Please to diagnose my PS2's problem...

[CmdrSlack]

So I have one of the "original" PS2s.  It has worked like a champ up until a few months ago, a year ago at most.  It is now basically unusable due to serious video flicker.  At first, it was just like the vertical hold on an old-style TV set was on the fritz.  The problem would persist for a bit, then settle down.  Games were playable with some effort.  Now, the picture goes out completely and makes games entirely unplayable.  Either it's there or it's not.  There is no more flicker or rolling effect.  Just blackness.

So far I have: 

• 1.  Swapped out the video component cabley thing -- not a fix, it turns out
• 2.  Tried switching video input ports on my TV -- also no dice.
• 3.  Using my ubar powerful psionic abilities to force the damn thing to work -- not so much.

So yeah.  I think that my PS2 has officially died.  I've had it since about two or three months after it was launched, so I think I've squeezed every ounce of investment out of it.  At this point, I'm considering just replacing it with a refurb from EB or Gamestop (same thing, yes, but I've just moved, so I don't know which is closer to my house).  However, I'm trying to reserve funds for either a Wii or an Xbox 360, perhaps both.  At the same time, I'm not going to even consider buying a PS3 until the price drops. 

So basically, if I want to play my large library of PS2 games -- do I need to get a new/refurb PS2?  Is there some l33t fix that I don't know about?  Perhaps if I sacrifice an EB Games employee?

[MrHat]

Buy a PS3?

[schild]

Silver PS2s just came out... they're pretty awesome looking.

[Signe]

I'm not a big fan of silver, although it's better than the boring old black.  I'll have this, though:



It'll look nice in the living room.

[Trippy]

If you jiggle the AV connector plugged into the back of the PS2 does it affect the picture quality? The crappy design of that connector and slot puts a lot of strain on the slot, especially if you use one of those "high quality" cables that are heavy. I lost one of my audio channels because of that problem. For a while I could get around that problem by "propping" up the connector by sticking a book underneath it so it wasn't straining the slot as much but eventually that stopped working and I replaced it with one of the new small PS2s. You could also try switching the orientation of the unit (horizontal to vertical or vice versa) to see if that changes the stain on the slot enough to fix your picture.

[Yegolev]

If you really want to turn this into a nice do-it-yourself project, you can check a parts vendor for what you might need... which is probably a mainboard.  Here is a link to a place that sorts out parts by version.  You probably have a SCPH-30001 like I do, and probably the ten-screw version, but you will have to examine your PS2.  Looks like a V4 board is going for $50 on that site.

I have been debating if I should open up my PS2 and adjust the laser in an effort to eliminate or just reduce the DREs I get when booting PS1 discs (and that damn blue Harvest Moon disc), but then I remember a shiny new one is only $129.

[geldonyetich]

Too much a coincidence.  Sony must have CmdrSlack's PS2 rigged with a PS3 release date self-destruct killswitch.

[CmdrSlack]

It turns out that my TV was the messed up piece of gear.

I bought a refurb PS2 from EB/Gamestop.  It was fucked.  I returned it.  Got another.  It was also fucked; same as the last, it wouldn't load games.  I got a third one.  It worked, but had the same flickering and mostly blank screen issue as the original PS2 that I bought years ago.  So I hooked the new one up to my wife's crappy-needs-an-RF-adapter-TV.  It worked.  So did my original PS2. 

I returned the third refurb and got cash back.  Things are now good, and if I really want the PS2 on the living room TV, I can use the RF adapter.  Consequently, I'm trying to convince ye olde wife that we need a new TV in the living room.

[Yegolev]

Things are now good, and if I really want the PS2 on the living room TV, I can use the RF adapter.

RF?  Oh, the pain....

[CmdrSlack]

Well, I'm hoping that the wife and I can agree that this year for Xmas, we should just split cost on something nifty and call that our gift to each other.  Since I can't play the PS2 in the living room, and our bedroom TV sucks (see above:  RF adapter) I'm hoping we can finally upgrade to something of the HD variety -- even if it means buying a tube-based TV to save on cost.

[Yegolev]

If you don't plan on getting a 360 or PS3, might as well not bother with a HD (1080) TV, just get one that supports ED or 480p or whatever it might be labeled.

[CmdrSlack]

I'm waiting for the first big price drop on the 360.  The PS3 is out of my price range if it's really going to run around 600 bucks.  I'd rather upgrade my gaming box before I upgrade consoles at that price.