PS2 Tumble Trouble

Highwind_32 · 09-25-2006, 06:29 AM

Unfortunatley, my PS2 recently took a tumble from a 1 1/2 foot high shelf (while it was on) landing on its front onto carpet. Upon resetting my PS2 the game (Suikoden Tactics) loaded without issue, but then four minutes into the game the music cut out unexpectedly (the rest of the game, including sound FX, continued to function). I reset my PS2 again. This time, the game loaded but froze during mid-play minutes later. Since that time the game either dosen't load, comes up as a disc read error, or loads and then freezes minutes after.

The PS2 in question is around 3 years old and no longer under warranty. It has had no history of CD read issues. I have yet to look inside of the machine for any obvious issues or test other games/movies with it. There is plenty of material on PS2 disk read errors online, but my problem isn't a disk read error exactly (the official "disk read error" message came up only once).

My question is this. Based on the brief discription of the issue, what are your thoughts on the possible problem and do you think it is fixable. Is it a laser alignment issue perhaps? The degenerative nature of the problem (the fact that it got worse in worse each reset) is what really baffles me. I would like your thoughts on the matter.

Thank you in advance for your help.

Will.Spencer · 09-25-2006, 09:06 AM

That does sound like a real pickle.

An 18" fall onto carpet would not "normally" damage a PS2. These boxes are designed with kids in mind, after all. :lol:

The first symptom (loss of audio, with game play unaffected) can't be disc related -- that one sounds like an audio cable came loose during the fall.

But all of the other symptoms are classic disc issues.

I would check the disc itself to damage and dirt. I would clean the disc throughly. I would blow out the PS2 with compressed "air" and I would use a cleaning disc on the drive.

If all of that fails... I would open up the PS2 and align the laser.

Highwind_32 · 09-25-2006, 11:52 AM

Yeah, I too was baffled that such a short fall would damage the machine that badly. Today I will indeed look inside to see what I am up against. I am hoping it is just a laser calibration issue, but we will see.

Here's hoping...

Highwind_32 · 09-25-2006, 02:38 PM

Ok. My PS2 will run PSone and blue Ps2 disks without issue. But silver back games do not work (or temporarily play then stop working) and DVDs dont work at all.

I have read a good amount of material on laser realignment, and feel confident about it. The only problem is that my Ps2 is a version 5001, which is (I belive) the version right before the slim. This version has 2 white wheels inside instead of one (the white wheel that adjusts laser height), and I have yet to find anyone describe a way to fix the version 5001 ps2. Does anyone know anything about that? Thanks!