Tag: PS3

Based on the way the original PS3 stumbled out of the gates, I never expected to see this day come, this deep into the systems lifecycle. I think the Slim has been with us since fall 2009, yet they continue to be in short supply.

At this point there should not be any shortages unless Sony is creating artificial demand or unless they are about to do a system refresh of the Slim. There have been some recent rumors that Sony may have found some manufacturing efficiencies that would further cut costs. Maybe that is what we are seeing as Sony attempts to clear out the current batch of Slim systems.

I have written a couple of times about Amazon quickly selling out of their “Father’s Day” bundle. I checked this morning to see if anything else was available and noticed that this bundle is selling for $539-550 from third-party suppliers. $200+ profit is in line with system launch shortages and is pretty damn impressive.

This will be worth watching to see how it plays out next week during E3 and over the summer. I think I am committed to getting a Slim, so a few more of these types of posts are forthcoming. You have been warned.

Over the weekend I wrote about some of the upcoming PS3 250GB bundles timed to be release for Father’s Day … or E3. Take your pick. Today I noticed that the Amazon Little Big Planet Game of the Year Edition was sold out.

The listing shows “Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes”

Pretty impressive that this bundle Slim sold out so quickly. Are PS3 Slim systems really selling like hot cakes, or is Sony playing the artificial shortage game to create higher demand? Looking on the bright side, I will save some money and not order this bundle that I was strongly considering.

I came across this article yesterday, which provides a simple easy to use guide, complete with plenty of images, explaining the process to upgrade the HDD on a PS3 Slim. This really is a project that anyone can and should tackle in order to have plenty of room in your PS3 for all your gaming and media needs.

Two PS3 games that I have been watching closely are Red Dead Redemption and ModNation Racers. They both look like fun games for different reasons, however I know right now I just do not have time to get bang for my buck if I make a new game purchase.

Watching these two games on metacritic and reading their scores shows some interesting dynamics with what the mass media mega gaming sites consider exceptional gaming vs. what most users expect out of a game.

For the first example, take a look at Red Dead Redemption. The reviewers have given Red Dead Redemption “universal appeal” for a score of 95 based on 56 critic reviews. For the most part the users that have voted disagree, giving the game a much lower 7.8 based on 290 reviews. What gives? The users that bother to vote are clearly not happy with some aspect of the game.

Let’s look at the second example in reverse. The reviewers have given ModNation Racers an 82 (based on 67 reviews), while 66 users have given the game a 9.3 rating. The spread is much closer than a previous sample, however the user votes is considerably lower. This one almost has the look of a JRPG; the critics give them lukewarm scores while the fanboys rush to defend their favorite genera.

I don’t think I can draw any conclusions with these examples, however if I had to guess I would say that the reviewers love open environments, and are tired of Mario Kart style games, while the actual gamers would rather spend time with the create, share, play concept.

During my PS3 YLoD research and project I started looking at the PS3 Slim model. Since mid May Amazon has not had PS3 systems in stock; all PS3 systems listed were via third party sellers. The same is true for some other online retailers; the PS3 Slim is in short quantities. As E3 draws near, and in the case of Amazon and Game Stop, Father’s Day, it looks like some PS3 stock is finally going to be released. Please note that not all of these new bundles are created equally.

• MLB 10: The Show – Target.com as available “in stores” only.
• Little Big Planet Game of the Year Edition and HDMI cable – Amazon. This set is available for pre-order; shipping June 12.
• Uncharted 2 Bundle from Best Buy.
• God of War III – Game Stop “Father’s Day Bundle. Please note that the description shows an AV cable, not HDMI, and Game Stop is price gouging, listing their bundle at $399.98.

Other retailers will probably have similar bundles, which in general are good deals since the most recent 250GB PS3 Slim system price was $349.99. A pack-in game is a good value and reminiscent of the old days of console gaming when every system included a game.

I have not done enough research to confirm, but I believe that the most recent 250GB Slim systems included an HDMI cable. If not, the Amazon system is the best deal. It is at least worth noting that the Amazon screen shot does show the game and the HDMI cable.

It is also worth speculation that Amazon and Game Stop are calling their bundles “Father’s Day” which either implies timing (it is before Father’s Day) or these systems are expected to be in short supply, selling out in a matter of days, and eliminating the need to carry the bundle past Father’s Day. Color me with a shade of Oliver Stone.

I hope those of you looking for a Slim avoid Game Stop. It is absolutely ridiculous that they are $50 higher than everyone else. Then again, if you are planning to pick up God of War III, maybe you do not care about the higher price compared to the other bundles.

So now we know why these systems have been in short supply. Sony has let the current production run clear in other to make way for a fresh batch of Slim models, complete with games, that they can announce at E3 – “Look what we are doing for PlayStation fans …”

It will be interesting to see if these new Slim models hold any improvements over the most recent Slim systems, or if we are going to see an E3 announcement of manufacturing improvements coming this fall.

*****

Sunday Afternoon Edit – Also found this bundle at EBGames:  MX vs ATV Reflex for $389.97.

One week after the repair, my PS3 is still running strong. At times during DVD or Blu-ray viewing, the fan gets noticeable loud, however that is nothing compared to the balls out crazy overdrive loud the fan kicks into while playing games. It is really random; cannot pick up a pattern to notice when the PS3 fan is going to decide to rid its case of some excess heat. While this PS3 has always had this issue, based on my knowledge of YLoD and listening to the fan post repair, I am resolved to the fact my PS3 will overheat again.

The repair was straight forward; except for the ribbons and a couple of other places where I was not 100% sure how to remove a part or going in reverse, put a part back in place. Now that I know how the ribbon connectors work, I could probably do the job again fairly quickly. In fact, I would say that I have enough confidence to try this repair for any friends and acquaintances that have a YLoD PS3.

One thing I did that may be helpful for others that wish to attempt a “do-it-yourself” repair is that for each step or section in the strip down process, I put screws, ribbons, small pieces, etc into a zip-lock bag, and then labeled the parts for future reassemble reference. To explain, I ended up with zip-lock bags for HDD Brackets, Cover Plate / HDD Blue Screw, PSU, Bluetooth, (Step 17) Sprung Brackets, and Power – 4 Screws / Main Bracket 8 Screws (Step 14). For any odd sized screws along the way, I made simple paper labels which I then taped to the screw, and put in the appropriate bag. I think this approach helped the reassemble process go smoothly.

The only real concern I had was on the use of the thermal compound kit. I ended up with a little paste left over. Does this mean I used too little? If I would have used the entire shot filler material, would that have been too much?

At this point I have tested everything, which made me realize that if I have to move to a slim at some point I would really miss the front loading media slots for camera memory cards. I enjoy the convenience of sticking a camera memory card into the PS3 and immediately watching the images and videos in my living room on the 42” Sony Bravio. Of course I also use my laptop as a media server, so there would be a work around.

The only really odd thing I encountered was during my backup process. Once I got the PS3 running again, I immediately backed up all my save files, however some could not be copied; not allowed to be copied is a better description. High Stakes Poker and Heavy Rain come to mind. This may be worth further investigation.

In conclusion, I am obviously happy with the results. I got the satisfaction of fixing my PS3, learned a lot in the process (thermal compounds, heat guns, tons of PS3 parts, oh my!), and was able to recovery my PS3 data. I am not confident that this repair will last very long, however any time I get between now and a future Slim model was money well saved. The great thing about this project is most anyone can do it successfully if they take time to read a repair guide. Patience and a willingness to make a mistake (trying something new) would also help.

I meant to post this last weekend when I was doing my YLoD project. Sony is now considerate enough to let us consumers buy an extended warranty for Sony’s PS3 and PSP systems. According to IGN

The PS3 protection plans start at $44.99 for an additional year and jump to $59.99 for two years. A year of extra coverage on the PSP costs $29.99 while two years will set you back $39.99. Want the Accidental Damage plan, which includes the standard PSP protection plan? That’s $39.99 for a year or $49.99 for two years.

Interesting that Sony is taking this tactic after the original (non-slim) models are no longer available in retail. The assumption that I have to make is that the Slim models are reliable or Sony would not make this sort of move. I cannot recall hearing or reading about PSP/PSP Go failures.

Bottom line is that extended warranties are usually a waste of time and effort. Sony would not go out on a limb for $45 if they thought the Slim would run into Blu-ray, YLoD, or any of the other common ailments that have plagued the original PS3 systems. Sony knows that issues like YLoD are a serious problem, but instead of facing the issue head-on, many consumers were left holding a bag of crap. But guess what? If you “upgrade” to a Slim, not only do you get a striped down PS3 system lacking many of the original PS3 bells and whistles including PS2 hardware compatibility, you can buy some additional protection for a system that is probably not at all prone to failure. Smart move Sony.

So the tag line pretty much is a dead giveaway that my PS3 has recovered from my “Yellow Light of Death” (YLoD) operation …

I plugged in the power supply, hooked up the HDMI cable, and then powered on the sumbitch. Much to my surprise, after a couple of seconds I was greeted with the date/time setup screen. After putting in the correct date and time, the PS3 presents yours truly with a message along the following lines: “You did not properly turn off your PS3 system. Next time please [blah, blah, jerk off, blah, blah]”. No shit? Thanks Bob. I really thought that having no control over powering off my PS3 due to YLoD was considered part of Sony’s standard educational material for those of us with an original PS3.

The PS3 informed me that a new firmware update was available (maybe required), so I decided to do the needful. After applying the “you cannot use another OS” update, I quickly backed up my saved data.

Everything seems to be working correctly. The one thing I did notice was that the fan seemed to always be engaged on a high setting; loud as pile of monkey nuts. I normally have the PS3 sitting in a horizontal position, but decided to stand it up vertically. After a while I put it back in a horizontal position, and the fan immediately went back to low. I’ll have to experiment some and see if I can figure out a pattern.

I will probably do a full back up today, although I really do not know what the hell for because if something catastrophic happens to this PS3, transferring data to a new PS3 is somewhat of a tempest in a teapot.

I haven’t checked out all possible media yet – PS2, PSX, and DVDs need to be tested. Same for the various media input slots on the front left control panel. I have confirmed that the Blu-ray drive, at least one USB port, and Bluetooh board all work correctly. Color me surprised; I really did not feel confident going into this project that I could get some additional life out of my PS3.

I am not about to quit my day job. JC – PS3 repairman, and all around YLoD fix-it-up-chappie.

This is my attempt to document my “do it yourself” attempt to repair my PS3, which is suffering from the dreaded Yellow Light of Death (YLoD). See this YLoD repair guide for reference.

When I got home from work, I was surprised to see a couple of packages from Amazon. Part II began in as soon as I had a few minutes to read and prepare for the upcoming steps. Cleaning, followed by reflow via the new Wagner heat gun.

Cleaning was simple enough, and to be honest the reflowing was simple enough. Since this is all new to me, I have zero confidence, or confirmation, that I am reflowing correctly. Did I allow the heat gun to warm up enough? Am I heating all the areas correctly? Am I heating them long enough? I am letting the motherboard cool (Step 32); however I do not hear any sort of popping noises (Step 33).

So now the waiting begins. In a little while I will continue onward and eventually (hopefully) manage to put the PS3 back together again. It is a long haul just to see if this will work and be time well spent.

Now repeat for the other side of the motherboard (Steps 34-37). As I am waiting for the motherboard to cool, I have to mention that all those damn pieces, parts, screws, and other assortment of plates and whatnot are the obvious reason why the PS3 is so expensive. I have never seen such!

Step 43 is complete, so now I can begin the reverse order assemble project. Two minor points, which could turn into issues later. First, I did not have any replacement rubber pads for the two chips on the underside of the motherboard. Second, while I removed some thermal paste from the heat sinks on the fan, the instructions did not call for a new application.

Oops. Reverse Step 13. As I was getting ready to reattach the on/off eject panel back on, I noticed that the ribbon was under the plate. Not a huge setback. I just reversed steps again, corrected, and continued onwards.

Finished putting the PS3 back together, did a final cleaning, and off to the living room to see if this puppy works.

The suspense is killing you, no?

This is my attempt to document my “do it yourself” attempt to repair my PS3, which is suffering from the dreaded Yellow Light of Death (YLoD). See this YLoD repair guide for reference.

Keeping my fingers crossed, I setup a card table and started the project.

Step 4 – I noticed that a screw is missing; front screw (front left, second row for lack of a better description). To me this is a sign that Sony is sloppy at best; original out of warranty repair was a bunch of bunk!

Step 6 – I ran into issues removing the ribbon cable, which connects to the front port for memory media. I was not sure how to remove the “black” locking tab on the ribbon without breaking the ribbon, so I just disengaged the memory port from the case. Hopefully I can continue on with the project and work around this early issue.

Step 7 – Sh*t! More f’ing ribbon cables. At first I attempted to pry the connector out, which would have been a disaster. A very small piece (1 mm at the most on the right edge) of plastic breaking was a dead giveaway that this was not the right way. My only thought was that I must be in over my head. Screw it – I am all in now, so I pulled on the ribbon and it gave way. Son of a bit&^. End game at Step 7? Nope, the ribbon cable was not broken (thank goodness) and I now understand how the ribbon connectors work. This is probably obvious to the author of the PDF, but for those of us that do not play around with the electronic internals of various consumer devices, this is almost rocket science.

I decided to go back and correct Step 6. I am such an expert with ribbon cables. It will be a miracle if this PS3 ever powers on again!

About 60 minutes later, I made it clear through Step 20 without (hopefully) further complications. Reading ahead, I noticed that the PS3 in the guide is extremely dirty (Step 24); mine is nowhere near as bad. I would almost say it is almost immaculate. I also do not notice any burn marks (Step 26). Maybe that was because I ended up with a refurbished unit less than a year ago when I sent in my PS3 to Sony for repairs. Or maybe it is because my YLoD is really due to some other issue. Hopefully I did not misdiagnose my PS3. Either way, the SOB no longer works.

Continuing to play this project forward, I am not sure what to do with the processor rubber pads (image after Step 37). They do not look like they can easily be removed and salvaged. Not sure where to buy replacements locally.

This is a good stopping point for tonight. I may look at the rubber pads tomorrow (maybe stop by the local Radio Shack) and see what I can clean, but the real fun begins Saturday when the heat gun and thermal compound arrives from Amazon.

I may cry if I spend all this time and effort trying to fix my PS3 without success. If nothing else, I guess I will have a few spare parts like a perfectly good PS3 Blu-ray player. Wonder how much spare parts go for on eBay?