My PS3 Died :(

[Ace3000]

So today I was playing Gran Turismo 6, when my PS3 Slim just shut off randomly. No red light, no beeps, nothing, just as if the power to the console was cut. I pressed the On/Off button, it beeped once, and the usual standby red light came on. I pressed it again, and then it seemed as if it turned on as usual, lights on the buttons, green on light... wait. Suddenly, about one second after the light turned green, it turned off again, and the lights on the buttons faded off. I tried again multiple times to turn it on, all resulting in the same thing.

Now, I am seriously hoping that it was just a thermal shutdown, and not anything else, as it did feel very warm. I did try and cool it down, but no dice. Now I'm just waiting it out, and hoping that it's not ****ed.

What do you guys think could have been the cause of this?


EDIT: 20 minutes later, still nothing. I would have thought that amount of time would be plenty to allow an electronic system to cool down.

Also it was saving just before it died. I hope it finished saving before it died, or else the system might be screwed. AAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHH!

One more thing: my GT6 disc is stuck in the console, unless I can turn it on, which at the moment, I can't.


EDIT 2: Okay, it's been 40 miniutes. What do I do? I'm just about to abandon all hope.

[Cipher]

Faulty power supply maybe? Then again, the PS3 doesn't have an external brick, so could be the PSU within

Have you tried holding the power button for an extended period of time? (10seconds or so)

Cipher

[Ace3000]

I tried the power cord that came with my Vita, nothing happened. I tried holding down the power button for 10 seconds, but the green light still turned off after 1.

I'm not getting three beeps nor a YLOD, so I'm not sure what exactly is wrong.

I could buy a new PS3 and transfer the HDD over, but 1, I don't have the money for it, and 2, It won't help the fact that the disc is stuck in the system.

EDIT: I called Customer Support, but they could only offer me a replacement. Guess it's dead... great.

[multibodydynamics]

The HDD is tied to its original unit via a system unique encryption which makes it impossible to transfer a HDD to a new PS3. It won't find any data on the HDD.

[Ace3000]

CRAP! That means I've lost all my game saves.

EDIT: I tried one last time. My Playstation 3 is dead, it can turn on, but only for a second, and it still won't boot. Sure, I can re-download all that I can, but my game saves are gone, unless there is some way I can get them from the HDD; and my GT6 disc is stuck in the system, unless, again, there is some way I can get it out.

[traksta1]

I'm afraid I am not savvy enough to provide links Ace but a brief Google search related to the problem you describe threw up a few things you may find useful that your posts do not indicate you have tried yet. One is a video that may at least help you to eject gt6. Sorry I can't be more precise for you but all may not be lost. Good luck.

[Cipher]

What traksta said;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzG-rBk5EW8
^seems promising and the comments section is relatively positive as well

Personally i would dismantle the whole thing though and fix the real issue (probably a bad connection somewhere (PSU? :D))

But that's up to you to decide, give it a go! ;)

Cipher

[Ace3000]

Huh, interesting. That seems to be exactly what happens, I might try that out

UPDATE: I found a way to get the disc out. Now to make an attempt get the system working again, however, it's too late at night for me to attempt it now, and I have no idea how to dismantle it. I knwo there'd be Youtube videos detailing how to do it, but as I said, it's too late to try it now.

Considering I've had the system since ~2012, well over the one year warranty, would it'd be okay if I removed the sticker I need to remove to dismantle the system?

[Cipher]

Unless Sony is brought to court about some flaw about the PS3 having a manufacturing fault and they have to end up replacing all broken PS3s that broke due to said manufacturing fault (chance of that happening 0.00000000001% maybe), then no, peel that sticker off ;)
Have a good night and GL in the morning!

Cipher

[slimjim]

i would try linking to a video but not sure how much you would need to dismantle to fix what you need to do and also is it just a slim or a super slim

[Ace3000]

It's just a Slim, the CECH-2502A

Also, looking at the video Cipher linked:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzG-rBk5EW8

I looked at disassembly videos, that is right under the blu-ray drive, which you need to remove the PSU before the disc drive. So yeah, I really need to take this thing apart.

[Cipher]

https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/PlayStation+3+Slim+Teardown/1121

^Should help ;)

Cipher

PS take note of your screws, grab some scotch tape and stick them onto a paper and write what they were from besides it ;)
Pss you should stop after step 19 though, unless you want to re-apply thermal paste, which means you need to have some first :p

[Ace3000]

That helps immensely, thanks.

I actually don't feel up to taking it apart just yet, but when I do, I'll let you all know the results.

[blackwiggle]

If you have a camera [or a decent camera on your phone] just take photos of your PS3 during dismantling it, then you have a reference on how to put it back together.

If it was a old FAT 60GB BC PS3 I would have said it was the crappy solder that was used on those units that had failed.

But being so sudden a failure, and on a slim, I suspect it's a power supply problem [the heat get to PS3's, that's why I have mine sitting on vibrapods so air can get underneath the console......but, if it's the actual HD, then sorry you are totally screwed every which way.

If your are/were a +Plus subscriber and had used the cloud storage available to you for game save data to automatically update, you should be OK even if getting a new PS3, as the game save data will be tied to your PSNID, not your PS3 motherboards serial number, as is the case for none + subscribers.

If I were you, I would do a Google search for a local game console repair center and get them to fix the console.
Both a LOT cheaper & quicker than sending it to Sony for repair, and they won't wipe the hard drive..... so you should be good to go when you get it back.

In future, always have a 1GB or less USB stick attached to your PS, and save your game save data to that regularly.
Game save data takes up very little space.

I'm speaking as somebody who suffered the same fate a few years back with a FAT 60GB BC PS3.
I had backed up my WO HD and quite a lot of other games to a USB stick - whew!, but hadn't done so with the Final Fantasy game I was playing at the time, so I lost about 100+ hours of gameplay.
Mine was under extended warranty, so I sent it to Sony who took an age to fix it [8 weeks], wiped the HD and the console was stuffed when I got it back [the fan was so loud the console was unusable, and it started shutting down with thermal warnings all the time ] I boxed it back up and bought a Slim.

[traksta1]

Hopefully you will have tried some of the less invasive methods of restarting it available on the net before you dismantle anything Ace?. I'm sure I saw various combos of mains power off, holding start button down, mains on jiggery pokery out there. Do you know how to get it into "safe mode" for instance where files can be restored , databases rebuilt etc?. If you have already attempted every combination of button pushing you can think of and it's still resolutely lifeless, ignore this post.

Again, good luck with it.

[XxSuperRyugaxX]

Hmmm this is a very strange problem..
Can you go on Recovery Mode? I guess no cause you said ps3 turns on for about 1 sec.. but when it shuts down again, it has just red led or red led blinking?
Also, have you tried to remove the power cave and plug it again?
And, if you have, you should try to put another HDD in PS3.

Usually when PS3 suddenly shuts down is because it is overheated, so for safety reasons it goes off. But damn, it shouldn't give this strange issue..

[mannjon]

For what it is worth, here are some steps to try assuming you haven't already and assuming there is some power to the unit (ie the red power light works)...

1. Press and hold the power button. It will beep once, but keep holding the power button until it beeps once again, and release.

2. It should power on and power off.

3. Repeat step 1, but after the second beep, keep holding the power button until it beeps twice. This resets default settings.

4. Manually attach the controller, and start the unit up and it should bring you to a menu. Option 4 rebuilds the hard drive without getting rid of data.

This is the process for recovery mode. I messed up my setting once, and it worked like a charm to restore defaults. System corruptions are more common than you think, and this is essentially like defragging your hard drive.

[Ace3000]

For what it is worth, here are some steps to try assuming you haven't already and assuming there is some power to the unit (ie the red power light works)...

1. Press and hold the power button. It will beep once, but keep holding the power button until it beeps once again, and release.

2. It should power on and power off.

3. Repeat step 1, but after the second beep, keep holding the power button until it beeps twice. This resets default settings.

4. Manually attach the controller, and start the unit up and it should bring you to a menu. Option 4 rebuilds the hard drive without getting rid of data.

This is the process for recovery mode. I messed up my setting once, and it worked like a charm to restore defaults. System corruptions are more common than you think, and this is essentially like defragging your hard drive.

I cannot get into Recovery Mode, I tried before. It ignores the fact that I'm holding the power button down, and it shuts off after a second. No beeps or anything.


Hmmm this is a very strange problem..
Can you go on Recovery Mode? I guess no cause you said ps3 turns on for about 1 sec.. but when it shuts down again, it has just red led or red led blinking?
Also, have you tried to remove the power cave and plug it again?
And, if you have, you should try to put another HDD in PS3.

Usually when PS3 suddenly shuts down is because it is overheated, so for safety reasons it goes off. But damn, it shouldn't give this strange issue..

When it does shut off, there are no red lights or anything, until I press the power button again, in which case it beeps once and the red standby light comes on.

I can only assume you mean the power cord, and I tried unplugging it, plugging it back in, using a different cord, all with the same result.


I can only assume that it is NOT the HDD that is causing the problem, as the same thing happens if I try to boot it with the HDD removed.

[Cipher]

Try booting with the PS3 upside down, if it works, it's a bad connection somewhere within (and not a solution, just a problem identification)

I'd do the whole opening up thing & fixing it for you, but you're kind of on the other side of the globe :P

Cipher

[Ace3000]

I physically flipped my PS3 upside-down and attempted to boot it. No dice.

Unless I'm taking what you said too literally and you meant something else, lol.

[Cipher]

No no, i did mean it very literal :P
Gravity could do it's thing to get connections touching, but no dice i guess

If you make wide circular motions holding the ps3 do you here any rambling of some sort? (don't shake up and down/left and right, not good for your tech)

Cipher

[Ace3000]

In an extremely literal case, yes. I hear the handle for the HDD moving about. :P

In terms of any crucial hardware that has broken, no.

[Cipher]

Hmmm, not sure what the actual cause of the problem is then, but it does look like you'll have to get inside in order to, perhaps, fix it :/

Cipher

[blackwiggle]

If it starts up for a second then shuts down again, well I suspect it is a faulty capacitor on the motherboard that is not holding charge.
About a $5 part and easy to fix in the right hands.
Ring this lot near you to get local advice.
http://members.iinet.net.au/~modking/

[Cipher]

you seen the video posted earlier? same symptons, yet fixed with a push in place kind of thing, makes me think it's not a hardware component, but i honestly don't know

Could just be old soldering that came lose/broke off

Cipher

[Ace3000]

There are some people that say to use a Phillips screwdriver on some white thingy, I don't know. It honestly could be one of a large number of things.

I discovered how to do it, and I am able to do the "Fan Test", does that help in diagnosis? I know that doing it did nothing to fix the problem, but hey, less dust in the system to worry about!

[slimjim]

you seen the video posted earlier? same symptons, yet fixed with a push in place kind of thing, makes me think it's not a hardware component, but i honestly don't know

Could just be old soldering that came lose/broke off

Cipher

there were comments on that video saying that instead of pushing that thing in place just try and make sure the screws around that area are all tightened up i guess thats also worth a shot