Page 1 of Help! My PS2 has stopped reading games!

Hi guys,

I think my PS2 tray, or the laser, has finally died after around five years. DVDs (incldung DVD-Rs) seem to play with no problem, but the games aren`t consistently loading, and you can hear the disc (or something in there) chugging badly inside, as it is being read. The sound is so bad that it makes me worry for the safety of the discs!

Anyway, is there anything I can do myself to try and fix it, aside from maybe a lens cleaning disc (which I`m not a fan of)? I`m not great at taking things apart, but I`m sure someone in the house is capable of it, if given instructions. Or am I best to take it to get fixed? In which case, where?

I`ve read online ( just been reading this) that lots of people have had problems with their PS2 trays/lasers. Has anyone else had a similar experience?


Thanks!

This item was edited on Wednesday, 15th November 2006, 23:45

Your laser is on its way out, which is normally signalled by the refusal to play certain discs; most commonly it starts by with problems reading the CD Roms, ie, the blue playing surfaces. I`d imagine it`d cost more than it`s worth for a decent repair job. :(

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Thanks for the reply, Matthew.

I unplugged the PS2 overnight (not sure what good that was supposed to do, but anyway...) and had another go this morning. This time, it wouldn`t load anything, until I finally got it to play my "Get Carter" DVD.

Since then it has been running quite nicely, with none of the nastiness that was happening last night. I`m hoping there is still some life left in the laser, and I have just been reading a detailed tutorial (here) on giving the PS2 an internal clean, so I might do that.

Quote:
Your laser is on its way out, which is normally signalled by the refusal to play certain discs; most commonly it starts by with problems reading the CD Roms, ie, the blue playing surfaces.

It might not be quite as serious as that though. The laser is probably OK, but over the years has lost it`s alignment. I`m sure if you took it to a decent repair shop they could re-align it for you pretty cheaply. Or maybe you could find a tutorial online somewhere. I mean, it could very well be buggered, but don`t be too keen to bin it without trying other options. The old style PS2`s are much nicer than the slim ones! Plus, you do have a point about cleaning stuff. It`s amazing how much gunk you can get in a PS2, and it`s bound to affect performance.

Thanks VM,

With all the electrical equipment in that room, it is horribly prone to dust, and it wouldn`t surprise me if the gunk is just awful in there.

That would also help to explain the intermittent fault, I would imagine.

Brian, is this worth a go?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Playstation-2-Repair-Guide-Resell_W0QQitemZ130042098450QQihZ003QQcategoryZ11328QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

All is not lost. The exact same thing happended to me and I found a great guide to fix. All that needed doing was the laser needed a bit of a clean with some rubbing alcohol. Take a look here http://www.geocities.com/djyayo/faq2.html for a guide on how to do it. I did download a really good guide at the time so I will go and search the hard disks to see if I still have it.

Ha found the exact guide. Print it off and work your way through it and you will be pleasently surprised http://mattread.com/blog/2004/01/ps2-disc-read-error-fix

This item was edited on Sunday, 19th November 2006, 18:50

Thanks Mike & Connor.

Funny enough, the PS2 played up a little last night, so I decided to open her up and take a look for anything obvious. I followed this guide, which was very helpful. There was no real dust in there, so we just ended up doing tests on the laser positioning, and moving it a couple of notches.

The problem is that it is an intermittent fault, so never know if it is totally fixed. Fingers crossed!

PS2 totally dead now. >:( Won`t play anything & hasn`t done for 3 days.

Did you give it a good clean then? Ah well, sorry to hear it dude. Luckily, PS2`s are going pretty cheaply new now. Play have got a sale on (£79.99 I think), although I suppose it`s scant consolation for you. Hey, why not pick up a cheap Xbox? Argos have `em for £50 brand new. You`ll never look back....