Soul Calibur 2 Disc Read Error

[Moose Jr.]

I have a very curious problem. Whenever I try to play Soul Calibur 2 on my sister's PS2, it spins up but can't read the disc. It used to play just fine but over a few days it got harder and harder to get to run (we would reset the system a few times and it would work). My first instinct was that the laser assembly had gone bad like on so many other ps2s but strangely, every other ps2 game I tried worked just fine. And the disc itself has only tiny scratches on it, fewer and smaller that some on the other games I tried.

I'm stumped. Google didn't help much either. Any ideas?

 

[RJARRRPCGP]

With a Playstation system, a common cause for disc read errors, including the Playstation displaying the message telling you to insert a Playstation disc and refusing to boot off of the Playstation CD is a dirty Playstation CD.

 

[Tagrineth]

RJARRRPCGP, nice cut and paste.

Look at your other PS2 games that will run on your sister's PS2... what colour are the discs? Blue or silver?

Blue discs are plain CD-ROM, silver are DVD-ROM.

Older PS2's (mostly 30001 and a moderate amount of 39001) tend to have dodgy DVD lasers which like to crap out after a while... but they don't do it right away, they die slow deaths... and then one day they just won't load DVD's any more.

I've seen it myself.

 

[dnrobs]

may be bearings turn ps upside down after inserting disc

 

[Tagrineth]

hahaha... I doubt that'd affect a PS2.

Ooh, that makes me wonder though.

Moose, is your sister's PS2 set vertically or horizontally?

 

[jollyrancher]

How do the "lasOrs" crap out that soon??? I'd think it would be the CD motor since movable parts are always the first to go. Anyway, unlike a PC, there are only so many steps to figure out the problem... it's either the disc (take a closer look), the lens is dirty (clean it) or a hardware problem (get out your credit card).

 

[RJARRRPCGP]

RJARRRPCGP, nice cut and paste.

Look at your other PS2 games that will run on your sister's PS2... what colour are the discs? Blue or silver?

Blue discs are plain CD-ROM, silver are DVD-ROM.

Older PS2's (mostly 30001 and a moderate amount of 39001) tend to have dodgy DVD lasers which like to crap out after a while... but they don't do it right away, they die slow deaths... and then one day they just won't load DVD's any more.

I've seen it myself.

LOL! :teehee:

 

[mesman00]

RJARRRPCGP, nice cut and paste.

Look at your other PS2 games that will run on your sister's PS2... what colour are the discs? Blue or silver?

Blue discs are plain CD-ROM, silver are DVD-ROM.

Older PS2's (mostly 30001 and a moderate amount of 39001) tend to have dodgy DVD lasers which like to crap out after a while... but they don't do it right away, they die slow deaths... and then one day they just won't load DVD's any more.

I've seen it myself.

had that happen to me too. brought it back with no box or controllers or receipt or nothing and after sweet talking for about 30 minutes i got them to swap only the console. they just took the new on out of the box, put mine in, and sent it back to sony.

 

[Trotterwatch]

I remember with the PS1, I purchased it quite soon after the console came out (I got it 2nd hand from someone for like £200 with some games). Anyways the guarantee was still in the box, so I sent it off. About 8 months later it starts crapping out on me. Quick call to Sony on a local rate line, and they are sending a courier out to me to give me another PS1 (the next day!)

That one breaks after 5 or so months, so knowing I am out of guarantee I phone Sony to see what I can do... and what do you know, they only said they'll replace it for me again! And again what happens, courier to my house the very next day.

Gotta hand it to them, they managed to gain so much respect from me when I had that PS1. Not the most reliable console in the world, but at least they were prepared to rectify the situation when it went wrong.

 

[Moose Jr.]

Wow, thanks for all the replies.

Here's some more info:

Final Fantasy X works but not Soul Calibur 2; both are DVD-format. :getlost:

Ratchet and Clank works fine too, but I'm not sure what format it is. I'll check as soon as I can.

My sister tried to watch X-Men 2 (DVD) on it last night, but no go. It was from Blockbuster, so it couldv'e simply been dirty.

We bought it used on ebay, and although we have never run discs in it while vertical, I can't say if the previous owner did or didn't. I doubt it though, since it came with a mobile screen. Curious note: SC2 also came with the console.

In the case that Ratchet and Clank turns out to be a DVD too, could I use a few PS1 games to test the CD-reading capabilities?

 

[neoak]

The lens is the same for CDs and DVDs. Sony developed a new one, but seems like they went for the easy money instead of quality. The lens will stop reading after 3 years or so of use, be vertical or horizontal.

Also, new DVD games since Xenosaga Ep.1 and GTA:VC are Dual layer, instead of the old Single Layer. That prevents a first generation PS2 (30000) from reading these new games without skipping or DRE.

The design flaw was put there intentionally by Sony. Because with the PSX they were entering the market, they were nice, as MS is with the XBox now. But, because Sony has a lot of money, they doesn't care if your console stop reading games (After 3 years, long after the warranty expired). They will tell you that you either pay like $140 to get it fixed (and 8 weeks of wait) or to get a new one. Either way, they win and you'll fork over more cash because you invested a hefty sum in games.

$ony only cares how well the PS2 sells, not for the design flaws.

 

[Tagrineth]

How do the "lasOrs" crap out that soon??? I'd think it would be the CD motor since movable parts are always the first to go. Anyway, unlike a PC, there are only so many steps to figure out the problem... it's either the disc (take a closer look), the lens is dirty (clean it) or a hardware problem (get out your credit card).

The voltage regulators that power the laser crap out. And even with the same lense, the lasers for CD and for DVD are extremely different.

It CAN'T be the CD motor, since a PS2 with the infamous "Disc Read Error" problem will NOT play DVD's under any circumstances, but will play CD's with no problems whatsoever. Basically it becomes a big, black, expensive PS1 that can play a handful of early PS2 games.

Moose Jr.: Yes, you can use PS1 games to see how well it runs CD's. It shouldn't have any problem at all with any of them, provided the discs themselves aren't scratched to death. It's the DVD reading that causes problems.

neoak: That's a load of crap. My friend Stacy has an SCPH-30001 that she got about three weeks after the console launched, and got lucky - it doesn't have any such problems at all and still loads fine, INCLUDING GTA:VC, and if you'd like, I'll test my Xenosaga in her PS2 next time I'm over there. I've personally played VC on her PS2 myself and it runs with no problems whatsoever, anywhere.

 

[Moose Jr.]

Good news. My sister and I took it apart and cleaned the laser with rubbing alcohol, and now it works great again! Soul Calibur works fine, and I popped in The Matrix to test playback; all good. I'm just glad it wasn't anything more serious like voltage or alignment.

Case closed. Thanks for the help!

 

[sheik124]

Good news. My sister and I took it apart and cleaned the laser with rubbing alcohol, and now it works great again! Soul Calibur works fine, and I popped in The Matrix to test playback; all good. I'm just glad it wasn't anything more serious like voltage or alignment.

Case closed. Thanks for the help!

after my bad experience with opening consoles (busted my LCD during afterburner installation, but ABHQ.com fixed it :]) i'd never take apart something even more delicate like a dvd-rom drive