[Primpri]

I purchased a cheap original 60gb ps3 on Ebay which was described as bluray not reading disks but also that it was on 3.55fw so I thought I would be able to put CFW on it then play backups I had from my old PS3.

When it arrived, I started to go through the process of putting Rogero on it.
I got as far as having to dehash using QA Toggle (It would just sit on black screen without the beep then reboot - about 20 times in total). I searched google and apparently QA Toggle needs a working bluray drive.. but I'm not sure how non-broken a bluray drive needs to be in order for such.

I also tried opening MultiMan for the first time - again, just a black screen because of broken bluray.

So now I decided to diagnose the problem with the bluray drive, I did several tests after opening it up to see what the issue was and I believe it to be a faulty laser/mechanism.

Things to note:
#1: The disk inserts correctly and ejects correctly, the blue LED is on when a disk is present in the drive.
#2: When manually positioning the laser to the top most position and then simulating a disk being inserted, the laser returns to its default middle position.
#4: All cables seem to be correctly inserted and not damaged, though I'm not too sure how to test the 2 ribbon cables on the laser mechanism because I'm not sure what the larger of the 2 does and haven't yet been able to remove the whole thing to get to the smaller one (I tested with the large one removed and laser still returned to its middle position, no change).
#3: The disk does not spin, at all.
#4: The laser does not flash at all.

3 and 4 seem to be the only visible issues, everything else works fine.

I'm assuming the motor/laser lens are the culprits of this but I'd like a 2nd opinion. (I'm almost completely sure the cables are not a problem)
It's a KEM 400AAA, do you think it would be enough if I were to just simply replace the entire mechanism/laser with a new one?

Or are there further tests I should do in order to assure that it's not the entire bluray drive acting up? (I'm not sure what else I could possibly test in the drive otherthan the 2 ribbon cables it seems but they look healthy).

Thanks for any help!

[Mr.Dutch]

@Primpri , if you disconnect the logic board from the drive and connect it to the mainboard with it's ribbon cable and power cable, multiman should load fine.

that is if the logic board is married or ok, you can forget about the mechanics for now...

maybe take a closer look to the big ribbon cable if there's no damage

[Primpri]

The logic board of the bd is already connected to the main board, eh?

I've inspected all cables, they all look perfectly good except for the longest one connecting from the bd to the main board which has the V shaped bend to it - though I don't think this is an issue considering it happens to all (but there's another concern to it, it appears a little creased at one end but I assume that is just its material). Fairly sure that one is fine anyway though, I attempted to power on the console without it connected which causes other issues - can't remember what though (either it stopped the capability of disks being inserted or stopped the lens from moving back to its middle position, I did too many tests to remember >-<)

[playerkp420]

Try and remarry the blu ray drive to the motherboard. Like here.

If it fails. Then the problem is with the connection, or the logic board is faulty.

[Primpri]

4. Put the service mode JIG/dongle/PSGrade into port 0 (closest to the reader) and get into factory service mode.

I don't think I have any of those.
Is it necessary to re-marry if it's known that the bluray drive previously has worked on this PS3? (My understanding of re-marry is that it's only necessary when replacing the original bluray drive with a new one, or is there more to it?)

Currently I'm installing a PSN game which may determine whether it's the logic board? I'm not sure.
Edit: No improvement with the PSN game, successfully installed but just a black screen when attempting to play it.

Edit again:
I found this..
If you have an unmarried board but working drive you will get:
O - Disc can be inserted/ejected
X - If a disc is inserted the disc icon will just spin
? - An audio cd will eventually be detected but not able to be played
O - Black screen when trying to launch anything from the XMB
O - Can upgrade/downgrade firmware (it only checks a board is attached, not that it is married up)

If you have a dead/dodgy board/cable/drive you will get:
X - No way to load/eject a disc
? - No way to downgrade without a bypass firmware
O - Black screen when trying to launch anything from the XMB

If you have a married board, but dead laser you will get:
? - The ability to play/install homebrew
X - Can play anything installed on the HDD providing it does not require a disc to be inserted (discless booting)
P - Can upgrade/downgrade as normal per the guides

? = Untested
X = False
O = True
P = Partly true.

This still doesn't really help me considering my issue could be any of:
#1: Unmarried.
#2: Faulty logic board.
#3: Faulty lens.

Is there any tests I could do to check for each one of those?

Also does this:

Can upgrade/downgrade firmware (it only checks a board is attached, not that it is married up)

Mean that it may not be a problem with the logic board as the firmware could detect that it's there?
When I installed 3.55 Rogero v3.7 firmware, at first it would only get to around 30% then give me an error with a 60 sec count down to reboot, it did this a couple times but then finished installation on 100% after about 3 reboots.

[playerkp420]

Originally Posted by Primpri I don't think I have any of those. Is it necessary to re-marry if it's known that the bluray drive previously has worked on this PS3? (My understanding of re-marry is that it's only necessary when replacing the original bluray drive with a new one, or is there more to it?) Currently I'm installing a PSN game which may determine whether it's the logic board? I'm not sure. Edit: No improvement with the PSN game, successfully installed but just a black screen when attempting to play it.

You said you purchased the PS3 on ebay. How do you know the logic board is the original?

I would try and replace the ribbon first. If it still doesn't work, you will need to remarry it.

There are many devices that you can use to get into FSM. PSP 1000 model, Ti Calculator, Android phone, 1g + 2g ipods and iphones.

Or just buy a e3 card reader for $14.95.

[Primpri]

I can't be too sure, I asked the seller to confirm whether it was the original drive for that ps3, waiting for response. He said in the item description that there were never any other issues so I assumed he had a history with the ps3 and the drive just eventually died in some way, he also mentioned that he tried cleaning the lens, didn't mention any other attempts to fix it.

I have an old fat PSP with CFW 5.00 M33-6, will that do?
Also a few questions about the remarry guide:
1. Have the console on a working 3.55 firmware
Just want to confirm this includes 3.55 custom firmware? (So the one I'm on 3.55 Roger v3.7)

and
3. Download official firmware <=3.30 as drive init PUP
Does it matter which firmware? and what does it mean by 'drive init PUP'?

and
7. Put a BD movie disc in and run it on the PS3. (This restores your DRL files!)
I don't think I have any BD movies, does this step matter much? (I'm not sure what DRL files are)


Thanks for your help!

[playerkp420]

Originally Posted by Primpri I can't be too sure, I asked the seller to confirm whether it was the original drive for that ps3, waiting for response. He said in the item description that there were never any other issues so I assumed he had a history with the ps3 and the drive just eventually died in some way, he also mentioned that he tried cleaning the lens, didn't mention any other attempts to fix it. I have an old fat PSP with CFW 5.00 M33-6, will that do? Also a few questions about the remarry guide: 1. Have the console on a working 3.55 firmware Just want to confirm this includes 3.55 custom firmware? (So the one I'm on 3.55 Roger v3.7) and 3. Download official firmware <=3.30 as drive init PUP Does it matter which firmware? and what does it mean by 'drive init PUP'? and 7. Put a BD movie disc in and run it on the PS3. (This restores your DRL files!) I don't think I have any BD movies, does this step matter much? (I'm not sure what DRL files are) Thanks for your help!

I can confirm that my phat psp 1001 on 5.50 gen-d3, will work.

I can also confirm it will work on rogero v3.7 3.55 cfw. Any 3.55 ofw or cfw will work.

Here is OFW 3.30. It needs to be renamed to PS3UPDAT.PUP, and needs to be on the root of the usb drive. With the other files mentioned in the guide.

The bd movies is only needed to restore blu ray playback. You can do it without that step, and it should marry the logic board. So you can use homebrew apps, but you will not be able to play bluray movies. Although I think you can fix that with an option in multiman.

[Primpri]

I'll try the re-marry first now then I'll do what I said below if that doesn't work, thanks again!

Edit: I just get a black screen when attempting to run PSJig on the PSP, I tried updating the firmware to your version but it still just shows a black screen, any thoughts?

Edit: I tried a method using android instead, can get my phone rooted but my device isn't supported for bootloader unlock.

Hmm.. :l

[Mr.Dutch]

you can try to swap the ribbon cable so that the side that normally goes to the mainboard now go into the drive.
it won't sit perfectly because of the shape of the ribbon, but if you hold the drive a little in th air it will work, and then test if this makes any difference.