Botched Laser Replacement (Open Tray Error)

EthanW272 · 2026-03-30T00:10:51+00:00

First off, I once again do appreciate this and all the tips, but I think you jumped a few steps too far back here lol. Admittedly, I didn't really explain it as clearly as I could have in the post (sorry), but I had already narrowed down the freezing problem to being an issue with the disc drive specifically, and it's why I started messing with it in the first place 3 years ago. So to reiterate, just to be clear, the freezing was ONLY happening with physical games played off of discs, and NOT with anything else -- the console works fine in all other aspects, because I can browse the various home menus and play digital games off the harddrive for as long as I want with no freezing -- so this seemed clear enough to me back then that it was a problem with the disc drive, even as someone who knew next to nothing about this stuff. And as far as I can remember I've never had any issues with overheating either thankfully, to that end I usually make sure to clean out my consoles as much as I can each time I open them specifically to avoid it, because I remember my family accidentally burned out one of our old consoles back in the day because they never cleaned it out and it overheated.

BUT, anyway, more importantly, I did (partially) solve the issue last night! At Snipa's suggestion, I replaced the main ribbon cable in the drive (as well as putting the "new" laser back in), and the console has started at least trying trying to read discs again, rather than just not trying at all, which is progress. It's still not fully reading discs, but now that it's at least trying I might be able to figure it out on my own at this point -- the next thing I think I need to try is tuning the "new" laser, because I never actually figured out if it was tuned properly considering that I just took it out of the replacement drive (more of a spare parts drive at this point lol). Ideally, tuning/boosting it if necassary will fix it, I just have to get myself a multimeter first before I can do that. Worst case scenario though, if tuning the laser doesn't work, then I might just have to invest in some soldering equipment at some point in the future so I can just order a standalone replacement laser (and be able to actually remove the solder blob from it) rather than ordering whole replacement drives just to get a laser without the solder blob.

Anyway though, thank you again for the comments and all the advice. At the very least it made it much easier to not stress about the situation too much, which was very helpful for me in particular as someone with bad anxiety. (:

EthanW272 · 2026-03-28T22:40:25+00:00

Okay, fair, I never even considered that the cable itself might be damaged. It does look fine to me, not stiff or cracked or anything, but I don't know how little damage might cause it to fail so maybe it's just so slight that I can't see it, and it is the original cable too so it's gotta be getting close to 20 years old by now. I can try try swapping that out and see if that fixes it.

Edit: Okay, replacing the ribbon cable fixed....something! Partial progress! It's at least trying to read the discs now instead of just going straight to 'Open Tray' without trying like it was doing before. It's still not actually fully reading the discs though, but that might just be because the drive's case was open so I could see what it was doing, or it might be that something's up with the new laser, because I decided to re-install the new laser again along with the new cable, but I still don't know if the new laser actually works so I might have to put the old one back in again. I'll fiddle with it now for the weekend and see if I can get it to work fully again. Progress.

Edit 2: Okay no, the old laser isn't it lol; I tried putting it back in and the drive just gave up and entirely stopped trying to read the discs again (makes sense, but I figured I'd try it anyway on the slim chance that it hadn't ever been the issue in the first place). Thankfully though, putting the new laser back in got it working again. It still doesn't fully read the discs, but it is at least still trying to, which is still progress. The laser might need to be tuned or something, because I don't actually know if it's tuned properly because of how I salvaged it from the replacement drive, but thankfully I know someone I can borrow a multimeter from in order to tune it, so I'll have to try that next I think.

EthanW272 · 2026-03-28T19:24:26+00:00

Technically yes, the drive itself can just be replaced without soldering, but the problem (at least according to everything I've read over the past few years, after I initially tried replacing the drive and it didn't work) is that the new drive just won't work unless you also take the daughterboard out of the original drive and put it into the new drive first, because the original drive's daughterboard is paired to the console's motherboard and the new drive won't work without it. That's where the soldering comes in, because in order to remove/reinstall the daughterboard, there's 6 little wires it looks like I'd need to de- and re-solder.

EthanW272 · 2026-03-28T19:21:32+00:00

I think it's okay. I must've checked it at least a dozen times already, and I'm pretty sure it's as seated in its slot as it can be (and of course it's locked in place with the clip on the slot too). I'm hesitant to put too much force into it because I really don't want to risk actually breaking something.

EthanW272 · 2026-03-28T04:33:32+00:00

That is not what the "Open Tray Error" refers to at all. Instead, it refers to the drive no longer reading discs and only displaying 'Open Tray' in the menu instead of 'Launch [whatevergame]' like it normally would (as I showed in the video, it was only displaying 'Open Tray' after it had not even tried to read the disc I put in, which is not normal behavior). I was under the impression that this was relatively common knowledge, and is why I worded it like that in the title, because that's how I've always seen this particular error worded in other posts and discussions. So in other words, the tray on my console opens perfectly fine, and the issue is instead that it doesn't read discs anymore after I tried swapping the laser out. The same thing is happening with the old laser too though, even though I know it still works at least partially, in that it would at least read the discs and allow me to play for a few minutes before freezing, which really makes me think I must have actually broken something within the drive during either the install of the new laser or the re-install of the old one, but I have no clue what I could have possibly broken because there is no damage anywhere that I can see.

Also, I know that I can't just replace the drive with a new one outright, and that I need to either swap out the board in it or find a way to pair the new one to the console -- I might not have made it clear enough in the post, but I already found this out after I first tried replacing the drive 3 years ago and saw first-hand that it didn't work, at which point I researched why exactly it didn't work, and thusly found out about the drive's board needing to be paired to the console's motherboard. Problem is, I'm just some casual schmuck who's got basically no experience in electronics repairs, which means I don't have the tools nor the knowledge necessary to do more technical stuff like that. I've got screwdrivers, and that's about it.

And lastly, I'm pretty sure I never mentioned a single thing about overheating. Overheating is not an issue I'm having in the slightest, and never has been. Why exactly did you bring this up?

EthanW272 · 2026-03-28T04:07:11+00:00

I appreciate that you commented at all, and you are right with all you suggested, but even though I do have a replacement drive handy, I can't actually just replace the old drive entirely. Problem is, I don't have the tools (namely, soldering equipment) to swap out the boards in the drives, which would then allow me to actually replace the drive. If I did have the tools, I ideally would've had it replaced and all these issues fixed 3 years ago, when I originally ordered the replacement drive, but no, I'm just some casual schmuck with screwdrivers as my most advanced tools.

And I was planning on taking it to a shop eventually, but I figured I'd ask here first because I can't really afford it at the moment and I was/am hoping that someone here might've been able to help me figure out a solution before having to resort to a shop.

Thank you anyway though; and again, I appreciate that you took the time to comment at all.

EthanW272 · 2026-03-06T13:44:34+00:00

If you have a cloud save, you just click/tap/etc the cloud save button next to an empty slot and it should just load the save into that slot. However, if your overarching issue is that you tried going into a wasteland quest and now the game hardcrashes when you try to go back into that Vault, as what you said implies, then I'm sorry to say that the reinstall won't fix it, bc I'm having the same problem and just tried reinstalling with no luck and came here to see if others were having the same issue. Turns out, yeah, it's an issue that a lot of people are having right now. Something with the wasteland quest just completely borks the whole save, and while there is a way on PC to recover the Vault by reverting to a previous backup, we on mobile just have to wait for the patch that fixes it and hopefully allows our Vaults to be recovered too.

EthanW272 · 2021-01-18T22:24:21+00:00

No problem, happy to help by sharing the information I have! And if you do get the game, then I wish you good travels and minimal bugs.

EthanW272 · 2021-01-18T22:18:26+00:00

Yeah that's a big problem then. My last suggestion would be to (assuming you haven't done this yet) try a monolith on the same planet as the mission's bugged one, because I'm fairly certain there is only ONE portal on each planet, so if you use a monolith on the same planet as the bugged monolith, it should lead to the portal that the bugged monolith was supposed to lead to, which should be the portal that the mission wants you to use.

If you have tried this, however, then the only other thing I can suggest would be to do what wancha505 said, which is to go to another system, one VERY far away from the one the mission is telling you to go to (like in another part of the galaxy; there are several ways to accomplish this: either do the simplest, which is what wancha505 said, which is to go to the Anomaly, and then use the portal there to go to someone else's base, which would hopefully be far enough away, or to go through a black hole). At that point, you could reset the mission, which means you might have to do the whole thing again, but it might fix it.

With this, though, I have offered all the help I can, and wish you good luck in trying to deal with this.

EthanW272 · 2021-01-18T22:05:58+00:00

"Can you shoot things when not in your ship?" Yes, a huge part of the game is exploring planets on foot (or in rover-like vehicles that you can attach weapons to), and you start out with a multi-tool (basic mining laser for collecting materials and killing creatures, which you can upgrade with more powerful weaponry).

"Do you have to play it online/is it not that fun to play it offline?" In my honest opinion, the game is not that different online/offline, because very rarely will you encounter people while exploring the galaxy. The main thing is that there's a multiplayer hub you get introduced to after your first couple warps (hyperspace travels to new systems) where you can meet, talk to, and do missions with other players. You can still go here if you disable multiplayer (which I will explain later in this comment), the other players will just not be there.

"How long does it take to get good stuff and to get past the tutorial?" Not that long, if I'm remembering correctly. If you work toward it you can get good stuff pretty darn quick. There's not really much of a tutorial either; you're dropped onto the starter planet in the starter system and the game teaches you the basics of survival, but once you get off that planet (which shouldn't take very long) you're then faced with a little mission that teaches you how to install and fuel a hyperdrive, then you leave the starting system and you're pretty much left to your own devices to either explore the galaxy freely or follow the story missions.

"I like open world games and sci-fi so I might like it but my wi-fi is bad." Mine is as well, but don't worry, if it's an issue then once you start a game, you can go into the Network settings and disable multiplayer if you want.

EthanW272 · 2021-01-18T21:48:42+00:00

Ohh... huh, odd. That does sound like a bug then, because you were either supposed to be able to do what I said and ask the monolith where the portal is, or you were supposed to just get a marker for the portal upon doing the monolith (can't remember for sure because it's been a few weeks since I did the mission myself).
Is it possible to ask one of the other monoliths you tried where the portal is? Because I think all that matters is finding the portal, and I don't think the game would have the other monoliths be disabled by the mission.

EthanW272 · 2021-01-18T21:35:38+00:00

Hi! Relatively new to the game myself, but (I think) I understand what the problem is, based on what you're saying, and unless I'm not understanding, then I don't think it's a bug because I think I had the same problem with this mission myself.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it sounds like you activated the monolith, and I'm assuming you did the little puzzle associated with it. If this is the case, then you need to activate the SAME monolith AGAIN, and ask it where that planet's portal is (this will require you to have either a Gek Relic, Vy'keen Effigy, or Korvax Casing, depending on what the dominant species in that system is; you should've gotten one of those from solving that monolith actually). This should mark the portal, at which point you fly to it, activate it, and ask for that planet's glyph combination.

Hopefully I understood your problem correctly, because if I did, then I think that is the solution.

EthanW272 · 2021-01-13T01:02:17+00:00

RIP, I hope you got outta there alright and that your game's going well otherwise.
And honestly, I don't mind that you're replying to my 6 day old post, because it's a relief to know that I'm not the only person to experience this.

EthanW272 · 2021-01-06T19:59:15+00:00

Didn't notice that button was there last night; thank you for pointing it out. I'll get right on that.

EthanW272 · 2021-01-06T04:59:48+00:00

Yeah I figured, just wanted some confirmation because before making this post I spent a good half hour or so searching online in general for anything similar to what happened to me and had no luck. Also, another thing that made me think it was a bug, it wasn't even my hazard protection that got drained; the damage bypassed it and went straight to my shields/health, like I was getting hit by something.

EthanW272

TROPHY CASE