PS2 Disc Error Fix

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Today, my Modded PS2 starting giving me the fatal disc error. Now since it is modded, I'm not worried about voiding the warranty by opening it up. But before I do, I just wanted to know if any of you have done the PS2 fix with the directions below, and if it works, just so I don't waste my time. Thank in advance for your replies.

You're going to be surprised when you find out how easy this is. Read the instructions all the way through before you attempt the repair just so you'll be familiar with the entire process. First take off the outer cover of you PS2. If you haven't done this before, you will have to remove all the screw covers from the bottom of the unit, both plastic and rubber, these will be the only screws you will have to remove in order to take off the outer cover.



To remove the outer cover, lift up from the rear of the unit and pull towards the front in order to clear the controller jacks and the eject/close buttons. As you remove the outer cover you will notice a small metallic ribbon cable inside the machine leading to the eject/close and reset buttons on the front of the unit, this cable is usually taped to the top of the disc tray. This cable is not a sensitive as it appears; just remove the tape holding the ribbon cable. Once the outer cover is off you need to remove the cover to the disc tray, this will require a rather small phillips screwdriver (I've seen a few that use a standard slotted screw). Now that the tray cover is off, the first thing to do is to clean the laser eye. All you will need is a Q-Tip dipped in alcohol. Just swab the eye a few times and allow it to dry on its own, making sure that no lint was left behind from the Q-Tip.



After the cover is off of the disk tray and the laser has been cleaned you will need to plug the unit back in, (The unit needs to be hooked up to a TV as well to test it while you have it open. You should have a DVD, a game disk with a silver or gold back and one with a purple back in order to fine tune the system to play all three.) It will be necessary to have the unit powered up to perform the repair. Press the eject button so that the tray slides forward exposing the undercarriage. At the back of the unit you should see a small white, geared wheel about the size of a quarter. This little bastard is the cause of all your problems.



This wheel changes the angle in which the disk is held. You will notice that there is a small metal tab that holds the wheel in place. Take a felt-tip marker and mark the point on the wheel that meets the tab. That way you will always know the original position that the wheel was in. Now that the orig. position has been marked, feel free to spin the wheel for a few full rotations in order to see how it changes the angle. It will only alter the angle a few degrees before it goes back to zero, after it reaches the maximum angle it will go back to flat after each full rotation. Once you've toyed with it to see how it works, put the wheel back to the original position that you have marked. Then advance the wheel about 1/8 of a turn and place the disk tray cover back on top of the disk tray. (You will not need to screw the tray cover back down in order to test the machine; you will only need to hold down the cover with your fingers while trying to load/test a disk) Now place a DVD in the tray and press the eject/close button in order to close the tray and load the DVD (hold down the cover as explained above). Wait to see if the DVD loads, you may have to use the browser in order to load each disk you test. If the DVD loads, eject it and load a silver backed disk, if that loads try a purple backed disk. If all three loaded successfully, congratulations you're finished. If not, remove the tray cover, eject the disk and advance the wheel another 1/8 turn and repeat the process. It just a matter of finding an angle that will facilitate the operation of all three types of disks. Once you've found the proper angle and the system is operating to its full potential, close it up and let'er rip. I also do not recommend placing the PS2 on its side once you have fixed it. Although Sony says they recommend it in the owner manual, I have since seen internal Sony documents retracting the statement and attributing many malfunctions to storing and operating the unit on its side. Keep it flat at all times.
 
I would like to add that the silver ribbon cable can come off the motherboard connector when you have the top cover off... reconnecting it requires taking the bottom case off, and unscrewing the memorycard/controller connector... not fun. So be careful.

Oh, and clean the lens first, then if it still gives you a DRE, do the laser adjustment.
 
Thanks for the replies, I just did the lens cleaning, and it starting playing all of my DVD based games again, it still won't play my blue disc games, but I really don't care about because all of my imports are DVD based, and I have another PS2 that isn't modded, that I can use to play the blue discs.
 
Mine just stoped working for DRE and i just took off top and put it to the side and cleaned the lense and now its good as new and you dont need to disconect anything so you dont need to worry about screwing too much up.
 
You don't need to do all that. Just stand the PS2 upright, or up side down. This solves all my disc read errors.
 
I have an original PS2.. and when I had the "Disk read error" I just went to the store... bought a lens cleaner cd.. turned the PS2 on put the cd in, let it run a few times then tried out my games and they work like new again.. and i only did it once like I dunno in the summer (sept) and I ahvent cleaned it again yet.. and belive me I got to the point where no movies or games played but once I used the cleaner they all worked.. I didnt even bother looking anything up or usiing the "open PS2, and cleaner the lens yourself method" just buy a CD lens cleaner and you should be fine...
 
i'd just like to know where you got your ps2 modded. any reply would be greatly appreciated. oh and by the way your disc read solution worked for me. the disc cleaner worked for me the first time but now it was kinda not working....so i did this way...it seems to work so far
 
Originally posted by Rport03
I have an original PS2.. and when I had the "Disk read error" I just went to the store... bought a lens cleaner cd.. turned the PS2 on put the cd in, let it run a few times then tried out my games and they work like new again.. and i only did it once like I dunno in the summer (sept) and I ahvent cleaned it again yet.. and belive me I got to the point where no movies or games played but once I used the cleaner they all worked.. I didnt even bother looking anything up or usiing the "open PS2, and cleaner the lens yourself method" just buy a CD lens cleaner and you should be fine...

thanks i have one of those i just gotta find it..... ;)
 
Originally posted by Tenzospy
also a can of air is a helper.... not a big one though (am i then only one who buys air in a can *pressurized*??)

i used to get that stuff:tup:


and when i was really pissed id turn the can upside down and freeze spiders and stuff:lol:

yes i know im an idiot:P

the only problem with this though was that one time i blasted my dreamcast.........the thing hasnt worked since:lol::lol:
 
Originally posted by Shadow
i used to get that stuff:tup:


and when i was really pissed id turn the can upside down and freeze spiders and stuff:lol:

yes i know im an idiot:P

the only problem with this though was that one time i blasted my dreamcast.........the thing hasnt worked since:lol::lol:

hmmm i gotta go find my air so i can freeze some piders :dopey: also with the dreamcast you must if got some of the "freezing" liquid on the lense or somthing like that
 
ur error fixer thing was a gr8 help, until i was putin it bak 2 geva agen! and that motherboard cable came out! so i did my own testing, and my conclusion is that PS2's do not defiy gravity!
 
Uh, how do I say it, YOU ROK!!! :D Thanks for the cleaning steps, I have been trying to find some for a while now. It will be induced as soon as I get to work on my PS2. Thanks again.
 
ya guys and i fixed mine and my friends when they had the disc errors so if any one wants me to fix theres i will for 15$ and u pay for shipping and handling
 
Originally posted by oricon
ya guys and i fixed mine and my friends when they had the disc errors so if any one wants me to fix theres i will for 15$ and u pay for shipping and handling

HAHA good one
 
Originally posted by oricon
ya guys and i fixed mine and my friends when they had the disc errors so if any one wants me to fix theres i will for 15$ and u pay for shipping and handling

I don't think we need your 'professional' help. Most of us know how to fix it now.
 
I gave up on fixing mine. It started with read errors on CDs while working fine with everything else. Then it started giving read errors on CDs and CD-based games. Then CDs and DVD movies (but playing DVD games). It finally died on all media.

Adjusting the voltage seemed to work for a while, but I know a PS2 at the throes of death when I see one. I figured that as much as I gamed on that box, it had paid it's dues - so I'm really that worried about it.

I ended up buying a new PS2 at Best Buy with one of their "no questions asked" extended warranties.
 
I'm only going to point out the main points, If you look around, there are step-by-step instructions on exactly how to do this (I don't want the responsibility if you bork your PS2). :)

Anyway, after getting to the mainboard of the PS2, there are two small white plastic screwheads side by side. The have positive and negative adjustments denoted by a + and -. Those screws control voltage for the CD laser and the DVD laser. A little positive adjustment corrected the problem for a looooong time (I think the first time I tried the adjustment, it made everything work for about a year). Eventually, everything died and I got a new PS2.
 
When I adjusted the voltage on my PS2, it was my last resort. I would have liked get it professionally repaired, but with shipping and repair costs (totaling just about $100, it was better to get a brand new PS2 - so I did.

But EB's got this deal where you can trade in your busted PS2 and buy a refurbished one for $100. I'm kinda outta luck because I need a PS2 series 30000 for the i-link port (the new 50000 series don't have them anymore).
 
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