PS3 just died

[GlocksRock]

I played a blu ray the other day on my 3.01 console and so far no problems to report, but my friend was just saying the same thing about the 3.01 update that people's blu ray drives are dying from it... I think I may hold off on using the PS3 until the next update.

 

[darien87]

Is this the update that came out a couple of weeks ago? If so, I installed it and have not had any issues (knock wood).

I actually didn't like the changes they made to the friends list.

 

[j_garcia]

3.0 came out in August and was mandatory. I had no problems with that. 3.01 is out now, came out like last week, and after a few days I have this problem. I don't know if they are related or not, but since 3.01 wasn't mandatory I did it manually and as the article says, the failures came within a few days of the update. If it was really a firmware issue, I would have expected to see an issue immediately. I tried playing Gladiator just prior to the update and everything was fine, but I did not try anyting disc based after that. I was playing the Sigma 2 demo when it just died out of the blue.

 

[MinusTheBear]

Yeah, you are facing some sort of hardware problem. If it was software related it would present itself in other ways. You are also getting the red lights that represent hardware failure. Not much can be done.

 

[j_garcia]

Yeah, you are facing some sort of hardware problem. If it was software related it would present itself in other ways. You are also getting the red lights that represent hardware failure. Not much can be done.

I read that the update affected power management and cooling though, so it is possible that they turned the setpoints down for the fan and such and that could have contributed to the failure. I don't know, I just want it fixed and no matter what I end up doing, it will cost me money.

 

[darko]

My PS3 has been rock solid, thankfully... can't say as much for XBOX360 owners, it seems to be a 50/50 coin toss.

 

[j_garcia]

Mine is around 3yrs old 1st gen system and has performed flawlessly thus far, but 3yrs for a piece of gear that cost this much originally is not value to me, and then having to pay that much on top of it to get it fixed? That's getting pricey. Just a little disappointed more than mad.

 

[lsiberian]

Tried all their troubleshooting, but even without doing any of that, it already says based on the color flashing that I'm getting it needs to be sent in.

I found a guy selling a slim for $250 shipped.

Easy I don't want you getting scammed. PS3 scams are common so keep your eye out.(I know you know this)

 

[j_garcia]

Easy I don't want you getting scammed. PS3 scams are common so keep your eye out.(I know you know this)

Yeah. He has good feedback, but he didn't respond anyway, so he must have sold it.

 

[abboudc]

I read that the update affected power management and cooling though, so it is possible that they turned the setpoints down for the fan and such and that could have contributed to the failure. I don't know, I just want it fixed and no matter what I end up doing, it will cost me money.

People were having the problems with 3.0 too according to the ps blog. My theory follows yours...something in that update turned down the fan speed or upped the voltage on something, and the heat/etc killed the BR drive. I hope i'm wrong though and a future firmware will restore your system to working state.

I have a 60GB. I probably have a total of 50 hours on my ps3 in 2 years, with about 5-7 post update (got a gift of Heavenly Sword last week). Not sure if i'll turn it on again until i see this fixed...I haven't had any problems and i think i went straight from 2.whatever to 3.01 due to my extended time between updates.

Good luck in any case...

My PS3 has been rock solid, thankfully... can't say as much for XBOX360 owners, it seems to be a 50/50 coin toss

I'm not sure which i'd rather....98/2 with having to foot the $150+ bill to get the system fixed or 50/50 with free fixes...

 

[lsiberian]

People were having the problems with 3.0 too according to the ps blog. My theory follows yours...something in that update turned down the fan speed or upped the voltage on something, and the heat/etc killed the BR drive. I hope i'm wrong though and a future firmware will restore your system to working state.

I have a 60GB. I probably have a total of 50 hours on my ps3 in 2 years, with about 5-7 post update (got a gift of Heavenly Sword last week). Not sure if i'll turn it on again until i see this fixed...I haven't had any problems and i think i went straight from 2.whatever to 3.01 due to my extended time between updates.

Good luck in any case...



I'm not sure which i'd rather....98/2 with having to foot the $150+ bill to get the system fixed or 50/50 with free fixes...

I got both neither has broken. Most issues come from improper venting.

Most folks don't take care of things like us. That's probably why we are a little shocked by the problem.

 

[MinusTheBear]

My refurbished 360 that was fixed free of charge has been going for a while now. I am past the 3 year warranty...so many good games coming out for the 360...don't break down. I can't wait for Bioshock 2! It is going to be such a sweet game.

 

[j_garcia]

Bioshock2 pushed out until next year.

 

[abboudc]

I got both neither has broken. Most issues come from improper venting.

Most folks don't take care of things like us. That's probably why we are a little shocked by the problem.

I have both also. In past generations, i'd agree with you. However, the Xbox 360 failures have been precipitated by design failures of epic proportions. People's usage of consoles and how they treat them hasn't changed in the past 20 years. Greater than 50% failure rate where the motherboard is warping and heatsinks are coming undone is inexcusable.

After reading a bit more on the PS3 problem, the 3.0/3.1 update supposedly caused the blu ray drives to spin faster (or something similar) and a certain batch of them won't work at the new speed, or so the theory goes on the PS boards. It sounds logical, but until Sony actually discloses what happened (big if), we may never know. What's interesting is it seems to be affecting all models, including the new Slim.

My refurbished 360 that was fixed free of charge has been going for a while now. I am past the 3 year warranty...so many good games coming out for the 360...don't break down. I can't wait for Bioshock 2! It is going to be such a sweet game.

I hope its as good as the first one. Loved the original BioShock. This spring should have at least 2 awesome games with God of War 3 coming too.

 

[audiohonic65]

If its still under warranty, then you are lucky. I guess you better get it serviced.

 

[Chopper Greg]

I hear that Sony is currently under lawsuit for first causing the problems and then charging the $150 to fix the problem they caused.

 

[j_garcia]

Apparently there is a new 250G version coming the first week of November too. I already have my 250G drive so I don't know if I will wait for that or not, but if I am going to wait, I'd probably just wait for black friday and see if I can get a bundle deal or a better price.

 

[j_garcia]

I picked up a 120G Slim on Friday at Best Buy. Got it home, hooked it up and to get it connected, I had to update it. Well, when I went to put my old HDD in there, it won't take it because the firmware is now newer on the system than the HDD! That is wonderful. Not too worried for now, because I do intend to get the other one fixed down the road, and I expect to be playing more new games rather than old ones for now anyway

 

[Ares]

Congrats on picking up the slim, I had the same problem after downloading 3.00 it seemed like the blu-ray drive was spinning way to fast, which caused a lot of heat build up then 3.01 came out downloaded it and smoothed everything out but still had the heat issue,so cracked open the PS3 and guess what I found cheap thermal paste so I cleaned off the chips and the heatsink and used Arctic Silver 5 and now the fan doesn't kick into high gear anymore, just download firmware 3.10 yesterday and still no problems(as I cross my fingers).

 

[j_garcia]

One thing that I did note right away, the slim is a LOT quieter than my previous 60G and my 60G never really bothered me. I am not a big fan of the hard buttons on the console, but it isn't a big deal really.