I called Microsoft Customer Support last night; over the crackliness of the line (a problem for us up here; the six month wait for the Optus network rollout couldn't be longer, is all we can say) technician Albert and I went through some diagnostic steps, none of which solved the problem. We managed to get the disc out, though, using the old familiar straigtened-paper-clip-in-the-manual-release trick.

In the end, Albert decided the problem required a warranty repair. Unfortunately, before he could finish giving me the instructions, the line dropped out, and although he mentioned sending an e-mail with Microsoft's local reply-paid address to me, it hasn't turned up. Customer Support doesn't re-open until 9AM today, so I'll have to wait until I get home this evening to try calling them again. After it goes, I'm apparently looking at a two-to-three-week turnaround. Hopefully, King Podge and my fellow Commodores of Love won't be too far ahead in ranking and Gamerscores by the time I get it back...

Ah, well. At least this all happened halfway through my warranty period instead of after it expired.