Original Xbox replacement DVD drive

[Harlequin]

My first attempt at replacing the slowly dying Xbox dvd drive that I am currently using has resulted in failure. I was able to locate the TR_IN, TR_OUT, N_EJECT, and what I think is the DATA_R points on the DVD board. They are running on CMOS values, but it appears that the XBox isn't too picky on voltage because it is true at 0 v. I hooked the wires up for TR_IN and TR_OUT and soldered the wires onto some pin heads. pluged the pin heads into the xbox's DVD connector header and used a molex spliter for power. My box is softmodded so that if the tray is out when it boots it goes to the MSDASH and to EVox if closed. By default the xbox always thinks the tray is open unless it receives a signal telling it otherwise. It booted to Evox and reported tray empty (not open). I thought I was on my way to glorious victory.

My next step was to wire in the DATA_R and N_EJECT. I tagged those to some pin heads and put them into the applicable holes. The DATA_R signal I was kind of concerned about because I think the drive has spin up/down. When it initially read the disk data it would go high, then drop down afterwards. I figured it wouldnt be a big deal since the Xbox would read the initial data and then I would play the disk in the drive and it wouldnt have a chance to spin down and foul up. If it did I would work past that later.

So I put a disk into the drive and turned it on. Didnt seem to find Data_R as the tray was still listed as closed but empty. I tried to eject via the eject button on the xbox. nothing happened. I figured, "ok lets get the disk out and try again". hit eject on the DVD drive. Smoke. powered off. Now there is no signal coming from the eject point I mapped out, although the eject at the front of the tray still hits correctly. Not so sure why it went like it did. I guess that is life.

What I am looking for here, is a few pointers on what I did wrong and what I could do to avoid this same fate on attempt #2. I will have some time to review what I have done to figure out what I did wrong. Obviously I'll need a new DVD drive. I will also need to map out the points again but that is to be expected. A couple of thoughts and open questions:

1. It appears that the xbox doesnt care what kind of voltage it gets for a False reading, as long as you are in the low mV range for a True signal it seems to be ok. I've read posts and webpages from others who also have encountered CMOS values and indicate that they didnt have any problems with the fact that it was hitting below 5 v for a False reading.

2. I am under the impression that a wired eject signal from the Eject point to the Eject pin head would be sufficient to eject the DVD. I've read from others that say it needs to be wired directly to the eject switch on the back of the eject button on the xbox. Not entirely sure what I need to do for eject to work.

3. I dont intend to mess around with the DATA_R or CD_READY or DM_UTE or whatever signal if it is not readily available. I was thinking about just wiring the signal to the TR_IN signal to ensure that it just thought that whenever the tray was closed, the data was ready. Any other suggestions?

4. Anything else anyonce can suggest would be great.

Thanks
Harlequin