PS3 Green Light On and System Won’t Start

um… simply because the ps3 has AV and HDMI, when it is on HDMI you cannot play it on AV, you can simply change from one to another through holding on the power button when you start it for a bit long until it changes from AV to HDMI or other way.

try that before u restore settings as last resort ;p

Isn’t there a way you can backup game saves on external flash or hd? I mean I would rather die than having to play from the beginning of a game such as Gran Turismo i.e. :/

I don’t have a PS3, yet.. don’t think anytime soon but this is a very odd problem!

Devices are becoming more like regular general purpose PCs, no? :/

I have the same exact problem and when I tried executing your solution I could not get on to the restore screen. When I press the start button and after the first beep the system’s green and blue light turns on. I keep hold of the start button but the system turns off about 10seconds afterwards. I do not know what else to do, I also when through forums desperately trying to find a solution but all I can find is the same exact problem without a solution.

I’m currently having the exact same problem right now…

Though the initial problem might be different than what happened to yours…

PS3 80GB MGS4 Bundle purchased Summer 2008

My brother was playing with the console with Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 and he said that he saw messed up screen, similar to a Nintendo glitch back in the days when you touch the cartridge while playing.

He said he was online but not playing online at the time. He was creating players on the game when the glitch happened.

Anyways, that said, I tried every single solution I found on the internet through google, and also tried your trick, but none worked so far.

It just gives me a blank screen, the solid green light, one flash of hard drive indicator, a swoosh on the fan test, and the controller just keeps on flashing for like 10-15 seconds when the PS button is pressed. Very similar to what you symptoms were. I just cannot get in to that menu that you mentioned.

I’m not sure if the video card, the OS (firmware), the hard drive, or the RAM is fried. Tried with both component and HDMI cables simultaneously and not-simultaneously.
Any other idea what the problem could be?

Any help from you would be appreciated, because other sites does not give me an intelligent answer for this issue.

I tried exactly your solution. Step by step. I heard the single and double beeps.

What do you mean by finder? I actually have a completely blank screen. Nothing is showing on my TV both regular and HDTV.

As I followed up more research, I found out that the firmware software version 2.40-2.42 had problems, which came out on July-August 2008. Its the versions where a lot of people have the same problem as what I am having right now. Its also around the time when MGS4 PS3 bundle came out, which is probably the firmware version that the console had installed when my brother bought it. So I am assuming that the problem would be the firmware, but why would it crash now? Not weeks or days after my brother got the console? And why did it crash after my brother got the software update to 2.53 a couple of weeks ago, which is the latest one right now?

These could be answers that may not be solved at all… Oh well…

Oops… I meant “questions” that may not be solved… :P

Dear God man, you’re actually suggesting he remove his fingers now? :)

Hopefully this’ll help my bud though; his PC knocked over his PS3 (I always knew keeping those two side by side was a bad idea) and refuses to display video or produce audio when he boots it. So, cheers for this mate!

haha!
Well, I did do your solution step-by-step as you noted on your post above, so I should have at least taken my finger off the touch sensitive power button on the front of the console. Still no luck.

I actually called Sony yesterday twice. Once in the morning and once in the afternoon, with one going to my local authorized dealer to get the product service plan receipt. The Sony tech support said that they do not know why its doing it, and they’ll be sending a box. It seems that its not going to take that long, 2-3 weeks, or 3-5 business days for shipping the box to me plus 7-10 business days for a turn around from the time Sony gets our console plus another 3-5 business days before Sony ships the brick back to me.

My issue might be a different one. The tech support said it could be a power supply problem, but I’m assuming a hard drive failure since I tried using the hard drive as an external drive for my mac and it read as unformatted; whatever that means. Being a computer literate, its weird how my computer is detecting “unformatted” rather than “Hey, I’m a PS3 format hard drive.” Or I’m also assuming a RAM failure since I heard that the PS3 OS works directly from the RAM. Since I can’t even get to my log in screen or to that System Restore menu you pictured above.

I’ll post again about the status of my PS3 when it gets back to me, and I’ll make sure to ask Sony what the problem my PS3 had before it got to them. Just for the sake of others who are having the same problem. :)

Can’t format it anyways because if I send it to Sony, they might not fix it. They’ll probably think an intentional erasure of data, etc, etc… and its my responsibility for what I did to it.

I was expecting my mac to at least read it somehow. Just not the words, “unformatted.” I wanted to back-up the files such as photos, and possibly games, but that’s not going to happen.

hi there i am turning on my ps3 and the blue light will not even come on, and i get no pic, sound or anything….what does this mean

but the green light is on, but no picture nor sound

I’m so glad I found this. I had all the same symptoms as you and your solution worked great for me.

I did take me 3 tries before I got the double beeps and the system restore screen. The first two times it beeped and then beeped again 2 more times but the second two were separated by about 5 seconds and didn’t do anything. On my third try it worked. I had the lights pointed away from me so I don’t know if I did anything differently that time.

Anyway, since I didn’t have anything I cared about on my HD I just chose system restore and everything has been working great since.

Thanks!!

Hi , just to help people who had the same problem as the OP, but couldn’t get into the screen to do a system restore.
The same thing happened to me where I couldn’t get into the screen described by the OP.

When I did what the OP said I got 3 fast beeds and nothing else , when I kept pressing the start button my PS3 would just turn off.

My fix was holding the eject button and the start button at the same time. That gave me the 2 beebs and it then asked me to connect a controller and I got in the system restore screen.

Hope this helps

Regards ,

Gigant

Ok I have the exact same problems outlined at the beginning of this webpage but none of the posts provided me with solution.

It all started after I tried to hook up my ps3 (again) to my 52 inch samsung flatscreen after using it on my lenova 22 inch desktop lcd screen. The reason for doing this is because I practically have two homes and very rarely leave my ps3 by itself. I would be more tempted to leave a small child behind before my ps3… ok i’m joking…(kinda).

Anyway after trying to hook my ps3 back up to my samsung tv via hdmi as i did with the pc monitor (with the help of an adapter), my ps3 does not boot up. I get the single and double beeps and i tried holding the eject and power button at the same time and everything along with slight variations but nothing works. My controllers apparently no longer belong to this ps3 since they only flash red and there is no power going to my memory slots and ps eye since they have no lights blinking. My eject button still works, it can eject disks and the blue light comes on and everything. All of this happened today by the way.

I am almost in tears and I have to cry it all out before my girl comes home. Cant show her how messed up i over all of this. Is there anything I can do or is Sony no my only resort???? I am desperate and I have BLP, MGS4, GTA4, ninja gaiden, etc. and a thousand ps store games on this thing. Any response will help. Btw i have the 60 gig ps3

Gigant’s instructions worked for me! I held both the eject button and start button, got to the system restore screen, selected restart system and everything thing was back to normal! I freaked when I found my ps3 like that. I have to admit that I did not read the instruction carefully. When I read hold the start button I though it refered to the start button the ps3 controller. lol.

Hey everyone!

Reporting back after I got my PS3 back. Well, not really back, but rather a new PS3 came running home.

Anyways… Apparently, if you might recall from my previous posts about my PS3 not working, such as no audio/video, controllers not pairing with the console, the system not booting up, hard disk not readable, etc… After receiving the new PS3, it came with the old PS3’s diagnostics, and apparently the console suffered a fatal error. Most likely the hard drive failed or the operating system to run the PS3 crashed.

I sent the PS3 on January 8th, and received a new one back on the 13th. Took less than a week for the process to finish. As I suspected before, firmware 2.40 and above until 2.50 probably have bugs, and if you bought your PS3 with that firmware installed, it is most likely affected by this problem.

So if you cannot fix your PS3 even with the suggested tricks said on this blog, try giving Sony Playstation a call for technical support. If they cannot help out on the phone with troubleshooting, expect your console to be sent over for repair.

By way of statistics, do any of you who had this symptom/problem ever placed your PS3 near a subwoofer or any kind of speaker or magnetic field object? (such as analog tv, other electronic devices) I’m trying to figure out if there is a correlation with this and the symptoms popping up.

That is all for my report. Thanks!

Just pure judgment and I know most of the time electronic appliances don’t really work well with magnetic field, especially computers in general which PS3 is technically considered as one of them. But to be specific, I’m more worried about the hard drive because that is much more prone to magnetic field than circuit boards. They said on the diagnostics that a Fatal Error has happened on the system, which I am assuming on the hard drive because the system is not even booting up. The console is getting power… Everything in the system is getting power, but its just not booting up. Its like the blue screen of death but invisible.

Kamishiro: My PS3 had been ON TOP of my subwoofer for 1.5 years with no problems. I recently moved it to a new room and put it in a TV stand.

As a seperate issue: Friday I lost all power to my PS3 and have started the replacement process. I can’t even backup the system since I can’t power on (no lights of any color). It sucks because if they don’t send me back the same PS3, which I’m learning is going to be unlikely, I will lose all the save data/music/videos I have. I am debating whether or not to leave my HD in when I send the system to Sony. If I send it in without the HD, they will send me a replacement without a HD. If its not the same system the HD will have to be reformatted when I install it and I will lose all the data.
To make things more painful, I was going to upgrade the HD to a 320 GB that is supposed to be delivered this Monday. I would have backed up my 60GB then and wouldn’t have been as screwed if this had happened after Monday.
A moral to the story would be to back up your HD regularly I guess.

um my ps3 wont take in games anymore. if i force one in it wont read but will eject the game but it certainly doesnt suck the game in anymore. help

thanks a lot, this information really helped me to fix my ps3

I actually pressed restore files one and it worked. i had the same problem, originally it just had a grey squiggly thing and then nothing at all. i followed ur advice but went down one at a time and this one worked (restore files system). I have now put all my files on usb incase im not so lucky ;)

just like to say thanks… i was about to give up all hope and pay for it to get fixed… this worked great. unfortunately lost all data tho

my ps3 does exactly the same thing. the green light comes on and does nothing from there on. i tried holding down the Pwr button for the 3 beebs, but all i get is 2 then it goes back to standby mode. nothing is shown on my tv screen at any time to reset. any ideas?

yes, i tried all of them. i held both the eject button and Pwr button. all that happens is the Blueray drive cycles (i can hear it) and then noting. i get no displays on my tv. i dont get any fast beeps. it just goes to standby after third beep.

Haiz, I tried the ‘eject and start button pressed at the same time method’ and the one suggested by this blog but still to no avail. Mine doesn’t gv a blank screen; my Windows desktop screen still remains onscreen even after the PS3 is switched on.

I tried on my TV also; it gv me a blank, black screen.

I donno what else to do…Any other help?

Thank you so much, it work great!

my ps3 has the same problem..but after the red light it turned yellow
HELPPPPPPPP PLEASSSSSSSE!

and i just finished mgs4 three hours ago!

Thanks for this… just sorted someones ps3 nice and easily with this, Great to see someone saving such useful info

Same problem, youll have to do system restore, luckily mine found my old account info.
First, I did the System Update through a USB though…

i did it and it works fine now , thanks.

hello i also have the same problem but mine is different.ive done all the steps but when i go 2 the connecting usb screen i push the ps button and nothing happens.at first i thought it was the cable so i went to buy a new one and it still wont do it.any advice?

This worked for me… you guys should be working for PS3 technical support seen as they couldn’t help me!!! nice one :-)

hey i have the problem but mine was when my ps3 got dropped i was playing cod 4 got 5 games in then the color when whack i woke up the next morning played about 4 games them then the color went whack again so i shut it off restarted it then nothing showed up left it sit for awhile came back played a game and froze then black screen then it played little big planet beat it switched games got 1 1/2 games of cod it froze and ever sense then it has not shown anything on the screen i get the beeps when i hold the start button down but nothing is showing up so if anyone can offer any help im all ears

Well I got it to start again I was sitting down and when I got up the screen started acting weird. So I grabbed the tv cable and it started acting more weird then fixed then messed up again. So I unplugged the cable and 2 of the gold pins where missing so im wondering if that might be the cause. A sony tech said if the tv cable is broke it can cause the system to freeze.

So happy for your post….i thought i had a problem with my 80 gb Ps3 because i was getting a green light and no start up but i held the power button and after the first beep i am back to normal…with no need of reboot! Thank you all.

Bashar…i got an HDMI cable for cheap on Amazon.com, only 5 bucks and shipping.

Well they are worth the amount you’ll pay…and some say they work better than most at electronic stores! Mine works fine.

This was great advice! Had the same problem and followed your solution. Luckily didn’t loose any files. Skipped system restore and went to restore files, now the system is working again.

Right i had this same problem green light only when switched on when Ps3 started up okay. If you have 2 HD tvs like me :P. Connect your ps3 to the other one and repeat the process which was shown at the top ( for me it worked staright away ) this will not work unless you have really messed your PS3 up.

If this dosent work go to Sony and ask for a replacement or the shop you brought it from.

Aswell as many people dont have 2 HD tvs for the ones that do i suggest that you do what i did.

Thanks Mike

I just had this problem and looked up on the net on how to fix it. Your Awsome guy! It worked doing this reset, I didn’t even have to do a full restore so I guess I’m one of the lucky ones

my ps3 would not boot. i did a restore file system and did a system update with a usb memory stick and it worked thanks–

oh and i didnt lose any files

Hey man thank you so much. No where in the manual does it say this! luckily I didn’t have to delete any game files but as soon as I was relieved to hear the opening orchestra when it turned on I quickly grabbed a USB and copied all my game files just to be sure

I can’t say thank you enough! I did exactly what you said at the top and it worked! And we didn’t loose any files.

Mine doesn’t work, cos I don’t have the new firmware version (s.50 and above). Is there anything else I can do..?

does it take a long time when yu click restart system because mine just went back to the wave then to a black screen so i’ve left it like that for now

BLESS YOU ALL! MY PS3 WORKS AGAIN!

I have found a way to keep all your saved data with this problem.
Follow the steps above but first download the latest firmware update from the playstation website and save it onto a USB key. Follow the steps and choose the bottom option “SYSTEM UPDATE”. Wait for it to update and it should restart with all your music, videos and gamesaves.

Hey guys,

I’m having the same problem, get the green light, no display, no sync from controllers… weird!

Haven’t dropped it or anything, was installing app then all of a sudden, graphics went crazy and froze. Haven’t been able to get any display since rebooted.

I’ve tried the above solutions with no luck? Would it still work with HDMI cable?
Held the on/off button until i get 2 beeps, plug the usb cable to the controller and hit the ‘PS’ button with no response!

Any suggestions?

thanks guys!

o thanks so much i had the same problem and my ps3 is restoring data base as i type this as i follewed these steps :D
wow you saved me having to get a new ps3 !
cheers !

Hi i did everything correctly but my screen remains black and my hdtv just says no signal, my controller doesnt want to sync and after removing my finger after 3 beeps the screen stays black. You get a brief Fan buzz and then silence on start up…..im thinking maybe a hardware power surge?
Also my blue ray takes discs in yet somtimes..(no all the time) shuts the ps3 down after ejecting.

Its a 60 gig machine..the ones that play the ps2 games.

Hey thank you for youre reply Bashar!! Yes i did try sudjestions, i tryed pressing eject and start together and i also tested my hardrive via windows pc (which checked out ok), i can repair ylod (yellow light of death) ps3’s but this is a tricky one…. the working method you used should have done the trick yet all im thinking now is hardware or complete os fail. It was an ebay faulty buy so I have sent it away for a free repair quote that might shed some light on the situation.

Also If you or anyone ever has trouble with ylod issues Here is a link for a site that shows you how to repair ylod machines…along with a pdf with full instruction ;)…it works a treat.

Yeah cheers, fingers crossed!!

I did send a link but it appears to have vanished?

here it is again.
http://playstationlifestyle.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2376

Thats ok i think it was my internet, this time round i had to type a code to drop the link so my net musta timed out the last time lol

Anywho Im glad to help, ylod consoles ..well 60gig mainly are becoming more of an issue also so its handy to have just incase ;)

Keep fighting the good fight!!

WORKS 99% OF THE TIME: PS3 OFF, HOLD POWER BUTTEN UNTIL YOU HEAR THE THIRD BEEP, CHOSE OPTION 3. ALL FIXED AND BACK TO THE FUN WORLD NO DATA LOSS

Thanks for the advice worked perfectly!!!

[...] link is being shared on Twitter right now. @peterhough, an influential author, said New PS3 campaign [...]

I’m not sure were to turn now, I have tried every solution mentioned in this blog and comments as well as any other webpages I have visisted today.

Simply put, I have all the symptoms mentioned in the blog without exceptions. Neither my projector or TV(and speakers) can get any signal from my playstation any longer(tried HDMI, Analog, optical(for sound) and any combination I could think of). No luck. Everything works fine when connected to my laptop

This started while playing prototype for several hours, and the monitor sudenly started showing a lot of gibberish, even after restarting the ps3. After another restart the sound also disappeared.

The mentioned solution doesn’t work as I can’t seem to see the recovery menu after I get the double beeps. (I’m 98% sure I did it correctly)

Do you guys think this could be related to this issue, or something else? GPU issue?

I’m already considering buying PS3 Slim, even though it can’t beat the first ps3 version.

Sorry for the long post by the way

Please forget my last comment. Further testing indicates some kind of overheating where the monitor gets crazy after 30 seconds. And I just found out I still had a waranty as I got it back from repair under three months ago. Great blog though :)

I’m having same problem of several users above too.. but it hasn’t solved yet..

my symptom is solid green light and it turned red after 30 seconds also TV keeps showing “no signal” thing.. I’ve tried your tips but it appear to be a beep between each 5 seconds instead of 2-3 times vary beeps, then after the second beep(after another 5 seconds) it turned to standby mode (solid red light)

I’ve also tried gigant’s tips by trying to hold eject button together with the power, but it also show nothing different from my first attempt

can you kindly help me pleaseeeee
and sorry for the long post
thanks

Hey lagxen about the solid red light issue.
I have found, and im not saying this could be the issue with youres but some consoles i bought to repair sufferd from a solid red light issue.

I found 2 hardware faults and 1 part fault that could be the problem.

Youre console could have a damaged fan causing over heat, i have found that you tend to get solid red light stand by from overheat and with further use this causes damage to the boared and you are likly to get YLOD “yellow light of death” issues.

Check the fan is working, you should be able to hear it kick in once the console has sat idle for a few seconds.

Hardware issues as above could be the first signs of YLOD or there could be a seriouse issue with the boards firmware.
I got a free diagnostic on a console that was kicking into stand by and it turned out it was beyond repair.

If you are a uk resident then i know of a company that do free check ups on ps3’s
https://www.consoledoctor.co.uk/

If not my advice would be to send it off to a third party repairs company.

Hope that helps alittle

thanks for replying banditopeepuk.. I’ve checked my fan by holding eject+front power then turn on the back power on.. and it runs my fan very loudly.. could that make any sense?

T_T sadly I’m not an UK resident.. I had sent it to store where I purchase it but it’s sucks that my country doesn’t have enough good skill to solve this as they declare my PS3 already died, they said something about the mainboard and I wonder that heatgun stuff will work, I heard many people talking about this on several forums

oh I forgot to mention this before.. I sent my console to repair because I found YLOD symptom before solid red light issue, then they said my console is dead.. when I tried to turn this on.. It comes the symptom I mentioned at my first post

To lagxen

Damn, it sounds like the same issue i had with one of the consoles i tryed to repair. I sent it away and they said that the main board was not repairable. :(

Re-flowing “heat gun repair” does work on YLOD consoles i shared a step by step video link on this blog for Bashar.
I repair consoles at home with not much experience so if you feel up to it you could always try giving it a go?

http://playstationlifestyle.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2376

They might be right though and youre ps3 could truly be dead!

You can always get cheap ylod consoles off ebay and repair them with this guide though.

sorry i couldnt help further mate

Best of luck!!!!!

I’ve read all posts and tried everyone,but cant get the 6 option restore menu to appear.when i turn ps3 on i get connect controller…press ps button message straight away,but ps button has on effect! help please

Just found the hidden reset button on the back of ps3 controller near the L2 button,pressed it with a pin and now i have the system restore menu! :) about to restore system,i’ll let u know if it works

It worked! thank the lord,praise b to u ma man! if my problem is the same as anyone else remember to press the reset button at the back of the controller! p.s this blog ROCKS

Working on a PS3 for a co-worker the unit has the same problem as other users have stated. Standby to green light one beep then another beep and back to standby. Controller won’t connect. but randomly (twice now) have gotten a display to come up with navigation but as soon as I attempt to select something the picture goes blocky and the unit freezes up. when I power it down and attempt to reboot no video black screen. Stumped… any suggestions?

Just re-flowed the mother board as per the YLOD how to. Leting it cool now I will update if this fixes the problem or not.

After re-assembly system still has the one beep and second to off but will start the system and run. Now in process of installing the 3.0 system update via SD card. Fan is quiet and running.

OK on system update I got an Error code and prompted to call Sony. Since then I pulled the hard drive, put it in my laptop running vista and fromatted the drive. Vista only formats NTFS. Now the drive isn’t recognized by the system and I believe that the update removed most of the OS from the proms in the system. Now it starts, controller lights blink and after 10-15 seconds red light… back to standby. I have tried to force the system to format the hard drive by removing and reinstalling the drive: during startup, after startup, and, before startup, all the the same result. I have loaded a 2.70 update (enough to get a system with the maintenence mode software) on SD card and CD hoping the system will recognize and use the system software and update but to no avail. Does anyone have a forced run file that a fully Bricked system will run?

Mine beeps with a green light and then dies. No lights at all. No YLOD, no nothing.

I tried the PS button you all mentioned, but no responses. Didn’t try the hidden reset button yet.

I took it to a technician, he replaced some capacitors, and resistances from the motherboard, but nothing. He’s still investigating it.

Please, any directions? Could it be solved by a heat gun? It doesn’t look like an overheating problem since a I’ve never heard any loud noise from the cooler.

Sorry for the late reply…

Thanks for the reply banditopeepuk & Bashar.. maybe banditopeepuk’s right, my PS3 is dead now.. I tried to reset controller with the hidden button.. but it didn’t respond beside another beep leads to standby mode..

It’s sad I’m with my PS3 not even half a year and my brother was the one who keeps playing, I though I bought it sooner due FFXIII issue.. sadly I even haven’t done a thing to this PS3 and I still have the brand new vibrator controller packed neatly T__T

I’m not a technician, but I have an assumption that my mainboard had been changed by the store where I brought to repair before.. I’m doubting them because the symptom changes after I brought it back home from repair.. The store isn’t the official repairer though and they just gave me 3 month of warranty when I purchased it..
Please I need your opinion about this..

Thank you very much.. this blog helped me a lot

Thanks so much for this post! The help getting into the system menu was great, though wasn’t right for the model I was using. From standby, I held the power button. The light turned green and I got 1 beep. A few seconds later I got a second beep. A few seconds after that I got a third and fourth beep, then finally I let go of the button. Using the USB-connected controller, I pressed the PS button and selected “System Update,” using the 3.01 firmware I’d saved to my camera’s SD Card. That ran but it didn’t fix the problem, so I tried again and did a file system repair. It went through the file system repair twice automatically, rebooting both times. It was a messy setup, but it worked, and a system that I thought might be dead is now fine, with no loss of data! Awesome.

I cant stop reading this blog…better than official sony help! I only found out about the hidden reset button after searching through loads of pages on web…sony dont even mention it ;) glad i could help anyone with the same prob i had. P.S my ps3 works like a dream now

Please help with PS3 blank screen problem.

while in standby mode, I pressed and held the power button:
- green light comes + 1 beep.
- still holding the power button for a few more seconds, then it turns off (goes to standby mode) + 1 beep.

I can’t seem to get to the second or third beep, it always turns off first.

Also tried the hidden reset button at ps3 controller and simultaneously pressing power n eject button, still no result so far.

Any suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks.

Hi guys

Have exactly same thing as Bashar. None of your solutions works. I can’t hear the double beep, it gives one beep and turns off instead. Reset button or pressing PS button at any moment does not give any effect. I can eject and insert discs fine tho

I downloaded 5 demos yesterday (installed 3 of them). I left my PS3 switched for 4-5 hrs to complete all the downloads. Later I switched it off with power button. It was yesterday, today, it won’t start.

Some guy on other forum suggested HDD fault. He claims he had similar issue and swapping drives helped out. Of course I won’t try this as I’m still on warranty

Do you guys know if this inspection/repair would be covered by warranty?

Sorry. I meant to have same problem as richie :)

THANK YOU GUYS SOO MUCH!
You sir, have no idea how much of an impact you are making on pple’s lives!
I had a similar problem…tho mine was strange…I could only play COD4 game that was left in my system for months…when I tried to quit or go to the systems menu, or play something else, or restart the system with no disc, all I got was a blank page.
I followed the instructions on the top page, and KAZAM! worked like a charm!
Thank you sooo much! Blessings!!!!!!

hey guys,

My situation seems similar to everyone here. I have a launch HK 60gb console. Crashed on mag beta weird artifacts on screen. Had to turn it off at the back and since then black screen no audio. Woke up next morning got it to start up and had to change display settings, it crashed whilst changing settings. Been black screen ever since. I have held down the ON button. Get one beep, one beep then 2 beeps. Tried syncing controller, nothing, tried resetting controller, nothing. Does it have to be one beep then two beeps? does the order and number of beeps make a difference. I really wanna play uncharted 2 and dont fancy buying a new one if I can avoid it. Sorry for long post.

Paul

sorry just one thing to add. if i send it off to be repaired by an independent party (no way sony will since i’ve had it for 2 years have no receipt and i imported it from HK) whats the likelihood of it breaking down again if it has to be resoldered on the motherboard. im just weighing up wether i should try to fix it or give up and get a ps3 slim.

hey thanks for replying. its always one beep then one beep then 2 beeps. thing is if i leave it for a while it does turn back on and play for a bit before the whole screen corrupts which as you can prob tell is a hardware error, prob GPU. Yes i have tried the reset controller thing, and a second HD screen as someone said above.

repairing will cost around 80 pounds which is about 130 dollars. slim costs about 250 pounds for 250gb. prob gonna have to buy a slim. hopefully that wont have the same prob!

bashar is a legend the 1 then 2 beep suggestion worked 1st time

I have the exact same problem as the OP. None of the solutions posted here have work. My console is a month shy of being 2 years old and I am not about to shell and extra $150 to Sony without trying to figure it out myself. I tested the HDD and appears to be working fine. I think, in this case, the HDMi cables/video settings is a non-issue.

I’m thinking 2 things, the fan died and the system will not start up if it detects the fan is not working. The other is the internal battery. I ordered both pieces and will receive them shortly. I have already opened the console and checked the current fan for blockage. Also, a friend and I tested the fan with a 12 volt adapter and it didn’t work. I’m hoping it’s the fan… or maybe that internal battery (similar to a Bios battery).

Think about it, Sony might be charging $150 for a problem that could be solved with a part that cost a tenth of that.

I will post what happens after I replace the parts.

OK so here’s my story:

I updated to Firmware 3.01 from 2.9. Skipped 3.0 because i had read it was giving many problems so i waited for the next one. So when 3.01 came out i updated my PS3. It worked fine for 2-3 days but then suddenly it stopped working. When i turn on my ps3 it showed the green lights but no audio/video on my lcd. I was FREAKED out!! Only a month was left for Uncharted 2. I searched the whole net and finally i found this site. This site was a blessing. I found out about the Recovery Menu from here! I tried that and vola it worked! I was so glad… i tried the restore PS3 thing and my ps3 was alive again!! But as soon as it came to XMB it freezed again. The same thing happened again. For several days i accessed the recovery menu and tried all the options. Recreating database, formatting, updating again etc. It worked fine when i did one of those options but either it used to freeze again or didnt open again if i shut it once. Then i searched more and saw some guys complaining about format taking too much time. I was surprised cuz my formatting took only seconds. Further researching led me to know that there were 2 types of formatting… quick format and normal format. I was doing the quick format for all those days. I did the normal format… took me 3 hours but it worked!

For two weeks it worked flawlessly during which i even played Uncharted 2 (Awesome game btw) but again this week the same problem occurred. Green light is there but no audio/video! I again went to the recovery menu and did the format but during the format my electricity went off (we have this problem in pakistan). So i tried it again after several hours and this time did on UPS but again the electricity went out and even though the PS3 remained on but it froze. Again after few hours i tried but now suddenly i cant access the Recovery Menu. I don’t know what to do. Did the incomplete format screwed up the access of Recovery Menu? I formatted the hdd through PC but still it hasnt solved the problem.

I know Recovery Menu solves the problem but I CANT GET THIS RECOVERY MENU ANYMORE!! Can anybody tell me what to do!

PS: No warranty and there’s no official Sony Center here in pakistan. Well there are sony repair centers but they’re not good and honest guys. They’ll open up my ps3 and take out all the hardware! :(

I bought a PS3 2 weeks back. Today when I started the system, it asked for an update. While updating, it went blank and it wont start now. I tried the solution given here – Holding down the power button until 2 beeps and then press the PS button on the controller. But the screen is still blank. The green light is on. Tried the reset on the controller as well. Nada ! Nothing is working.

Appreciate any help to get it started. Have contacted Sony Support as well. So far no response.

Thanks

When I turn my PS3 on, the screen stays blue with the message ‘No Signal’. I’m using HDMI cables.

I know the full format works cuz it worked with me too but only for 2 weeks. After that as i mentioned while formatting electricity went out (happened two times while formatting) and after the second incomplete format my PS3 opened for like only two times but during the configurations (the very starting ones where they ask for the city, time date, user name etc) it froze and then suddenly i stopped getting the recovery menu

I formatted my hdd through PC after i stopped getting the Recovery Menu and i formatted my hdd through PC in FAT32 format which i’ve read in other forums that PS3 accepts.

Should i open up my PS3 and clean the inside with a blower??

Venkat: Mate you have to repeat the process twice. Once when you hold the power button…. after two beeps the ps3 will again go back to standby mode. Again you’ll have to hold and press the power button. You’ll hear a beep followed by another beep(sound will be like 2 beeps with the second one) and then you’ll get the msg for the controller)

Like most other posts,… I have owned my PS3 for a while now. worked Great (60Gig, Backwards compatible). Until one day I turned it one and as it was starting up, it looked great. Then it froze and got a bunch of weird colors and white blocks across the screen. Now I get Green light, but no audio or video. I have tried all the steps listed above about holding the button until two quick beeps, to enter the system menu etc. This worked for about 30 seconds. If I unplug my PS3 and wait approximately 12 hours, plug it in again and turn it on then follow the steps above I can get to the menu. I can get controller to be recognized (if it is plugged in) and I have attempted several different options on the system menu screen from Restore File System to System Update. It always ends the same way. It may or may not allow me to select one of the options, then if it does allow me to, it starts to act like it is doing something, but it never gets anything accomplished, because after about 30 seconds from the time I press the power button the first time, regardless of what else I do, the screen colors change to multi colored blurs with White squares and rectangles spread across the screen. I have tried to replace the hhd with a new 120 Gig SATA hhd. It allowed me to turn the machine on and asked if I wanted to format the drive. I selected yes and it formated it after about 10 seconds. The system restarted and …. some problem as before, Multi colored blurred screen with White squares and rectangles. It look a lot like the original nintendo screen when it would freeze. Any help will be welcomed and greatly appreciated.

Like most other posts,… I have owned my PS3 for a while now. worked Great (60Gig, Backwards compatible). Until one day I turned it on and as it was starting up, it looked great. Then it froze and got a bunch of weird colors and white blocks across the screen. Now I get Green light, but no audio or video. I have tried all the steps listed above about holding the button until two quick beeps, to enter the system menu etc. This worked for about 30 seconds. If I unplug my PS3 and wait approximately 12 hours, plug it in again and turn it on then follow the steps above I can get to the menu. I can get controller to be recognized (if it is plugged in) and I have attempted several different options on the system menu screen from Restore File System to System Update. It always ends the same way. It may or may not allow me to select one of the options, then if it does allow me to, it starts to act like it is doing something, but it never gets anything accomplished, because after about 30 seconds from the time I press the power button the first time, regardless of what else I do, the screen colors change to multi colored blurs with White squares and rectangles spread across the screen. I have tried to replace the hhd with a new 120 Gig SATA hhd. It allowed me to turn the machine on and asked if I wanted to format the drive. I selected yes and it formated it after about 10 seconds. The system restarted and …. same problem as before, Multi colored blurred screen with White squares and rectangles. It look a lot like the original nintendo screen when it would freeze. Any help will be welcomed and greatly appreciated.

Hey Tree-Top Fyer
Same problem here. Even i had that color distortion problem. When i used to access the Recovery Menu it used to either freeze or weird color movements/blocks would appear
Anyways now i cant even get the Recovery Menu. Man do tell us what you gonna do and if u get to know the problem then please do tell here. I’d really appreciate it!

Wow that’s a bumer I had a similiar promblem on my iPod touch where the screen is blank and if I plug it in my PC I hear the sound but the screen doesn’t show anything so I took it to the apple center and they fixed it for free

Hey there – sounds like a knowledgeable group of people here.

A PS3 was given to me that has pretty much identical symptoms as the ones listed in the article. The only thing that I can add to the symptoms is that I get a flicker on the TV screen when the unit powers on and off. Also, the unit is lacking a hard drive, but that shouldn’t prevent some sort of message from showing up on the screen, should it?

I have tried doing the reset things many times, to no avail. I cannot get the machine to do a double beep, with or without holding the eject button. The machine beeps once at startup, once in the middle, and once more as it shuts off again.

Again, the TV screen flickers during the first and last beeps.

I am not afraid to take the unit apart, as I got it for free. I’m also pretty sure the unit is fairly old, and I have heard that older units don’t have the restore menu.

Can anyone shed light on my situation?

Thanks, Phil.

Update: The underside of the casing reveals that it was manufactured in February of 2007.

Good news! I left the unit on all night while hooked in to my network in the hope that it might update or something. It worked! I don’t know whether it was the network or the leaving on that fixed it, but I was able to see a “no hard drive” message after restarting it the next morning.

I found a spare laptop hard drive and put it in there, and it booted and formatted just great. When I got to the control panel, I noticed that the firmware was version 1.72. That was probably the reason it wouldn’t enter the hidden menu.

I updated the firmware and now we’re cooking with gas. Everything is working fantastically.

Thanks for the great article.

i tried all the fixes on this blog (no results)
this is my problem:
my ps3 is on stand-by i keep the power on touch button pressed
i get a beep exactly when i pressed then i wait a few seconds i get another beep and it goes to stand-by mode again i tried removing the HDD and put it on back (no results)i tryed turning the ps3 on whitout the HDD and nothings happens still the same.
Hope someone replies me.

I had what sounds like the same problem, and I fixed it by leaving the PS3 on all night. I also had the ethernet cable plugged in, but I don’t know if that made the difference.

Bashar: I also tried that ,it only turn off the controller nothing changes.

Hey! Phil suggestion seems to work!
But i cant connect to internet and if i turn my ps3 off i need to let it on again for hours and then turn in ooff and on again to get it on
and can’t connect to internet i tried doing the connection agian but i can’t because it stays in Cheking network configuration.. and never finish
Hope you replies

I was able to reset the video by holding the button down after having the PS3 on all night. After that it didn’t give me any more problems.

For the internet problem, I don’t know what’s going on. I think what you need to do for that is to find some sort of automatic configuration setting.

-I hope that helps

Thanks for repling me!
The good thing is now im fully able to turn in on and off,watch Dragon Ball Kai on it thats what i love the ps3 systwem can watch lots of video files on it BUT now the connection thingy very annoying.I plug on the ethert cable and the ether light (back on the ps3) dosen’t turn on.
I hope someone replies me whit a Fix.bye.
Thanks you very much Bashar and Phil

i have just bought my ps3 slim.. i have read and read through these solutions and not one has helped me. i have tried holding power and eject in.. i only get 3 beeps and then it goes straight to the playstation store option.. :( im starting to lose patience, my screen works fine but its just games and films that are not loading, there is a sound like loading whn a game is inserted but then nothing.. nothing! i need help, can anyone help me????

why is this??

Hi again
bad news: phil fix work but if i turn my ps3 off for more than 5 minutes i need to start up the procces again. the ps3 seems to only turn on if he is hot and if is cool it will not turn on.it turns on but the hdd orange light will not blink and he will not load up.when i turn it on after letting he on a few hours it turns on well but i cant get connected to internet i try to scan wirelessly and it found nothing O.O and i tried trought cable an nothing happens.

Hey!! i found some new problems….
well i let it hours to turn it on wiht phil’s tricks and guess what i tried to update to version 3.10 to see if the ps3 get fised but my pen drive din’t worked and my brother asked me if the controller charge when he is connected to usb and i doesn’t charge and inter wont woork….can someone figure out whats the problem now?

Ok, so I replaced the fan and the battery to no avail. I found a shop that repairs PS3s and sent them a message stating all the symptoms and they replied that the video went out. They say they’ll charge me only $100 to fix, so I think that’s probably my best alternative right now.

Will post an update soon.

Dear Readers, one day i was playing mw2, and it started to lag, so i shut down the power. The next time i turned it on, it would show the the opening screen(the one with the music) and three seconds after turning the on switch and turning on the ps3, it would freeze. So i turned it on and off till it would go back to normal, but then i got the green light problem. I followed virtually all the steps but still no luck. Btw, After the three beep thingy, the controller has the 1 lighted up, but still the screen is blank. Please help asap or my dad will KILL me! Thanks

Bashar: Well i hav a wireless controller but i connected it to the ps3 with a usb cable.

Heres a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9UQ5ivrMQ4

Alright ill try that and if doesnt work…i just gotta call sony then. -__-

Bashar, i love u. thank u for taking ur time to help me with this stupid issue. It works perfectly fine now, and my dad wont kill me. Again big THANK YOU!

Wait! I spoke too soon.=(. I was able to get to the restore screen, and i tried doing the system update. (i have the latest firmware on a usb) and it downloaded everything and when it gets done, it just goes blank again. =( Please help!

ok ill try.

Alright, all i had to do was the file restore thing, now it works. thanks again

Hello,
my ps3 has the green light but when i try to get to the boot menu it beeps 3 times but the screen stays blank i have a extra ps3 that i use for parts so if someone could tell me how to fix it or get the menu up that would be great

Griffin: Does it go like this:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9UQ5ivrMQ4

If so, repeat the process again(from the red light without turning it off)

if anyone can help me on my problem it would be greatly appreciated…

I’ve had my ps3 for about 3 years. it’s the 60g…

it’s always worked fine until a few days ago. It froze up during a blu-ray movie and after that it stopped reading blu rays and ps3 games. it played dvd’s and ps2&ps1 games but now it wont even do that regularly. I put in a disc and the green and blue light stay lit. it will play a p2s game once every 20 tries or so… my warenty is up so i tried cleaning the eye myself but it didnt make a difference. it was actually pretty clean to begin with. i never played ot for more than an our or two at a time and it has always had good ventilation…

any ideas?

if you could e-mail your responses to pepper_0517@hotmail.com it would be great.

Thanks,

Tim

if anyone can help me on my problem it would be greatly appreciated…

I’ve had my ps3 for about 3 years. it’s the 60g…

it’s always worked fine until a few days ago. It froze up during a blu-ray movie and after that it stopped reading blu rays and ps3 games. it played dvd’s and ps2&ps1 games but now it wont even do that regularly. I put in a disc and the green and blue light stay lit. it will play a p2s game once every 20 tries or so… my warenty is up so i tried cleaning the eye myself but it didnt make a difference. it was actually pretty clean to begin with. i never played ot for more than an our or two at a time and it has always had good ventilation…

any ideas?

Thanks,

Tim

Hello! Hope someone can help…
I just bought a new PS3 Slim a week ago, and while playing a game it froze. When I restarted, I experienced the same problems as above–green light on but no audio/video, and none of the controllers will connect. But when I tried the restore system solution, it’s not working. I hold down the power button and get the initial one beep, but after keeping it held down, it never double beeps. It just beeps again after about 15 seconds and goes into standby mode.
Any suggestions??

Casey, from my experience, it sounds like your video went out. It happens when the material they use to ‘glue’ the video processor cracks. If you just bought it, I suggest you call Sony and send it back, but DEMAND a new unit, not a refurbished one.

I had to buy a new slim, my previous one turned out to be ‘unrepairable’. It was out of warranty so I took it to a local repair shop. after they re-flowed and repaired the video connection, they realized the board was fried. This is probably due to the fact that the year before, after i sent it to Sony for blu ray drive replacement (which literally takes about 10 minutes to do), instead of replacing the drive, they sent me a refurbished unit… and god knows what was wrong with that one…

Rick,
Thanks. I just got off the phone with Sony, and they basically told me to just send it back. And I’ll make sure to demand a new unit too, NOT a refurb! Sounds like they screwed you over with that. It’s just frustrating to already have problems after just buying it…

hi i have a problem,1st i upgraded my hard drive from 40gb to 320gb.
this is on an australian PAL model CECHH02> that all worked fine, then i decided to install lynux. so i got the lynux cd and i did not format the HDD properly i just went system other system…install…then boot default system…other os…anyways it went into the lynux boot mode at start up; i forget what i did but i did not have the mouse & keyboard connected so i turned it off from power switch and pluged in usb mouse and keyboard…did thw whole install_ps3_1080p install line…then it frooze at the final deregistered initializing usb thing…it didn;t go further so then i kinda cracked the shits and turned it off from power button again,
then when it reloaded it kept going back to the same thing. far out so i thought screw this i am reformatting this hdd…so i poped it back into my PC and formated it (YES AS FAT32) and put it back in…then i go to load system…loads..gives message “connect your controller via usb cable and insert in usb port” or whatever it it says..ok so i do it…presss the PS button…no response…hmm try again…i try reset the machine…on off..hold button down..not down..upside down…you bloody name it..all sorts of techniques.FAR OUT…there goes 20+gigs of downloads of demos + lynux 4 gigs but oh well…now im more worried about the console. i check with the old 40gb hard drive..format it…as fat32..put inside..green light…turns on…again plug in usb cable and pres PS button…nothing farking…ok now im scared..i keep formatting and reformating in all sorts of techniques the hard drives thinking maybe i fuked up the master boot record? then i think ok maybe its the usb cable…try another..same thing..maybe its controller…try another after market fake controller..no luck. then i go ok maybe these controllers are flat…i also checked the usb cable with my motorolla phone usb plug to charge..it charges…so the usb socket MUST have voltage so can’t be usb plug…i go down to “GAME” @ Northland – Preston and very nice man lets me charge my controller…charges for half hour (ye kinda shit charge holding) come back home thinking it has to work…i tried all sorts of FAT32 formating..activating hard drive..not activatin partition..only thing i couldnt do is do fdisk/clear master boot record….2 usb cords..2 controllers…resetting…praying to all the gods in the world…has to be not enough charge…so i plug in usb…plug in controller…plug in hard drive…turn on ps3….”plug in controller in with usb cord and press PS button”…..so i press it…and i press it…and i am about to go blow up the whole of Sony Australia building at this stage and be tracked down by Australian Federal Police for saying this…but instead i choose to say. PLEASE HELP
email me oen82@yahoo.com.au and if you live in Melbourne Australia and want to help out an unemployed gamer i’ll even come to you 24/7 and bring the console

Help please. My PS3 has no video at all. My PS3 just goes in a loop. It started this problem with a failed update. Got errors but didnt write them down. I have tried the restore but no luck. When I press and hold the power button it beeps once at power on then it beeps again after a few seconds and another as it goes back to standby. I tried the controller reset but the controller just flashes the lights when plugged in. I was going to try leaving it on and hope for an update but it shuts off by itself after about 45 seconds. Is there a way to force a OS reinstall somehow? Any other suggestions will be greatly appreciated also. Thanks

Tim: i had the disc read problem. What i did to fix it was the same process mentioned above. Then select the Restore System Files option. This corrected the issue for me. Now my brother has the same issue with the blue light issue that everyone is posting about, and i’m trying to help him out.

i forgot to mention you don’t lose your files or setting doing the Restore OS software onto the PS3 system rom. The OS software is backed up on your hard drive in case the rom becomes corrupted. (my nephew hit the eject button in the middle of a game and caused my headaches) Hope this helps you.

Ive had my ps3 since it was first launched all them years ago, but now all of a sudden my PS3 doesnt show the disk for games or dvd’s, now i dunno if this is the people all the people above are having because everything eles on my ps3 works fine, as it loads fine, i can get on the internet, it’s just the icon that shows the disk so i can play games or watch dvd’s hope some1 can help me fix this issue as i was hoping to hit level 70 on call of duty MW2 before xmas so i could play assiasin creed 2 :(

i have the same problem and ive tried everything and it works without my hdmi (my screen freezes and does some weird color things on hdmi) and just on av but when i turn it off again it has the same problem. i dont want to have to restore the ps3 cuz i dont want to lose files and games from ps store. can i save games on external hard drive and is my only option to restore the ps3 or is there something else i can do? sorry for long post

i guess i can redownload games so im going to try the system restore. if that doesnt work then i guess ill have to send it out :(

thanks! this site is great! really helped tremendously! my ps3 is working again thankfully and im hoping the problems are behind me!

yeah Bashar everything works for me it connects to the net, muisc plays fine, its just when i put a game or a dvd in it would have a lil disk icon pop up to click to load my game or dvd but now since my system updated itself to 3.0 thats suddenly gone missin now an my ps3 dont show the disk icon, but it shows its loading something in the top right hand corner but never shows the disk, i really dont wanna lose all my game saves restarting it all as thats 2 or 3 years worth of game time an i have nowhere to move the game saves to unless i can move them to my ipod while i restore it, does anyone know if that will work?

bashar yeah i updated to 3.01 thats when my comp stopped working as soon as i updated the new software, ive copied my games to my ipod they al seem to be there apart from the game that u werent allowed to copy, ive wipped everything off the hard drive an it still dont work, really dunno what eles to do with it

Long post alert:

I have the same problem as Nathan. Much like Nathan my problems started after upgrading my firmware. In my case I bought “Hulk” and “Turok” so I would have something to do post op. When I put in Hulk it updated my firmware automatically. It ran okay for a couple days then it stopped recognizing my player. I thought it was dirty and tried to clean it but I noticed that it was not spinning the cleaning disk. I tried several others and they all came out the same way they went in so it isn’t even trying to spool the disks.

The system isn’t bricked but without a DVD it is useless. Sony was waste of time The unit is post warranty and they want $150 to fix it. $150 to replace a DVD they manufacture? If they want to rob me how about using a gun? I was considering ordering a DVD and replacing it myself but I’m expecting a class action because A LOT of people are having problems with their PS3’s due to varoius Sony authorized updates and I don’t want Sony saying I’m not eligible for a free repair because I broke the warranty seal so I boxed and shelved it back in May and pulled out my PS2. It may be elder tech but at least it works.

With that said, I found the reset solution on a different board back in April but couldn’t get my PS3/40 to give me the two beeps using the power button. It would cycle through startup and standby without giving me the magical two beeps that are supposed to signal salvation. Reading your blog has given me some new ideas about how I might get the machine to enter reset mode. I’m going to try the eject button trick as well as take a look at my control for the hidden reset button so I can go back to the firmware that came with the system. One way or the other I’ll let you know what happens. Merry Christmas and thanks to you and everyone else that contributed to this. Yet more proof that multiple heads are better than one.

good luck getting it fixed Amediar, i tried everything i reset it back to factory settings, completely restored my ps3 so everything was cleared a good 2-3 years worth of gaming, tried to clean the dvd player still didnt read the disk, sony were useless in offering me help, they just wanted me to pay money to have it fixed, but the money they were askin was basicly the same amount it is to buy a brand new ps3 slim, so lucky for me my girlfriend bought me a new one, but i think its pretty poor that sony wont take any blame for the problem’s, when for nearly 3 years of owning a ps3 i dont have a single problem, but a couple days after addin the new updates my ps3 an it stops working an by the sounds of it many others are havin these issues

Don’t waste money to find someone to fix it yet! It may be a minor issue that you can be fixed by yourself. Remember, you are not the only one to suffer this problem! Because I had

help so many people to fix the same problem now. You are so lucky to be there. I share a guide for you – It make me like a pro to help my friends and many people. It is too expensive to send back to Sony repair if your machine is out of warranty!

I had solved the yellow / red lights flashing problems after bought this guide. The author of the book is really kind and helpful to his customers. May be you can buy it and share what you have learned !

PS3 Yellow Lights Fixing Guide : http://bit.ly/8fksGD

For those that did the above suggestions and it did not work, heres something you can try.

Even if nothing comes up on your tv after using the suggested methods, it could be due to your tv not detecting it. Mine was like that until i tried turning off both tv and ps3 first then it worked.

For my ps3, i held it down(mine was about 12 secs) until i heard 2 fast beeps like so: beep…beep……..beep beep then let go.

You will also know when youre in system restore mode (I think) when you hold power button down and you can’t turn it off.

No joy on this end of the screen my friends.

I have a PoS3/40 with a mint date of September 2007. The systme info shows I am running 2.30 but due to my efforts to get rid of the update I really have no idea if this version was virgin or it is the update installed by the Hulk game. The booklets included by Sony are no help.

I agree with Bashar that this is likely a hardware issue. In reading some of the other boards it has been suggested that some updates cause the BRD to burn-out due to overheating the laser with increased reads. This would explain why some machines burn out faster than others since not all lasers are equal and not everyone uses their PoS3 the same way. If you are a powergamer with a laser on the low end of the bell curve it could burn out in a couple days. If you have a casual user with a laser on the high end of the bell curve it could last for years.

Even though I am fairly sure it is a hardware issue, it is also possible the firmware did something to corrupt the drivers so the system will not recognize the BRD and that returning the firmware to factory defaults will restore the corrupt drivers. I would try one of the updates from Sony to test this theory but I do not have net access for my PS3.

I tried to enter Safe Mode using the instructions on this site:

http://www.fixya.com/support/r3159339-access_safe_mode_playstation_3

I spent a couple hours trying different variations. With the controller hooked up by USB, without the controller hooked up, with the hard drive in, with the hard drive out, holding the eject button, holding the reset button on the control, as well as while grasping a large hammer in a threatening manner. Nada. As far as I can tell my machine does not have a “safe mode.” If someone has any other suggestions let me know.

Once my dreams of entering Safe Mode evaporated I went looking through the system directory on my PS3 and noticed that it has two of the four options listed in the “Safe Mode”: Restore Default Settings” and “Restore PoS3 System.” I tried both. Nada. However this might explain why my machine may not have a Safe Mode since that would be redundant. Since my PoS3 is the only one I have access to I have no way to check if this is standard on all PoS3’s.

At this point I have several options:

1. Do nothing and hope a class action will force Sony to man up.

2. Find a dealer that will sell me a PS3 compat BRD and fix it myself (assuming the BRD is the problem).

3. Find a repair shop that will fix it for a reasonable price.

4. Trade in the junk PoS3 at Game Stop and use the discount to buy a new PoS3 (I heard they will give you $50 even for bricked machines but I haven’t confirmed this yet).

5. Buy all the bricked PoS3’s I’ve read about and use them to rebuild the World Trade Center.

6. Pay Sony $150 on top of the $400 I spent on the machine and feel like I just got raped.

I wanted to point out is that sending your machine to Sony for repair is the WORST IDEA EVER!

Why? Because it rewards Sony for making a crappy product, consistently putting out faulty firmware updates, as well as encouraging some of the worst customer service on record. Sony should not make money off of this.

The repair is only under warranty for 3 months so if the machine craps out 91+ days later you’re screwed – again – and they do not offer an extended warranty on repairs. You are better off trading in your junked PoS3 on a new one and paying the extra money for the longest extended warranty they offer (3 years is the longest I’ve read about) that way they can eat the cost of repairs when it breaks down every other update instead of sucking money out of your pocket.

Holy crap! I just wrote a novel. Sorry guys but there is a lot of information to trade on this and I’ve had a long time to read about it. Of course I really have nothing better to do since I can’t play Oblivion until I resolve this idiocy. :-)

I went to a game repair place at lunch and they quoted me $103 to replace the BRD.

Keep in mind that these guys have to pay overhead such as the store front they are in as well as buying the BRD’s from Sony as well as pay to have the units shipped, etc. and they are a third less than Sony. Do you think Sony is making a killing repairing these things at $150 per unit? You betcha.

Wouldn’t surprise me if this was intentional. Build a PoS that everyone that owned a PS2 is frantic to buy. Make the system as twitchy as possible. Put out junk firmware updates that stress and crash the system so people can’t play the games they spent hundreds of dollars buying. Watch the dough roll in repairing junk that shouldn’t have sold in the first place or double up on sales as they buy new units. Even better, don’t make them backwards compatible so people keep buying PS2 units and games even though it wouldn’t take much to put a PS2 chip on the board or program a PS2 emulator. Am I totally pissed at Sony. You betcha.

Went to Game Stop at lunch. They will buy a bricked PS3/40 for $50.00.

That means a new PS3/100 will run $250.00 plus tax if you go there.

Talked to a friend and he says that some repair places as well as Sony are swapping working parts from bricked machines instead of installing new parts. This means you might end up with a part that has a lot of gaming / video time on it and is thus more likely to give you trouble or burn out. It seems likely to me this is why Sony only give a 3 month warranty on repairs. I wouldn’t mind it if the repairs were free but it seems dishonest to me to charge $150 to fix a unit using the scavenged parts from another unit especially when they have no idea how much use remains on the harvested part(s).

I’ve been looking at Ebay and for those that do not care if they pop the warranty seal on their PS3 you can pick up new and used parts on Ebay. There were quite a few choices. The cheapest BRD I found new was around $70.00. Some of the used ones were $40.00 or less. There were a few bricked machines that were going for less than $20.00 if you’re interested in getting one to experiment on or for spare parts.

For right now I’m boxing the unit and waiting to see what happens. There is a Class Action out of Florida in regard to the 3.0 / 3.01 Firmware update that looks promising.

Depending on what happens it could lead to Sony having to admit firmware/hardware problems and doing some sort of recall or repairs. I suspect Sony will try to squirm out of whatever they are told to do by saying they’re not going to fix machines if the seal has been broken.

My conspiracy theory is fringe but I wouldn’t be surprised if at least some of it is true accidentally, if not intentionally. A lot of computer companies do the same thing these days. Their attitude is: “80% is good enough, we’ll fix the issues post sale via an update.” They know that most users never test the limits on the product much less reach these limits soon enough for warranty to be an issue. The few that do usually assume it is something they did rather than something inherent in the system.

The problem with doing this with a gaming platform is the demographic is different than with PC’s. Power gamers test the system limits faster and bitch on blogs when it crashes without a damn good reason (I submerged it in my bathtub, did I err?). Most of us are computer nerds with gaming addictions so we’re going to find that missing 20% a heck of a lot faster than some Wallstreet geek that only hits his desktop or laptop to check his stocks, surf for porn, and read eamil.

We all know this is a product defect. Sony knows it too but they are not going to admit it until someone takes tham to court and then they’ll do the absolute minimum necessary to comply with whatever the court orders. That’s big buisness in 2010 where the new slogan is: “The customer is always wrong.”

I am experiencing the same problem with my PS3 that Bashar had my tv says “no signal” tried holding the restart button until it beeps twice, tried conecting controller with usb and still nothing.??? any more ideas guys?

I had exactly same problem. Turned on PS3, green light, but no output to hdmi screen ( but, screen participated some way, turned on, but no signal ). Tried reset many times ( holding power button till 2beep ), but no way. Then, i’ve connected both analog PAL TV and hdmi screen, i’ve normally using. After another reset, xmb appeared on analog TV and there were message:

HDMI monitor is detected, may i display a screen on int?

yes NO

and hilighted is NO. So, if you turn on the controller, wait 20 sec to display that message, then push left and X. Problem will be solved, if it is your case. Symptoms for this problem are, that console is normally working, e.g. if you turn console, then push and hold PS button for 3 sec, then push X, wait 2 sec and push X, console will turn off. It means it is working.

I have the same problem.
I’m able to get into the recovery menu, but when I hit the ps button nothing happens.
The problem is that the only controller I have is a wired 3rd party controller that has no reset button.
Any ideas that could help me, or do I need to buy an original controller to be able to get into the recovery menu.

Im pretty sure I’ve done everything corretly since the message of the recovery menu to connect the controller via usb and then press ps button shows up.
But as I said nothing happens if I press the ps button.
I’ve also read somewhere else that you can use a usb keyboard and the windows key is the ps button but that didn’t work either.

I also tried Plysovej Kaktus suggestion but that didn’t help either.

okay so after reading most the posts here i finally got the restore menu to work by holding the eject button and power button at the same time, now my problem here is i select the option 3 or try to and it works and then the screen freezes, it keeps freezing on me and sometimes i get to select an option and sometimes i don’t, i just get this video glitch on my screen or it freezes…any ideas

to add to my last post i got through the screen options and i selected option 3 and now its just a black screen after it asked me that it detected a hdmi cable so i said yes and now its a black screen, i can see the wireless light blinking so its working there because before there was nothing, am i supposed to wait or is there supposed to be a status bar showing up on the screen….

okay its a no go, i tried switching my hdmi cable with the regular cables and i still am having a hard time here. It sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t, i get the the default screen and i have gotten as far as restoring the system but i get a black screen so i don’t know what to do. this is really frustrating, oh to add to my anger i already redid YLOYD twice and the second time around which was yesterday that is when i couldn’t get the screen to load and i was getting all those glitches in the screen. i hope i didn’t fry my mother board in the YLOYD process.

Alright so in the this event i went out and bought and new hard drive and tried the same steps as before, i got nothing at all, no default screen nothing, holding the eject button and power button at the same time, it beeps once and then twice and im getting nothing at all. is my ps3 done? cause i have isolated all factors to my knowledge.

I’m also in the 1% that lost all out data. so dissapointing. I love the ps# thought. I chose the 3rd option. 60g Ps3 original

Thanks Bashar i looked over that post and its not much help other than telling me that my ps3 is done. Yesterday i did the sync again on the CPU and GPU and still nothing, system starts up but black screen, blue ray works if you load a cd or test but same black screen. so i guess i am going to have to buy a new one.

Hello there, great blog you got here :).

Ok here is the problem im having but i didnt see any similar problems after i read the whole blog.

i got a 80gb PS3 that came with MSG4 i bought some where at the end of 2008. a few months ago, suddenly he turned off totally while i was playing some game, it was a whole shut down, like some one pulled the power cord. no lights on. then when i tried to turn it back on, i had to turn off the back switch and then turn it back on again for the red standby light to come back up, and then when i press the power button it would just beep once and totally shut down again, it happened for a while so i left if off for a few days and suddenly one day it restarted again and worked again for a few months, but it started happening more often after that, and now the last time it did it, i havent been able to turn it back on for almost a week now. not sure if any of you have heard of a similar problem, i talked to a few tech people around here and they where clueless about this one.

Any help or at least some info about what it could be would be appreciated.

Later :)

Aloushy,

Let me start with the obvious. If it is under warranty send it back to Sony instead of dinking with it. Yeah, I know, but you would be surprised how often that escapes people.

Let me explain that I’m not a PoS3 expert but I have been working on desktop and laptop systems since the 80’s so I have quite a bit of tech experience. I’ve also been reading various blogs and talking with Sony so I might be able to save you some time doing the same research I’ve spent months looking for.

Based on what you wrote it sounds to me like your CPU is up and running and you’re just not getting video or audio signal. I would check this by turning on the machine and putting in a game in and watching the blue light. I would pick a game you don’t like or getting a cheap one. You never know what’s going to happen and I don’t want you to think “that a-hole hosed my favorite game with his stupid idea.”

If the BRD blinks as it loads and seems to be working normally then the CPU is talking with the BRD and it thinks that it is sending a video signal. Make sure it is actually running the disk rather than just eating it and sitting. As long as the BRD is getting power it should pull in the disk and blink once or twice so keep an eye on it for a couple seconds to determine if it keeps spinning because the CPU will try to load the intro graphics and audio and that takes several hits.

If the BRD acts like it is trying to run the game and play then it probably isn’t the CPU. If could be the GPU, the video output port, a misdirected signal, damaged cables, or a problem with the video input on your TV. Write back and we can work on figuring that out together if you would like.

If the BRD pulls in the game, blinks once or twice then does a brick impression, that’s what you’ve got.

If you have a brick you have several options:

1. Find a local PoS3 repair place. If you don’t know a good one let your fingers do the walking or go to your local used game place and ask the clerks or customers. I was able to find a place near me that will diagnose and repair a PoS3 for $100 in most cases. Make sure you ask about the repair warranty. If they don’t offer one locate the door and use it.

2. Sell the bricked unit and buy a new one. Game Stop and some other used game stores will actually buy bricked units because they repair these for a fraction of what we can then they sell them used. They’ll give you around $50 for a PoS3 depending on the unit and HD size. You can buy a new PoS3 for $300 and some offer used units for far less. I would advise against a used unit unless there is a warranty that covers it for at least a year. If you buy new unit I’d buy the extended warranty.

3. Send it back to Sony. They charge $150. I have read that they will not work on PoS3’s if the warranty has been popped so I would call them and confirm this. There are several problems with this option such as Sony may not return the same PoS3 you sent in, they may replace parts with parts scavenged from other bricked PoS3’s, and there is only a 90 day warranty on the repair.

4. Box the PoS3, go back to the PS2, and hope the Florida law suit forces Sony to give a free repair to PoS3 users. This is likely a pipe dream on my part. Even if this fantasy does come true if you have already opened your PoS3 then Sony probably won’t fix your machine so I would suggest O1 or O2.

Harold,

I agree with Bashar. What’s your fan doing when this happens? Does the unit smell like ozone or hot plastic? Is it in a well ventilated area? It could be your fan is obstructed or it is not working for some reason. You need to be careful because if this is a heating issue it could cause the CPU/GPU to seperate from the MoBo or even fry the entire system.

A good suggestion for all PoS3 users is to get a hole herd of the cans of liquid air or buy an cheap air compressor and blow out the machine monthly. The PoS3 is particularly sensitive to dust so keeping it as clean as possible is the best way to avoid problems before they start.

Assuming it is not under warranty, Sony has exactly one price to fix a PoS3 and that’s $150. It doesn’t matter if the problem is some defective fan you could replace for 50 cents or not. I think your best option would be to take it to a repair place and have them diagnose it and give you a quote.

Thanks for the answers guys.

When it happens its not hot or anything like that, i dont hear anything weird with the fan either. last night after i posted here, i went back downstairs like 2 hours after it happened, and it came back up, and ran for a good 3 hours without problems before i went to bed, then i checked it back this morning and no problems, and i just came back from work and its working perfectly.

Ive had the PS3 connected to a UPS unit since i bought it to evade any sudden power shutdowns that are quite common around here, this UPS also works as surge and peak supressor so i dont think its anything related to that.

no liquid had been close to my ps3 and it is on a decently ventilated area.

now about the dust hmmm, that could be an issue, i guess i should try oppening it to give it a full dustoff. I live in Venezuela so sending it to an official Sony repair place thing is out of the question, and i dont like the techs that say they can repair consoles around here because many of them will take pieces off your console to repair others and tell you the console is dead and you should buy another one (that they offer ofcourse, refurbished too but they will tell you its brand new.)

Last time i tried opening it to try to clean it, i couldnt find any screws or anything to remove to open it so i didnt insist because i feared damaging the case. is there any trick, guide or any video or whatever i could check for opening it without damaging the case?

Thanks again guys for the answers so far.

I have the same problem as OP except I have no signal whatsoever, even when I use my older TV and the AV cables. I’ve tried to load the safe mode about 15-20 times and I get all the beeps and everything described except there is still no output by the TV and the controller won’t connect so I know that safe mode isn’t hidden behind a black screen. I really do not know what to do so any help will be appreciated.

Daniel,

You mentioned that “the controller won’t connect.” Are you doing this with the controller plugged into the console with a USB cable?

Stephen

Yeah, I’ve tried both with and without the controller being plugged in, and to further confirm the PS3 isn’t registering anything, one of the controllers actually switched on the other PS3 in my house even when it was plugged into my console.

Daniel,

What happened leading up to the problem? New firmware? New TV? Sister used the cable as a jump rope? Left it on all night?

You mention that the controller was able to turn on a different unit. I’m assuming this means you have 2 PoS3’s? If so, did you swap the working unit and the broken unit (cables, controller, etc.)? Assuming that you have access to a second PoS3 test all the controllers and cables on the working unit so you can be sure this isn’t a cable problem.

You might want to pull the HD from the broken machine and install it in the working machine so you can back up the data before you dink with it. Be careful though, I doubt this is an HD issue but sometimes strange things happen inside computers.

Assuming that you do a complete swap and the broken unit still doesn’t work you should try the game test I outlined above in my post to Al.

You might want to load the game in the working PoS3 and watch the blue BRD light so you know what the broken PoS3 should do. Make sure it gets through all the intro material and the main menu defaults to “play game.” Most games do but there are some odd fish out there so pick a game that does. Hit X to select the play game option and keep an eye on what the BRD does.

If the broken machine doesn’t hit the BRD at all then video isn’t your only problem. That’s not good news but at least it gives you some idea what sort of problem you’re facing.

If it hits the BRD like it is loading the game give it enough time to get to the main menu like it did on the working machine. According to theory all it should take to start playing the game is hitting the X button. If the broken machine starts hitting the BRD like it did on the working machine then you know the controller is active. This may not be the most useful information but at least you know that the problem is exculsively a video issue.

If you backed up your HD you can try the reset procedure blind. The reset process should reset most settings to factory defaults but I do not believe this applies to firmware updates so keep that in mind. I am fairly sure factory default is the standard PS3 video not the HDMI port so you should keep that in mind too.

Harold,

The problem is that if this is an overheating issue and the fan is broken you probably wouldn’t know it. I had my PoS3 in the open and it almost never hit the fan. I tried moving it to a book case but it started hitting the fan constantly so I pulled it back out. That solved the problem. You system may not be getting hot enough to make the call to the fan in an hour or two, especially if you have it in an open area but the longer you play the hotter it will get and if the fan isn’t working it will make the call, fail, and continue to heat up. Symptoms of this could range from eratic game play to artifacts on the screen to the entire system shutting down until the chips and board are cool enough for restart.

Amediar,

There was no obvious warning or build-up to it going other then the screen becoming fragmented during a game. I’m actually using the cables and TV on the other PS3 console in my house and it works fine so I know for a fact that it is definitely the console.

After several tries, I got the ‘Safe Mode’ screen to appear, and as I had backed up the HD I just hit factory reset, all appeared to be well until the screen went fragmented again and returned to the previous state.

i was trying to install linux on my PS3 and the system completely died. Only the light, the eject and the on off button worked. I followed the advice and held the power button when there was just a red light. It powered on and off without giving the double beeps but then i repeated the process again, perhaps twice and now it works! Thank you!

Daniel,

Since you have ruled out the cables, the test I outlined above should tell you if you have a working BRD, CPU, and Controller connection. Based on what you have written so far I doubt these have anything to do with the problem but I’ve seen stranger things so I always do my best to localize the issue as much as I can.

Based on what I’ve read the only thing I can think that might be fixable without popping the box is a corrupt video driver and that might be replaced if you can reset the system but you are going to have to navigate the menu blind. To be honest I doubt this will work but it is worth a try.

The artifacts on the screen prior to it not working would suggest a GPU issue especially if the fragmenting started after using the system for a moderate to extended period of time. In addition to the famous YLOD where the CPU gets hot and seperates from the MoBo, the GPU can do the same thing.

This sounds like a hardware problem somewhere between the CPU sending data to the GPU and the video output. It could be anything from dust on the MoBo causing a short to the output slot being loose on the MoBo but the usual suspect when this happens is the GPU heating up and loosing contact with the MoBo.

If I’m correct the question is how advanced are you when it comes to computer repair and do you want to do it yourself or have someone else fix it? Unless you have some sort of MoBo issue all the tech has to do is use a heat gun and push the GPU back into position. That will probably cost around $100 to fix.

If you want to try it on your own you can look for YLOD solutions using a heat gun on the CPU to reset it. If you screw up you have a pretty good chance of brinking the machine so I wouldn’t do it unless you are confident you have the necessary skills.

Forgot to add that if you don’t trust anyone local you can always send it to Sony for $150 but that wouldn’t be my first choice for reasons I’ve outlined previously.

If they gave a full year warranty on repairs I would suggest sending it back but they only offer a 90 day warranty and that means you could be exactly where you are now or even worse depending on what you get back.

Oh hey, Bashar, sorry to hijack your blog man. Hope I’m not ticking you off?

Hello All!

Brilliant page! I felt sure that none of the techniques toward the top of this page would work on my PS3 as I’d tried holding the start button down etc a few times before with no luck.

I thought I’d give it one last try using the technique where you hold down both the start and eject buttons and taa-daa! the System Restore Screen appeared. I chose selection 3 and a few minutes later my PS3 was back to life – thanks!

So just to re-cap, here’s what I did:

1) Switched the PS3 on from the back – Red standby light shows.

2) Held “start” and “eject” buttons down – PS3 beeped once… after a few seconds beeped once again… and then after a few more seconds beeped twice, at which point I release my fingers from the buttons.

3) It then asked me to connect the controller with a USB cable (which I already had connected, so just pressed the PS button on the controller to activate it.)

4) The System Restore Screen then came up – I selected option 3.

Good luck to everyone who has this problem – and remember – keep trying – it took me many many attempts before I got the System Restore Screen to show.

If people could include the PoS3 type and when it was made it would help. For instance my machine is a:

PoS3/40 with a manufacture date of September 2007

i have a 60gb ps3
i bought it used about a month ago
so i have no warranty
and on the day of the psn glitch (2 days ago)
i was playin cod4 and it froze
had to flip switch in back and reboot
tried again with skate
same thing happened
this hapopened over and over
untill yesterday i tried to see maybe it would work
and i have the symtoms from OP
green light
controlller unrecognized
disks eject and insert fine
but when i hold the power button down in standby i get one beep and a green light and then 10-15 seconds later back to standby
tried the eject and power at the same time
and the same thing happens
no results
i just got codmw2 and tekken 6 in the mail
and havnt been able to play :’[
please help me
idk what to do

bashar: i tried the reset on the controller
didnt do any good
thanks for the tip though
never knew it was there
i hope someone can help me and all the others who suffer
since sony cant
unless i pay them too much :[

John,

According to Sony the problem has been fixed by the date change and you should ensure that your system date indicates March 4 or later (link).

http://www.t3.com/news/ps3-bug-is-now-fixed-says-sony?=43905

If you want to search for more information it is called the 8001050F error. That will get you more hits than “PSN glitch.”

Since you posted two days after this suppposedly fixed itself, it sounds like the above isn’t going to be much use to you. The problem is Sony has consistently demonstrated that they will not stand behind their product so even if this was caused by their faulty clock issues they won’t admit it much less fix it for free.

When you turn on the machine do you get any response or do you get a blank screen? In other words, does the OS seem to be loading and running or do you have a brick that beeps?

sorry guys i was on a trip
i got myself a new power supply and put it in
and it didnt fix the problem
and to amediar
i have a brick that beeps
my tv displays no signal
it comes on and after about 1 or 2 seconds i hear the fan get quieter
would a bad fan caus ethis problem?

ya ive ruled out the fan and the power supply
its been too long without my ps3
i think im guna have to cave in and pay for a repair
but before i do
does anyone know of a cheaper secure place to get it fixed other than playstaytion?

ive ordered repair from videogame911.com
ill get back

John,

It seems like you have a pretty good grasp of what is going on inside the machine if you can swap out the power supply so I’m not sure how much help I can offer in regard to repairing it. About the best I can do is try and help localize the problem by offering diagnostic suggestions but that’s probably not going to be much use to you.

Since you seem comfortable working inside the box you might want to hit Ebay and take a look at the PoS3 gallery. I saw quite a few working machines with bad BRDs that were selling for $20 or $30. You could buy one of those and swap out the BRD from the brick and save yourself upwards of $50.

My personal opinion is that sending it to Sony is a waste of money. You’re paying half the price of a new machine and only getting a 90 day warranty. When you add in the fact they are rumored to be salvaging parts from bricked machines it doesn’t make sense to pay a premium price for a repair that’s questionable.

A local repair place isn’t going to be much better. Most will charge around $100 to diagnose and repair just about any PoS3 issue as long as the system isn’t completely trashed. There are two questoins you need to ask before you can decide if it is worth the money. Are they installing new parts and what is the warranty?

In my opinion the best option is taking the bricked machine to Game Stop, getting a $50.00 credit, and buying a new machine. You might get more than $50.00 depending on the type of brick you trade in. My personal opinion is it is better to spend $250 ($300 less trade in) for a new machine with a year warranty than $150 for something that could crap out in 3 months. Some places offer extended warranties which I would definately recommend.

If I can offer any assistance or insight let me know.