PS2 Lens/Eye

  • Thread starter Thread starter Driftnewb110
  • 33 comments
  • 3,716 views
Driftnewb110

Driftnewb110

Messages
630
My told my friend about 2 weeks ago that my PS2 cant play the greatest hits and newer games. He said that the the first set of PS2's that came out had a problem with the lens and that couldnt play newer games, but the PS2's werent recalled becuase it was such a small problem. Is this true? I sorta believe so becuase my PS2 cant read my nieghbors greatest hits Gran Turismo 3, and has a hard time reading my Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
 
Tell your friend that he doesn't know what he is talking about.

I have the SCPH-30001 PS2, which was part of the original US shipment of PS2 systems in 2000. I can play San Andreas just fine.

Go here and read about the Disc Read Errors.
 
Yep. There have been some software changes, however, and this sometimes causes problems. I believe there are firmware updaters available from Sony, but I can't verify that.
 
It was more of a hardware quality issue, but the disc-read errors didn't happen to everyone.. only a small percentage of owners. And no, it doesn't prevent you from playing any newer games. :)
 
Damn, I'm one of those small percentage of players.....
 
Well..Its good that you got GT4 and all... but why are you posting here, I made the thread like 3months ago and its been dead a long time.
 
Listen my freind, I also have the 1st model ps2's and let me tell you when i found out that 2 weeks after my 1 year warranty expired, it couldnt read anything...
I e-mailed and called sony a 100 times and all they could say is TOO BAD.
I CAN GUARANTEE that at least half of the first batch of ps2's have very severe reading problems.

Don't fear though, it is very easy to take the ps2 apart and clean the lenz and adjust its closeness to the cd. I have done it twice since November 2000. My ps2 is playing all the games like a charm though it is a bit slow on the 1st read of the discs at boot up.
 
animal
Listen my freind, I also have the 1st model ps2's and let me tell you when i found out that 2 weeks after my 1 year warranty expired, it couldnt read anything...
I e-mailed and called sony a 100 times and all they could say is TOO BAD.
I CAN GUARANTEE that at least half of the first batch of ps2's have very severe reading problems.

Don't fear though, it is very easy to take the ps2 apart and clean the lenz and adjust its closeness to the cd. I have done it twice since November 2000. My ps2 is playing all the games like a charm though it is a bit slow on the 1st read of the discs at boot up.
Click to expand...
Interesting...Mine broke like 2 years after the warranty expired, and they still fixed it for free. And I got my PS2 back, not a refurbished one. All I said was something like,"My PS2 always says "Disc Read Error" " after I did few things that he told me to do, and it still didnt work so then he emailed my this slip and its been marked to say something about me not having to pay anything but shipping. Aslong as you dont tell them that you dropped it(if you did) or tell them that your warranty has expired, Im pretty sure that they should give you the free thing.Also you shouldnt have opened up your PS2
 
I have fixed everyone of my dre problems on all my games using the lens adjustment/cleaning procedures. Except GT4 of course, the only game i really want to play! GT4 will not work at all anymore and theres not a damn scratch or hair on it. It was hard to boot up from the first day, but it would eventually. Now, it rarely ever boots. I got my ps2 like a year after it launched, btw.
 
KurtG
It was hard to boot up from the first day, but it would eventually. Now, it rarely ever boots. I got my ps2 like a year after it launched, btw.
Click to expand...
That's exactly what happened with my PS2 (before I cleaned it).
Since you seem to be aware of the lens cleaning, I don't know what to say... Really bad luck, I guess.
 
The best bet to fix persistant disc read errors i think is to adjust the voltage of the laser eye. This is a pretty difficult procedure though and its pretty easy to screw something up... like I did and completely ruin the laser lens. :'(
BTW in my research I found that most dre's occur on SCPH- 30001 models. Anybody got a spare laser for me? :(

Oh, and if you have a playstation model that is getting tons of disc errors. DO NOT OPEN IT UP FOR A SHORT TERM FIX. Even if your warranty period has expired sony will repair it for free if disc read errors are the problem. However, when you remove that sticker which you must do to open it, they wont pay for anything.
 
I've been having problems reading ANYTHING on my PS2, even my brand spanking new music CDs which should be the easiest to read. Everyone I know with an older model has had problems with their PS2s, including some folks I know in Alabama.

When I first had these problems they eventually fixed themselves somehow. Then they reoccurred and I had to clean the lens. That worked for a while but then screwed up again. I cleaned it again and it worked a week before it stopped reading things completely.

I read that guide and I'm probably gonna go home and try adjusting the voltage as described in the FAQ. Well...after I go searching for my wallet which is somewhere in the middle of a forest (no joke). I'll post a new reply once I try adjusting the voltage on my laser. Hopefully I won't have to say "yeah...about that. I kinda blew up my lense." LOL
 
Two days ago I found the problem to my PS2. Underneath the CD carriage, a small amber strip was not attached to the servo that moves the lens. I'm not sure if I accidentally removed it when taking my PS2 apart but I got my PS2 to work a few times after words but not consistently.

Yesterday I spent an hour trying to get it to work again. No success. And still no wallet either. lol It's MIA for now.
 
Well i have the SCPH-30003 Model of PS2.
I had problems 2 yrs after buying it , but it was fixed it just needed Lens Re Adjusting.

I bought GT4 from a Store called "GAME" when i got home it owuldnt read but all my other games would so i said **** this and brought it back and the same thing happened so i brought it to the game not far from my house he fixed it in 10 mins.

Oh yeah you got a grammar problem DriftNewb110;

"My told my friend about 2 weeks ago that my PS2 cant play the greatest hits and newer games."

LoL Cakes.
 
hmm, i dont know about software changes i have a problem with Gta Sa, i have a Ps2type5 and the newer one The slimline type7,
san andreas makes my ps2 type5 tick and clicking noise, yesterday i tried it in my type7 and he ticking also , i got a new one already but for me is san andreas a devestating game.. litterly, it destoyd 3 consoles in a week... THANX ROCKSTAR!
redicilous, high price for that game...
anyway i have much games and always rented and borrowed i never had problems with other games dont worry , id say watch out with San andreas it puts your lens under heavy pressure of movements.. it will snap soon or late.
grtz
 
oosacker
If your PS2 has problems reading discs, clean the lens and drive.
Click to expand...

Hey guys, sorry I am new here. It looks like all you know how to clean the lens.
I have searched the forum with all the keywords I can think of, and still can't find anything.

Can someone tell me how to clean the lens? Coz I have problem reading GT4 as well.
 
My old PS2 wouldn't read GT4 either, To clean the lense you take all the screws out the bottom then remove the top, then take the screws out of the CD drive and remove the top of this, anyway i cleaned the lense on mine and it makes no difference so i bought a new Ps2, i asked the guy in the shop about my problem and he says cleaning it will not make any difference as the old Ps2's had a lense problem, he said the only way to get it to work is to buy a new lense kit.
 
The reason behind errors is that the ealier models use VERY cheap parts for the lens pick up in order to minimise costs. Sony knows well how to make the cheapest (but working for at least the warranty period) parts for things like these as they are experts on CD/DVD.
 
I am having a similar problem, albeit a bit different.

I have the SCPH-3001 model PS2. Ever since I got ESPN 2K5 back in August/September 2004, I have had minor disc reading problems. Every now and then, I'd pop in a game and get the DRE. A simple eject/re-enter procedure seemed to fix this. This lasted from then until yesterday.

I tried to play ESPN 2K5 and I could get it to read, but after the "Playstation 2" logo came up the screen just stayed black forever. A couple presses of the reset button resulted in the same thing. Then I tried to play GT4. This time, I got the white words to appear (the words that come up right after "Playstation 2") but another infinite black screen. Then I tried NFS: Underground 2 and my driving force pro wheel activated, but I never got any words to appear and never got past the black screen.

The weird thing is that my PS2 is reading my games, its just not playing them. Strangely enough, GTA:SA is working fine without any problem, as well as all of my older PS2 games and PS1 games. None of my CDs have a scratch on them. I have a lens cleaning CD and have performed the lens cleaning cycle several times to no avail.

I read the FAQ and I don't know what to do. I have tried standing my PS2 on its side but that didn't work either. I read the part about how PS2s might only read CD-ROM games and not DVD-ROM games, but all of my games are DVD-ROM and some are working and some aren't (None of my games that were released in late 2004-present are working, except San Andreas). I got my PS2 in July 2001 so the warranty has been up. On top of all this, my network adapter mysteriously no longer works. This is really pissing me off because I spent all this money and now I can't even play my newer games and GT4. Can anyone tell me how I can get into contact with Sony?
 
Possible reasons are:

1. Dust in the fans and air intakes and overheating.
2. Dust on the lens.
3. Not enough lubrication on the rails that move the lens pick up.

The best way to fix these is to open the PS2 up yourself and clean.
 
I have a lot of problems with DREs. I've had my PS2 cleaned for free by Sony several times. The whole process will take about three weeks. At one point in time, it took only five to seven days. Those days are gone.

Call Sony at !-800-345-SONY and tell them you have Disc Read Errors and want the NO FEE OFFER of repair. You can also insist on getting a new replacement PS2 if they don't repair it correctly. But, I say it seems more easy now to just open the PS2 and clean the lens yourself.

Here's a good link to see what you need to do, in a step-by-step instruction, the job yourself.

http://tweak3d.net/articles/ps2repair/
 
Well I called that number provided above and the agent told me that I had 2 options:

1) Send in the PS2 and get a refurbished one of the same model, costing $45
2) Send in the PS2 and have them repair it for $75

She said that since my PS2 was out of warranty, I couldn't get them to replace it or fix it for free. I am not really too excited about having them give me a refurbished one, especially if its the same model as mine. Moreso, that $75 is kind of steep to have them repair it. However, I really don't want to try to fix it on my own and mess something up and not have it work ever again. Decisions, decisions.
 
Solid Lifters already provided a link to a site that guides you through the process. Even still, I am a little uneasy about taking my PS2 and risking messing it up for good. But I sure do miss playing GT4 :(
 

Latest Posts

Back