[ddjj0022jjrr]

I've had my system do something similar. When I turn it on it either starts up normally or the light will turn green for about 4 seconds then to yellow then to flashing red. When it does this all I have to do is press the power button to stop the flashing and then press it again to power the system on. It has been doing this for about a year now. It's never caused any issue with me other than the annoyance of having to walk across the room to turn on my system.
The heat coming from the back feels about the same temp as the day I got it. I upgraded the hard drive today and am waiting to see if it does it again.
I use my system nearly all day everyday and I've had it for about 3 years now.

Well it wasn't my hard drive. It's done it three or four times now.

[pereb27]

@ddjj0022jjrr this sounds like a PSU issue, you might want to try replacing that.

[Herman]

Originally Posted by pereb27 @ddjj0022jjrr this sounds like a PSU issue, you might want to try replacing that.

+1, PSU has also been known to cause YLoD, but it is relatively rare. However with it being so intermitant it does not sound like the classic failed BGA joints on the GPU with most YLoD machines.

Replace the PSU and test again.

[Jitsuryoku]

Erm, i've just "recovered" from that condition and the guy above me is right, it's most likely the joint somewhere, BUT it's wasn't PSU for me. It was OVERHEATING!!!!
If you recently opened up your machine, just open it try doing turning it on and see if the fan works properly or shuts off (or slows down and starts up again) from time to time.

In my case, well i damanged the the point where fan connects to motherboard so.... well it only works if positioned well now. Gonna ask around to check if it's safe to solder that stuff.

[ddjj0022jjrr]

I don't have any money at the moment but I may try that later. I actually just got a new ps3 slim in the mail so I'm not too terribly worried about the old one. I may just sell it to a friend.

[Jitsuryoku]

Originally Posted by ddjj0022jjrr I don't have any money at the moment but I may try that later. I actually just got a new ps3 slim in the mail so I'm not too terribly worried about the old one. I may just sell it to a friend.

Wouldn't wanna be your friend -_-;

At any rate, if none of you have noticed, there are 2 types of "tripple beep"
3 Long ones (each beep is like 1 second with gaps take)
3 Short ones (all 3 take like 1-2 seconds)

Not sure which is which, but i've read lots of stuff about it and apparantely, one (think the short beeps) is for HDD reading error (I personally can say it also relates to BDD errors).

Another one is definately overheating, I've seen example before my very eyes.

Either way, it's not something i'd take money from a friend for.

[ddjj0022jjrr]

Mine has the three short beeps and has no problems with anything atm except starting up.

If I sell it I'm not gonna hold back information about it :P I'll tell them everything I know about the condition of the console and if they decide they don't want it then I'll point them somewhere that has a more expensive yet reliable console :P I'm not gonna screw a friend by selling them faulty merchandise without telling them the risks. If I tell them and they buy it anyways then they have been warned :P

[Herman]

Originally Posted by Jitsuryoku Wouldn't wanna be your friend -_-; At any rate, if none of you have noticed, there are 2 types of "tripple beep" 3 Long ones (each beep is like 1 second with gaps take) 3 Short ones (all 3 take like 1-2 seconds) Not sure which is which, but i've read lots of stuff about it and apparantely, one (think the short beeps) is for HDD reading error (I personally can say it also relates to BDD errors). Another one is definately overheating, I've seen example before my very eyes. Either way, it's not something i'd take money from a friend for.

The short beeps is 100% defo not a HDD issue because all the ones I have seen that have needed a reball give short beeps. Not actually seen one where the HDD has caused YLoD TBH, that could be the 3 long beeps I suppose.

Have seen 1 or 2 with YLoD that were the PSU tho, but again there were no long beeps, just short ones.

[Jitsuryoku]

Originally Posted by Herman The short beeps is 100% defo not a HDD issue because all the ones I have seen that have needed a reball give short beeps. Not actually seen one where the HDD has caused YLoD TBH, that could be the 3 long beeps I suppose. Have seen 1 or 2 with YLoD that were the PSU tho, but again there were no long beeps, just short ones.

As i said one of those 2 is said to be hdd and I know for sure that the other one is overheating. If it's not one it's the other one...
And in case you didn't know it's overheating that causes YLoD.

[Herman]

Originally Posted by Jitsuryoku And in case you didn't know it's overheating that causes YLoD.

Mate, as a degree qualified Electronics Engineer, working towards chartership you don't need to tell me what causes YLoD, and it's not overheating, it's the BGA connections that eventually crack due to constant heating and cooling cycles causing thermal stress in the lead free alloy which is used at the factory. Sometimes it can be caused by tin wiskers which are small crystals that form and can cause shorts between connections, tin wiskers can grow at a rate of 0.5mm per year and when you see how close the pads are on the GPU it becomes apparent that tin wiskers could be liable for the issue.

Leaded solder does not suffer from this because first of all lead supresses tin wiskers and has done for the last 50 or so years leaded solder has been used and nothing else has been found that can supress it as well as lead can. Not to mention lead is more maliable than lead-free solder and as such is less prone to cracking from thermal stress. Also, during a reball you are replacing the old already thermally stressed balls with fresh ones. A reflow does not do that so the balls are still prone to cracking, hence reflows can fail very often.

If the CPU or GPU overheat then the console shuts down with a flashing red light (RLoD) and no yellow light appears. Heat is the cause of YLoD due to constant heating and cooling cycles, but the main issue is the lead free solder that was introduced in 2006 due to RoHS & WEEE directives.

Hence BGA failures have become more common as of recent since lead free solder came into force.