coz
07-03-2006, 11:31 PM
A little background:
Bought a used copy of san andreas on thursday, proceeded to play it for...like 12 hours a day for 3 days, then it stops working, get all kinds of errors (little black screen that says it can't read the disc, etc), so I eject the disc and do what I should've done in the store before I bought it, check for scratches, which there are some, but I say, well, it's been working for 3 days, so it's not the scratches, I let the ps2 cool off, and try again, it takes a ridiculously long time to load to the black screen that tells you not to remove the memory card, etc, and then the game loads, but the drive makes really loud noises, and then I exit CJ's house, and the screen goes black and says Ganton in the lower right like it should, but it hangs, then it typically hangs for several minutes and then tells me it can't read the disc. I figure maybe the scratches are in a spot that will let you play the first ten percent of the game before it shows a problem, so I borrowed a friend's copy of the disc, and get the same exact errors despite his disc being completely free of scratches, dirt, etc.
So I scour these forums and the net in general to find a method to fix this. I have tried to run it horizontal, no luck, vertical, no luck, and I tried the trick where you put in the disc with the ps2 horizontal, turn the power on, and then slowly turn it upside down, it let me play for 5 minutes before it hung.
So now I've got the ps2 opened up, I've read and re-read the various instructions for cleaning and repairing a ps2 that I found here and at http://arstechnica.com/articles/paedia/hardware/ps2.ars
The PS2 in question is the exact same model depicted in the pics on that link. so I've got it opened up, I've read and re read the instructions, and I've cleaned the lens with alcohol, and marked the starting position of the gear.
First thing I notice is that the gear doesn't spin completely as the instructions I've read seem to imply it should, there is a section about four teeth wide that has no teeth, a stop if you will. Secondly, and more importantly, I thought I was seriously losing it, I spun the wheel as far clockwise as I could as the link says to, and started my tests, ps1 game boots, directly, doesn't go to the browser first, dvd goes to the browser, but works great after you load it, but san andreas does as I described above, so I take the lens cover off again, and notice the whheel is in it's starting position again, I think this is odd, so I spin it, and using my hand to cover the lens (so as not to blind myself), turn the power on and close the tray, lo, and behold, the wheel spins itself back to the exact starting position I marked, I find this really weird, so I do it a few more times, close the tray and every time it spins back to where it started from.
What am I doing wrong? is this normal, does the angle on the lens stay even tho the cog wheel spins back to where it started? Am I spinning it in the wrong direction? am I supposed to spin the wheel, or the screw holding the wheel in place? And what about those horrible clicking noises?
Thanx in advance to anyone who can help, I must get back to San Andreas. :)
Bought a used copy of san andreas on thursday, proceeded to play it for...like 12 hours a day for 3 days, then it stops working, get all kinds of errors (little black screen that says it can't read the disc, etc), so I eject the disc and do what I should've done in the store before I bought it, check for scratches, which there are some, but I say, well, it's been working for 3 days, so it's not the scratches, I let the ps2 cool off, and try again, it takes a ridiculously long time to load to the black screen that tells you not to remove the memory card, etc, and then the game loads, but the drive makes really loud noises, and then I exit CJ's house, and the screen goes black and says Ganton in the lower right like it should, but it hangs, then it typically hangs for several minutes and then tells me it can't read the disc. I figure maybe the scratches are in a spot that will let you play the first ten percent of the game before it shows a problem, so I borrowed a friend's copy of the disc, and get the same exact errors despite his disc being completely free of scratches, dirt, etc.
So I scour these forums and the net in general to find a method to fix this. I have tried to run it horizontal, no luck, vertical, no luck, and I tried the trick where you put in the disc with the ps2 horizontal, turn the power on, and then slowly turn it upside down, it let me play for 5 minutes before it hung.
So now I've got the ps2 opened up, I've read and re-read the various instructions for cleaning and repairing a ps2 that I found here and at http://arstechnica.com/articles/paedia/hardware/ps2.ars
The PS2 in question is the exact same model depicted in the pics on that link. so I've got it opened up, I've read and re read the instructions, and I've cleaned the lens with alcohol, and marked the starting position of the gear.
First thing I notice is that the gear doesn't spin completely as the instructions I've read seem to imply it should, there is a section about four teeth wide that has no teeth, a stop if you will. Secondly, and more importantly, I thought I was seriously losing it, I spun the wheel as far clockwise as I could as the link says to, and started my tests, ps1 game boots, directly, doesn't go to the browser first, dvd goes to the browser, but works great after you load it, but san andreas does as I described above, so I take the lens cover off again, and notice the whheel is in it's starting position again, I think this is odd, so I spin it, and using my hand to cover the lens (so as not to blind myself), turn the power on and close the tray, lo, and behold, the wheel spins itself back to the exact starting position I marked, I find this really weird, so I do it a few more times, close the tray and every time it spins back to where it started from.
What am I doing wrong? is this normal, does the angle on the lens stay even tho the cog wheel spins back to where it started? Am I spinning it in the wrong direction? am I supposed to spin the wheel, or the screw holding the wheel in place? And what about those horrible clicking noises?
Thanx in advance to anyone who can help, I must get back to San Andreas. :)