[PS3] Yellow Light of Death :fail:

[BigCat8]

Was in the middle of playing Rock Band 2 with the younger brother. Everything froze, and my PS3 shut off. Tried to power it up. It got halfway to powering up, and froze, then shut off again, showing a blinking red light. Since then, any attempts to power it up have resulted in a green-yellow-blinking red light.

Anyone dealt with this? Anyone know how the hell I can get my game disc out of the system? Retrieve the info off my hard drive?

I'm considering just picking up a new 120 and seeing if I can get my 80 up and running long enough to get my data from it. Also considering giving GopherMods.com a shot, as the cost is less than the Sony repair, and my primary goal is to get my data back. Even if it's only a temporary fix, I can at least back up my data. Assuming it's not an HD failure that's causing the YLOD.

... time to finish Ico, Devil May Cry 3, Stuntman, Shadow of the Colossus...

__________

[Trademark]

haven't seen that, LOL at your sig, was that before or after your ylod?

[madtapes]

I hope you didnt have plans to pull some ps2 saves off of that drive and transfer them to a fancy new ps3, because they wont do shit on a new ps3.


For what it's worth you can probably pull the drive out of the dead ps3 and drop it right into a new PS3 with minimal trouble. http://asia.cnet.com/digitalliving/tips ... 875,00.htm
This article has instructions on how to swap drives (they are meant to be user installable), including some useful pictures. You could do the swap yourself within minutes and then once you have the old drive in the new system there is an option to back all the data up, which you could do, then swap then new larger drive back into place.


Hope that helps

[BigCat8]

I hope you didnt have plans to pull some ps2 saves off of that drive and transfer them to a fancy new ps3, because they wont do shit on a new ps3.


For what it's worth you can probably pull the drive out of the dead ps3 and drop it right into a new PS3 with minimal trouble. http://asia.cnet.com/digitalliving/tips ... 875,00.htm
This article has instructions on how to swap drives (they are meant to be user installable), including some useful pictures. You could do the swap yourself within minutes and then once you have the old drive in the new system there is an option to back all the data up, which you could do, then swap then new larger drive back into place.


Hope that helps

Actually, from everything I've read over at the Sony forums and elsewhere, the HDD's are swappable- but not if you have plans of keeping your data. If you place your old PS3 HDD into a different PS3, it's gonna ask you to format.

I remember looking at that guide when I was considering a hard drive upgrade, in fact.

And I still have the PS2 hooked up, and that's still where I play all of my PS2 games. I'm just sad that with all the games I've yet to start on the PS3, I'm about to go back and play PS2 games.

And the sig was a one-time-only-special-for-this-post deal.

Odds are I'm gonna send out to GopherMods (so I can keep my data and get my game disc back), run it through the 60 day warranty period they have so I can set aside the cash for a replacement, back up my data, and move on up to the slim.

[madtapes]

from everything I've read over at the Sony forums and elsewhere, the HDD's are swappable- but not if you have plans of keeping your data. If you place your old PS3 HDD into a different PS3, it's gonna ask you to format.

Thats gay. It sucks that you will pretty much have to go through all that bullshit just to get the data from a perfectly fine HD.

[darkwingduck]

this happened to me. i pleaded and begged to have them fix it on their dime. they didnt budge. had to pay $150 for the fix.

[Tommy Bunz]

Fuck i think this might be happening to me.
I'm trying to insert the dvd, it won't take it then flashes yellow once real fast and goes to a blinking red light.
FML.

[BigCat8]

Fuck i think this might be happening to me.
I'm trying to insert the dvd, it won't take it then flashes yellow once real fast and goes to a blinking red light.
FML.

Yep. for Philaflava PS3ers.

Don't try to put the disc in. Seriously. 'cause if you do, you're not gettin' it back unless you pull the system apart or send it to a repair service that'll send it back. I haven't sent mine out to GopherMods yet, but I'm fairly certain that's where I'll be sending my console.

I'm just anxious as fuck about sending my PS3 halfway across the country. Best of luck to you, my brother in PS3 failure.

[Tommy Bunz]

Why are you going to go to Gophermods and not Sony to fix it? Just curious...

[darkwingduck]

i had a disc in mines when i sent it to sony. they sent it back to me.

[Tommy Bunz]

i had a disc in mines when i sent it to sony. they sent it back to me.

How long was it from the time you sent in your ps3 till the time you got it back?

[BigCat8]

Why are you going to go to Gophermods and not Sony to fix it? Just curious...

-Out of warranty.
-$150 vs. $70
-They guarantee that they'll get me my game back.
-The main one, as long as it's not a hard drive failure, I'll get my saved data back.
-They also claim a 24-hour turnaround- ie, they receive the console and fix it the same day, then send it back out.
-Positive reviews all over, haven't read anything negative on them, so I'm inclined to take them at their word.

If I was still under warranty, I might still go with GopherMods in order to be certain I'd be able to salvage my data.

[johnatron]

same thing happen to me the night before modern warfare 2 came out. awful. to get the disc out you need to turn the system off on the switch in the back, then while you are holding the eject button down, flip the switch and turn that hunk of shit back on. worked for me and i was lucky enough to borrow someone elses system the next day to play MW2. i was about 2 months out of warranty and they refused to fix it for free. now i got a used x-box for the same price as repairing the ps3. might send it back to have the blue-ray player though. fuck sony.

[Tommy Bunz]

Why are you going to go to Gophermods and not Sony to fix it? Just curious...

-Out of warranty.
-$150 vs. $70
-They guarantee that they'll get me my game back.
-The main one, as long as it's not a hard drive failure, I'll get my saved data back.
-They also claim a 24-hour turnaround- ie, they receive the console and fix it the same day, then send it back out.
-Positive reviews all over, haven't read anything negative on them, so I'm inclined to take them at their word.

If I was still under warranty, I might still go with GopherMods in order to be certain I'd be able to salvage my data.

Cool thanks for the info, I might use them too since I'm sure my PS3 is out of warranty (had it for over 2 years).

[BigCat8]

same thing happen to me the night before modern warfare 2 came out. awful. to get the disc out you need to turn the system off on the switch in the back, then while you are holding the eject button down, flip the switch and turn that hunk of shit back on. worked for me and i was lucky enough to borrow someone elses system the next day to play MW2. i was about 2 months out of warranty and they refused to fix it for free. now i got a used x-box for the same price as repairing the ps3. might send it back to have the blue-ray player though. fuck sony.

I tried the eject button trick and it didn't work for me- it tried to turn the system on same as always.

I'm probably going to send it out tomorrow, since it's been an interesting week to this point. So by the time I get it back, I'll be behind on Skate 3 and Red Dead Redemption. FFFFFFUUUUUUUUUU-

[darkwingduck]

i had a disc in mines when i sent it to sony. they sent it back to me.

How long was it from the time you sent in your ps3 till the time you got it back?

damn. all i recall is that i was surprised that it was returned as quick as it did. i think it took about two weeks.

[BigCat8]

So, in a major feat of procrastination, I sent my console out last Monday, it got there last Thursday, they sent it out Friday, and I got it back today.

It's in working order, it's clean (not nearly as dusty as it was), and Rock Band 2 is in the console. We'll see how it holds up over time, but thus far I'm happy with it. Only downside is the recommendation that the console be used 2 hours at a time, with 15 minute breaks in play, but they're the experts (dammit).

[Tommy Bunz]

I think I'm going to send my shit into Gophermods here soon myself.
Not being able to play Red Dead is pissing me off.
And just to be able to reduce wear-and-tear on my PS3 in the future i just bought a standalone bluray player.

[Gregg Popabitch]

this is the first time of me hearing about this. is this common amongst the PS community. I've had my PS for about 4 years now. How long have you fools had yours?

[BigCat8]

this is the first time of me hearing about this. is this common amongst the PS community. I've had my PS for about 4 years now. How long have you fools had yours?

Had my PS3 about 2 and a half years before it got the YLOD.

It's not rare, but it's far from RRoD level common. Essentially it results from the system overheating. From what I've read (and I'm no expert, so I may make an ass out of myself with this explanation), the PS3 uses a lead-free solder, which may crack after being exposed to a number of heating/cooling cycles as it's not as pliable as a lead-based solder. Most non-Sony repair services utilize a lead-based solder.

EDIT: Just to add on, I probably helped exacerbate the issue as I allowed the system to collect dust and didn't clean it regularly... or ever, really. Pure laziness on my part.

[darkwingduck]

^^^ how are you cleaning it?

i recall my systems fan really getting loud for some time before it shit on me. anybody experience that?

[Sigma]

this is the first time of me hearing about this. is this common amongst the PS community. I've had my PS for about 4 years now. How long have you fools had yours?

It seems to affect the early revisions the worst - the models before the GPU and CPU saw a die shrink to 65nm. Out of my group of friends with PS3s (which admittedly is only about 6 people), I'm the only one that hasn't had to return my PS3 to Sony either for the YLOD or the BROD (Blu-Ray of Death, where the drive won't read discs), but I'm also the only one with a 65nm CPU/GPU revision.

I post a fair bit on AV Forums and they have a poll there on PS3 failure rates. There's only about 400 respondents so it's perhaps not statistically significant, but the failure rate is at just over 39% with 23% getting the YLOD and 16% getting the BROD. That doesn't account for those that have had multiple failures, because there are a few people there that have gone through 3 or 4. Also, quite a few of those that voted "I've had no problems" have since had their PS3 die.

I think what pisses people off is the way Sony have handled it. In the UK, if your PS3 is outside the 12 month warranty, Sony charge

[BigCat8]

The best way to clean it without opening it (which voids your warranty) is to suck the dust out through the vents with a vacuum cleaner hose.

Given that I wasn't cleaning it before, this is how I plan on going about it in the future. Also gotta get an external that I can dedicate to backing up the data.

With regards to the fans, I did notice that my PS3 runs quieter since getting it back, and realized that was because the fan wasn't kicking on all the time. It was chugging along with the fan on high for probably 3 months before it finally kicked.

[Gregg Popabitch]

ok i lied. i didn't have it for 4 years. more like 2 years.

I don't keep it anywhere hot though. and i take care of it like it's my baby. My NES (at least I think it does, I haven't tried using it in 2 years) and SNES still work too so that is an example of how i take care of my babies.

[darkwingduck]

got the YLOD again.

When I got my first YLOD on same console, I wasnt too concerned with loosing game data. Now, i hope if i send it in for a second time, they can retrieve all my data.

im devastated!