Umd drive does not spin and laser does not turn on

Most likely the laser is weak. It has been awhile since I have changed a laser in a psp. But first off you should clean the laser with a q-tip and isopropyl alcohol and dry it with the other end of the q-tip. It doesn't take much for them to not be able to read a disc. If it still doesn't work you will need to replace the laser if you aren't that great at working on electronics or very small things you need to find someone to do it for you.

Btw, I’m available to help over the phone in case u need at https://www.6ya.com/expert/benjamin_494963e790f97efb

I have seen many PSP's stop reading UMD discs and for the most part they are repairable with the least amount of opening your PSP.
First we will do some trouble shooting with what might be wrong with your PSP unit.
About 35% of the time I find that there is something stuck in the UMD gear. It is different every time, sometimes its a piece of dust, plastic, soda, and even hair.
Another 25% is the Disc Spinning motor. This will not let The disc in the UMD spin.
About 20% is the Laser motor, this might be hard to spot since it could be something in the gears.
About 10% is the actual laser itself. It will not focus the laser to read the UMD disc.
The Last 10% is the Motherboard. This is the worst outcome, since there is very little what we can do but replace the motherboard.
So first what we need to do is find out what is actually wrong with your PSP.
With your PSP in hand.
Turn on your PSP and remove any UMD that might be in there now.
If you open up the UMD door and look down inside you will see the Laser assembly.
If you look to the left there is a black tab that sticks up, this tells the PSP that there is a UMD in the drive.
If you press this down with a small probe, you should see the disc motor spin and the laser light up red
*** CAUTION DO NOT STARE DIRECTLY AT THE LASER ***

If the Motor is not spinning. is it moving slightly? Maybe a little twitch?
I would lean more towards the bad motor problem BUT would not say for sure, I would recommend that you take the parts out and see if there is another problem also.
If the laser is not lighting up then it could be the laser, I would try and check the cables to the PSP and see if there is a bad connection.
If both are running well then lets put a disc in and get your ear up close so you can hear what is going on in there.
On a working PSP you will hear the disc start to spin up, then you can hear the laser start to twitch, followed by the laser motor moving the laser down the rails.
Can you hear the disc spin up? If not I would take the disc out again and press the switch with your probe again. if the disc motor is spinning again, look around to see if the metal housing is obstructing the disc when you put it in.. there could be to much pressure for the disc to spin freely.
Can you hear the Laser focus? This might be hard to hear it will sound like a little tick. If you cant hear it tick I would move on and inspect this internally later.
Can you hear the Laser move down the rail? This will be a smooth sound of the gears, it should not be a really clicky sound.
If you can't hear it move down the track OR it is very clicky follow this.

It would look like this if your UMD door was off.
You should open the UMD door and carefully manually move the laser to the right side of the assembly.
Use a sharp THIN probe to manually move the WHITE gear under the metal housing. It is quite hard to see it in the photos so I put a red star around it.
I usually try and scrape the gears themselves to make sure there is no gunk or debris in the gear.
After this try and see if it is reading UMD again.
This fixes it about 35% of the time.
If none of this is working, it is time to open your PSP unit Or send it in for repair.
If you know what's wrong you can replace the problem here
Replace UMD Assembly
Replace UMD Disc Motor
Replace UMD Laser Motor
Replace PSP Motherboard

the umd drive is approaching its end of the life. you might need to buy http://www.consolezombie.com/store/slim-replacement-drive-laser-assembly-p-34.html and replace your umd drive. This is what i just did to my psp-2001.

PS: The above link is only for PSP-200x (slim version of PSP)

PSP UMD Repair: Not reading UMD discs

I have seen many PSP's stop reading UMD discs and for the most part they are repairable with the least amount of opening your PSP.
First we will do some trouble shooting with what might be wrong with your PSP unit.
About 35% of the time I find that there is something stuck in the UMD gear. It is different every time, sometimes its a piece of dust, plastic, soda, and even hair.
Another 25% is the Disc Spinning motor. This will not let The disc in the UMD spin.
About 20% is the Laser motor, this might be hard to spot since it could be something in the gears.
About 10% is the actual laser itself. It will not focus the laser to read the UMD disc.
The Last 10% is the Motherboard. This is the worst outcome, since there is very little what we can do but replace the motherboard.
So first what we need to do is find out what is actually wrong with your PSP.
With your PSP in hand.
Turn on your PSP and remove any UMD that might be in there now.
If you open up the UMD door and look down inside you will see the Laser assembly.
If you look to the left there is a black tab that sticks up, this tells the PSP that there is a UMD in the drive.
If you press this down with a small probe, you should see the disc motor spin and the laser light up red
*** CAUTION DO NOT STARE DIRECTLY AT THE LASER ***

If the Motor is not spinning. is it moving slightly? Maybe a little twitch?
I would lean more towards the bad motor problem BUT would not say for sure, I would recommend that you take the parts out and see if there is another problem also.
If the laser is not lighting up then it could be the laser, I would try and check the cables to the PSP and see if there is a bad connection.
If both are running well then lets put a disc in and get your ear up close so you can hear what is going on in there.
On a working PSP you will hear the disc start to spin up, then you can hear the laser start to twitch, followed by the laser motor moving the laser down the rails.
Can you hear the disc spin up? If not I would take the disc out again and press the switch with your probe again. if the disc motor is spinning again, look around to see if the metal housing is obstructing the disc when you put it in.. there could be to much pressure for the disc to spin freely.
Can you hear the Laser focus? This might be hard to hear it will sound like a little tick. If you cant hear it tick I would move on and inspect this internally later.
Can you hear the Laser move down the rail? This will be a smooth sound of the gears, it should not be a really clicky sound.
If you can't hear it move down the track OR it is very clicky follow this.


It would look like this if your UMD door was off.
You should open the UMD door and carefully manually move the laser to the right side of the assembly.
Use a sharp THIN probe to manually move the WHITE gear under the metal housing. It is quite hard to see it in the photos so I put a red star around it.
I usually try and scrape the gears themselves to make sure there is no gunk or debris in the gear.

After this try and see if it is reading UMD again.
This fixes it about 35% of the time.
If none of this is working, it is time to open your PSP unit Or send it in for repair.
If you know what's wrong you can replace the problem here
Replace UMD Assembly
Replace UMD Disc Motor
Replace UMD Laser Motor
Replace PSP Motherboard

All photos and content copyright © Llamma Corp. 2002-2006
http://www.llamma.com/PSP/repair/PSP_UMD_Not_Reading_Discs.htm

The UMD laser might be dirty or broken. Open up the UMD drive and give the laser a clean with a lint-free cloth. Then pop the disk back in and try again. If that doesn't work, you will need to get the PSP repaired or buy a replacement laser and do it yourself.

If your PSP isn't reading games and/or movies and the problem isn't that your trying to play dirty, bent, or damaged UMD discs there are a number of other reasons your PSP is not reading disks correctly =

- Your UMD motor may be malfunctioning.
- Your laser may have worn down from use over time.
- Your UMD drive tray may be bent.
- There may be a foreign object in your UMD drive

Common symptoms

* disks fail to load
* extremely slow loading
* strange whirring noise when trying to read disks

For whatever reason your PSP has stopped reading games and/or movies we will get your PSP back to you and playing like like new fast! Our price includes labor, parts, and return shipping via priority mail.

Visit PSP UMD Drive REPAIR if you are interested in an affordable and reliable PSP repair service. We have been serving the whole United States for more than 2 years!

have seen many PSP's stop reading UMD discs and for the most part they are repairable with the least amount of opening your PSP.
First we will do some trouble shooting with what might be wrong with your PSP unit. About 35% of the time I find that there is something stuck in the UMD gear. It is different every time, sometimes its a piece of dust, plastic, soda, and even hair.
Another 25% is the Disc Spinning motor. This will not let The disc in the UMD spin.
About 20% is the Laser motor, this might be hard to spot since it could be something in the gears.
About 10% is the actual laser itself. It will not focus the laser to read the UMD disc.
The Last 10% is the Motherboard. This is the worst outcome, since there is very little what we can do but replace the motherboard.
So first what we need to do is find out what is actually wrong with your PSP.
With your PSP in hand.
Turn on your PSP and remove any UMD that might be in there now.
If you open up the UMD door and look down inside you will see the Laser assembly.
If you look to the left there is a black tab that sticks up, this tells the PSP that there is a UMD in the drive.
If you press this down with a small probe, you should see the disc motor spin and the laser light up red
*** CAUTION DO NOT STARE DIRECTLY AT THE LASER ***

If the Motor is not spinning. is it moving slightly? Maybe a little twitch?
I would lean more towards the bad motor problem BUT would not say for sure, I would recommend that you take the parts out and see if there is another problem also.
If the laser is not lighting up then it could be the laser, I would try and check the cables to the PSP and see if there is a bad connection.
If both are running well then lets put a disc in and get your ear up close so you can hear what is going on in there.
On a working PSP you will hear the disc start to spin up, then you can hear the laser start to twitch, followed by the laser motor moving the laser down the rails.
Can you hear the disc spin up? If not I would take the disc out again and press the switch with your probe again. if the disc motor is spinning again, look around to see if the metal housing is obstructing the disc when you put it in.. there could be to much pressure for the disc to spin freely.
Can you hear the Laser focus? This might be hard to hear it will sound like a little tick. If you cant hear it tick I would move on and inspect this internally later.
Can you hear the Laser move down the rail? This will be a smooth sound of the gears, it should not be a really clicky sound.
If you can't hear it move down the track OR it is very clicky follow this.


It would look like this if your UMD door was off.
You should open the UMD door and carefully manually move the laser to the right side of the assembly.
Use a sharp THIN probe to manually move the WHITE gear under the metal housing. It is quite hard to see it in the photos so I put a red star around it.
I usually try and scrape the gears themselves to make sure there is no gunk or debris in the gear.
After this try and see if it is reading UMD again.
This fixes it about 35% of the time.
If none of this is working, it is time to open your PSP unit Or send it in for repair.
If you know what's wrong you can replace the problem here
Replace UMD Assembly
Replace UMD Disc Motor
Replace UMD Laser Motor
Replace PSP Motherboard

if you need more infomation please just ask ... Symo02

You might have PSP stop reading UMD discs, First you will do some trouble shooting with what might be wrong with your PSP unit.

first is the Disc Spinning motor. This will not let The disc in the UMD spin. On a working PSP you will hear the disc start to spin up, then you can hear the laser start to twitch, followed by the laser motor moving the laser down the rails.

2nd is something stuck in the UMD gear, try to clean the gear of arm of dust, plastic, soda, and even hair.

and at the last is the actual laser itself. It will not focus the laser to read the UMD disc.

Hopefully this help, Pls post back should you need additional information...!

You need to replace your umd drive. your laser is prolly bad or the spinndle wont spin, laser wont move. theres alot reasons for this issue. but the problem can be solved with a new umd drive. you can try to do this your self on have someone professional do it for you.

contact us for help. [email protected]

Hi Voltagehog,

You need to look intothe UMD drive. Press the little Black probe sticking up in the UMD drive. It is about 3/4 inch from left and 3/4 inch from top of the UMD drive. When you press it, look for the Disc spindle to rotate, and the Laser to light up and the Laser movement to occur. This will tell you a lot in what is working or not in the UMD drive. If the laser does not move left and right, or light up, you have a problem with the laser. move it manually with a pen or something, Only click it a couple of times. Try the black button thing again. If the Disc spindle motor does not spin. You probably need a new UMD drive.
If you need a new UMD drive, click on "repair directory" at the bottom of this screen, Click on Video game Consoles. Pick out a good service out. I know one of them specializes in Playstations.You can get a new UMD drive replaced for under $60.