NHL 09 Disc Read Error Fix!
I got late word today that EA Sports have been receiving some reports of a disc read error when you try and load NHL 09. Please do not take back to the retailer until you try this fix straight from EA. You need to clear the Cache of your Xbox 360 hard drive but remember doing this will also clear any game updates and you will be prompted to update a few times when you place other titles in. EA Sports apologizes for this and the fix is a onetime deal. To clear the Cache: Go to memory blade in the Xbox 360 menu and press X, X, LB, RB, X, X if you need more help please visit the following link for further details and steps on how to do this.
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I have tried the clear cache fix and it is only temporary. The error keeps happening at different parts of the game. The disc almost looks like something was spilt on it. Its kinda stained but it must be factory side.
@ Xboxer,
If something looks spilled on it this was not part of the issue take it back and get another copy, Most that are having the issue only have it when it tries to load for the first time. Many are not even having any issues. Sounds like a bad disc.
Failed to work for me, made the problem worse actually. I can’t even load into the game now, it crashes at the splash screen.
The bottom of the disc is fine so I’m really not sure what the problem is. Also, my other games work and play fine (ie madden 09, NHL 08)
@Gru My copy worked fine without having to clear the Cache all I can suggest is after trying the clear trick if the game won’t load get another copy or contact EA support.
I am sure the store will exchange it for another copy.
Yea, just weird that it work perfectly for the first two days that I had it and now all of a sudden problems. Going to call EA in a bit.
My copy worked fine the first day, now doesn’t boot up at all. My NHL 08 did this aswell, as did NFS Carbon, i’ve narrowed it down to most EA Games get dirty disc errors on my 360. Screw you EA… and Microsoft.
Hey guys yeah i just got my game yesterday night, i play for like 2 hours and then it freezes, also it only freezes when i go online.
Hopefully EA comes out with a update
ive been thru 7 copies now and they have all been bad disks, its not my xbox because all of my other games work fine. all of the copies i have had have looked like they have been spilled on/stained. and ive been to three different stores
My game worked perfect the first time, then the next time i went to play it, i can’t get past the title screen without the error message. The cache clear did nothing. All my other games work fine. This pisses me off cuz now i have to get all the updates for my other games again.
mine also looks like it has some sort of stain inside the disc…i played it for 4 days then it stopped working….im trying this fix now…
well…i just bought the game today and got a disk read error 20 min. into playing it and looking at the disk, it too had the “spilt” thing on it. i take it back to the store and show them whats up. they give me another copy and i open before leaving and low and behold, it too had the “spilt” look. this is ridiculous. so i finally get a good lookind disc and it still has a disc read error. WTF…im about to try this “clear cache”, but from what i gather here it doesn’t seem to work.
I’m absolutely amazed…..at how software companies are the only manufacturers that can get away with putting together a product that doesn’t work, and then selling it with the hopes of “patching” the problem later once people have bought it. Could you imagine if other manufactorers did that, for instance automotive companies?
@Jamie
Really this is for all that have posted comments about the read error. I understand the fact when you buy a game you want and expect it to work hassle free. While some are having issues many are not including myself. I got the word from EA and passed it on. Please remember that each EA game is covered by their own Tech support and warranty. If you bought the game at say EB/GameStop and have recieved a another bad copy it may be the first pressing or a limited issue.
Just visit EA’s website and their tech support area contact them and they will get you a working copy. I know this is not what you expect or want to do but atleast you know you will not lose out on the money you paid. There was never a reason for the defect or issue or who big it was. Also remember I only pass on the information to our readers.
I know both as a consumer and from working with EA they will replace the game if you have tried to replace it and they also are aware of how upset gamers are. I just wanted to post this so you know you have another option for help.
I’ve had my game replaced by bestbuy and EA and I’m still getting the errors. I’m really really pissed off.
I had no issues with my xbox up until I got NHL 09, now a week after that fiasco, it reads no discs! NHL eventually played the first night I had it. Since then, nothing can read now. Not even a DVD or audio CD. I haven’t touched the xbox besides pressing the open/close tray button. Ridiculously frustrating.
ya i picked up my 2nd disc today and it came up again and this one looks like something like oil has been spilled on it, i am pissed at EA and or Microsoft, whosever fault it is its bs, this has never happened so many times in my life, all i want to do is enjoy a damn game. I guess we could always blame it on the China factories.
Psyche. Now it reads discs but about 5 minutes into any game it beeps and freezes. Only once I got the NHL game did any of this begin to happen. I agree with Jamie’s post, at $60 a pop you would think they would find a way to make the product…usable the first time around? It’s unreasonable.
yea, mine worked perfectly for the first 5 days, and then it kept freezing up on me during BAP (goalie) or play now, i have not tried online games yet but im sure that wont work either. Whats weird is the game doesnt have a scratch on it.
the fix worked perfectly for me, thx
uh does anyone know if it has to do with wat kind of 360 you have becuz me and my buddy both have and elite, and our discs are unreadable, but 5 of my other buddies have the normal 360 and their nhl 09 works fine?
@dylan,
No it has nothing to do with the model or year your Xbox 360 was made. Sometimes a bad batch of copies go out. No word from EA but it sounds like this is the case.
The night I brought NHL 09 home it worked for as long as it took me to get to the main title screen… then, after 30 seconds or so it would throw up the Dirty Disk/Unreadable error.
I had just changed from the 20GB hard drive to the 120GB a couple days before. It happened with both my disk and my brother’s disk, though there were no obvious signs of damage on the disks themselves.
So I swapped back over to the 20GB to see if the Hard drive was the issue. NHL 09 worked fine. I put the 120GB back in and it crashed.
I took the plunge, not knowing about the cache trick, and formatted the 120GB hard drive (Bye bye save games)… Now NHL 09 works without a problem. At least, for the moment it works without a problem. I’m glad my games library is relatively small!
If it happens again I’ll try the cache trick.
Since the very first time I played the game I would get dirty disc before I even had a chance to get on the ice. EVERYTIME!!!
I tried the clear cache and the game has played flawlessly ever since.
Sorry it doesn’t work for all but it is a fix worth trying.
It worked for me…THANKS for the helpful fix solution.
See you on the ice!
yeah I have an elite too and it’s not working…
im on my forth copy, but on all the copys i can play in play now, but if i go to BAP or franchise or anything else, it gives me the disk error, any idea why only this works
gru i have the same problem as u it jus made the problem worse
YES!!!! thank you… finaly my game works again
Are there any pans from EZ to fix this. I’m having the same trouble as others. The game freezes up…..I clear the cache…then it still doesn’t work. I’m seeing a lot of this on here and other message boards, but nobody is giving any help past the cache clearing trick.
Will anything else help/work or is EA planning to come out with a patch so I can play me effing game???
As I stated before I only got the word about this issue and the fix. If you tried this and still have issues then contact EA for tech support. EA needs to know gamers are still having issues and by calling them you get a working copy and help others by letting EA know the issue is not fixed for all. We only can pass the word on but the puplic and those buying the games have a right to call and get the issue fixed. Thank you for all the posts.
I bought nhl 09 yesterday and me and my brother both have xbox 360’s I have many games and all work on my xbox but the nhl 09 and i tried it on my brothers and it works so maybe there is a probalem depending on the system you have and what year it was manufactured
I cleared the cache at the top and it not works on my xbox
Great…Now I can share the info with others,
I had a few people ask me about this, but I didn’t know what to tell’em, thanks for the info!
I had 08 freeze up now and then…nothing horrible.
I’ve had 09 since launch and had absolutely no issues until last weekend (October 4th). In Be a Pro Mode, after finishing my 70th game in my first season, the game hung when I attempted to save. Now, having tried the cache fix, the game freezes at various points of the game with no real pattern of freezing…can be fine for a few games, then freeze up in the next couple in a row. And, sadly, this is the only game that has caused my XBox to freeze.
Here’s hoping to a real solution to what is obviously a real problem that needs EA undivided attention.
Sorry…should have added that after my 70th game and after the XBox froze, I rebooted to find that the game save was corrupt…no more data and had to restart my Be a Pro career. Brutal.
I just hope the new dashboard update that will allow us to install NHL 09 onto the hard drive will solve this problem once and for all, because it sure doesn’t look like EA is patching…
Pathetic. For 2 years (NHL 08 and NHL 09), this has been the only game that has given my xbox problems. I seriously want my money back from EA if a patch is not released in October. The clear cache trick is a joke.
What’s worse? This game has given my xbox problems even beyond the game. When I take out NHL 09 after a freeze, the Xbox doesn’t want to work for a while. Only caused by NHL, only freezes in NHL.
Give me a refund, a new disc, or a patch this month EA, otherwise I’m not going to stop calling. It’s not right they took our money for an untested, faulty product.
@Tony,
I urge you to keep calling EA they should offer you another copy or refund. Have you spoken with anyone at thier tech support yet?
The dirty disk error just started for me on Tuesday. I haven’t touched my Xbox in three days and the only thing I’ve done different was add the HALO 3 update. The cache thing is not working. I hope EA releases a patch soon and not in January or February.
The issue occured for me after about 2 weeks. I tried the clear cache and it worked first try. Thanks guys.
I bought my first copy on the day nhl 09 was released and it worked fine. Just last week, it started up with the disc is unreadable. I took it back to gamestop and they handed me a new disc, same problem right off the bat. The disc loads, then freezes about 1 minute in, no matter what mode I have it on. EA should just recall the discs then send out new ones, I will go back to gamestop tomorrow, try again, and if that doesn’t work, the next copy will be 2k, even though it sucks, at least it will play
Got mine of the day it was released. Just tonight it started doing the Unreadable. I guess its over a month so I don’t know if its not on warranty anymore…if it isn’t Ill never buy a EA NHL game ever again in my life. No scratches or marks on the CD at ALL. Never had any problems with it at all until tonight and it happens about 5mins after i start the game every time. this is bs
I bought 09 day one and loved it played it daily sixty three games into a perfect season I can longer play my game. I call Xbox Support and they say delete everything NHL related and sorry not our problem. EA just sits there counting cash and say’s we are working on it for the “rare” instances of problems. Bull. Patch Now. Or this victimized game is going back which is a serious shame because it is excellent. When it works.
wtf, my nhl 09 worked fine the first time, then i tried to play “be a pro” and that damn error message popped up and now i cant get passed anything i can play play now mode and that it..
@ Daniel,
Your the first person to say they got the error but can play it now? Its been the error than nothing works? You may want to check and see if the saved file got currupted.
I finally purchased my copy of NHL 09. What a wonderful feeling it was walking out of that toy store game in hand, eager with the anticipation of the next few glorious hours of gaming that surely lay ahead of me. Less than twenty kilometers was all that lay before me and my month old flawless Xbox 360 60 GB. Months I had waited patiently, carefully collecting the few crumbs I could find that were leftover from the almost instantly crippled global economies. Nothing could stop me now as I stepped out of my car. A strong purpose in my step as an imaginary orchestra played it’s triumphant conclusion, my heart racing as I first touched her pale white body and brought her to life yet again having finally reached my long journey’s end or have I?
wait…what’s this?
what’s happened? this can’t be? This mustn’t be!
Suddenly the cold dampness of the room set in as what was warm to the touch only a moment ago was now frozen as I realized I would not be playing NHL 09 all night like I had planned, ..after waiting o so patiently..
The next day before work I took the game back, convinced it was a rare faulty copy, ready to forgive & start on my path towards a lengthy NHL 09 campaign. That would be too easy however, ….after what seemed like the sure solution to get a 2nd copy, the thought of a possible Xbox failure that was always readily lingering in the back of my mind, started to grow & gain strength as I was forced to face the fact’s that my eyes were seeing. There is something clearly wrong here, what exactly it is I am not yet sure of.. but even in my beleaguered battered state, I believe that we fellow wounded gamers can unite and create something miraculous together in our numbers that will make all this wasted time and shattered dreams worthwhile..
Just as I was about to create my epic dynasty, horror pierced my soul as the screen darkened and my ears .were filled with the smooth swoosh that arrived to inform me my brand new NHL 09 was UNREADABLE. It hadn’t even been two minutes since I had taken it out of it’s securely sealed box. The generic message recommended me to: 1. Try cleaning the brand new disc with a soft cloth. 2. Contact xbox.com/support
Wow! What would we do without this cursed message that is the source of all our fears?!
HELP!!!
There isn’t even a morsel of information regarding this issue on http://www.xbox.com, and the only unofficial fix is a cache clear which I am having serious doubts about as I find it hard to fathom playing Russian roulette with my most valuable possession.
“Help me Obi Wan Kenobi, your my only hope..”
Peace & Happiness
noelgallagher007@gmail.com
@Paul,
This was not an unofficial fix this was sent from the Community Manager over at EA in charge of NHL 09. If other sites did not post it I am sorry but it was sent as an official work around the issue. You would need to contact EA support Xbox support will give you all the generic fixes to try and we all know most of the time we tried that before calling.
I will pass this on to the community manger and your email so hegets it and may have a way of helping you.