PS2 Fat will not read DVD discs. Laser replacement. 

I'm so glad there are people like you making videos to help fix an old ps2.

I want to thank you for this video. I bought one of these for about 30.00 and the laser wouldn't function. With your video it made it easier to do a repair. KHS400B is the laser that mine has. Being able to rehab this old thing myself is a delight.

I watched this from beginning to end with nothing but open mouthed anticipation. Great video, and you sir, are incredible!

Fantastic video! Probably the best explained and most thorough one I have seen. I have cleaned the top laser previously and that solved the issue but I actually had no idea there was a second one below I could reach. Going to try this cleaning first on my current laser to see if that fixes the issue before buying a new one. Thanks for such a well-made video!

Dude you are the goat. I tried this myself but this was literally so well done that even I could do it Hahahaha! Thanks so much!

Thnaks man after watching your video I gained the confidence to try to fix my old PS2 :)

Ahhh thank you I didn’t know the PS2 have two type of game CD and DVD

Nicely done. It’s been years since I’ve opened it, but I need to do this to mine. I still have my original 30001-R, which barely reads both types even after cleaning, so I’ll need to open her up to see which laser I need. IIRC, aside from the single height adjustment dial, the power/eject buttons are also attached to the top lid. You have to be careful removing it so that you can then remove the assembly from the top lid without damaging the ribbon cable. Thanks to this, you’ve inspired me to finally do it! 🙂

Excellent video. You were very thorough, thank you.

That was a fantastic video, I will refer to this video when my debug console arrives! Nice video! :)

Just bought a 50001 PS2 from eBay that supposedly only has a stuck drive tray. It's going to replace my 39001 from 2001, that doesn't recognize any official multitaps for some reason. Even a brand new one. The plan is to break it all the way down and completely clean and restore it. Your video gave me info on some differences between the two models. Thank you!

Thank you sir for your excellent video. I have an SCPH-30001 model (wow this month this machine turns 20 years old time flies) and was unable to play any games/read any discs. The repair costs exceeded its value so it was unreasonable to take to a repair shop. With your video I was able to replace the laser and it functions the way it did fresh out of the blue box. May I add for those with this model PS2, you’ll need a Torx T4, PH 1 and PH 000 bit to remove the screws safely. Thanks again for your help!!

Thanks for very detailed explanation. I learned a lot.

Wish I looked this up years ago before I threw mine away after taking it to a repair shop and then telling me nothing could be done:/

hello from Russia :) David your video is absolute brilliant. i have this machine (PS2) from my childhood (i have a really good PC for gaming and work), but i love PS2 very much. such form of the nostalgia about "old good days & old good games" you know.. and now i found that my PS2 have lost its power (don't read any DVD).. i'm trying to figure out - what is really happened, but without success.. and only with the help of Your great video all obscures are gone :) thank You very much / your video is the very particular and detalized. it's real education masterpiece. and You have a great ability to teach other people. It's really rare ability in our world :) and now i think that american people isn't such arrogants as it seems on TV :) have a good day, you are really a great Man

Super useful video i only had to clean my laser lense to get my ps1 games to read again, but took out the laser of another PS2 that i just use as a stand for my screen, to use as spare part next time it has issues.

1:10 Aside from the built-in infrared sensor, the SCPH-50001 model (I have the exact same console as you do) also added support for playback of DVD-R/DVD+R/DVD-RW/DVD+RW discs, 480p output for the DVD Player application, and upgraded PlayStation Driver software version 1.11 (PS1 backwards compatibility). Earlier models had version 1.10 and below.

Very clear and informative and fun ! Thanks.

WELL EXPLAINED THANKS IM GOING TO TRY A NEW LASER. I HAVE 2 MACHINES.PS2 GLADE TO SEE THE LASER HAS TO DO WITH THE DISK SPIN.

Thanks for this! For just $15, I can just swap out the laser assembly and avoid all the trial and error of tinkering with the various adjustments.

Amazing video mate. I'm gonna have to buy a new laser as well 👍

Thanks for this video. Got a replacement laser, went in and changed it. Closed it all up and worked first time. So easy. Didn't bother trouble shooting or adjusting anything. Knew changing the laser would fix it. Even got a new version (C). Other youtubers seem to think you have to flash the firmware but you don't. All working very well!!

Great video! Calm presented, logical structure and easy to understand. Thank you very much

Hi. I recently altered the voltage on mine and it now reads the PS2 demo disc. I get the "insert Playstation 2 Format disk" error on all other discs. I replaced the laser twice but the replacement lasers do not read anything at all, even the demo disc just spins and it doesn't read it. I've removed the anti-static solder and tweaked the resistance on the new ones to be around 1100 Ohms but nothing. What do you think is the issue? Thanks!

I had my 🧐PS 2 🎮console🎮 for over 17 years📆, so it shouldn't just die for no reason, I guess nothing is built to last, Great Video☮️.

Very good video, i will try to swap my laser from a other PS2 that i took power supply from, it works with imported NTSC-J PS2 Japanese games but somehow lost ability to read imported NTSC-US PS 1 games on my EU shipped console, hopefully the other laser works better after i try this.

I have a first Generation PS2 Fat, the 30000 series. I have the single sdjusting knob, and i've played with it a bit, and I can either get Silver DVD games to work, OR CD's and blue disks to work. Is the KHS400C laser the same part number for the 300000 and the 50000 series PS2? Where did you buy yours? Thanks!

11:03: I cleaned the top lense of my 2004 fat PS2 and it did fix the problem! No PS1 disc could be read, making awful noises, and now it reads everything perfectly. Unbelievable :).

Dude thanks for your video tutorial thumbs up

Well thank you very much my Playstation 2 slim had the same thing I just got it today it will read some games it won't read PlayStation 1 and some PlayStation 2 games with scratches some odd reason my PlayStation 2 fat read-through scratches but not my Slim and this video came in handy and I have screwed around with my laser and did not work

Thank you for this video!!!

Thanks , just cleaned the game and it worked , time for some old school WINBACK , I remember winback 2 was no good but 1 is awesome

10:30 you need to flatten the qtip and then use a small amount of 99 iso

Hi! I just replaced the old laser, it was done by a technician. When I tried the machine back at home, I still have to try many times for the console to actually read the discs. Do you think it might be a matter of adjusting the height of the reader/structure? It's a 30001R model, by the way.

Did the laser replacement fine on my other consoles, but my issue is that I have one system that needed a new ribbon cable AND a new laser, so I put the ribbon in what seemed to be correctly, but I’m having a major problem with clearance and tension on the cable. I’m beyond confused with that part

Nice video I just fixed two PS2s a SCHP 50001/N and a SCHP 30001 they use different LASERS the part numbers are on them although they work the same. I bought new metal LASER arms to replace the plastic ones. You have to make a couple of cardboard or plastic shim washers to use the Torx screw that was used with the plastic LASER arm because the plastic LASER arm is thicker and the old Torx screw, which is a crvtv5 type torx bit will be too long and will bind on the LASER rod I suggest using an ice pick and the card board the new LASER head comes in to make your own shim washers. You may have to bend the LASER arm down to make good contact with the worm gear that is not a problem for the 3000 series PS2s but it can be for the 5000 series it can leave the right LASER rod sloppy and that will prevent LASER alignment you may need to bend the tabs on the thin metal bracket that holds the LASER rods down on the 5000 machines so that they don;t. move. If you have to buy a new ribbon cable for the LASER head you will have to remove the LASER drive from the console I don't recommend that you do that unless you have to, there are other ribbon cables that go to a PC board at the bottom of the PS2 and they will come disconnected they have to be reconnected last after they are reconnected to the underside of the optical LASER guide assembly then finally the power ON cable connector also the new LASER ribbon cables come with an excessively large white sticker Tab on the LASER head side and that will keep the LASER head from being able to move all the way back that white tab sticker is needed for rigidity when inserting the ribbon cable but part of it will need to be cut off without damaging the ribbon cable I used a shaving razor blade. Finally you can trouble shoot things without using the disc tray but you can't and should not attempt to eject the tray since it is not there if you do accidentally hit the eject button cut the power off with the one/zero power ON OFF switch you wouldn't want to damage the ejection system and make more work for your self. Finally I recommend removing the tiny Phillips head screw on the underside of the of the disc tray when removing it note the tips on the end of the disc tray rod and that it fits snuggly up inside of holes in the bottom side of the disc tray. Use clear zip lock bags to put the screws and small tools in you will lose a lot fewer parts that way and you may end up decreasing the DVD Potentiometer the one further-est away from the LASER arm to about 900 ohms to get it to read DVD games. New LASER heads come with two anti static short circuiting solder blobs the best way I have found tow remove those blobs is with a clean un tinned small soldering iron the clean tip will wick away the solder and do the job nicely you will need to make sure there is no electrical continuity between the solder points with a multi-meter or your new LASER head will never work see other youtube videos about LASER head replacement good luck.

Great video!!

I took my PS2 apart and cleaned everything, i started it and it started working. I put it all back together, and it wouldn't read the disc or memory card again. I took it apart and it worked. When i put it together, it doesn't read it again. I never had issues with it, i took it out after about 5 yrs and now it's giving me these problems. What do you think is causing the problem?

Oh nice video. I had to buy this from eBay when I was in the Uk. But unfortunately am in Pakistan at the moment I really need the lens. There is a website in Pakistan DarazPk. I just search ps2 lens and I found the KHS-400C for Ps2. This is wow . Price is 700 PKR. Mean £5 yeahhh

I've another problem, my PS2 can read CD with audio / music, DvD with movies but not CD with games or DVD with games. Should i replace the laser or the problem is something else? (Sorry my bad english) PS: I don't get "Disc error", it just keeps loading.

I did not know Sony got a law suit in 2006

My ancient Japanese PS2 is SCPH-18000. Do I really need to buy the exact model of a new laser for that or any laser will work just fine?

Cheers for this, my treasured Japanese scph-10000 has been running hard for 18 years without a hiccup but the laser is getting slow to read both dvd and cd and really struggles reading ps1 games, tried to clean it but still no different, not bothering with laser adjustment I'll just buy a laser, good to know the Chinese eBay ones work OK thanks Update: boought a khs-400c laser worked a treat straight out the box, reads all discs faster than when I bought it...excellent.

Do you put some grease on the caddy mechanism ? Any good brand ?

To make it easier for the qtip to get to the laser underneath the lens, I tear off some of the qtip cotton and then put ipa on the qtip to mat it down a little and walla, fits a lot easier under there.

Thank you very much for this detailed instruction for the lens replacement! I just ordert a pair of these laser modules for my SCPH-50004, and i had to order the KHS400C for best compatibility. just for the others who would like to try it your self, please check the part number. Keep it up! ;)

Hi, I hope you're still answering. Here is the problem. Bought a new 400C laser. I put it in and adjusted the little screw of the laser and the white wheel (my ps2 has only one) to be in balance. But the laser didn't work. Just focusing. After adjustments of the wheel and the little screw and some adjustments of the potentiometer (DVD between 1000 and 1900ohms. now around 1200Ohms) I finally found a position of the white wheel which worked. But not every time. Sometimes I have to reset two to three times until it's reading. But it almost never works after changing the game. After some restarts it does. I don't now why.

I bought a used SCPH-50001 Fat PS2 on Ebay. It still reads DVDs and CDs but when playing PS1 CD games, the background music keeps on skipping although the discs has some mild scratches but when I play PS1 CDs on my SCPH-77001 Slim PS2, I do not encounter this problem. I have recently bought 3 KHS-400C laser modules just in case. I will wait for it to arrive then get my PS2 examined and laser replaced.

Good video, keep up good work (Y)!!!I was wondering if all lasers for PS2 FAT systems are same, or it depends on model?I have PS2 FAT SCPH 39004 and if I buy regular laser for FAT systems, will it work?Please respond.

Hey. I dont know if you see this but i have a similar issue. My ps2 just spits the tray out all the time and doesnt spin a disc or light up the laser. Tryed swapping it but didnt help.

Hello, great video, thanks a lot. My ps2 fat reads CDs but I get the red screen "insert ps or ps2 format" when I read DVDs. Did you have this issue or disc error message?

Hi, my problem with ps2 is, when I put a disc on it, it goes directly at home screen(browser and system configuration). It behaves like nothing is inside the disc tray. But after some restarts, the disc will work fine. What is the problem here?

trying to troubleshoot mine, it will play DVD games, but not dvd movies. it doesn't give me the error though, it just starts making a bad noise when it starts spinning and never reads it. I still have to clean the Laser though. great video :)

This is exactly what my PS2 is doing. I haven't tested regular CDs yet but it's doing the stutter and spins a short time before giving up.

My 3000 reads dvd games but not videos after tinkering with the big white wheel,. Plays cds and ps1 games fine ?

Anyone has a problem with their ps2 where it reads the disc just fine but after the playstation 2 screen pops up nothing happens and the ps2 just makes weird noises?

Where can I get good quality laser for the PS2 fat ??

Thank you very much!!!

Mine is having this problem, but bought it off a person who said it was "cracked" or "jailbroken" and would play pirated games. All I have to do for it to read normal games is reset or sometimes hold the reset button to turn off while the game is in, then turn back on and it overrides the bit that would usually not read the disc.

Ok I need some help. My problem right now is that my 50001 PS2 will not play DVD based discs much like the one in the video. HOWEVER, i'm not sure if the laser is dead or not. Let me explain why: Prior to last night, my PS2 played all discs just fine. PS1, Blue PS2 (CD), and Yellow PS2 (DVD) all worked. I took my PS2 apart because I was trying to fix an issue where Blue PS2 discs sounded like they were being scratched when the drive was spinning. Before I put the disc drive back together, I made sure all the disc types worked and they still were. Then I completely reassembled the console and suddenly Yellow PS2 discs no longer would load. It would give me the disc read error. I tried everything to get it working. Adjusting the height on the white cogs, adjusting the height on the black screw on the rail, and even the potentiometer ohms for the DVD laser. Nothing I did worked at all and I ended up putting the potentiometer back where it was when I started which was 1195 ohms. And for the record, the laser does light up red when trying to read a DVD. Is it possible I damaged the laser or ribbon cable when putting the drive back together? I'm at a loss for what's wrong with it. I did end up buying a new laser hoping it will fix it but I find it hard to believe that I broke the DVD laser just by taking the drive apart and.putting it back together.

Incorrect: The PlayStation 2 was actually the second 6th gen console available after the Sega Dreamcast, which beat it by over a year.

Well, I thought I'd try. I have a PS2 TEST/Debugger unit that is a little different inside than this fat, and it spins and just stays in the browser. Does not notice discs at all. I cleaned it and nothing. Maybe a laser replacement is in order.

One ebaywr says..."You MUST removed the anti-static solder joint before installation. Otherwise the laser will not activate." Any ideas what this means? Didn't see tou do anything?

Will this also work if it doesn’t read CDs either?

Does anyone have a solution for when the disc won't spin? I replaced my laser and desoldered the anti-static point, but the disc will only twitch once I put it in. The laser only attempts to read the disc for a brief second and stops. I've tried this on both CD and DVD games.

I have just replaced a laser but... The old one would read CDs and no DVDs, while the new one reads DVDs but won't read CDs. Is it possible that I did something wrong? (I did it for the first time. I did have some issues to remove the anti static solder point, nearly f@#£ed up the new laser but managed to fix it with the help of needle and plastic foil... Don't ask...). Is it possible that the laser was defective out of the box?

For my 50001 model of the PS2, I had the opposite problem. The DVD ps2 games and normal DVDs play just fine but the ps1 and cd games don’t work. Usually it’s vise-versa

I have a PS2 30,001 and it can't head CD's or PS1 games but can play most PS2 games and only a few DVD movies. Should I also get a new laser for it?

nice video, anyone have advice for a ps2 that only reads cd and dvd? i dont know what the problem is because the larger data ps2 games should be dvd-roms, the same as dvds. it runs dvds and the cd-roms but not the dvd-roms. are they different or is it something else?

Man i did not mark the white wheels. What should i do now?

Did you have to remove some solder points to get this to work? I hear with the replacement laser that's necessary.

After replacing the laser the disk doesn't spin at all. I put the original laser back and everything works just fine ( a part the it doesn't read DVDs as always)... what can it be? I don't get it

Would model 39001 use the same laser?

Where can you get the laser? I thought some posts said you had to solder a couple of places??

Hi, I got a used PS2 FAT and the controller ports are maybe broken. I cannot plug in the controllers. There is any solution?

My DVD player did not work in 2000. I took it back AND got another system. That worked and the DVD player.

I changed my laser but it's still making clicking sounds and it wont spin up. It can still play blue discs but not dvds. Can anyone help me? I've tried everything.

Is it 400B or 400C? Both listed in ebay?

I have one that just keeps saying loading disc but wont ever load. I took it apart and when first putting a disc in the laser will only come on for a second that I can see, looks like it goes off, then makes a clicking sound while attempting to read a disc. Will not read cd or dvd

My 3000 series can read dvds, but for some reason it takes a a couple of minutes for the laser to turn on and start reading the disc. I took mine apart and watched it and the disc will spin but you don't see the laser, then the disc will stop. After about a minute to 2 you can see the laser turn on and then the disc will start spinning again and it works fine after that. For Cds though the laser turns on right away.

Man I had buddy give me his PS2 with same issue. if had known it was that easy to repair I would have kept it. I gave it away like 10 years ago yet people weren't uploading repair vids to youtube.

My disc on my ps2 is not spinning what do I do to fix that issue

I had just found this out with a game I brought

Mine's the other way around. I think i will need to adjust the cd pot on the board.

Nobody knows how to measure those pots, thanks to you i was able ti measure mines. God bless you, have a beautiful day!!!

I had a PS2 Test console that doesn't play DVD, but it's regional free, meaning you can play Japanese imported games. I wouldn't recommend playing DVD on consoles because it will affect your lens.

I cleaned my laser and now my PS2 model SCPH-39002 can read discs again! I can play my games and I reinstalled Free MCBoot because I'm using another USB drive for my 9.00 PS4 jailbreak.

i just left the failed laser alone, got a network adapter and a 500gb hdd, and installed free hd boot and open ps2 loader and some games

I have put a dvd in and it play I’m just having trouble with one game grand theft auto 3 it plays San Andreas and vice city fine I’m confused

I just got a PS2 for cheap, and I'm not sure what is wrong with it. It came with one game, FIFA 2004, and it works without a single problem, it reads it every time. But yeah, that seems like it's the only game that works. I tried running some random movie DVD, and it does not read it. I also tried to run PS1 games on CD, and nothing. It just gives me CD read error. I guess that I will try to clean it, since it looks really dirty inside when DVD tray is opened. If that does not work I guess that I will replace a laser then. But only strange thing here is that it runs that one game that came with it without a problem.

Mine has the Same problem but: It Can Play DVD-ROM Games but will not play CD Games, DVD movie

where did you buy the laser?

Can you please do a tutorial on what to do/fix a fat ps2 30001 or any other fat ps2 model that has no video or audio output please?

Another work around. FreeMCboot if the DVD exploit disk fails try the cd exploit.

Swapped the laser and my machine is still getting a dvd disc read error. 😟

Dreamcast was the first sixth generation console. Also, "Sony Xbox" and "Nine-tendo"?

The KHS400c (with the yellow) was the worst laser that ever came out for the ps2, Once they stop reading that is it, they're toast, the 400R lasted way longer, and usually when it starts skipping all you have to do is clean it, even when wearing out it would still carry on reading games for months, even years. i have about 28 p2 consoles and every one that has the 400c in it, all are kaput and can't be fiddled with, cleaned or nothing. i hate that laser.

I’m have the same problem after replacing…

Went to my local game store that has retro games going back to 70s and80s till now. Went in there for PS2 fat parts they had one that was marked as bad disc drive took it home. Took everything out of it put it in my PS2 because it had water damage powered it on it works cleaned off the lens The drive was acting weird like mine was I realize the ribbon cable to the lens wasn’t connected connected it put everything back together and it plays fine .games DVD сds

How much did the laser cost