"disc is dirty or damaged", no it's not!

i've been having this problem when i've been playing MVP baseball 2003, where the game would freeze up and the screen would black out and say that "the disc you are using is either dirty or damaged", then i'd have to restart the xbox and lose everything that i hadn't saved yet. i figured it was just the game because i had it for a while before it started doing that. well i recently got the new version, and it has done it every time i have tried playing it, so now i'm starting to realize it's not the game, but the xbox that has the problem...what can i do??

 

I had the same exact problem and I think the issue was the fact that the back of the Xbox where the fan is was dirty. I took some canned air and cleaned it out and no problems since. I'm assuming none of your other games are having this problem.

 

i have the same problem with grand theft auto 3, i only have 5 x-box games, an splinter cell, afl live 2004 and gta vice city all work proplerly 99.9% percent of the time, but gta3 and need 4 speed underground will usually load up and i will get 5 or 10 minutes into playing and the game will stop, can that be ruled down to the fan being dirty, or is that a different problem al together

 

I had the problem as well with Halo, when I had it backed up but cleaning the fan fixed it, thanks!

 

How do yuo take apart the Xbox to clean the fan? I'm having the same problem.

 

Halfback...pretty amazing when I posted in the second line how to clean the fan. Please convince me as to why I should respond again?

 

No need to be a prick about it.

What exactly is canned air?

 

canned air is a compressed can of... you guess it air.

its availiable at most electronic shops.

 

I can see this website is full of...nevermind.

I may look for some of that, but knowing my luck it won't help.

I'm trying again, lets see if I can get through one quarter of NCAA 05 this time lol.

 

Halfback, I'm just saying man...we're here to help. Try the canned air or at least take a damp cloth and wipe the back of the xbox where the fan is. If you want you can blow on it but that tends to put moisture on the fan and more dust can stick to it. This is a major problem on why most Xbox games will give that dreaded dirty disc error. Also, this was an original post by randtl4 so I am not even sure what your specific problem is. Is it all games? Or is it just a certain game? If it is just one game then it could also be the burn. However, sounds like the fan could be your issue. I wasn't being a prick, put your pride aside so we can resolve this problem for you. If you have a hose vacuum you could also put that up to the back of the Xbox and it might get some of the dust or lint out of there.

 

My pride is aside bud lol. I just wanna play some NCAA football. I do have a hose vaccum so I may try that. I'm going to check walmart for some canned air tonight, but not sure if they have it.

My xbox started this on a game I bought about a month ago called, "Full Spectrum:Warrior". It wouldn't give the dirty disc error much, but it would stall every once in a while and make a noise like it was jarred or something.

Then when I bought NCAA Football 05, it did the same thing and came up with the dirty disc error. The fan on the back is very dusty, so it could very well be the problem. I've also thought about putting a cd cleaner inside to clean the lens off a little. I just dont' want to pay $150 for a new xbox or the $90 for repairs. I don't have that kind of $$.

 

I don't blame you. Well...try that and let me know how it goes. I don't want you to get upset that your dvd rom is the problem because that would be speculating about worse case scenario for nothing. Try the things I mentioned and if possible get the canned air. If you have a mall with any kind of computer store they should have it and I know Best Buy, Circuit City, Staples, Office Depot would have it. Not sure about WalMart but give it a shot and let me know your results. Here's another question real quick though...have you burned all of these discs with the same burning program? If so, what is that burning program you are using? I would highly suggest burning an iso with DVD Decrypter and let me know how it works. That is the second most likely problem. I tried using Nero and my burns were always dying mid game.

 

I didn't burn the games. It's just regular games that I've purchased from wal-mart.

 

Okay, so it's definitely gonna be either a fan problem or the dreaded DVD player problem. Keep me posted.

 

I think it may have been the fan. I used the vaccuum and it helped me get through at least one full game of NCAA 05. I'm going to get some canned air asap and do that so maybe that will help fix it completely. It definetly ran better after I used the vac though.

I'll keep you updated.


BTW, if it's the DVD problem...how much would a new one cost?

 

Too much...but I think you're in luck. Doesn't sound like the DVD problem. Hey Half...make sure you move that Xbox if possible if it is collecting dust. If it's just a matter of you not cleaning it regularly enough...then just keep an eye on it.
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My xbox sits on the carpet on the floor, the person I talked to when I called MS said to have it on a hard surface...should I do that? It has room to breathe where it's at right now. If I need to put it on a hard surface I'm goign tohave to do some manuevering lol.

 

Just got the error again. I still need to try the canned air.

 

Hi, I just got an Xbox that does the dirty disc message about every 3 in 4 games I put in right from when I got it.

I saw this thread and thought it looked like a good place to get help.

There's a slight chance the fan is the problem, cus it was in the shop for months (but sealed in the box, of course). How exactly does a fan cause a dirty disc?

Could you please e-mail any suggestions to yowzaboy@gmail.com as I found this at an internet cafe and can't keep the address.

Thanks!

 

some games arn't read well with the Thomson DVD-drives therefore it assumes they are dirty or damaged.