i got a ps2 that somebody got angry at

[phreak97]

theres a mentally disabled guy who frequents one of my local gametraders stores and basically he plays resident evil 2 endlessly and always gets angry when he dies, he's been through several copies of the game after taking the disc out and snapping it. i've also ended up with a couple of his ps2 consoles. one i fixed, he'd just hit it really hard with his hand so the case flexed in and stuck a heat sink through the power source, that was easy, but this next one boots up to the bios, spins the disc, but gives up trying to read it after a while, does the same thing with cd's and dvd's, which is interesting, cos most of the time cd's still work in "dead" consoles.

what should i be looking for in the way of impact damage? im guessing the console was thrown on the floor, but theres nothing obvious like there was with the other one, i guess it might be a legitimate fault, but given the guy's history...
it's a V9/10 silver ps2, what symptoms come from the v9/10 syndrome? the lense still moves in and out (so the coils are ok?), and the laser comes on. it doesnt make horrible clicking or anything either, but at the same time it doesnt sound quite right.. the normal buzz of the laser doing its work isnt smooth like normal.. hard to explain though.

any ideas anyone? i dont have a cro, or id just connect that up and test the laser properly.

[ken_cinder]

First things first, check the resistance across the pots. Good values on the lasers for PS2s are between 800-1400 ohms.
Just because the focus and tracking is being attempted by the laser, doesn't mean it's working, infact if it isn't working it will attempt it over and over until it eventually gives up (Error retry limit is set in the drives firmware I assume?)

Quite possible the skew for the focus and tracking has been knocked down to the very bottom too if the laser checks out ok. There is a little screw in there (White plastic I believe, been awhile) that you can use to lower or raise the chassis for the laser assembly. See where it's at, if it's bottomed out, raise it up 1 increment at a time (Should click) and see what you get.

[phreak97]

thanks, ill check that out in a minute, in this drive theres two white screws, one for each side of the track, how would i know if the laser is no longer level? i'd assume  the impact wouldnt readjust both of them exactly the same amount..

[ken_cinder]

http://www.eurasia.nu/wiki/index.php?pagename=Ps2LaserAdjustmentAndReplacementGuide

That should help you, go down the page a bit and you'll see the screws. The one I referenced, near the back is the radial skew adjustment. Most common issue if your laser is in spec and "should" be working.
The one on the sled rail on the actual laser assembly, is the tangiential skew. You shouldn't need to touch this, but given this thing has been beaten on.....who knows, adjust the tangential if nothing else is working.

[l_oliveira]

The laser coils are assembled on a iron/copper base which is then covered with a layer of tin.  It can get bent on a strong physical shock, making the lens go out of position. That causes the optical pickup to fail working. And if the thing is way off it's position the PS2 won't even read CDs.


The solution is take another PS2 with the same type of laser, take the plastic cap out from both lasers and compare their lens position. Use the working one as reference. With luck you might be able to put it working again. Radial (right white gear) and track azimuth (left white gear) adjustments will be required for a finishing touch.

[phreak97]

hmm.. ill see if i have another ps2 eith the same laser