PS3 How to Enable Hidden Blue/Red Light in PS3 SLIM

[sandungas]

https://www.mediafire.com/file/vkaft7xfxblm6l8/DSW-001.rar/file
DSW-001 Board pics taken with a Nikon D3100. 4608 X 3072, that should be enough right?

The size and perspective are fine, but the autofocus betrayed you, are a bit blurry

Also, all components have a shadow proyected to south (because you had only 1 lightpoint located at north)
To avoid that shadows is needed to use 2 or more lights
Yeah, is tricky

The shadows doesnt allows me to see where are connected some lines
Also, there are some lines that cant be seen, even with a perfect photo and lighting, because are located under the components (as example the lines under the misterious leds), to check that lines i need some of you with a multimeter to verify them

Also, we need to know the value of the 3 resistors aligned at top side, and (if posible) the marks of the transistors to try to find a datasheet of them

 

[ISAK.M]

The size and perspective are fine, but the autofocus betrayed you, are a bit blurry

Also, all components have a shadow proyected to south (because you had only 1 lightpoint located at north)
To avoid that shadows is needed to use 2 or more lights
Yeah, is tricky

The shadows doesnt allows me to see where are connected some lines
Also, there are some lines that cant be seen, even with a perfect photo and lighting, because are located under the components (as example the lines under the misterious leds), to check that lines i need some of you with a multimeter to verify them

Also, we need to know the value of the 3 resistors aligned at top side, and (if posible) the marks of the transistors to try to find a datasheet of them

I suck at photography and it was really hard to get some light on it (Used Flashlights). If I used the camera flash, only the middle part of the board would be crystalclear and the rest really blurry.
I'll try to take some better photos, ill be back

 

[Cypher_CG89]

ill be back

@ISAK.M > The Swedish Terminator

 

[Cypher_CG89]

Also, we need to know the value of the 3 resistors aligned at top side, and (if posible) the marks of the transistors to try to find a datasheet of them

That would be the three that are connected to each of the three LED's? I'll dig out the multi meter in the garage.....somewhere??... lol Also which setting on it for this? As I normally use it for circuit testing on cars.

 

[sandungas]

That would be the three that are connected to each of the three LED's? I'll dig out the multi meter in the garage.....somewhere??... lol Also which setting on it for this? As I normally use it for circuit testing on cars.

Yes, are the 4 components aligned (one of them is missing)
One side of the resistor is connected to the 5v rail (active at all times)
And the other side of the resistor is connected to the (+) pin of each led

The only resistor i know for sure where is connected is... the line in the missing resistor, connected to the (+) pin pf the missing led

But wait a bit, the plan is to do it in several steps
First i need a couple of good photos, and i will paint on top the part of the circuit i understand, either because it can be seen in the photos, or because i can deduce it (because is the same circuit than my HSW-001)... and additionally i will paint some question marks in the points that needs to be checked with a multimeter

After that you need to tell me where are conncted the lines with the question marks, and i will make the definitive drawing (the original circuit)

And after that... i can make some more to show you the solder points to make the mod in the way you want

 

[Cypher_CG89]

Yes, are the 4 components aligned (one of them is missing)
One side of the resistor is connected to the 5v rail (active at all times)
And the other side of the resistor is connected to the (+) pin of each led

The only resistor i know for sure where is connected is... the line in the missing resistor, connected to the (+) pin pf the missing led

But wait a bit, the plan is to do it in several steps
First i need a couple of good photos, and i will paint on top the part of the circuit i understand, either because it can be seen in the photos, or because i can deduce it (because is the same circuit than my HSW-001)... and additionally i will paint some question marks in the points that needs to be checked with a multimeter

After that you need to tell me where are conncted the lines with the question marks, and i will make the definitive drawing (the original circuit)

And after that... i can make some more to show you the solder points to make the mod in the way you want

Ok

Would be interested in your thoughts on this design for a Custom BASIC PCB Board for 4 LEDs in the PS3 casing to take the idea even further, more paths can be added for more LEDs but I just started with 4 for a basic concept of how it could be done.

A smaller board with more resistor's and more solder point's for the wires to the LEDs can be added. Plus you could make a few boards and stack them with spacers as in a SLIM PS3 the only space for this is between the BD drive and the FAN casing. I just didn't like the idea of the resistors being soldered in directly to the wires for the LEDs. and soldering multiple wire's to different point or a bunch at one point is daft to me.

With this basic design a switch can be added to disable them, a variable resistor could be added to the circuit to control the brightness of the LED, different colours could be added to it and it would be soldered to one 5v and one grand point. If you used the points used for turning the PS3 on and off you could get them to go on and off with the PS3. If you added different paths and more switches you could customise what does what, some enabled permanently, some with the PS3's power cycles all on or off.

The sky is the limit, though you might end up with a PS3 that looks like an expensive table lamp if you went to over the top with LEDs lol.

This is the basic design concept pic made with " Design Spark PCB ".

​

Thoughts??

 

[sandungas]

If you want to make something more advanced i think is better if you create a new thread, but well, because is related im going to show you a modification of the schematic that allows you to connect "as many things you want" to the power supply

Also, if someone is interested in understanding how works all this mods we have been talking about (made in the switch board of the PS3) is needed to understand the principles of how works a NPN transistor, and this image can be used as an example

I googled a bit and found a link where there is a nice explain... and what is written at top of the article is completly true, lol... usually you are going to find descriptions that starts with an avalanche of technical data... but here is simplifyed, really take a read at it
https://www.build-electronic-circuits.com/how-transistors-work/

The point is... you can use a NPN transistor to "isolate" 2 parts of a circuit that works at different voltages
As example... you can have a circuit working at 2v and switching the transistor ON/OFF by the "base" pin.... and at the other side of the transistor there is a laundry machine at 220v
In other words... there are 2 pins of the transistor with different voltages... but this voltages doesnt "touches" each other (so there is no shorcut or danger)

This is why i was saying the "misterious leds" on the PS3 switch boards are located in a "subcircuit"... because the transistor is isolating them

The voltage connected to the transistor base comes from syscon, and probably is 3.3v (but we dont know because we never found when syscon is supposed to send that signal)
And the votlage connected to the transistor "collector" is the (-) of the leds
When the transistor is ON... the "collector" pin is connected to the "emitter" pin (soldered to ground)... this closes the circuit and the leds emits light

 

[Cypher_CG89]

If you want to make something more advanced i think is better if you create a new thread, but well, because is related im going to show you a modification of the schematic that allows you to connect "as many things you want" to the power supply

Also, if someone is interested in understanding how works all this mods we have been talking about (made in the switch board of the PS3) is needed to understand the principles of how works a NPN transistor, and this image can be used as an example

I googled a bit and found a link where there is a nice explain... and what is written at top of the article is completly true, lol... usually you are going to find descriptions that starts with an avalanche of technical data... but here is simplifyed, really take a read at it
https://www.build-electronic-circuits.com/how-transistors-work/

The point is... you can use a NPN transistor to "isolate" 2 parts of a circuit that works at different voltages
As example... you can have a circuit working at 2v and switching the transistor ON/OFF by the "base" pin.... and at the other side of the transistor there is a laundry machine at 220v
In other words... there are 2 pins of the transistor with different voltages... but this voltages doesnt "touches" each other (so there is no shorcut or danger)

This is why i was saying the "misterious leds" on the PS3 switch boards are located in a "subcircuit"... because the transistor is isolating them

The voltage connected to the transistor base comes from syscon, and probably is 3.3v (but we dont know because we never found when syscon is supposed to send that signal)
And the votlage connected to the transistor "collector" is the (-) of the leds
When the transistor is ON... the "collector" pin is connected to the "emitter" pin (soldered to ground)... this closes the circuit and the leds emits light

You read my mind, as the next question I was going to ask was just this.... how to get it to turn the LEDs on and Off with the PS3 itself. I had the idea of using the signals from the syscon but no idea what to use to achieve it and this answers this nicely. Thanks. Next one is how to achieve this so that is one colour on standby and another on power up?? Again am thinking use the signals from the syscon...?

This was just a basic concept I designed so that the main parts is all in one place on a PCB board and the run the wires with the LEDs attached wherever you wanted then in the PS3. Plus I was thinking that there will be a lot of people reading this and thinking FFS I have the wrong PS3 to have the hidden lights, well with this run the wires with the LEDs under the switchboard and it will do more or less the same thing possible better if you use a couple and it will do the whole light bar on the switch board not just the corner.

I now I remember where I have seen this activated on PS3's..... at events where S@ny was showing of the new model and in a few shops PS3 "Pods". I knew had seen this "hidden LEDs" before somewhere.

 

[ISAK.M]

I'm back again bois! and that sounded like I am 12 years old.
https://www.mediafire.com/file/2fo8x7ufz26vl6h/DSW-001_Again.rar/file
This time I just could not get a perfect picture (still, after like 15-20 tries) and for some reason the pics with like a "ghost" of the board was the sharpest which just pissed me off so I just uploaded all of it. @sandungas You be the judge and check if any pics are usable or if I am going to have to try again.

 

[sandungas]

You read my mind, as the next question I was going to ask was just this.... how to get it to turn the LEDs on and Off with the PS3 itself. I had the idea of using the signals from the syscon but no idea what to use to achieve it and this answers this nicely. Thanks. Next one is how to achieve this so that is one colour on standby and another on power up?? Again am thinking use the signals from the syscon...?

This was just a basic concept I designed so that the main parts is all in one place on a PCB board and the run the wires with the LEDs attached wherever you wanted then in the PS3. Plus I was thinking that there will be a lot of people reading this and thinking FFS I have the wrong PS3 to have the hidden lights, well with this run the wires with the LEDs under the switchboard and it will do more or less the same thing possible better if you use a couple and it will do the whole light bar on the switch board not just the corner.

I now I remember where I have seen this activated on PS3's..... at events where S@ny was showing of the new model and in a few shops PS3 "Pods". I knew had seen this "hidden LEDs" before somewhere.

The circuit is pretty much the same in the official "misterious leds"
But connecting everything directly to the power supply is safer, and it allows you to connect groups of leds, actually you can use that strips of leds and you can choose if are going to be connected to the 5v psu rail or 12v
Also you can use several transistors and switches and make groups of leds
There are many variants, the point is if you are going to make some risky experiment is always better to connect everything to the power supply, this way the posible problems are going to be isolated in the power supply

I'm back again bois! and that sounded like I am 12 years old.
https://www.mediafire.com/file/2fo8x7ufz26vl6h/DSW-001_Again.rar/file
This time I just could not get a perfect picture (still, after like 15-20 tries) and for some reason the pics with like a "ghost" of the board was the sharpest which just pissed me off so I just uploaded all of it. @sandungas You be the judge and check if any pics are usable or if I am going to have to try again.

Nice, 1 and 4 are pretty good

I wanted to have good photos of the board because im going to spend some time in photoshop painting in them... and is the kind of thing i only want to do it only one time (not several incase eventually appears better photos)
Now with good photos i will dedicate some time to it

 

[ISAK.M]

Nice, they have a slight ghosting though, does that bother you any or can you work with that?

 

[sandungas]

Nice, they have a slight ghosting though, does that bother you any or can you work with that?

Is fine, from "the winner" photos (1, and 4) there is only a bit of ghosting at the right side of one of them, but the copper lines that are a bit blurry in that side can be seen fine
Are good enought, i didnt expected to have perfect photos, but in a scale from 1 to 10 this ones are over 9 and thats good enought

Anyway, as i mentioned before there are some lines that is not posible to identify visually where are connected... i can deduce some of them, but some of you is going to need to verify them with a multimeter


Cypher_CG89 i just thought you can take one control signal from the "hdd activity" led, most of the time is tilting, so it will be very active
If you want to create some nice led animations you need to use a chip named "555 timer" take a look at google, you are going to find lot of led circuits using that chip (my favourites are the animations that makes the leds "pump" like a heart pumping blood... it looks like if the device is "alive")

 

[ISAK.M]

(my favourites are the animations that makes the leds "pump" like a heart pumping blood... it looks like if the device is "alive")

I think that looks really dope too, or when its like going in "waves" in rainbow colours.

 

[sandungas]

Im going to write this in a separated post because i think is worthy and im sure there is room for it and it "should" work, but i dont want to derrail more the thread, if some of you finds a good circuit to do this leds animations with a 555 timer open a new thread and we can discusss it to see how to adapt it to the PS3 switchs boards

In the HSW-001 board it can be drilled 8 holes to "solder" a 555 timer in it, this board have the circuit build at "single side". At the other side there are squares of copper, but are not connected to anything, so are not part of the circuit. You can sandpaper them to expose the copper, use a razor blade to create "pads" for the drilled holes, and "lines" to solder wires in them

See this photo, all that squares are "available" to solder in them because are not part of the circuit, so what im saying is to find a placement for the 555 timer at the other side, and then drilling holes and "sculpting" an small circuit for the 555 timer

Anyway... to make it more simple there is no need to make any of this "sculpting"... the only thing needed are the 8 holes... and you can solder wires directly to the 555 timer pins

In the DSW-001 (build at double side) probably there is room to add a 555 timer too, im just mentioning HSW-001 because it have more room, but initially i think it can be made in both


Edit:
Hmmm, there is no need to drill holes... is easyer to bend the pins of the 555 timer chip in paralell with the board and stick it to the board with a drop of glue, or double-side tape, etc...


Edit2:
Just found something that could be handy: http://www.ohmslawcalculator.com/555-astable-calculator

 

[sandungas]

I will improve the image later, but this is what i have by now, lets call it v1
The image embedded in this post is from imgur just as a preview, but in the download link is the original with better quality
Download original image: https://www.sendspace.com/file/kl5qyl

The photos was good enought to see all the lines of that "misterious leds", now that i painted on top you cant compare with what can be seen on the real photo, but well... im 99% sure is like that
But at this point there are so many labels, pins, etc... that is needed to verify a couple of things

The pins marked as SYS
The 2 black components with 6 pins each are 2 "dual transistors"... this means each led is controlled by a transistor, and syscon is connected with the "base" pin of 4 transistors, this pins are marked as SYS in the transistor, in pink color
So... in total there are 4 SYS pins in the transistors (that seems connected together)... and near the connector there is other SYS pin
You need to check with a multimeter if the SYS solder point near the connector (the side of the component marked with a black arrow) is connected with the others 4 SYS pins in the transistors (the multimeter configured in continuity should make a "beep" noise)

LEDS pins alternative solder points
Also, make this same check in the pins of the leds, and the points i marked with the letters of a compass (as example NE- means North-East led pin -). There are several, check in between the ones with the same names

The value of the resistors
In one of the photos (not the one i used in this image) can be seen better how are labeled, but are not completly clear, i have some doubts, what i can see is:
Resistor connected to NE+ = 16E (mark) = 1430 ohm (resistance)
Resistor connected to SE+ = missing in action
Resistor connected to NW+ = 751 (mark) = 750 ohm (resistance)
Resistor connected to SW+ = 16E (mark) = 1430 ohm (resistance)

I used this table to find the values, but is better if someone checks it with a multimeter
https://www.hobby-hour.com/electronics/smdcalc.php
The value of this resistors is important because is one of the few things we can change and it gives some room for creativity :P
Also, because it gives an small hint about what sony was trying to do (the colors they was trying to achieve, the differences of color with HSW-001, and the posible variations of this circuit)

At this point i think DSW-001 had a previous version where this circuit was better and it was controlled by 2 syscon lines
Note there is a detail that doesnt makes sense... there is room to solder 4 resistors, but only to solder 3 diodes. The missing solder pads for the missing diode is because one of the leds is missing (but the solder pads for the missing led exists), and this is why SE- only have 2 posibles solder points, not 3 like the others
DSW looks like an intermediate step... and in HSW-001 they continued simplifying the circuit

 

[Cypher_CG89]

@sandungas

I'll test and check whats needed tomorrow and post it here, been working on some more custom LED boards using the 555 timer you suggested using. The pulse one looks awesome. And been working out the best way to cut out the PS3 logo from the shell. The best way I think would be to drill it out using a drill bit that's about 1mm smaller than the text then i can just use a decent file to smooth of the ruff edges and tidy it up.

 

[sandungas]

@sandungas

I'll test and check whats needed tomorrow and post it here, been working on some more custom LED boards using the 555 timer you suggested using. The pulse one looks awesome. And been working out the best way to cut out the PS3 logo from the shell. The best way I think would be to drill it out using a drill bit that's about 1mm smaller than the text then i can just use a decent file to smooth of the ruff edges and tidy it up.

Thx, i want to be sure that what i painted is fine before continuing, i will keep adding more stuff in the image

Cool you started playing with a 555 timer have you seen the link i posted of the "555 astable calculator" ?, i found it the other day when rushing on youtube, it uses a very simple schematic and seems good enought

To cut the PS3 logo, yeah... you are going to need to use files at the end (and be very careful to not make any mark in the borders of the shape)
For the last finish im thinking you could build a tool... with a cilyndrical pencil (or a small metal pipe), covered with sandpaper sticked with double side tape
This way it will be like a cilyndrical file... but with very fine grain

Edit:
Actually, now im reading myself... i think i would build a few of that home made "tools"
The one i mentioned with a small cilynder is a must... but is good to have other with a perfect plane for the straight lines

 

[Cypher_CG89]

Thx, i want to be sure that what i painted is fine before continuing, i will keep adding more stuff in the image

Yeah when i get the multi-meter to play ball and remember which setting to use lol, someone managed to break one of the wire's Form the testing pin so I have had to solder that back on lol.

To cut the PS3 logo, yeah... you are going to need to use files at the end (and be very careful to not make any mark in the borders of the shape)
For the last finish im thinking you could build a tool... with a cilyndrical pencil (or a small metal pipe), covered with sandpaper sticked with double side tape
This way it will be like a cilyndrical file... but with very fine grain

I have a ton of files for all sorts, ranging from big massive ones that are all most 1m in length down to tiny precision files that are less then 15cm in length, from straight to semi circle and circular one's all of various sizes. And for drilling I'll use my Bench Pillar Drill so I can clamp it in place as using a my cordless drill drill if i slip it could make a mess of the shell and as its a powerfull Makita one it would chew the shell to bits as it goes through brick and concrete like butter lol, I have nearly snapped my wrist a few times with I when the drill bit has become jammed it has that much torque lol.

Cool you started playing with a 555 timer have you seen the link i posted of the "555 astable calculator" ?, i found it the other day when rushing on youtube, it uses a very simple schematic and seems good enought

Just been looking at what designs I could do with a PCB and making it as small as possible to go in the shell, and what effects could be achieved with the timer. Could make the PS3 look like a miniature rave with it but that would be a bit excessive lol.

 

[sandungas]

Im going to post this image before it goes more complex because it will help you to understand it better with less lines
I added the lines for the eject led, and the 4 white leds (for the buttons backlight)

And to advise you to check also the other resistors at right, this way you can check all them in the same day, all the resistors are connected to the wide 5v red line
In total there are 10 resistors because this board have 10 leds from factory (or 11 if you add the missing led at the corner)

 

[sandungas]

I have a ton of files for all sorts, ranging from big massive ones that are all most 1m in length down to tiny precision files that are less then 15cm in length, from straight to semi circle and circular one's all of various sizes. And for drilling I'll use my Bench Pillar Drill so I can clamp it in place as using a my cordless drill drill if i slip it could make a mess of the shell and as its a powerfull Makita one it would chew the shell to bits as it goes through brick and concrete like butter lol, I have nearly snapped my wrist a few times with I when the drill bit has become jammed it has that much torque lol.

Not sure if you missed my point btw, but what i suggested about covering a cylinder with sandpaper all around is way softer than any file made of metal, so it would give you more precission than a file made of metal

Specially if you use a 3000-grit sandpaper (is the finest of the scale of sandpapers)
https://makezine.com/2016/05/10/wet-sanding-gives-your-projects-a-scratch-free-finish/

And i meant to use this "custom tool" only at the end, when you are getting close to the shape edge