps in this post to clear the updates and possibly the cache?
Dude I had the exact same problem. I tried to install the december 2011 dashboard update and now it wont let me play any burned games; only originals and movie dvds. Did you find any solutions yet?
Yes I did. I also tried a couple of the other things that you told other people and games still don’t work. Another thing that I found is that I can’t change my avatar either. It told me that I have to get a new update for that to work. I was wondering if its possible that I unhacked my xbox when I cleared the updates and reset the xbox? And if so, should I try to hack it again?
If I do the steps will it delete anything other than the update?
no it wont only the updates take the disc out thought
i got a new game lord of the rings bfme2for christmas before i played it it asked me to update i did it and the game douesnt work it says its unread able but no scratchs how do i get it to work on my xbox 360
awnser plzz
Answer what?
Can’t stand Microsoft and the Xbox 360!!! I have had a total of five of those things. The one I have now the cd player burned out because it could not handle Gears of War3. They tell me that the game has new technology that may not be compatible with older machines. They say they sent a download over the internet, but that dosen’t mean it will work.
Now I have no Xbox 360 again and they won’t replace it. Said they would give me $80 of on a new xbox. LOL if I get anything new it will be a PS3.
I am not the only one having the problem with GOW3 either. They actually made me mad enough to file a complaint with the Federal Trade Comission. It takes a lot to make me mad enough to actually type a letter to the government
how to get lotr bfme2 2 work
I’m sorry, but I don’t know how to get specific games to work. I just know that in the past these steps to clear the updates have worked for myself and others.
My honest opinion about the Xbox 360? Change systems. The Xbox 360 is horribly outdated and holding on for dear life. They keep pumping out games that the older versions of the 360 can no longer handle. They overheat the graphic cards and fry your system. I would trade in the Xbox 360 for a PS3, or better yet stop playing the “console games” and upgrade to the most powerful and up-gradable gaming tool of them all- a PC!
plzz my xbox wont read any discs…..help me
If you would like someone’s help on here you must be more specific. Are you refusing any errors? What originally caused this? An update? Damage to the Xbox? Please give as many details as you can.
ok i got a new game the darkness 2 when i put the disc it said “please clean the disc with a soft cloath or restart the console” then went i plug to the internet and got a new update i press ok after that when i put back the disc gain it said the “disc is not supported”
and i follow every step at above and doesn’t work so what can i do please for love a god help me.
p/s it happen on halo reach
After I pressed X RB LB X RB LB X, there was a little pop-up that said, “If any device contains a system update, the update and access to Xbox LIVE will be removed.” My question is will it mess up my Xbox LIVE so that I won’t be able to use it?
OK here I go. Bought rrod Xbox. Fixed it. Had bad drive swapped it kept PCB in drive.
Xbox live works dashboard is sexy. Plays movies and CDs all game disks show as DVD and the disk says to insert into a 360 to play game. (White screen with 8 languages)
Am troubled because I have done EVERYTHING above except take my Sig.9mm and put a cap in its arse..
Ideas????
So did you save the proper key from the old drive then install it in the new DVD drive? Otherwise the Xbox won’t allow you to use game discs in it.
hey i just got a new dvd rom put in my xbox and updated it it says play game but goes right back to the dash bord but plays dvds perfect. any help?
What kind of DVD Rom did you buy? Maybe you bought one that isn’t compatible with your onboard BIOS. (ie: The firmware on your DVD Rom doesn’t mate up properly with the firmware on your xbox)
i did everything usaid above
and it disconnects from live when the game starts but then it fucks up
Ok. I’m having problems with Arkham City, it tells me to clean disk and or restart console (360 by the way). Still nothing, I had the game cleaned at my local gamer shop, still nothing. Everything from MW3 to GOW3 will play but Arkham won’t. I cleared my cache … I love my Xbox live, I won’t get rid of that.. What can I do..? It won’t give me the cover art on Xbox dashboard. But on game details it will give me all the info about the game. Oh and I do have a Kinect (for my kids).
Figured id give my 2 cents. I didnt read the whole post but i did read up to the part about the class action law suit and that agreeing to the xbox terms nullifies your right to start/join a class action law suit. BUT THERE MAY BE HOPE! I am fairly sure that you may not be able to start/join a class action law suit but YOU CAN take Microsoft to small claims cort. Just contact your local municipal court and get the details because im sure its different for every state. Keep in mind you wont be getting a massive amount of money but im certain you will at least receive enough to get a shiny new xbox 360. Happy Sewing!
i burnt my gtaiv a year ago and everthing was working perfectly untill i got xboxlive then every time i played the disc it would say “to play this disc put it in a xbox360 console” please help i really want to play gtaiv agian!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE REPLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My advice to anyone running an Xbox with a flashed DVD drive:
DO NOT USE LIVE WITH YOUR XBOX 360.
Retain 2 Xboxes. Use 1 for playing burnt games at home, use the other for playing legit games online.
Remember that downloading and burning games does hurt the industry. If everyone in the world downloaded and burned Skyrim there would never be another Elder Scrolls. Support the companies and the games you love. Burn the ones you want to try, then buy those too if they’re great games! It takes a lot of time, energy, and money to start a business and run it successfully. Reward those who have dedicated their lives to making games you love to play!
Just go Mass effect 3.
Just confirmed Microsoft is making everything in their power to crash “older” console,
Bill Gates will die by my Hands.
believe it
or be surprised
I agree. New games are sluggish on the older Xbox consoles and cause MAJOR problems. The older units have graphics cards that are obsolete and can’t handle the load. It overheats them and destroys the unit. Since the graphic cards are soldered to the motherboard the Xbox is toast. We really need a class action lawsuit against Microsoft for this. I went through 3 Xboxes before I bought a gaming computer and said “TO HELL WITH CONSOLES!”
i have tried all the ways to delete the update & play games but it wouldnt delete
hi Jonathan, how are you? hope your doin good..
Ima ask something about my xbox 360.. I bought it like 3 weeks ago. Its a xbox 360 with kinect. I Set up our wi-fi and try updating it but unfortunately after the update was done it does not play disc games like nba 2k12 , COD MWF 3 or in short all those latest games. Can you help me fix my problem about my xbox? or should i do the steps the one you mentioned above? thank you
hi Jonathan, how are you? hope your doin good..
Ima ask something about my xbox 360.. I bought it like 3 weeks ago. Its a xbox 360 with kinect. I Set up our wi-fi and try updating it but unfortunately after the update was done it does not play disc games like nba 2k12 , COD MWF 3 or in short all those latest games. Can you help me fix my problem about my xbox? or should i do the steps the one you mentioned above? thank you
Have a great day !
This is a BRAND NEW Xbox 360? I would just return it, get my money back, and buy a PC… or even a PS3. Xbox is crap and honestly is a HUGE waste of money. It’s like buying a beater car with smoking coming out of the hood or buying a sleek brand new convertible. The convertible costs a bit more but you’ll enjoy it more and it’s going to last longer because it’s brand new and top of the line. The Xbox is REALLY outdated. You could build a computer more powerful than an Xbox for about $300. My computer was about 3-4 times the cost of an Xbox but it can run Skyrim with everything maxed out and will be running high quality games for the next 10 years or so. The Xbox is already outdated.
IF YOU MUST keep it… (you will regret it when something goes wrong and burns out) … you can reset all the codes and clear the cache. Get rid of every single update and try again. Update your dash one installation at a time through Xbox Live. Don’t use game discs to apply the updates unless there’s no other alternative. Man, you have no idea how many Xboxes and how many hours of my life I wasted attempting to fix them. They are giant money and time sinks.
I switched out my old disc drive for a new one, but ever since I’ve put it in it can’t read games. When I try it seems like its about to start playing and then just kicks me back to the dashboard. Any ideas on how to fix it?
You can’t just swap out drives. Every drive is coded to a specific Xbox. Do you still have the original drive? You need info off it which you can only get with a PC desktop. You need to hook up a SATA cable. Read up on this online. If the other DVD drive is gone you might be screwed. Anyone else have some feedback on this for DK?
i removed netfix and system update.. nothing..then cleared cache..nothing. removed hd and tried to play disk..nothing. so for some reason i left the hd off and did an initial setup.. turn off the 360 and replaced hd and it F-ING WORKED
Do t listen to this dude everyone!!! All u need to do is buy the latest hardware. Does not come out till April around Easter! All new ges have a firm ware patch so all you need to do is go down to your nearest mod shop and ask them to put in a new mod chip update with the latest firmware patch. Don’t delete anything this just fucks up your xbox
After Doing this my cd is unreadable but at the dashboard it says playgame .. how can i fix this!
ok i switched out my disk drive from my xbox 360(2008 series) and i put a 2006 series disk drive in it and it plays dvds but not games
what can i do to fix this?
i tried what you said and it doesnt work my xbox just doesnt wanna work i have had 2 xboxes all died off a 3 red ring this one dies because it says open tray alot only one game works right when i put it in but i dont like that game im trying to play oblivion and it doesnt work but on my friends it works and his is very old.
Disney adventures for Xbox kinect original copy request an update on my pirated Xbox can i do it without effect it
Damn I can’t get Fable to work… any advice besides all this? I have the original from when it first came out, and it DOES read discs but not Forza 2 or Fable 1. It is so stupid, it only reads new games, how sneaky.
i tried everything! nothing works at all
I just updated my old homescreen to that new one (black).The guy from the shop says that the cd’s dont work coz i have the new black model of the xbox.He says it can work on his white model.What shud i do?
I understand that you guys all want to fix your Xbox… but I’m telling you: USE IT AS A DOORSTOP. They are truly 10 years behind the times now. Microsoft is fleecing you for all you’ve got. Buy a powerful PC or a PS3, but ditch the Xbox. It’s old news and full of problems.
I can no longer supply tips or information on how to solve the various issues because there are just too many to count now. I have been through 3 Xboxes which all overheated and died. I repaired them numerous times only to have them die again. I have spent hundreds of hours of my life wasted fixing these obsolete piles of outdated microchips and processors.
THROW AWAY YOUR XBOX AND BUY A PC!
Umm..Please can u give me any suggestion?
I thought I just did! BUY A PC MAN!!!!
Take your Xbox 360 back to Microsoft and tell them you don’t want their inferior product (which should have been recalled) anymore!
OK… so seriously… What’s wrong with your Xbox? The above explanation is very vague and confusing. Please explain what is wrong one step at a time.
this is what Xbox is doing they make it so you have to but the game console then oh look the Xbox breaks so they make everyone pay even more money for there mistake what bastards.
X,LB,RB,X,LB,RB,X its works in the 1st time it reads my unsupporrted game disc but when i updated it again and use X,LB,RB,X,LB,RB,X to play unsupported games in wont read anymore how come? i keep repeating it again in still wont work clean up cache and reformat my HD still wont work..
it works in the 1st time it reads my unsupporrted game disc but when i updated it again and use X,LB,RB,X,LB,RB,X to play unsupported games in wont read anymore how come? i keep repeating it again in still wont work clean up cache and reformat my HD still wont work..
OK Jonathan Nerdtrek
My XBOX is toast as well and I will do as you have suggested. I’ve set it aside for now until I can set up my video camera to video it getting shot to pieces with a high calibre rifle. Being shot immediately after it is the XBOX version of “Oblivion”. 600 hours of my life wasted and Bethsda refuses to fix this one simple problem. Game reviewers like Victor Lucas rake companies over the coals for lesser evils but refuse to say anything about Bethesda because he works with them. It’s a two way street. I agree with you and buy games, videos and music as opposed to burning them. They gave me a great product so why shouldn’t I pay them for it? On the other hand, when a company takes my hard earned money and gives me a crappy product and then refuses to fix it, replace it or even apologize for it, what is the little guy left to fight with? Here’s a start. Not one legal copy of a Bethsda product will ever enter my home. Pirate versions only. If I burn their product I steal money from them and it is illegal. If they give me a worthless product that doesn’t work at all, let alone well, they steal from me but it is not illegal. I don’t think so. But back to my initial reason for this post. You tell us to junk the consoles and go PC. You say you can build a PC way better than a console and will save us money in the long run. Well then show us how to do that. Give us lesser nerds the schematics to build an awesome gaming PC. Walk us through the entire process. I am sure it will be less work than continuing to answer the same questions over and over again for those who just don’t get it. If another nerd disagrees with your design then show us his as well and tell us why he thinks it is better. I am ready to move on. Maybe others are as well. While you’re at it could you also find out how to copy all my saved “Oblivion” files and put it on the new, “totally awesome” PC you are going to show me how to build. That’s 600 hundred hours of my life there. Bethesda just doesn’t get it.
Sincerely, Minya
Mate u r a fucking live savior thx man
i bought a modded 360 a few months ago for my son that came w/ 20+ burned games. i tested all the games to separate the age appropriate ones and they all worked fine. i even ripped some music on there from burned discs for him. i gave it to him for his b-day last week,set it up in his room and now the damn burned games won’t read.All our burned music,movies,reg. xbox and 360 games still play though. not sure if it’s because of the updates,but still all the other stuff works WTF!!! have been all over the internet for the past two days and tried most of the “tricks” but to no avail. someone give me some real solid guidence here.
Due i reinstall the update?
If the update caused a problem I wouldn’t re-install, but some updates won’t let you play Xbox Live or a certain game until they’ve been installed. This is the reason I refuse to pay for Xbox Live anymore. In the end, it’s up to you.
I did an update just now and now it won’t read my game disks. It reads DVDs just fine but when I put in a game disk it hangs up at the Xbox 360 logo I went to “system settings” but there is no “memory” choice.