I've had a ps2 slim since 1½ years back (december 2005). I also got it modded with a DMS4 Lite (i think,maybe pro). I've burned many games and i've bought quite a few aswell. I haven't been very into the specifics and stuff but recently i've found out that the ps2 can stop to work if you use burned games, (the lens). I have a few questions.
What is the best way to make your lens last as long as possible? i assume with even real games (store bought) the laser will eventually quit, but how much different is it with burned games? will it die twice as fast or something? How do you notice id the lens is bad, or starting to get bad? I'm using Philips DVD+R/RW and so far i've had a couple of problems, i don't know if it's the machine, the chip, the media, the game or the program i use. I use mostly DVD-Decrypter and CloneDVD. The problems i've had is that the game disc us "unable to read", "please insert PS2/PS1 Disc" and that the screen is all black, but it was quite a while since i've had any of those problems. Anyway since i found out that the lens can die quicker i've mainly played original games, if anyone can enlighten me i would very much appreciate it!
Playing any burned games or even movies can cause your lens to die quicker. The amount of damage however will be less if you use good media. You shouldn't be using rewritable disc at all and I don't know what media code those philips you use are but you're probably better off with one of the top three. Taiyo Yuden, Verbatim, Or Sony. I've been playing burned games exclusively on my Old Fat PS2 since 2004 and it's still going strong so I wouldn't worry too much about damage unless you are causing a great deal of damage using really bad media.
what about +r vs -r? I've heard that many use -r, my burner can't burn -r only +r. But i ahevn't experienced any flaws so far in the quality of games i've burned.
you said "you shouldn't be using rewritable disc at all". Why not? do they make the laser die quicker? I usually burn a game on a RW to see if it's good, If it's good i keep it and burn on a +R if not i just discard it
I personally stick to -R media, as its generally accepted to be easier to read than +R. Chances are it really makes no difference.
However, I have heard that +RW media is tough on a laser and should be avoided. With blank media so cheap these days, I don't see any reason to worry about a few coasters.
One thing to check - does your slimline have a modem and an ethernet jack on the back? If so, you should get a laserfix. v12 systems had an issue with the laser burning out. If you just have an ethernet jack, you're fine.
i don't have my PS2 here infront of me right now but i think i have v14. 75004 (i pretty sure its that..) and the place i got it moded they said they installed a laserfix ("Utan extra kostnad monterar vi marknadens bästa laserskydd, ett laserskydd förlänger laserns livstid avsevärt") - Which basicly means. "Without any extra costs we also put in the best laserfix on the market, a laserfix makes the life of the laser longer" (sorry for bad translation) it doesnt say anything about the laserfix, so i ont know if there are different types of laserifx and if so, if i got the best/worst one
maybe should ask this somewhere else, but since i've allready started a thread. How do you burn games that have a .iso and a .mds file? Do you add the .mds file aswell? all games i've burned sofar have only been with iso
