PlayStation®3 Technical Help

[juless-91]

ok so i've got a 320gb slim PS3 and this is a new issue and first i've encountered with it. started about a week ago and is getting progressively worse. First started when i played FIFA 12, the game started freezing (audio and video together) but would happen infrequently and start up again shortly and be fine. then it started to do it more often and is now basically unplayable. my disc is in perfect condition so i know its not that, plus all my games load fine, it only occurs during a match in FIFA. also tried F1 2011 to test and that wasn't as bad but still had the same issue.It seems to also do it in videos/cut scenes but i havent tried Red Dead or Assassin's Creed or anything but tutorial videos on FIFA seemed to be doing it and even the short video that plays for the game data i have of AC Brotherhood would skip.

i tried playing a dvd to see if it was maybe the bluray but that played the whole way through without a problem and its a pretty long film (Wall Street with Charlie Sheen - recommend it) so i've kind of ruled that out.

I figured maybe it could be the hard drive after doing some reading. I did a backup of the drive then a full format. tried to play FIFA (without restoring so nothing on PS3) and still the exact same issue!

I don't know what to do now can someone with knowledge please help me! Could replacing the Internal Hard Drive of the playstation solve the issue or do i need a repair or replacement. I'm pretty sure it is in warranty (only just, think i got it in June or July 2011) but I can't find my receipt

P.S. does anyone know the HDD that the PS3 320gb uses? Brand and RPM, etc.

[strangeplaice · Accepted solution]

Right, it sounds like your BluRay drive has failed if you can watch DVDs without any issue. The frequency of the freezes increasing indicates this too. The only way to resolve this would be to replace the failing component in the drive which is a pretty big hassle.

If you are under warranty, meaning you've had the PS3 for less than a year and haven't opened up the casing, then Sony will replace it for free otherwise its around £130 for a replacement.

[juless-91]

your'e saying it's my bluray even though dvd's are fine? i'll try a bd tonight and let you know if that stuffs up

[strangeplaice]

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juless-91 wrote:

your'e saying it's my bluray even though dvd's are fine? i'll try a bd tonight and let you know if that stuffs up

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BluRay disks use a separate laser from DVDs. If the BluRay drive laser fails, the DVD one may still function.

 It happened to me twice! Talk about unlucky

[juless-91]

thats depressing. for the both of us. well just an update, i tried AC and Read Dead, both for half an hour. surprisingly Read Dead played 100% in cut scenes and play. thought odd since it is more data heavy than F1 or FIFA.

Brotherhood's Video seemed fine but audio was lagging, skipping and out of sync, as well as vibration feeedback lagging with sound. will try a BD Movie now and let you know how i go. thanks for your help so far.

[strangeplaice]

If you decide to go down the route of getting a replacement, here's the Sony number 

[juless-91]

thanks mate, might have to

i just watched a blu ray movie the whole way through without a single problem, do you still think it might be the blu ray drive?

[strangeplaice]

Now I'm unsure.

Perhaps you could try safe mode options 2 to 5 and check after each one to see if its fixed.

If you're still having no luck then it is very likely to be the drive to blame. Do you know how to get into safe mode?

[juless-91]

i think so, i'll double check it on here

[strangeplaice]

Here you go: http://community.eu.playstation.com/t5/PlayStation-3-Technical/Using-the-Safe-Mode-function-on-your-...