[nintendo9713]

Hi everyone, I recently inherited a broken PS3. I was able to update to the latest 4.31 firmware, but the BluRay drive won't even "eat" discs. The person who gave it to me knew nothing of it's past but it is definitely in poor condition. Regardless, I took it apart, air dusted it, and this is my first time looking at a PS3 BluRay drive. I am now utterly confused as to what I can do. Is there a basic troubleshoot list? Could I simply buy another BluRay drive and replace it? I'm unsure if the laser works because as i mentioned it won't "eat" any discs, AND it does have a slight rattle (I'm not sure if that's normal or not).


Thanks for any help!

[Mr.Dutch]

@nintendo9713 , do you see any action if you try to insert a disc?, like the blue led blinking?

examine your ribbon cable, the big one from mainboard to the drive, if there's no damage on one end.

[DebugBrain]

Originally Posted by nintendo9713 Hi everyone, I recently inherited a broken PS3. I was able to update to the latest 4.31 firmware, but the BluRay drive won't even "eat" discs. The person who gave it to me knew nothing of it's past but it is definitely in poor condition. Regardless, I took it apart, air dusted it, and this is my first time looking at a PS3 BluRay drive. I am now utterly confused as to what I can do. Is there a basic troubleshoot list? Could I simply buy another BluRay drive and replace it? I'm unsure if the laser works because as i mentioned it won't "eat" any discs, AND it does have a slight rattle (I'm not sure if that's normal or not). Thanks for any help!

Hello, can you tell if the ps3 had already been opened before?
Often on 40 Gb, when the BDplayer not take the disc, the problem is due to a failure on the logic board BDplayer, try downloading a demo or a game from PSN, if you can start it properly is another issue, but if when you start is just a black screen, the problem of BDplayer is on the logic board, do this test and let us know

[Mr.Dutch]

Originally Posted by DebugBrain Hello, can you tell if the ps3 had already been opened before? Often on 40 Gb, when the BDplayer not take the disc, the problem is due to a failure on the logic board BDplayer, try downloading a demo or a game from PSN, if you can start it properly is another issue

he was able to update to the latest firmware, so demo's should run fine too.

[DebugBrain]

Originally Posted by Mr.Dutch he was able to update to the latest firmware, so demo's should run fine too.

Yes, you're right but it could also be a logic board on a break, I happened in the past with a PS3 60 Gb, when the BDplayer wrapped worked and sometimes not, I was able to update it when the BDplayer stopped working completely i could not do it anymore.
However, I was only looking for information as possible

[nintendo9713]

Hi all, thank you for the suggestions.

@Mr.Dutch , there are no blue blinking LEDs. I have uploaded a video here:

youtube com/watch?v=V7upMkFvrYA&feature=youtu.be

I am not allowed to link so I removed the '.'

Also the ribbon cable is flawless on the system end:

i.imgur com/ndfW7ja.jpg

But a little rugged on the Drive end:

i.imgur com/3Qn6Hsn.jpg

However, I did a continuity test, and it tested okay.


@DebugBrian, good call, screen goes black if I launch any app. Netflix, even the PlayStation Store freezes.

& it had to have been opened before because my cousin who gave it to me told me there was a disc stuck in the drive, and he was hoping it'd be a game, but was just homemade adult content. He mentioned the eject didn't work.

Thank you both for taking the time to help! Does anything above help yield a solid conclusion such as the Logic Board?

[Mr.Dutch]

Originally Posted by nintendo9713 and he was hoping it'd be a game, but was just homemade adult content

ok, let's focus on the homemade adult content.


EDIT: ok, we will deal with the adult content later.

is the power cable from the drive plugged in?, and dous the drive have no activity whatsoever?
also is the 5 and 12V reaching the logic board?

[nintendo9713]

It was interracial and horrible quality, and why it was burned onto a DVD to watch in a PS3 I'll never understand.

But back to the thought of me getting this puppy up and running again, do I have other options?

[DebugBrain]

If you have the black screen then it is certain that the logic board is broken, the easiest way to solve your problem would be to replace the entire logic board and then make a remarry, the problem is that you have updated the fw and to do remarry you must downgrade to fw 3.55, the other alternative now is to find a good technician and you replace the driverIC BD7956FS on logic board.
Considering the fact that the BDplayer has been opened, do not know what we have done and if they have created more damage, I advise you to invest some money for the technician and the replacement of the IC hoping that the rest of the BDplayer is intact.
However, if you are able to do so you can buy a new logic board to replace the old broken and do the downgrade and then remarry, or ask a friend who is able to do it.
I'm sorry for my bad english.

[nintendo9713]

Thanks for the reply @DebugBrain . Sounds like there's not much I can do, and I don't have too strong of willpower for this thing. I still have my launch 60GB model PS3 I use all the time, this one has just been sitting around so I decided to register here and inquire about possibilities.

Is there any way I could even put linux on this thing via USB? Or something that doesn't involve the BluRay player?


Edit: I see your edit now Mr.Dutch.

I believe all cables are connected to the drive, the main ones I recall being the wide ribbon cable and the 8 or 10 wire connector to the system board. The drive has no activity whatsoever.

How can I test for voltage on those two wires? Where do I measure?