[wolrabn1]

Hi guys

new to the forum after alot of googling and not much joy.

My ps3 gave me the ylod on me last week... went to eBay and landed a working one on 3.66 fw without a bluray drive. thought np as I can just use my own. after some time of dismantling/putting together the ps3's suddenly found myself in the ps3 cfw world under the impression that

a) only firmware to remarry bluray drive to different mobo is 3.55
b) i would need the original br controller board for the new unit (which i dont have)
c) to get to 3.55 i need a hardware flasher which i dont have. should have come straight to the forum instead of landing myself on every possible spam site first with this one.....

Just wanted someone in the know a bit more to confirm this? Have i hit a wall? Or is there some way I can get this drive working with what is now running 4.21 ofw?

Either that or try and fix the ylod on my old mobo....

[uglbugly]

I think your only chance is to get back to 3.55 and from there it is possible as i have managed to do it a couple of times.
Probably better fixing the YLOD unless you can get the new one flashed/downgraded.
Have you checked to see if your model can be downgraded ?

[wolrabn1]

Thanks for the reply.

No I've not checked yet, both motherboards I have are fromthe original chunky 60gb model though.
Or do they need to be specific model numbers?

I'll buy some thermal paste I think for the other board first and see how it goes as its the cheaper option.... I already cleaned it fully out with no joy but did notice the paste was a bit thin. Back to the drawing board... any other tips for a ylod fix?!

[svenmullet]

If you're going to heat-gun it, get some thick industrial grade aluminum foil, cover the board with it, make a cutout for the RSX so the heat is concentrated on the chip and the rest of the board is shielded. If you don't do this, you'll warp the board eventually. A reflow will only temp fix the problem, and every time you reflow, you're damaging the board until it eventually gets GLOD (green light of death) IMHO, a CECHA is totally worth getting re-balled, it fixes the problem.

As for remarrying the old drive to the new console, you absolutely need to downgrade it to an exploited firmware. Before you spend money on a flasher, consider that you could spend the same money on a professional reball for your original ps3 and be exactly where you left off

[uglbugly]

If you do decide on the reball do not have a go with the heat gun first thinking if it don't work i'll get a re-ball.
I have had many ps3 with heat gun repairs and only managed to get about 20% of them working after re-ball.
I do not even attempt re-ball on systems that have been heat gunned now as they are mainly a waste of time and effort.
From my own experience after heat gun repair when you remove chip using proper bga machine the pads/tracks on board seem to come off with the chip making the board scrap, not to mention bending/warping of complete board.

[stdule]

If you want to reflow or reball the ps3 you need (Clamp / support for the PS3 motherboard repair) then do not bend/wraping or damage the boards pads/tracks

[wolrabn1]

cheers for the tips guys, will see how far I get and hopefully can get the original back up and running.

Least then i have a spare mobo if it happens again i guess.