(Posting for my cousin haha) Disc pulling mechanism sometimes feels delayed? The drive still ...

hi there, i presume you are having this issue with multiple games? this could be the start of a disc drive error, there are a few options available you can head over to https://support.xbox.com/ and follow the steps, if the console is still under warranty
then you may request a repair, if its outside of warranty then you may still be able to request a repair or service but this could involve charges.

there are the usual steps of power cycling the console, obviously trying different discs to ensure that its not just this game, also make sure the console is directly plugged into the wall outlet and not an extension or surge protecter.

an unorthodox method that sometimes works is holding the console at a 45 degree angle, and when inserting the disc wait for the mechanism to grab the disc, hold it a second longer and you will feel the mechanism start to pull the disc harder, let go of the
disc at this stage as sometimes the cradle inside the console doesnt sit correctly and this may lodge the tray back into position, other than that its quite possible you will need to go the repair route.

It sounds like the mechanism that draws the disc in is out of alignment with the drive spindle. So when pulling the disc in, it doesn't deposit it in exactly the right place for it to marry up with the spindle correctly; the action of holding on to the disc
for a second alters where within the mechanism it thinks the disc is, and in this case, actually correcting it!

I can only imagine that perhaps the unit has suffered a knock or other disturbance that has misaligned the mechanism? In theory, it should continue to work unless it falls further out of sync?

Sounds like an Optical drive issue OP, where the disc drive doesn't recognize that a disc was actually inserted, one trick is to slightly hold the disc by the outer edges while the drive attempts to pull it in, then let go.

Often, this trick will suck the disc in a tad further thereby FULLY activating the disc inserted mechanism. If no joy, call support.

Important, never place a finger in the center hole of a disc while attempting to insert a disc. If your finger gets stuck in the hole of the disc while the drive attempts to pull it in, you could lose some flesh. Yes, I learned that the hard way. lol

Thank you! Added you, feel free to pull me into a fireteam anytime that I am on - still working to figure out the mechanics on them myself

That is pretty much how it works. When the Disc is in the drive and being accessed, it's not sitting on the tray. If was sitting on the tray it would make a terrific noise would get scratched and wouldn't be being read anyway. It opens easier when there
is a disc in the tray due to the way the mechanism works in the drive. When there is no disc, I would assume the opening mechanism works differently.

Regardless of how it works, the drive has developed a fault, a pretty common one too. My spare Xbox 360 also has a similar issue, although sometimes the drive won't open even when there is a disc in there. On the spare machine I have solved the problem for
the moment by always keeping a disc in the machine. There is no risk to leaving your game in the drive.

If the issue gets worse, the only thing to do is send the machine for a repair.