Did I get ripped off? Also, bad lasers, wrong media and strange modchips!

[Farkad]

Skip to the questions if you don't like to read.

Exactly two weeks ago I decided to buy a new PS2. Something that would play them DVD-R and such. Since there is only one place in here that sells pre-modded consoles around here(Haifa, Israel) it was my only option. Long story short ended up shelling out 300$ on a v10 PS2 with a ..wait for it.. Micron 5.0 modchip. Yes. I couldn't find any info about it either. I also couldn't find a cheaper PS2. This isn't the "ripped off" part.
I should mention, though, that the shoppe is pretty shady. They don't look like trustworthy people.

Back to the story; I took a couple of backed up DVD-R discs and started playing. I should mention that those DVD-R discs are pretty cheap(Memorex). Everything worked like a charm. I played for about a week, 5-6 hours a day 2-3 hours at a time. After one week the PS2 started making short clicking noises when starting up the DVD-R games. Everything still worked though. One day after that, most games would play for a while and then just stop(literally). Later on the PS2 stopped playing any games. It could simply launch into "Browse" screen and not find any discs(even originals).
Immediately I took the console to the shoppe I bought it from and left it there for fixing. When I came there today I got some horrible news:
Apparently, the media I used was so bad it overloaded the laser causing it to break down and kill some chip inside in the process.
And fixing it would cost me 50$. Well, he already did the fixing. Now he wants the money.



Now to the questions:

The guy claimed that Blue-backed DVDs are extremely bad and will kill your PS2 very quickly.
Is it true?
Are there ways to lessen the damage(I don't have access to non-DVD-R games right now)?

Would getting a better modchip help reducing damage?

Is it true that V9/10 PS2 are at much higher risk to die from bad media then the older versions?


Lastly, I have another, older PS2, that never could play DVD-R discs. It just made clicking noises when I put them in and could never load them up. That PS2 has a super-ancient Apple Pro modchip. Would replacing that modchip make that PS2 to play DVD-R discs?

Thanks!

[Jay_83]

LA Chip Problem > Do a search on this forum and you'l find out all about it. Version 9 and 10 ps2's all suffer from it.

It's recommended that you do the Romeo Mod when installing the chip. This appears to prevent it from occuring.

Sounds to me like they should have known better!

[NoNo9]

That problem is well known and if they didn't give your unit a Romeo mod then it's very likely to have caused it. I live around Tel-Aviv and managed to get my V10 to burn its laser coils a day after I installed a matrix infinity chip bcz I didn't apply that romeo mod. (Our systems could very likely be from the same f--ked up batch of V10s)
I wouldn't say 50USD is a rip off since the cost of the replacement lens is around 60$ and the LA chip is around 10-15USD so 50 for both parts and labour is amazingly cheap which leads to the conclusion that they most likely didn't replace the laser head and If they just worked around this problem then it's going to return - sooner than later.
(besides most places that sell premodded ps2s here offer 1 year warranty, if that's the case then they shouldn't have charged you at all)

[13862]

go to www.hotgames.forumer.com to get answers!!!!
ask your question there and you will get good quality answers!
tell as many people as you can!

[Farkad]

Originally Posted by NoNo9

(besides most places that sell premodded ps2s here offer 1 year warranty, if that's the case then they shouldn't have charged you at all)

They claim it's my fault because I used DVD-R discs instead of their, "superior" other kind of DVD-R games.
As for the price, It's a bit of a story too. First of all, I got it confused a little bit. It's not 50$ for the repair but 110$ or so(500NIS). The guy claims that the repair cost 220$(1000NIS) and he's willing to take 1/2 of the price because I bought the PS2 from him only a couple of weeks ago.


As for the Romeo Mod, could someone link me to a good resource about it? The only page I could find is this one. It's an okay-ish guide, but still a little bit confusing.

Edit: Also, could someone please tell me if the Romeo Mod makes the PS2 DVD-R safe, or just adding a little bit to the life of the laser? Are there any tips to treat the laser better and make sure it lives longer? For example, that guy in the store said that you should let the PS2 rest 10-15m for every 1-1.5 hours of playing. Any confirmations?


Oh and 13862, thank you so very much for your contribution! I am not finishing this post because I'm off to your wonderfully great foru

[NoNo9]

That's the best one place link that I have found but to sum all the information i have gathered this week from various sources, newer PS2 versions (V9/V10) are supposed to be able to read dvd+-rw and to achieve it, sony replaced the previously used BA chips with LA ones which can handle more types of media - the laser units themselves were not changed and are the same as say V7s.
The main problem is that when a media is poor, instead of giving up, the LA chip tries harder by pumping more current into the coils - bad media results in current spikes that are beyond the tolerance of the coils which amazingly quickly get burnt, the even sadder part is that when they burn they just melt abit causing shorts which quickly reduce the resistance of the coils, in an attempt to overcome that problem our beloved LA chip pumps in more and more current which causes further reduction of resistance in the coils until the coils (normally the focusing one) gets to around 0.9 ohms and at that point the LA chip blows putting the whole fiasco to a sad end with a disfunctioning unit. At that point you have to replace both the laser unit and the LA chip... (It's funny how none of the fuses burn in the process, I wonder why Sony put them there in the first place)
Romeo mod just replaces the 12V input to the LA chip with a 5V one, thus reducing the possible current by more than half - that way, the coils live longer but bad media can't be read.
Good DVD-Rs are considered to be RitekG04 ones (Hopefully, I'm going to get some tomorrow) but...
A. I have no idea how much longer do Romeo modded systems live though I haven't seen reports of people complaining after having systems modded that way.
B. I still don't know the status of bad cd media (I have chepo cds gallore - and it was one of these that ruined my system in the first place) how much danage can bad cds cause to a system modded with Romeo?

[patch god]

He is ripping you off. He is dodgy and cheating you. Discs don't wreck PS2's, s*** soldering and lame chips do.

Now he wants you to pay more? WTF? He did a crap job to get more money out of you.

And HELL no, I have played my PS2 for 8 hours straight. I have played THOUSANDS of hours on it. Works fine.

Use a good chip and good media (ritek, TY, verbatim) and a good burner (pioneer 106). The word "problem" will be unheard of

[sl33p]

lol what a cycle of tricks that guy has up his sleeve... not doing the romeo mod and making the customer come back for a 100 dollar fix every months, if not week.
and aout the giving your ps2 a rest thing... i dont think thats true.. i think the ps2 manual says to give your EYES and BODY a 15 minute break not the ps2.

[Farkad]

Would it be safe to use lower quality discs(Memorex) once the Romeo Mod is done?

You see, I'm still extemely paranoid of the PS2 making the slightest noise. I just turn it off after 15m of use.
Someone please ease my mind!

As for better media, I don't have access to it. Memorex is the best I can do, and a post in these forums checking DVDs said that Memorex and Riltek are just as good as originals.

[NoNo9]

http://www.dstore.co.il/yp/product.asp?pc=61790
If you can go and pick it up from their place when you are in the center then it would be rather cheap.
These are not fakes, they are the real deal.

[Farkad]

What about the games I already have on Memorex? Can I still play them?

Or is the risk of completely destroying the PS2 again is too high?

[lufcfan]

No, don't use Memorex. It'll kill your laser whatever. Backup to Ritek and ALWAYS do a Romeo Mod.

[Farkad]

Originally Posted by lufcfan

No, don't use Memorex. It'll kill your laser whatever. Backup to Ritek and ALWAYS do a Romeo Mod.

The Romeo Mod is already done.
I assume that copying over from Memorex to Ritek would be safe?

[lufcfan]

Yes it would, but why don't you just copy from your original?

[Farkad]

I serve in the IDF(Israeli Defence Force AKA Army). My originals are tucked safely under my bed at home. So gaining access to them would take much time and effort. Oh, and I don't want to bring them to base and have someone accidently borrow them. Forever.