My X-Box's DVD-ROM drive seems to have some issues lately. Then again, I've had this console for a good long while so it doesn't surprise me.
Anyways, I can start off playing any XBox game just fine, but after playing for a few hours the audio/music will start skipping. It eventually gets to the point where either the audio is skipping so bad you can't understand what's going on, the audio cuts out completely, or I get a damaged/dirty disc error in the game itself.
It's not the games, as it happens with all of them and they have no scratches on them at all. Any idea what could be going on? My guess is overheating, but what are you theories?
You happen to know which of three manufacturers made your DVD drive? The general consensus among the hackers is that the Thomson drives are the least reliable and the Samsung drives are the most reliable. Since you've diagnosed a time-related performance drop that isn't permanent, a heat problem isn't out of the question. I remember that some of the old Hitachi CD-ROM drives had magnesium mounts that would stiffen up when they got warm, which caused read errors. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the Thomson drives exhibited the same behavior, but I haven't heard of it in an Xbox before.
How would I check to see which DVD-ROM drive is in it, aside from opening up the case?
There's a guide to identifying your XBOX DVD drive here:
http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/Xbox_DVD_Drive_Identification_HOWTO