XBox DVD Drive dead, anyone ever replace one?

[[JiF]Mike]

Just wondering if anyone has ever replaced a DvD drive in an XBox 360 before. My sons stopped reading discs and M$ wants $120 to fix it. Considering the new Arcade version of the XBox costs $199 I'm inclined to attempt a home repair. I've found some sites that say I'll need to find an exact match for the type of drive that is in the 360 now, which might be tough.... if anyone knows of a good site for this stuff please let me know. Thanx!

[[JiF]zougathefist]

Not sure about this but I know that most of the XBox tech is propriatry so is not easily replaced,
for instance the HDD in a PS3 is a standard SATA drive, whilst the XBox HDD only fits and works in XBox, the DVD reader might be more standard though

[[JiF]Mike]

The DVD drive is a SATA drive, and I think the HDD is too... just has a proprietary plug.

I've found some sites that describe how to do it, and I even found one site the sells OEM drives for $29.99, just have to crack the thing open and see what kind of drive is in it now. I've also read something about needing to flash the drive in order for it to work properly, but I've also seen a method where that is not required. I guess my next step is to open the thing up and see what I can see...not like I'll be voiding the warranty at this point!

[[JiF]Buick]

Good luck with it Mike. Keep us posted on your progress.
Very interested how it goes cuz my drive is starting to go south also.