Ps2 won't play ps1 games or dvds but plays Ps2 games and CDs fine?

[angelicshadowdemon]

Model is SCPH-50002, fat, PAL.
Bought a PS2 on ebay a while back, got it cheap because the seller didn't have a power cord and it was therefore untested but works fine, runs the (one) PS2 game I've played on it so far perfectly. Also tested how it runs CD's by popping one in, that ran fine as well.
Problem is, I've dropped in three separate PS1 games to try and run them with no luck: Pirated NTSC version of MGS1 (was a donation at the op-shop I work at, didn't work but wasn't really expecting it to), Shane Warne Cricket '99 (another donation, wanted to take it home to test, PAL but very scratched, figured that was the problem), and a friend's PAL copy of Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee. That last one I expected to work but no dice.
Also popped a couple dvd's in because I was told PS2's could run those, no luck. Tried a pirated copy of TLK: Special edition and my copy of Spiderverse, neither worked.
Not a very tech-savvy person when it comes to hardware so I'm hoping if it is a problem with the hardware I can find someone able to repair it.

 

[AkikoKumagara]

Hard to know for sure what the cause of this is. It very well could just be an aging issue, in which case adjusting the laser potentiometer would likely be the solution.

 

[KleinesSinchen]

A working PlayStation 2 plays the following media:
* Audio CD
* Video DVD
* PS1 games (black CDs)
* PS2 games (blue CDs)
* PS2 games (normal silver DVDs)

All formats but the audio CD are region locked. If there is no modchip or other modification, only games and movies from the correct region (or region free DVDs) will work.
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Forget about burned media unless you know there is a modchip installed. Anyway, an unmodified PS2 should at least acknowledge the presence of a game on CD-R or DVD±R and make the screen go red with a message like "Please insert a PlayStation or PlayStation 2 format disc."

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The question is if your PS2 is technically able to read discs fine. Use CDs and DVDs that are known to work in other PS2 consoles. If this doesn't work, it is an issue with the laser/drive.
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I got a fat PS2 that would hardly read any discs. Turned out the laser lens was almost blind: Brownisch-yellowisch film on the lens. Just a bit of isopropyl and a q-tip made the PS2 good as new (to be honest I had to clean the whole thing because it stank like an ashtray – smokers ruin their things faster).



Edit:
I want to add that a fat PS2 with a defective drive is far from being useless. With a HDD adapter and FreeHDBoot it can still play games (even better than from disc).

 

[tech3475]

Do burnt PS2 ‘master disc’ games work? Because it sounds like you have Mechapwn installed with force unlock:
https://github.com/MechaResearch/MechaPwn

 

[angelicshadowdemon]

Yeah, figured burned media wouldn't work but it was worth a try.
Don't think anyone I know has a PS2 that I could easily test with. If anyone can link me some reliable methods of cleaning or adjusting parts of the disc drive that are unlikely to end in me breaking it with inexperience, that'd be much appreciated!
Had the red screen happen once with one of the first two discs, currently anything it isn't reading is displaying as the blue Playstation 2 disc, selecting it causes the screen to fade out for a second or two, then fade back in.

It's definitely not useless, worked perfectly the second I found a spare power cord and put my game in, figured I'd likely run into an issue like this due to being old and second-hand (not to mention sold online for cheap). Don't know about region-locked dvds (didn't know they did that until I looked it up), the spiderverse copy I tried it with was bought in a shop (Major retailer) approx 5 minutes away from my house so I assume it's for this region. Figured maybe a movie that came out in 2019 might be a little too modern for the PS2 to handle.

Appreciate the suggestions so far!

 

[angelicshadowdemon]

@tech3475 I'm gonna be honest, I have no idea what those are. Judging by the memory card that came with the PS2, it was last used in 2014. How would I check for Mechapwn?

 

[tech3475]

I haven’t run Mechapwn so I wouldn’t know for sure, if you don’t have a method to run the installer to hand, the easiest way may be to burn a master disc converted game.

The only reason I suspected it was because it seemed to match allot of your issues according to the github page.

You can still probably make use of the system by putting a HDD in it.

 

[KleinesSinchen]

Press the triangle button on the screen saying:
Browser
System Configuration

This should open some information.
If MechaPwn has been used the console type should have been changed to something with DTL instead of "SCPH-50002"

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As for opening and cleaning (after checking all other problems like wrong region, bad discs and MechaPwn force unlock) refer to ifixit.com
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/PlayStation+2+Optical+Disc+Drive+Lens+Cleaning/1331

No idea about the potentiometer never did this.

Good luck!

 

[Bladexdsl]

the ps2 laser that originally came with it is garbage eventually it breaks down and won't work it's a common issue with ps2 that sony never bothered to mention. a lot of ps2 owners got their laser removed for a better one in the day including me. if it is the laser and it sounds like it is than it's only a matter of time before the ps2 becomes completely unusable. prob why they sold it in the first place.

there's a few guides showing you how to do it yourself google ps2 laser replacement. and you will need to get a new laser but they are dirt cheap these days.