It was an ordinary day. I kissed my hubbie good-bye, shipped my youngest off to school, started my eldest on her Algebra and Biology lessons, and then began my commute to work. I stopped off for coffee in the kitchen, and then dashed into the office (5 feet away) to check on my mail and get my work in order for the day. My assignment for the day: spend 8 hours with my Xbox and put together a review for the site. I put in the new disk, and was greeted with GRIIIND…WHIIIIR…followed by what I’ve been told is the “red ring of death.”

I’m not completely technologically deficient, so I of course checked the guilty disk (no scratches or grooves) and tried another disk, but with sadly the same results. My barely one-year-old console was ill, so I logged in to the MS doctors (tech support) and began the (is it just me) ridiculous process of troubleshooting. The end result. Make that call and talk to Max.

Max is Microsoft’s friendly tech support computer, and while he doesn’t seem at all patronizing, I’d been through this drill before when my system was brand new, and knew where this would end up. I was going to have to ship it back to the manufacturer and have it worked on AGAIN!!!

Now, this is my first 360. I bought it a year ago, and replaced the optical reader (don’t try to make them look pretty and vertical – keep them horizontal) within the first few weeks. I was under the impression that all warranties had been extended at the time, but soon learned that this was not the case. In the meantime, I also have two regualar Xboxes, and have never had a problem with either one in the five years they’ve been used, abused and moved around the world.

When my call was transferred from the oh so cheerful Max to somewhere where English and my accent make communication difficult, things got ugly. After ten minutes of reading off my 12 digit serial number that the tech support gentleman was convinced I was reading incorrectly becasue he kept receiving only 10 digits, he asked me if I tried another disk. (Well, duh, why else would I be talking to you?) “How many disk?” (Does is matter? Two should be sufficient, but let’s just say six) “No problem…” He then went into all of the detailed shipping instructions that I’d been through before, gave me my ticket number and then he dropped the bomb.

Since this is my “second repair” it would only cost me $99.99 for the repairs and shipping, and they’d throw in another year of warranty and 30 days of Xbox Live. Apparently my one year warranty that had been extended to two had run out two weeks prior. (Did I mention that I’d only bought it a year ago? Okay, a year and two weeks, but that’s still not two years.) There was no record of the second year warranty, so it was either pay the hundred bucks to repair my year-old almost 500 dollar system or live without. Options…I didn’t see any, but given the fact that the cost of repairs almost exactly equalled the balance of my checking account and that I refuse to give the credit card companies a dime…I said thank you and that I’d have to discuss it with my husband.

Hubby came home and hit the ceiling (he’s good like that) and issued expletives that I can not repeat here, except something about Bill Gates and Sasquatch toes. He is, however, a genius, and the 360 is fixed and in perfect working order. The cost? Just under 5 dollars, and about an hour of labor.

The Hitachi DVD drive that’s manufactured exclusively for Xbox 360 has a slight flaw. The spindle that holds in the disk is held on with glue, but this glue when subject to heat can melt over time. The top of the drive acts like a magnet — and whoosh. The spindle comes loose and gets stuck to the top of the drive. If this happens to you, you can actually see it if you peer inside.

The instructions that follow will void your warranty, but if you’re like me and facing the alternative… Anyway, I hope that these links help someone else down the road that finds themself in similar circumstances.

The first link shows you how to properly open up the console. It does mention the purchase of a special tool, but with the proper screwdriver bits, you can avoid the 65 dollar tool purchase (we found the one we needed in my husband’s Gerber tool kit).

The second link is an actual Youtube video that explains both the problem and the solution. All you need is a small tube of super glue and some patience.

Hopefully, you’ll never need these instructions.