PS3 hardware failure

Okay, I must have somehow initiated the fan test. I remember turning the unit on by pushing the eject button to get at the disc that was in the drive. Usually the fan test involves plugging the machine in while holding down the eject button though, which I clearly didn't do ... Phew!

 

I brought my PAL launch 60gb back to life twice after YLOD, doing the heatgun trick. It lasted about a month before failing again.

I have now switched to my spare launch PS3.

Anecdotal reading on the web, would indicate that the heatgun fix is only a short term repair.

I strongly believe that all launch PS3 will fail within 3 to 4 years of their life.

 

I went to watch toy story on bluray and my ps3 wont even start up. I've tried a friends power plug but its not working.


I think i might order a stand alone bluray player and pick up a ps3 used after he next price drop. Should be able to get a fat for $100 off the internets by then

It was a 40 gig unit

 

It's about $125 to get it fixed now, which is cheaper than buying a blu-ray player and a used ps3, but I'd first try the fan test mode to see if it turns on, stuff not booting up at all is not a common ps3 problem and it might just need to be kind of reset.

 

I suppose the cost depends on the system? I just called Sony (as in 30 min ago) to send my 20GB in for 'repair,' and the pricing was as always: $150 + $30 shipping for the fix... or swap... to a similar system. What was interesting though was that as an alternative I was offered a 120GB Slim refurbished for less, $120 + the $30 shipping, which is the offer I took.

It may be something for owners of original B/C systems, as I imagine those parts/boards are running a bit scarce these days, but who knows - it's the only service pricing I know for the moment.

 

You might be able to sell it broken if you have the full hardware PS2 compatibility model. When my launch model 20gb PS3 broke, I sold it for $250 "as is" at the time.

 

I have to say, I'm really not pleased reading this topic. Hearing my launch PS3 becoming noisier by the day, I know that its days are numbered and that I should move on to a slim... yet, everytime I take a game and a game-save to play it at my friends place (he's got a slim), I either get the message that the save file can't be used properly because it was created on another PS3 or user-account.

How the hell am I supposed to switch to a new slim unit if half (okay that might be exagerated) my game-saves are not usable or can't even be copied to the new machine?

Has the direct network copying feature solved any of this drama? Epic fail in my book.

 

You should be able to backup your game saves, and restore them on your new machine:
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2009/12/08/ps3-3-15-system-software-update/

 

Wow, quick reply Patsu - Thanks! That's very encouraging. Looks like a slim is just around the corner then with that issue solved.

What I still fear though is that some of the game-save problems will still be present on the new machine. Surely, all this network-copying really solves is the copying of "copy protected data". What about the game-saves that can be copied but then don't work on the new machine because the file was created on another PS3? Any info on that?

An example of a game that does this is Soul Calibur 4. I'm not sure, but I think FF13 might have a similar issue - at least with that one, you can't even copy a save to a different local user and use it. While copying works, the game will realize it's from another user and you will not be able to save (even to a new file) at all. What are some devs thinking?

 

I know the issue exists for Demon's Souls, as well as a few other games. You will not be able to use the save files unless you restore them to a hard drive that's formatted by the PS3 with the same encryption key as the original, which literally means it has to be the original PS3. It's a cheap way to prevent hacking/cheating, in both senses of the word, and thankfully not that common.

 

Data transfer will move copy protected data, follow these steps and you'll be fine:

http://manuals.playstation.net/document/en/ps3/current/settings/transferutility.html

Even the infamous Demon's Souls save file can be moved this way. There ARE limitations (see link above), but none related to save files.

 

Wow, I never realized that you could do this, thanks for the link.
However the locked save issue still exists if you can't power on your old PS3 because it's broken and you only have a system backup on an external drive, then your SOL.

 

Have you done the 8 second reset with the power button? Mine did the same thing and that fixed it.

 

That is correct. I learned this first hand and the hard way: my launch PS3 (60GB HW BC) was such a trooper, 3 years of flawless service, it got louder in summer and was pretty quiet in winter. The damn thing crapped out on me from one day to the other. YLoD. Tried to reflow, but the dried up thermal grease was barely covering the sink. Reanimation failed and I lost 3 years worth of copy protected save files. Thanks for nothing, Sony. I wish they would address this nonsense.

 

Believe me, I've done everything. And if you knew what my PS3 has been through, you wouldn't doubt that it was beyond saving - still I try.

Anyway I actually have regained audio, as well as power through the USB ports, so I've memorized the sequence in order to back up save files to a USB drive and I grab one or three or whatever I can before the system freezes again and I have to wait to reset. It's pretty intense to navigate the XMB by the sound of the cursor clicks alone! Unfortunately everything I really want off of it is copy-protected (Demon's Souls!), so I have to trawl blindly and then take it to another PS3 to see what I hauled out this time. I want to recover some of my PS2 saves as well from it, but I wonder if it'll be worth the effort to find my Dragon Quest VII and Odin Sphere blindly searching amongst what is a *bunch* of stuff I put in there.

 

Does that ethernet PS3 to PS3 transfer they added in the last firmware work with the DS saves?

 

Well I'm told yes, but without the ability to see what is going on with the crippled PS3 and an HDD size disparity between the two - to say nothing of the freezing/crashing - I just don't think I can go that route safely. Once I have backed up everything I can, I might give it a desperate gamble, but not having done it before and with no way to replicate in a test environment, I can't memorize/write-down the sequence in order to perform it sans monitor.

 

Can't you write down the steps necessary in the new PS3, is the XMB significantly different?

 

Okay got an update for you.

My system started working today. It was just on when i got home. However it says it has no hardrive. I took the hardrive out and put it in my computer and it works. I put an old 20 gig hardrive in my ps3 and it works.... sometimes.

But it plays blurays still so i'm happy

 

I guess the easy answer is, no I can't, because like I said without having ever done it (and a test environment to do it in), without the screen active I am not going to know when an x needs to be pressed, when the arrow key needs to go right, or when I should hit O to exit out of something. I have to suspect that both PS3's will require different inputs at different times. On top of all of that, there is the freezing/crashing issue. The PS3 gives me 5 minutes max of active time before becoming unusable. If my experiences with the data backup utility are anything to go by, for the data I have on my primary drive (~100GB) I would probably need something on the order of 4-6 hours of this process running. I am not risking it until I have pulled everything I can through the more arduous route.