Xbox DVD Drive Disassembly

Step 1 Hard Drive

• Make sure your Xbox is safely unplugged and is laying on a flat, stable surface.
Step 2

• Turn the Xbox over to reveal the four rubber feet.
• Use a metal spudger to pry off the four rubber feet.
Step 3
• There are 2 more screws hidden under the two labels on the bottom of the case.
• You can either remove the labels or simply feel for the screw holes through the labels and then cut or punch a hole through them.
Step 4
• Remove the six T20 Torx screws securing the top cover to the bottom cover.
Step 5
• Once the bottom and top shells are no longer attached, carefully turn the Xbox right-side-up, lift and remove the top cover.
Step 6
• Remove the three 3 mm T10 screws securing the hard drive to the Xbox.
• There is one screw on the rear left side of the hard drive that is only visible when the IDE ribbon cable is lifted up. The other two are at the front right and left sides of the hard drive.
• The screw on the lower left corner of the disk drive is not in the hole that it appears to be in, but rather just closer to the corner.
Step 7
• Free the hard drive power cable from the carrier for sufficient slack to lift the hard drive out.
• Lift the plastic hard drive carrier out of the Xbox case.
Step 8
• Remove the four 3.4 mm T15 Torx screws from the plastic hard drive carrier (two screws per side).
• Carefully remove the hard drive from the plastic carrier. Gentle rocking will see the hard drive come out quite easily.
Step 9
• Pull both the hard drive data ribbon cable and the power cable straight up from the hard drive.
• They may be firmly seated, so be careful trying to remove them. DO NOT pull the wires as you may damage the cable assembly.
Step 10 Disc Drive
• Remove the disk drive. It should come right out.
• Unplug the ribbon cable and yellow cables from back of disk drive.
Step 11
• Pry back the black plastic tabs around the disk drive in order to remove it from its housing. Once removed, set the drive aside.
• ONLY REMOVE IF DEAD!
Step 12 Remove DVD Drive Casing
• Please note that if all you are trying to do is manually eject a game and not make repairs to the drive, step 14 is the ONLY required step. It is NOT necessary to remove the drives casing, just push the tray in when you're done.
• Start by removing the 4 screws on the bottom of the drives case using a Philips #0. There are different variations of the drive and some have Torx screws instead of Philips. Use the necessary tool for the specific version that you have.
• Once screws are removed, lift the bottom half of the case up and away from the drive.
• Flip the drive over and remove the top half of the drives case.
Step 13 Manually Ejecting the Drive
• Using your screwdriver, or anything slim enough to fit, gently push the white lever back. Put your object on the right hand side of the lever, slightly pushing right as you push back.
• The lens will drop down and your drive door will open about a quarter inch.
• Gently pull the tray to its open position. If you have a game stuck in your drive, this would be the ideal time to remove it. It can be removed in step 13 but it's not as easy.
Step 14 Closing/Resetting the Drive
• Gently push the tray closed by hand.
• Using your screwdriver, or whatever object best suits you, you need to return the white lever to its forward position to reset the drive properly. Get your object behind the right side of the lever, gently pushing it forward, returning it to its original position.
Step 15 Reattaching DVD Drive Case
• Put the top of the case on first and then flip the drive.
• Replace the bottom half of the case and secure the screws back in place.

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