My PS3 has stopped reading discs, what should I do next?

[ThDWgeek]

First of all, if this belongs in the Tech & Support sub-forum, I appologise.

But as the title says, my PS3 has stopped reading discs of any kind. It must have been about a week ago that I was playing Arkham City when the game froze and the screen stayed black. Somewhat perturbed, I turned off the PS3, and turned it back on, and everything seemed to be working fine. I can sign in to PSN ok, check trophies, go online, and all that stuff. It's just that when I put a disc in, rather than play automatically like it used to, the little loading icon in the top right corner just keeps spinning and spinning. I tried playing a dvd instead of a blu ray, but the same thing happened. Reading around online, it seems that there's nothing I personally can do, and that I should ring Sony. However, seeing as it's a 4 year old 40 GB model, I doubt it's under warranty, and that I'd have to pay to fix it. I was wondering if it would be worth paying to get it fixed, or if I should just go and buy a new one, seeing as it'll have more memory anyway. Does anybody have any experience in this situation?

TL;DR: PS3 won't read discs, more than likely out of warranty, should I ring Sony and get it fixed or just buy a new one?

 

[Soapy]

A similar thing happened to me several months ago. I guessed correctly that I needed a new Blu-ray drive. I bought a replacement on EBay and repaired it myself, and it's been working beautifully ever since. It wasn't difficult, plus it was a hell of a lot cheaper than buying a new console or paying someone else to fix it.

 

[Electro UK]

Yeah, I think it might be time to upgrade dude. The new PS3s are a million times better than the old (I uprgarded from my busted 60GB earlier this year). Plus my old model broke three times before I dished out on a new one, so it's a safer bet to just get the more reliable model.

 

[ThDWgeek]

Yeah, I think it might be best if I just upgrade. Soapy, thanks for the suggestion of fixing it myself, but I'm not too sure about tech stuff, so I'd rather not go poking around there blindly and screw it up worse somehow. Is there a way I can get the trophy data from my old PS3 to a new one?

 

[KALEL114]

Trophy data is attached to your PSN ID and saved on a server. Get the new PS3, sign in with your current Id and password, trophies will be there. Make sure to deactivate you old PS3 as well. Just call customer service to do that.

 

[Fading]

Make sure to baack up your save data to transfer over though. You'll need to start over to start earning trophies, a counter measure to downloading a save game for easy trophies. Some games like Dragon Age can't copy over as well as the developer copy protected them, but it'd suck to lose all your progress. You can back them up on any USB device with a compatible harddrive. I've backed mine up to my thumbdrive, PSP, and even mp3 player before.

As for the problem, It does sound like the BR drive went out. Just in case though, you can buy a can of compressed air at Wal-mart for around $5, and can spray it harmlessly in your PS3's disk drive. There's always the chance the drive is really dusty, and you could save some cash.

You may also still have a free warranty if your PS3 is less than a year old, and you have the receipt. Though in all honesty I found that method to be a pain when I went through it. I still had to wipe everything, had to wait for it to get there and back, and the refurbished model was about as bad as what I sent off. I just ended up getting a Slim, and it's worked perfect for over a year now.

 

[KALEL114]

Another option for game saves, is Plus. Get a month of Plus, back up all of your saves (copy protected ones as well) to the Cloud, get your new PS3, then download them to it from the Cloud.

 

[ThDWgeek]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I'll try the compressed air thing before ringing Sony, and if it'll take ages to get it fixed or is supremely expensive since I'm almost sure it's out of the warranty, I'll look into getting one of the new models and moving all my data over. t:

 

[Fading]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I'll try the compressed air thing before ringing Sony, and if it'll take ages to get it fixed or is supremely expensive since I'm almost sure it's out of the warranty, I'll look into getting one of the new models and moving all my data over. t:

Good luck. It probably isn't just dusty. However trying a $5 can of compressed air before buying a new console could save you a lot of cash if you're lucky. Plus the left over air can always be used for cleaning your computer/TV. Just don't spray any on yourself, it's feezing cold. I have to hide mine. I have one jackass friend who feels the need to spray it on the back of everyones neck whenever he sees a can of it, lol.

 

[Hotwire]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I'll try the compressed air thing before ringing Sony, and if it'll take ages to get it fixed or is supremely expensive since I'm almost sure it's out of the warranty, I'll look into getting one of the new models and moving all my data over. t:

Usually Sony charges right at $100 to fix damn near anything that could go wrong with a PS3. They are also VERY fast with their turnaround. However, you will need to back-up your data before you send it out. They don't guarantee that it won't be erased.

 

[DarkSovereignty]

Bumping because I'm having a similar problem, whenever I put a DVD in to play, it goes black and doesn't respond, would this be the same problem?

 

[JaD]

Unfortunately I'm having the same type of issue where some discs just aren't being read. I think it may be dual layer blu-ray discs only as some games are read fine but I'm not sure exactly. So far the blu-ray movie Heat, and The Last of Us sometimes aren't read after putting them in. Then the PS3 will make the eject noise on it's own with the disc remaining in there. At that point it just doesn't show up on the XMB (sometimes it does). A temporary fix for me now is tilting the PS3 upwards as I insert the disc in and it reads it fine at that point.

I did some research and I think I'm gonna go the fix it on my own route but I'm just putting together all the right instructions so I can get it right. Also trying to ID the correct laser I need for my (originally a 120gb) Slim.

 

[Dave McFly]

if you want to save some coin on repairs like that go to www.gophermods.com they fix all kinds of things from BR drives, all the way to the yellow light of death.

 

[JaD]

I think it's cheaper if I fixed my issue in particular on my own, but I'll keep that place in mind.

 

[JaD]

Yay, I successfully replaced my PS3 blu-ray laser. Not without issue though of course I bought only the laser at first, not the full laser deck because I figured it couldn't be hard to simply take the old laser off the deck and replace the new one there. But I ended up stripping a screw (I think I put the wrong screw in at first and tried to force it) on a piece of the old deck. I still got it on but it wasn't secure. Discs could be taken in and read fine but since the laser wasn't secured on the deck, the gears that work with that piece that moves the laser up and down to also eject the disc weren't working right so it wouldn't eject.

I went ahead and bought the full laser deck like I should have done in the first place and finished replacing it tonight after work. It was a fun little project and cool to see how it all works under the hood. I took it apart so many times during this process I have it down like clockwork almost

 

[Figs]

Unfortunately I'm having the same type of issue where some discs just aren't being read. Then the PS3 will make the eject noise on it's own with the disc remaining in there.

Same here. I tried to watch Batman Begins on Blu-ray today and it makes the eject noise but doesn't come out until I hit the eject button. I tried the video game Injustice, a DVD and The Dark Knight Rises on Blu-ray and they all played perfectly fine.

 

[SpideyVille]

Okay, so I've been having some problems with my PS3 for the last week. I had some issues with games like Arkham Origins and WWE 2k14 where it would stop loading things like new areas or the music would just stop playing in the background. But it wasn't until I started playing LEGO Marvel Superheroes that I noticed it more frequently. Here the music stops and areas stop loading, and if I get to a load screen for a new level or area, the game just stops freezing and if I try to quit to the XMB, it'll stay at the same screen before beeping, and then it won't change until I remove the disc.

I'm assuming this is just a Blu-Ray drive issue, so should I just try to replace that, or could it possibly something else. I have a PS3 160gb Slim by the way, and I've had it since Nov 2010.

 

[Jick]

I think that's a problem with the games. Arkham Origins and Lego Marvel Superheroes are extremely buggy. I'm tired of having my PS3 freezing when I'm playing the first. I don't know about WWE but maybe this one is bugged, too?

I'd bet it's a problem with the games, instead of the PS3. Try one of your games that you're sure that it's bug free. If no issues come up, then your PS3 is most likely safe.

 

[SpideyVille]

I tried a few other games like Borderlands 2, the first LEGO Batman and Splinter Cell and they all stopped loading once I got past the main menus.

 

[sea147]

Little Known Trick To Self-Cleaning Your Playstat…: http://youtu.be/uhMTFmhabi4

 

[Kuchhogya]

I can sign in to PSN ok, check trophies, go online, and all that stuff. It's just that when I put a disc in, rather than play automatically like it used to, the little loading icon in the top right corner just keeps spinning and spinning. I tried playing a dvd instead of a blu ray, but the same thing happened.????



Ali