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How can MS detect if Xbox 360 has been opened?

I don't know if or how Microsoft would detect an open 360 box.

Is it worth repairing at Microsoft?

reply to Michail
There's no electronic detection for opening the xbox, but they will be able to tell that you've modified the DVD drive. If you're replacing the DVD drive with the same exact model, you should be alright (only change the DVD key, don't flash custom firmware).

Physically, the Microsoft sticker under the front panel of the xbox serves as the warranty marker. When you peel that sticker off, it's supposed to peel off in 2 pieces (one part gets stuck to the xbox and the other on the sticker, so neither looks right). You can get around that by first heating up the sticker with a blowdryer so it slides off.
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University of Southern California - Class of 2010. Fight On!

reply to pandora
You can buy a new DVD drive on ebay for $25 shipped. The posts I saw said it was $150 for MS to put a new drive in. I'm not sure if I'm covered under warrany for another RROD failure but for $125 difference I'll gamble on that.

You have to get the same drive and move a chip from the old one to the new drive. Supposedly it's easy. I think I got through the hard part which was opening the case.

The xbox seems to run fine opened and without the DVD drive. You just have to be careful with the hard drive attachment. It seems to run much quieter now.

reply to Thinkdiff

reply to Michail
Good luck, $150 to repair what is essentially a $199 retail device is outrageous IMO.

Yup, that's why I cracked it open. Might as well just get a new or used one instead of paying for MS to do the repair.

reply to Michail
There's no chip to remove. Depending on the DVD model, there's a different level of difficulty in extracting the DVD Key from the old drive and flashing it to the new one. Don't buy a replacement drive until you know exactly what model you have in your xbox already. Replacing the DVD drive with another model won't work (depending on the age of your xbox) unless you "spoof" the drive, which requires custom firmware. The same custom firmware that just got a ton of people banned.
--
University of Southern California - Class of 2010. Fight On!

It's a Hitachi drive, revision 79FL. I read a few posts about moving something between the drives.

Perhaps it was the whole PBC? It's supposed to be an easy process anyway.

reply to Thinkdiff
I've seen varying info on the Hitachi drive. I have revision 79FL which is relatively new compared to most of the Hitachi drives for sale. The closest I've seen is 79FK.

Moving the PCB is supposed to be relatively easy, I suppose as long as it isn't the PCB that's bad. If so I might be out of luck getting the key off of it anyway if that's the case.

If it's the laser that's bad it might be easier to fix. I think the laser might be the same for several drive models/manufacturers.

reply to Michail

reply to Michail
I just ordered and exact revision drive. I figured the PCB swap would be the easiest process on this drive. I already pulled out the old PCB.

The key swap with the firmware looked like a PITA, especially with the additional CD audio hack required for the revision I have. If the drive doesn't work I'm not going to be able to use that hack.

The kids have been happy playing new demo downloads so far.

Hmm, now that it's open I wonder if there is anything I can do to quiet that horrible fan sound?

Yes, do you think it might cause problems? The xbox doesn't seem know it's not there.

I hope MS doesn't ban it over something like that. I guess I'll find out.

Booting the xbox without the DVD data cable connected does get logged and, as the theory goes, adds to "points" system they use to ban people. Nobody really knows what sets off the bans, but it seems to be a combination of things.

I'd be surprised if they banned you for just disconnecting the DVD drive, but they will know if they want to find out.
--
University of Southern California - Class of 2010. Fight On!

Sound kind of like windows activation.

I guess they have to be careful since it could also be a legitimate hardware failure.

I'll just keep it powered off till the new one is here.

By data cable do you mean the SATA cable or the extra pins on the proprietary power connector?

reply to Michail

reply to Thinkdiff
I swapped the circuit board from the replacement drive and all seems fine. So far xbox live still works.

I also cleaned the fan when it was apart. When cleaning the fan I noticed one of the fans had burs on the blades from the manufacturing process. I filed them down. Between that and the cleaning the fan sounds like it's running a couple dBs quieter.

However, the replacement DVD drive Hitachi 79FK sounds a touch louder than the 79FL that was in there before. That's probably just my imagination though.