PlayStation 3 Problem

Several days ago, my PlayStation 3 froze on a loading screen in PlayOnline. It's not just the game that froze, but the entire console just stopped altogether. I couldn't even access the PS button menu. The only thing I could do was flip the switch in the back of the console to power it off.

I know this is a bad idea, but I waited and waited and it wasn't responsive.

Now the system won't even get to the main screen. When I turn it on, all I get is blackness. I got to the special screen that allows me to reset the console to factory reset, though, and it says that my HDD is corrupted but cannot fix it without deleting everything.

Is there any way for me to salvage my game saves before I wipe the HDD? Or is my game data lost forever?

This problem has happened for a few days. I thought it might be an overheating issue, so I unplugged it and let it sit since Monday.

The only thing I can think of to get the saved games off would be to take out the HDD and hook it up to a computer as a slave drive and pull the files out that way.

I'm not sure how doable it is or if that's even possible.

I should probably make a back up of all my files, because my PS3 has been doing this on occasion as well.

It should be doable, PS3 uses a laptop HDD though, so unless you can get that into your PC you won't have much luck.

Mine decided it needed to redo everything once, but it never got rid of all my game saves (I have no idea why, I was expecting everything to be lost..). I just had to redo my profile and I was good to go.

Sorry I can't be much more help >< Good luck in getting it fixed up though!

You could buy an external enclosure for a 2.5" hard drive. You can find them pretty cheap on amazon and newegg. Then you could plug it into your computer via usb.

I read somewhere that the PS3 HDD is incompatible with the PC, because of the storage type or something.

Even if I could somehow copy those files onto the PC, the PS3 would not recognize the new files. That's what I hear, anyway. Has anyone successfully backed up his or her data onto a PC with the HDD?

It's not so much the game data I'm worried about losing (since I really only do FFXI anymore) but it's the reinstallation of PoL and redoing basically all of my macros again...

Yeah, lesson learned about backing up data >_<;;

Yeah I've backed up my files onto my PC and imported them back into my PS3. There's no issue with that.

Also if you can get on a friends system, PC or otherwise, and log onto your character you can save the macros to the server, then reformat/installing FFXI on the PS3, log into your character and retrieve them.

Oh cool.
So I just have to unscrew that damned blue screw, pull out the HDD, and is there a USB port on the HDD? Or will I actually have to dissect the HDD even further?

Im pretty sure you can do the rebuild databases without losing any data

I'm not sure about that, never actually took a PS3 apart.

Hmm, well I can't backup the data without cutting open the PS3 since I can't get to the main screen. I tried rebuilding databases, that does nothing for some reason. I don't want to accidentally do something irreversible by dissecting the console either.

Ah well, it's not too big a deal. The only really notable game saves are have is a defeated Yiazmat on FFXII but that's not too bad to do again.

Thanks for the advice everyone, I appreciate it :)


I am kind of concerned about the freezing system though, that could really be a problem if it continues. Think it could be an overheating issue? We -have- had a power surge due to faulty equipment on the same circuit, but that was like three weeks ago.

I don't know about your problem, but I know mine (which has the same symptoms, everything locks up and I have to manually cut the power) isn't due to overheating.. It often happens no longer than 2 mins after being on, yet I'm also able to run the system for a few hours on end with no problems.

I know it didn't happen on my other PS3's, just this slim model.

If you can access "Safe Mode" on your PS3, you might be able to rebuild the HDD files without completely losing your saves. Obviously you're using an old PS3 model but I think one of the version updates put "Safe Mode" in it.

The freezing is an issue you shouldn't ignore though. Can easily mean YLOD is coming around at some point (which is directly caused by overheating the graphics chip)...could also be a fluke. I'd say if your regular PS3 games isn't giving you a hard time than it was just bad luck. Keep in mind the older units run hotter and are more likely to overheat...matter of time honestly (2-3 years for me). Power surge might jolt the PS3 but I don't know about causing it to overheat.

go into safe mode. press and hold power/reset button till it goes red again. then press and hold until you hear 2 quick beeps. then restore file system.

Yeah I got into safe mode, and tried all of the applicable options (reset console, restore default settings, rebuild database, etc.) except "Restore PS3". None of them would work.

I eventually gave in and did "Restore PS3" and I'm waiting for it to finish.

The freezing is still kind of scary though. I remember with the Dreamcast that freezing was a sign of doom (for me, at least) and I would have to buy a new console. The PS3 is not on carpet or in a cramped area. It was, however, not vertical (which it is now, just to be safe).

I remember it froze once when I left a game on for a long time, but that didn't really cause the console to kill itself.

Oh cool, my PS3 can't even complete a System Reset without shutting off. At this point, it is completely useless. I guess this means I have to send it in?

Or I guess no more FFXI for me :(