Should I perform the Romeo Laser Fix even if I don't need it right now?

[Winner_Is_You]

First off, I'm terribly sorry if I'm bringing up an age old question. After nearly 10 years, I finally decided to get into the whole PlayStation 2 development scene and it's a lot of stuff to take in, to be honest!

Anyways, to get myself started in the scene, I bought my friend's literally unused, back-up PS2 which is an SCPH-50001 (I guess you folks around here refer to these as a Version 9/10 PS2). I read that starting with the 5000x series, and lasting until the release of the 7500x series (I think these were the V15s, but I'm not sure), the PS2s had some pretty serious issues with lasers failing, which led to the Romeo Mod being found.

Thus far, I've been using my PS2 to read a LOT of my games, something around 33 or so, to back it up to my 500GB HDD using HDLoader and Free MC Boot. Some of these games were old CD PS2 games, like Rez, and some of them had quite a few scratches on them, like my copy of Ace Combat 5. I haven't experienced any issues with the disc drive or laser yet when playing games from the disc, but I've been getting worried.

So, in short, considering that I'll never be doing anything like installing a mod chip or making my PS2 try and read burned media, should I bother going and doing the Romeo Mod on my V9/10 PS2? Will any issues arrive in the long term or short term if I do the Romeo Mod, for instance lasers burning out faster or what not? Thanks in advance for any replies.

[TehJawknee]

It never hurts to add the protection for your laser just in case. I mean, I got the mod done to my v12 when I added the HDCombo even though I wasn't originally planning on adding a chip.

In the long run, it's cheaper to add the laser protection than replacing the laser.

[Winner_Is_You]

Originally Posted by TehJawknee

It never hurts to add the protection for your laser just in case. I mean, I got the mod done to my v12 when I added the HDCombo even though I wasn't originally planning on adding a chip.

In the long run, it's cheaper to add the laser protection than replacing the laser.

Thanks a lot for the reply TehJawknee. I'll go with your suggestion and do the mod when I go to swap my case soon. Has there been any updates to the Romeo Mod besides soldering a wire from a +12V source to the laser's +5V source?

[l_oliveira]

Romeo laser fix is a lie and all it will give you is a slower read response on the lens, which translates on slower reading and more chances of mechacon (DVD drive CPU) crash. The only "benefit" you get with Romeo mod is that it takes *more time* for a mechacon crash result in burning the coils.

I'd tell you to AVOID doing Romeo mod in SLIM PS2 units as it has a inverse effect of overloading the 5v power rail and making portions of the PS2 power supply short circuit or break down.

Remember, the lower the voltage, the higher the current. That's physics.

I'd recommend people with V9s and V10s to scrap the modchips and use FCMB+ESR instead, if they insist on using DVDR on these units. Otherwise use OPL with SMB or ATA HDD. Keep the laser from burning by saving it.

[vsub]

Originally Posted by l_oliveira

I'd recommend people with V9s and V10s to scrap the modchips and use FCMB+ESR instead, if they insist on using DVDR on these units. Otherwise use OPL with SMB or ATA HDD. Keep the laser from burning by saving it.

But that problem exist even on non-moded PS2s on which are played only original disks...so why we shouldn't use romeo mod.

My PS2 is second hand(v10)and ~ one month after I added a modchip(without the protection)the laser(including the LA chip)died.When I replaced my laser and the LA chip and this time I added the romed mod(because I didn't know about it at first)and since then(at least 3 years)I don't have any problems with my backups(Verbatim DVD+R booktyped to DVD-ROM)...they are starting on my first try(no red screens at all)and the disk is readed really easy(almost like the originals)

[l_oliveira]

The real nature of the coils burning problem lies on poor quality DVDR media and burners with bad firmware writing wrong ECC data on the media.

If you use a good burner and good media you won't have problems even without Romeo mod.