I recently got a PS2 and most of the time it works fine playing DVD's, but for some DVD's it just seems to have problems reading the disc (Patriot and Purple Storm in my case). The problem happens during a specific track, so say for Patriot, I can play all the special features just fine, but when I start the movie, it might very well skip or freeze in the first scene. Or I may watch the movie and at chapter 6 and onwards it would freeze (for Purple Storm). When I try it out on a friend's "normal" DVD player, it's fine. Do my PS2 lens need to be cleaned, or is it a typical problem faced by every PS2 user, or is it a major concern that I need to get my unit replaced? Thanks for any comments.

I recently had a similar problem with two of my DVDs, and after asking on a message board, someone suggested to reboot and enable the Diagnsosis option in the driver setup section. (Under one of the other categories in the setup area with the PS1 fast load / texture smoothing)

They claimed that Diagnosis is supposed to adjust the laser for the current media. (DVD vs. CD)

Not sure if the Diagnosis explanation is accurate, and I haven't tried it yet, but it's worth a shot.

(Purple Storm = Perfect Storm?)

Purple Storm. It's a Hong Kong film. Thanks for the help. I'll give it a try.

I have tried everything and my PS2 still has trouble with various DVDs like Gladiator. The weird thing is that some DVDs will play fine on one PS2, but have problems on others. Its a strange little console.

Could it be the way the DVD was recorded? Might wanna check if the pots needs to be tuned to play the DVD"s that are giving your probs.