Hmm, damn. I guess the reason was that one cap get not enough power to start up the console and that occurs the problem. Syscon is possible when caps are not soldered or removed?!
Yeah, but if you've done too many tests the new errors due to the missing tokins may have filled up the 32 slots in the errlog with tokins related errors. You'll have to repair the filter before seeing if there is another YLOD behind it. And you should beware, all that work you did was likely to felx the MB, so you should expect the console to work (false positive). Give it a few weeks, with daily testing to be sure there isn't a BGA defect that'll come back once the strain relaxes and the thermomechanical connection breaks.
This is another reason why the SYSCON should bee the first step. You can convince yourself the console is stable after a tokin "mod", but it'll die again in a few weeks once you've sold it on e-bay. A good way to tank your e-bay seller rating. Unless you want to chase gremlins in your diagnosing/troubleshooting method, I suggest you do the SYSCON first thing to preserve the consoles error history. Test it as few times as needed to confirm it warrants breaking the warranty sticker. Then there's no reason not to SYSCON.
Gents, need help with my ps3 2000b model. It was working fine for two years after a repaste, no delid. Under webman, the fan would kick in hard to keep the temps low. Last week I decided to delid both gpu and BE to apply paste on the dye. Successfully deluded no scratches. Applied the paste and put it together. Got Ylod. Took it apart and saw there are 3 metal sensors (similar to the phat model power button) that touch on the metal top plate when put together. On of the sensors was bent and wasn't making contact. I fixed it and plate to sensor made contact. Console powered on and ran cool under webman 45c both chips while in the xmb. I installed gta 5 and every time I'm in the prologue, same spot, the game freezes and I get beeps. Red flashing. I restart into xmb and no problem. Right now I got a dvd playing for the past half hour and no shut down. Running cool under webman. My theory is bad tokin doesn't draw enough power to gpu when under stress? Any thoughts?
update: the console has been running in xmb for 3 hours without shutting down. I'm sure if I try starting gta 5, it will beep and shut off.
Yeah maybe, that's the only slim model with a 65nm RSX, and thus the only slim models with tokins. Sounds like the right scenario for tokins issues and others have stated they tend to find higher percentage of newer models phats/slims with bad tokins compared to BGA. Probably because the 65nm CPU/RSX are more more reliable and outlive the tokins. But before you go tearing off tokins be sure to get the error code to confirm the 1002 error. Check my SYSCON tutorial, there are pictures of the DYN-001 UART RX/TX pins. Be sure to use the SW command to get in, instead of CXR or CXRF. Sherwood syscon chips don't have an internal/external access mode. Tip, log in using lowercase "auth" and you'll be able to use the errlog command to display all 32 errors at once.
Hello everyone. Recently I replaced the first pair of the capacitors from the back side of the motherboard of a broken CECHC04 and the console managed to boot and play PS2 and PS1 games just fine. However, once I tried PS3 games, the console died on me again. So I assumed I could try to replace the rest of the capacitors as well as I have like 40 spares left.
After replacing the second pair of capacitors of the back of the motherboard, the isolating tape I used to protect the surrounding areas of the motherboard actually pulled out a small component (which I guess is a capacitor). It fell to the ground and I haven't been able to find it.
The piece is small but I am sure I can replace it with some patience and time, but I just have no clue of what replacement/compatible piece I should look for to do the trick. Do you guys know what this component is, or where I can find some information about it? Thank you in advance, I can't wait to play my PS3 games as I never had this console when I was younger.
That's a 0.1uF MLCC bypass capacitor for the CPU, it doesn't matter and will not prevent your console from functioning properly without it.
However, before proceeding any further I suggest you follow this SYSCON tutorial to get the error codes off your console before the original error is lost. The log only holds 32 errors and if you tested it more than that, you will not be able to see the original error that cause the YLOD before you started removing tokins.
Yeah, but if you've done too many tests the new errors due to the missing tokins may have filled up the 32 slots in the errlog with tokins related errors. You'll have to repair the filter before seeing if there is another YLOD behind it. And you should beware, all that work you did was likely to felx the MB, so you should expect the console to work (false positive). Give it a few weeks, with daily testing to be sure there isn't a BGA defect that'll come back once the strain relaxes and the thermomechanical connection breaks.
This is another reason why the SYSCON should bee the first step. You can convince yourself the console is stable after a tokin "mod", but it'll die again in a few weeks once you've sold it on e-bay. A good way to tank your e-bay seller rating. Unless you want to chase gremlins in your diagnosing/troubleshooting method, I suggest you do the SYSCON first thing to preserve the consoles error history. Test it as few times as needed to confirm it warrants breaking the warranty sticker. Then there's no reason not to SYSCON.
Hi Felix,
thanks for your reply. Only the last question is, did you test you PCB on a ylod (caps are defective) console and did they work.
If like pcb ideas for my projects to have a clean outcome. The soldering direkt to the pads is okay, but it looks better when a pcb is soldered with components.
Yeah maybe, that's the only slim model with a 65nm RSX, and thus the only slim models with tokins. Sounds like the right scenario for tokins issues and others have stated they tend to find higher percentage of newer models phats/slims with bad tokins compared to BGA. Probably because the 65nm CPU/RSX are more more reliable and outlive the tokins. But before you go tearing off tokins be sure to get the error code to confirm the 1002 error. Check my SYSCON tutorial, there are pictures of the DYN-001 UART RX/TX pins. Be sure to use the SW command to get in, instead of CXR or CXRF. Sherwood syscon chips don't have an internal/external access mode. Tip, log in using lowercase "auth" and you'll be able to use the errlog command to display all 32 errors at once.
I was able to dump the codes using GUI but not CMD.
Per GUI these are the codes:
=================================== ERR 00: 00000000 A0801200 0B4D2F4A Disregard this, it happened after i tried starting while in gui
ERR 01: 00000000 A08014FF 0B4C2739
ERR 02: 00000000 A0801701 0B4C2738
ERR 03: 00000000 A08014FF 0B4BF868
ERR 04: 00000000 A0801701 0B4BF867
ERR 05: 00000000 A08014FF 0B4BF82A
ERR 06: 00000000 A0801701 0B4BF82A
ERR 07: 00000000 A08014FF 0B4BF7EB
ERR 08: 00000000 A0801701 0B4BF7EA
ERR 09: 00000000 A0801701 0B4BDE82
ERR 10: 00000000 A08014FF 0B4B465F
ERR 11: 00000000 A0801701 0B4B465F
ERR 12: 00000000 A08014FF 0B4B391A
ERR 13: 00000000 A0801701 0B4B3919
ERR 14: 00000000 A08014FF 0B4B35FB
ERR 15: 00000000 A0801701 0B4B35FB
ERR 16: 00000000 A08014FF 0B4B35DC
ERR 17: 00000000 A0801701 0B4B35DB
ERR 18: 00000000 A08014FF 0B4B33E3
ERR 19: 00000000 A0801701 0B4B33E3
I can't get into CMD using python. I have no problem with CXR and CXRF. Here I type python ps3_syscon_uart_script.py COM3 SW and nothing happens and get the following:
c:\Python27\Scripts>python ps3_syscon_uart_script.py COM3 SW
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "ps3_syscon_uart_script.py", line 172, in <module>
main(len(sys.argv), sys.argv)
File "ps3_syscon_uart_script.py", line 153, in main
ps3 = PS3UART(argv[1], argv[2])
File "ps3_syscon_uart_script.py", line 43, in __init__
assert(False)
AssertionError
thoughts on the error? doesn't look RSX tokin related. I checked the chart and it said Check Stop and BE attention...what can that mean?
Gents, need help with my ps3 2000b model. It was working fine for two years after a repaste, no delid. Under webman, the fan would kick in hard to keep the temps low. Last week I decided to delid both gpu and BE to apply paste on the dye. Successfully deluded no scratches. Applied the paste and put it together. Got Ylod.
Hmm, so you already gave up on your lovely CECHA after successful CPU trace repair?
Come on, don't tell us you are scared of RSX problems. After all it's what everyone should be expecting when these machines stop working. (If only people's expectations were realistic...)
Since you aren't sure if it was properly reballed or not... Mayybe a reball could fix those problems. If not, there are ways forward too, so no fear there either.
I think this has been talked about before.
About your new story with slim 2000...
I wonder what those original "concerning" temperatures actually were.
I also wonder how many of such "preventative maintenances" actually save machines vs the opposite.
Worked great for years, now got YLOD after delid? I'm sorry but I don't think it has anything to do with capacitors this time either. Delid damage doesn't have to be obvious and catastrophic like last time. You don't know if a precarious contact will break or decide to cause problems when you are wrestling the heatspreaders off.
Or anything, who knows.
You must check the SYSCON errlog of course but I don't think you will find error 1002.
I'm curious actually.
I was able to dump the codes using GUI but not CMD.
Per GUI these are the codes:
=================================== ERR 00: 00000000 A0801200 0B4D2F4A Disregard this, it happened after i tried starting while in gui
ERR 01: 00000000 A08014FF 0B4C2739
ERR 02: 00000000 A0801701 0B4C2738
ERR 03: 00000000 A08014FF 0B4BF868
ERR 04: 00000000 A0801701 0B4BF867
ERR 05: 00000000 A08014FF 0B4BF82A
ERR 06: 00000000 A0801701 0B4BF82A
ERR 07: 00000000 A08014FF 0B4BF7EB
ERR 08: 00000000 A0801701 0B4BF7EA
ERR 09: 00000000 A0801701 0B4BDE82
ERR 10: 00000000 A08014FF 0B4B465F
ERR 11: 00000000 A0801701 0B4B465F
ERR 12: 00000000 A08014FF 0B4B391A
ERR 13: 00000000 A0801701 0B4B3919
ERR 14: 00000000 A08014FF 0B4B35FB
ERR 15: 00000000 A0801701 0B4B35FB
ERR 16: 00000000 A08014FF 0B4B35DC
ERR 17: 00000000 A0801701 0B4B35DB
ERR 18: 00000000 A08014FF 0B4B33E3
ERR 19: 00000000 A0801701 0B4B33E3
I can't get into CMD using python. I have no problem with CXR and CXRF. Here I type python ps3_syscon_uart_script.py COM3 SW and nothing happens and get the following:
c:\Python27\Scripts>python ps3_syscon_uart_script.py COM3 SW
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "ps3_syscon_uart_script.py", line 172, in <module>
main(len(sys.argv), sys.argv)
File "ps3_syscon_uart_script.py", line 153, in main
ps3 = PS3UART(argv[1], argv[2])
File "ps3_syscon_uart_script.py", line 43, in __init__
assert(False)
AssertionError
thoughts on the error? doesn't look RSX tokin related. I checked the chart and it said Check Stop and BE attention...what can that mean?
Oh, not much meaning unfortunately (besides the poor tokins breathing easy now). I always thought that those errors were "non errors". (I've seen those errors in perfectly working machines)
But... Actually there is a small problem.
That is not the complete error log sorry.
You are missing 12 errors there. It's 32 instead of 20. Maybe there's something interesting in the missing errors.
If you want to keep using the SysconReader utility, you can!
Use execute.exe and the debug.exe to type and run your own commands such as "errlog".
This is why this feature was implemented. Especially useful for SW mode.
This way you will be able to see the whole log and hopefully find your original YLOD if it hasn't been overwritten yet. Which probably it has.
Good luck, I'm still curious. Doesn't look like RSX yet.
Thanks for the response Pac. regarding my cecha with trace issue, I'm going to put it aside for now until I'm comfortable reflowing/reballinng. That console means a lot and I don't want to destroy it. So I will be updating on it in the future. I have a couple of broken boards I might practice on.
For slim, the temps never went beyond 53c in the last year i gamed on it. I knew the paste under ihs must have been dry because the fan would kick into 80-90% to keep temps at 53c or below.
For the slim, I'll attempt the execute file like u said to get the rest of the error codes. It's weird because I'm not getting the tokin error, why shutdown when loading a PS3 game. Ps1 game ran no problem. Movie ran no problem. The 14ff and 1701 errors seem to have come together. Unless the execute file says different. My strong suspicion is there is some type of a power loss when BE under stress from a game. What are those three metal prongs on the pcb that touch the top metal plate that the fan sits on? I'll post a pic later.
Also, my python won't run the command for SW. I can run cxr and cxrf no problem? Am I using the wrong command line?
Thanks for the response Pac. regarding my cecha with trace issue, I'm going to put it aside for now until I'm comfortable reflowing/reballinng. That console means a lot and I don't want to destroy it. So I will be updating on it in the future. I have a couple of broken boards I might practice on.
I think that's a wise call. Get comfortable reflowing/reballing on junk boards first, before you make a serious attempt on a console with sentimental value. Good for you!
The 14ff and 1701 errors seem to have come together. Unless the execute file says different. My strong suspicion is there is some type of a power loss when BE under stress from a game. What are those three metal prongs on the pcb that touch the top metal plate that the fan sits on? I'll post a pic later.
Also, my python won't run the command for SW. I can run cxr and cxrf no problem? Am I using the wrong command line?
14FF (Check stop) is the PS3 equivalent of a Blue Screen Of Death. On PC these can result from software incompatibilities or corruption. I've had them happen with incorrect memory timings or overclocking instability. Perhaps when tokins get bad enough to begin causing system instability they could cause a check stop error. I'm not really sure how the errors work in newer models, since I don't work on them. @vyktormvmpay25 works on slims so he may have a better idea. What do you think victor? Could it be related to the noisy power? CPU VRM?
A few others have noted the same errors. I wonder if they ever got it figured out?
I'm familiar with the 3034 error, and am assuming this is another likely BGA issue, but I have never seen the 4421 error.
Are Data errors random? I've seen another PS3 (CECH-H01) with a 3034 + 4401 which was a BGA issue confirmed, and a another CECH-E01 which has 3034 + 4412, which I have not attempted to repair yet.
So here is an interesting update on the slim. The 14ff and 1701 error are definitely related to the top metal plate making contact with one if not all three metal points on the pcb. While the rx and tx connected. I put the top metal plate and bottom (with fan screwed on) and it appears the wires from the rx and tx changed the pressure of the metal plate (likely making the contact with the pcb). Console boots fines and works in game. Problem is when I place it in the plastic housing, I think it changes the pressure of the top plate causing the errors. I don't know how to fix this tho. Does anyone know what those 3 (phat like power button points on the pcb of the 2001 model sliM) do?
It has to do something with ground etc
PS3#8 (Sealed CECH-A01 with a Non-instant, 2s YLOD)
I bought this console on 3/27/2021 for $65 on e-bay. It was described "FOR PARTS ONLY Broken YLOD." In the pictures it seemed to have the warranty sticker intact. Prices for these consoles has been steadily rising since the COVID-19 outbreak and subsequent increase in gaming. People spending more time at home indoors is bad for buyers. Oh well, that's the law of supply and demand. In 2019 I may have been able to get a sealed A01 for $40, but I figured $65 in 2021 was a good price. So I pulled the trigger. But why?
I certainly don't recommend anyone go out and deliberately buy a console that's described as having a YLOD. Especially not an early model! Not if you want an easy fix, that is. Chances are very poor it's anything other than a BGA defect! I generally don't buy a YLOD console...
PS3#1 was an A01 with a 2s YLOD I bought in august of 2019 for $40, to attempt the Tokins fix on when I was still under the impression this tutotial was "the ultimate" solution. I wasted an additional $19.99 for T495X477M006AS (60-125mΩ = WAY TOO HIGH) on e-bay. It worked, then failed (false positive). I chased gremlins for awhile until realizing it needed a reball. About $350 dollars of Ghetto reballing equipment later, my first attempt resulted in torn CPU BGA pads/traces. Yay, My first donor board! Total education cost to date = $410.
PS3#2 was another A01 with a 2s YLOD I picked up in September of 2020 for $55. I was still learning my lesson about the erroneous claims made on this thread. My goal this time was to revisit my first unsuccessful attempt and see if I could understand why exactly it didn't work! So I did a bunch of research about the NEC/TOKINs and the filter they are a part of. That's when I finally joined this thread and began posting here. I spent a bunch of money on different B-case capacitors trying low ESR caps. I finally bought an Oscilloscope around this time too, so I could learn/investigate further. Ultimately PS3#2 went to a GLOD and a reball was the only path I saw forward. It was killed during multiple unsuccessful attempts to reball. I was thoroughly demoralized at this point and ready to give up! Total education cost to date = ~$800 and felling defeated (just like college, only less expensive).
PS3#3 wan an A01 I purchased on 10/25/2020 for $75.50. It was described as, "Turns on Works, doesn't read discs." I decided at this point it was better to try and find consoles that were cheap, but not described as YLOD or RLOD. Also, I try and get them sealed if possible. This console had been opened before by an owner retrieving their game. The BluRay just wasn't reseated properly upon assembly, which is why it wouldn't read disks. The win felt good! I Delided the GPU/CPU & replaced TIC w/MX-4. The OG Thermal Pads were in good shape so I reapplied them. The console has been working great ever since. I wouldn't sell this console in this shape! If I ever do, I will replace the OG thermal pads with new ones and change the TIC to MX-5, which is better. Total education cost to date = ~$875.
PS3#4 was a sealed A01 with a 2s YLOD I paid $79.53 for on 10/25/2020. It was described as, "from an estate auction and I do not have the wires to test. Is sold As-Is for parts or repair." I could tell that certain angles were missing in the pictures. People do this to hide things and try to get a better price. However, I took a chance that the seller may not be lying when they said, "I do not have the wires to test." So there was a remote chance the thing could be be working. It wasn't. It had cracks as if it had been dropped. I'm not sure if that happened in shipping, but given the way the listing avoided showing those angles, I suspect it was like that before. It was sealed, however, and PS3's are tanks! I drop might be enought to cause a BGA defect. SYSCON errorlog showed all 40 3034 errors, nothing else. I did a bunch of O-scope speculation and comparisons. After being demoaralized by PS3#2's failed reball attempt, I decided to trade PS3#4 to @squeept for PS3#7. Total education cost to date = ~$955.
PS3#5 was an A01 described as, "Used…tested." Came with a six axis controller that was damaged in shipping and I haven't been able to repair yet. The console survived shipping. It is sealed, working, never opened. I paid $163 for it on 1/2/2020 because it was a steal! I didn't need it, but for a stock working and sealed console, $163 was too good a price to pass up. It's been in my collection ever since. My philosophy at the time was, "every backwards compatible PS3 will die eventually. So having more than one to replace it with will come in handy. I should buy them up cheap now, rather than wait." Total education cost to date = ~$1,117.
PS3#6 was an A01 that was described as, "Red Blinking Light for parts or repair." I purchased it for $40 on 1/2/2020. From the photos I could see the warranty seal was intact. Firstly it was listed as a CBEH1001, the FCC ID, not the model number. That told me the seller didn't know much about what they had and probably didn't know the difference between an overheating RLOD and the YLOD from a hardware failure. So for that price I figured why not? However, disaster struck in shipping and the console was effing SMASHED! I could see through a giant hole in the case that the motherboard was bent at a 30-degree angle and the bluray drive was damaged! I was so disappointed I put it back in the box and forgot about it. I did contact the seller about the damage and they refunded me $20, saying "it was for parts anyway." I agreed that was fair. So I got it for $20 total. Turns out after revisiting it later the damage wasn't as bad as it looked! I carefully bent the motherboard back, delided and replaced the CPU/RSX TIC. To my utter shock, it worked...well it was a GLOD, but considering the bend I was expecting an instant YLOD! After chasing gremlins looking for problems on the motherboard damage I realized it was just a bad HDMI port. I replaced it with the one from PS3#1's carcas. It was working fine at last test (which admittedly was only for a few hours after repairing. It has been siting unused in my cupboard ever since.) Look's like initial RLOD was just an overheating issue. I lucked out that the damage in shipping wasn't enough to kill the PS3. They really are tanks! I can't believe the abuse this one took and kept on working. It's crazy! I never did get the SYSCON codes off that console, I didn't need to! Total education cost to date = ~$1,137.
PS3#7 was received in a trade from @squeept. He reballed it to a intense YLOD (only occurred under stress). SYSCON codes were were throwing 80 1001 and 80 1002's and he was seeing the bad waveform on the oscilloscope that indicates bad tokins. The was the rare console we had been looking for for awhile on the forum! I agreed to do extensive testing on the tokins for posterity and document the process on the forum as part of the deal. It came with absolutely no guarantee from him. I installed B-Case TaPol cap arrays in sequential steps to characterize the noise reduction and SYSCON codes that were generated. I was able to confirm that the SYSCON code first indicating the Tokins are bad is 80 1002. It progressed to 40 1002 before causing a power failur and instant YLOD, with a 3004. The 1001 error's did not occur in my tests. We have since decided they are not necessarily associated with the tokins. When B-case caps weren't enough to prevent the YLOD, I removed the B-case caps and used SoulKilla's PCB to install 12x 7374 470uF TaPol caps on the RSX. That worked. I eventually removed the B-case caps on the CPU and replaced with my own PCB design, the Tantalizer, which includes 24x MLCC pads in addition to the 12x 7374 TaPol's. This console has been running well as my daily driver since. GT6 no problem. Total education cost to date = ~$1,200.
That wasn't my goal for this console. I was looking for an untouched YLOD because it would have the best chance of needing a reball. In other words, I wanted a console that needs to be reballed! It needed to be untouched, because I do not want to have to fix tokins or repair previous damage from "repair attempts." The reason is because I intended this to be my first serious attempt at the frankenstein mod!
I could sacrifice a working A01 to the cause, but why the hell would I risk that? It's just wrong, ethically, to kill a living console for the swap. In true frankenstein fashion, I need to scavenge from the dead! I wanted a pristine YLOD showing only a 3034 error, the best case scenario for reanimation!
Because I have been so demoralized by reball attempts recently, I have really been procrastinating. I mean, why not. If it's not fun, screw it! I have been waiting until I regained my confidence and desire to continue. Yesterday I decided I would finally break the seal and dismantle the console. Besides the ridiculous amount of dust, the console had all the signs of never being opened before. No funny business here.
Today I installed the SYSCON. Will this be the one I'm looking for? Here is the result's I just obtained:
The last 7 errors were while I have had the console, after 3/27/2021. Before that is a history of other owners testing it. I should have tested it fewer times, but it is what it is. The log does contain 32 errors, meaning we don't have the entire history. Since the log can hold 32 errors, if you only see 20 errors, then you know you have the entire error history of that console. This one only goes back to 2019 where we see the first error, 0xffffffff. That's the equivalent of the ps3 going OH FFFFF...
F's in the reserved area of the error code (the 2 spaces following 0x) mean "the error happens frequently due to the main body breakdown." There is a 2 hour gap and then the next two errors (40 3034) are generated within 2 minutes of each other. This signals to me there was something going on that cause there to be a gap between when the first error happened and the discovery of the problem. My guess is that the console was working and running when it's BGA finally gave out. Because it was on at the time the BGA failed it generated a motherboard breakdown error. The Oh fu$& error! Then the owner discovered the console was off and tested it a couple of times. Since the console's BGA was broken now and the console could see it during startup, that's why we now get the 40 3034. Most people only test 2-3 times to be sure it's a YLOD or whatever, before selling it for parts on e-bay.
8 months go by before the next round of tests. They either sold it, or shelved it before pulling it back out to test a few more times before selling it. I'm leaning toward the former, because there were 4x tests. That strikes me as someone new testing to console for the first time being sure what the problem is. If you are expecting a YLOD, you don't confirm it four times.
Another 3 months go by and we get another 2 tests. This time the person tests it as soon as they get it, without the HDMI cord Plugged in. That generates another lone 40 3034. 13 minutes later they plug it into their TV with HDMI just to be sure, and it generates a 40 3034 and 90 2120. I have seen the 90 2120 when an HDMI cord plugged in and the console experiences a YLOD. However, I just tried it with/without the cord plugged in and didn't reproduce this. I don't have the BluRay drive in or card reader, so the circumstances are different. So I'm not sure why I was able to reproduce that code in the past, but not now. That's something I have been saying for awhile, and thought was true, but given this result I'm not so sure. There may be more to it than I once thought.
The next day we see the same thing. One 40 3034 followed by a 3034/2120 right afterwards. The new owner was probably just making sure before he/she asked for a refund. Then there is another 3 month wait.
It goes on like that with only 3034's afterwards...up until I received it. So I think this is exactly what I was looking for. An untouched sole 3034. There were a few 2120's but I'm not worried about them. The total usage time for the console was 108 days. That's a little earlier than the 150 day's I've seen on most YLOD consoles, but then I haven't seen the becount on very many consoles, so the sample size on that estimate is small. Also there is about a 1000 shutdowns fewer than bringups. That suggests this console may have been part of a data farm at some point, which was common for PS3's. They often didn't gracefully shutdown the consoles or left them running until they overheated or errored. Either way the hours of on time doesn't get logged when the console isn't shutdown properly. So there's 1000 times the hours weren't logged.
The last thing to glean from the SYSCON is the BitTraining code. RSX:RRAC:RX0:GLOBAL1:RX_STATUS is telling me the BGA defect occured on the RX0 line of the Rambus Redwood FlexIO. This is the communication line between the CPU/GPU. It could be the RX0 pads under the RSX itself (most likely), it could be the bumps on GPU (more likely), it could be TX0 pads under the CPU (less likly) or it's bumps (even less likely), or there could be a break in the traces between the chips (unlikely).
The RSX swap will eliminate all of the RSX issues, leaving only the CPU. So if it doesn't work after the swap, I'll try reflowing the CPU as a last measure. If it still doesn't work then it's probably bad CPU bumps and I can't don anything about that.
Next up...the frankenstein swap!
PS:
I'm not sure when I'll actually get around to doing it. Whenever I feel like it I guess. This is a hobby and I'm not putting myself on a time limit. If tomorrow I feel the desire to play games instead, that what I'll do. If I feel like reanimating a dead PS3, then that's what I'll do. It's nice not having deadlines, that's what makes this fun.
So here is an interesting update on the slim. The 14ff and 1701 error are definitely related to the top metal plate making contact with one if not all three metal points on the pcb. While the rx and tx connected. I put the top metal plate and bottom (with fan screwed on) and it appears the wires from the rx and tx changed the pressure of the metal plate (likely making the contact with the pcb). Console boots fines and works in game. Problem is when I place it in the plastic housing, I think it changes the pressure of the top plate causing the errors. I don't know how to fix this tho. Does anyone know what those 3 (phat like power button points on the pcb of the 2001 model sliM) do?
It has to do something with ground etc
I see them on the bluray drive too. Yeah, they are just grounding clips. It's possable they are refrencing ground there and if it's not present the SYSCON throws an error. IDK. I just pull them back a bit to get some spring in them. Another thing to do is clean them with IPA perhaps a bit of rubbing to remove any oxidation layer that could be preventing good contact between the clip and pad.
The ones on the power switch are capacitive touch pads. slight pressure changes are measured and the switch is triggered. I suppose it's possible there are more of them. Though, I don't know why they would care about changing contact pressure of the RF shield once the console is assembled.
I would just be careful to route your SYSCON wires through the holes on the RF shield (or cut one for them) so that it doesn't interfere at all. And be sure to cover the contacts with kapton tape so they cant short or break off easily.
I see them on the bluray drive too. Yeah, they are just grounding clips. It's possable they are refrencing ground there and if it's not present the SYSCON throws an error. IDK. I just pull them back a bit to get some spring in them. Another thing to do is clean them with IPA perhaps a bit of rubbing to remove any oxidation layer that could be preventing good contact between the clip and pad.
The ones on the power switch are capacitive touch pads. slight pressure changes are measured and the switch is triggered. I suppose it's possible there are more of them. Though, I don't know why they would care about changing contact pressure of the RF shield once the console is assembled.
I would just be careful to route your SYSCON wires through the holes on the RF shield (or cut one for them) so that it doesn't interfere at all. And be sure to cover the contacts with kapton tape so they cant short or break off easily.
here are the rx and tx wires adding pressure to top metal plate. Once I place in plastics housing. The pressure changes and it throws an error. I'll play with it later on. I'll add capton tape like u said. Never messing with slim again. I was just hoping for a console I can use for daily use but it took a crap on me after the delid.
I also had this issue with one superslim when I did not isolated enamelled wires in very first tests , all went to gnd, then putting isolation tape on that area all went fine. As always I use 0.2 mm enamelled wires though will be tiny enough wasn't. It's a bit dangerous for syscon, one have 3v3 line tied from power of it so you won't be able to detect syscon at any short.
here are the rx and tx wires adding pressure to top metal plate. Once I place in plastics housing. The pressure changes and it throws an error. I'll play with it later on. I'll add capton tape like u said. Never messing with slim again. I was just hoping for a console I can use for daily use but it took a crap on me after the delid.
Yeah, take breaks. Drinking helps, to a point. I find when I get frustrated it's best to forget it for a few days or weeks. Go play some games. Eventually your desire to figure it out will return.
PS3#8 - Update
The above video is a good summary of what I'm doing. Thanks to @DeadEnd for making it. It really makes it convenient to refresh my memory.
I just moved R2153 (10K) to the pad where R2024 (0K) was, scraped the soldermask next to it so I could place it diagonally to GND. This is a pull-up resistor. These are tiny little jerks! They shook my nerves. I can't barely see them or their pads. I only have 2 hands and one's holding forceps, the other holding the hot air wand! I need another for a magnifying glass! I could get one of those magnifying light things, but I'm hoping to get a microscope camera/monitor setup when I finally have the space for a proper workbench. In the mean time I have to deal. With lots of breathing and retries, I managed to get it soldered on right. Luckily, since this is a COK-001, I don't need to populate R2002 also. That's only needed on COK-002 boards, that don't already have it. So less work is always welcome!
Anyway, it's tedious work - microsoldering! I needed a break before I replace the VDDR MSOFET (Q6200) with one from a 3001 model slim KTE-001 (the 40nm RSX voltage mod). Q6200 delivers 1.2v for RSX RAM. This mod lowers the voltage to 0.95v, extending the life of the RSX. So once I finish this post I'll go do that...EDIT...
I'm doing these mods first because I don't want to use hot air on the console after reflowing the new 40nm RSX. When I say new, I mean new old stock that actually look brand spanking new! I trust they are.
I don't want to risk stressing the BGA after installing it. So I'm making all the motherboard changes before I remove the 90nm RSX. I'll install the modchip afterwards, since it only needs a soldering iron to install and isn't near the chips. I don't want to expose the modchip to reflow temps, so that'll be the last step.
I don't think I'll try to do the reflowing today. It needs to dry for 2 hours before the preheat/reflow and there's alot of cleaning to do before I can attempt to install the 40nm RSX. I don't feel like tackling all that today. So I think just the MOSFET and Resistor mods and I'll call it a day. Feeling lazy, but that's ok!
man you are doing the frankestain thing? youre awesome COK-001 definetly worth it. i had order a checha from japan in working contition cant wait for it to arrive
OK I got my error log.
And yes they are all the same for all 32 bar the last 1 since I did power on more than 32 times...
Anyway every log bar the last is this:
00000000 A0022110 FFFFFFFF
The last log ERRLOG GET 1F is this
00000000 FFFFFFFF FFFFFFFF
PDF says this
2 1 1 0 Clock Generator Error (IC5001)
So I guess I need to start probing with a meter.
I do know I have 0.2ohms (short) between + and - of the tokins as well as the same to ground on the board.
The small power connector does not have a short between either 5V/3V and ground. Neither does the 12V
I have 1 fuse on B side of the board that is no good.
F6001.
Getting Megaohm value on , not a nice short like the rest.
I am assuming if that is blown there is a cause. So what next after that?
From what you have told us, that console has only had 1 thermal cycle. That's not good enough!
You never answered my question about time between tests. If you did all that testing yesterday without allowing to console to completely cool, between tests, then you never allowed it to have a full thermal cycle. It just went from one hot test to another.There is pent up stress in the motherboard that will relax over time and thermal cycles, kinda like how the earth's crust has pent up strain that takes time to release (earthquake). So, if you had a BGA defect it wouldn't show back up until the strain that's causing a mechanical reconnection is released. YOU NEED THERMAL CYCLES TO RULE THAT OUT.
BTW you have a history of leaving out details and making contradicting posts. When I'm done scrutinizing this thread I'm gonna ask you to clarify you console history, so prepare for that.
hey been awhile, well about 6 months. the CECHA00 still works flawlessly to this day. did some testing here and there the last few months, i think i can now say that this system seems to be fixed, i need to get caught up on this page again xD looks like alot of new stuff was found. just in time for the 2 year anniversary
PS3#8 (Sealed CECH-A01 with a Non-instant, 2s YLOD)
I bought this console on 3/27/2021 for $65'on e-bay. It was described "FOR PARTS ONLY Broken YLOD." In the pictures it seemed to have the warranty sticker intact. Prices for these consoles has been steadily rising since the COVID-19 outbreak and subsequent increase in gaming. People spending more time at home indoors is bad for buyers. Oh well, that's the law of supply and demand. In 2019 I may have been able to get a sealed A01 for $40, but I figured $65 in 2021 was a good price. So I pulled the trigger. But why?
I certainly don't recommend anyone go out and deliberately buy a console that's described as having a YLOD. Especially not an early model! Not if you want an easy fix, that is. Chances are very poor it's anything other than a BGA defect! I generally don't buy a YLOD console...
PS3#1 was an A01 with a 2s YLOD I bought in august of 2019 for $40, to attempt the Tokins fix on when I was still under the impression this tutotial was "the ultimate" solution. I wasted an additional $19.99 for T495X477M006AS (60-125mΩ = WAY TOO HIGH) on e-bay. It worked, then failed (false positive). I chased gremlins for awhile until realizing it needed a reball. About $350 dollars of Ghetto reballing equipment later, my first attempt resulted in torn CPU BGA pads/traces. Yay, My first donor board! Total education cost to date = $410.
PS3#2 was another A01 with a 2s YLOD I picked up in September of 2020 for $55. I was still learning my lesson about the erroneous claims made on this thread. My goal this time was to revisit my first unsuccessful attempt and see if I could understand why exactly it didn't work! So I did a bunch of research about the NEC/TOKINs and the filter they are a part of. That's when I finally joined this thread and began posting here. I spent a bunch of money on different B-case capacitors trying low ESR caps. I finally bought an Oscilloscope around this time too, so I could learn/investigate further. Ultimately PS3#2 went to a GLOD and a reball was the only path I saw forward. It was killed during multiple unsuccessful attempts to reball. I was thoroughly demoralized at this point and ready to give up! Total education cost to date = ~$800 and felling defeated (just like college, only less expensive).
PS3#3 wan an A01 I purchased on 10/25/2020 for $75.50. It was described as, "Turns on Works, doesn't read discs." I decided at this point it was better to try and find consoles that were cheap, but not described as YLOD or RLOD. Also, I try and get them sealed if possible. This console had been opened before by an owner retrieving their game. The BluRay just wasn't reseated properly upon assembly, which is why it wouldn't read disks. The win felt good! I Delided the GPU/CPU & replaced TIC w/MX-4. The OG Thermal Pads were in good shape so I reapplied them. The console has been working great ever since. I wouldn't sell this console in this shape! If I ever do, I will replace the OG thermal pads with new ones and change the TIC to MX-5, which is better. Total education cost to date = ~$875.
PS3#4 was a sealed A01 with a 2s YLOD I paid $79.53 for on 10/25/2020. It was described as, "from an estate auction and I do not have the wires to test. Is sold As-Is for parts or repair." I could tell that certain angles were missing in the pictures. People do this to hide things and try to get a better price. However, I took a chance that the seller may not be lying when they said, "I do not have the wires to test." So there was a remote chance the thing could be be working. It wasn't. It had cracks as if it had been dropped. I'm not sure if that happened in shipping, but given the way the listing avoided showing those angles, I suspect it was like that before. It was sealed, however, and PS3's are tanks! I drop might be enought to cause a BGA defect. SYSCON errorlog showed all 40 3034 errors, nothing else. I did a bunch of O-scope speculation and comparisons. After being demoaralized by PS3#2's failed reball attempt, I decided to trade PS3#4 to @squeept for PS3#7. Total education cost to date = ~$955.
PS3#5 was an A01 described as, "Used…tested." Came with a six axis controller that was damaged in shipping and I haven't been able to repair yet. The console survived shipping. It is sealed, working, never opened. I paid $163 for it on 1/2/2020 because it was a steal! I didn't need it, but for a stock working and sealed console, $163 was too good a price to pass up. It's been in my collection ever since. My philosophy at the time was, "every backwards compatible PS3 will die eventually. So having more than one to replace it with will come in handy. I should buy them up cheap now, rather than wait." Total education cost to date = ~$1,117.
PS3#6 was an A01 that was described as, "Red Blinking Light for parts or repair." I purchased it for $40 on 1/2/2020. From the photos I could see the warranty seal was intact. Firstly it was listed as a CBEH1001, the FCC ID, not the model number. That told me the seller didn't know much about what they had and probably didn't know the difference between an overheating RLOD and the YLOD from a hardware failure. So for that price I figured why not? However, disaster struck in shipping and the console was effing SMASHED! I could see through a giant hole in the case that the motherboard was bent at a 30-degree angle and the bluray drive was damaged! I was so disappointed I put it back in the box and forgot about it. I did contact the seller about the damage and they refunded me $20, saying "it was for parts anyway." I agreed that was fair. So I got it for $20 total. Turns out after revisiting it later the damage wasn't as bad as it looked! I carefully bent the motherboard back, delided and replaced the CPU/RSX TIC. To my utter shock, it worked...well it was a GLOD, but considering the bend I was expecting an instant YLOD! After chasing gremlins looking for problems on the motherboard damage I realized it was just a bad HDMI port. I replaced it with the one from PS3#1's carcas. It was working fine at last test (which admittedly was only for a few hours after repairing. It has been siting unused in my cupboard ever since.) Look's like initial RLOD was just an overheating issue. I lucked out that the damage in shipping wasn't enough to kill the PS3. They really are tanks! I can't believe the abuse this one took and kept on working. It's crazy! I never did get the SYSCON codes off that console, I didn't need to! Total education cost to date = ~$1,137.
PS3#7 was received in a trade from @squeept. He reballed it to a intense YLOD (only occurred under stress). SYSCON codes were were throwing 80 1001 and 80 1002's and he was seeing the bad waveform on the oscilloscope that indicates bad tokins. The was the rare console we had been looking for for awhile on the forum! I agreed to do extensive testing on the tokins for posterity and document the process on the forum as part of the deal. It came with absolutely no guarantee from him. I installed B-Case TaPol cap arrays in sequential steps to characterize the noise reduction and SYSCON codes that were generated. I was able to confirm that the SYSCON code first indicating the Tokins are bad is 80 1002. It progressed to 40 1002 before causing a power failur and instant YLOD, with a 3004. The 1001 error's did not occur in my tests. We have since decided they are not necessarily associated with the tokins. When B-case caps weren't enough to prevent the YLOD, I removed the B-case caps and used SoulKilla's PCB to install 12x 7374 470uF TaPol caps on the RSX. That worked. I eventually removed the B-case caps on the CPU and replaced with my own PCB design, the Tantalizer, which includes 24x MLCC pads in addition to the 12x 7374 TaPol's. This console has been running well as my daily driver since. GT6 no problem. Total education cost to date = ~$1,200.
That wasn't my goal for this console. I was looking for an untouched YLOD because it would have the best chance of needing a reball. In other words, I wanted a console that needs to be reballed! It needed to be untouched, because I do not want to have to fix tokins or repair previous damage from "repair attempts." The reason is because I intended this to be my first serious attempt at the frankenstein mod!
I could sacrifice a working A01 to the cause, but why the hell would I risk that? It's just wrong, ethically, to kill a living console for the swap. In true frankenstein fashon, I need to scavence from the dead! I wanted a pristine YLOD showing only a 3034 error, the best case scenario for reanimation!
Because I have been so demoralized by reball attempts recently, I have really been procrastinating. I mean, why not. If it's not fun, screw it! I have been waiting until I regained my confidence and desire to continue. Yesterday I decided I would finally break the seal and dismantle the console. Besides the ridiculous amount of dust, the console had all the signs of never being opened before. No funny business here.
Today I installed the SYSCON. Will this be the one I'm looking for? Here is the result's I just obtained:
The last 7 errors were while I have had the console, after 3/27/2021. Before that is a history of other owners testing it. I should have tested it fewer times, but it is what it is. The log does contain 32 errors, meaning we don't have the entire history. Since the log can hold 32 errors, if you only see 20 errors, then you know you have the entire error history of that console. This one only goes back to 2019 where we see the first error, 0xffffffff. That's the equivelent of the ps3 going OH FFFFF...
F's in the reserved area of the error code (the 2 spaces following 0x) mean "the error happens frequently due to the main body breakdown." There is a 2 hour gap and then the next to errors (40 3034) are generated within 2 minutes of each other. This isgnals to me there was something going on that cause there to be a gap between when the first error happened and the discovery of the problem. My guess is that the console was working and running when it's BGA finally gave out. Because it was on at the time the BGA failed it generated a motherboard breakdown error. The Oh fu$& error! Then the owner discovered the console was off and tested it a couple of times. Since the consoel's BGA was broken now and the console could see it during startup, that's why we now get the 40 3034. Most people only test 2-3 times to be sure it's a YLOD or whatever, before selling it for parts on e-bay.
8 months go by before the next round of tests. They either sold it, or shelved it before pulling it back out to test a few more times before selling it. I'm leaning toward the former, because there were 4x tests. That strikes me as someone new testing to console for the first time being sure what the problem is. If you are expecting a YLOD, you don't confirm it four times.
Another 3 months go by and we get another 2 tests. This time the person tests it as soon as they get it, without the HDMI cord Plugged in. That generates another lone 40 3034. 13 minutes later they plug it into their TV with HDMI just to be sure, and it generates a 40 3034 and 90 2120. I have seen the 90 2120 when an HDMI cord plugged in and the console experiences a YLOD. However, I just tried it with/without the cord plugged in and didn't reproduce this. I don't have the BluRay drive in or card reader, so the circumstances are different. So I'm not sure why I was able to reproduce that code in the past, but not now. That's something I have been saying for awhile, and thought was true, but given this result I'm not so sure. There may be more to it than I once thought.
The next day we see the same thing. One 40 3034 followed by a 3034/2120 right afterwards. The new owner was probably just making sure before he/she asked for a refund. Then there is another 3 month wait.
It goes on like that with only 3034's afterwards...up until I recieved it. So I think this is exactly what I was looking for. An untouched sole 3034. There were a few 2120's but I'm not worried about them. The total usage time for the console was 108 days. That's a little earlier than the 150 day's I've seen on most YLOD consoles, but then I haven't seen the becount on very many consoles, so the sample size on that estimate is small. Also there is about a 1000 shutdownss fewer than bringups. That suggests this console may have been part of a data farm at some point, which was common for PS3's. They often didn't gracefully shutdown the consoles or left them running until they overheated or errored. Either way the hours of on time doesn't get logged when the console isn't shutdown properly. So there's 1000 times the hours weren't logged.
The last thing to glean from the SYSCON is the BitTraining code. RSX:RRAC:RX0:GLOBAL1:RX_STATUS is telling me the BGA defect occured on the RX0 line of the Rambus Redwood FlexIO. This is the communication line between the CPU/GPU. It could be the RX0 pads under the RSX itself (most likely), it could be the bumps on GPU (more likely), it could be TX0 pads under the CPU (less likly) or it's bumps (even less likely), or there could be a break in the traces between the chips (unlikely).
The RSX swap will eliminate all of the RSX issues, leaving only the CPU. So if it doesn't work after the swap, I'll try reflowing the CPU as a last measure. If it still doesn't work then it's probably bad CPU bumps and I can't don anything about that.
Next up...the frankenstein swap!
PS:
I'm not sure when I'll actually get around to doing it. Whenever I feel like it I guess. This is a hobby and I'm not putting myself on a time limit. If tomorrow I feel the desire to play games instead, that what I'll do. If I feel like ranimating a dead PS3, then that's what I'll do. It's noice not having deadlines, that's what makes this fun.
A bit off topic, but I was wondering - how reliable is HDD S.M.A.R.T data in determining the total power on hours?
Obviously this fully depends on the system having the original HDD installed, but assuming it does - can the data be trusted?
I have a CECHA12 which reports:
66 days powered on
1,456 ON
670 OFF
795 Bad Shutdowns
The HDD, which I believe to be the original, reports 3000 hours (125 days) and this would line up with the 795 bad shutdowns.
I'm trying to figure out the reason behind the system having so many bad shutdowns - I've only personally started using this system in the past few months so it isn't me :P
I'm guessing it was either:
- Used in a data farm
- Horribly abused by the previous owner (it was filthy when I purchased it - so this is quite likely)
- Both
Also in regards to the YLOD - you said that most you've observed happened at the 150 day mark. I have two CECHC systems with the YLOD I purchased for parts and their HDD's report 125 days and 70 days respectively - so this might help back up your data a bit.
Considering this, there might be a good chance that my CECHA breaks soon. I saw in another thread you were discussing new old stock 40nm RSX - do you mind sharing a link? I think I might try and buy one in preparation before word gets out about the new modchip.
First step is to protect the leaded solder I used to install the resistor mod. Also, the tokins are vulnerable to reflow temps. They'll be fine, but masking them will help them last longer. The hole in the CPU needs covered so the multi-legged MLCC caps don't fall off (had that happen before). And I need to attach a K-type thermocouple to the bottom of the RSX so I can monitor the temps during the reflow.
Next I flip the motherboard into my Ghetto reflow setup and use binder clips to hold the edges to the guide bars. 2 big fat ones in the middle. They help keep the board from flexing, but controlling the temps is the real key.
Then I mask the area around the RSX with aluminum tape meant for sealing heater ducts. This sticks better than Kapton tape, but neither do a great job once hot flux get's underneath. It's mainly to hold the second K-type thermocoulple next to the edge of the RSX's BGA. Additionally I'm going to try and keep flux off of the tokins. If it get's inside them, it could ruin them shortly after. It's wouldn't be a big deal, if I had an ultrasonic water bath filled with IPA to thoroughly clean the motherboard after wards, but I don't. So I have to take precautions to prevent this.
After that I cover the entire thing with aluminum foil. I only leave the RSX exposed, like a surgeon masking off the area around the incision. The purpose is to reflect the radiant heat back down to the topside of the MB, reducing the temperature difference between the Btm side and Top side. This is the second most important way to reduce warping!
The most important way to prevent warping is to prevent drafting! That's when cool air gets sucked underneathe the MB. So I wrap the foil around the edge of the board and try to block it off. I just need to keep the vents that cool the electronics of my IR preheater open.
Then I make a square of aluminum foil to cover the RSX. A GPU blanket I can easily remove when I'm ready to reflow the RSX. It also serves a convenient place to drop the RSX after plucking it off the board. I can just set it there to cool while I clean the BGA and prep for the 40nm RSX install.
Then I turn the IR preheater up to 100C and my ranges vent fan on. You can see my makeshift fume extractor is nothing more than a cardboard box to direct more air into the downdraft vent of our kitchen range...lol. It's ghetto, but works really well! This is why I have to be careful about sealing the edges around the pre-heater. That down draft is pretty powerful and will suck all the heat out from underneath the board if I don't!
Anyway, still an hour left before I can attempt the transplant!
