Disc Read Error - PS2

mrsyorkie · 19 June 2007 at 12:45PM

Hi, i'm hoping someone can help please?

No matter what game/cd/dvd i put in my ps2, it comes up with disc read error. It's an old, un-chipped ps2 - 3 years old. I've googled and i've found instructions on how to open it up and clean the lens and move the lens back into position. (I think DH banging it the other night when a game stuck has moved the lens out of position and now nothing happens).

However, my question is this - It says on the instructions to use a lens cleaning solution, the more alcohol in the better. I can't find one, i can only find one to clean cds, or a disc that will clean the lens, not the solution. The only thing i can find (in the poundshop in the end) is a solution to clean a digital camera lens. It doesn't say anything about alcohol being in it.

Would it be ok to use the solution for cleaning a digital camera lens to clean my PS2 lens or would it knacker it further?

Please can someone help? I can't afford to fork out on a new PS2.

j1mgg · 19 June 2007 at 1:34PM

I had to do this on mine and used a cotton bud(one for cleaning ears) with alittle window cleaner and it done the trick. Be very careful when taking it apart as there is a cable at the side of power and eject buttons that can get damaged. I would guess the one for cleaning the digital camera would work a treat.

Be very careful is all i can say

mrsyorkie · 19 June 2007 at 1:45PM

Thanks

I've read about that cable, and tbh i'm a little scared of doing it! Is it really hard to take it apart? Have you got any tips for me?

mrsyorkie · 20 June 2007 at 9:11AM

Well DH took it apart last night following the instructions the found using Google. Our PS2 looked a lot different to the one in the pictures on the intructions. Anyways, we managed to clean the lens and it still doesn't work. We couldn't adjust the lens height or anything because we couldn't get to it (it's not on the top on the thing like it is in the pictures).

Is there anything else we can try?

pchelpman · 20 June 2007 at 9:38AM

We had this exact same problem and, unfortunately, it's all too common. As you guessed it's the laser.

In our case the DRE's were coming up on only blue disks. The silver ones were fine.

I'm guessing this is an older style PS2 ... the one nicknamed "fattie" as opposed to the "slimline" PS2.

I disassembled our fattie several times. Cleaning the lens with cotton buds and other (known safe) cleaning fluids and repositioning the lens all helped for a while but, gradually, the problem just worsened.

In the end no matter what I tried the blue disks just would not play.

My OH's cousin works for Sony and he bounced the problem round his colleagues but they all said the same thing .... it's symptomatic of the lens failing and there is no fix except to replace the lens.

He also said Sony would supply a reconditioned PS2. This costs £55 and would only be guaranteed for 3 months so we didn't go for that option.

I investigated replacing the lens myself (which I could do) but the cost of a new lens was around £40 to £50 (probably plus VAT) so my son saved up his money and we invested in a new slimline PS2 which is great and probably even cheaper now that the PS3 is out.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but I spent a long time trying to fix this problem and I wanted to stop you wasting a similar about of time.

By the way you can sometimes get fattie PS2s on eBay which are begin sold for "spares" etc. Often it's because the lens has failed and the user gets DREs so be careful on that.

Good luck.

PCH

Schneaky · 20 June 2007 at 10:07AM

We had a similar problem, and after trying to clean it, it still wouldn't work, so we also decided to replace the "fattie" PS2 with a slimline one. I did place the old PS2 in our local free ads paper, advertising it as 'non-working PS2 for spares', and got a tenner towards the new machine!:money:

mrsyorkie · 20 June 2007 at 10:08AM

Thank you for that. it is the old fattie style ps2. I did think about getting a new lens, but if that didn't work it'd be more money wasted. My next thought was about the reconditioned ones from Sony, but don't you have to send your old one to them with the tamper sticker still attached?

I've found a slimline one for £99 at PC World but i can't justify spending that amount of money on a toy when we're skint.

Thank you for all your help anyways. I might have a look into seeing how much i can get for it on Ebay. Obviously won't be a lot though cos of the DRE.

j1mgg · 20 June 2007 at 11:34AM

Sorry to hear that it wasnt just a dirty lens. You can get second hand slim ones in places like game/ gamestation and places like that. I know it may stillknock you back £50 but if you have some old games you can maybe trade them in against it. You can also try cashgenerator as they some times have the fatter ones and i guess would be about £30

Disc Read Error - PS2

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