Last night me and my girlfriend were going to face off in Guitar Hero. However, my PS2 just froze while trying to read the disc. After about 4 minutes it said Disc Read Error. It had been getting this way for a while. It would take forever to read the game disc and it would sometimes sit forever at the Browser/System Configuration screen. The unit is 8 years old so I would imagine some filth has built up on the disc reading laser lens inside of it. I decided to clean it out to fix this problem. Here’s how it’s done:
Supplies:
Cotton swab
Small (micro) Phillips head screwdriver
Standard Phillips head screwdriver
Flat head screwdriver
Canned air (optional)
1. Remove all peripherals from the Playstation 2. Discs, memory cards, controllers and modems.
2. Flip the unit on it’s top. 4 rubber feet and 4 square plastic coverings need to be removed from the bottom of the unit.
3. Remove the coverings using a flat head screwdriver. Then remove all of the screws using the standard Phillips screwdriver.
4. Flip the PS2 back on it’s right side. Remove the cover carefully, angling it down toward the front of the unit and flipping it over. Careful, there is a ribbon cable attached on the front side.
5. After the cover is removed, the top of the disc drive is revealed. The top of it must be removed with a small screw driver. Remove the 4 screws to it.
6. Carefully remove the top to the disc drive, and the inside is exposed along with the disc reading lens.
7. Using a damp cotton swab, gently clean the disc reading laser lens.
8. To finish things off you may want to use some canned air to clean out other parts inside of the unit. Put the PS2 back together and it will read discs just like it did when you first purchased it.
Dart says
January 23, 2018 at 5:04 pmSuper quick fix. Back up and running in perfect order. Thank you.
Sancho25 says
February 2, 2017 at 5:52 pmYou forgot one thing. You have to open the disc tray while the system is open, unplug and clean the underside of the lens and the reflective mirror under it. This is the biggest culprit. I am surprised more people haven’t included this important step in repair pages.
Mark says
January 3, 2017 at 3:12 amSounds good but not the answer! I’ve cleaned the laser used to read PlayStation 2 games now it only reads PlayStation 1 and music discs it will not play DVDs and it will not play PlayStation 2 games. I’ve also manipulated my big PlayStation 2 to where I can get a hex wrench into the gear that adjust the laser. My machine used to load the game before the browser screen even came up. But now no matter how much I adjust the gear it doesn’t work for PlayStation 2 games.
Flea says
December 9, 2016 at 2:36 pmThanks a lot! Was stressing out, had my PS2 since it got out and suddenly just stopped, but it worked right after I tried this!
Now I can go all over my Final Fantasy’s again!! ^^
Jon says
February 6, 2013 at 9:33 amThanks bro good instructions! Easier than I thought. I finally got Killzone to work.
Lionel says
November 8, 2011 at 9:40 amMitch! u r a STAR!! : )
Seb says
March 15, 2011 at 3:28 pmAwesome thing, don’t hesitate trying it, it’s easy and everything will work again ;)
BP says
June 3, 2010 at 6:07 pmIt took 8 minutes to load a Guitar Hero song until I found this link. I cleaned the lens and it works like a charm – no waiting!!!
THANKS!!!
ammar says
June 7, 2009 at 5:05 ami did all of that but now it dosnt read the disk
kratty says
January 8, 2008 at 5:02 pmI did all that,didn’t need to,just stand ps2 player on left end,believe it or not it works perfect now