Need advice for a chunky PS2 with a failed optical drive

Hi Folks,

I've got a SCPH-50001 with an optical drive that no longer works (disc read error). I've cleaned the lenses and tried monkeying with the little white gears that supposedly raise or lower the lens, but no luck.

I have not tried tweaking laser voltages, as I don't know if it's worthwhile.

Misc facts:

• It's also got a Maxtor HDD in it (I can't remember what size, but I think it's over 100GB). I got the console from a friend, and I don't know what the HDD was being used for, I only noticed that it had a HDD in it when I took it apart this weekend.
• I have two 8MB memory cards,
• My family's games are mostly in the Guitar Hero, Rock Band, DDR, and Karaoke Revolution lines.
• I've got plenty of PC hardware in my arsenal (external HDs, external optical drives, etc.) that I can throw at the problem, if helpful.

Now, I'm looking for advice. I could either buy new parts for this, get a replacement off of ebay, get another PS2 version off of ebay, or potentially use some combination of third-party software to workaround the lack of the optical drive.

I've been reading this weekend about things like hd loader, and all kinds of other third-party software, but since the PS2 has been around for a million (Internet) years, I'm having a lot of trouble sorting out what is pertinent (new) information, and what is obsolete.

What makes the most sense in '09?

If you wouldn't mind, in your response, would you provide some specific links to what I need to read to get up to speed on that suggestion?

Thanks a lot!

Doofus

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Doofus

Hi Folks,

I've got a SCPH-50001 with an optical drive that no longer works (disc read error). I've cleaned the lenses and tried monkeying with the little white gears that supposedly raise or lower the lens, but no luck.

I have not tried tweaking laser voltages, as I don't know if it's worthwhile.

---

No discs are working?
Also no Audio, or PS1-Discs?
Does it still recognize, that you´ve inserted aa disc?

Quote:

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Misc facts:

• It's also got a Maxtor HDD in it (I can't remember what size, but I think it's over 100GB). I got the console from a friend, and I don't know what the HDD was being used for, I only noticed that it had a HDD in it when I took it apart this weekend.
• I have two 8MB memory cards,
• My family's games are mostly in the Guitar Hero, Rock Band, DDR, and Karaoke Revolution lines.
• I've got plenty of PC hardware in my arsenal (external HDs, external optical drives, etc.) that I can throw at the problem, if helpful.

Now, I'm looking for advice. I could either buy new parts for this, get a replacement off of ebay, get another PS2 version off of ebay, or potentially use some combination of third-party software to workaround the lack of the optical drive.

---

I guess, this PS2 has no modchip?
I think the best method (especially if your laser, or BA is fully dead) is FMCB.

Quote:

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I've been reading this weekend about things like hd loader, and all kinds of other third-party software, but since the PS2 has been around for a million (Internet) years, I'm having a lot of trouble sorting out what is pertinent (new) information, and what is obsolete.

What makes the most sense in '09?

---

www.freemcboot.info

If you have a way to start Homebrew, or a friend with a chip, just try to install it.
Otherwise there is a Volunteer-Installer-Thread here on this site also linked in the Tutorials. ;)

Then you could try some homebrew-stuff out.
There are a few interesting things out there...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TnA

No discs are working?
Also no Audio, or PS1-Discs?
Does it still recognize, that you´ve inserted aa disc?

---

It does seem to recognize that I've inserted a disc, because "Browser" shows that it is trying to read it. A while later, it comes back with "disc read error."]

I've tried PS2, DVD, and CD. I couldn't get any of them to read successfully. I don't believe I have any PS1, but I'll check. I doubt the results will be any different though.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TnA

I guess, this PS2 has no modchip?

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I got it from a fairly savvy friend, so there's a possibility, I guess, but I'm not sure. I'll ask him.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TnA

I think the best method (especially if your laser, or BA is fully dead) is FMCB.

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The laser shines, I can see it through the disc. I can see it focusing, moving, etc. Therefore, I guess the laser itself isn't fully dead.

I don't know what a BA is.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TnA

www.freemcboot.info

If you have a way to start Homebrew, or a friend with a chip, just try to install it.
Otherwise there is a Volunteer-Installer-Thread here on this site also linked in the Tutorials. ;)

---

I did see the sticky about the volunteer-installer "program." Quite friendly, that is. I wasn't sure it applied to me yet, but I guess it will. (I don't have a friend with a chip, AFAIK.)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TnA

Then you could try some homebrew-stuff out.
There are a few interesting things out there...

---

Would you care to list a couple pertinent ones? Do you mean some different versions of HD Loader? Is that what it comes down to?

I'll read some more about FMCB right now...

Thanks for the reply,

Doofus

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Doofus

It does seem to recognize that I've inserted a disc, because "Browser" shows that it is trying to read it. A while later, it comes back with "disc read error."]

I've tried PS2, DVD, and CD. I couldn't get any of them to read successfully. I don't believe I have any PS1, but I'll check. I doubt the results will be any different though.

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Atleast, there is a bit hope.

Quote:

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I got it from a fairly savvy friend, so there's a possibility, I guess, but I'm not sure. I'll ask him.

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If there is one, the install might be screwed, but I don´t know.

Quote:

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The laser shines, I can see it through the disc. I can see it focusing, moving, etc. Therefore, I guess the laser itself isn't fully dead.

I don't know what a BA is.

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BA is the "drive-controller", which handles the tray-functions and some other drive-related-stuff...

Quote:

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I did see the sticky about the volunteer-installer "program." Quite friendly, that is. I wasn't sure it applied to me yet, but I guess it will. (I don't have a friend with a chip, AFAIK.)

---

When you know it, just post. :)

Quote:

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Would you care to list a couple pertinent ones? Do you mean some different versions of HD Loader? Is that what it comes down to?

I'll read some more about FMCB right now...

Thanks for the reply,

Doofus

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Media-Players, Gameloaders, Emus, System-Tools, Multi-Tools and all those stuff.
If you find a way, I think the Nooby-Package is a good choice for you.
However you will not need ESR, but if you want to use it with another PS2 which is unmodded, you can still leave it in its normal place.

Interesting development: I contacted my friend, and it turns out that this box *is* modded (with the DMS3 modchip), and it turns out it's got 0.8b HD Loader on it.

Now to figure out what I can do with this...

Thanks,

Doofus

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Doofus

Interesting development: I contacted my friend, and it turns out that this box *is* modded (with the DMS3 modchip), and it turns out it's got 0.8b HD Loader on it.

Now to figure out what I can do with this...

Thanks,

Doofus

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Do some reading here in the forums on HDLoader, and how to load your game onto it and play them (some) without ever using the disk.

And ULe (Ulaunch) = PS2 explorer really, of MC's, USB thumb drives.

SMS (simple Media System) = Movie player, Music player.

You are at your own limits with a PS2 with HDD...

DJ

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Doofus

Interesting development: I contacted my friend, and it turns out that this box *is* modded (with the DMS3 modchip), and it turns out it's got 0.8b HD Loader on it.

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Wow, not bad. Even thought it is an old chip, I also have one of those in my PS2s and they were the first chips, which introduced things like "DEV.1/2-Mode". :)
They are working quite good.
I wish we would be able to flash the upgrade-able Modchips with our own FWs.

Quote:

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Now to figure out what I can do with this...

Thanks,

Doofus

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Like I said, this introduced things like DEV.1/2-Mode, so PS2s modded with this chip can directly boot from MC/HDD.
You can even configure it to auto-boot in a DEV.-Mode, so you auto-start HDL for example.
Another thing is, that this chip also is very compatible with FMCB and official OSD-Upgrades, so that is a useful addition if you want to use other homebrew-apps, too.

Thanks a lot for the info, so far, folks.

I have discovered how to boot from HDD, and there were even some games loaded up on it. I could only try one of them out, though, since they required some sort of DualShock controller, which I must not have (maybe my controller's PS1 or something). That'll be probably the easiest thing I'll have to figure out, but I haven't researched that yet.

I'm afloat in information at the moment, so it's going to take a while to absorb.

I'm on Linux, so it *seems* I've got a bit of a harder path ahead of me. Assuming I'd need hdl_dump, I started down that road, but the road quickly got rocky with compilation problems, etc.

Thanks a lot for the info, so far. Feel free to keep dropping parcels of wisdom on me as I wade through info.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Doofus

I'm afloat in information at the moment, so it's going to take a while to absorb.

I'm on Linux, so it *seems* I've got a bit of a harder path ahead of me. Assuming I'd need hdl_dump, I started down that road, but the road quickly got rocky with compilation problems, etc.

Thanks a lot for the info, so far. Feel free to keep dropping parcels of wisdom on me as I wade through info.

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Search for HDL-Dump Helper GUI and you´ll find a JAVA-HDLDump-Client. :)
There is no need for the SDK, if you don´t want to write/compile apps.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TnA

Search for HDL-Dump Helper GUI and you´ll find a JAVA-HDLDump-Client. :)
There is no need for the SDK, if you don´t want to write/compile apps.

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Thanks for the clarification. I'm glad to know I don't need the SDK, because that was turning into a real can of worms.

The Java HDLDump Client is great, thanks for the pointer. The only problem is that it doesn't *seem* to have USB support, since the app only sees my internal SATA drive, and not the IDE HDD attached with a USB adaptor.

I may have to crack open a desktop and put the drive in there. Otherwise, the GUI takes an IP address, but I haven't figured out how to hit the router with the PS2, and besides, I'm not sure I've got whatever server software on the PS2 that I'd need to handle things on the receiving end, anyway.

Still researching...