Looking for NCAA 2004 Xbox help

[John Galt]

I bought NCAA 2004 and was having a good time for a few days. Then suddenly, I got an error message that said, "The disk may be dirty or damaged." I took the game out (the first time since I had bought it) and it looked fine. I cleaned it anyway and put it back in. I kept getting the error and decided to return the game for a new one.

When I got home, the new disc did the same thing. I tried deleting all my saved files and the game worked again. I was a little upset, but at least it was working. That went on for a few hours and then the game locked up. Since then, I either get the "dirty disk" message or I get a message saying my Xbox needs service. I called up Xbox support and they said it was an EASports problem since the rest of my games work fine. I checked EASports website for an answer, but all of their suggestions fail. I tried calling the 800 number for EASports that Xbox gave to me, but it doesn't work. I also tried their online technical support, but it doesn't work for me. I can't return the game for money because it is opened and J&R says they won't allow me to swap it for another game.

I'm not a longtime Xbox user, but I wanted to see if anyone else has had a problem like this and/or if anyone has any suggestions. Also, if someone has a technical support number for EASports, that would be great (I left my manual at home).

Thanks for any help.

[Fritz]

put a dvd cleaning disk in.

I had a very similar problem with the PS2. NCAA 2004 would not work, but other disks would. A cleaning got rid of the problem.

[JeeberD]

According to the manual for NCAA 2003...

TECHNICAL SUPPORT - If you need technical assistance with this product, call us at (650) 628-4322 Manday through Friday between 8:30-11:45 AM or 1:00-4:30 PM, Pacific Standard Time.

E-Mail and Web Page: techsupport.ea.com


Hope this helps...

[TurnerONU22]

I just had the same thing happen to me this morning, with my NCAA 2004 and my XBox. I played a game of my dynasty, and only played a quarter of the game, then turned it off. About an hour later, when i wanted to start it up again, i got the message of "There's a problem with the disc you're using. It may be dirty or damaged." So for the past 2 hours, i've been trying everything to clean the cd, but it still won't work. I've used this disc cleaning thing i have, so i might go and buy one of the cleaning discs for the system. I put in a few other games though and they all seemed to work, so I think its just this disc. I've had ones that have been in 10 times worse condition and still work, so I'm a little bit confused with this. Hopefully someone find a solution and posts it here or a link for some help.

Danny

[Rich1033]

I cant offer any advice, but I have heard about this problem before. It seems this happens to a lot of EA games on Xbox. The solution is usually deleting all saved files(like you already did at least once) and starting over. Everytime I hear this story it puts an end to any desire I have for a Xbox.

Anyway, best of luck getting the game working again. Im sad to hear that EA has still not fixed this with their games. I would have assumed that after a couple years of the same problem they would have corrected it.

[Butter]

I have also heard that if you leave your DVD remote sensor plugged in all the time, it can corrupt the files. I had this very problem with NCAA last year, but deleting all the NCAA files, then pulling out the DVD sensor took care of the problem.

Everyone who has had problems with this, I would suggest trying it (if you even have a sensor plugged in). It worked for me, and I haven't had any problems with any games since then, and I play a good bit (not as much as a college kid or anything, but a good 1-3 hours a night).

[John Galt]

Thanks for all the help.

I actually don't have a DVD kit, so that isn't the issue.

I called EASports and what a surprise, they aren't helpful. Their conclusion is that the problem is my xbox hard drive. Microsoft's conclusion is that something is wrong with the game. The result is that neither party will take the blame.

I'm going to try Fritz's cleaning suggestion, but other than that I may be screwed.

Thanks for the help. I'll let you know if the cleaning kit makes a difference.

[TurnerONU22]

First of all, I did have a DVD sensor hooked up, so i took it off before I did the following tests.

After having this problem, I took my Xbox to a friends house along with the game and we did some testing. Test one was my game and system, which came up with the "dirty disc" message. Test two was my game and his system, which actually came up with a Xbox message and didn't load the game at all, and said the disc wasn't an Xbox one. Test three was his game and my system, which prompted the "dirty disc" message. So, we backed up my files on his extra memory card, deleted them from my system and went back to test one, and to my amazement, it actually worked this time. I went ahead and saved those backup files on to the hard drive again and rebooted and it still worked. Its a very strange thing to have happen, but it sounds like somethin was wrong with the files. However, when i put them back on my hard drive, the game still loaded up, so that's very confusing to me. I hope this helps someone out there, but I'm not even sure what was the real cause here.

Danny

[ColtCrazy]

whenever I read this, this scares me. I've been lucky and this has never happened to me. A friend of mine has had it happen 3 times (twice last year, once this year) he finally gave up and bought the PS2 version.

[Super Ugly]

I had it happen on my copy of Madden 2003 - it worked fine for a few weeks and then just stopped. I managed to get another copy and apart from the occasional blip it's been ok. I guess maybe it's an EA thing ...

[tucker342]

It happened to me once or twice on NCAA 2003. I hope you figure out what the problem is...

[kcchief19]

Well, put me in the category of people having this same problem with NCAA 2004. This is starting to sound fishy. I had never had this problem before, but it happened when I tried to play one game three times and I had the problem during 4 of my first 9 games played with it. I've probably played about five or six games now without a problem, so maybe I'm "passed" it.

But it still sounds fishy.

On another note, I posted this in another thread, but I'm having problems executing a "R-click" that pulls up some of the game menus and hides the instant replay controls. The best description I've been give is the "click" or push down the right analog stick, but I must be doing it wrong. Any help?

[Nyarlahotep]

Not sure about the other problem as it hasn't happened to me, but the answer for the R-click is correct. Just push down on the top of the right analog stick like it was a button.

[kcchief19]

A-ha! Had no idea you could do that. When I was told to push it down, I was pushing the button down, as opposed to up or left or right.

Nyarlahotep, you're a genius.

[Nyarlahotep]

Figured that may have been how you had taken it. Glad I could help.

[John Galt]

The cleaning idea didn't work for me. I ran the kit, but I got no improvement. EA's last solution is for me to send them the game under warranty and have it replaced. They say a "different batch of discs" might be better. Either that is a load of crap or a conspiracy-inclined person might believe that the problem has been corrected in a new batch of discs. I'll let you know when I finally get the game back (who knows how long that will take). EA sucks (especially because this was the most fun I'd had with any game in a while).

[ColtCrazy]

I did have this happen with Madden once. When I called EA, I was told that the game accesses the HD throughout the game. I had turned the game off during halftime on the pause screen, so I was surprised that it was accessing the HD even though nothing was going on. I was told that whenever you shut off the game, make sure you were on the original menu screen. Since then, I've had no problems.