[Señor_Striatum]

After reading a post yesterday I decided that it might be a good idea to get a statistically significant idea as to what causes, or highly correlates with, PS3’s receiving the YLOD. In order to do this I would need everyone’s, well those who meet the criteria specified, help on this forum to answer a very basic survey… Please fill out one per PS3 if you have more than one, example will be provided in first post...

Note: While this is not a controlled study, we can still get some good results so long as everyone is honest. There are ways to statistically compensate for liars and what not but we need a large population of honest people to do this so the more the merrier. Also, I know there are a lot of factors that can contribute to YLOD but some are harder than others to measure so we can add on to this in the future. For now lets keep it simple. Feel free to PM me if you have any other ideas…

Requirements to be a part of the analysis are as follows:

• PS3 owner must know PS3 model and optionally the firmware that it is currently on (working) or was on when it received a CONFIRMED YLOD (nonworking).
  
• PS3 reported must have been bought NEW from the store (so you were the first owner from the day it left the store until now, the lifespan specified or when it got YLOD)
  
• PS3 user must have accurate approximation of the lifespan reported in whole years. (The following site might be of assistance: http://www.ps3devwiki.com/index.php?title=SKU_Models)
  
• No type of YLOD preventative repair(applying new thermal paste, ect.) or modifications of any type may have been installed on the PS3, (other than softmod such as CFW, Linux, Ect.) during the reported lifespan of the PS3 (If a repair or mod was installed you may report the duration of the life span prior to the mod or repair.)
  
• An approximated knowledge about the following:
  --PS3 orientation (vertical or horizontal) for the duration of the lifespan reported.
  --Amount of time spent gaming.
  --Environment in which the PS3 was placed during the lifespan reported.

I have included an example of how the responses should be after the survey.

SURVEY
1. What model is your PS3? (located on the back sticker of the ps3. Ex. CECH…)

2. Has your PS3 received the Yellow Light of Death (YLOD)?
--A. Yes
--B. No

3. Please approximate the lifespan of your PS3 until now (if it is still functional) or when it received YLOD and/or before modification occurred. Please express in whole years.

4. Please select from below which orientation your ps3 was in for the majority of the duration of the lifespan reported.
--A. Horizontal
--B. Vertical
--C. Both Equally

5. Please select from the categorized ranges below of an approximation of the average system use during the duration of the life span specified.
--A. Heavy (Everyday with little session breaks- Every other day with little session breaks)
--B. Moderate (Every other day with long session breaks- Couple days a week with long session breaks)
--C. Light (≤ 1 week a month with long session breaks- Couple days a month with long session breaks)

6. Please select an approximation of the environment in which the PS3 was placed during the life span specified.
--A. Ambient temperature (Room temperature approx 25 degrees Celsius or 78 degrees F)
--B. Below Ambient (Fan on the PS3)
--C. Above Ambient (Usually if you live in a hot place or have no air conditioning.)

7. Please select the position where the PS3 was stored relative to the environment during the majority of the life span specified.
--A. PS3 positioned in well ventilated airflow
--B. PS3 not positioned in well ventilated airflow
--C. PS3 was positioned in both equally.

8. If possible, report the firmware the ps3 is currently on or was under when it received the YLOD, if not please give an estimated date.
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Example for my PS3s:

1. CECHG01
2. B
3. 3 years
4. A
5. A
6. A
7. A
8. 3.55

1. CECH2001B
2. B
3. 2 years
4. A
5. C
6. B
7. A
8. 3.70

I will have the results collected and analyzed in within 3 months…Sorry I am currently working on my degree which takes priority. This data is going to be open source however so anyone else is welcome to it.

[pbanj]

that post you read was a bunch of trash, if it was true then every ones computers would overheat and die, it is called thermal paste for a reason if it would run then it would be thermal liquid and it would run, the paste is around the chip as they put to much on when they make it and when they put the heatsink on it squeezes out the excess

and for your research i had a friend who bought the bc 80gb when it came out 3 months later it got ylod he sent it in about 4-5 months after that it got ylod again, both of them were always horizontal i would put his use at a-b, the temp was avg 70-80f, and it was the only thing on the table so i would say it was in an open area

[Señor_Striatum]

Originally Posted by pbanj that post you read was a bunch of trash, if it was true then every ones computers would overheat and die, it is called thermal paste for a reason if it would run then it would be thermal liquid and it would run, the paste is around the chip as they put to much on when they make it and when they put the heatsink on it squeezes out the excess and for your research i had a friend who bought the bc 80gb when it came out 3 months later it got ylod he sent it in about 4-5 months after that it got ylod again, both of them were always horizontal

I agree with you regarding the post being garbage. I am simply wondering if there is a correlation between any of the factors listed. I believe that YLOD is caused by a number of reasons mainly revolving around the particular motherboard design and, if what KillerBug says is the case, the firmware updates decreasing fan speeds. It would still be interesting though to see if there is a statistically significant difference between any of the variables being measured in the survey.

Thank you for your input, I am sure a lot of the early bc models are going to have suffered from YLOD. I am wondering if it is going to be the case that the majority of these variables listed in the survey will not be significantly different leaving a correlation between the model of ps3 and occurrance of YLOD or if it is just completely random. Might as well get an idea...

[stomp_442]

Since YLOD is caused from overheating, shouldn't you include the option

How does your USB HDD get its power
A. From an external power supply
B. From the PS3 USB port

[KillerBug]

Sounds like a huge project to compile enough data for a survey like this, nevermind collecting the data.

I can be reasonably sure that newer firmwares have higher failure rates. This is partly because of the research I did into the fan control schemes of different firmwares *link below*, but also because some of the most complex games that put the most load on the system are recent releases that don't work on firmwares below 3.55.

http://killerbug666.wordpress.com/20...speed-changes/

Also, based on that research, it seems that keeping a system in a room with a higher ambient temperature is better than a cooler ambient temperature, as the fan is controlled by thermal sensors, and they are not offset for room temperature. Therefor, the thermal expansion and contraction of a system in a 15C room will be 10C more than that of the same system doing the same things in a 25C room. That is pure theory of course.

[stomp_442]

If PS3 overheating is a design flaw, then compiling data is useless. But there are things that can be done to prevent overheating. A PS3 in a vertical position is less likely to overheat, especially if placed on top of other audio/video components that generate a lot of heat.

The reason I mentioned a USB HDD is because I've been doing the Wii thing for a while and have seen some posts of users losing pixels in their console due to Wii overheating because of the usb powered hard drives. Some of those usb powered drives have 2 usb plugs on them, more than likely to draw a lot of power. I always use a usb hdd with an external power supply. One time I had a usb powered drive plugged in to my DVD player that caused the DVD player to blow an internal circuit breaker. Just a warning to those that use a usb hdd that does not have an external power supply.

[Señor_Striatum]

Originally Posted by KillerBug Also, based on that research, it seems that keeping a system in a room with a higher ambient temperature is better than a cooler ambient temperature, as the fan is controlled by thermal sensors, and they are not offset for room temperature.

I have heard you mention the study but have never looked at the data for myself. This study certainly had a lot more control over extraneous variables than the one proposed here. I am curious though, you mentioned that based off of this study you suggest keeping the system at a higher ambient temperature is better than at lower temperatures. Did you repeat the experiment in a colder room? I do understand the theory at the end of your response but am curious if perhaps there was more to the study than you published...Good work by the way.
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Originally Posted by stomp_442 If PS3 overheating is a design flaw, then compiling data is useless. But there are things that can be done to prevent overheating. A PS3 in a vertical position is less likely to overheat, especially if placed on top of other audio/video components that generate a lot of heat. The reason I mentioned a USB HDD is because I've been doing the Wii thing for a while and have seen some posts of users losing pixels in their console due to Wii overheating because of the usb powered hard drives. Some of those usb powered drives have 2 usb plugs on them, more than likely to draw a lot of power. I always use a usb hdd with an external power supply. One time I had a usb powered drive plugged in to my DVD player that caused the DVD player to blow a circuit breaker. Just a warning to those that use a usb hdd that does not have an external power supply.

The thing is that a lot of YLOD preventative measures are all hearsay. I have heard vertical is better like you said, I have heard horizontal is, I have heard it does not matter. Wouldn't it be nice to have a statistically significant answer comprised of a large population? This way there is more reason as to which position is better. I understand that it is hard to collect but the analysis is actually not as hard as it appears.

In regards to the motherboard design, I do not think this is the only reason but one of the biggest. With that in mind I do not think it is useless to find out what preventative measures are significantly better to practice. Oh yeah and I agree that USB power consumption can strain the PS3 and aid in YLOD.

[stomp_442]

Maybe overheating can be caused by multiple issues, therefore using preventative measures can reduce the chances of YLOD. Place in vertical position, keep the vents of the PS3 clean, keep away from heat, try not to power too many components with the PS3 usb ports, no extended playing periods, etc.... I think there are to many variables to say what exactly causes overheating, it may not be the same for everybody.

[Señor_Striatum]

Originally Posted by stomp_442 I think there are to many variables to say what exactly causes overheating, it may not be the same for everybody.

By conducting such a study we could answer that very question with the advantage of having statistical confidence. We can also have the best idea as to what preventative measures are best and which are not as important which are currently all based off of hearsay. Now of course its a good idea to keep the system clean and to regulate its usage and keep it well ventilated but what about all those other variables that people are always debating on like position of the console? I personally dont think it matters but again that is based off of hearsay and what I deem to be commonsense. But I can very well be wrong. This is a solution to that debate.

[KillerBug]

In my research I was careful to keep ambient temperatures stable...I had an ethanol thermometer on one side of the system and a thermistor in the air intake. Obviously as it was inside, the thermistor tended to go up 1-2C from ambient. This is why the ethanol thermometer was used. If room temps varied by more than 1C, I had to call off the test in progress until they came back. This and the time needed for the system to cool were most of the time used in testing. That said, I did verify the "tipping point" temperature was not affected by ambient temperature, and I probably could have done the tests regardless of room temperature...I just wanted to keep everything as controlled as possible as my goal was to determine if different firmwares had different fan trigger points...nothing else.

One thing on vertical placement...judging purely from what I saw and a very basic understanding of airflow and thermodynamics, it does seem like the system should run cooler vertically...BUT it is my practical experience that optical drives don't last as long when they are in the vertical position...this is in general, and I don't have any PS3-specific data on this. But as long as you are asking people if horizontal or vertical causes more YLODs, you might as well also ask them about drive failures.