Tips, Tricks and Fixes

[kingofgrills]

Ugh. After 4 years and 1 month, my launch day 60 GB PS3 gave me the dreaded YLOD last night. I turned on my PS3 to play some GT5, and 3 minutes after turning the system on (the first time all day), I heard 3 quick beeps and then saw my power button flashing red. Shocked, I went up, turned off the machine completely, and turned it back on. Within 3 seconds of turning it back on it beeped again, briefly turned yellow and continuously flashed red.

To say I am bummed out would be an understatement. Last week, it froze for the first time during a game, during Uncharted 2. Until then, it has never had a problem, nor has it had one again until last night.

I need to try the YLOD fix to get my PS3 working again. To do that, I need to purchase a heat gun. Would you please recommend some guns, or at least features and proper temperatures to look for? I don't want to buy something that runs too cold or too hot.

I previously cleaned and repasted my PS3 a year ago, so I have taken it apart before. I use both PS2 backward compatibility as well as SACD playback, so I really want to keep my 60 GB model going strong. Any tips or help you can give me are greatly appreciated.

[kingofgrills]

Okay, second post. I just read up on having my PS3 reballed instead of reflowed, and I think that sounds much better. Has anyone here used http://www.capitalcircuits.com to have their PS3 reballed? If so, how well did it work, and how much did it cost? I would really like to try this out if it is more of a permanent solution than reflowing the console.

Finally, my brand new copy of GT5 is stuck inside. Is there a way to get the game out without taking the PS3 apart?

Thanks for all the help. Any thoughts or tips are appreciated.

[Uxi]

I'm all for reballing, which theoretically sounds much better for long term reliability. IIRC, Capital Circuits stopped taking orders from individuals and only do them in bulk, but maybe that changed.

[Azyiu]

Originally Posted by Uxi

I'm all for reballing, which theoretically sounds much better for long term reliability. IIRC, Capital Circuits stopped taking orders from individuals and only do them in bulk, but maybe that changed.

Ok, I should've known the meaning, but could you be kind enough to explain the differences between reballing and reflowing? Thanks.

[Uxi]

Originally Posted by Azyiu

Ok, I should've known the meaning, but could you be kind enough to explain the differences between reballing and reflowing? Thanks.

I'll give you the half educated layman's interpretation with some vernacular language for ease of translation, anyway.

reflow: reuses the existing (lead-free) solder joints. If you've ever seen what a CPU looks like, there are hundreds of little pins coming off the bottom. Each one of those makes contact with a circuit line on the motherboard. The physical connection is "glued" to the board with solder. As the PS3 heats up, these are softening up and and as it cools off, it changes shape, often losing contact with the motherboard. When that disconnect happens: YLOD.

Reflowing heats it back up again, chip never comes off, it's just using the heat to (hopefully) puts it back to where it should be. As it heats up and cools again, though, it's inevitable that it will happen again. Some guys do it "dry" while others use some goop that supposedly helps. The Gilksy youtube method is "dry"

Reball: pulls the chip entirely off and puts new solder in (leaded or non-leaded) with a dot for each pin/circuit. You can buy templates on ebay if you google 'PS3 reball' to get a picture of what you're dealing with. Doing it by hand is easily prone to destroying the chip (and/or board) by creating a short circuit between two or more of these little beads. Then there is specialized equipment to do it "right." Have to heat the board/chip/joint up again to hotter than normal operation, from both sides evenly, so the chip can be removed safely... to do it without damaging it need to do the "right" type of heat over the right period of time. The heat gun / hair dryer would hit one side more than the other, for example. Don't want to be too close or too far, either. Obviously don't want to warp the board or scorch the chip, etc. Other guys use IR (most of the reball services you'll see advertised). Supposedly that has its own drawbacks. SCEI probably has their own specific approved methods

FWIW, it seems that the vast majority of the YLOD cases, the issue is not the Cell BBE, but is the RSX GPU.

[kingofgrills]

Thanks for the info. Based on what you said, I guess I won't be getting a quote from Capital Circuits anytime soon.

Can anyone please recommend a qualified PS3 repair shop that properly repairs PS3s by reballing? Based on what I've been reading, reflowing PS3s seems to be a temporary fix at best.

Although I've repasted my machine before, I don't think I'm inclined to repair this one myself. I want someone to check everything out, because I've heard the power supply can be a source of trouble as well.

Thanks for all the help. Please send any good referrals my way.

[Moefiz]

King....I have used these guys before..as for the actual process they used to get rid of my YLOD I don't know..you may want to give them a call and ask..

http://www.psr1.com/

For getting your disc out....turn the power switch off from the back...put it on back while holding the power button on the PS3..this should get your stuck disc out and you should hear the fan kick on for awhile...

[Uxi]

Only reball guy I really know of sells on evilbay. Alot of guys on the official playstation forums are using them. Initial price of $60 and 3 week guarantee apparently got him overhwhelmed with orders, so it's now $75 and 2 months IIRC. Still waiting for long term reliability, though a few people seem satisfied with customer service.

I'd love to get confident enough to get my CECHA01 repaired... but not quite there yet. A shame that SCEI took the same revolving coffin approach that Microsoft did with the 360. They could be doing so much more... even if they're going to do refurbs, they could decrypt the drive and transfer to a new one with all saves intact, etc at the very least. I'll buy a used Gamestop version before I pay them again for the same likely faulty model.

One that I would like to do before a repair is to get the latest, lowest power consuming (and thus heat generating) power supply that's compatible. In the case of the original 20/60GB (CECHA/B), that's the APS-321 (input is between 1/4 to 1/2 of the amperage on the same voltage while the output is also much less...

[Azyiu]

Thanks Uxi!!


By the way, it's been 6 days since I sent my 60Gb fatty to a repair shop here in HK, and in case anyone is wondering, I will definitely report back once I get it back. Wish me luck though. I recall there are several very very tough to get or very time consuming 100% PS2 saves on it...

[Uxi]

One thing the YLOD will teach... DO YOUR BACKUP. Such a PITA to get saved game data after the fact. I did the reflow myself and got a good backup. Never want to do Three Leaf Clover on GTA4 again, that's for sure.

[Azyiu]

Originally Posted by Uxi

One thing the YLOD will teach... DO YOUR BACKUP. Such a PITA to get saved game data after the fact. I did the reflow myself and got a good backup. Never want to do Three Leaf Clover on GTA4 again, that's for sure.

I actually do, and all my PS3 related saves are safe. It is just that I played some PS2 games on it when I first got it in late 2007, but never occured to me I should save those files. I would hate to re-do several missions on GTA: SA... worse yet, my disc is one of those first pressed ones that, includes the infamous fuel (or the lack of it) glitch on that RC plane mission...

[kingofgrills]

Uxi and Moefiz, thank you very much for the info. After doing a bit of research, based off the error signal my PS3 is giving off (3 beeps and flashing red light), I may not have received the YLOD.

The signal I'm receiving indicates trouble with the hard drive connection. Some people have been able to solve this one by removing and reseating the hard drive. If that doesn't work, hard drive replacement may be in order.

I really hope reseating the drive works, because I installed a brand new 320GB drive a couple of years ago. If that doesn't work, I'm going to try the original 60 GB drive, which was functioning normally when I removed it. If that works, I'll need to order a new HD and probably kiss all my game saves goodbye.

I just hope it truly is the hard drive giving me grief. I don't want it to be the YLOD.

[master_8ball]

King of Grills:

I had the same error. Power on, 3 beeps then a blinking red light.

I did take the HD out and put it back in as well as used a method where washers were put in to create more pressure on the CPU/GPU. Both did not work.

The fix for me was the reflow, but it only worked for a bit (4days) before having to do it again. I dont think I used enough compound the first time. I am not sure if that PS3 still works as I bought a slim after fixing mine twice and getting my game saves off.

Originally Posted by master_8ball

My 80gig PS3 crashed again

I turned it on, got into an online match of Battlefield for a minute and then it just turned off. Its flashing red not yellow so I don't know if that's the same as the YLOD. The game is stuck inside, the fan test doesn't work, though I have never tried it before so I don't know if my model does it anyways. Restarting and unplugging everything doesn't work. I'm not too happy, I sent it in for repairs close to a year ago.

At this point I would rather buy a new PS3 the most recent model than send it in and pay again. Any suggestions that don't involve gutting it and re soldering?

I don't have anything backed up either... So will I lose all my game saves, files and stuff but my trophies will be good and I can re download my PSN games? Can I connect the hard drive to my pc and pull stuff off?

edit: I just pulled the hard drive out and then back in, suggested in an article but it didn't do anything.

[kingofgrills]

It's very possible it's the YLOD, but I'm holding a little bit of hope since all of the troubleshooting guides I've read so far indicate it's a HD issue.

I won't be able to check the hard drive until I get home from work tonight. For now, I'm crossing my fingers on this one.

[kingofgrills]

Well, I checked my hard drive last night, even replacing it with the original 60GB drive, but neither got it to work. It's the YLOD.

So now I'm looking for a good reballing service to repair my PS3. I'd prefer to do that over a reflow based on what I have read. If you have any referrals for a reballer, please let me know.

Out of curiosity, what exactly does Sony do with their $150 repair service? Do they just swap it with a refurbished PS3 or what? How well does that work?

[Uxi]

Just a revolving door of YLOD refurbs if you pay Sony. A shame really. They charge shipping too, so it's really like 170-180 IIRC. Unless you take a refurb Slim then it's something like 100 flat?

[PaulGo]

Originally Posted by kingofgrills

Well, I checked my hard drive last night, even replacing it with the original 60GB drive, but neither got it to work. It's the YLOD.

So now I'm looking for a good reballing service to repair my PS3. I'd prefer to do that over a reflow based on what I have read. If you have any referrals for a reballer, please let me know.

Out of curiosity, what exactly does Sony do with their $150 repair service? Do they just swap it with a refurbished PS3 or what? How well does that work?

I just fixed my 60gb PS3 through Sony for $129. It includes all shipping costs (FedEX ground) they even send you a special box to ship it in. If I wanted a referb PS3 slim (120gb) the cost would only be $99. I am due to get my unit back next Tuesday.

[kingofgrills]

Alrighty, I think I've found a good repair shop for my PS3. It's Sudburymods, located at https://www.sudburymods.com/repairs.html .

I spoke quite a bit with the repair specialist, Andre today. They created a PS3 fan modification, which is included with every reflow they do. If you want to install the fan mod yourself, they sell a kit for $20. You can see the fan modification by clicking on the video on their web page above. Besides the fan mod, which should keep the PS3 running much cooler, they offer a lifetime warranty on their repairs, which is way better than the 30 or 90 days offered by other shops.

Finally, when I asked him about reballing, he said he doesn't do it yet, but just ordered the kit. If for whatever reason my system fails in the future, he'll reball the PS3 instead of reflowing it under warranty.

I need to pack up my PS3 and ship it this weekend.

[jeabombers]

Originally Posted by kingofgrills

Alrighty, I think I've found a good repair shop for my PS3. It's Sudburymods, located at https://www.sudburymods.com/repairs.html .

I spoke quite a bit with the repair specialist, Andre today. They created a PS3 fan modification, which is included with every reflow they do. If you want to install the fan mod yourself, they sell a kit for $20. You can see the fan modification by clicking on the video on their web page above. Besides the fan mod, which should keep the PS3 running much cooler, they offer a lifetime warranty on their repairs, which is way better than the 30 or 90 days offered by other shops.

Finally, when I asked him about reballing, he said he doesn't do it yet, but just ordered the kit. If for whatever reason my system fails in the future, he'll reball the PS3 instead of reflowing it under warranty.

I need to pack up my PS3 and ship it this weekend.

Really, I think the Re-flow isn't that hard. I bought a Chicago heat gun from Harbor freight for $13, and the Dynex thermal paste (it's silver-based) for $10. It took me 6 hours, but that's because I was following the video to the T. I'd just reflow the system. I think the biggest problems people have are that they don't use enough paste, they don't re-flow for long enough, or they use the cheap paste. I've been going for a few weeks now, with massive amounts of gaming thrown in.

If you didn't read my other posts, I know nothing about computers or what I would encounter. It's that "easy" to do. My issues were really just the fear of messing something up, but that video is really, truly awesome.

[nycomet]

Not really a tip or trick, but I just paired my PS3 Logitech bluetooth keyboard to my iPad and I am typing this post on the PS3 keyboard.

I had no idea this could be done.

By the way, blu-ray.com looks really great on iPad.

Terrence
nycomet