Victims of the dreaded PS3 RLOD, assemble!

Just playing an innocent game of Dark Souls... BAM! Red Light Of Death. It can happen to YOU! you! you! *ominous echo*

As it just happened to me :cry:

So the internet is full of crap when it comes to so called fixes and basically everyone who has the problem gets made fun of with witty comments about how dead their PS3 is. So I hereby call upon the trustful EoFF folk; what is your experience with the RLOD? Are you one of those mythical creatures who know how to fix it themselves? Or more importantly, is there a way to recover save files?

Assemble!

I've never even heard of this O_O

Thank god it's a new console release year, or I'd be living in fear.

I never heard about it either, but after this morning's incident I found out there are quite a lot of people who's PS3 malfunction. Some claim their consoles only 2 years old, others 5.

Mine was a repaired 40GB model that replaced my first model after it broke down within warranty period in 2008. So the console itself was around 5 or maybe 6 years old.

I think I'll try to get it running again using the hairdryer method, if only to copy my save files. If successful I can at least try to finish Ni No Kuni on a friend's console.

Had the YLOD in my original launch model back when FFXIII came out. I remember because it kept me from finishing (thank god) and I had to disassemble it to get the disc out since I had borrowed it from a friend.

I never bothered trying any of the supposed fixes, though maybe I should have since it was out of the warranty period anyway, and even if it wasn't, I had to void it to get the disc out (call me crazy, but I did not trust Sony to give it back if I sent it in). I also didn't really need any of my save files so it didn't bother me. I just bought a slim and said screw it, hoping the issue had at least been fixed with the new hardware iteration as they often are.

Can you not just send it to Sony and have them fix it? :confused:

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Originally Posted by Quinter Wonderland

Can you not just send it to Sony and have them fix it? :confused:

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You can. Though in Canada they won't fix it and instead just send you a refurbished unit. You'll also spend over $150 for the privilege. Given the choice between spending over $150 on a refurbished unit and just buying a new slim model for around $300 I just went with the slim. Didn't see the point in basically buying a PS3 that had already failed once over a newer model that might not suffer from the YLOD.

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Originally Posted by Quinter Wonderland

Can you not just send it to Sony and have them fix it? :confused:

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I could, but Vivi22 is right; it costs like €150 to get it fixed. In process the they'll format the harddrive and I'll lose all my save files. ALL MY DARK SOULS BUILDS. And 30 hours of unfinished Ni No Kuni.

The new Super Slim model is only €190 with a 12GB harddrive. It's not nearly enough space for the longterm, but I might get one of those since it is enough to install Dark Souls, Journey and Ni No Kuni to get me through a year. After the warranty is gone I could upgrade the harddrive myself to save a couple bucks.

At the end of 2007, everyone still reeling from Five Hundred and Ninety-Nine U.S. dollars, I snagged the 60GB model refurbished for $299. It was pretty incredible, having all those card readers, 4 USB ports, PS2 backwards compatibility with decreased load times, and (at the time) Linux running all my favorite SNES games on my TV from one console. But, being a launch model, it was more susceptible to YLOD, and in FAll 2011 it bit the dust.

I sent mine in to a company called GopherMods who can fix it for $60-80 and I'm pretty sure they kept all my save files. Unfortunately, if you subject it to heavy play, it may inevitably happen again. At least, with my 60GB model, it was and it went again in January or so :(

I play mostly on PC now and the PS4 is coming out, so I'm not sure if I'm going to get another. If I have some disposable income, I might buy one of the official refurbs from Sony's ebay account, they have a pretty good price and I'd feel most comfortable grabbing one of those.

Easter is soon ...you can probably get one on sale if they decide to do some good deals.

I've never heard of the RLOD, only the YLOD, and the RROD for the 360 of course.

It still boggles my mind how many people have had consoles break on them this gen. I've never had a console fail on me and never had to repurchase a console or have one fixed. I've had both my PS3 (which gets played almost every day) and my 360 since 2007 and they both still work perfectly. Then again, so do all my older consoles.

I don't even go to any extra effort to keep them working or anything. Maybe I'm just lucky? o__O

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Originally Posted by DMKA

Maybe I'm just lucky? o__O

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It's more that people affected by the YLOD are unlucky actually. My launch model PS3 is the only console I have ever had die on me. Even my now almost 21 year old SNES is still going strong.

Stuff like the YLOD are just one of those things where you can't really do anything to prevent it aside from not using the console ever. Either it will happen or it won't.

I've never had either actually happen to me. I've had a yellow light scare, but that was just me having to reset the video output settings and that was it. I'm sorry to hear about the passing of your friend. :C

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Originally Posted by Bolivar

I might buy one of the official refurbs from Sony's ebay account, they have a pretty good price and I'd feel most comfortable grabbing one of those.

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That's a good tip, I'll look into that.

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Originally Posted by Vivi22

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Originally Posted by DMKA

Maybe I'm just lucky? o__O

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It's more that people affected by the YLOD are unlucky actually. My launch model PS3 is the only console I have ever had die on me. Even my now almost 21 year old SNES is still going strong.

Stuff like the YLOD are just one of those things where you can't really do anything to prevent it aside from not using the console ever. Either it will happen or it won't.

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Yeah I reckon this is the case. I tend to be quite ocd when it comes any damage to devices and stuff. It's probably the older model having a bigger chance of breaking down. That's why I'm interested in the Super Slim to replace it. If that thing can hold out for another ten years so I can replay my favourites, I'm willing to pay €190 for that.

My brother got the YLOD on his PS3 and he baked it in the oven and that fixed it. I'm not joking. Look up "YLOD PS3 oven" and you should get something.

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Originally Posted by Del Murder

My brother got the YLOD on his PS3 and he baked it in the oven and that fixed it. I'm not joking. Look up "YLOD PS3 oven" and you should get something.

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That is crazy! But I looked up some youtube video's and it seems a legit method. Did your brother take the whole thing apart and just bake the motherboard or did he remove the cover and put the whole thing in?

The whole thing. He said he baked at 150 degrees F overnight (!) and the next morning it worked fine.

Preheat oven, add flour, water, baking soda, leave in overnight and you'll have baked your very own PS3 in no time!

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Originally Posted by Del Murder

The whole thing. He said he baked at 150 degrees F overnight (!) and the next morning it worked fine.

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That is wicked. If the hairdryer method fails, I'll try this. If anything it'll be a good story!

I'd probably remove the hard drive at least before sticking the PS3 in the oven. Even if 150F isn't really that hot.

THE HAIRDRYER FIX; IT WORKED. I am so stoked!

Here's what I did:
Put the PS3 in a box and used the hairdryer on semi-max for 15 minutes. Let the PS3 cool for a couple hours. Fired it up: it only worked for maybe 20 seconds. That kind of sucked, but on the bright side it worked 20 seconds more than before.

Then I tried the hairdryer again, this time on maximum heat, maximum blow speed and 18 minutes instead of 15. Let it cool overnight and voila; it worked! I've had enough time to backup all my saves to USB. But the tricky part was securing my precious Dark Souls saves. They're copy-protected and can only be copied by transferring all data to a different PS3 as if you bought a new one, or cloud save through Playstation Plus.

I tried transferring to a friends' PS3 I borrowed for this occasion, but what I didn't know was for this to work my friends' PS3 would be formatted. That was a big no-go.

So then I raced to the PSN Store, bought a 3 months subscription to Playstation Plus and cloud-copied the Dark Souls save files. SUCCESS. Thank you hairdryer!

Tomorrow I will log-in on my account on my friends' PS3 and download the cloud-saved files. That way I will have a physical backup in case I don't buy a new PS3 before the 3 months PS+ subscription expires.

Hurray for urban myths in technology fixes :greenie:

Wow, congrats. This must be the new version of smacking your computer to make it work.

Or blowing in a NES.

PS3 Repair | iPhone Repair | Xbox 360 Repair

For USA people- I've found they were good & they can tweak the system with upgrades and stuff.

The hairdryer fix seems to last a lot longer than expected. This post will probably jinx it, but since the fix my PS3 has been running like normal. I don't dare to guess how long it'll last, but I'm impressed! :p

(SPOILER)Dark Souls... I'm back! For now. Muhahahahaha :greenie:

Edit: jinxed it. It died again this afternoon :0