Tutorial written by : xcept and sez
Last edited: August 6, 2003

Note : This tweak can damage your DVD-drive, proceed at own risk!!!

We also came across some media read problems after modding a green 1.2 xbox. By browsing the internet we noticed that others had tweaked the DVD-drive by adjusting the Pot meter inside. We decided to do the Pot tweak as well in order to get the machine going.

However by searching xbox-scene we did not find accurate values to adjust the Pot meter. The guide Moe had written helped us a lot (thnx Moe), but the only thing that bothered us was that there were no Ohm values in it. So we thought is was time to write another manual to explain what we experienced during the Pot tweak on a Phillips DVD-drive.

Specifications:

• Limited Edition XBOX V1.2;
• Phillips DVD-drive (s-86km/s6km), exactly the same laser unit as picture in Moe’s tutorial;
• Burned/Utilized media: Nashua DVD-R, Princo DVD-R.

Requirements:

• Basic knowledge of electronics;
• Multi meter;
• Confidence…..

So we took out the drive and disassembled it according to Moe’s tutorial in order to find the Pot meter. This is how we tweaked the Pot meter:

1. Locate the first Pot meter next to the cable connector;
2. Put a mark on that Pot meter with a resistant marker;
3. Measure the value of the resistance (we measured r=644?);
a. A Pot meter is a variable resistor and thus measure between the wiper (screw) and the second resistor (second point seen from the cable connector). To be sure the measurement is correct we included the following picture:

4. Turn the Pot gently with a small screw driver clockwise;
5. We adjusted it to r= 536?;
6. We reassembled the drive and tested it with the DVDs we burned. The result was fascinating. Before it did not recognized the burned media at all but now the machine swallowed the media much better. However, some burned DVDs still did not play so we decided to tweak the potentiometer a bit more.
7. So we took the DVD-drive apart and adjusted the value to 498? (this was the closest we could get to 500?). Tested the drive once more. Damn, that’s a good feeling, every media we gave it worked flawlessly!!

So you see the Pot tweak can be done without screwing up your DVD-drive. Just take the time to measure the right Ohms and take one small step at a time. Thus if the requirements, mentioned above, fit you and you have a multi meter and your Phillips DVD-drive is bugging you we suggest to go for the Pot tweak as well.