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[MiyazakiHatesKojima]

I've been tormented by an incident last year when I got a used PS2 slim console and tried to insert a disc. When I tried, the disc fell on the lens in a slanted angle (kind of like this symbol ---> / ) and to this day, I still don't know whether I damaged the lens permanently or not.

I'm hoping someone can help me by letting me know whether I damaged the lens permanently or not. In my mind, the lens is like a squishy material that can pop if anything touches it in the slightest. I need to learn the truth and remove these silly tormenting misconceptions and please, I'm not trolling or anything. I just need closure.

 

[dotnotbot]

Does it work? If yes then no, but if no then yes.

 

[Spukc]

Apologise to sony

 

[MiyazakiHatesKojima]

Does it work? If yes then no, but if no then yes.

It worked afterwards, but I still need to know whether the disc touching the lens did any legitimate damage to it.

 

[MiyazakiHatesKojima]

Paging DunDunDunpachi as we speak.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

It's a glass lens.

Does your window scratch when you scrape a piece of plastic against it?

 

[MiyazakiHatesKojima]

It's a glass lens.

Does your window scratch when you scrape a piece of plastic against it?

Arigatou, DunDunDunpachi -San

So just to confirm, the lens is alright if it gets a little bump by accident from a disc being inserted?

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Arigatou, DunDunDunpachi -San

So just to confirm, the lens is alright if it gets a little bump by accident from a disc being inserted?

Yeah the big concern wouldn't be if the lens got scratched but if it was somehow unseated or the surrounding electronics were damaged by it. These are consoles that were designed to survive a fall off a shelf. A scratch wouldn't be a benign problem that progressively turns into a real problem over time anyway (unless you continue to scratch it). If it was scratched you'd probably notice it immediately.

Do you have any playable-but-kinda-scratched-up PS2 games in your collection? Maybe there will be issues when you play those fringe cases but I wouldn't sweat it.

 

[MiyazakiHatesKojima]

Yeah the big concern wouldn't be if the lens got scratched but if it was somehow unseated or the surrounding electronics were damaged by it. These are consoles that were designed to survive a fall off a shelf. A scratch wouldn't be a benign problem that progressively turns into a real problem over time anyway (unless you continue to scratch it). If it was scratched you'd probably notice it immediately.

Do you have any playable-but-kinda-scratched-up PS2 games in your collection? Maybe there will be issues when you play those fringe cases but I wouldn't sweat it.

I have games that are not in perfect condition (planning to send them to the US for polishing but don't know where) and the bump that my lens got was very mild. I tried to insert the disc using a certain way and the disc softly fell on the area where the lens was. I just got scared that a bump would permanently damage it but now I know that's not the case anymore, Thank God!

Thanks for letting me know this and I knew I could count on you for this kind of inquiry.

 

[Clear]

More likely the disc is damaged than the lens to be honest, and historically the weakness with Sony's optical drives was heat or vibration wrecking the "sled" mechanism the head moves along.

 

[J3ster]

Depends on the rpm of the disc...

 

[ROMhack]

I'm actually scared that you're posting seriously.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Blu Ray would've probably scratched the lens, owing to its ability to cause cancer.

 

[Mocklogan]

As a guy who's been fixing systems for years, I'm sure it's fine.

 

[Verdanth]

Cotton ear and ethyl alcohol works wonders.

This was the shit back in the day. Great soundtracks

 

[Trimesh]

I've been tormented by an incident last year when I got a used PS2 slim console and tried to insert a disc. When I tried, the disc fell on the lens in a slanted angle (kind of like this symbol ---> / ) and to this day, I still don't know whether I damaged the lens permanently or not.

I'm hoping someone can help me by letting me know whether I damaged the lens permanently or not. In my mind, the lens is like a squishy material that can pop if anything touches it in the slightest. I need to learn the truth and remove these silly tormenting misconceptions and please, I'm not trolling or anything. I just need closure.

If there are no visible scratches on the lens and the drive still works, you didn't damage it. The lens is actually made of hard plastic (typically polycarbonate or PMMA) and the reason it moves is that it's attached to a 3-axis device that's used for focus, tracking and compensation for disc skew. In fact, even if the lens IS scratched it will probably still work as long as the scratch doesn't cross the very small area in the center of the lens where the beam is.

 

[A.Romero]

I have games that are not in perfect condition (planning to send them to the US for polishing but don't know where) and the bump that my lens got was very mild. I tried to insert the disc using a certain way and the disc softly fell on the area where the lens was. I just got scared that a bump would permanently damage it but now I know that's not the case anymore, Thank God!

Thanks for letting me know this and I knew I could count on you for this kind of inquiry.

Mad respect for investing in polishing the discs. A true gamer.

 

[Northeastmonk]

I use to pull back on the lens of my console. You know the part that can move back and forth. I’d stick my finger in there like an idiot, especially during the days of the disc swap technique. I don’t think you damaged anything. Unless it stops working, then you know.

 

[Dane]

Its easier that your console lens will start to be faulty and need to be turned upside down due time, than your disc damage it.

 

[-Arcadia-]

It actually operates on the five second rule. So, as long as you briefly touched it for under that amount of time, the scratch can not actually physically manifest, in accordance with the laws of physics.

 

[marquimvfs]

The lens itself probably weren't touched by the disk, its rest position is a little above the metal cover around the optical unit, the lens only arises during focus.

 

[marquimvfs]

The lens its rest position is a little above

I mean a little below, sorry

 

[Tesseract]

do you have ocd or something, yer probably fine dude

 

[CyberPanda]

As long as your penis works then that's all that matters.

 

[Joyful]

it'll die on its own without any intervention in my experience, highly recommend u get freemcboot and load games over the network cable instead

 

[SLoWMoTIoN]

Just get a launch ps3

 

[Trimesh]

Just get a launch ps3

The problem with that is the PS3 models that have PS2 BC (CECHAxx - CECHExx) are also the ones with the 90nm RSX and Cell chips, and at this point it's pretty clear that the long-term failure rate on them is close to 100%. The CECHAxx/CECHBxx consoles (I.E. the ones with full hardware based PS2 BC) are the least reliable of all. I still have a DECHA01 test kit, and I'm reluctant to even turn it on...

 

[SLoWMoTIoN]

The problem with that is the PS3 models that have PS2 BC (CECHAxx - CECHExx) are also the ones with the 90nm RSX and Cell chips, and at this point it's pretty clear that the long-term failure rate on them is close to 100%. The CECHAxx/CECHBxx consoles (I.E. the ones with full hardware based PS2 BC) are the least reliable of all. I still have a DECHA01 test kit, and I'm reluctant to even turn it on...

How hard would it be to fix it? Basic soldering?

 

[CoffeeExpress]

Are you ashamed of your words and deeds ?

 

[Trimesh]

How hard would it be to fix it? Basic soldering?

It's doable if you have experience and the right equipment, but certainly not easy. The short version is that you need to remove the Cell and RSX, clean them up, replace the solder balls (preferably with PbSn ones since they seem to last longer) and then solder the parts back to the board. You should also remove the heatspreader from the chips and replace the (generally completely dried out) thermal paste below it.

The other thing to watch out for is that these packages are flip-chip BGAs and have two sets of interconnections - one between the chip and the package and the other between the package and the PCB it's soldered to. As a result, you need to be very careful about the rate of temperature change, since rapidly heating or cooling can introduce thermal gradients that will break the connections between the chip and the package. If this happens, then the chip simply won't work even if it is correctly reballed. This is also the reason that a lot of people permanently killed these consoles trying to reflow them with heat guns. Typically, the device vendors recommend temperature ramp rates no greater than 2/3 degrees C / second - which is easy to do if you have a proper BGA machine, but quite a challenge if you are trying to install the parts using just hot air.

 

[Doczu]

Arigatou, DunDunDunpachi -San

So just to confirm, the lens is alright if it gets a little bump by accident from a disc being inserted?

Dude, i've scratched off some stuck dirt with my fingernail once. It was so stuck, thst i REALLY had to scratch. Still works like a charm.

Random bumps aint enough for permanent damage. Unless you had a brick tied to the disc and the brick touched first

 

[SLoWMoTIoN]

It's doable if you have experience and the right equipment, but certainly not easy. The short version is that you need to remove the Cell and RSX, clean them up, replace the solder balls (preferably with PbSn ones since they seem to last longer) and then solder the parts back to the board. You should also remove the heatspreader from the chips and replace the (generally completely dried out) thermal paste below it.

The other thing to watch out for is that these packages are flip-chip BGAs and have two sets of interconnections - one between the chip and the package and the other between the package and the PCB it's soldered to. As a result, you need to be very careful about the rate of temperature change, since rapidly heating or cooling can introduce thermal gradients that will break the connections between the chip and the package. If this happens, then the chip simply won't work even if it is correctly reballed. This is also the reason that a lot of people permanently killed these consoles trying to reflow them with heat guns. Typically, the device vendors recommend temperature ramp rates no greater than 2/3 degrees C / second - which is easy to do if you have a proper BGA machine, but quite a challenge if you are trying to install the parts using just hot air.

Holy shit I should just mod my Ps4 at this point.

 

[Trimesh]

Holy shit I should just mod my Ps4 at this point.

This is exactly why my DECHA just sits there turned off

 

[Dane]

How hard would it be to fix it? Basic soldering?

Reballing with lead I suppose.

The problem with that is the PS3 models that have PS2 BC (CECHAxx - CECHExx) are also the ones with the 90nm RSX and Cell chips, and at this point it's pretty clear that the long-term failure rate on them is close to 100%. The CECHAxx/CECHBxx consoles (I.E. the ones with full hardware based PS2 BC) are the least reliable of all. I still have a DECHA01 test kit, and I'm reluctant to even turn it on...

Honestly, the last generation consoles except for Wii and portables are unreliable as fuck, I had to send a X360 S to reball, my Jasper never required that, and according to some, it's actually the most reliable model, the SoC models heat more due to its layout.

The PS3 fat models became a time bomb in 2009, when they were being two to three years old.

 

[Handy Fake]

Not unless you tied it to a brick and threw it at the console from across the room.

 

[SLoWMoTIoN]

Reballing with lead I suppose.



Honestly, the last generation consoles except for Wii and portables are unreliable as fuck, I had to send a X360 S to reball, my Jasper never required that, and according to some, it's actually the most reliable model, the SoC models heat more due to its layout.

The PS3 fat models became a time bomb in 2009, when they were being two to three years old.

My wii's cd drive is fucked so yeah...

 

[cireza]

You should have dropped a Wii U disc. They are soooo smooth, no risk to scratch anything.

 

[Tomeru]

Probably not. This thing was common with xbox360 where countless disks lost their lives to The Lens. I didnt run into one faulty lens in them cases.

 

[MiyazakiHatesKojima]

I still feel tormented

 

[MiyazakiHatesKojima]

Dude, i've scratched off some stuck dirt with my fingernail once. It was so stuck, thst i REALLY had to scratch. Still works like a charm.

Random bumps aint enough for permanent damage. Unless you had a brick tied to the disc and the brick touched first

Yo, wait a sec, how come I'm reading this for the first time?

 

[Hawks Eclipse]

I've been tormented by an incident last year when I got a used PS2 slim console and tried to insert a disc. When I tried, the disc fell on the lens in a slanted angle (kind of like this symbol ---> / ) and to this day, I still don't know whether I damaged the lens permanently or not.

I'm hoping someone can help me by letting me know whether I damaged the lens permanently or not. In my mind, the lens is like a squishy material that can pop if anything touches it in the slightest. I need to learn the truth and remove these silly tormenting misconceptions and please, I'm not trolling or anything. I just need closure.

You've probably already gotten your answer but I wanna give my two cents...

Original PS2 uses glass for the lens, PS2 Slim uses plastic. That's what my friend who worked on these things back in the day told me.

It's also why failure rate of PS2 slims reading discs is higher because apparently the lens would melt and deform over time IIRC.

 

[Elektro Demon]

Just wipe the lens with some isopropyl alcohol and it's gonna be fine.

 

[xool]

I've been tormented by an incident last year when I got a used PS2 slim console and tried to insert a disc. When I tried, the disc fell on the lens in a slanted angle (kind of like this symbol ---> / ) and to this day, I still don't know whether I damaged the lens permanently or not.

I'm hoping someone can help me by letting me know whether I damaged the lens permanently or not. In my mind, the lens is like a squishy material that can pop if anything touches it in the slightest. I need to learn the truth and remove these silly tormenting misconceptions and please, I'm not trolling or anything. I just need closure.

No (and maybe yes but it doesn't matter)

• The lens has a hard coating on it and is made from optical plastic that is just as hard as the CD polycarbonate - it probably wasn't damaged
• Even if it got scratched it would have just been the top point of the lens - but the lens works by gathing light in a wide area - so it literally doesn't matter .. you could put a black dot of ink there and it would still work
• Because the information is digital the way scratches affect, say, a photography lens, doesn't matter here - it wont make a 1 (dark) look like a 0 (light)

What I would avoid doing is trying to fix lens that aren't obviously broken - the lens sort of "floats" and the mechanism can be delicate .. you might be more likely to damage it trying to clean imaginary scratches on it ..

 

[Kenpachii]

Dunno, didn't saw a lens option on PCSX2.

 

[Fushitsusha]

Dude, it's a PS2, not a Ferrari -- Which you also bought used and it has been tortured even worse by all the previous owners.

 

[MiyazakiHatesKojima]

Dude, it's a PS2, not a Ferrari -- Which you also bought used and it has been tortured even worse by all the previous owners.

 

[Ar¢tos]

Good thing it wasn't a bluray laser, or everything in a 5km radius would have been pulverised.