Your "broken" PS2...PROBABLY WORKS!!1

I've known this for quite a while, but I kinda feel the urge to talk about it instead of doing something actually productive >:3. This is for all of yall who want the PEAK Y2K gaming system back, none of that "Melee was good though," none of that "OURS HAS A HARD DRIVE AND IS WAY STRONGER!", NAH BRO, the dusty piece of shit Playstation 2 you thought was broken!

Specifically the Slim models...hopefully one without the dreaded mechacon "bug" which caused it to self destruct with "faulty media..." which sony then promptly got sued for...ANYWAY you get it, SLIM ONLY, no phat models.

Why am I making this? SIMPLE, most people's PS2s are completely salvageable, without buying ANY replacement parts. You'd just ASSUME you need a laser replacement (cause that's where the issue technically stems from), BUT YOU'D BE THANKFULLY MISTAKEN!! Here's what you gotta do:

1. Troubleshoot that mf. Is your PS2 not reading discs? ESPECIALLY burned discs because every good PS2 is modchipped? If so, check what happens. If it's giving you a screen saying the media is faulty, specifically the black screen with white text, it probably is. Red Screen of Death? Ambiguous. Repeatedly loading on the browser menu, but when you click the disc, it just brings the browser back? 100% Salvageable, you are just the kinda person who needs this tutorial.
2. Unscrew the case, but not the protective metal casing, that's not important.
3. Check how your disc moves when it thinks the disc tray is closed, by grabbing something thin and preferably wooden, and pressing it on the little nubs. If your disc is not spinning fast enough, and even showing several attempts to retry spinning, CONGRATS, you found the problem. This is clearly a case where the laser needs more of a charge to work.
4. Stop testing, remove your disc. Now you have just your PS2 with a "naked" laser. Take that apart, no need to remove it from the orange "tape" though, keep it there and be gentle. Just make sure you can safely see it's underside.
5. On the underside of the laser compartment, and this is tedious if you kept it on the system but trust me here: You'll see two screws, labeled DVD and CD. These are potentiometers, the things controlling how much power is going through the laser for the DVD and CD functionality. This is exactly what you need.
6. Depending on which games are not working, DVD or CD based games, VERY SLIGHTLY move the corresponding bolt clockwise, a tiny FRACTION clockwise. I have to state this because if you (like a dumbass :p) twist it way too much, YOU'LL FRY THE LASER, maybe even more but I've never fucked up to know for sure. Usually you'd need something to check if the charge going through the bolt is safe, BUT I RAW DOGGED IT, 99% of the time, this slight shift works for your weak laser.
7. Troubleshoot again, just as you did in step 3. Did the game load properly? FUCK YEAH, you just gave your laser at least a year worth of life. Me personally? It's been around 2 or 3, and I do play on this thing fairly frequently. If it's still not spinning enough, once again repeat step 6, possibly with an even smaller shift, but truth be told, this almost never fails.
8. YOU DID IT, you can now play DMC3, the dopest game ever motherfuckin' made! Or Kingdom Hearts 2 if you're a wuss...or Burnout 3 if you're cool :3

And THERE you have it. THE most common PS2 issue, fixed by anyone with patience and an admittedly steady hand. Reminder that if you accidentally blow anything up, I owe you nothing besides my deepest condolences :c

Now if you'll excuse me, I'll go rethink a few of my life choices.