XBOX 360: The Vertical Hustle

[VIAN]

Tonight, I arrived at my, 2 week old, vertical Xbox 360 and placed a movie in it. When I turned it on, the DVD-ROM drive began to spin the DVD and the drive began to vibrate violently. I've never noticed this before and became concerned. The movie worked fine, but the vibration still bothered me. Then I tried Halo 2 and it seemed normal again. Then I tried the same movie and it continued with the vibration. It operated normally again with a different DVD. The vibrations seemed to be isolated to that one DVD.

Here's the interesting part, when I set the Xbox 360 horizontally, the DVD that caused violent vibrations did no longer. I checked the DVD to see if it was scratched from the violent vibrations when running vertically but it wasn't. I knew the issue was with the DVD, but I got to thinking and started searching on google about Xbox 360 and the vertical setup. What I found disturbed me.

Look Here

EDIT:
I'm gonna call Xbox 360 support and ask them if the Xbox 360 is indeed not meant to play vertically. The representative from the article could have been an A-hole. I just want a second opinion. Below is a search that I did on the vibrating problem. Although mine was disc specific, there seems to be an issue anyway. The cause is unknown. However, they do say that the consoles position doesn't matter towards correct operation. I'm still gonna call though.

Look Here Too

UPDATE:
I called and it is true! The Xbox 360 phone support said that I could use it vertically, but recommends using it horizontally as it is more stable. Stable is so vague though. I asked about the DVD-ROM drive and she said yes to it being more stable. I'll bet it has to do with the issues that occur due to the lack of stablizers in the DVD-ROM drive as mentioned in the first link.

 

[TheRyuu]

Yes it can scatch it.
I'm pretty sure it'll only scratch it if you have the disc in the drive, shut Xbox down, then move verically, then turn on (or the other way around). That's how it scratches (i think).

I've modded several Xbox's and I've been in the "scene" for years now. However, I don't have a 360 yet

Anyway
You might find a fix here:
http://www.llamma.com/xbox360/repair/Refurbishing-the-HL-Xbox-360-DVD-Drive.htm
(yes, looked it up that is the confirmed fix, for now. Microsoft just says to remove the disc before switching postitions)

You can also avoid scatching the disc by REMOVING it first then switching to a vertical/horizontal position.
(this is all "at your own risk")

 

[Lord Evermore]

Optical drives have been designed to function perfectly fine vertically for years and years. I can't imagine why they would have designed a console that they advertise sitting vertically such that the drive wouldn't actually work in that position. (Moving it with a disc playing causing damage isn't hard to believe. Having to remove the disc even if it's not actually playing fits into the "why the hell would they design it that way" category.)

 

[Atty]

If you move it while the disc is spinning you'll scratch the disc completely. I suggest not moving the 360 with a disc in it.

 

[Spamdini]

if its a rented disc from like blockbuster or something it may have a sticker on one of the face sides. which will unbalance the disc and cause the vibrations.

 

[NoStateofMind]

Originally posted by: Spamdini
if its a rented disc from like blockbuster or something it may have a sticker on one of the face sides. which will unbalance the disc and cause the vibrations.

Correct....or could be warped?

 

[otispunkmeyer]

probably just an unbalanced disc.

usually cheapo discs are like this, my friends had a cheap CD-R explode in his 52 speed CD-ROM drive before. it didnt look pretty lol

 

[morgash]

the PS2 would do this exact same thing if you went from horizontal use for a while then switched to vertical. I lost NCAA 2002 right after it came out because of this. Luckily if you called Sony they would RMA it for you and send you one fo the new batch that didn't do it. They also replaced any games damaged by it. Gotta love em

Morgash

 

[VIAN]

updated, check OP

 

[erwos]

It seems reasonable that it would be more stable when horizontal. Are you more stable standing, or lying on the floor? The table/shelf can absorb more vibration when more of the 360 is touching it, I guess.

I really do lean towards the "unbalanced optical media" theory. It's very common, and produces symptoms exactly like you're describing. When you spin a DVD in a vertical position, the effect of gravity is different than in the horizontal position (spinning saucers vs. ferris wheel).

 

[TheRyuu]

Originally posted by: VIAN
updated, check OP

Did you even read my post.
It's not because of lack of stabliltiy (sort of).

 

[Randum]

i cant beleive they would advertise it as vertical and then tell you its "less stable" vertical....

xbox360 = Dreamcast 2

 

[Todd33]

This is an old and dumb debate. All CD/DVD drives are made to be used vertically and the instructions from MS when you open the box tell you that it can be horizontal or vertical. This was beaten to death on the official forums and it came down to urban myth.

If you screwed up a DVD then it was the DVD or you inserted it incorrectly.

 

[TheRyuu]

Originally posted by: Todd33
This is an old and dumb debate. All CD/DVD drives are made to be used vertically and the instructions from MS when you open the box tell you that it can be horizontal or vertical. This was beaten to death on the official forums and it came down to urban myth.

If you screwed up a DVD then it was the DVD or you inserted it incorrectly.

O RLY??

Read my post above (it's the first response). Here it is:

Yes it can scatch it.
I'm pretty sure it'll only scratch it if you have the disc in the drive, shut Xbox down, then move verically, then turn on (or the other way around). That's how it scratches (i think).

I've modded several Xbox's and I've been in the "scene" for years now. However, I don't have a 360 yet

Anyway
You might find a fix here:
http://www.llamma.com/xbox360/repair/Refurbishing-the-HL-Xbox-360-DVD-Drive.htm
(yes, looked it up that is the confirmed fix, for now. Microsoft just says to remove the disc before switching postitions)

You can also avoid scatching the disc by REMOVING it first then switching to a vertical/horizontal position.
(this is all "at your own risk")

 

[VIAN]

Originally posted by: wizboy11

Originally posted by: VIAN
updated, check OP

Did you even read my post.
It's not because of lack of stabliltiy (sort of).

My worry isn't too much about scratching. My worry is that my DVD-ROM drive will completely fail after 1.5 years like my original Xbox did. And that it works properly as it should without any occasional hardware failures.

It makes sense that the disc spins more stable horizontally, and this might also help preserve the drive a little longer as well.

 

[Todd33]

Originally posted by: wizboy11

Originally posted by: Todd33
This is an old and dumb debate. All CD/DVD drives are made to be used vertically and the instructions from MS when you open the box tell you that it can be horizontal or vertical. This was beaten to death on the official forums and it came down to urban myth.

If you screwed up a DVD then it was the DVD or you inserted it incorrectly.

O RLY??

Read my post above (it's the first response). Here it is:

[/quote]

How does this contradict what I said? Flipping the 360 can of course dislodge the disc, I never implied you could. I said running the 360 vertically is 100% acceptable by both MS and the industry. O RLY? Did you save yourself 12ms on that abbreviation?