My Nintendo Wii Won't Read One Game

A scratched disc is the most likely cause of disc-read errors on the Wii.

When your Wii is having trouble reading a particular disc, the problem doesn't stem from the laser reader in the Wii, but in the disc itself. The disc is probably lightly scratched, just enough so that the reader cannot read a small portion of it. Discs are made with several layers of a clear, protective plastic over the data layer, so the scratch has probably not corrupted the actual data. Buffing away the scratched layer should solve the problem and allow the Wii to read the disc again.

Things You'll Need

• Toothpaste, regular paste (no gel)
• Buffing towel

Instructions

1. Turn the disc that won't read so that the shiny (readable) side is face up.

2. Wipe the surface of the disc clean with the buffing towel.

3. Rub a generous amount of toothpaste on the disc with your index finger. Use gentle pressure with your finger to buff away scratches in the disc surface.

4. Rinse the disc in cold running water until no toothpaste remains.

5. Dry the disc with the buffing towel.

Tips & Warnings

• Use a toothpaste that is not gel based. Although the gels might work, there are fewer abrasive particles than in standard paste.

• In place of toothpaste you may try baking soda.

• If this does not solve the problem or if there are visible deep scratches, you can take the disc to a video store that has a disc-resurfacing machine. This machine removes all of the layers of protective coating from the disc (stripping it all the way down to the data layer) and then lays down new protective layers.

• Not cleaning all of the debris from the disc before applying the toothpaste may result in deeper gouging of the surface and may render the disc permanently unreadable.

References

• CD Repair: How to Repair a CD DVD or PlayStation Disk