Hope for my PS2 or is the laser going?

My PS2 is a SCPH-3004 model from around 2001, so pretty old, with a Magic 3 modchip.

I've taking it in for repairs twice when it failed to read games, just having a PCB fixed or the laser cleaned, that always seemed to work.

I've been playing it quite a bit now, and 2 games that worked fine a week ago (backups) now don't ever get past the browser screen. Sometimes it takes 10 or so resets before it does, but it seems now that it wont read the disc. All my other games seem to work (a mix of originals and backups) but I can't tell if the loading times are any longer.


Because of the high success rate of other games, I don't think the laser is totally done for.

I took it to repair shop today to be serviced and the technician told me there was no point in cleaning it because all the games he's tried work, albeit some with longer loading times, and if the laser is damaged, he can't get a replacement for such an old model. Which is pretty stupid, he could at least service it.

I reburnt the two backups at an extra low speed, and they seem to be reading now, although I cant understand why they were working fine a week ago and then suddenly not.

Should I just play the system out until it's finished, or should I take it to another console shop that will charge about $20 for a full service. I seem to think the laser is misaligned, because articles on the 'net about the problem list symptoms that seem to match mine.

The technician of the other place says he wont charge me if the service doesn't make a difference, but I don't really know how he can judge that. I'm sure most of the games he'll try will work fine, and I don't want to give him copies that don't to test. Should I just take it for a paid service to extend its life a bit more?

Suggestions?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Vamp

I reburnt the two backups at an extra low speed, and they seem to be reading now, although I cant understand why they were working fine a week ago and then suddenly not.

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So... Does that mean that you got those problematic ones to work?

If so then just use it the way it is for now. Why fix something that is working?

The one is working fine, the other worked once and now just goes straight to the browser and no further.

I'd want to get it serviced just to extend the life and maybe nip some problems in the bud before they get too serious. ie; laser alignment etc.

your laser pick-up probably is having difficulties achieving and maintaining focus. in other words it's getting old.

no, a pick-up assembly cannot be repaired.

yes, that part can be obsolete and no longer available.

burning discs at a slow speed is merely a band-aid. eventually even those discs won't be readable.
(store-bought discs can be read more easily by the pick-up assembly)

good luck.

This is what you should do. I also have an old fat ps2 (v4). I had the laser replaced once and it worked great.

Now the ps2 is getting outdated and soon there won't be anyone with spare drives to replace them.

So, I reccomend you google for HDAdvance. Since you have a modchip you should be able to boot it up fine. HDAdvance let's you play games off your hard drive. There is also once called HDLoader but they are both basically the same thing.

Now, you will have to buy a hard drive adapter thing I believe, (but you don't have to use the stock sony hard drive) but this is your best solution.

This way you can still play your games for a long time and push off the death of your laser by maybe 7+ years (since it will only be used to transfer the data off the dvd to the hard drive).

This is the step I'm going to go towards also. More information about HDAdvance and HDLoader is available on google. You can find the stuff on torrents or IRC also, just go to their sites to learn what you need to do and game compatibility.