PS3 finally died

[math is hard]

I have the 80gb PS3 that came bundled with Motorstorm. It was one of the backwards compatible models, which is a feature that I've never once used. Anyway, today I was playing Skyrim, and the thing froze, beeped 3 times, and shut down with a flashing red light. I was able to restore the file system, reboot it, and back up my entire hard drive using the PS3 backup utility, so I have all my save files.

Anyway, is it worth trying to fix this myself, or should I just sell it for parts and buy a slim? I mean, it'll cost me $200 after taxes to get it fixed by Sony, so clearly that's not an option when a new 160gb slim with a game only costs $249.

I'm not bitter about this at all. I got 4 years of heavy use out of the thing, which is longer than most electronics last these days.

[Shooto]

I believe mine was about 5 years old before it died on me. I was playing Battlefield 3, lined some ****er up in my scope, and it died exactly the same way, and right before I squeezed the R-trigger.

I hit the power button, heard it start up, then it would beep, and the red light would flash and whole thing shut off.

I searched craigslist and found an ad from some kid who lived near me, and repairs them for $30. Took about 30-40mins, and he even gave me a 60 day warranty. I still purchased a new PS3, but the old one is now used solely as a Blu-ray player in the living-room.

[math is hard]

I believe mine was about 5 years old before it died on me. I was playing Battlefield 3, lined some ****er up in my scope, and it died exactly the same way, and right before I squeezed the R-trigger.

I hit the power button, heard it start up, then it would beep, and the red light would flash and whole thing shut off.

I searched craigslist and found an ad from some kid who lived near me, and repairs them for $30. Took about 30-40mins, and he even gave me a 60 day warranty. I still purchased a new PS3, but the old one is now used solely as a Blu-ray player in the living-room.

How long has the repair lasted? People in Ottawa advertise the same thing, but I'm skeptical. Plus, I only have one TV, so two PS3s would kind of be overkill.

[Jackel585]

Did you do all the self-repair steps for the blinking red light of death? The yellow light means you are screwed, but the blinking red usually repairable. Most of the time it can be solved with either restoring the file system (which you said you did), a full restore, or an OS rebuild. All can be done from the diagnostic menu. Also much of the time it is related to a heating issue so you can just dust the thing out and make sure the fan is running right.

[math is hard]

Did you do all the self-repair steps for the blinking red light of death? The yellow light means you are screwed, but the blinking red usually repairable. Most of the time it can be solved with either restoring the file system (which you said you did), a full restore, or an OS rebuild. All can be done from the diagnostic menu. Also much of the time it is related to a heating issue so you can just dust the thing out and make sure the fan is running right.

Yeah, I did all the diagnostic stuff, including formatting it. Maybe I'll open it up and see how dusty it is inside.

[Jackel585]

Yeah, I did all the diagnostic stuff, including formatting it. Maybe I'll open it up and see how dusty it is inside.

Yeah I only know personally of two people who got that error, and blasting the dust out along with the file system restore fixed it. Make sure the fan can spin right, piece of hair or something could be wound in there disrupting it.

When you say formatting it, do you mean #3 (restore file system), #4 (rebuild database), or #5 (Restore PS3)?

[math is hard]

I can hear the fan going, so I doubt that's the problem. It's old, and I think the thermal paste is shot.

As for your other question, I did all three.

[Jackel585]

I can hear the fan going, so I doubt that's the problem. It's old, and I think the thermal paste is shot.

As for your other question, I did all three.

Well I hope it is just the dust.

[Shooto]

I took it in about 3 1/2 months ago, give or take a week, and haven't had any problems with it. But remember, it's now used solely as a Blu-ray player. I'm not really testing it with a 3 or 4 hour gaming sesh.

From the information I've gathered from the kid, the repairs aren't all that difficult. I was watching him, and I could do it myself (just need a heating gun). Much of the time spent fixing it was spent opening the ****er up. There's an unbelievable amount of screws in that damned thing.

If you don't want to pay the extra bread for another PS3, just go the cheaper route, buy the necessary tools (should only be about $30-$40 tops) you'll need to fix it on your own, and search youtube for the how-to videos. It's not terribly difficult or time consuming.