PS2 slim not playing some discs

PS2 slim scph-70011.

Recently, my PS2 is having trouble playing some of my games. It started when I tried to get back to Metal Gear Solid 3 Subsistence. I was playing the main campaign (disc 1) and at some point in the game, it kept freezing for periods of time, loading slowly; during the freezing, there would be an icon in the top-left corner switching between a disc and a question mark. Looking online, many others had this same issue with the disc.

So I tried cleaning the disc and giving it a go again. Now, the problem occurred much earlier in the game. Hit reset; now, the game wouldn't even load after the PS2 logo. The system was repeatedly making a noise, like something powering up for a second then powering back down, like it was struggling to read the disc. I try disc 2, same problem. I try the original release, Snake Eater, same problem. Then I try a PS1 game and it loads just fine. I go back to disc 2 of Subsistence and it also loads fine. But attempting disc 1 again seems like it's damaging my PS2. Everything either loads extremely slowly or doesn't load at all, and the same powering up/down sound pattern occurs. Later trying Mega Man Anniversary Collection, the very first loading screen loads slowly, with the same sound pattern; the intro cinematic after it is jittery/freezing as well. But then the rest of the game plays fine.

I have next to no knowledge/expertise in PS2 hardware and repair. I mostly play the games, so I was hoping someone can help assess where the issue is.

It has no trouble running PS1 games and several other PS2 discs, including Driv3r, WWE SVR, WWE SVR 2006, Code Breaker 9. Some of these games running fine are scratched to oblivion, yet they play with no issue.

 

That's an easy fix. Most likely just need to add more voltage to the bias and gain for the laser. If it reads some games, thats normally all it needs. There should be some potentiometers near where the laser plugs in to the board. Mark all their original points and then try tightening them very small and try it again. If it is getting worse, try loosening or more tightening. Good luck!

 

Thanks for the help; so I'll have to take my PS2 apart, huh. It's going to be way more difficult than I thought, as I've never done something like this. Is this video accurate in the potentiometers to adjust?

 

Probably. Can't watch it right now, but it looks right. And trust me, you'll be fine! Its hard to kill a laser, even if you have no idea what you are doing.

 

Sometimes a simple clean with alcohol + cotton swab can do wonders!!

If not, adjusting the potentiometer would be the next step. Be sure to use a multimeter with it!!

 

+1 on this