PS3 repair (blinking red light)

It can but harddrive encryption keys are unique per console. So .... Unless you know your console HDD encryption keys, nope.

 

In Japan, SONY won't even touch consoles that had their security seals peeled out. Tough luck.

 

Sony (or any other company) won't touch the system if it has no seal, period. They'll charge you And send the unit back.
They aren't allowed to use leaded solder even in refurbs, they will just throw your system (if it was sealed) in a big pile and send you a refurbished slim running latest FW.

find a company over there that repairs laptop motherboards or has a proven record of working with BGAs (they actually have all the equipment to remove this size package)

 

I figured as much. As leham said, they would just replace it anyway, I'd rather a original model over a slim model, so I wouldn't take this option anyway.

That might be a good idea, but I have no idea where to start to find such a company! Or how much it costs for that matter, might end up being more expensive than just picking up a later model.

 

http://www.ps3repairshop.com/ps3-ylod-reball.html offers a reball service (it's pricey, but just about any reballing service is going to cost a pretty penny). I'm not sure if they ship worldwide, but it's worth a shot.

 

I said in Japan SONY REFUSES service for PlayStation hardware which had the seal removed. It's written on the sticker, in Japanese. So they would not even touch your console anyway (you opened it).

Also, it seems they no longer service "fat" PS3s.

 

Interesting... He price isn't too bad and I could always ship just the board to save on postage. However, one point I'm worried about is they say you should only use their service if you've done nothing else to treat the issue. It might be a bit risky to send mine in because it's already been heat gunned. I think I'll compare this to the cost of getting another, later model console. I don't use my PS3 to play PS2 games, so I don't care that it doesn't have this function. I think what I like most about the launch model is that it has 4 usb ports and looks nicer (I.e chrome trim and flappy media door thing)

 

They just say that to cover their ass, also makes a pretty good excuse for them if they mess it up and rip a pad..

if you are going to be fixing stuff I highly recommend buying a hot air SMD station and some thermocouples.
this will make soldering sooo much easier

you can buy thermocouples (with reader) for $5
i bought a Chinese Hakko knock off hot air and soldering station about 18months ago for around $180, just make sure you get a hot air gun that uses a bladder, they have much smoother airflow and are nice and quiet.

i use a OFW ps3 slim 160gb that I bought new a few years back as my daily driver and my CFW 60gb system sits all shiny on it's little pedistool.

the launch units are nice but the slims perform much better (better faster HDD, newer processors, newer Ram, less stuff bogging down the OS) anyway backwards compatibly is only a newish thing anyway and should be considered more of a bonus luxury. If you want to play PS2 games buy a ps2. Unless your using a day one Japanese launch unit (which had 100% hardware backwards compatibility) you are just playing the game in semi emulation anyway....

 

That's probably true, though when it comes down to it, for the cost of getting a launch model recalled, I could probably just pick up a used later model system.

Do any of the phat models have the performance improvements you mentioned, or is this just a slim model only thing?

I have a Chinese soldering hot air station combo too, we may well be talking about the same model!

 

Later model 80gb units and some 40gb units used the smaller dies (65nm) and can be downgraded or jail broken, they had very little problems such as temps ect. I can't remember the board models but the mobo looks sideways compared to the older units (cpu and gpu are off to one side).

 

CECHL is a very good model but it was plagued with that RSOD (red screen of death) problem. They used a crappy SAMSUNG NOR flash on it and that chip was prone to fail at a region which was written to way too often.

Have the chip replaced with some different kind and problem is solved ...

 

I wonder if it's possible to fit a bigger nor chip and switch banks to have dual setup for online??

 

Hmmm, I'm thinking anything post CECHJ would be a good choice in terms of reliability. Does that sound right to you guys?

 

Avoid CECHJ. Anyway, if you go for a 65nm/65nm get a PS2 slim

 

I have a feeling I *may* know what happened... especially once I read the part where you said the USB ports weren't doing anything. This could also explain why it worked before assembly but not after putting it back together.

Had this problem in 2010 with an old fatty when I accidentally put a long screw in one of the holes that should have only had a short screw and tried screwing it in. Realized after a while that when I did that, I had actually punctured the PCB and it cut some lines on the board which made the thing not boot. I was able to get it to boot by connecting 2 points together on the power supply (I forget which points, it was a while ago) but even then, the USB would not work. Long story short, my soldering skills at the time were minimal so I ended up taking it to a professional to have the trace repaired.

I even have a picture of it still. Check your board:

 

Wow. Is not MB protected with EM shield.

FireAza, PS3 Slim >= CECH-2100 uses 45/40 nm chips. I think it would be a good choice.

 

^ The shield does not cover the entire board (lots of holes).