PS3 died, can I save my files somehow?

florin · 10-31-09, 12:33 PM

Won't turn on. I press the button, the light goes green for a second, then it turns yellow very briefly, then blinking red and it beeps three times.

Took out the hard-drive, won't boot without it. Re-seated the drive, no luck.

Disassembled most components, put it back together, no luck.

I'll try the heat gun method I've seen on the Internet. But assuming it doesn't work - is there a way to get my save games back?

Can I just put the drive in another 40 GB unit, do a backup, deactivate the accounts?

I don't have any music files or videos or pictures, just one game I purchased, and of course a bunch of save games.

MaxDam77 · 10-31-09, 12:44 PM

Putting your HDD in another PS3 will ask you to format it. There is no way to back up your saves unless you do the heatgun method. As soon as it works perform a back up to an external HDD because you can't tell how long the fix will last.

Sorry for your loss and good luck.

mweflen · 11-01-09, 01:46 AM

I can confirm MaxDam's statement from personal experience. Long story short, unless you can get it to boot up again, you're screwed. Sony will not do any sort of data transfer for you, either - even if you pay them $150 for a refurbed unit. You can try the "Reflow" trick to get it to boot for long enough to transfer game files - but it's very tech intensive and it voids your warranty - which would negate any possibility of repair or exchange through Sony.

I am still in the midst of getting back to the same spots I was in all sorts of games. I also lost all my Singstar high scores and videos.

It's a world of hurt and you have my condolences. I am using a new PS3 slim now and am praying to whatever gaming gods exist that this hardware is more reliable than the phat (mine was a 60gb).

phipp01 · 11-01-09, 06:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mweflen

I can confirm MaxDam's statement from personal experience. Long story short, unless you can get it to boot up again, you're screwed. Sony will not do any sort of data transfer for you, either - even if you pay them $150 for a refurbed unit. You can try the "Reflow" trick to get it to boot for long enough to transfer game files - but it's very tech intensive and it voids your warranty - which would negate any possibility of repair or exchange through Sony.

I am still in the midst of getting back to the same spots I was in all sorts of games. I also lost all my Singstar high scores and videos.

It's a world of hurt and you have my condolences. I am using a new PS3 slim now and am praying to whatever gaming gods exist that this hardware is more reliable than the phat (mine was a 60gb).

The re-flow trick is not tech intensive. Hell Gsilky has a 6 part video on youtube that walks you through it step by step. Unless you consider taking some screws out and using a heat gun "tech intensive".

And Sony will certainly still exchange a unit if the warranty sticker has been tampered with. If its under warranty they would just charge you the $150 just like it was out of warranty. And if they agreed to repair it under warranty why would you have to do the re-flow trick? You would get the same unit back with the same HDD. When mine died it had a game in it and I ripped the warranty sticker off took apart the unit including the Blu-Ray drive to get to the game out and they didnt give me a hard time.

mpalmieri1203 · 11-01-09, 10:01 AM

I did the same as well! Heck I even forgot to put it back in and they still gave me a new one for $150

Dan P. · 11-02-09, 12:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phipp01

The re-flow trick is not tech intensive. Hell Gsilky has a 6 part video on youtube that walks you through it step by step. Unless you consider taking some screws out and using a heat gun "tech intensive".
...

Some people would. Others may just not want to bother to try (me). There are some 3rd party repair shops that will do this kind of work. Search for "PS3 Repair". I had it done for about 80 bucks. They re-flowed the RSX and put on new thermal paste. I got back my own system with the HDD intact, fired it up, and literally picked up where I left off (after doing a full backup first).

ndskyz · 11-02-09, 12:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dan P.

Some people would. Others may just not want to bother to try (me). There are some 3rd party repair shops that will do this kind of work. Search for "PS3 Repair". I had it done for about 80 bucks. They re-flowed the RSX and put on new thermal paste. I got back my own system with the HDD intact, fired it up, and literally picked up where I left off (after doing a full backup first).

Yep did the same thing..right up until it died again 3 weeks later...

mweflen · 11-04-09, 02:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phipp01

The re-flow trick is not tech intensive. Hell Gsilky has a 6 part video on youtube that walks you through it step by step. Unless you consider taking some screws out and using a heat gun "tech intensive".

And Sony will certainly still exchange a unit if the warranty sticker has been tampered with. If its under warranty they would just charge you the $150 just like it was out of warranty. And if they agreed to repair it under warranty why would you have to do the re-flow trick? You would get the same unit back with the same HDD. When mine died it had a game in it and I ripped the warranty sticker off took apart the unit including the Blu-Ray drive to get to the game out and they didnt give me a hard time.

I'm sorry if I find disassembling a piece of consumer electronics, using a "heat gun," (surely an item lurking in everyone's garage) and applying thermal paste to a CPU "tech intensive." But I think just about any normal human being apart from a few select AVS users would agree with that assessment. Put more simply - if it takes a 6 part video to describe the "trick," said trick is probably pretty tech intensive. Just because you're comfortable with it doesn't mean the average person would be.

Also, just because Sony HAS exchanged units with a voided warranty doesn't mean they MUST continue doing so. It is a violation of the warranty to do so, and they are within their rights as defined in said warranty to refuse service.

Also, there is no way to guarantee you will get your own unit back - I asked explicitly for mine back several times, and the response was "we will try to comply, but it depends upon what the problem is." Which I take to mean "If it's something like a BD diode which involves swapping out a drive, no biggie. But if your mobo is fried, you're SOL."

Whether it is an in-warrant case (free service) or an out of warranty case ($150), Sony is going to do whatever is cheapest. If it's an inexpensive and easily replaceable part, they MAY return your same unit. But if it is the motherboard or CPU, it seems pretty unlikely that they would spend more than $150 to get your same unit back to you.

eclipz · 11-04-09, 03:11 AM

I had my 60GB YLOD on me earlier this year. I think February. After trying countless things I gave this a shot. Since we know this is a heat issue the only solution is make it not get hot enough to YLOD. I was able to use our 3 season sunroom which is like a freezer in February to run my YLOD PS3 for hours without it shutting off. I was able to make a backup of the HDD and deactivate all my accounts on that system before sending it in for repair.

Seeing that you're in Chicago, and if you have access to freezer like conditions in the next month or two this might be an option for you to get your files off the PS3. I know that's bit of a wait, but maybe you could also try a large freezer if available.

Just a suggestion from experience.

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florin New Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Mountain View, CA Posts: 9	PS3 died, can I save my files somehow? Won't turn on. I press the button, the light goes green for a second, then it turns yellow very briefly, then blinking red and it beeps three times. Took out the hard-drive, won't boot without it. Re-seated the drive, no luck. Disassembled most components, put it back together, no luck. I'll try the heat gun method I've seen on the Internet. But assuming it doesn't work - is there a way to get my save games back? Can I just put the drive in another 40 GB unit, do a backup, deactivate the accounts? I don't have any music files or videos or pictures, just one game I purchased, and of course a bunch of save games. __________________ Florin Andrei http://florin.myip.org/

11-01-09, 01:46 AM	#3 \| Link
mweflen HT dreamer Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: South Side Chicago Posts: 820	I can confirm MaxDam's statement from personal experience. Long story short, unless you can get it to boot up again, you're screwed. Sony will not do any sort of data transfer for you, either - even if you pay them $150 for a refurbed unit. You can try the "Reflow" trick to get it to boot for long enough to transfer game files - but it's very tech intensive and it voids your warranty - which would negate any possibility of repair or exchange through Sony. I am still in the midst of getting back to the same spots I was in all sorts of games. I also lost all my Singstar high scores and videos. It's a world of hurt and you have my condolences. I am using a new PS3 slim now and am praying to whatever gaming gods exist that this hardware is more reliable than the phat (mine was a 60gb). __________________ Calm the muddy water, it becomes clear. Last edited by mweflen; 11-01-09 at 02:49 AM..

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mpalmieri1203 AVS Special Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 1,899 Classified Rating: 94% (12)	I did the same as well! Heck I even forgot to put it back in and they still gave me a new one for $150 __________________ XBox 360: Gunslinger 287 ADD ME PS3: Mixie304

10-31-09, 12:44 PM	#2 \| Link
MaxDam77 AVS Special Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 1,139	Putting your HDD in another PS3 will ask you to format it. There is no way to back up your saves unless you do the heatgun method. As soon as it works perform a back up to an external HDD because you can't tell how long the fix will last. Sorry for your loss and good luck.

11-04-09, 03:11 AM	#9 \| Link
eclipz Advanced Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba Posts: 537	I had my 60GB YLOD on me earlier this year. I think February. After trying countless things I gave this a shot. Since we know this is a heat issue the only solution is make it not get hot enough to YLOD. I was able to use our 3 season sunroom which is like a freezer in February to run my YLOD PS3 for hours without it shutting off. I was able to make a backup of the HDD and deactivate all my accounts on that system before sending it in for repair. Seeing that you're in Chicago, and if you have access to freezer like conditions in the next month or two this might be an option for you to get your files off the PS3. I know that's bit of a wait, but maybe you could also try a large freezer if available. Just a suggestion from experience.