Is it safe to put discs in a 360?

CygnusZ

I got a 360 around two weeks ago, and I've mainly been using it as an Ikaruga machine. So, 2 days ago I went and picked up a copy of Deathsmiles to play in it (fun game BTW). I was surprised at the whirring sound it made as it read the disc, and after I finished playing the game, when I popped out the disc it was warm.

Is it really ok to play games off discs in the 360? I'm worried the console is going to overheat, or it's going to actually damage the disc. Would I be safer just getting Games on Demand?

korodullin

Is this a serious post? Not trying to be an ass, I'm just genuinely confused.

Disc drives make whirring sounds when discs are spun and read. Discs are sometimes warm from the force of their spinning, especially after a long time doing so. The 360 is an unusually loud machine on top of it. These are normal things for pretty much every disc-based device I've used in the past fifteen years.

Undead Scottsman

Do not move the 360 while it has a disc in it, though. I've seen several discs get eaten by people doing that. I don't even think they fixed the problem on the newer slim 360's either.

Zxerol

I don't think the marginal heat given off by a working disc drive is going to compare to the oodles the console gets from... everything else.

Ultimanecat

Yes, of course it is safe, but if it bothers you (and you have a hard drive) simply install the games to the console. You will still need the disk to play the game but you'll save the drive from any wear incurred by further seeking and reading.

The plastic and metal that DVDs are made from should be able to withstand temperatures well above whatever the actual drive reading them would be able to deal with. One thing to keep in mind is that moving the system while it is powered on carries the risk of physically damaging any disks within (this is true for pretty much any of the current consoles, but was an issue with the 360 specifically because it was designed to operate either horizontally or vertically, and thus people would move it or it would fall when placed poorly).

mntorankusu

Didn't you ever have a Dreamcast.

WHRRR SCREE EEE EEE EEE

Stormwatcher

You could tell what was going on with the DC just by the noise. It was like a language of pain.

Hahnsoo1

A handful of discs have manufacturing defects that cause them to wobble while spinning. Simply making noise and getting warm, however, is normal for a lot of optical discs. I've only seen a couple of cases where the disc was so unbalanced that it would catastrophically shatter, but these discs already have some sort of easy to see defect on them (like cracks on a leading edge).

Arkyris

Undead Scottsman wrote:

Do not move the 360 while it has a disc in it, though. I've seen several discs get eaten by people doing that. I don't even think they fixed the problem on the newer slim 360's either.

They haven't. I knew the problem and for some reason I still lifted the console when I had a game in it. The game still works but it has a horrid circular scratch on it. I felt so stupid afterwards.

CygnusZ

You're right, the Dreamcast did sound like that, and lo and behold, they're prone to failure. I did try playing Deathsmiles again to see if it was really "that" bad, and listening carefully it didn't sound like the system was malfunctioning, simply like it was working the disc way harder, and generating more heat, compared to what I'm used with PS2/PS3/PSP.

Maybe I'm being too sensitive. Because it runs cool as a cucumber when I'm just playing Ikaruga, I was surprised at how it soundly became a loud and emitting heat.

Lilnoobs

Are you able to install to hard drive? Deathsmiles only takes ~1.5GB of hard drive space and it would alleviate your issue.

Klyka

I saw this thread title and just thought "Kids these days and their new-fangled download services!"

Klyka

I saw this thread title and just thought "Kids these days and their new-fangled download services!"

acidlacedpenguin

the way I've always solved this problem is by turning up the volume on the amp. But seriously,"Is it safe to put discs in a 360?" Wut?

nope it's not safe, millions of people who own xbox 360s just buy brand new copies of every game they play ever other week when their console destroys the disc. It's a feature.

Anid Maro

Stormwatcher wrote:

You could tell what was going on with the DC just by the noise. It was like a language of pain.

Haha... yeah for sure.

I actually shelved my DC because of that.

Got a friend whose DC burnt out and no longer spins discs, decided to put mine away before it met the same fate. Now I only break it out if some buddies are over and want some ol' DC action.

Edit: By the by, know what used to not be safe with the 360? Plugging it in. Used to be a problem with the old 360s that the power sources would overheat and actually catch fire.

Idx86

I am a big fan of installing games onto the HDD. 360 is super quiet when that disc drive isn't spinning around.

Broktune

Do not put a disk in there!!! It might overheat. Also, these things may not be safe to do:

Do not put a frozen pizza in the oven, it may burn the house down.
Do not adjust the volume, you may go deaf.
Do not pet the dog, fleas may jump on you and give you flea aids, or flaids to be scientifically accurate.
Do not speak, you may develop the throat lumps.
Do not stand up, you may pull a muscle and have you ever tried to shit with a pulled muscle in the lower extremeties.?
Do not sit down, you may aggravate the muscle you pulled by standing up.

Really man, you asked whether you should use a product for what it was designed for (if you stated that you found the xbox in an alley three years ago then ok). If you asked whether you could use the xbox as an oven mitt, I think it would have made more sense.

Local H Jay

xboxs make AWESOME oven mitts bro wtf

Skull2185

Here's an amusing anecdote:

Playing MW2 when it first came out, ran through the campaign with no issues. Ran through SpecOps with my brother with no problems. Campaign on Veteran... lots of cursing, cheap deaths and tears. Slogged through it, and half way through the very last mission the disc drive started making funky noises. Odd... whatevs. Beat the game, cheevo pops and just as the credits roll

bloop

Disc unreadable. Took the disc out and looked at it, BIG OL scratch aound the circumference of the disc.... Congrats on beating the game on the hardest setting, here's your reward, Fucker!

-_-;

Its safe to play discs in the 360 of course, but I always recommend installing them if you can.

CygnusZ

Oh wow, I didn't realize you could just rip any game directly to the 360 HDD.
This actually makes me feel a whole lot better.

Brainiac 8

I wouldn't worry about it too much, my 360 sounds like an airplane engine while running so, yea. :P

Brainiac 8

I wouldn't worry about it too much, my 360 sounds like an airplane engine while running so, yea. :P

Tef

I remember when my brother and I bought a launch 360 and we decided it was a good idea to change the orientation of the box while it was running...

So we scratched the shit out of our one and only game on a Saturday afternoon, knowing there was no way we could get it repaired before Monday.

We hadn't even made it past the title screen

Tef

So funny I posted it twice!

darleysam

CygnusZ wrote:

Oh wow, I didn't realize you could just rip any game directly to the 360 HDD.
This actually makes me feel a whole lot better.

You do still need the disc in the drive to play it afterwards, but it doesn't spin up or anything.

darleysam

CygnusZ wrote:

Oh wow, I didn't realize you could just rip any game directly to the 360 HDD.
This actually makes me feel a whole lot better.

You do still need the disc in the drive to play it afterwards, but it doesn't spin up or anything.

So important, it needed to be said twice, apparently.

acidlacedpenguin

triple doubles got.

the only time my 360 killed my disc was when my table collapsed while I was playing Forza 2. That was hilarious.

acidlacedpenguin

triple doubles got.

the only time my 360 killed my disc was when my table collapsed while I was playing Forza 2. That was hilarious.

minor incident

My favorite Xbox memory is playing rock band with a full group when our bassist is doing her best Angus Young dance and proceeds to kick over the (foolishly upright) Xbox. This resulted in the most gut-wrenching WRRRRRHHHRRRRCCCCCRERRREUNNNNNNNCHKKKKKSCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE noise any of us have ever heard.

JebusUD

Idx86 wrote:

I am a big fan of installing games onto the HDD. 360 is super quiet when that disc drive isn't spinning around.

darleysam wrote:

CygnusZ wrote:

Oh wow, I didn't realize you could just rip any game directly to the 360 HDD.
This actually makes me feel a whole lot better.

You do still need the disc in the drive to play it afterwards, but it doesn't spin up or anything.

So important, it needed to be said twice, apparently.

Surely it spins up some. Else how would it know what disc was in?

Allforce

Undead Scottsman wrote:

Do not move the 360 while it has a disc in it, though. I've seen several discs get eaten by people doing that. I don't even think they fixed the problem on the newer slim 360's either.

This is an over exaggeration I think for the most part, I move mine at least 4-5 times a week from the theater to my office and back again and I never take the discs out. Also it's vertical in one room and horizontal in another and I've never had any issues with the games playing. I'm on a "Elite" from a few years back if that means anything.

darleysam

JebusUD wrote:

Idx86 wrote:

I am a big fan of installing games onto the HDD. 360 is super quiet when that disc drive isn't spinning around.

darleysam wrote:

CygnusZ wrote:

Oh wow, I didn't realize you could just rip any game directly to the 360 HDD.
This actually makes me feel a whole lot better.

You do still need the disc in the drive to play it afterwards, but it doesn't spin up or anything.

So important, it needed to be said twice, apparently.

Surely it spins up some. Else how would it know what disc was in?

Well it reads some information from the disc to validate that it is a genuine copy of the game in the drive, but it's absolutely nothing like actually loading up the game. As far as it affects you, the user, and the actions of your xbox, it's basically dormant.

minor incident

Allforce wrote:

Undead Scottsman wrote:

Do not move the 360 while it has a disc in it, though. I've seen several discs get eaten by people doing that. I don't even think they fixed the problem on the newer slim 360's either.

This is an over exaggeration I think for the most part, I move mine at least 4-5 times a week from the theater to my office and back again and I never take the discs out. Also it's vertical in one room and horizontal in another and I've never had any issues with the games playing. I'm on a "Elite" from a few years back if that means anything.

He means never move it in any way while it's running. Which, I can verify, is something you should NEVER EVER do.

Frem

Man, I started trying this computer thing about two weeks ago? And today I thought I'd get on the internet. I plugged the phone cord into the back of my computer, typed in my ISP's phone number, my user name and my password. Then I pressed connect and HOLY CRAP! What is that awful sound?! It's like Russian submarines gathering intel through my phone lines! Kill it! Kill it with fire!