My 1st-gen PS3 console just got the flashing RLOD issue...

[PC Engine Fan X!]

I turned on my 1st-gen USA region PS3 console with the CECHA-01 model number for a little bit (no more than 5 to 10 minutes tops) when it suddenly beeped and turned off. Turned it off and back on again. The LED light came on, proceeded to tap the touch sensitive power button, the light turns green for a split second, turns yellow quickly then turns red and stays flashing the infamous "Red Light of Death" (RLOD) sequence. My PS3 has always been plugged into a heavy duty Monster Cable A/V power surge protector strip setup. From doing a bit of investigating on the net, it could be one of several possible issues:

1.) Defective power supply unit (PSU)

2.) Defective HDD

3.) The CPU might have possible seperated from the motherboard due to it getting too hot (as with the 1st-gen CECHA-01, they sure do produce quite a bit of heat -- seems like the stock cooling fan ain't quite enough to do the job properly...surely there must be some other better cooling method(s) to get the CPU cooled down.

4.) Or it could be some other hardware issue at hand

Now, would I have to include my 60 GB HDD that shipped came with the PS3 console or can I ship it directly to SCEA minus the HDD for repairs? I put my hand over the cooling vent area which was quite warm. The PS3 was positioned in the vertical position ever since I first purchased back in December of 2006 brand new. Still not bad for a 1st-gen PS3 to get the RLOD issue after all those years of faithful service.

And how reliable is SCEA when it comes to fixing such 1st-gen PS3 consoles? I inquired at my local Gamestop store and was told that the newer Slim PS3 consoles with their bigger HDDs aren't compatible with the older fat PS3 consoles.

I inquired as to how much a used 1st-gen PS3 console would cost at my local Gamestop and they said that they sell for $299.99 and the later released old fat PS3 consoles with the bigger HDDs at $249.99. Considering that it would cost $129.99 + tax for SCEA to fix my PS3, it seems that it'd be best to apply that hard-earned $$$ towards a new Slim PS3 console instead. Hmmm...what a quandary to be in, huh?

Sounds like I when I finally get my fixed 1st-gen PS3 back from SCEA (which I haven't sent in yet for repairs), I'll have to do a data transfer of my original PS3's HDD to an external USB 2.0 HDD setup and upload it to a bigger mini Sata notebook 500 GB HDD for posterity. Now if I do this data transfer, will it copy all my user accounts with passwords intact? I do have both a USA & JPN user PS3 accounts, btw.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Fudoh]

I'll have to a data transfer of my original PS3's HDD to an external USB 2.0 HDD setup and upload it to a bigger mini Sata notebook 500 GB HDD for posterity

won't work, sorry.

The PS3 HDDs are locked the system they're created on. This means once you put your old HDD into a new PS3, the HDD won't be recognized and has to be formatted to work.

There's no way to recover any data from your old system unless you get it to work again. THEN you could backup your date and disable for profiles. On the new system you could then restore the backup and re-enable for profiles.

If you don't repair your old one, you'll lose all your data and you'll also lose 1 of 5 licenses for each of your downloads.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Oh, I see. What I meant to say was would it be possible to transfer my old 60 GB data's content to a bigger mini Sata 500 GB HDD and still that newer bigger HDD use on my 1st-gen PS3 console (rather than getting a bigger HDD to use on a newer Slim PS3 console setup)?

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[neorichieb1971]

Well firstly unless you get it going you will lose 1 of 5 of machines you can download on since you cannot deactivate your machine.

Secondly, Sony recommend you use a FAT32 backup for your PS3 files. If don't do it and your machine goes BUMP BUMP BUMP BRRRRRRRR! Then you lost everything simple as that.

Welcome to Nextgen.