Note: So far I have only confirmed it worked on a CECH-3001A. OP said it worked on his CECH-2101 and 2501.
@Nascar1243 and I have confirmed it doesn't work on, A through 20xx models. So all phat models and the 1st slim. It also doesn't work on Super Slim models, since they don't have an eject button. This only works on 21xx - 300xx model slims.
While reading the
dev wiki boot options I came across an old post from 2012 by Euss who found a secondary error code system in slim PS3's that displays blinking LED patters similar to how the XBOX 360 error codes can be accessed using a button combination. He was able to access the led pattern but couldn't find a consistent method to do so and didn't know how to interpret it. In a thread by
@VTSTech called
PS3 LED Diagnostics, member
@blackoes found a consistent method to access it.
@Nascar1243 and I were able to make sense of the error code it displays. More on that later.
How to access the LED DIAG Mode:
- Be sure the console is powered off. No standby LED.
- Hold the EJECT button on the front pannel and power the console into standby. Continue holding EJECT until the Green LED illuminates solid. Flipping the PWR rocker at the back or by plugging it in, depending on model. This performs a fan test. It'll ramp up the fan to 100% for about 10s or so, to blow the dust out. Then it'll go back to standby, or tripple beep if there was a general hardware error.
- NOTE: The general hardware failure is infamously know by the moniker "Yellow Light Of Death (YLOD)," but is actually indicated differently depending on PS3 model...
- L - 20xx models there is a Yellow LED followed by a tripple-beep and it flashed Red thereafter. (traditional YLOD)
- 21xx flashes the RED LED twice, then tripple-beeps, and flashes RED thereafter. (RLOD)
- 25xx onward do not tripple beep or flash red. It just shuts off the LED. (noLOD)
- After the fan test has completed press the power button 3 time in a row. Not too quickly. Give it about a 1 second count between presses. One one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand.
- Press the EJECT button 3 time in a row. Each time it'll tripple-beep. Press it again after the tripple-beep has completed. That's a good gauge of how long between presses you should wait before pressing it again.
- Press the Power button twice more and it'll begin the LED pattern.
How it works:
There will be a RED and GREEN LED that flash together, which mix together to make a Yellow LED - This is a YLOD. It's just hidden in some models. I found that interesting. But beside the point. This Yellow LED indicates the start/end of the sequence.
It will flash 4 times either Red or Green...Pause...then repeat another 4 flashes. it repeats this four times. This forms a 4-digit code that correspond to the last error the console encountered.
Here's an example form my my own KTE-001 motherboard from a CECH3001a slim PS3.
The LED sequence is Binary where, Green = 0 and Red = 1. So it means...
Code:
GGRG = 0010 = 2
GGGG = 0000 = 0
GGRG = 0010 = 2
GRGG = 0100 = 4
Use a
hexidecimal to binary converter to interpret the 4 digit segments. The four digit error code I had was 2024. I retrieved the SYSCON errorlog to confirm the last error code was indeed an A000
2024. This console has a bad wifi/blutooth module and I harvested the 40nm RSX for for a Frankenstein phat PS3 mod.
It is of note that the error code can include letters...
Code:
GRGR = 0101 = 5
RRRR = 1111 = F
RRRR = 1111 = F
RRRR = 1111 = F
Unfortunately there doesn't appear to be any way to access the next error in the log. If there is I'm not aware of it. Perhaps pressing it more times on step 5. If anyone finds a way, let me know. Also, it only displays the last four digits of the error, so it's doesn't contain the step number which tells you at what time in the power on sequence it occurred. Like immediately after SYSCON reset, standby, during POST, power on state, or shutdown. Those are useful to understand and rule out what kind of causes might explain the 4-digit error code. But it's better than nothing.