[Mr Forgetful]

Hi,

I've got an original 60GB PS3 but today while my son was playing a game it just went blank. After turning the unit off and back on again it will not recognise any disc that you put into it, tried Blu_ray, PS3 Games, DVD and CD but nothing happens. It does not sound like there is any whirring noises coming from the Drive. It had the latest update done yesterday.
It will play video files from a USB stick and still connects to the internet/modem. Does this sound like a comman problem or is this unit now a Dud one? Don't really want to go out and buy a new Slim but are there any advantages for or against if I do get a new one?

Dave.

[JUD1962]

Also have 60gb ps3 updated to latest firmware which killed blu-ray films & games
,this problem all over net ps also removes i player

[string]

Could be a dirty lens, mate cleaned his drive lens today and it now loads all discs. It previously just loaded one.

[Mr Forgetful]

Originally Posted by JUD1962

Also have 60gb ps3 updated to latest firmware which killed blu-ray films & games
,this problem all over net ps also removes i player

Hi, I've still got iPlayer, just won't load any discs at all.

How do I go about cleaning the lense, do I need to take the whole unit apart?

I really do need to get this fixed as it also plays most PS2 games.

[malan9999]

Same problem here. My machine (40gb Gen 1) worked flawlessly for over 2 years, and as soon as I updated to 3.10 the Bluray, DVD & Game Discs refuse to play, and the disc icon has dissapeared on the menu bars.

This is widespread over the internet. It seems to be affecting all the older 'big' PS3's with older bluray drives. Sony are in denial that it's their fault, and won't repair it FOC. I would recommend emailing Watchdog, and leaving a sarcastic 'Seasons Greetings from Sony' / 'This is Living' type video on Youtube.

David

[vRS_1]

Same thing happend to my mate's 40GB PS3. He hardly ever uses it, near enough every time he switches it on there is a new firmware update lol. However after updating to v3.01 i think it was, his 40GB stopped reading discs, and of course Sony say its got nothing to do with the firmware, and havnt had any complaints about it.

[Hillskill]

I have 2 x 40Gb PS3s, they have both been upgraded to firmware 3.10 and have no issues with their Bluray drives. I have done a google search and I can find plenty of stories of firmware 3.01 causing problems but not much on firmware 3.10 which was last fridays release

[KevIW]

Originally Posted by Hillskill

but not much on firmware 3.10 which was last fridays release

You didn't look very far!

update 3.10 available now

[Hillskill]

Originally Posted by KevIW

You didn't look very far!

update 3.10 available now

Reputable sources only please

[Mr Forgetful]

Well I'm now presuming it might be the drive unit as it does not seem to be spinning the discs, just the small blue icon spinning forever in the top right of the menu when the disc is put into the slot.

Are there any good companies out there that could fix or at least have a look at my unit?

[philreid]

It certainly does sound like the optical drive has failed.

I would investigate a local repair shop since the ones I have seen will generally repair a PS3 for a fixed price of £75 or thereabouts.

[KevIW]

Nope

[Mr Forgetful]

Originally Posted by philreid

It certainly does sound like the optical drive has failed.

I would investigate a local repair shop since the ones I have seen will generally repair a PS3 for a fixed price of £75 or thereabouts.

Spoke to a couple of companies advertising online, both saying it's the laser that needs replacing, even though I told them the disc do not spin when inserted, does this sound right, I would have thought it would need the whole drive unit??? And they both qouted approx £95.00

[vRS_1]

Originally Posted by Mr Forgetful

Spoke to a couple of companies advertising online, both saying it's the laser that needs replacing, even though I told them the disc do not spin when inserted, does this sound right, I would have thought it would need the whole drive unit??? And they both qouted approx £95.00

You might be better of buiying a YLOD one off ebay for about £50 and use the Blu-ray drive off that, plus keep the rest for spare parts.

[Mr Forgetful]

Originally Posted by vRS_1

You might be better of buiying a YLOD one off ebay for about £50 and use the Blu-ray drive off that, plus keep the rest for spare parts.

I thought about swapping out a drive from another unit but was told that it can't be done as the new drive won't communicate with the rest of the machine???If it can be done easily I will do that and it might cost me nothing??

[Forbez]

Have you spoken to Sony? They may repair it Foc, if it's never been I. For repair with them before.

[Mr Forgetful]

Even if it's nearly 3 years old??

Calling them now, been on hold for ages now........

[outlaw242]

This is a common occurance with PS3 my 80gb did the same thing last year and had to be sent back to sony good thing it was still under warenty and didnt cost me anything. you can look at reapairing it your self parts are sold at psxboy dot com and I will post a repair guide hope it helps.here is an ongoing thred on sony forums about the issue.
hxxp://boardsus.playstation.com/playstation/board/message?board.id=ps3&thread.id=2318822
here is where to download the PS3 repair guide
hxxp://www.megaupload.com/?d=V4KSILU3

[Forbez]

Originally Posted by Mr Forgetful

Even if it's nearly 3 years old??

Calling them now, been on hold for ages now........

It's worth a try mate, if it's never been in they may do it as a goodwill gesture. They did it for me, and mine was out of normal warranty.

[Mr Forgetful]

Ok, they told me they never heard of this happening after a system upgrade and it would be £99 all in to ship it off to Bodmin and get it repaired.

Can another Blu_ray drive be swapped over and will it work easily??

[string]

If you search on youtube you can find plenty of videos showing how to take apart the unit etc.

[Mr Forgetful]

Sorry, what I am asking is will another Blu_ray drive unit work if I simply swap them over? I think I can do the swap from the posted video's etc but it's just that somebody told me that it won't work as Sony need to pair it to the machine?

I can get hold of a Blu_ray drive out of an old 40GB version for nothing so if I can use that one I will do it later today.

[kernowlogic]

Hi guys - I can understand how frustrating the optical drive failing for no specific reason is. Earlier this year the laser failed on me - took one game out after it playing flawlessly, put another in and nothing. After a bit of research on the net I decided it was the laser and not an issue with the drive controller board or motor etc.

It's surprisingly easy to switch out the laser, even more so if you switch out the laser already fitted to a brand new mounting block (the metal chassis thing which i can't remember the name of). It's basically undo some screws on the ps3 case, undo a clip, pull out the blu ray drive, undo a few more screws, unclip a couple more cables pull out the old metal chassis with the laser in it, put in the new one and then reverse the process. Getting the drive back together can be a bit of a pain but i figured it was difficult to truly break it.

20 mins later i've got a blu ray drive that's working perfectly again for all dvd, dvd games, cds, blu ray movies and ps3 games and it's been fine for months now.

the unit cost me about £55 including shipping from China - that was fora kes/kem 400 unit - the ones that go in the 60gb and 20gb versions. The ones for the 40gb and 80gb which have 2 laser diodes in them can be picked up for a bit cheaper.

I would say that you're probably better off getting from a UK source and if you can buy from someone which gives you at least a months warranty. I had one from China which had a 'white ribbon clip' (google it for more info) and it lasted all of 5 seconds reading a cd then it died. It was a long wait for the return / replacement.

here's some links from ebay

20gb/60gb laser with the metal chassis - single diode - uk seller - 2 months warranty:

New SONY PS3 LASER KEM-400AAA /KES-400AAA with DECK UK on eBay (end time 26-Nov-09 16:35:20 GMT)

20gb/60gb laser - no metal chassis - single diode - uk seller - 2 months warranty

Playstation 3 - PS3 - KES-400AAA LASER NEW UK SELLER! on eBay (end time 28-Nov-09 16:30:40 GMT)

Whilst it's a £10 difference i'd reccomend getting the metal chassis if you've not swapped out lasers before since it saves you having to get the grease for the guides the laser runs across - it's also just a little bit less fiddly.

for 40gb / 80gb - laser with metal chassis - uk seller - 2 months warranty

SONY PS3 Laser Lens KEM-410ACA with Carriage NEW UK on eBay (end time 26-Nov-09 16:49:00 GMT)

Strangely - back at the beginning of the year when i was needing a new laser, 20/60gb single diode ones were in short supply and UK sellers were charging around £75 for a laser alone - also ebay was flooded with 410's which were around £40.

If you've replaced any previous console lasers e.g. ps2, xbox, gamecube then this should be a piece of cake for you and hopefully save you a bit of money. Of course only do this after contacting Sony and ensuring they won't give you a refurbished console - the last thing you want is to replace a laser at £50 and then get YLOD - I didn't have much choice since mine's a JPN machine.

anyway - i hope it helps, - BTW the links above that i've posted isn't a link to a personal business or anything - just seems that there's only 1 guy on ebay right now offering a warranty - there was another company from london earlier this year that was offering a 90day warranty or something so if you're not desperate maybe keep an eye out for that and see if it pops up with a better price.