PS3 - Flashing red light and refuses to spit out BF3

SheepBeast · 12 Dec 2011 at 23:05

My PS1 is still going over 10 years on. Never had a problem with it. But I have a broken PS3 and 2 broken Xbox 360's.

...figures.

Dano · 12 Dec 2011 at 23:34

Makhaira said:
Sorry for jumping in on this thread, but I was intrigued as to why you'd have any recourse with this under SOGA given it's outside of warranty? Just curious really.

Because a PS3 should be expected to work for significantly longer than a year.

DBT85 · 12 Dec 2011 at 23:35

TheYoungster said:
Didnt try the heat thing couldnt be arsed to be honest. got ps plus soeverything will be backed up hopefully. But putting my hdd in my pc and copying everything over now.

I dont think that works does it? I thought the drives were essentially coded to only work with that specific PS3 until they were formatted?

Makhaira said:
Sorry for jumping in on this thread, but I was intrigued as to why you'd have any recourse with this under SOGA given it's outside of warranty? Just curious really.

Warranty is only 1 year, SOGA has something like "it needs to last a reasonable amount of time" which is of course longer than 1 year and I think it mentions up to 6 being applicable. I don't know the details though. It'll only cover manufacturing stuff though obviously. If you bounce it and it doesn't work then you don;t have a leg to stand on.

Warranty gets dealt with by the manufacturer, SOGA is by the retailer who will argue the toss until you bring up the SOGA and will then usually buckle.

SheepBeast · 15 Dec 2011 at 20:24

My PS3 is now working!!!

Just followed this guy's series of videos to the letter http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_Ic1_TY-GU&list=PL435E2CA072A58596&index=1&feature=plcp and it works perfectly. It feels great to have a working PS3 now after it's been sitting in the loft for 2 years

It took me about a ~2 hours or so but I was being pretty careful, documenting which screws go where etc etc. I've heard this isn't a permanent fix but if you do it right (and clean dust, reapply thermal paste properly) it can last a couple of years. Fingers crossed.

DBT85 · 15 Dec 2011 at 20:35

SheepBeast said:
It took me about a ~2 hours or so but I was being pretty careful, documenting which screws go where etc etc. I've heard this isn't a permanent fix but if you do it right (and clean dust, reapply thermal paste properly) it can last a couple of years. Fingers crossed.

I'll warn you now that 2 years is really an outside estimate. Most people get a couple of months at best. What a lot of people do is get it up and running and then box it up and trade it in at somewhere like Game.

I did my brothers launch 60gb about 4 months ago when it died with his GT5 disk in and despite my warnings he continued to use it and then it went again with GT5 in lol. It's sitting in my dining room and I just haven't had the time to do it again yet since as you found it can take a while!

PhillyDee · 15 Dec 2011 at 20:40

james.miller said:
As far as I know, the use of hazardous materials as described in the roHS legislation is restricted identically for everything the roHS regulations apply to. Ie, the use of lead on a pc motherboard is restricted in the same was as it is for the ps3's internals. To the best of my knowledge it has nothing to do with the ps3 being classed as a toy, if it really is at all.

That is correct, RoHS applies to ALL electronics sold in the UK it must be RoHS compliant, or RoHS exempt. Does not matter what they are. Also applies to clock movements as I have just found out.

SheepBeast · 15 Dec 2011 at 23:17

Todge said:
I'll warn you now that 2 years is really an outside estimate. Most people get a couple of months at best. What a lot of people do is get it up and running and then box it up and trade it in at somewhere like Game.

I did my brothers launch 60gb about 4 months ago when it died with his GT5 disk in and despite my warnings he continued to use it and then it went again with GT5 in lol. It's sitting in my dining room and I just haven't had the time to do it again yet since as you found it can take a while!

Lol. Yeah, I had some advice off a friend to do that (trade it in at Game) but I'd feel too guilty if I did. Although Game offer a warranty on preowned consoles dont they? So if someone bought my old console and then it broke again, it'd be Game's responsibility to fix it?

Regardless I'm not planning to do that. Hopefully this repair will last a while and if not, it will take me less than 2 hours next time as I'm more confident of what to do. Even if it breaks down every 2 months, that's only an average of 1hr a month maintenance time, which is probably similar to the amount of time I spend looking after my PC, backing up files etc, so not too bad.

Also I figure that keeping the PS3 dust free and in a cool place, with unrestricted vents, may help postpone the inevitable resurgence of the yellow light.

SheepBeast · 15 Dec 2011 at 23:19

TheYoungster said:
My ps3 (coincedently a 40gb release model) dies not 1 hour ago. Big mistake. See what I did to get my disc back.

snip

Getting a slim wednesday. Not going to pay £110 for a 40gb phat and a 3 month warranty, going for a slim 160gb and a 1 year warranty for an extra £70.

Or you could just fix it for free? Or £20 if you don't have a heat gun.

DBT85 · 15 Dec 2011 at 23:23

SheepBeast said:
Lol. Yeah, I had some advice off a friend to do that (trade it in at Game) but I'd feel too guilty if I did. Although Game offer a warranty on preowned consoles dont they? So if someone bought my old console and then it broke again, it'd be Game's responsibility to fix it?

Regardless I'm not planning to do that. Hopefully this repair will last a while and if not, it will take me less than 2 hours next time as I'm more confident of what to do. Even if it breaks down every 2 months, that's only an average of 1hr a month maintenance time, which is probably similar to the amount of time I spend looking after my PC, backing up files etc, so not too bad.

Also I figure that keeping the PS3 dust free and in a cool place, with unrestricted vents, may help postpone the inevitable resurgence of the yellow light.

They do indeed offer a year warranty to whoever buys it.

Also remember that there will come a time when you try the same trick of reheating it and it won't work. It may be the very next time or it may be the 4th time. Eventually the solder gets too bad and only a proper reflow will sort it and at the price they charge you might as well just buy a new machine.

Don't want to be the prophet of doom or anything! Just don't want you to lose everything on the drive once it goes for good.

Do yourself a favour and either backup your saves using the PSN+ feature or keep a copy of them on a USB stick just in case.

Johnnytoxic · 15 Dec 2011 at 23:31

Theres a force eject trick you can do.

Think you have to leave you finger on eject for a fair while.

DBT85 · 15 Dec 2011 at 23:35

Johnnytoxic said:
Theres a force eject trick you can do.

Think you have to leve you finger on eject for a fair while.

Doesn't always work unfortunately. Why they removed the "poke a paperclip through this little hole" feature that hass been on PC drives for over a decade baffles me.

V F · 15 Dec 2011 at 23:43

TheYoungster said:

Damn thats dusty!

SheepBeast · 16 Dec 2011 at 00:32

V F said:
Damn thats dusty!

Mine was like that too. PS3s are like hoovers.

Johnnytoxic said:
Theres a force eject trick you can do.

Think you have to leave you finger on eject for a fair while.

Doesn't work on launch-model PS3s (mine is 60GB launch model). On the upside I can still play PS2 games on it

Todge said:
They do indeed offer a year warranty to whoever buys it.

Also remember that there will come a time when you try the same trick of reheating it and it won't work. It may be the very next time or it may be the 4th time. Eventually the solder gets too bad and only a proper reflow will sort it and at the price they charge you might as well just buy a new machine.

Don't want to be the prophet of doom or anything! Just don't want you to lose everything on the drive once it goes for good.

Do yourself a favour and either backup your saves using the PSN+ feature or keep a copy of them on a USB stick just in case.

No problem I appreciate the advice. I haven't really got anything worth saving on the hard drive though, because during the time the PS3 was functioning there weren't really any games for it that I was very impressed by. Resistance 1 and Killzone 2 proved to be pretty disappointing. That's all changed now though with the Uncharted series, as well as Killzone 3 which looks a lot better than it's predecessor. If it keeps functioning long enough for me to build up enough data to be worth saving, then I'll back it up!

Bloomfield · 16 Dec 2011 at 00:47

Todge said:
Doesn't always work unfortunately. Why they removed the "poke a paperclip through this little hole" feature that hass been on PC drives for over a decade baffles me.

"Paperclip" was the first thing that popped into my head when I saw the thread title

. I hadn't realised there wasn't the option on the PS3

.

DBT85 · 16 Dec 2011 at 00:52

Bloomfield said:
"Paperclip" was the first thing that popped into my head when I saw the thread title . I hadn't realised there wasn't the option on the PS3 .

Yup, also not on most Mac's as far as I remember. Utterly utterly baffling. No idea if its the same on the 360.

SheepBeast · 16 Dec 2011 at 15:56

http://www.squidoo.com/3-tips-for-a-cooler-running-and-greener-ps3-system-models-cecha01-cechg01-

^ this guy has put together a brilliant set of guide videos, and some great tips on how to avoid getting the YLOD again. I'm gonna be replacing the power supply and fan in my PS3, as I've got the 60GB launch model which comes with a really inefficient, hot PSU.

Johnnytoxic · 16 Dec 2011 at 16:02

SheepBeast said:
Doesn't work on launch-model PS3s (mine is 60GB launch model). On the upside I can still play PS2 games on it

Mine is a 60gb launch model and I had to use force eject to get my disc out?

SheepBeast · 16 Dec 2011 at 19:12

Johnnytoxic said:
Mine is a 60gb launch model and I had to use force eject to get my disc out?

Your question mark makes the sentence ambiguous but I assume you're saying that the force eject worked on your 60GB launch model. If that's the case then I don't know why it wouldn't work on mine. And I've seen other people saying it doesn't work on their launch models either. Maybe it's only certain launch models. My model number is CECHC03 what's yours?

Kemik · 16 Dec 2011 at 20:01

Received a fantastic reply from GAME today:

Hi Sean,

Thank you for your email.

I am sorry that your product is faulty, please return it to us using the freepost returns address label at the bottom of your invoice, please can you place the code RAF001 on the label. Alternatively you can take this into your local store with your proof of purchase for a replacement or a refund.

Can I please ask that you obtain a free proof of posting from the Post Office if returning this by post.

As soon as the product has been received, a refund or replacement will be processed in accordance with your request.

I am sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

Why do I have a feeling they didn't read the first few words of the email?

On 23 March 2007, I bought a Playstation 3 60GB from GAME...

Still, I'll do what they told me and turn up with the original receipt and fight my case. Never know, I might convince the store manager...

Bloomfield · 16 Dec 2011 at 21:08

Take evidence of the email you/they sent too (could probably just show them the email on your phone or whatever), so that if they do complain you can say "well I told them when I bought it, and they said it's fine"

.