PS2 Slim- issues playing discs

joe8

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I have a PS2 Slim (the earlier version with a separate power brick).
It has just been taken out of storage, and it doesn't play DVDs or PS2 games anymore. The main menu comes up, but it says "can't load the disc" when you try to play a disc through the menu. The disc should play automatically on startup, anyway. I have managed to get it to play a couple of music CDs, though.
 
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max 330 mega

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Ooookkkk... Try to dust off the lens, failing that try to adjust the laser, failing that buy a new laser assembly, failing that buy another slim ps2 because they're not exactly expensive?
 

joe8

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Ooookkkk... Try to dust off the lens, failing that try to adjust the laser, failing that buy a new laser assembly, failing that buy another slim ps2 because they're not exactly expensive?
what do you use to dust off the lens? I suppose normally you're not supposed to touch the lens?
 

RAZO

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Qtip and some alcohol. If the drive spins the disc but the laser does not read the disc then it's possible the laser has failed and needs to be replaced. I had this happen to a ps2 slim I owned.
 

joe8

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so, what kind of alcohol would I use- isopropyl?
 

Neorebel

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Also check to make sure the ribbon cable for the laser is not popping up and scratching your discs
 

Vectorman0

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I have a PS2 Slim (the earlier version with a separate power brick).
It has just been taken out of storage, and it doesn't play DVDs or PS2 games anymore. The main menu comes up, but it says "can't load the disc" when you try to play a disc through the menu. The disc should play automatically on startup, anyway. I have managed to get it to play a couple of audio discs, though.

It sounds like the laser is dying. I see this fairly commonly on PS2's, where it has trouble only with specific types of discs, be it CD, DVD, or dual layer DVD.
 

joe8

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Ooookkkk... Try to dust off the lens, failing that try to adjust the laser, failing that buy a new laser assembly, failing that buy another slim ps2 because they're not exactly expensive?
So, how would I adjust the laser?
 

DaisyAge

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You cannot accurately adjust laser potentiometers with a multimeter or the like. The only way to calibrate a laser is with an oscilliscope and if you don't have one handy it's not worth getting one. Just buy a new Ps2, they're 15 bucks at a local thrift or a few bucks more on ebay.
 

Neo Alec

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You cannot accurately adjust laser potentiometers with a multimeter or the like. The only way to calibrate a laser is with an oscilliscope and if you don't have one handy it's not worth getting one. Just buy a new Ps2, they're 15 bucks at a local thrift or a few bucks more on ebay.
Adjust the pots on the laser assembly first. If no luck, buy a replacement laser assembly. My slim was doing the same thing (reading CD games but not DVD ones) and I was able to get it working again by adjusting the pot. But I expect the fix to be temporary.

Careful to use a tiny screwdriver. I broke my CD pot and had to just bridge it with solder. I'm sure it'll die soon.
 

HeavyMachineGoob

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Ditto that. I have one slim with that ribbon cable issue, along with a friend of mine who also has a slim.

As for disc reading issues, it's always the laser when it comes to PS2s. Gotta get a new laser. Figuring out exactly what model of laser works best with your PS2 is tricky it seems. I had an older fat PS2 that had a KHS-400C laser, any new ones I got wouldn't work for DVD, only CD. I got a 400B laser and it worked fine.
 

RAZO

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Buy a Sata hard drive and adapter and just RIP your games and copy them to hd. Avoid having to mess with old faulty lasers if you can. Not even worth it anymore.
 

HeavyMachineGoob

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I do have two fat PS2s with the hard drive setup. And I still have a few slim systems that need something done about them. One has that ribbon cable scratching discs issue. Kind of a waste to not try and fix it.
 

Neo Alec

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Between my brother's and my collection we have way too many PS2 games. I'd much rather still be able to use the discs than try to rip them all. The laser replacement for this system us simple and cheap.

And if you have the right size screw driver, why not try adjusting the pots before replacing? I think you should be able to get some more life out of the old laser with some adjustment.
 

Neorebel

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HeavyMachineGoob

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Between my brother's and my collection we have way too many PS2 games. I'd much rather still be able to use the discs than try to rip them all. The laser replacement for this system us simple and cheap.

And if you have the right size screw driver, why not try adjusting the pots before replacing? I think you should be able to get some more life out of the old laser with some adjustment.

I find the PS2 is kind of a confusing system to softmod setup. Lots of places suggest OPL Manager for Windows, but that means you need to somehow connect your PS2 hard drive to your PC. It's been really hit and miss for me, whether it even detects the drive or if it doesn't hit an error when copying a game.

I found that the old versions of HD Loader (not HDLGameInstaller) allow you to copy games from the DVD drive. That's the trick though, the DVD drive needs to be functional. The other downside is the copying is way slower than OPL Manager for Windows. https://gbatemp.net/download/hd-loader.7878/

I've also heard you can network transfer from a PC to a PS2, but I haven't tried it yet.
 

Burning Fight!!

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I would think PC -> PS2 transfer via Network Adapter would be the most reliable and hassle-free option, if PS2 has a FTP or SAMBA transfer .elf executable that is. When I had my Slimline PS2 I used to play games via a network share (with the ISO images on a computer) and it was great, way speedier than using the USB ports. Can't imagine no one ever thought of doing a transfer utility for NA HDDs.
 

HeavyMachineGoob

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I would think PC -> PS2 transfer via Network Adapter would be the most reliable and hassle-free option, if PS2 has a FTP or SAMBA transfer .elf executable that is. When I had my Slimline PS2 I used to play games via a network share (with the ISO images on a computer) and it was great, way speedier than using the USB ports. Can't imagine no one ever thought of doing a transfer utility for NA HDDs.

Maybe it's just me but I've always found networking annoying, errors can be really hard to diagnose sometimes. That and I don't often have a PC anywhere near my PS2 for ethernet networking. All the houses I've ever been in weren't geared well for ethernet anyway. At least with a hard drive it's all self contained in the console.
 

RAZO

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Most reliable way is by connecting the hard drive to the pc via sata or ide to sata adapter and transferring ISO's that way. It's super fast and never had issues. There is a very small percentage of games that don't work, it's not perfect. Load times are also much faster.

You can go the network ftp route but for me it takes all but 5 minutes to setup the hard drive to my pc.

This isn't for everyone. You got a good laser and the games already then play them. Just a option for people who don't want to deal with optical media.
 

Neo Alec

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I find the PS2 is kind of a confusing system to softmod setup. Lots of places suggest OPL Manager for Windows, but that means you need to somehow connect your PS2 hard drive to your PC. It's been really hit and miss for me, whether it even detects the drive or if it doesn't hit an error when copying a game.

I found that the old versions of HD Loader (not HDLGameInstaller) allow you to copy games from the DVD drive. That's the trick though, the DVD drive needs to be functional. The other downside is the copying is way slower than OPL Manager for Windows. https://gbatemp.net/download/hd-loader.7878/

I've also heard you can network transfer from a PC to a PS2, but I haven't tried it yet.
Softmod won't allow you to play original discs from another region so it's a non-starter for me.
 

GohanX

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True, but I just rip em with the PC and they play just fine. I sold my Japanese PS2 a few years back. I've still got flip mod slim somewhere with Swap Magic if I really need to play the physical disc.
 
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