Today I decided to boot up my Playstation 2 to get some more progress done in Kingdom Hearts 2. Unfortunately the dreaded “Disc Read Error” problem finally took over completely. Previously, the system would load a disc about 1 in every 4 tries. Now it simply wouldn’t work. I was not satisfied with this so I decided to fix it myself. With guidance from the excellent folks at Ars Technica, I opened up the PS2, cleaned out the dust, cleaned the lens with some lens cleaner and realigned the drive laser. After all this, my PS2 is as good as new. Not too shabby for a 7 year old video game console. The disc read error problem had been creeping up on my PS2 for the last two years, slowly rearing its ugly head more and more, but now it’s gone! Now I can finally enjoy Kingdom Hearts 2 once again. (and maybe start finally playing Okami and Final Fantasy XII soon too!) For those that want to try this with their PS2, be careful! Follow the Ars Technica guide I mentioned very carefully. Also, take a look at the official Playstation message boards for further reference on the “Disc Read Error” problem.