Playstation 3 Yellow Light of Death

[ADHO15]

Hello all!

As many PS3 users here may know, the dreaded YLOD is a terrible thing to happen to your console.

As far as I know, Sony aren't certain what causes it and can't promise that they'll be able to fix it.

My friend found the light when he turned his Playstation 3 on this afternoon. He has not been able to get onto it since, and I need to know if this has happened to anyone else. His warranty has just run out, so Sony will charge him a lot to try and fix it, but then it still may not work.

If anyone here knows how to fix it or can offer some advice on what to do, please post here and help me.

Thanks!

[The Who]

What does the light mean?

Does it just freeze up the console, or what happens?

I don't have a PS3 yet and would also like to know ADHO15's answers.

[General Armendariz]

Haha! Now all of you PS3 users get a taste of what us Xbox people got take that!

[Legoman31]

My Wii never has had any problems.

[Forresto]

Well that's very unhelpful people, besides that's why PC rocks the yard

Anyhoo, I think you're friend is going to have to see if Sony will take it even if the warranty just ended, either that or pay for it to be fixed. Ultimatley the last thing if these other two don't work try buying a new one.

[Siegfried]

His warranty has just run out, so Sony will charge him a lot to try and fix it, but then it still may not work.

My PS3 died a few months back. It started out resetting at random times, then it would reset after about 2 minutes.... then it wouldn't start at all. It was long out of warranty so I had to pay roughly half the price of a new console to get it fixed. What Sony do in these cases is give you a 100% different refurb console. It has a new case, and a rebuilt and re-tested board and that has a (rather pathetic) 3 month warranty. (The prices may have changed now that there is the slim version.)

Thus it will work if you pay Sony. There is no need to be concerned there. They don't try to fix any console; it's a replacement service and your PS3 is sent to China where they will try to fix it and then give it to someone else...

My Wii never has had any problems.

Aside from being a Wii that is.

[TheShnomon]

My Wii never has had any problems.

Your Wii has also never had Little Big Planet or HALO.

I own both the PS3 and the 360, and luckily neither have had problems, and honestly I didn't know about the YLOD up until now. So thanks for the heads up!

[Captain REX]

Hello all!

As many PS3 users here may know, the dreaded YLOD is a terrible thing to happen to your console.

As far as I know, Sony aren't certain what causes it and can't promise that they'll be able to fix it.

My friend found the light when he turned his Playstation 3 on this afternoon. He has not been able to get onto it since, and I need to know if this has happened to anyone else. His warranty has just run out, so Sony will charge him a lot to try and fix it, but then it still may not work.

If anyone here knows how to fix it or can offer some advice on what to do, please post here and help me.

Thanks!

Same thing happened to me about 3 months ago. I just called sony to replace it. Cost me £145 and i had to replay all my games. For some things there is no cure.

As for you General Armendiaz, dont get cocky because PS3 has the same problem as 360 has. The amount of times it has happened to 360 owners is far greater in propotion to the times its happened to a PS3. Don't be jealous just because we have a better console .

[posades]

I was thinking about getting a PS3 Slim now that my 360 stopped working (not RROD, something else happened which would require me paying $100 which I don't intend on doing ), but now that you mention this I'm a little worried. Do you know how common of a problem this is?

And the Wii might not have Little Big Planet or Halo but it does have Mario, and doesn't seniority usually rule?

[ADHO15]

I was thinking about getting a PS3 Slim now that my 360 stopped working (not RROD, something else happened which would require me paying $100 which I don't intend on doing ), but now that you mention this I'm a little worried. Do you know how common of a problem this is?

I think my friend read that the problem has occurred in about 1% of PS3s worldwide, so I don't think it's something to put you off buying such a great console.

Thanks to all those who have given help. I'll disuss my findings with my friend and see what he wants to do. If you still have any more ideas/solutions, don't hesitate to post them here.

[Captain REX]

i would suggest next time extended your warranty when it runs out. Im gonna get some warranty next year before it runs out.

[Siegfried]

Same thing happened to me about 3 months ago. I just called sony to replace it. Cost me £145 and i had to replay all my games. For some things there is no cure.

I was lucky/smart. I backup my PS3 and PSP (you can't backup a 360) every 2 weeks. As it happened I lost 1 week of saves, but that wasn't too big a deal as I was playing Half Life 2 at the time.

Do you know how common of a problem this is?

Uncommon. It's actually the first problem I've had with any console, but I think I've been using my PS3 a lot! I get a lot of value out of it so the repair cost was soon forgotten.

And the Wii might not have Little Big Planet or Halo but it does have Mario, and doesn't seniority usually rule?

I've never liked Mario... and the only Nintendo I've ever bought is the DS. Nintendo games rarely appeal to me, but lately they've had a few Square games.

i would suggest next time extended your warranty when it runs out. Im gonna get some warranty next year before it runs out.

Is this a Sony warranty? I hope so. In my experience store warranties aren't worth the paper they are printed on...

[Rocketbilly]

Damn, what a shame.

Sorry to hear about this.

Though I can offer very little help which hasn't already been offered, I wish the best of luck to you!

If my PS3 had this, I wouldn't be able to bring myself to send it off to be replaced.

It sounds weird, but iget very attached to a specific object, and wont let go of it no matter what.

It might be a working PS3, but it's not MY PS3

The thought of someone else playing MY prescious console after it's been gutted and re-distributed by Sony makes my stomach churn

I've wasted a lot of money like that.

Will/Rocketbilly

[Siegfried]

The thought of someone else playing MY prescious console after it's been gutted and re-distributed by Sony makes my stomach churn

Yeah, I felt the same way. But I really missed it. The 360 is such a rubbish machine compared to the PS3 and after a week of being restricted to mine I gave in!

(I really should finish Gears of War though!)

[Rocketbilly]

Yeah, I felt the same way. But I really missed it. The 360 is such a rubbish machine compared to the PS3 and after a week of being restricted to mine I gave in!

(I really should finish Gears of War though!)

Yeah. I've always stuck with Sony consoles, since I got one of the old chunky PS1's for my Birthday years ago.....then I got my PS2 which I killed, then upgraded to the slimline version. And now of course, I'm onto my PS3 and I love it. It's such a flexible machine...I just dowloaded Nosferatu from the Internet archive, and it plays fine. Which is why I love it. Personally, I think that the 360 is overrated. It relies on online gaming and exclusive content too much, I think.

Though that may just be my Sony bias coming through

Siegfried, how does one go about making backup files for our beloved machines?

reading these horro stories has got me all flustered over my console now

[Siegfried]

Siegfried, how does one go about making backup files for our beloved machines?

It's quite easy; plug in a USB hard drive and then go to Settings > System Settings > Backup Utility. Everything non-licensed is copied. More details are here.

(I still have, and use, my PS and PS2! )

[5150 Lego]

How is PS3 to play online? A big community? I know its not nearly as big a comunity as 360, but from my experiance most people that had problems with the 360 were heavy into online play and were over heating. Not sure if that has anything to do with the problem the PS3 has.

[The Who]

In my experience store warranties aren't worth the paper they are printed on...

That's usually how it is, with almost any store.

(I still have, and use, my PS and PS2! )

My PS2 also still works perfectly, and hopefully will for a long time to come.

[Rocketbilly]

It's quite easy; plug in a USB hard drive and then go to Settings > System Settings > Backup Utility. Everything non-licensed is copied. More details are here.

(I still have, and use, my PS and PS2! )

Thanks a lot, that's really put my mind at ease. I'll be doing that as soon as I get a USB device that can hold all my data

I know this is a bit off topic, but if you haven't played it yet, I really reccomend Far Cry 2, if you're into that kind of stuff. A really great game, pretty intense.

Will/Rocketbilly

[prateek]

Why is it that only the new consoles have these problems?

[Rocketbilly]

Why is it that only the new consoles have these problems?

I'd imagine it's because they're far more complicated than the older consoles before them.

I suppose the more sophisticated something is, there's a greater chance for something to go wrong.

Which is a shame really, you'd think they'd find some way to make them more robust. But again, a fair chunk of problems are software related.

But it's hard to dowload a patch when your machine wont turn on in the first place

Will/Rocketbilly

[5150 Lego]

I was lucky/smart. I backup my PS3 and PSP (you can't backup a 360) every 2 weeks. As it happened I lost 1 week of saves, but that wasn't too big a deal as I was playing Half Life 2 at the time.

For the 360, everything is stored on the harddrive. That hard drive is also removeable. No need to use a USB hard drive to back up your saves.

Is this a Sony warranty? I hope so. In my experience store warranties aren't worth the paper they are printed on...

When my Xbox went out i just walked into Best Buy, told them it didn't work, handed in my warranty card and they handed me a brand new system off the shelf. Never had an issue.

[CloneCommanderDelta7]

Mine has never had any problems, apart from a problem involving the disc reader, and we had to send it off for repairs because the disc, even though it was in the machine, it would not read and would not show that there is a disc in the machine. Meaning that we couldn't play games, what a Playstation is meant for.

[JeffD984]

This happened to me a while ago. My warranty had run out but I had a Target warranty that lasted 3 years or so. They took care of everything and I got my new one right away.

[ADHO15]

Thank you all for your suggestions and ideas.

I've conveyed them all to my friend he now he just has to decide what to do.

Thanks again!