Par For the Course

So.. I figured since I had been a "good boy" and done most of my homework for the week, that I would sit down to play some PlayStation last night, since Julie had to work. I had some ferret maintenance to do and basically figured on a good 90 minute gaming session with some Xenosaga (no, I didn't sneeze).

So, there I was sitting on my side of the bed with the PS controller in my hand and the cord extended nearly to its capacity, when I remembered that I wanted to let the ferrets out to play. I had just beat a boss battle (took me a while to figure out where I was, I hadn't played the game in many months) and was watching one of the 50,000 cinematics (yeah, the game has too many, but at least the voice acting and dialog isn't horribly cheesy).. Anyhow, I got up, hopped over the cord to get to the ferret cage, then returned to my spot. The only difference between my trek to the cage and back was the inevitable trip over the controller cord.

So, there's this horrible "smack"ing noise, accompanied by a thud (no ferrets were injured; they were still stretching and yawning their way out of the cage). The game cinematic starts to skip and the sound goes all funky. I got up to see what had happened and saw the PS2 face down on the floor and my controller plug had gotten ripped out from its socket. After making sure no ferrets were about, I observed the situation. I rebooted the machine but the DVD wouldn't load. I tried to eject it and the tray was stuck. I tried to jimmy it out but it was frozen and I was afraid I'd break it. Well, after a few more minutes of inspection, I knew it was time for surgery.
I was very concerned that I'd find damage to the laser or DVD mechanism, but I had to find out if I could fix it. I wanted to cry.. my beloved PS2 was injured, possibly dead. Of all the material purchases over the last few years, the PS2 was probably one of the most cherished.

So, I collected the fuzzies, popped them back into their lair and promised them I'd be back. I went downstairs to located a "fix it" guide, which I found here. Thank you Mr. Rowley. His guide covered fixing problems with the laser eye reading DVDs, but it pertained to my problem as well since it involved taking apart the DVD assembly.

So.. the process took about 30 minutes, but I was able to disassemble the PS2, re-align the DVD drawer and remove my poor Xenosaga disc (which was undamaged) and test the drawer motors. I brought it back upstairs for the moment of truth. I booted the machine with the XS disc inside and at first the PS2 seemed to hesistate.. or maybe I just never noticed the length of boot time.. Regardless, the game loaded just fine!!

So.. I let the fuzzies back out, snuggled a few of them to ease their tempers, and reloaded my last save. I basically got to re-do the boss battle, watch the ill-fated cinematic from before, take care of the fuzzies (they got extra treats for being good sports) and head to bed.

It's just funny how things are so par for me.. This is one reason why I never try to plan certain things.. They never go as you think they will. I'd rather be spontaneous.

Have a good day.