Knowledge Base

Xbox 360: You receive a "This disc is unreadable" error message

Article ID: 909819

Article Last Modified on 10/8/2007

APPLIES TO

Microsoft XBox 360 Video Game System

SYMPTOMS

When you try to use a game disc, a DVD, a CD, or any other type of disc in an Xbox 360 console, you receive the following error message:

This disc is unreadable. It may be the wrong region for this console. Match the region of the disc to the console. Clean the disc with a soft cloth. Restart the console. For more help, go to www.xbox.com/support.

CAUSE

The Xbox 360 console cannot read the disc correctly. This can happen for any of the following reasons:

The disc is dirty or damaged
The disc is from a different country or region than the console
Non-disc issues

THINGS TO TRY

Here are some things that you can try to fix the problem or to determine what the cause is. If you cannot fix the problem yourself, please contact Xbox Customer Support. To do this, please visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.xbox.com/support/contact

Check whether the disc is dirty or damaged

Examine the disc to see whether it has smudges, scratches, or other damage. To do this, follow these steps:

Examine the disc by holding it by the edges so that you do not touch the top or the bottom surface. Then, examine the shiny side of the disc to make sure that the disc is clean and has no damage.
If the disc is dirty, clean the disc by hand. To do this, use a soft, clean, dry, chemical-free cloth to clean the disc. Lightly wipe from the center of the disc outward.
If the disc is damaged, you will no longer be able to play it.
If you think that the disc was already damaged when you bought it, try to exchange it.
- If you have a damaged Microsoft Xbox 360 game disc and would like to order a new one, please visit the following Web site:
  
  http://www.xbox.com/en-US/support/systemuse/xbox360/gameplay/discreplacement-program.htm
- If the game is a non-Microsoft Xbox 360 game disc and was damaged because of misuse of some type, such as not storing the disc properly in its case, the only thing you can do is buy a new one.
If you feel that the disc was damaged by the Xbox 360 console in some way, please contact Xbox Customer Support.

Check whether the game disc and the console are from the same country or region

Game discs and consoles are made for specific countries and regions. If you try to play a game disc that is made for a specific country or region on a console that is made for another country or region, the game disc will not play.

For example, if you purchase an Xbox 360 console in North America, your region is North America. Therefore, you cannot play game discs that are sold in Europe or in Asia on this console. Similarly, an Xbox 360 console that is sold in Europe can only play game discs that are sold in Europe, and an Xbox 360 console that is sold in Asia can only play game discs that are sold in Asia.

To see whether this issue occurs because the country or the region of the game disc and the console do not match, look on the back of the game package. Look for one of the following codes:

NTSC: North America and South America (United States, Canada, Mexico, Chile, and Brazil)
NTSC-J: Asia (Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan)
PAL: Europe, South Africa, India, Australia, and New Zealand

If your game disc code does not match the region where you bought the console, you will not be able to play the game disc.

Non-disc issues

There is a chance that the issue is not with the disc but with the Xbox 360 console. To check this, try the following steps:

Turn the console off, and then turn the console on again. Try playing the disc again.
Try playing the disc on another console if you have access to one. Or if the disc is a CD or a DVD, try the disc on another device to see if that other device can read the disc.
If the disc is a recordable CD (CD-R), try a different CD-R disc from that set. Or try a CD-R disc from a different manufacturer.
Try playing other games to determine whether the problem occurs with all the games that you have or only with this one.
If you have a Hard Disk Drive or Memory attached to the console, turn the console off and remove the Hard Disk Drive (HDD) unit and any attached Memory Unit (MU), then switch on your console and try the disc again. If this seems to resolve the issue, turn off your console, attach the HDD and MU again, and then delete any saved games for the game that is causing problems.

Note If it is possible to do so, save the games to a separate MU.

To find out how to remove and connect the Hard Disk Drive from your console, see the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:

906204 Xbox 360: How to attach or remove the Xbox 360 Hard Drive

If none of these steps resolved your issue, your console may have to be repaired. For information about how to start the repair process online, please visit http://www.xbox.com/support, and then click Console Repair? in the upper-right section of the Web page.

Note Online console repair service is currently not available in all countries or regions.

If you want to contact Xbox Customer Support directly, visit the following Microsoft Web site: