PS3 YLOD - Best plan of action?

[MikeRox]

I tried to find something on this here, but my launch 60gb PS3 has just fallen victim to the "Yellow Light of Death" thing, making my Wii the lone functioning current gen console lol.

Anyway, I've got a LOT of DLC on it so don't want to just get shot and buy another at retail (Rock Band and Singstar DLC is non transferable it seems) so was looking at repair options. It seems Sony want ?130 odd for the pleasure + shipping.

I've found a company called Console Doctor who offer to do the repair for ?59.99 inc shipping etc. I was just wondering if anyone had used them and if people think they would be the best bet?

Any input gratefully received!

[ETC]

you should be able to recover your dlc im pretty sure only your rock band/singstar savegame is locked to the console

[MikeRox]

I have about 100 download songs beween those 2 games but yeah, everything else is safe enough if I can get the console on lol or is it possible to get content from one system to another... wait nm I'm being a plank, I just need to switch rights lol.

[Darwock]

OK so this has happened to me.

At first I was hopeful as I didn't see any yellow lights, and it started up the second time... but now it won't start at all and the light flashes yellow once before turning red again.

Due to the age of the machine now I'm pretty resolved to just buying a new slim. A repair will give it a little longer but I'm sure another failure would inevitably be coming. I will lose the 4 USB ports and backwards compatibility though, and that sucks. Especially with Move coming giving a genuine reason to have my PS-Eye plugged in.

The real problem I have is that one of my games is in the machine, and the fan test eject doesn't work on my model. It seems my only options if I want the game back are to get it repaired or disassemble the drive.

I don't have a Torx driver and they are not readily available here in Japan. Before I peel off the warranty sticker, does anyone have any tips for getting the case open? I'd prefer not to destroy the machine as there is a possibility it could still be repaired.

[Darwock]

Update.

I got through that first screw fairly easily, but the 5 screws on the bluray drive were apparently made of plasticine.

They all stripped within two attempts of getting them off, and that's using the correct size of screwdriver. I was able to remove the two silver ones using pliers, but the black ones have such narrow heads that nothing was possible.

In a fit of impatience and a lot of bent metal I got under the case and retrieved my disc.

The PS3 might as well go in the bin now, but I guess some components might be useful, like the lens or whatever. Should I just chuck the whole thing or fish some parts out of it first?

[englishbob]

Darwock, saw your post in the Vanquished thread.

Same thing happened to me. I ebayed the screwed machine and bought a Slim, losing the BC and the SACD playback which annoyed the life out of me.

If you choose to ebay it, use a parcel courier called parcel2go.com, where you can book a DHL delivery to your door for about £8.

Alternatively, use consoledoctor.co.uk to get your old one repaired.

[baad bwoy]

singstar content isnt locked to the console, if you are able to uninstall it from the machine, it can then be downloaded again onto a different machine. Unsure how helpful this is if you original ps3 is broken.

[psusion]

Darwock - as I recall the only reason for the overheating in the 60gb is due to the fan not providing enough cooling. You could replace it with a 3rd party fan (14 blades instead of 12 in the machine) and see how that goes.

If you're still intending on binning it, I'd be happy to take it off your hands at the cost of shipping.

[Darwock]

Cost of shipping would be very high I'm afraid as I live in Japan.

Everything I read suggests that due to a lack of cooling the components have probably been displaced. So theoretically it will not start until they are 'reset'. The advice says to heat the motherboard directly in the key areas so that they go back into position.

I think replacing the fan would not be enough in itself as that is only a preventative measure.

[ETC]

mine now joins the list of dead 60gb systems finally and whats worse my new copy of dead rising 2 is stuck in it - not anymore though had a nice professional repair and it lives again and also found it was not a ylod (weird guy didnt say waht it was just lifted a fortune off me for the fix... yay

[SuperBeatBoy]

Oh ffs. Had mine just sitting on the screensaver, then it just randomly shut down with a blinking red light. Turned it off and on at the switch on the back. Then turned it on to see green, then yellow then red blinking. Its an original Backwards Compatible machine, i have a 320GB and alot of DLC.

Who repaired yours Evil? I'm looking for a place cheap to get it repaired, i love my bulky machine and don't want a slim. Are Game Doctor anygood?

[BIG EDD]

Hi lads I placed a post in the console section I offer a repair service my details are in the post

[SuperBeatBoy]

Just had a message from Console Doctor earlier saying mine is beyond repair. I'm going to take them up on their trade in deal. Bah, i had some fantastic JPN PS1 games too.

[J0e Musashi]

You can re-d/l everything though.

[SuperBeatBoy]

You can re-d/l everything though.

Even if you downloaded it on another machine? Microsoft don't let you do that. So i thought it would be the same.