How to Clean the PS2 and Fix “Disc Read Error”

Last night me and my girlfriend were going to face off in Guitar Hero. However, my PS2 just froze while trying to read the disc. After about 4 minutes it said Disc Read Error. It had been getting this way for a while. It would take forever to read the game disc and it would sometimes sit forever at the Browser/System Configuration screen. The unit is 8 years old so I would imagine some filth has built up on the disc reading laser lens inside of it. I decided to clean it out to fix this problem. Here’s how it’s done:

Supplies:

Cotton swab

Small (micro) Phillips head screwdriver

Standard Phillips head screwdriver

Flat head screwdriver

Canned air (optional)

1. Remove all peripherals from the Playstation 2. Discs, memory cards, controllers and modems.

2. Flip the unit on it’s top. 4 rubber feet and 4 square plastic coverings need to be removed from the bottom of the unit.

3. Remove the coverings using a flat head screwdriver. Then remove all of the screws using the standard Phillips screwdriver.

4. Flip the PS2 back on it’s right side. Remove the cover carefully, angling it down toward the front of the unit and flipping it over. Careful, there is a ribbon cable attached on the front side.

5. After the cover is removed, the top of the disc drive is revealed. The top of it must be removed with a small screw driver. Remove the 4 screws to it.

6. Carefully remove the top to the disc drive, and the inside is exposed along with the disc reading lens.

7. Using a damp cotton swab, gently clean the disc reading laser lens.

8. To finish things off you may want to use some canned air to clean out other parts inside of the unit. Put the PS2 back together and it will read discs just like it did when you first purchased it.