Help!! PS2 not working quite right

[Evil E]

I had someone give me a PS2, because it wasn't reading discs--I opened it up and cleaned the lens, and adjusted the white gear, and it seems to work fine except for one thing--the rumble feature in the controller doesn't work! I have tried 2 different brand new PS2 controllers, and neither worked, so I plugged them into the old PS1 and they rumble great!! Why would the rumble not work?

[Evil E]

Oh and neither port works either (rumble-wise) please let me know! Thanks!
E.--

[jonjandran]

I would guess that the ribbon cable for the controller port is not in right or the contoller port is fried.

A lot of times when taking apart the PS2 the controller port ribbon wire is pulled a little loose. It is one of those cables that is a little difficult to put back in correctly.

You have to set it in the right spot and then slide it in about 1mm further with your fingernail or a screwdriver and then close the plastic clasp.

If that's not it then it's the controller port. If you need 1 after you check the cable let me know as I have a couple extra.

[Evil E]

where is the controller port ribbon? Is it the thin metal ribbon connected near the DVD drive? When I opened up the PS2, I didn't even touch the controller ports, but I saw that metal strip, that is kinda taped to the dvd drive side. Also, if the controller ports were bad or blown, wouldn't the games not play at all? All the games I have played work fine--just no vibration function.

[jonjandran]

No the controller port ribbon wire is underneath the controller port. You have to take out the 2 gold screws and the port comes off.

Was the PS2 already opened before you got it ? Was the seal broke ? If so someone else could have messed up the ribbon wire.

And it could be the controller IC that is bad , in that case just one function of the controller could go out. But if it is an IC , then you're out of luck.

[Evil E]

The seal didn't appear to have been broken, but some of the screw covers are gone. What is the controller IC? It can't be replaced? What would you suggest I try first? Should I even try messing with the controller ports?

[jonjandran]

The contoller IC is a chip that runs the controller port and no you can't fix it.

I would think the controller wire would be the first thing I would suspect. I've taken a few PS2's apart and put them back together and if oyu don't get the cable in right there can be random problems like yours.

I would give it a try.

[jonjandran]

After doing some research it appears that this is a common problem with the PS2.

The answer is that a fuse on the motherboard has blown.. It appears to do this because of age, use , and sometimes a crappy 3rd party controller can cause this. And this is a soldered on fuse not a simple pop in fuse.

This is not a task for anyone without extensive electronic skills to undertake. I would suggest living with it or trying to find a pro to help.

I could do it but It's probably not worth the shipping of it both ways if you got it for free in the first place.

[Evil E]

It would only cost me like $15-20 to ship it to you and back! I would do that if you truly feel you can fix it! What would the fuse charge be?

[jonjandran]

It would only cost me like $15-20 to ship it to you and back! I would do that if you truly feel you can fix it! What would the fuse charge be?

No charge for the fuse (I have plenty of them) or for the work (I have plenty of time )

PM me if you want me to do it.

[omnedon]

If it's just rumble function, the fuse fix will defintely do the trick. Same fix (diff fuse) solves dead fan issues as well.

[Evil E]

It would only cost me like $15-20 to ship it to you and back! I would do that if you truly feel you can fix it! What would the fuse charge be?

No charge for the fuse (I have plenty of them) or for the work (I have plenty of time )

PM me if you want me to do it.

Well I opened it up, and checked the port ribbon--it all seemed fine, so it must be the blown fuse thing---PM sent