PS3 wont read games.

[wiimodder69]

So i bought this PS3 that apparently had a dead BRD. Not a big deal. bought a new laser assembly, installed.. still not spinning discs.. ok.. find a new drive board for the drive and install. The BRD is now spining a disc!! I can see the br laser turn on, as well as the DVD red laser... so i know they are working..

But I still get no boot of games or movies.. Anything else i can try before i write it off?? I dont even a loading symbol or anything in the menu. just the main default PS3 screen.

is a 80gb model. i have tried the safe mode restores. still no luck.

[garyopa]

That is because you switched the drive board.

The drive boards are "semi-married" to the system.

If the drive board does not match, you don't get the loading symbol.

There is three possible ways to fix this problem.

The 100% way, is to repair the original drive board, test it again, you should get the loading symbol even if the disc does not spin, if the laser and motor is for sure good, then the drive board needs to have the big BA driver chip replaced, the one with the small metal plate in the middle of it.

The second way, is to find another drive board that works. - Now the PS3 is only "semi-married", but this info is based on "rumors" or "theorys", I myself have NOT personally see it or tested it. - Each drive board on the PCBboard has etched in the copper a letter like A or B or C inside a circle, along with nearby a # like 1 or 2 or 3. - The unconfirmed story goes like this, if the letter and number matchs, the system will allow you to swap boards.

The third way, and this most likely is total bullshit, if you install a factory fresh (unused sata drive, never in a ps3 or pc), and go right into the safe/recovery mode, and pick "system restore" and "pick full format", and have usb stick setup with the latest ps3 firmware v3.15, that it will redo the drive firmware to match the mainboard during the final stages.

The third way, is based in part in the fact, that if the ps3 detects a drive mismatch during an online firmware update (at the 67%) the system will continue to reboot and try to apply the update until you do the above, but so far I only see that work, if the original drive board gets repaired first (data cable connection to the mainboard) and not replaced with the wrong one.

Hope this is clear enough to understand, if you have any more questions, just ask.

[wiimodder69]

Hmm....DAMN.That really sucks anus..... and indeed i have a working 001 driveboard which i swapped with a 003. That theory makes sense. The drive appears to recognize the disc(can hear a difference in drive speed) you can see it pass initialization and continue to spin. I replaced the entire laser assembly already with a new one..i also bought another working drive(w/o driveboard). Both do the same thing in both drives.

step one sounds nice...sucks but...
I'll heat it up the BA chip contacts with my SMD workstation as a first step. Hopefully this is not where the mainboard is semi married to the driveboard. I could remove and reattach the one off my good drive board.im assuming this is not something just anyone can purchase new?

step two will be a needle in a haystack search for me.


I will try step 3 outlined above.. Cant hurt at this point..

Oh and i never got a loading symbol before with the dead Driveboard(no spin, no lens check) either. It's like that part of the system is disabled somehow.

[garyopa]

I'll heat it up the BA chip contacts with my SMD workstation as a first step. Hopefully this is not where the mainboard is semi married to the driveboard. I could remove and reattach the one off my good drive board. im assuming this is not something just anyone can purchase new?

Oh and i never got a loading symbol before with the dead Driveboard(no spin, no lens check) either. It's like that part of the system is disabled somehow.

The BD (sorry I meant BD instead of BA in my first posting) chip is not part of the key, it is just the high-current motor/laser driver.

The drivekey is stored along with the signed firmware in the small square BGA 48 flash chip, with a Spansion logo on it.

If you a good reball BGA station, you can move the Spansion chip instead to the working driveboard, and then you would be re-married!

The BD chip you can buy NEW from alot of PS3 repair shops:

http://www.modsupplier.com/catalog/p...6fs-p-264.html

It could be that the loading symbol does not appear if more then one part is bad on your driverboard, but if that is case, then replacing the BD chip will not help, you might have to try moving the BGA-48 Spansion to a working board, and hope that the "drivekey" and "firmware" is correct and intact.

Good luck.

[wiimodder69]

Ok.. it's possible somebody messed with the system before I.So i really dont have a great starting point to work with but

I will just order the replacement chip and try it... if nothing else i'll have two good driveboards. Replacing that chip should be fairly easy.

Thanks for the link. I should have it by the end of the week.

[idone]

Just wanted to lay those rumors to rest that you can swap boards of the same revision between consoles. It is 100% confirmed NOT to work.

[wiimodder69]

Rumors blow. Thanks for clearing the air.I will go with this because im defiantly doing everything 100% correct, and still no dice. I will repair the original drive board and try that.

Now to be honest I don't know what a proper loading system looks like, outside of playing with my buddy on his.No geek stuff just play, so ive never taken notice.

If the Ps3 doesn't read a disc properly on boot up, does the console give any indication of this?? like a misread disc error? Or is it just the loading symbol in the top right hand corner?? My question is. If you have a badly scratched disc that doesn't read properly, how does the PS3 react during bootup of the game?

[garyopa]

Just wanted to lay those rumors to rest that you can swap boards of the same revision between consoles. It is 100% confirmed NOT to work.

Well, at least now on the SLIM, there is no such thing as a "drive board", everything is one nice big (in this case, being slim, small) motherboard, if one thing goes wrong on the SLIM, nothing works! - I am already on my third SLIM repair so far, and shit the console has not even been on the market for a year yet!

[garyopa]

If the Ps3 doesn't read a disc properly on boot up, does the console give any indication of this?? like a misread disc error? Or is it just the loading symbol in the top right hand corner?? My question is. If you have a badly scratched disc that doesn't read properly, how does the PS3 react during bootup of the game?

If the laser is crap, disc normally will not spin, if the laser is so-so, disc will spin, and you get nothing but the loading symbol.

If the disc is bad, or the laser is on the way out (ones that last 5 to 20 minutes, then stop producing light!), the system will show the disc, or auto-boot the disc (if set to do so), and then when the game starts, it will either stay on a solid black screen, or exit shortly with an 800xxxx error.

As for badly scratched Blu-Ray, that is hard, only seen one so far, and that was caused by someone taking a sharp NAIL (the ones designed to be hammered into wood) and pressing firmly against the disc and sliding it across, and the PS3 would still read it, but freeze on the "start new game".

[Peppers]

Why are they going too you when there system should be under warenty?