Jailbroken PS3 possibly bricked?

Category9

Category9

Forum Noob
I had my PS3 (fat) running fine with REBUG, however I stupidly used the normal update function in an attempt to go back to OFW.

Because of this i got stuck on an update loop which i broke by turning off my PS3 when it seemed like it was going nowhere. Now I can't reboot my ps3. It turns on to a green light, then after a few seconds, turns off with no beep or anything.

I've tried using the Safemode Menu to use "Restore PS3 System" but no luck. I get "The system store cannot be accessed" or "Serious Error" code 8002F281.

Before I give up and count it as bricked, I'd like some advice on how I can possibly recover it? Thanks in advance for any help.

Seem like the only thing I did right was dump the console flash before I hacked the PS3, however, I'm not sure how to use that to recover. Are there any tutorials on how to recover with a hex dump?
 
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First test you should do is to remove the internal hdd and boot without it, if you see a warning text screen thats a good signal
I guess this test is going to be successful because you are mentioning you can see other error texts, so... is not a brick

Next thing you could try is to connect the hdd to PC and using your EID_root_key, delete the contents of partition dev_hdd1, connect it back to the PS3 and boot the PS3
Or.. format the hdd in PC... or replace it by a different hdd and boot the PS3 with it
 
Thanks for your response!

The first test is only successful in safe mode. If I turn it on normally, It turns on with a beep and green light, but nothing on the screen. After about 50 sec, it just turns off.

I am able to access and see the safe mode menu by holding the power button and waiting for the double beep. When I do start in safe mode, i do get the "Cannot Start. The Appropriate system storage was not found" message.
 
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Category9 said:
Thanks for your response!

The first test is only successful in safe mode. If I turn it on normally, It turns on with a beep and green light, but nothing on the screen. After about 50 sec, it just turns off.

I am able to access and see the safe mode menu by holding the power button and waiting for the double beep. When I do start in safe mode, i do get the "Cannot Start. The Appropriate system storage was not found" message.
Click to expand...
If you are able to access recovery menu, then just try to reinstall rebug.
 
You should never stop a firmware installation by disconnecting power btw, this could have caused a brick, but it seems you was lucky to stop it in a soon step of the firmware installation procedures
The firmware is installed in 2 different places, a flash chip soldered to the motherboard, and in hdd
The files in your flash chip are fine (so is not a brick, you can repair it with software) but the hdd is wrong
 
Thanks again for your help guys!

I did not know that it was possible to reinstall REBUG through the access recovery menu. I think this may be my best option. Is there a tutorial somewhere that explains how to do this?
 
Category9 said:
Thanks again for your help guys!

I did not know that it was possible to reinstall REBUG through the access recovery menu. I think this may be my best option. Is there a tutorial somewhere that explains how to do this?
Click to expand...
First, prepare a MBR FAT32 usb stick, then put the firmware (PS3UPDAT.PUP) file inside the stick, under this folder structure: "/PS3/UPDATE/". Put the stick on PS3 and access the recovery menu.
From recovery, select the option "6. System Update" and follow the instructions on the screen.
 
Well here's the update:

1. I placed REBUG 4.86.1 Lite on a FAT32 USB stick in the proper location (PS3/UPDATE/), and renamed it to "PS3UPDAT.PUP".
2. I started my PS3 in Safe mode.
3. I chose "6. System Update" option in the Safe mode menu.
4. I got the "Checking... Please Wait." Screen.
5. Update process starts, then immediately stopped with the error message:

"A serious error has occurred.
Contact technical support for assistance.
(8002F281)"

Looks like the fix may not be so easy. Thank you for the help in any case, you guys are great. If you have any other suggestions, I would be very grateful.
 
Category9 said:
Well here's the update:

1. I placed REBUG 4.86.1 Lite on a FAT32 USB stick in the proper location (PS3/UPDATE/), and renamed it to "PS3UPDAT.PUP".
2. I started my PS3 in Safe mode.
3. I chose "6. System Update" option in the Safe mode menu.
4. I got the "Checking... Please Wait." Screen.
5. Update process starts, then immediately stopped with the error message:

"A serious error has occurred.
Contact technical support for assistance.
(8002F281)"

Looks like the fix may not be so easy. Thank you for the help in any case, you guys are great. If you have any other suggestions, I would be very grateful.
Click to expand...
8002F281 probably is HDD error. Did you check SMART status?
 
I tried to update using a USB stick reformatted to FAT32 with the tool you linked but I still get this screen:

"A serious error has occurred.
Contact technical support for assistance.
(8002F281)"

BTW, i forgot to mention that the hard drive I am using in my PS3 is formatted as well. I don't know if this method will work for a clean install. Knowing that, maybe I need to take a different approach? I do have another jailbroken PS3 around if it helps my situation any.

@jcorrea I thought that it may be a bad HDD. I have a spare I will try tomorrow, in case that is the problem. I will also try to check the SMART status on the HDD as you mentioned as well.

Thanks again for the help.
 
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Category9 said:
I don't know if this method will work for a clean install. Knowing that, maybe I need to take a different approach? I do have another jailbroken PS3 around if it helps my situation any.
Click to expand...
Yes, this method should work on a clean install. The other PS3 will not help because every PS3 has an unique key to cypher the data inside the HDD.
 
SUCCESS!!
I want to thank you guys so much for the help and guidance!

I looks like the HDDs were the problem. I tried 2 of them and kept getting the same error. Once I tried a spare SSD, it installed REBUG just fine! 3rd time's the charm i guess.

For the sake of any future people in my position, here is the problem/solution:

Problem:
I tried to update from REBUG to an OFW through the "System update" function on the PS3 XMB/Menu. I just assumed the OFW would overwrite REBUG, but this did not work. It only created an update loop that I could not get out of. I possibly made things worse by formatting the original HDD in an attempt to create a clean install. I believe that REBUG somehow stops you from updating to a OFW. Maybe someone can confirm this?

Solution:
1. Reinstalled REBUG and not an OFW since I had REBUG installed before. This was done through the "Safe Mode" recovery menu.

2. I replaced a bad HDD with a working SSD. I believe another working HDD will work too.

Thanks again to everyone who advised me and gave me hope to save my PS3! I was ready to give up on my 60GB PS3 that plays PS2 games! I think at this point I will not attempt to go back to OFW. The objective was to connect to the PSN network to download my legit bought games. I will just stick to using this as a PS2 game player.
 
Category9 said:
I believe that REBUG somehow stops you from updating to a OFW. Maybe someone can confirm this?
Click to expand...
It only stops you from updating to OFW through the "Update via Internet" option. You should not have had any issue updating to official firmware via USB on the XMB or from recovery menu.

If you had converted to DEX while on Rebug using Rebug Toolbox, then it would not allow OFW to install at all from anywhere as OFW is CEX, but that is a different issue really.
 
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