PS3 games crashing

[osaka84]

My sons PS3 has started crashing when playing games. It starts off fine when the console is first switched on from cold but after a few minutes the screen starts to flicker, gradually worsening until the game finally freezes. I initially thought it was the laser but blue ray movies and DVD's play ok. I suspected that maybe the HDD was failing but I don't know if it is in use when playing movies. Can anyone please shed any light on this problem and how I might resolve it.

[mark1984]

Sounds like it might be overheating - is it still under warranty?

[Jye_1]

done same before it packed in mate, hope your warrenty valid or think you pay £100 for replacment

[mark1984]

If you are out of warranty you might want to try opening it up and cleaning all the dust out, then clean and re-apply good thermal paste, make sure the heatsink and fan are free of dust... You could also bend the clamps a little by hand just to make sure the heatsink is nice and tight against the processor.

[WRATH OF BOD]

you could also get a 19 fin fan off fleebay to replace stock 15 fin fan...around 10-20 quid,ps3 is a doddle to take apart
9.99 delivered
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Sony-PS3-Conso...#ht_1106wt_911

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ps3-replacemen...#ht_500wt_1154

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TALISMOON-WHIS...#ht_2296wt_912

[plug1]

its the laser , mate , just because it plays bd disk proves nothing.
i cant be arsed epxaing why but , i speek thetruth. xxx

[osaka84]

It's out of warranty.

[mark1984]

You could try first rebuilding the databases, there's some guides on you tube to get the console in recovery mode... Then I would try cleaning it out and re-applying termal paste then if it still suffers you can replace the blu-ray drive...

Or sell it on eBay for spares or repair then buy a new one...

[AD]

its the laser , mate , just because it plays bd disk proves nothing.
i cant be arsed epxaing why but , i speek thetruth. xxx

If you re-read what he said, The screen starts to flicker then gets worse, then freezes.

That's overheating not laser. I know I Speaketh More Truth

-=AD=-

[osaka84]

I've tried rebuilding the data bases etc using the so called "secret menu" but still same. I also tried another HDD. I couldn't guarantee it was in perfect working order, but got exactly the same fault anyway. I'll try giving it a clean out and check the fan and heatsink.

Thanks.

[mark1984]

Use the Gilsky guide on YouTube, it'll help you dismantle and rebuild and gives good detail on what to do... Just miss out the heating part, unless after it still doesn't work...

[osaka84]

As well as the symptom listed above; I've just noticed that the settings column and game column have disappeared on the menu screen.