This sure was a tough nut to crack, but I managed to get it to fail the best way I know how. This is the short version of the same unsuccessful attempt; the long version has the full 24 minutes of failure.

Today we’re having another go at a PlayStation 2 laser assembly. I’ve already removed a screw and was hoping the rest would come apart without too much trouble. That’s usually the point where these things decide to become as difficult as possible.

The plastic housing doesn’t seem particularly interested in moving. After a little encouragement I manage to get part of it loose, but removing the laser itself is turning into a considerably less elegant operation.

Now, optical pickups are delicate little things. You’d think that would be enough encouragement for me to handle this one gently. Unfortunately, this particular attempt becomes more of a demonstration of how not to take a laser assembly apart!

There’s a bit of levering, some rather unfortunate stabbing motions and eventually a very definite crunch. Oh dear. That didn’t sound good.

At one point the tool goes straight through part of the assembly, and before long there are bits of laser diode going everywhere. Well, there goes that repair! It seems I’ve successfully demonstrated that some components are rather more fragile than my enthusiasm allows for.

The whole thing goes off the rails rather spectacularly. I even manage to have another little rant about the PlayStation 2 while contemplating the remains of the optical pickup. Sega would never put me through this sort of nonsense, would they? Don’t answer that.

Anyway, that’s the short version of an unsuccessful attempt. No repaired laser, no triumphant return to gameplay, just a rather unfortunate collection of plastic and optical components.

If you want to see how the whole disaster unfolded, there’s a much longer version too. Hopefully the next repair involves considerably less destruction!