Display problems with PS2

[MasterB]

I use FMB (which I love, thanks to all those involved!) with my PS2, primarily to watch videos on SMS. About a week ago, I was having trouble playing my videos, where during the video, the display would cut out. I would see a few seconds of a static-ish black screen, then it would change to unusable signal (what my tv says when I have to set to the playstation input, but the playstation is not on). At first I thought it was an encoding error, because I was watching clips that I re-encoded from mkv myself, however it's been doing that a lot recently on even files that I download in avi format. This led me to believe it might not be SMS that is the problem at all, but my PS2 in general, which is why I post this question here. The video black out can last only a second, or sometimes 20-30 seconds, and it happens randomly. I've had it happen 3-4 times in a 30 minute clip, or sometimes it doesn't happen for hours. The odd thing is, as soon as it happens, if I cancel to clip and go back to the SMS menu, it immediately fixes itself every time. Additionally, if I rewind and try to reproduce it, it doesn't happen.

Has anyone heard of this happening and knows what is wrong? My theory is either my AV cable is bad, or my PS2 is going. Maybe it could be an issue with my tv though? I know this isn't something that is easy to diagnose, but I am hoping that is a common problem and someone will know what the most likely answer is right away! Thanks in advance!

[spiderman]

Boy, that does sound like a problem! I use FMCB also, also primarily to watch videos with SMS. SMS does occasionally freeze, usually when browsing for videos, rarely in the middle of playing a video. If you do nothing, does the video return? Does the sound continue while the video is messed up? I have seen AV cables that plugged in loosely to the ps2, and would lose a picture if bumped. The fact that the video fixes itself when you cancel suggests that this isn't a problem with your AV cable or ps2. Maybe you have a bad copy of SMS, try downloading it again and reinstalling it. Could it be a bad MC? Have you tried using a different MC? Did you make any changes to your system around the same time you started noticing the problem? Have you tried a different TV?, they can be funny sometimes. Next time it happens, try wiggling your AV cable or turning the tv off and on. Where are you playing videos from? the ethernet? Maybe there is a problem with the share file on your computer, or maybe to much traffic on your ethernet. Try playing videos from a different source to see if the problem reoccurs.

My first guess would be a bad copy of SMS, second guess, something funny with your tv, third guess, bad AV cable.

[spud42]

my first guess is overheating...... check the PS2 fan and see if it isnt blocked..... phat or slim?

[MasterB]

Thanks for the replies guys. I considered overheating to be a problem as well, since it is a few degrees warmer in here with the summer heat and all. However, the fans are not blocked and working fine, so I wouldn't really know how to resolve that. LUCKILY, I did fix it (if you want to calling it fixing it). What I did was:

1.) Re-downloaded SMS
2.) Plugged my cables into a different AV port on the TV
3.) Reformatted the USB stick (what I play videos off of) and recopied videos to it.

One of those three things seems to have fixed the problem, I haven't had it cut out once after 10+ hours of use so far, when it was doing it multiple times per hour. Thanks again for the suggestions guys!

[Jay-Jay]

Perhaps when you formatted your USB stick. Keep in mind that they get fragmented. It's best with these types of tools to reformat a USB stick at least once a month if you use it quite a lot of "copying over and deleting and repeat".

I will also move this topic where it should have been posted in the first place.