Yellow Light of Death(YLoD) - -ENiGMA724-'s Blog

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Yellow Light of Death(YLoD)

Posted on December 3, 2010 at 04:31 AM.

(18)

I didn't even know such thing like the YLoD(unlike the Red Ring of Death for the XBOX) existed for the PS3 but like all technology, I knew electronics come with some flaws.

Unluckily, I stumbled upon this hardware issue on the 1st of December at around 8PM(pst). It happened when my sister's boyfriend tried to play Call of Duty: Black OPs on the PS3 but the system wouldn't turn on(well it did but the LED never got the blue light; it turned yellow, beeped for moment and turned off). Additionally, the game disc was now stuck in the blu-ray drive(wasn't my game so i felt indifferent but it was my PS3

).

Anyway, at the time I thought it was just an issue of the PS3 overheating so I unplugged it and pulled it out from it's normal resting place so that it can ventilate more efficiently overnight. The next morning(December 2nd), I tried to turn it back on but to no avail.

Fast-forwarding a couple of hours in which I aimlessly Googled all over hell and gone to find out what in Tarnation was going on; I finally found out about YLoD and figured my PS3 had passed on to the afterlife. As I continued reading, I've seen a few comments about a guy who fixed a PS3 with the same issues as mine(and apparently countless others. Although Sony will dispute this by saying it's a small percentage of consoles with this issue). I was fortunate enough to see that this guy(Gilksy) had a step-by-step tutorial uploaded on YouTube.

Later on that evening at around 8PM, I set out to resurrect my PS3. Took about 2 hours to get it fix because I had to make a quick run to Home Depot and Radioshack since I didn't own a Torx screwdriver nor the thermal paste that needed to be reapplied after I scrubbed the thermal compound off that is causing the overheating problem.

After the last screw was in and the harddrive back in it's proper place, I plugged the console back into the AC adapter and hoped for a miracle. Let's just say Christmas came early and the PS3 started and I was able to free the disc from what was thought to be its prison and final resting place.

Hopefully, this is more than just a temporary fix(even though I've seen lots of people say that it's just that but then again, these are the same group of people who actually attributed Call of Duty: Black OPs as the culprit behind killing their game system even though that's just a matter of association not causation. If anything, it's due to them being first generation consoles that was released earlier than they should have been. With mine being the chunky 60GB model, it was affected) But all in all, thank you to YouTube, random forum posters online, and Gilksy.

Comments

# 1 nolan273 @ Dec 3

I had the same problem a couple yrs ago with my PS3... No worries.
The hard drive seems to have been the problem, just like with mine. It'll hold up.

# 2 Bubba_Zanetti @ Dec 3

Yup, my original PS3 also had the Ylod and I used the Gilksy method to fix it -- three times! Not trying to rain on your good fortune, but for some of us, the fix was only temporary. I fixed it a third time just so I could transfer the hard drive to my new PS3 slim. The Ylod of death is essentially an overheating problem. Keep that sucker well ventilated and if you can, put a fan on it.

# 3 trufootball @ Dec 3

man this just happened to me last, i have medal of honor LE stuck in my original 60gb ps3. i was gonna take it to a guy to fix it for $65 today, but do you think i should just try to fix it myself?

# 4 Chef Matt @ Dec 3

@ TF You can do it yourself.

Congrats Enigma, bu buddy had it happen to him twice, the second time he fixed it he coated the crap out of it with the thermal stuff. Been runnin smooth for a few months for him. He figures he'll just do it again as needed.

# 5 fliplm0de @ Dec 3

I feel your drift man, my 40gb just got the YLOD on the 1st of December. Real bummer luckly I was only streaming a movie and no disc was inside. Congrats on your fix with Gilksys method, I've read numerous people attempted it but it turned out to be a hit or miss on how long they last. I sold my PS30 for 100 today on craigslist and will be getting the slim.

# 6 stlstudios189 @ Dec 3

my xbox has failed me 3x's so I feel your pain. You get all pumped to play your game and boom no system it sucks

# 7 ffyfe7 @ Dec 3

This happened to me a while ago (40 gig) and FNR3 was stuck in there. Luckily there is a method to get the disc out without any problems which is a manual eject. There are many guides on the internet on how to do it but basically it is very simple. Unfortunatly people say it only works on the 40, 80, & 120 but hey you never know.

# 8 cheechoo98 @ Dec 4

I had mine go this year..Called Sony, and it would have been $202 CDN to fix it, but then when they sent me the online form, it said they don't fix past warranty PS3,s in Canada anymore!!! Right on their online repair form it said that!

Anyhoot, got it fixed for $50 locally. I was pretty happy until it stopped working again about 3 weeks later. everyone has told me that once you get the YLOD, any fix is a temporary one. As well was an original model.
The really strange thing is that, about a month after mine went, my buddy's went too. I'm not. A conspiracist, but starting to think there is a built in redundancy with the older models, maybe even added in by a System Update... Hmm...

# 9 ANT_P1989 @ Dec 4

Ay y'all my 40GB PS3 died from the YLOD about 3 months ago, got it fixed from these guys who call themselves GopherMods. They're AS LEGIT AS IT GETS, they fix PS3s for cheap and even have a phone number you can call to ask any questions of concern. They fix the system the SAME DAY that they receive it from UPS or FedEx. I used UPS tho, but they sent it back in FedEx. My system even runs A LOT more quietly than before. Forget SONY's burn a hole-in your wallet fix. These guys also use professional tools that are also on there website. You get to keep your hardware info and any game stuck inside. Plus they'll upgrade the gigs on your hard drive if you want them to....Just go to www.gophermods.com

# 10 ANT_P1989 @ Dec 4

P.S. If they fix it the same day, it'll get shipped back to you on the same day....I HIGHLY recommend GopherMods

# 11 supersol13 @ Dec 5

So I have the same problem...actually happened to me yesterday and now I have a PS3 hard drive with 3 years of data that I can't get to. Purchased a new PS3 yesterday because Sony would charge $150 to fix the hard drive and their fix would wipe out the hard drive anyway. Does anyone know how to extract a PS3 drive, remove the files and put them onto another PS3 externally?

# 12 RUFFNREADY @ Dec 6

ENIGMA - that sucked that this had to happen just before christmas; but all in all, you were able to get it ready for the holidays. Merry New year!

# 13 trufootball @ Dec 6

i was successful with the reflow technique this weekend, ps3 is up and running thank god!

# 14 cheechoo98 @ Dec 6

@supersol13, The HDD from a fat model is NOT compatible with the Slim model. I got my old PS3 fixed, locally for $50 bucks and then I manually backed up all my save files with a USB stick. Then, when my fixed PS3 broke again, I got a new slim model and manually put back my save files. NOT all save files can be moved though.. All the hrs I put into Assassins Creed II were lost, and I wasn't finished the game yet..

Unless someone else knows, I think that's the only way. Just make sure your PSN ID are the same etc.. good luck.

# 15 cheechoo98 @ Dec 6

I should say the HDD is not compatible because of the software on it.. not the HDD itself. After you wipe clean the old drive, you can re-format it to the newer model if you want.. but i bet it's a smaller gB size right? There are lots of videos on youtube on how to take out the HDD.. it's really simple to do. and it is actually in the PS3 manual too.

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