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ADJUSTING THE VOLTAGE: Playstation 2 Version 4 or higher: a PS2 with 8 screw covers on the bottom rather than 10.

Again read Do I need to adjust the voltage? and these instructions all the way through, and make sure you understand all the steps before doing anything!

1. Remove your warranty sticker, located next to the power cord. This will void your warranty. Take off the expansion bay cover.

2. Remove the screw covers on the very bottom of your playstation 2. There are 8 total, if you see 10 including 4 plastic covers on the raised, upper portion of the underside of your PS2, read Col_Sandoz & XShady's guide here. Four of them will be rubberized and four will be plastic. You can use a flat head screwdriver or your fingernail to remove the plastic ones.

3. With a phillips-head screwdriver remove the 8 screws under the covers you just took off. 4 short and 4 long. ALWAYS REMEMBER where all screws go! If you have doubts about your memory as I do, make a quick diagram of what their lengths are by drawing a line the height of the screw and a quick sketch of where they go.

4.Making sure it dosen't come apart, flip the ps2 over.

5.Be very careful when taking the upper shell off, or you could damage the PS2. To take the shell off, you need to tilt the back of the shell up just a little, then slide it forward toward you, so that the controller ports and the front of the drive tray are not blocking the shell, and it can be lifted off. Just play around with it gently and you should get it. You should notice a small silver ribbon cable comming from under the cd drive attached to the Reset/Eject buttons. The wire should be taped to the top of the Lens cover. Remove the tape, and then carefully lift the cover so that it is laying flat, and the PS2 is open like a book, connected at the middle by the ribbon cable. It is not needed but if you wish you can remove the power and reset buttons from the shell (be careful not to break off the buttons) I have seen them attached with one screw and others just slide out. I guess they forgot the screws in these.

5.Now BE VERY CAREFUL not to touch any thing you don't have to. Plug the power into the ps2 and without touching anything else press the eject button so that the tray slides out. IMMEDIATELY turn the power OFF and UNPLUG THE PS2. wait a full 10 seconds before doing anything else.the tray should now be sticking out of the ps2 as if it is waiting for you to put a disk in it.

6.Next you need to remove the lens cover.The lens cover is the black plastic cover over the area where the PS2 ejects the tray out. It’s square shaped, has a small white circle attached to its center and a yellow caution sticker on it. To remove the lens cover, take out the 4 screws located on the sides with the glasses or swiss army screw driver. Place the screws aside, and lift the lens cover. You should now see the lens, a small circular glass piece surrounded by black plastic, and the rods it slides on.

7.You can see a brown ribbon cable which has a white pull tab coming off of the laser. Grasp this cable with two fingers, one on either side of the white part with one hand, and the laser assembly in the other hand so it doesn't slide on it's rails. Pull forcefully but gently on the ribbon cable untill it slides out of its slot. REMEMBER where it goes back as the hardest part of this operation will be getting it back in.

8.Unscrew the two screws which attach the controller ports to the bottom shell. REMEMBER which screws they are. You should now be able to lift up on the front side of the cd/dvd drive and notice a metal tab holding the drive to the base. Carefully use a screwdriver to unattach the drive from the base.There are two more of these tabs attaching the drive at the back. Free the drive carefully from these also.

9.Now carefully lift the left side of the drive (the side closer to the controller ports). There are still ribbon cables attaching the drive to the right hand side, so you can only open it about 90 degrees. On the bottom of the laser assembly you should see the pots or laser adjustment screws.You will be adjusting one or both of the two small silver screws.

10.You are ready to adjust the voltage for the laser. Only adjust the screw for the type of disc you are having problems with. If you are having problems with both, do them one at a time. Remember, now that the unit is on its side, the CD voltage control screw is above the DVD control screw.

If at all possible, use a non-metallic screwdriver, as static electricity can ruin this portion of your PS2 (a $65+ part!)...

11. Turning the screw clockwise increases the voltage, counter-clockwise decreases the voltage. Because you risk blowing the laser if you give it too much voltage, always start by decreasing voltage. In my experience, you generally have to add voltage, but for safety, I suggest you reduce voltage first.

Using a small screw-driver (non-magnetic & non-metallic if possible) turn the appropriate screw counter-clockwise two degrees.

12. Place the drive horizontally again. Reattach the brown laser ribbon cable by firmly pressing it back into place. Attach power and video to the ps2. turn it on. Load in the CD and wait, if you still get a disc read error, move the screw another two degrees. Repeat the process from step 7...

If you still get disc read errors after about 20 degrees of rotation, put the screw back to the 12 o'clock position and start moving the screw clockwise two degrees at a time.

It may take a while, but you will most likely find the sweet spot where your discs begin to read again. I have never had to move the screw more than 30 degrees, although I have heard as much as 180 degrees are needed for a modded PS2 to play backup CD-Rs.

12. Try a few different trouble discs before re-assembly to make sure you don't need more fine adjustment. As well, hold the PS2 elevated in the horizontal position and make sure it reads while in this position. I have found that slightly more voltage (2-6 degrees) is needed to run discs in the horizontal position than the vertical position, but you should use the ps2 vertically anyway as units kept horizontal tend to break faster.

13.When it works, turn off the PS2 and re-assemble it.