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The original Xbox is Microsoft's first widely popular video gaming system. It has an easily identifiable black case with 'XBOX' emblazoned on the top and front. Repair is easy with common tools.

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What size belt do I need for the Hitachi-LG drives?

I purchased this console with the intention of modifying it (yes, I have a pair but the person who hooked me up passed. Yeah, I'm not going to do it anymore — they stay intact). However I'm torn now, knowing it's looking like a promising unit.

The unit came with the cables (and a copy of GTA SA, with the parents preferred method to dealing with ownership disputes — permanent marker, ugh. Because you know, being a real parent is hard compared to potentially FUBARing a copy of GTA :/. Annoying, but not worth my time at $8-10 unmarked disc only). When I took a look at the unit, I found my unit has the freaking Hitachi drive in it :-) - possibly a 1.6 board. It's not too shabby just based on the drive alone, especially since I know what the “GDR” drive goes for on its own outside of a console. The drive is behaving like every other GDR — the laser is absolutely borderline bulletproof, but the belts fail.

Is there a specific size belt I need to get, or can I use one of the generic lots everyone sells in packs of 5?

This is how I knew.

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@oldturkey03 Maybe you know with these if the belt is different from the Thompson, Phillips and Samsung?

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Belts come in many different sizes and shapes. There is nothing wrong with replacing it with a generic belt as long as it matches the required length and geometry (square, flat, whatever.) Measuring the belt can be tricky as the old one is probably slightly stretched.

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Normally I replace the drives as units with these due to them tending to fail again and again, but the GDR drive is worth saving as it's proven to be stable.

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If you can find a service manual it MAY give you some specs, like size. Otherwise, the next indicator is the old belt, then a piece of string and careful observation of the pulley. Obviously, if there is no groove, it is a flat belt, but that is not common. The most common is a square belt, but it also has different sizes, like 1mm or 2mm, etc. The pulleys would be "V" shaped. Not sure if there are triangular belts, but a square one would sub for it. Round belts are also common and would have pulleys in the form of a 1/2 circle instead of a "V". They will also have different diameters.

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@ruggb I have one from an SDG-605 but I don't know how exact that would be, especially as I remember it was also getting stuck but less often. The nail for that one that sealed it's fate was a bad PCB.

I had to hit that console above the drive too.

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@ruggb it's using the generic belts I seen on eBay all the time.

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Apparently, some people have had success with this method.

https://sciencing.com/restore-natural-ru...

At one time there was a commercial product that supposedly worked. But both are just stopgap measures IMHO.

58 seconds ago by bill

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I decided to try and rotate the belt I got with my console and see if it helps. It ejected right 6-7 times in a row back to back. I'm probably going to need to replace the belt, but this got me out of trouble really quickly. Now I need to test the thing further and see if there are any other issues.

This is at best, a quick temporary fix for this problem. It will not last. Do this to use it, but have new belts on the way once done. It delays the unavoidable because you're kicking the can down the road but I tried because I had the belt out.

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Apparently, some people have had success with this method.

https://sciencing.com/restore-natural-ru...

At one time there was a commercial product that supposedly worked. But both are just stopgap measures IMHO.

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Nick will be eternally grateful.
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