I know there are a few gamers on here and knowing how helpful this forum can be, I've got a problem;:
A few weeks ago, just as I was about to lead Arsenal into European glory (Wenger can only dream) my PlayStation 3 just switched itself off. Now, it is is an old one. I bought it on the day of it's release (2006 / 2007?), so it's the original model. I've followed a few online instructions of how to try and resurrect it, i.e. holding the power button down and then turning it off on the back before trying again. No luck. It just beeps at me, flashes a red light and turns itself off again. Before I consider either buying a slimline PS3 or saving for a PS4 are there any other methods or any decent repair shops in and around London / NW Kent? Is it worth repairing or do I just suck it up and buy a new one?
Over to you guys...
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No definite fix but if you type red light of death into google, i am sure there are suggestions
If no, then go by the above advice and search YouTube and/or Playstation/PSN forums.
If yes, then from experience you're knackered.
There is no yellow / orange light after it goes red. I've read that it may be caused by overheating. I'll have a look on YouTube tonight and see if I can fix it. I've not touched it since it happened as I've been waiting to find somewhere to take it. I'll let you know how I get on...and just for you @Huskaris I'll let you know if I ever win that elusive European trophy!
I think I am clutching at straws to be honest. Just wasted six minutes of my life (and my working day) watching some northerner use a hairdryer on a PS3 to fix this problem. It worked but I do wonder how long it would last for.
I went through all this a couple of years ago as I had a game stuck in it. In the end I just bought a new one and took the machine apart to remove the disk and the hard drive.
However, I wasn't able to transfer my saved games across, so I lost them all.
However, if a hair dryer was a potential fix then that would suggests the fans as KHA suggested. Was it loud recently and/or stored somewhere with a fair amount of dust?
It may be worth getting some compressed air, you can buy it for about a £5 in Maplin or sometimes in a store like Poundland. It's just like a can of deodorant but comes with a little straw to fix on the end (like WD40) allowing you to focus the pressure. If you shoot that on to the fans (preferably making them spin a little) then that should help - but depending on the amount of dust it will all end up inside which isn't ideal, but should still allow adequate cooling. As @sam3110 mentioned though, giving it a quick vacuum will soon fix any loose dust up though.
I've just googled for a quick PS3 disassembly and can see that the cooling system appears to use a standard fan, like the one you'll find in a generic desktop computer. Generally these can be short-lived as they're easily replaceable and pretty cheap - but they're surprisingly resilient if they just have a
good old clean. I'm going to presume the power supply will also have a fan too - I can't tell whether the fans located towards the outside of the case, or towards in the inside of the case, thus how accessible it is. If possible though, giving that some love with compressed air should also help airflow.
After 6 years it's probably quite likely the fans would need a good clean though, so I think that would be the best port of call.
Regarding the hard drive, it appears the PS3 uses standard laptop style ones - 2.5" SATA. Without knowing anything regarding the software that the PS3 uses, I can't see why this couldn't be transferred across to a new one - although KHA suggests that it didn't work in his case. It uses a FAT32 format, so you could copy anything on there to your computer if needs be - using something like a external hard drive caddy. (Picked up for a £5 or so from ebay - like this one)
This is a vent cleansing and disc eject manoeuvre.
If that doesn't work, try holding the power button down for 10 seconds (after 5 you'll hear a bleep, keep it down you'll hear three bleeps, it'll power down but keep that finger down and it should restart and work. It's like a soft reset.
Don't try any ylod fixes unless you get a yellow light