Cool Uncle Mods: Replacing the PS2 Slim Laser & Troubleshooting Steps

[@vegeta9thousand]

Just what I needed, it was hard finding a guide/vid that removes the laser ribbon cable completely instead of just unhooking the laser, I wasn't sure if both parts had a latch but it seems not. I replaced the whole ribbon since my old one was circularly scratching my discs and now it's working. That was my 77001 and now I need to buy a disc drive+laser replacement for my 79001. Thanks for the vid, and I'd say my favorite ps2 game is between Persona3, SMT Nocturne, and Xenosaga 3.

[@yourcoolunclemarisa]

I'm so happy to hear it was helpful and you got your PS2 was working again! Enjoy it :0) There is a sort of latch on the board end of the ribbon but I didn't notice it either since it is so easy to insert and remove without moving the latch. (Oops.) And thanks for sharing your faves - I've gotta check out Xenosaga and SMT at some point.

[@WickedGamerCollector]

Cool to see you get into the PS2 now. Love your content keep them coming ! 🙌

[@yourcoolunclemarisa]

Glad you like it! 🩷

[@jeremyraman6060]

DUDE! you are an absolute legend! i have bought a laser but thought there was a ton of soldering to do! i'm so tackling this today!

[@yourcoolunclemarisa]

Good luck!

[@obidahasdia4095]

Got same problem swap some ps2 lasers and the laser wont move it was before but now it dont .. I figured that the spindle and motherboard have to match Otherwise laser wont move . So if you got 75000 ps2 for example you have to get the spindle and all parts as they were intended before in the factory you dont just swap them out and magicly works they are specific to each model ​@@yourcoolunclemarisa

[@obidahasdia4095]

​@@yourcoolunclemarisaim ordeing few parts off ebay shells , lasers , spindles and all that specially ribbon cables they break so easily and its annoying they cost like 0.2$ so i will order like 200x 70000 90000 and power buttons all ribbon cables and fans all parts to try to fix my ps2s that worked before disassably i dissable them to clean them from dust thats all so got all kind of problems as you . I got like 4x with matrix infinity working here And got like 10x with matrux infinity that need few parts to work the laser etc either ribbon cables or other things i have hope i can fix all of them as i got x19 slims and 1z sealed brand new slim ps2 90004 And x3 fats .

[@wingweaver4184]

I've been loving your videos they are by far the calmest modding videos ive seen and a good videos to chill to they so calm. And love the channel name btw.

[@yourcoolunclemarisa]

Thank you so much 🥲🩷🩷🩷🩷

[@wingweaver4184]

@@yourcoolunclemarisa your welcome

[@SkvalaGaming]

Great guide! On of the two metal bits at 6:00 fell off, i and i couldn't figure where in the world in should go. Thanks for pointing that out.

[@yourcoolunclemarisa]

Glad it was helpful! Thank you for watching 🩷

[@winsucker7755]

I'm just in a process of buying myself Playstation series!

[@yourcoolunclemarisa]

Excited for you! 🩷

[@albericozapata4086]

It happens cool uncle. No worries. The main objective is trying to save that system. That's what makes you our cool uncle. Showing us how to and what exactly it did/does. Till this day, I still prefer the physical copies than download. I mean, how many games can you cram into a console either way. Memory does run out. Will wait for your next class. Salutations.

[@yourcoolunclemarisa]

Thank you for watching! 🩷 Physical games just feel so good, I buy physical Switch games too so long as the full game is on the cart.

[@IvanilsonMelo]

Another tip: Make sure the ribbon cable is properly attached (glued) otherwise it might touch and scratch your disks. Learned that the hard way. :(

[@ZiadHamwi99]

Hey Marisa, if you've ruled out any possibility of a bad laser, ribbon, or spindle start by checking if the laser lights up when the lid is closes (or when you press the two lid detection buttons by hand). With no disc inserted, it should light up bright red for a quick second (attempting to read DVD) followed by a dim light of red (attempting to read CD). Note, the spindle will never spin without a disc inserted. If it only lights up a dim red then it should read CDs assuming your laser is fully functional. If it does read CDs but doesn't read DVDs (laser does not light up bright red initially) then it's likely that you have a bad inductor on the board which would be L7102 for your PS2 slim model. You can easily locate it using the service manual (pdf available online) and replace it, it is a 4.7uH 2520 SMD inductor. For reference, L7102 is for the DVD laser (bright red) and L7101 is for the CD laser (dim red). Hope this helps.

[@yourcoolunclemarisa]

Thanks so much for the advice! The lights did light up, if I remember, but it is now with another lovely viewer who does repairs and I'm looking forward to sharing with you guys what he discovered as the issue.

[@ZiadHamwi99]

@@yourcoolunclemarisa That’s great to hear, hope you get it working again!

[@unknownpunker101]

@@yourcoolunclemarisa did you ever find a solution to this problem? I’m in the same boat after a laser replacement now the laser don’t move down to try and read the disk and the spindle dosnt spin.

[@DarioDarrow]

I looked at a list of best PS2 games to jog my memory but it seems I haven't played most of them 😅 PAL conversions were pretty terrible over here in the UK (Devil May Cry was the worst example I owned) I ended up getting a Japanese Gamecube so I had full-screen games. I then bought a PS2 from Hong Kong just to get Gran Turismo 6 months early....in NTSC 🙌 ...the things we did before digital downloads 😅

[@yourcoolunclemarisa]

Oh wow, I had no idea! I remember crying because I couldn't take my NTSC PS2 to the UK when we moved 😭 It was all handheld from there til I got a laptop in college.

[@DarioDarrow]

@@yourcoolunclemarisa You probably could have used it here. Most UK TV's back then had an NTSC mode....But if you did it would have altered history and we wouldn't be getting any Game Boy videos on your channel 🙃

[@yourcoolunclemarisa]

@@DarioDarrow Omg really. I'm so sad now hahaha. My mom didn't know any better I guess and was probably glad to part with it after my scam 🤭

[@Monsterfrombtwntheseatcushions]

I'm still stuck on how you took the wrapping of a game console to carpentry just to make sure it was DESTROYED. Damn, I wish my siblings and I tried that when our parents kept returning shit 😂

[@yourcoolunclemarisa]

😈😈😈

[@bokmanrocks]

10:32 Is removing the ribbon cable the same for model 70012? I keep prying but there doesn’t seem to be a lock mechanism like seen here?

[@yourcoolunclemarisa]

I looked up a video for the 7000x and it seems to be the same. Try looking closer, it's on the edges and you have to pull them up.

[@fasttechvideo]

Great video. Most likely the disc drive controller on the board is broken.

[@yourcoolunclemarisa]

Thanks for the comment! You reminded me to post an update in the description. The whole board had to be replaced :')

[@fasttechvideo]

@@yourcoolunclemarisa you’re welcome 😊 Keep up the good content

[@brisingr14]

Woah. You're sneaky 🤭 but lasers is why I just hacked my ps2 and gamecube(with your video) to play roms... Muahahahaha!!!! Ps: you have really nice nails 👍

[@yourcoolunclemarisa]

Yess, I like to have both and then not use either because I'm too busy modding something else 😅 And thank you! 🩷

[@fromhumantosaiyan7958]

Nice content ... ❤ I like your channel ... Good luck 💪🤞

[@yourcoolunclemarisa]

Thank you for watching!! 🩷

[@winsucker7755]

Try resolder the connectors solder? You might cossed the cold joint in soldering with removing it. If that doesn't work you could try to put it in a oven to resolder everything. St least that is what i would do. If you have an multimeter, check connectivity - obviously.

[@yourcoolunclemarisa]

The only reason I don't think it's a cold joint is because I swapped the entire disc assembly and it didn't change anything 😅 And multimeter is a great idea, I've just been too lazy to check continuity on the board 🙈 Thank you for watching!!

[@ActionMenWorldPeacekeepers]

This can actually be a side hustle lol

[@peterford9369]

I just bought a slim from eBay myself as a gift for my grandson. Because I have about 20 games from my old fat PS2 that was stolen years ago. Thankfully it works fine but does leave scratches on some discs. I, like you went to the Web for help. In my case I understand it to be the ribbon cable for the laser, rising up and scratching the bottom of the disc. Your problem is harder but there are many techs out there with videos. So unless you have already fixed it, don't give up hope. But...if worse comes to worse. I saw many PS2 slins on eBay that say, tested and working. They may not be your pretty white one ☺️. But at least you can use it for testing, comparison to yours? Or a parts unit? Or, just keep researching. With your skills and patience. You'll get it figured out. 🤔. Good luck 🍀👍

[@yourcoolunclemarisa]

Thanks! I'm so happy to hear you got your slim working, that's so messed up that your original was stolen 😭 Luckily for me, another Nerdphew is looking at my slim and I'm going to share his findings too once it gets back to me!

[@peterford9369]

@@yourcoolunclemarisa I'll think positive on your behalf and say I'm betting on him finding out the problem and hopefully not too expensive a fix. ✌️🤞

[@asrr62]

I think it might be the sensor that trips when you close the disk door. If it thinks the door it open it won't spin idk. Just a theory

[@yourcoolunclemarisa]

The sensor is absolutely a point of failure too - it's recommended to clean it and test it to make sure.

[@ActionMenWorldPeacekeepers]

The ribbon cables are the common issue with the PS2 not reading the disc the lasers last for years it's better to change the ribbon as well

[@hellbent650]

How many years? Ps2's are at least 20 years old.

[@AreEm-zb7hn]

yah... you're right, I have nothing else.

[@dianagarza9988]

I have a PS2 slim and I would like to know what are the number signs of it dying .

[@devonthechristmashalloween1141]

This would be useful the laser still works on my ps2 I will get one of my ratchet and clank games signed by James Arnold taylor in the following week

[@aizatharis]

Hello cool uncle Marisa! I know this is an old video but I was wondering if you were able to find a fix for the non working disc drive? I’ve got the same problems at the moment and can’t figure out the fix. I’ve tried changing the ribbon, the switch and the disc drive itself to no avail.

[@yourcoolunclemarisa]

Hello! So the guy I sent it to said there was a lot of corrosion on the board that was not visible to me, so I think there was a dead area on the board that I couldn't diagnose with hobbyist tools. He then stole my PS2 and never sent it back. Sorry I can't provide any more help ;_;

[@Deses]

At this point I'll just go ahead and mod the PS2 with a modchip and one of those IDE to M.2 adaptors.

[@yourcoolunclemarisa]

That's a fun idea! I've got it running roms off a micro SD for now, but maybe one day when I'm feeling adventurous about it 🩷

[@asidom9706]

fav games: Ratchet & Clank 3, Ultimate Spider-Man

[@yourcoolunclemarisa]

Ratchet & Clank is so good!

[@robertyu6691]

I'm having trouble removing the smaller screws that hold the silver bar most adjacent to the laser head in place. They're so small and they are stubborn to be unscrewed. What should I do? Which Philips screwdriver should I use?

[@yourcoolunclemarisa]

I'd grab a precision screwdriver set. If they're stripped, use a larger flathead from the set. If they're not stripped, it may be dirty, use isopropyl alcohol to break down the dirt. Good luck!

[@foxzerox1000]

The only thing i can think of is if somthing wasnt grounded properly and caused a short to one of the ceramic caps, or to one of the mofsets

[@yourcoolunclemarisa]

Yeah, I agree, it has to be on a board level at this point since the mechanics of the disc drive aren't the issue. ):

[@foxzerox1000]

@@yourcoolunclemarisa if you want I will happily do the job for you! I have alot of spare ps2 pcbs and parts (my old job was console/phone repair) and I need to get rid of the parts 😅

[@yourcoolunclemarisa]

@@foxzerox1000 omg that's so kind, I'd take you up on that! Send me an email, it should be on my profile 🩷

[@foxzerox1000]

@@yourcoolunclemarisa ok!

[@ancharmz]

I love u ❤ done subs your channel 😊

[@SuperJoeBros]

Just got one recently and it would only read CDs not DVDs after a little research I found out that the under side of the laser assembly has two screws for adjustments one for CDs and one for DVDs I was told to turn clockwise just a few degrees which I did after which it started working just slightly.. thinking maybe I'm gonna go back in and give it a little more idk if anyone else has tried this but would love to hear some more advice about it thanks

[@yourcoolunclemarisa]

It's worth a try! Just be careful you don't bust it. It sounds like replacing the laser should be a good solution :0)

[@robertyu6691]

Which is the ideal soldering temperature to do the task of desoldering the blob?

[@yourcoolunclemarisa]

It depends on your iron but I typically solder with flux at 320C

[@robertyu6691]

@@yourcoolunclemarisa Is it possible to use a solder sucker to take out the solder without the need of flux?

[@robertyu6691]

@@yourcoolunclemarisa If I use a solder sucker, do I still have to use flux?

[@yourcoolunclemarisa]

@@robertyu6691 always use flux, but also a solder sucker is overkill for this. You just need an iron @_@

[@robertyu6691]

@@yourcoolunclemarisa How do you clean off the flux?

[@TrinhNguyen-85]

Sly Cooper was the best ps2 game

[@yourcoolunclemarisa]

Just borrowed them from my friend to finally try!

[@gurney4347]

i cnat see

[@thetwotones232]

I love the ps2 but to say that it’s the best selling consoles of all time it feels like to me that it’s only there for now because you never know how a next gen console will sell we’d have to stop making any games to be able to classify best of all time though

[@yourcoolunclemarisa]

Next time I will consult the crystal ball before making any statement.