MS admits Halo 3 'disc unreadable' errors
But it's keeping mum about the cause...
Microsoft has refused to reveal the cause behind a fresh wave of disc problems affecting Halo 3. The company told Register Hardware that it's aware of a problem which stops the game from loading correctly, but refused to give any further explanation.
Exact descriptions of the disc error differ between gamers, but all of them who've encountered the issue report being presented with a message that says the disc is unreadable and can't be loaded.
This error message appears with some Halo 3 discs
For example, one reader told us that when trying to start a campaign or solo game, an error message appears on the screen saying the game can't be started. It then advises him to press button A on the control pad. However, a second error message states more specifically that game content can't be loaded and a progress bar hops continuously between one and 29 per cent.
A Microsoft representative said the software giant is "aware of reports that some people have received a 'disc unreadable' error while playing Halo 3 and other titles". However, it refused to give any further information or disclose which additional titles were affected by the problem.
In its response to Register Hardware, Microsoft advised gamers affected by the error message to visit a Microsoft support website page. Unfortunately, the page only admits that disc unreadable errors may be the result of a dirty or damaged disc; a disc from one region being used in a player from a different region; or simply to "non-disc issues".
However, when we spoke to Microsoft's technical helpline about the problem, a representative told us it had received many similar calls from gamers. We were told Microsoft would be making an announcement regarding the problem in the coming weeks.
An annoyed gamer walks YouTube fans through the problem
One gamer has already posted a video onto YouTube that takes viewers through the problems being encountered. The video shows a message that "this disc is unreadable", despite the game being brand new and replaced several times previously because of the same problem.
Enraged and disappointed gamers have also begun taking their frustrations out on an online forum belonging to Halo 3 developer Bungie.
Thanks to Register Hardware reader Rob for the tip
COMMENTS
I had the same problem, but i found a fix.
I have had the same problem with many games. Bioshock and Halo 3 both gave me the same error. First i thought my X360's dvd-drive is faulty and i send it for repairs. When it returned the same problem continued.
I then replaced both Bioshock and Halo 3 discs and the problem still continued. Then i tried without the Hard Drive connected and both games work. Then i tried resetting the cache, which didn't help, and after that i formatted the Hard Drive, which didn't help either. Only by disconnecting the hard drive the games work. Now i bought a 512mb Memory Unit and im saving my games with it until i can get a new hard drive from the repair center.
I suggest that people who have this problem try starting the game without the hard drive and report of their findings.
surprised? eh, no
Let's see, a cut-down PC running a cut-down version of windows has unspecified issues running a program? Where's the surprise there? Just gives more weight to the reasons why I'd never buy one!
Disc or hard disk?
I have had this exact problem, it was very frustrating and disappointing for my first halo game. I got half way through the campaign, then got the error . To rub salt into the wound, I also lost 2 levels of save games too.
Online research I took seems to suggest that the problem is actually hard disk, bad sector related and not necessarily dvd related.
Many users I conversed with on forums have had 3 or 4 discs with the same problems and in the end been asked to return their HD to M$ for repair. As my damaged levels loaded sometimes after deleting numerous HD files, perhaps its right.
A new disc from amazon touch wood seems to have sorted my problem (or at least I havent had the problem so far), but again that doesnt prove my hard disk doesnt have some fault.
Me too!!
I get these 'dirty disc' errors on my Forza 2 disc. Drove me crazy. Even went back to exchange for another disc. Had only been out of the sealed box for 5mins before my 360 claimed the disc was 'dirty'. I doubt it!!
I've heard that it' down to the speed of the drive, and the way that the data is streamed from the disc to keep loading times down. If the 360 isn't kept fed with data at a high rate it assumes that there must be a fault with the disc.
Typical Microsoft incompetence...
... oh look, a transient read error on a removable drive, there's no way we could hope to recover from that so let's tell the user to reboot. Pathetic.
(Even more pathetic is the fact that the system almost certainly actually /can/ handle a read error, and the advice is in fact completely gratuitous and bogus and won't make any difference, but it's a knee-jerk MS instinct to tell everyone to reboot all the time because they have no faith in their own software.)
