PS3 not reading disk

I start it up and the machine does not recognize any game is in drive. Thought maybe machine was angry with BF3, but MW3 doesn't work either.

I am assuming the lens is dirty since it was doing it intermittently yesterday. Found some vids on You-Tube. I think I can take it apart and clean the lens and fix the issue. Anyone else done this before? Can you offer tips?

Thanks in advance.

Looks like I am on a hiatus for a bit...

Step 1: remove PBnJ sandwich from drive.
Step 2: eat sandwich
Step 3: clean lens.


I didn't even know you could open the BD drive. Good luck!

audiopile wrote:

Step 1: remove PBnJ sandwich from drive.
Step 2: eat sandwich
Step 3: clean lens.


I didn't even know you could open the BD drive. Good luck!

Thank goodness. I am starving!

Its not very hard to crack open the PS3, remove the Blue ray player, removed the covers and clean the lens. done it a few times. there are a few good videos online, but the disassembly and removal is easy if you arent' in a huge rush. I do not know if a lens cleaning disk would be beneficial to removed dust from the BR lens, but it would keep you from cracking the PS3 open. Since the failure to read is intermittent it is a good indicator that it is a dirty lens and not a failure in the hardware or a glitch in the software. Good luck

Happened to my fat boy last year but mine wasn't intermittent. It was permenate. Blue Ray drive failure. Had to be replaced. Good luck.

Cleaned the lens last night. Still not working upon reassembly.

Further complicated by the fact the ribbons look very different than anything I saw online. Pulling them out makes me nervous as sll getout.

Looks like I am buying a laser replacement. Will have to take it apart again to get the part number.

Bummed because I thought PS3 would be more reliable. 1.5 years old and i am hsving drive or laser problems...

Time to buy a new one!!!

Winicott1001 wrote:

Cleaned the lens last night. Still not working upon reassembly.

Further complicated by the fact the ribbons look very different than anything I saw online. Pulling them out makes me nervous as sll getout.

Looks like I am buying a laser replacement. Will have to take it apart again to get the part number.

Bummed because I thought PS3 would be more reliable. 1.5 years old and i am hsving drive or laser problems...

Shit, now I'm nervous. Mine is approaching the 1.5 year mark.

Bummer Wini. Good thing the prices have gone down. When I bought my 40GB fatboy it was $400. Now a 160GB goes for $250.

audiopile wrote:

Bummer Wini. Good thing the prices have gone down. When I bought my 40GB fatboy it was $400. Now a 160GB goes for $250.

I am going to just replace the laser for now and see if that works. I don't want to get a whole new machine.

Been a crazy weekend. Part ordered today... PS3 in parts on table. *sigh*

Hope this fixes your problem man...my bro has an old backwards compatible PS3 that went out on him awhile back and I'm gonna get it from him and rip it apart...it's nice to see that quite a few people have been able to get inside these things and make some repairs...

Hope the part comes soon wini and you can get back online.

Yeah buddy, missing your tags.. uhhh, I meant witty personality?

Witty personality??? I just miss my free therapy sessions. If Wini doesn't get back on soon I may have to resort to drinking, hard drugs, or *gasp* playing MW3 in order to get some soothing, mellowing therapy from Savvy.

Gah agreed. I am getting sleep and getting things accomplished around the house. I need to get the PS3 fixed so my wife and co-workers do not come to expect this…

Part is supposed to arrive on Sat worst case scenario. It is shipping from 7 hours away (I think) so maybe sooner.

Yes, Darkker, you seem to catch me when I am in full on camp mode. I feel like I am disproportionally indebted to you in regards to tags. I will not get them back since knifing is pure BF3 voodoo magic to me. I will have to settle for CQ AN-94/Rex kills.

N8 I hope you do not go have to suffer through the MW3 Lag to get any fix. If you do go over there say hi from me. I miss Savvy and the rest of the OG crew.

Hoffy- there is a ton of You-tube vids for the Fatty PS3. Also a ton of replacement parts on line for that model it seemed. My particular slim did not have a model specific video that I could find, but I got the basics (I hope that hidden ribbon is not trashed since I just pulled the f-ing thing out without releasing the clasp…) I got the laser and the frame it is attached to for $36 on ebay. Happy with price. Lets hope this fixes it.

I have a 120 GB machine I bought on Black Friday in 2010 shortly after BO was released. I used the machine for just over 1.5 years.

I replaced the laser and the metal tray the laser sits on. The part was $36 on eBay.

I put the machine back together in about 10 minutes. This includes putting in the laser, re-attaching all the ribbons, putting together the BlueRay Drive, attaching what I think is the power supply and putting on the cover. Once you do it the project is not that hard.

Be sure to check the laser part number before you buy it. There has apparently been about 5 different versions of boards/lasers/drives and how you attach them is all different. In fact there was not a You tube vid for my model.

All in all it was not nearly as hard as I thought I was going to be. Good luck with your repairs in the future.