PS2 Kinda works?

[Halcyon]

Hey guys and gals,


I live in the EU now and needed a replacement for my US PS2 games. So my brothers picked up a PS2 from Game$top in the US tested it with a CD and shipped it off to me. Well sure enough the system works with CD's and PS1 games. It won't however play DVD's and when it tries to play PS2 games it constantly needs to load like for ever 1 second of "play" you have to load for 5 seconds.


The device is a PS2 Slim "silver" if that matters at all.


I have cleaned the hell out of the lens and the disks I am trying and it is always the same result? Has anyone ever heard of anything like this happening? Can you have a disk drive that can only read CD's and not DVD's? (that should be able to read both)


Well let me know what you all think, if I can go down to the store get a used PS2 in Europe change out the disk drive I will probably do it if it will work.


Thx a million

 

[MarioPandio]

Not sure it applies here but I seem to recall additional software such as DVDregionX or somesuch was required to get DVD playback going on some models, or perhaps this from the wiki


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_2


Disc Read Error (DRE) Lawsuit


A class action lawsuit was filed against Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. on July 16, 2002, in the Superior Court of California, County of San Mateo. The lawsuit addresses consumer reports of inappropriate "no disc error" (disc read error) messages and other problems associated with playing DVDs and CDs on the PlayStation 2.


Sony settled its “disc read error” lawsuit by compensating the affected gamers with USD $25, a free game from a specified list, and the reduced cost repair or replacement (at SCEA’s discretion) of the damaged system. This settlement was subject to the courts’ approval, and hearings began in the US and Canada on April 28, 2006, and May 11, 2006, respectively.[51]

 

[Asmo]

Yep, if you're trying to play Pal region DVDs, your US PS2 will be the wrong region. You could rip them on your PC and burn them to a DVD-R which would make them region free, or pick up a cheap DVD player (which you can make region free and play discs from the US too - do a model search for one with a known remote code) instead.


As for the slow loading (not sure what you mean by '1 second of "play" you have to load for 5 seconds') but if this is just slow load times and not interrupted play, it may be a limitation of cheaper late model units (checked your default settings? Wasn't there a speed setting at one time IIRC?). If it's actual stuttering jerky gameplay, you probably have a problem drive unfortunately, if your discs are nice and clean.


Historically, it was CDs that PS2s most often refused to recognise - a small number of games came on those blue tinged discs, and even the noise the PS2 made reading them was a bit odd sometimes.

 

[Halcyon]

Sorry let me just clarify,


I'm not trying to play PAL region PS2 games on an NTSC PS2. It's a US PS2 with US games.


When I place a PS2 game in if it starts to go it just takes forever to get going. For example, I was playing "dai senryaku vii modern military tactics" and the game starts off with a video of tanks shooting at each other and such. The video would play for a few seconds and then load for about 5 seconds before giveing me another second or 2 of video. Pressing Start which would normally end the video and take me to the title screen took about 20 seconds to accomplish and then moving the cursor on the screen to select the mode of play was extremely sluggish. I suppose you could think of it like trying to watch a youtube video with really really low slow internet connection.


I'm thinking I'm probably just up the creek with out a paddle but just wanted to know if anyone ever had this problem and if they knew a clever way to fix it.


Thanks again!

 

[diligentcircle]

I don't know mch about the PS2, but I'm pretty sure that if loading from the CD during gameplay even happens, it's rare in the grand scheme of games on discs. This wouldn't make the least bit of sense for games; the normal strategy is to load a bunch of content at once, e.g. a level and the resources that level is going to use. Actually, the only case I can think of where content is loaded on the fly is in Lode Runner Online: The Mad Monks' Revenge, which only loads music from the CD.

 

[Asmo]

The video would play for a few seconds and then load for about 5 seconds before giveing me another second or 2 of video. Pressing Start which would normally end the video and take me to the title screen took about 20 seconds to accomplish and then moving the cursor on the screen to select the mode of play was extremely sluggish. I suppose you could think of it like trying to watch a youtube video with really really low slow internet connection.

If that was a PS1 it would indicate the known drive bearing wear issue, a plastic component the laser mechanism moves on that could get worn and make it 'stick'. As this is a new PS2, it sounds like you've got a faulty one, perhaps something got damaged in shipping - or there's a more general fault

 

[gunrock]

It's most probably the laser being knackered. get a new laser or a new PS2. Alternatively, buy a PAL console locally andhave it chipped locally.

 

[Halcyon]

Yeah, I'm thinking just getting one chipped is the best way to go at this point, enough screwing around.

 

[fatman514]

Halcyon, are these original games you're playing or "backups?" If they're on burnt media, it could have to with the brand of media you're using and/or the burning speed. Try reburning them at a lower speed (4x should do it ) and if that doesn't work, try better quality media (verbatim or tdk to name a couple).


If these are original games, the problem has something to do with your laser and a modchip will not help you at all with getting these to read. However, some of the earlier slim models had a faulty drive controller ic (integrated circuit or in laymen's terms microchip) that there were preventative measures for this, could be what you meant by "chipped." I'm not quite sure if you were referring to this or modchips. Anywho there are many different variables that can cause these types of errors.


Obviously it isn't the result of a dirty laser as you have cleaned it multiple times already. The laser assembly may need a minor height adjustment (this was do-able on the fat ps2's via a white gear in the back of the disc drive, underneath the disc tray). I honestly don't know if you can adjust the slim one's like that, as I've never opened one of those myself. It might be worth looking into.


Also a minor pot adjustment on the laser (you only need to adjust the pot that corresponds to the discs you're having trouble with, there are two, one for cd's and one for dvd's). The pots must be adjusted in very small increments otherwise you could permanently damage your laser!


If the drive controller ic is no good, you're pretty much screwed unless you're really good with a soldering iron (you'll need to desolder that beast and solder a new one in).


It could be mechanical issue with the drive motor and/or gears. Sometimes the rail that the laser moves along needs to be relubricated.


Or the laser lens itself could be junk. There are many guides out there for doing all these techniques all over the Internet. Google is your friend . If you have any questions let me know and I will answer them to the best of my ability (keep in mind, I've only dealt with the fat versions of this console to date).


I wish you the best of luck . I'd offer to have you send it to me to look at, but you're in Europe and I'm in the USA and it would probably cost you more in shipping then a new ps2 (those things are pretty cheap nowadays ).

 

[Halcyon]

Fatman


Thx for the advice. Nope surprise surprise i'm actually trying only legit business on this hunk of crap.


I opened her up and didn't see any adjustment points for the ride height on the DVD lens so no go there.


I'm on my way out the door but the main PCB is under what I'm guessing is probably EMC shielding. Just a piece of metal covering the "guts" I'm going to take that off a little later and look inside. Your thinking there might be a POT that will what regulate the current to the Laser and give it a boost to read DVD and PS2 games? I hope so that would be an ideal fix right!


Where would you guess the POT would be? Should it be near the laser its self?


Also thx again for giving some technical feed back. I'm lets say no expert but no stranger to eletronics either. If you got the energy for it, I could post some pictures of what i'm looking at and get your feed back. If you got better things to do no worries. Your 100% right it is probably cheaper and easier just to replace the whole thing, but what fun would that be right?


Thx a million.


It's just so strange I have never had a Laser lens fail like this before where it can read CD's but not DVD's (and have the build function to read both ) yeah my old stereo doesn't play DVD's either but the disk fits just fine

 

[fatman514]

Halycon,


Pictures would be extremely helpful . As for the metal shielding your referring to, I'm guessing is just one of sony's many ways of curbing people from modding. The reason I'm thinking that is because they did this on the original psx/psone. They soldered a shield to the motherboard that covered where you need to install a modchip. Anyways I digress


The laser pots should be located somewhere on the laser assembly itself. They're most like either on the side or underneath the assembly. If not they should be right around there somewhere. Now I wouldn't recommend tweaking anything until you have properly identified which pot screw controls which laser (yes there are two, one for DVDs and one for cds). This is where google comes in handy . Google laser pot adjustments along with your model number (which you can find on the back of your console, it usually starts with "sc..."). If you don't adjust the right laser, you could lose all disc functionality so be careful!!!


The pots adjust the voltage and/or current going to the laser lens. When the laser is on it's way out, a minor increase can temporarily fix or improve the issues you're having. Although this is only a quick fix, it's not considered a long term solution at all. There's no telling how long your laser will last, some may die the same day and others will run for 6 months or more. Some are completely unaffected. Good luck and let me know how it goes and I you have any further questions

 

[Halcyon]

Fatman,


Thx again. I got the thing open and messed with the pot but didn't get anything going it was worth a shot though.


happy holidays.


Cheers

 

[fatman514]

Okay, so I take it your done with that ps2 then? It would probably be the cheaper route to get a new console, then replacing the whole drive/laser assembly anyways. I picked up my used fat ps2 a few years ago on ebay for roughly $50. Idk what they're going for now, but it may be worth a look .

 

[Poem58]

Keep in mind as well that a CD and a DVD are read using seperate laser diodes. It is very possiblr for the DVD laser to die and the CD laser to be fine. If it had been primarily used as a CD player, you could be having the reverse problem. Over the years I have had a number of DVD players that would no longer read DVD's but CD's were fine. Mainly cause I don't usually use a DVD player to play CD's.

 

[fatman514]

Keep in mind as well that a CD and a DVD are read using seperate laser diodes. It is very possiblr for the DVD laser to die and the CD laser to be fine. If it had been primarily used as a CD player, you could be having the reverse problem. Over the years I have had a number of DVD players that would no longer read DVD's but CD's were fine. Mainly cause I don't usually use a DVD player to play CD's.

Ya thats what I was getting at earlier, hence why there's two different pot screws you can adjust. Good point though.

 

[Halcyon]

I didn't know that you had 2 lasers in the lens before. I guess that would imply my PS3 has 3 CD, DVD, Blueray? I guess i always though they would adjust the size of the "chamber" where they coherent light is built up for the different wavelengths but hey you learn something everyday and normal 2 things when crap breaks

 

[fatman514]

Halcyon, yep it's pretty weird how they did that. I'm honestly not sure if this was just a Sony/ps2 thing (multiple lasers) or if this is standard across all optical drIves that can read more than one type of disc. Maybe somebody else could answer that .