The infamous Yellow Light of Death- PS3

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The infamous Yellow Light of Death- PS3

Postby Gunner Down Under » Tue Jan 18, 2011 6:56 am

Okay guys I've finally come across this after exactly 1 year of having the PS3 (got it off ebay second hand) and there seems to be several ways of fixing this.

Extra coolant
Send it back to Sony
Take the PS3 apart
Buy a new one

Which is basically all the options I've been getting so far.

However these options sound risky (and Sony apparently charges $150 if it isn't in warranty (it isn't) and I've done everything the internet says to do to avoid the YLOD before I got this problem (clean the vents, etc) and the last time I cleaned it was less than 2 weeks ago, I do it approximately every month or so.

Buying a new one really isn't an option for me as I've only been playing it for a year and it cost nearly $650 AUD for everything (about 400 pounds) and just for one year? I'm better off not playing at all. (It's the rare 60gb version cos it plays my PS2 games too)

It just so happens that my dad has a friend that fixes these sorts of things (works on the PS3, that kinda thing) and wondered if that was my best port of call instead of trying to do it myself.

So has anyone encountered YLOD before and how did they fix it? Like sending it to Sony, doing it yourself, what kinda thing?
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Re: The infamous Yellow Light of Death- PS3

Postby whee » Tue Jan 18, 2011 7:44 am

I had issues with my 60GB when MW2 first came out, the f***er would power up, then just switch itself off.

There was no Yellow Light or anything like that, just an intermittent flashing red one - which you can't do anything about. It was meant to indicate hard-drive failure.

I took the thing apart, got the hard-drive out, then lost interest in rebuilding it so just bought a new one.

Obviously this isn't going to be an option for you, and I wouldn't recommend 'fixing' it yourself - get your mates dad or whoever to have a look at it mate, fingers crossed he can sort it.

For the price Sony charge to fix it out of warranty, your better served just getting another one pal.
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Re: The infamous Yellow Light of Death- PS3

Postby Gunner Down Under » Tue Jan 18, 2011 8:04 am

Oh mate that sounds like the Yellow Light of Death- it's a misnomer really, it would turn on, (green light) and just before the blue light would normally turn on a yellow one would take the place of the green one (possibly green and red lights together) just for less than a second and then power down and flash red.

Yeah I am considering getting another one, by the time I save up enough FIFA 12 might have come out and I can screw FIFA 10 and get that one ;)
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Re: The infamous Yellow Light of Death- PS3

Postby Gunner Down Under » Tue Jan 18, 2011 9:05 pm

The internet tells me that if I send it off for repairs to Sony it'll delete all the data (and sometimes not send the disc back at all) but has anyone gotten it fixed by the local repair shop or something and found it not deleted? (Or am I just a dumbass, it'll be deleted everytime?)
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Re: The infamous Yellow Light of Death- PS3

Postby GunnGunn » Tue Jan 18, 2011 9:08 pm

Take the Harddrive out.

And if the disk is stuck in there, turn it off at the back, put your finger on the eject button, and turn the power back on, this enters it into cleaning mode, which also ejects the disk in emergencies.

I have had one repaired by a repair shop, they are cheaper, and quicker than Sony, the one i went to did it while i waited.
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Re: The infamous Yellow Light of Death- PS3

Postby CynicalGooner » Tue Jan 18, 2011 9:45 pm

Does your light go red after blinking yellow, or stay yellow?
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Re: The infamous Yellow Light of Death- PS3

Postby Gunner Down Under » Wed Jan 19, 2011 12:25 am

GunnGunn wrote:Take the Harddrive out.

And if the disk is stuck in there, turn it off at the back, put your finger on the eject button, and turn the power back on, this enters it into cleaning mode, which also ejects the disk in emergencies.

I have had one repaired by a repair shop, they are cheaper, and quicker than Sony, the one i went to did it while i waited.


I've tried the cleaning mode process several times, it hasn't worked. You mean turning the power back on at the back right?
I think I read from somewhere that this process doesn't work on the 60gb PS3 which is what I have

CynicalGooner wrote:Does your light go red after blinking yellow, or stay yellow?


The light goes from green, a quick flash of yellow (no more than 1/4 of a second) and stays flashing red until I turn it off from the back.
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Re: The infamous Yellow Light of Death- PS3

Postby singaporegooner » Wed Jan 19, 2011 2:51 am

i've read about the YLOD thingy...
haven't really hit the problem myself yet *touchwood*
but i've got preventive measures in place to sort out the heating issues...
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Re: The infamous Yellow Light of Death- PS3

Postby GunnGunn » Wed Jan 19, 2011 3:30 am

Gunner Down Under wrote:
GunnGunn wrote:Take the Harddrive out.

And if the disk is stuck in there, turn it off at the back, put your finger on the eject button, and turn the power back on, this enters it into cleaning mode, which also ejects the disk in emergencies.

I have had one repaired by a repair shop, they are cheaper, and quicker than Sony, the one i went to did it while i waited.


I've tried the cleaning mode process several times, it hasn't worked. You mean turning the power back on at the back right?
I think I read from somewhere that this process doesn't work on the 60gb PS3 which is what I have

CynicalGooner wrote:Does your light go red after blinking yellow, or stay yellow?


The light goes from green, a quick flash of yellow (no more than 1/4 of a second) and stays flashing red until I turn it off from the back.


Yeah, its got YLOD.

And i didn't realise you had a 60GB, the emergency eject doesn't work on them, so if the eject button isn't working, nothing short of taking the PS3 apart will get the disk out.

I would get your Dads friend to have a look at it if he knows what he is doing, its an easy repair but how long the repair lasts varies...
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Re: The infamous Yellow Light of Death- PS3

Postby Gunner Down Under » Wed Jan 19, 2011 5:32 am

GunnGunn wrote:
Gunner Down Under wrote:
GunnGunn wrote:Take the Harddrive out.

And if the disk is stuck in there, turn it off at the back, put your finger on the eject button, and turn the power back on, this enters it into cleaning mode, which also ejects the disk in emergencies.

I have had one repaired by a repair shop, they are cheaper, and quicker than Sony, the one i went to did it while i waited.


I've tried the cleaning mode process several times, it hasn't worked. You mean turning the power back on at the back right?
I think I read from somewhere that this process doesn't work on the 60gb PS3 which is what I have

CynicalGooner wrote:Does your light go red after blinking yellow, or stay yellow?


The light goes from green, a quick flash of yellow (no more than 1/4 of a second) and stays flashing red until I turn it off from the back.


Yeah, its got YLOD.

And i didn't realise you had a 60GB, the emergency eject doesn't work on them, so if the eject button isn't working, nothing short of taking the PS3 apart will get the disk out.

I would get your Dads friend to have a look at it if he knows what he is doing, its an easy repair but how long the repair lasts varies...


Thanks for your help mate

Also would you recommend me getting a new one or just stick with the one still? Apparently 80% of PS3's that yet YLOD get it again in the next 2 months, and I reckon if it happens again I'm just going to get a new one
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Re: The infamous Yellow Light of Death- PS3

Postby Gunner Down Under » Wed Jan 19, 2011 5:39 am

singaporegooner wrote:i've read about the YLOD thingy...
haven't really hit the problem myself yet *touchwood*
but i've got preventive measures in place to sort out the heating issues...


Yeah now I reckon it's a bit of a miracle it's lasted this long, I should have heeded the warning signs (the PS3 fan sound seemed to be louder in previous weeks) and the room that I put it in hasn't got great circulation and it's in a entertainment cupboard, even though I did clean it it still happened!
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The infamous Yellow Light of Death- PS3

Postby GunnGunn » Wed Jan 19, 2011 1:09 pm

Gunner Down Under wrote:
GunnGunn wrote:
Gunner Down Under wrote:
GunnGunn wrote:Take the Harddrive out.

And if the disk is stuck in there, turn it off at the back, put your finger on the eject button, and turn the power back on, this enters it into cleaning mode, which also ejects the disk in emergencies.

I have had one repaired by a repair shop, they are cheaper, and quicker than Sony, the one i went to did it while i waited.


I've tried the cleaning mode process several times, it hasn't worked. You mean turning the power back on at the back right?
I think I read from somewhere that this process doesn't work on the 60gb PS3 which is what I have

CynicalGooner wrote:Does your light go red after blinking yellow, or stay yellow?


The light goes from green, a quick flash of yellow (no more than 1/4 of a second) and stays flashing red until I turn it off from the back.


Yeah, its got YLOD.

And i didn't realise you had a 60GB, the emergency eject doesn't work on them, so if the eject button isn't working, nothing short of taking the PS3 apart will get the disk out.

I would get your Dads friend to have a look at it if he knows what he is doing, its an easy repair but how long the repair lasts varies...


Thanks for your help mate

Also would you recommend me getting a new one or just stick with the one still? Apparently 80% of PS3's that yet YLOD get it again in the next 2 months, and I reckon if it happens again I'm just going to get a new one


Get it repaired, backup all your data and sell it, mention that it has been repaired, it will still fetch a lot of money as its an original 60gb, probably enough to get a PS3 slim.
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Re: The infamous Yellow Light of Death- PS3

Postby Gunner Down Under » Wed Jan 19, 2011 10:03 pm

GunnGunn wrote:
Gunner Down Under wrote:
GunnGunn wrote:
Gunner Down Under wrote:
GunnGunn wrote:Take the Harddrive out.

And if the disk is stuck in there, turn it off at the back, put your finger on the eject button, and turn the power back on, this enters it into cleaning mode, which also ejects the disk in emergencies.

I have had one repaired by a repair shop, they are cheaper, and quicker than Sony, the one i went to did it while i waited.


I've tried the cleaning mode process several times, it hasn't worked. You mean turning the power back on at the back right?
I think I read from somewhere that this process doesn't work on the 60gb PS3 which is what I have

CynicalGooner wrote:Does your light go red after blinking yellow, or stay yellow?


The light goes from green, a quick flash of yellow (no more than 1/4 of a second) and stays flashing red until I turn it off from the back.


Yeah, its got YLOD.

And i didn't realise you had a 60GB, the emergency eject doesn't work on them, so if the eject button isn't working, nothing short of taking the PS3 apart will get the disk out.

I would get your Dads friend to have a look at it if he knows what he is doing, its an easy repair but how long the repair lasts varies...


Thanks for your help mate

Also would you recommend me getting a new one or just stick with the one still? Apparently 80% of PS3's that yet YLOD get it again in the next 2 months, and I reckon if it happens again I'm just going to get a new one


Get it repaired, backup all your data and sell it, mention that it has been repaired, it will still fetch a lot of money as its an original 60gb, probably enough to get a PS3 slim.


Basically what I was thinking really, after all 60GB's are the ones that fetch good prices on ebay.

So in back-up you basically put all your system data onto a USB system (without the items that can't be copied like Demos and patches) right?

Wouldn't I be better off getting a Slim and using the Data Transfer Utility to transport all my files across? That means of course that I have 2 PS3 consoles at the same time but would it help?
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Re: The infamous Yellow Light of Death- PS3

Postby GunnGunn » Wed Jan 19, 2011 10:05 pm

I was assuming you would be selling your PS3 in order to fund the new one.

I personally would just use an external HDD or a big USB stick.
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Re: The infamous Yellow Light of Death- PS3

Postby Gunner Down Under » Wed Jan 19, 2011 11:13 pm

I was just searching up on ebay for prices for the 60GB PS3, one that's been yloded, comes with Black Ops and Battlefield Bad Company and a controller costs $202 AUD with no postage (about 90 pounds I think?) (And this one I don't think has a HDMI cable)

So I reckon a standard console 60GB that has been repaired with HDMI cable with no controllers would be fetching for about the same price I would think? Or perhaps a little bit less?

Currently a PS3 Slim costs about $350 AUD (about 180 pounds I think), would this be a good way to go?
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