We received a great question from a customer about a PSP. The X button is not functioning. Is it the motherboard?
I have personally never seen a motherboard problem cause the X button to malfunction. Since it is the most commonly used button on American PSPs, there are three different things that can cause the X button to stop working. I will start from the most common and work my way down to the least common.
1. The circuit board or circuit ribbon under the X button could have worn out. This is the most common issue we have seen causing the X button to stop functioning. Click Here for the PSP 1001 ABXY Circuit Board. Links to the 2001, 3001 are in this item also.
2. The rubber pad under the X button has worn out. I have seen this so badly worn out that a hole was in the rubber pad! The rubber pad sits right under the X button. Click Here for PSP 1001 Rubber Pads. The PSP 2001 and 3001 buttons have the rubber pads built in. Click Here for the PSP 2001 buttons. Click Here for PSP 3001.
3. Finally, the button itself may have broken. I have only seen this a few times and it will only be on the PSP 1001 model. Again, the 2001 and 3001 have the buttons and rubber backing as one piece. Click Here for PSP 1001 Buttons. Click Here for the PSP 2001 buttons. Click Here for PSP 3001.
Friday, September 16, 2011
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
XBox 360 Slim Problems
The XBox 360 console has been plagued with problems. So what type of problems are we seeing with the XBox 360 slim, you ask?
Not a whole lot that can't be fixed relatively cheap!
The main problem we're seeing with the XBox 360 Slim are disc reading problems. This can easily be fixed with a new laser. We sell the laser for the XBox 360 Slim for only $16.95. Be sure to check the green pcb on your laser to make sure you order the correct version. The G2R2 seems to be the most popular in the USA:
http://store.richspsxparts.com/xb360laforxb.html
The second most common problem we're seeing with the XBox 360 Slim is a stuck tray. We would highly recommend that you do not push the tray to close it on the XBox 360 slim. Either press the eject button again to close the tray or go to the "Close Tray" option on the XBox 360's menu and press X on your controller to close the tray.
I have heard of red light issues on the XBox 360 slim -- but I have not seen it at all. If you have any questions, comments, or you want to share anything, please feel free.
Not a whole lot that can't be fixed relatively cheap!
The main problem we're seeing with the XBox 360 Slim are disc reading problems. This can easily be fixed with a new laser. We sell the laser for the XBox 360 Slim for only $16.95. Be sure to check the green pcb on your laser to make sure you order the correct version. The G2R2 seems to be the most popular in the USA:
http://store.richspsxparts.com/xb360laforxb.html
The second most common problem we're seeing with the XBox 360 Slim is a stuck tray. We would highly recommend that you do not push the tray to close it on the XBox 360 slim. Either press the eject button again to close the tray or go to the "Close Tray" option on the XBox 360's menu and press X on your controller to close the tray.
I have heard of red light issues on the XBox 360 slim -- but I have not seen it at all. If you have any questions, comments, or you want to share anything, please feel free.
XBox 360 Unrecognized Disc Error
This is going to be a bit long -- but very detailed, so please read it carefully. There are several reasons that an Xbox 360 system will have problem reading discs. The error messages also vary from unreadable disk, unrecognized disc, no message at all but the game skips, "please insert disc in a 360 console" to "open tray." There are a few reasons this may happen:
1.Bad disc. Check the back of your disc for scratches. If it looks good (or plays fine in another console), then the disc is probably fine. Also-- try more than 1 game to be sure.
2. Bad laser. The XBox 360 has a DVD drive very similar to a PC's DVD drive inside. The drive contains a bunch of parts including a few motors and gears and a laser.The laser is the part that actually reads the disc. The reality is...with all the hours and hours of game play, lasers do eventually wear out. The laser isn't very easy to replace, but it is replaceable. You can find any and all XBox 360 lasers at the following website:
http://store.richspsxparts.com/xb360ac.html
3.Bad DVD Drive. Sometimes other components inside of the DVD drive can become bad such as the motor that spins the disk, the motors that open the tray, etc, etc. You can get a new DVD drive to just replace everything,including the laser, in one shot but there is a catch. The XBOX 360's DVD drive is tied to the motherboard using a software lock.The easiest way to overcome this lock is to buy the exact same manufacture DVD drive that is in your system now, remove the circuit board from the old DVD drive (which contains the software key) and transfer the circuit board into the new DVD drive that you purchase. If you do this simple procedure, there is no flashing involved. The following website carries DVD drives and also provides instructions on swapping the circuit board from the old drive into the new one.
XBox 360 parts: http://store.richspsxparts.com/xb360ac.html
DVD Drive Swap Info: http://store.richspsxparts.com/imnooninxb36.html
1.Bad disc. Check the back of your disc for scratches. If it looks good (or plays fine in another console), then the disc is probably fine. Also-- try more than 1 game to be sure.
2. Bad laser. The XBox 360 has a DVD drive very similar to a PC's DVD drive inside. The drive contains a bunch of parts including a few motors and gears and a laser.The laser is the part that actually reads the disc. The reality is...with all the hours and hours of game play, lasers do eventually wear out. The laser isn't very easy to replace, but it is replaceable. You can find any and all XBox 360 lasers at the following website:
http://store.richspsxparts.com/xb360ac.html
3.Bad DVD Drive. Sometimes other components inside of the DVD drive can become bad such as the motor that spins the disk, the motors that open the tray, etc, etc. You can get a new DVD drive to just replace everything,including the laser, in one shot but there is a catch. The XBOX 360's DVD drive is tied to the motherboard using a software lock.The easiest way to overcome this lock is to buy the exact same manufacture DVD drive that is in your system now, remove the circuit board from the old DVD drive (which contains the software key) and transfer the circuit board into the new DVD drive that you purchase. If you do this simple procedure, there is no flashing involved. The following website carries DVD drives and also provides instructions on swapping the circuit board from the old drive into the new one.
XBox 360 parts: http://store.richspsxparts.com/xb360ac.html
DVD Drive Swap Info: http://store.richspsxparts.com/imnooninxb36.html
Email us any questions about repairs!
Send us an email by going to http://www.mygameparts.com and clicking CONTACT US. You can email us any repair questions and we will by happy to answer. This blog is pretty new so we will grab random questions around the internet and answer them here as well if we don't get many responses each day. Thanks and GAME ON!
Monday, September 12, 2011
Do I Need To Flash an XBox 360 Drive to Replace It?
You may have heard, or you may not have heard, that you NEED to flash an XBox 360 drive when you install it into your XBox 360. True? FALSE!
The truth is, the XBox 360's DVD drive and motherboard are "locked" together (by a special software lock and key)! You can not simply purchase a new XBox 360 DVD Drive and install it into your XBox 360. If you do this, your XBox 360 will read DVD movies with no problem... but it will not read games.
So how can you replace your XBox 360's DVD drive and have it read games? There are two ways. One way is to flash the drive. Flashing a DVD drive, in essence, is reading the special software key from the broken DVD drive and writing that special key to the new DVD drive you've purchase. Sounds easy? It's NOT! It requires special hardware, special software, and if you're not careful you can kill (or brick) the new drive!
The second, and much easier way, to transfer that special key from your old DVD drive to the new one is to simply remove the 4 (or 6) screws on the bottom of your old broken DVD drive, pull out the old green circuit board at the bottom of the DVD drive (which contains the special key), and install that same board into the new drive you purchase. The trick here is that you MUST purchase the SAME make and model DVD drive as you have had in your system. This is not that difficult as there are only 4 in the original XBox 360s and only 1 in the XBox 360 slim as of this writing.
Original XBox 360:
Toshiba Samsung TS-H943 [Var: TS-H943A]
HL Hitachi GDR-3120L
Philips BenQ VAD-6038
Philips Lite-On DG-16D2S [Var: DG-16D2S-09C]
XBox 360 S:
Philips Lite-On DG16D4S
The following page on my website shows you exactly how to find out which drive is in your system and contains step-by-step instructions on changing out that circuit board. You can also send in your dead drive and we'll send you a replacement drive with your original circuit board inside. Just click the following page:
http://store.richspsxparts.com/xb360reti.html
The truth is, the XBox 360's DVD drive and motherboard are "locked" together (by a special software lock and key)! You can not simply purchase a new XBox 360 DVD Drive and install it into your XBox 360. If you do this, your XBox 360 will read DVD movies with no problem... but it will not read games.
So how can you replace your XBox 360's DVD drive and have it read games? There are two ways. One way is to flash the drive. Flashing a DVD drive, in essence, is reading the special software key from the broken DVD drive and writing that special key to the new DVD drive you've purchase. Sounds easy? It's NOT! It requires special hardware, special software, and if you're not careful you can kill (or brick) the new drive!
The second, and much easier way, to transfer that special key from your old DVD drive to the new one is to simply remove the 4 (or 6) screws on the bottom of your old broken DVD drive, pull out the old green circuit board at the bottom of the DVD drive (which contains the special key), and install that same board into the new drive you purchase. The trick here is that you MUST purchase the SAME make and model DVD drive as you have had in your system. This is not that difficult as there are only 4 in the original XBox 360s and only 1 in the XBox 360 slim as of this writing.
Original XBox 360:
Toshiba Samsung TS-H943 [Var: TS-H943A]
HL Hitachi GDR-3120L
Philips BenQ VAD-6038
Philips Lite-On DG-16D2S [Var: DG-16D2S-09C]
XBox 360 S:
Philips Lite-On DG16D4S
The following page on my website shows you exactly how to find out which drive is in your system and contains step-by-step instructions on changing out that circuit board. You can also send in your dead drive and we'll send you a replacement drive with your original circuit board inside. Just click the following page:
http://store.richspsxparts.com/xb360reti.html
Welcome to the Video Game Console Repair Blog
Hello and Welcome. There are loads of misconceptions, misinformation, bad information, and just plain WRONG-NESS when it comes to video game repair around the internet. I'm starting this blog so that you can ask questions about your video game console issues. I will not only answer the questions, but I will provide at least one reference to a well respected website forum as well as my own expertise. I have been repairing video game consoles since the Playstation 2 in 2004.
Please feel free to contact me and ask any game repair questions you have an I will answer them for you on this blog. Thanks for reading!
Please feel free to contact me and ask any game repair questions you have an I will answer them for you on this blog. Thanks for reading!
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