Son of a Nutcracker!

After school today I came home, had a snack, and checked these forums as I do most days. After that I decided to go play some NFSU:2 as I talk about in depth in another post. I play the game for about 20 minutes and then the game prompts me with a "disc read error. Please consult Gamecube User's Manual.". I've gotten this message once or twice before, and its a rented game, so I turn off the system, wait a couple seconds, then turn it back on. This time I can't even enter my career mode before the game quits on me again, giving me the same error.

At this point I still thought it was the disc, so I tried my best to clean it (using the proper techniques) and I put it back in my system only to find the game's menu screen won't load before I get the disc read error screen again. I start to get a bit frustrated, so I try NBA Street Vol.2, doesn't work. I even try Pandora Tomorrow, which I bought only 2 months ago and beat just the other week, and I can't get to the "press start" screen on any of them!

I then tried to do everything I could with the system. Taking memory cards out, putting them in, different controllers, vaccuming dust out of the area, everything. I tried to start up my Gamecube, and I couldn't even get passed the "Nintendo Gamecube" start up screen without the system locking up.

I went on the internet to see if this is a common problem, and it turns out that it is. Lucky people had it happen to them before their warranty became void (like myself) and just shipped it into Nintendo for a new one. I'm not so lucky. I've decided to give my GC a rest and hope its back to its old self in a day or two, but I'm sure this problem isn't going to go away, and even if it does I'll be paranoid of it happening again anyway.

This is the last straw, so to speak, and I've finally decided to trade in all my GC items and get an Xbox instead. At first I was alright with the situation turning out that way, as its something I've been debating to do for a long time, but then I remembered the new Zelda was coming out. All I can say is, Fate has a sick sense of humor. The one game that I was looking forward to above all others, the game I've waited 5 years for, is now gonna cost me a new GC as well as the game itself to play, and chances are, I'm not going to get to play it. I guess its better that this happen to me now than the day after I buy the new Zelda, that would be just plain cruel. Either way, the timing still sucks, and I shall be glad to see every last bit of my GC collection gone forever once I trade it in.

:hh thats all i can say man...

common problem?  Statistically... the Gamecube system is the least likely to fail, have tech problems...etc.  And its by far.

Could the rented disc have caused this?  Or what causes it?

that is very unfortunate though.

Maybe your Gamecube is ticked off at you IT knew you were going to trade it in... so it "punk'd" you
sorry... that wasn't funny.. :lol

This is honestly the 1st time I have heard of this issue. I've known other Gamecube problems that happened, but nothing that ever knocked out the system.

BV :hat

I've also never heard of this happening. Man, that sucks though. :-\

"Maybe your Gamecube is ticked off at you IT knew you were going to trade it in... so it "punk'd" you
sorry... that wasn't funny.."

Haha, yes it was :lol

Yeah thats news to me. How common is it exactly? Ive had mine for four years now. Stll doing great. And also did you find out exactly what the problem is? That really sucks. Any console that breaks down sucks. Oh well im sure you'll have plenty of fun with the x-box. And does anybody know if they fixed the dvd drive problems on them? I sold mine because it wouldnt play some games because of a faulty drive.

Yes, if you buy an Xbox now you will get one with either a Phillip's drive, a Samsung drive, or the Toshiba drive. They no longer use the Thomson drive on new Xbox's. But if you have really bad luck you may get an old Thomson equipped one. Which of course you would just return and say it's a faulty drive cause it really is.

yeah and thats one i got stuck with :'(

Dang that sucks, but it's not super horrible. My friends both have Thomsons and they seem fine to me. And don't worry about the media issue, I have a Samsung drive and it still won't play cd-r's, cd-rw's, etc, etc. Let's just hope this won't ever happen again. Because I don't care how good of games are on their system, if this crap happens again I'm done with MS, period.

I have a Thomson drive and mine has always worked just fine.

x2 said:

Dang that sucks, but it's not super horrible. My friends both have Thomsons and they seem fine to me. And don't worry about the media issue, I have a Samsung drive and it still won't play cd-r's, cd-rw's, etc, etc. Let's just hope this won't ever happen again. Because I don't care how good of games are on their system, if this crap happens again I'm done with MS, period.

Click to expand...

i feel the same way. i want to wait it out and get a ps3 or revolution. i highly doubt i will buy another microsoft system

"Maybe your Gamecube is ticked off at you IT knew you were going to trade it in... so it "punk'd" you
sorry... that wasn't funny.."

Haha, yes it was

Click to expand...

:lol Agreed.

Well, by "common problem" I didn't really mean it was a problem that showed up a lot, I just meant out of the problems that do show up this was a big one.

It's also not as bad as I thought, I don't think. I left it alone for a day and then tried playing SSB:M with my original memory card, and it seemed to be working ok. I'm not sure if its the rented game (I recall earlier on in the week I got the "disc read error" message while playing NFSU:2 but I just turned the system on and off and it was fine) like BV suggested or maybe a corrupted save file on my other memory card that's causing the system problems. I'm still a little gunshy to try either, as the system seems to be working now I don't want to have anything happen to it until I get my hands on the new Zelda.

I must admit though, for that day when I was sure my GC was busted, I was getting kind of excited about getting the new Conker. I might still just trade in all my games and extra memory cards and get an Xbox anyway, and just keep my GC in an airtight container somewhere until Zelda comes out to make sure nothing else happens to it. And as for the various problems associated with the Xbox, I'd make sure to hang on to my warranty, so I'd at least have peace of mind for a year or two.

Sounds good. Glad to see your system is working again.

Ya, scratch that, :lol. It crapped out on me again, this time while playing SSB:M after about 5 minutes. And then when I tried to enter the options menu in Def Jam: Fight For New York, same "disc read error" screen. For some reason the disc just stops spinning inside my machine. Nuts, I can't believe my 64 outlasted my GC, my friend even spilled a can of coke in my 64, and yet it still works every single time.

Maybe Nintendo programmed GC's to shut down after 5 years. I had a feeling there was a conspiracy behind the Revolution being backwards compatible, and I think I just found out what that was.

Yeah my 64 took a hit from my metal baseball bat and it still works with dents and all. Hmm I wonder what the problem could be? Do you know stealth?

"disc just stops spinning inside my machine"

IMHO that sounds like a burnt out motor, or a really dirty laser lens. Have you tried opening it up and cleaning the lens? Cause that's what happened with my first PS2 and it was just really dirty/dusty inside of the machine.

get the xbox! its better! GC stinks! :lol

creepindeth04 said:

Yeah my 64 took a hit from my metal baseball bat and it still works with dents and all. Hmm I wonder what the problem could be? Do you know stealth?

Click to expand...

no moving parts... thats the reason
Cartridge systems more than likely will outlast any CD system.

And Mastermario... you don't deserve your name. :lol

Maybe try blowing your Gamecube out with Canned air. The fans are pretty huge in that.... and all systems with fans (including Xbox / Ps2) can get dust in the system... which can make things heat up and bust. This is a big killer of PC's as well... which it why its good to blow out your PC system 2 times a year.

†B†V† :hat

I tried cleaning my laser lens, and using compressed air to blow out dust. Hell, I even tried to vaccum the damned thing. I'm fairly positive its a laser defect, and I don't think there'd be any way I could fix it myself. Supposedly after about 4 years lasers in many electronic devices like discmans and such tend to be prone to malfunctions. Ah well, that's just the way she goes I guess.

My Gamecube had a simular problem a couple of years ago, but it just started working again after a couple of weeks and it didn't happen again. Odd I know...

It is a common problem though.