With mine i took it apart and cleaned the lens that reads the disks, haven't had the problem since

how did you clean it? im afraid to touch it

with a cotton bud, just rubbed it really gently

Mine used to do it, clearing the system cache fixed it.

And sometimes, I just left it on for about 30 minutes to warm up, then tried playing a game.

Buy a PS3

If it says "Open tray" even though you have a game in, the disc reader might be stuck. Uplug all cords and lightly drop it on its face side. It should unjam it.

That's the worst advice I've ever heard.

Worked for me multiple times.

Yea, but it seems like it would break it.

Not a large drop
Maybe ~6in. onto a towel.
It just dislodges the disc reader.

Seems like just hitting it slightly would give a similar result, and cause less force to it.

Guess so, but it didn't work for me

Could you be a little bit more discriptive then just open tray error? Is it something like you press the button and it doesn't open, or does it not recognize that the door is closed? Also what have you done to so far to rectify the problem on your own?

I put a game in it and it reads for a couple seconds and then says open tray.. i havent done anything to it in fear of damage, and its not in it's warranty..i appreciate the help.

Well as someone has suggested above might help to power cycle the thing, unplug all components from it, hit the power button a couple of times and then turn it on again. If that doesn't work try cleaning the lens inside with canned air. Lastly you can to forcibly moving the lens. Unfortunately I haven't had a problem like this that power cycling couldn't fix so the others are just general tips for lens. Also have you tried other games?

so how exactly do you power cycle? and yeah, ive tried DVDs, games and cds. all didnt work.

Well you unplug everything from your console, press the power button on your xbox, help discharge anything that was left in there and then plug it all back in.

well it didnt seem to work.. am i doing some thing wrong? do i have to drain it and leave it sit? im getting frustrated!

Most likely no, l don't have too much of an idea to fix this since power cycling fix it for me. Other then what I have suggested above I can't really say to much try google searching your problem and see if there is anything you can do there. Sorry bud and or gal.