[sidesy]

Hi, please bear with me folks...

I have just foolishly bought a second hand console that does the following..powers up, all lights on, will reset, drawer opens and spins up a disc BUT, nothing on screen ..does appear to be sending some sort of a signal as screen does go black but then nothing at all...any ideas?

I see the common reply is to treat for "DRE" but, does this fall into this problem...any help would be great, UK version, thanks in advance,

Gary

[tweakmonkey]

I wouldn't really consider this a DRE problem. It sounds more like something internal, perhaps the BIOS.

[sidesy]

Dan, could you be more specific please. BIOS, is this a part, operating system , can it be repaired? sorry to sound stupid, i know explaining the obvious can be frustarting but i am genuienly stuck and need whatever help & guidance you or the site can provide, Best Wishes to one and all, Gary (U.K)

[tweakmonkey]

Gary,
I have never run into your specific problem, but the BIOS (Basic Input Output System) is the preliminary operating system for a computer. I'm not sure exactly how it breaks down on a PS2, but typically the BIOS loads the initial sequence of events when you power on a PC, Xbox, PS2, etc. It should check to see if there's video output, system memory, etc.

Again, I don't know how it works, but the BIOS in your PS2 may be defective, whether it's burned up and dead or the software on the chip is corrupted. To fix a bad BIOS you typically need to reflash it or replace it. I have never taken the time to examine a PS2's BIOS before, but I'll take one apart this week and peek around.

With the kinds of problems you're experiencing, there's a good chance your PS2 has serious damage to one or more of the chips/boards, and it may beyond the scope of your repair. After taking it apart and examining it, if you find no visible damage to the boards or capacitors, your best option is to try swapping out components one at a time starting from the power cord at the wall (and audio/video connector) if you really want to diagnose this problem. Without a second Playstation 2 to use for parts, this isn't really feasible... I'd take it apart and examine it, and go from there.