PS3 abruptly turn off with certain games.

[Shaqo_Wyn]

First things first: maybe you've already seen my other 2 post related to cleaning and replacing the thermal paste. I know, I know.. PC master race, just throw that crappy console away blablabla but this is a problem and when I have a problem I don't really stop until I find a solution to that problem. This will be my last topic on the matter and I hope some of you stick with me and can help me out. The following is a detailed description of my problem, there is a TL;DR summary at the end.

 

 

I was wondering if you guys could help me. I have FAT PS3, it's the CECHL01 80GB model without the card reader and PS2 backwards compatibility. Now I've done some searching and saw other people with a similar problem but none of them told if the suggestions worked.

 

Problem: I've had my PS3 for about 6 years and it has always worked fine. Since about 6 months ago, it turns off from time to time when playing certain games. When this happens, it shuts off abruptly, followed by three beeps and then the red power light keeps flashing until I press it. After I press it, it goes back to normal and the PS3 starts up fine with another press where it then prompts me to do the whole HDD check after which I can continue like nothing happened. It happens with certain games and more frequent in some games. With long BF3 online session it almost never happens, with F1 2013 it happens once in a while on the first time starting the game but after that it works fine for the rest of my gaming session. Bioshock 2 seems to be a big problem. I decided to play it now because I never finished the story when I bought the game way back when. Funny thing is, when I play the save game I have from 2011 it works fine with no abrupt shut down. When I play a new game, it has yet to get past the first save point without shutting off. 

 

Things I've done: In 2012 I switched out the stock 80GB HDD for a 500GB Western Digital 5400RPM drive because I was running out of storage space and the stock HDD was giving me problems. 

 

Two days ago after reading about the stock PS3 thermal paste going bad etc. I opened up my PS3, cleaned it out and put fresh MX-4 on the Cell processor and RSX and put it back together (the stock paste was in bad shape!). It worked fine but didn't solve the problem. I suspected that I didn't apply the paste correctly, so I opened it up again and repeated the whole process. The thermal paste on the RSX was too much to the left so I went with the decent goop in the middle method instead of the grain of rice method I did the first time. Again, everything works but still no joy.

 

Situation: With the PS4 out (waiting for some decent games before buying it), I'm not willing to put more money in this PS3 than I already have. I think the thermal paste is now applied correctly. 

 

Concerns/notes: my PS3 looked a bit different from other CECHL01 vids I saw online. It had no thermal pads anywhere (just one on one of the chips near the Cell and RSX), the PSU also had a ground cable, my PS3 doesn't have the fan on the heat sink with heat pipes. It has the fan next to two heat sink blocks connected to the base of the PS3 housing. My PS3 uses US 110V power originally but it also works with EU 230V which is what I'm using since I moved two years ago. The PS3 worked fine for the first 4 years, no problems. I feel good heat coming out the top back vent where the heat sink is, but it feels like the fan isn't effectively pulling the air out the case because the air coming out the botton back is a bit cooler.

 

My questions: anybody know what else I can try or the cause of my problem? Is it the game? The fan? Are there ways to increase the fans effectiveness like drilling holes?

 

If you stuck with me and read all this, YOU ARE AWESOME! Many thanks and any input is highly appreciated.

 

TL;DR: my PS3 is most probably overheating and abruptly turning off when playing certain games. I want to play Bioshock 2 but can't get past the first save point in a new game before the PS3 turns off. Opening the PS3 up, cleaning it and putting fresh MX-4 on the CPU and GPU didn't work. Is there anything else I can do that won't require additional money spending? 

[Sexy Vanilla Freshness]

tldr console peasant problems

 

fat ps3s are fussy, too much thermal paste they can overheat, not enough they can overheat, the thermal design is awful and upside down on them.

 

See if you have the 15 or 19 blade fan, the original japanese ones had a 19 blade, then when they moved production to china they used a 15 blade version with lower CFM.

 

If the air coming out the back is cooler, you fucked up the thermal paste application or re seating of the awful fiddly heat plates, your issue is very likely an overheating issue and the YLOD is coming.

[Shaqo_Wyn]

tldr console peasant problems

 

fat ps3s are fussy, too much thermal paste they can overheat, not enough they can overheat, the thermal design is awful and upside down on them.

 

See if you have the 15 or 19 blade fan, the original japanese ones had a 19 blade, then when they moved production to china they used a 15 blade version with lower CFM.

 

If the air coming out the back is cooler, you fucked up the thermal paste application or re seating of the awful fiddly heat plates, your issue is very likely an overheating issue and the YLOD is coming.

 

Yes, I checked that. Unfortunately I have the 15 blade fan..

 

I have a hard time believing that that's the problem though. Because then why did the PS3 work fine the first 5 years? If there's anything I've learned from PC case fans it's that bigger fans, higher RPM and fan blade/housing design are the things that impact CFM. Would 4 extra blades really make that much of a difference when everything else between the two fans is the same?

[Sauron]

[pcmasterrace]

 

[/pcmasterrace]

 

Jokes aside, you didn't mention cleaning the fans: did you do that? Dust can be a serious problem. Another possibility is that your psu is dieing. If you know anyone who has a ps3 ask them to lend you their psu and see if it works. If you have to replace it it wouln't be very expensive anyway. You can try having a room fan ponted at it while gaming. Perhaps if you put it in the fridge...?

[Shaqo_Wyn]

[pcmasterrace]

 

 

[/pcmasterrace]

 

Jokes aside, you didn't mention cleaning the fans: did you do that? Dust can be a serious problem. Another possibility is that your psu is dieing. If you know anyone who has a ps3 ask them to lend you their psu and see if it works. If you have to replace it it wouln't be very expensive anyway. You can try having a room fan ponted at it while gaming. Perhaps if you put it in the fridge...?

 

I cleaned the fan and all it's fan blades the second time I opened up the PS3.

 

I considered the PSU being the problem, mainly because it's 110V/230V and I've being using it with 230V for the last two years. A friend of mine who's studying electrical engineering explained to me that PSU's that can handle both 110V/230V encounter more resistance when running 110V but that with 230V, they would just let through all the current which would cause more heat to be outputted. A new PSU would still cost about $20 and with the PS4's out and my new PC build coming in March, it doesn't seem worth it especially if it doesn't solve the problem. 

[Sauron]

 A new PSU would still cost about $20 and with the PS4's out and my new PC build coming in March, it doesn't seem worth it especially if it doesn't solve the problem. 

 

That's why you should try it with a friend's psu. If you have a lot of games on your ps3, it might be worth it to spend 20$ on it. Also, you might manage to sell it if you get it working again and use that money (plus the money of the used games) to get those games on your steam library.

[Shaqo_Wyn]

That's why you should try it with a friend's psu. If you have a lot of games on your ps3, it might be worth it to spend 20$ on it. Also, you might manage to sell it if you get it working again and use that money (plus the money of the used games) to get those games on your steam library.

 

Yep, I know. Won't really be possible though because all my friends who would let me borrow their PSU have the PS3 Slim. I'm the only one of us who's CECHL01 PS3 didn't get the YLoD after 3 years. I'm starting too think it might be something with Bioshock 2 itself, either because it's older or it taxes the PS3 too much. I just played F1 2013 for 2 hours, with no problems what so ever.

[Sauron]

I'm starting too think it might be something with Bioshock 2 itself.

 

The game was designed to run on the ps3, so there's no excuse for the console not being able to run it other than a hardware problem. If you have a way to return a psu if it doesn't solve the problem try that. I'm pretty convinced it's the psu, but oviously I can't guarantee it

[ROYSTURRR]

I read that that's a HDD problem--corruption or overheating. Can you swap in and format your old hard drive then try a new Bioshock 2 playthrough again?

[Shaqo_Wyn]

The game was designed to run on the ps3, so there's no excuse for the console not being able to run it other than a hardware problem. If you have a way to return a psu if it doesn't solve the problem try that. I'm pretty convinced it's the psu, but oviously I can't guarantee it

 

True, I could definitely be that. Maybe I'll come across a cheap one.. Thanks for the help! It's so frustrating, I played GTA5, F1 2013 and BF3 yesterday for hours. No problems. As soon as I put in Bioshock 2 and get to the first title scene where you inject yourself with adam and a little sister shows up. My PS3 turns off, beeps 3 times and the red light keeps blinking.

 

I read that that's a HDD problem--corruption or overheating. Can you swap in and format your old hard drive then try a new Bioshock 2 playthrough again?

 

I have no idea where the old drive is. I could back up this HDD and reformat it but would that solve the problem? Or would it back up the data along with all the corrupted sectors?

 

The 500GB WD Blue 5400RPM 2.5" I have in there right now, came highly recommended. Spending 56 EUR on for example on a 500GB Seagate SSHD isn't really in the cards right now.

[ROYSTURRR]

Is your firmware up to date? Couldn't hurt to update.

 

I could back up this HDD and reformat it but would that solve the problem? Or would it back up the data along with all the corrupted sectors?

I wouldn't know how to fix corrupted data. We can Google that later. A clean install on the existing HDD is worth a shot. If it works, it was bad data. If doesn't, it could be the HDD or still something else. You may just want to sync your trophies and sell it as broken. How much is your time worth, you know?

[Shaqo_Wyn]

Is your firmware up to date? Couldn't hurt to update.

 

I wouldn't know how to fix corrupted data. We can Google that later. A clean install on the existing HDD is worth a shot. If it works, it was bad data. If doesn't, it could be the HDD or still something else. You may just want to sync your trophies and sell it as broken. How much is your time worth, you know?

 

Yep, I've gone through all the basic troubleshooting steps including firmware update and re-installing the game data utility. I sent 2K Support and e-mail and they recommended some things I hadn't tried. Going into the system recovery menu and restoring the file systems on the HDD and rebuilding the HDD database. I tried both, including doing another game data utility re-install (which they recommended) and still no joy. 

 

At this point unless I find something else or become desperate enough to reformat the whole HDD, I'll just keep it like this. The PS3 plays EVERY other game I have flawlessly now, it's only f*$%ing Bioshock 2 that's the problem. I'm not planning on selling it and I'm not planning on putting more money into it. I think I'm gonna see if 2K support has some more ideas and if they don't work.. I guess I'll have to drop it. Gonna check if it plays on my friends PS3 SLIM too.

 

Thanks for the help!