Gamecube problem

[ShadowChao]

Okay, playing through Mines today after work, I get a message "The game disk could not be read.

Please turn off your power and blah blah blah..."

Okay, so I think "shit! I shouldn't have piped for that Cure/Slow an hour beforehand!" (which works great, BTW...) and I figured maybe my laser burned out or something, like I heard happens when excessive reading is required, such as piping. Anyway, I open up the disk, take it out, blow on it, wipe it down and whatnot, blow on the laser, and put it back in and close the case. The game starts up again, from where I left off. Interesting... didn't know it had that feature. So I start walking and get "Please insert a game disk" message.

... wha? So I repeat above steps, and it does the same thing... so I quickly put my Grants 24 disk in the bank and attempt to save, but to no avail. The gamecube won't read the disk.
Fine. Be that way, but if my characters are corrupted, I'm turning you into a curling iron!

So, I try a few other game disks and find that none of them work. Turn off the system for about 45 minutes, until my brother calls up his friend and he says that it happens alot to him, just blow the laser and the disks and reset, and it should be fine.

... Alright. So I waited about an hour or 2, did said procedures, and it worked. I played almost all of Doc's Secret Plan fine, until I got that message just before Test Area 2. I repeated the steps and continued the quest, but quit, for fear that I'd lose my exp and potentially corrupt my characters.

Can anyone tell me what's going on? I'm mostly worried about corruption, because I won't have the heart to start over. Any tips?

Thanks in advance, and thanks for reading this longwinded post.

[Rep0]

Try cleaning the fans, turning the GameCube upside down and shaking(gets debris out of the inside), use a Q-Tip and a little alcohol on the lens to clean.

See if any of that helps

[ShadowChao]

Alright, tried what you said. I'm not going to turn it back on until tomorrow, though, just incase it's got a static build-up or something, like I read on the forum search. Mods, I think this is supposed to be in Tech Support... sorry, stoner moment. >_<

Anyway, thanks for the help. Hopefully it'll go back to normal overnight.

[Rep0]

If that doesn't work then call Nintendo and see what they say. Bug them about it and they might fix it for free; if not, GameCubes are only $99 now anyway.

[ShadowChao]

Yeah, that's true. I didn't send in my warranty card way back in May when I got my Cube, but whatever. I don't want a refurbished Cube, anyway.

Anywho, we'll see tomorrow what the GameCube wants to do: work properly, or become a cell phone charger.

[polishedweasel]

They'll fix it for you if your warranty is valid...same thing happened to me back in December. Wow, I've had PSO for a year...whoo hooo[sarcasm]

[Sick-One]

I am seeing ALOT of posts like this lately. Makes me wonder if there isn't some kind of disc read epidemic out :| Seriously, you see this alot in tech support as well. Makes me question whether or not I should buy a new cube as well (as mine has done this too). Maybe there's some kind of design flaw in the cube that needs to be fixed, like the datel powerboard adapter's lack of proper ventillation? Who knows, but hopefully someone finds a cure for this rapidly spreading 'disease', and soon.

[Buuyon]

hmm i think sits a flaw with the semi newer GCs...ive had mine sense release and it only does this to me with SA2...but then i again it might just be the disk...wich it is...(im mad now)

[Kaos-Bringer-]

heh stangely it hasnt happened to me at all except once when the disc has a hair on it... i mean... i would figure out of all people it would happen to me... cuz to pause pso on single player all i do is open the gamecube top while its running and come back later... eh... story behind that... i was doing a timed quest and had to leave for about 3 hours... so i just opened it came back and it was right where i left off... but anyway... i hope you get it solved...

[_Ted_]

That happened to my friend. He played his gamecube to death, got that message, sent it in, they fixed it (warranty), sent it back to him. Then he played it until it died again, apparently it has a lower resistance to death after being reanimated. So he repeated the afore mentioned steps and now it works just fine (its been working fine for a few months).

[ShadowChao]

Alright, my GameCube and PSO work just fine. I was paranoid, but I played all the way through Doc's Secret Plan, and managed to find my first Ruins Rare while I was doing so. Got a nifty new Spread Needle for my RAmar!

Anyway, just wanted to say thanks to the advice in here, as well as anyone who gave advice in similar threads in Tech Support. http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif

[General_Leo]

u know, i have worked as a cashier (or more) at grocery stores for the last 4 years and i have only EVER seen 1 gamecube be returned. Anybody care to hear how many playstation 2's have been returned??? um... um... i don't think i have that many fingers!

(Can anybody tell y i'm not a playstation fan?)

P.S: Sorry to all of u playstation fans, i didn't mean to be mean http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif

[Rich_T]

If you buy something that goes wrong, through no fault of your own, then you should look at your consumer rights.
in the UK, guarentees/warantees last at least 12months, somtimes longer (Sale of goods act) which basicly menas that if something goes wrong, within a year* you can take it back to the shopp where you purchased it, and they have to either offer you a full refund in cash ( to the value that you paid for it) or a replacement.

check with your local governments trading standards/citezns advice centre and they should be able to advise you on your rights.