PS3 problems...?

Cavallino · 7 Mar 2009 at 09:43

Recently my 40GB PS3 has been experiencing wierd problems. For example:

1. The PS3 would suddenly just freeze and lock up. And holding down the power button for 2 seconds makes the PS3 'beep' but then about 5 seconds after it would do 3 'beeps' and the green light on the front would just flash contiuously and the PS3 would just stay like that indefinitely. Only when I turn the power off from the back would I be able to restart the PS3.

2. The controller would often just cease to stop working and the 4 red flashing lights on the controller would begin to flash. I would try to reattached the USB lead to the controller and that would not work, I would also try pressing in the hard reset button on the back of the controller using a pin, again no dice.

These seem to be happening regularly now, almost once or twice every 5 or 6 times I would sit down and play on the PS3. Would this be grounds for me contacting Sony and requesting a repair or replacement?
(If so, what number would I need to contact?)

Streeteh · 7 Mar 2009 at 09:45

I had the exact same problem and Sony replaced it. They didn't seem too fussed about the controller disconnecting and refusing to reconnect even though that was the most prevalent problem, as soon as i mentioned it was freezing however they said they would dispatch a new unit.

Phone Numbers

Cavallino · 7 Mar 2009 at 09:46

Streeteh said:
I had the exact same problem and Sony replaced it. They didn't seem too fussed about the controller disconnecting and refusing to reconnect even though that was the most prevalent problem, as soon as i mentioned it was freezing however they said they would dispatch a new unit.

Hmm ok thats re-assuring to know. Thanks Streeteh.

How would I go about getting this replaced?

Streeteh · 7 Mar 2009 at 09:48

Just edited in a link to their phone numbers in my first post, i just called the tech support, explained that it was freezing and they sent out a replacement. When that arrived i swapped it with a courier at the door and that was that. They may ask you to send your unit off to be repaired, it's rare but it does sometimes happen, this means you'll be without your PS3 for a couple of weeks, but again they send out a courier to collect it.

Oh and, the first replacement i got was really loud so i just lied and said it was still freezing and they sent out another unit. My second replacement hasn't had any issues yet (touch wood).

Cavallino · 7 Mar 2009 at 09:52

Streeteh said:
Just edited in a link to their phone numbers in my first post, i just called the tech support, explained that it was freezing and they sent out a replacement. When that arrived i swapped it with a courier at the door and that was that. They may ask you to send your unit off to be repaired, it's rare but it does sometimes happen, this means you'll be without your PS3 for a couple of weeks, but again they send out a courier to collect it.

Oh and, the first replacement i got was really loud so i just lied and said it was still freezing and they sent out another unit. My second replacement hasn't had any issues yet (touch wood).

Thanks buddy. Will call them up and sort it out.
EDIT: Loud you say? Hmm was going to ask about this actually.
How loud?

Streeteh · 7 Mar 2009 at 09:54

Like, jet engine loud. It was clearly a fault like the heatsink wasn't making proper contact as after playing a game for a couple of mins it would spin up to the highest level which is not normal. At first they said 'oh yes well every unit's different' so i just said it was freezing too and they replaced it.

Alpherah · 7 Mar 2009 at 09:57

My mate had similar problems shortly after release.

Store wouldnt replace because they said "A sony statement said the problem your explaining and the other problem of Disk Read Errors are down to user mis-useage and such void any warrenty"

Sony wanted £160 to repair it, although -did- do it for free after about 6 weeks of phonecalls.

Hope their customer service is improved.
Touch wood, my launch machine has had no problems yet! (Although it is only used for blue-ray really).

Cavallino · 7 Mar 2009 at 09:58

Freeze's the word.

Streeteh · 7 Mar 2009 at 10:00

Cavallino said:
Freeze's the word.

Yup, it's such a round-about issue that could be caused by many different factors so they simply have to replace it. There's no way they could diagnose the cause over the phone and there's no way for them to replicate it reliably when they receive your unit for testing.

Cavallino · 7 Mar 2009 at 10:01

Hmm only pain is to get everything reinstalled/reinitiallised etc.
Bum.

Streeteh · 7 Mar 2009 at 10:04

Got an external harddrive? If so there's a 'backup' option that will copy your files, configuration settings and savegames straight over, then there's a 'restore' option you can use on your new unit. Takes a while but effectively makes your new unit become identical to the old one.

If you've only got a USB pen drive just delete all the big things like PSN games and large installation files and then perform a backup, this will store your settings and savegames which are the only irreplaceable things.

Cavallino · 7 Mar 2009 at 10:10

Streeteh said:
Got an external harddrive? If so there's a 'backup' option that will copy your files, configuration settings and savegames straight over, then there's a 'restore' option you can use on your new unit. Takes a while but effectively makes your new unit become identical to the old one.

If you've only got a USB pen drive just delete all the big things like PSN games and large installation files and then perform a backup, this will store your settings and savegames which are the only irreplaceable things.

You're a wealth of information my friend. Saved me a lot of hassle there.
Would it back up my user settings? I.e. I have a US and EU account, so would it save the user details/passwords for those?

Streeteh · 7 Mar 2009 at 10:11

IIRC, Yep

Cavallino · 7 Mar 2009 at 10:19

Splendid. I will just delete all the games off my HD and redownload/reinstall them when I restore my settings, thats not too much of hassle tbh.

macca672 · 7 Mar 2009 at 12:03

Streeteh said:
Got an external harddrive? If so there's a 'backup' option that will copy your files, configuration settings and savegames straight over, then there's a 'restore' option you can use on your new unit. Takes a while but effectively makes your new unit become identical to the old one.

looking to back up mine soon too, does it just copy the stuff over or does it move it? and does the drive need to be FAT32 formatted?

Streeteh · 7 Mar 2009 at 12:10

macca672 said:
looking to back up mine soon too, does it just copy the stuff over or does it move it? and does the drive need to be FAT32 formatted?

Just copies and yes it does; the PS3 doesn't recognise NTFS.

beachBOYken · 7 Mar 2009 at 12:11

macca672 said:
looking to back up mine soon too, does it just copy the stuff over or does it move it? and does the drive need to be FAT32 formatted?

i would like to know this too as if you backup stuff then send them th ps3 they have all your info , if it did just copy after a backup , i think the best thing would be to do a format of the hd?

Streeteh · 7 Mar 2009 at 12:13

beachBOYken said:
i would like to know this too as if you backup stuff then send them th ps3 they have all your info , if it did just copy after a backup , i think the best thing would be to do a format of the hd?

Yeah, it is a good idea to format the harddrive. I went as far as formatting and then restoring the system to factory defaults just to be on the safe side. I say this because profile information (passwords etc) is actually stored on a flash drive within the PS3, not on the harddrive.

Oh and, make sure you 'deactivate' your PS3 using the PSN account management. This will refund 1 of your 5 download credits for DLC/PSN games etc.

beachBOYken · 7 Mar 2009 at 12:14

what do you do if you have upgraded the ps3 hd , do you have to put the old one back in ?

in this case would you need to bother with a backup

Streeteh · 7 Mar 2009 at 12:19

beachBOYken said:
what do you do if you have upgraded the ps3 hd , do you have to put the old one back in ?

in this case would you need to bother with a backup

I'm not sure i'm afraid, obviously remove your own harddrive and keep it somewhere safe. They will likely send you a replacement rather than your own console repaired and therefore your harddrive would be lost in the Sony repair factory. I'd still do a restore to factory default (once the old drive has been put back in) to wipe the flash drive and delete all of your profile information.

I'd also do a backup before you take your larger drive out... just in case.