Wii won't read discs

prowla

My kids were playing on their Wii, and then it complained it couldn't read the disc.
We tried another game but it won't read that either.
It looks like it might be the drive that's gone.
It's at least a couple of years old now.
Does anybody know if this is a common thing, and is it an easy DIY repair/replacement?
Thanks very much!

savemoney

How about these solutions

http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/systems/wii/en_na/ts/gameDiscs.jsp
http://hubpages.com/hub/wiidiyrepairguide

Mrs_Arcanum

Try a re-set. Bit of a pain in that it loses all the saves but at least it should solve the disc reading problem.

Dave101t

save the game saves to sd card 1st....

stef73

I have taken my sons wii apart a few times and the drive is easy to remove . You just need a small knife a small phillips and a tri bladed screw driver (not sure of its correct name) . There are guides on youtube . Dont send it away to be fixed unless you dont think you can do it youself . I have seen drives for £60

Mondez

You might just need to clean the lens with a cotton but or something, though you'll need to take it apart to get to it. I've fixed a number of Wiis for friends and family, another fix for not reading discs is that there is a very small dial on the bottom of the laser head that controls the power to the laser (its a little variable resistor or some such IIRC). Turning it up can often overcome problems reading discs and has worked for me before. Unhelpfully however I don't remember which way you need to turn it to turn it up :S

WhiteChristmas

My daughter's a bit of a jinx when it comes to electronic kit, so it was no surprise when she started having trouble with our Wii.

Turned out she was getting confused by the vertical orientation and putting the discs in upside down.

prowla

Thanks for the info - it's saved me some searching about!
I'll try the reset first.
(But the Wii is the right way up - it happened mid-game!)

kwikbreaks

Before you take it to bits try using a CD/DVD cleaning disk. I've used one successfully in the past on a Wii. It came with a small bottle of alcohol that you spot onto little brushes on the disk (mine was mounted flat).

jackieblack

WhiteChristmas wrote: »

My daughter's a bit of a jinx when it comes to electronic kit, so it was no surprise when she started having trouble with our Wii.

Turned out she was getting confused by the vertical orientation and putting the discs in upside down.

Dad??

(Glad it's not just me )

mr_fishbulb

kwikbreaks wrote: »

Before you take it to bits try using a CD/DVD cleaning disk. I've used one successfully in the past on a Wii. It came with a small bottle of alcohol that you spot onto little brushes on the disk (mine was mounted flat).

Heard that can sometimes do the trick. From what I've seen though you need to get one specifically for the Wii so the machine thinks the disk is a Wii game and loads it. It has some kind of digital signature - a normal lens cleaning kit wouldn't run. Something like this would work - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nintendo-RVLALS-Lens-Cleaning-Kit/dp/B001GZT1UI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1293911951&sr=8-1

Also seen that Call of Duty Black Ops is breaking a few Wiis because it reads so much from the disk when it's playing (I know mine does). One precaution is to regularly disk/vacuum the machine.