My 60gb ps3 works fine...for 15-30 mins. Then it just freezes and instantly the screen is 'taken over' by really strange colors/lines/*demons*. Audio still works for a min or so, and there's no response to controller. I manually restart and this happens exactly: those colors are also what show up during first freezing. So I do the double reset thing and access system menu, and then restore file system (option #3), and it tells me the file system is corrupted (what else should it say?). The ps3 starts up again, but The evil process just starts over -> 15-30 min, then sudden freeze. I tried using a fan blowing on high directly into the vents just now and i was able to play fine with no freezing. Played for an hour, then shut it down on my own (backed up games saves, too However when I was playing I eventually started to notice little random little freezes or 'jumps' in the gameplay. This leads me to believe it's a heat-dependent problem. I have NOT gotten a YLOD and this is whats bugging me! (if there's ever a point where not having a ylod is a good thing, I'd argue that is now) I don't want to break the warranty seal (years out of std. warranty, btw) and crack the case, but at the same time it may be possible that re-flowing the soldering might be a good fix (as it has been known to fix YLOD's, which I don't have). I've been thinking about doing the 'towel-wrap-blow-dryer' fix. Does anyone know how far I can go with this method without taking off the plastic outer casings? I don't really want to find out it doesn't work, and Sony denies me the $150 fix for 'misusing' the ps3 (or something of the like)! Anyone know what else can be done? My Ps3 is up-to-date with all the required updates (btw)! Cheers!
Sounds like a problem with the video. I had a similar problem in a ps3 i was repairing. I did the reflow like what people used to fix the YLoD and my video worked fine again. Also: Sony still takes ps3s for repair even if the warranty seal has been broken.
when you re-flowed, did you tear it apart to get to the mobo, or melt it with a hairdryer/heat gun without much deconstruction? Also, sorry to be the bearer or bad news, but if you break that seal you don't exist to sony, I discussed this in depth with them a few days ago.
Mine did this 2 days ago. It is out of factory warranty but is still under extended warranty with the shop I bought it from. The system if dead cold will work for 2-5mins depending on if it sits at the XMB but as soon as a game is started it dies due to heat i'd say as the air is 65C coming out the back within a few minutes! Mine is the original 60gb model and had the Blu-ray drive die within the first 24hrs of gaming!
Sounds like the cover of the RSX chip is coming loose, or possibly a memory error (from the hard disk corruption). I would open it up and do a visual inspection...you might not even need to do the heatgun/oven fix...it might be as simple as some arctic adhesive, 5 heatsinks, and some arctic silver 5 while putting it back together. Also, it can be a good idea to hardwire the fan to run full speed in the older units; most YLOD problems are caused by the CPU or GPU overheating repeatedly until the solder breaks...keep it cool and you prevent this.
Well contacted Playstation Australia today, $250 to fix it. Must be a standard cost as thats what they charged a mate for his blu-ray drive to be fixed also! Mine is under extended warranty so no problems there apart from waiting time now, AGAIN... I tried to hint to the tech bloke that it was under extended warranty and I wouldn't mind a newer version but he wouldn't be in on it! Said they just repair and replace parts only. Warranty runs out at the end of 2012 so have a guess what i'll be doing before that date, taping up all the air vents and running it until it dies Thats if it doesn't die again before then...lemon
Its a graphics chip related problem and it will only get worse the heat damage is already done to the RSX chip, and i believe people have had mixed results with YLOD reflowing i.e its no permanent fix could heat it then works fine 1 day or 2 weeks then dies again, doesn't look good for your console if its doing this will end up in YLOD. Some guy on this thread said he had an extended warranty thats the way to go. you may get $100 for it on ebay sold salvage/as is.
