My PS3 quit reading games and everything else. Anyway to fix it without sending it in?

Question

It's trying to load because it shows the loading symbol in the upper right corner. I don't have a warranty and I don't have $150 bucks to have it fixed.

Answer 1

Before you do anything, double-check about your warranty, make absolutely sure there is no warranty, because if you open your ps3 any and all warranties will be voided when you break the seal.

Now... is it giving you any error messages, or just hanging on the loads?

If it's a ps2-compatible ps3, throw a ps2 game in there and see if you get a "disc read error" message.

Disc read error, or DRE, is the most dreaded problem that plagued the ps2, and it's bound to crop on the ps3 as well. I expect the causes are mostly the same: dirty lens, bad lens height, and worn-out laser. The last one requires replacement of the entire laser assembly. Right now I think they cost about $100. But don't buy one unless you're sure it's the problem.

I haven't had to deal with this issue yet, mainly because I keep my ps3 dust-free, I don't know of any how-to sites for taking apart your ps3. But basically if you carefully disassemble the ps3, making sure to touch metal to de-static yourself first, you can open the disc drive and be able to gently clean the lens with a q-tip dipped in propanol.

If that doesn't work, look for loosely connected cables, then find a specialized website that gives you how-to's for adjusting lens height and ruling out other problems, or diagnosing worn-out lasers. These sites are few because ps3 can't be modded.

Answer 2

Check your disks, they may be scratched, dirty, etc.

If not, then your Blu-Ray drive is most likely damaged, either to a manufacturing fault, random destruction, or by foreign damage, ie. you.

How long have you had your PS3. If it's a short time, the warranty should still be valid and you can send it in for free. If not, you attempt to see it yourself, the laser that reads the disks may be damaged or dirty, but it's best to do it with a professional.