Broken PS2

A friend of mine gave me his broken PS2 and got himself a new one. And well, I'd really like to use it.

One rule before responding: only post if you really have an answer, i.e. no "send it back to Sony" or "go get it fixed" 'cause with half a brain knows that (and yes, I have half a brain, smartass). I'm looking for a way to get around all that.

Okay, so the problem is whenever it starts up, the screen has these vertical columns, and in general the whole video output is glitchy. I even tried putting in a game (still glitchy), and I used my friend's working A/V cable, so it's not the A/V cable. Any help would be appreciated.

you = screwed.  It's a good thing you didn't pay anything for this.

>>2
Jesus Christ, what did I say? I said don't post unless you really had an answer.

There is no answer...
except, take it to a someone that can repair it, like a game shop or something.

>>1, >>3

Ok, Fact #1:  You don't get to set "rules" on a board like this.

Fact #2:  If you were serious about this question, you'd ask somewhere where you'd have half a chance of getting someone who digs around the internal hardware of console systems.  I'll give you a clue, that place ain't here.

Fact #3:  Even if someone here *did* have the expertise, diagnosing the problem is likely to take a multimeter and personal interaction with the machinery.

So Inference #1:  You, sir, are either ignorant or a dumbass.