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So on occasion my PS3 just waits at the shining ribbon background, but never actually opens the menu. I have to pull the plug to even get it to turn off.

After turning it off it wants to check the disc, but it never finds errors. No problems other than this, games play fine. Why does it do this and what can I do to fix it? Do I have to send it in for repairs?

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Your hard drive is most likely trying to crash or has some bad data on it. There are a few options. PS3 can restore the file system/database which gets damaged if the PS3 crashes or when the system hangs when trying to do something and you soft reset. To restore:

  1. Turn off PS3 so the red light is on.
  2. Hold and keep holding the power button. The console will turn on, and eventually turn off again.
  3. Once off, with the red light on again, press and hold the power button. You will hear one beep, another single beep after that, and then two beeps in a row.
  4. After the two beeps, let go of the power button so it doesn't turn off again and you'll end up in the system recovery menu.
  5. From here there are a few options. Now this is important, DO NOT CLICK ON 'RESTORE PS3'. That will wipe the HDD clean. This should only be your last resort!!
  6. What you want is the other two options, 'restore ps3 database', and 'restore ps3 file system'.

If those don't work, you can try doing a restore OR if you know what you're doing, it's super easy and cheap to just upgrade your hard drive and get more space anyway! :) Instructions and specs you need for doing that are here:

http://www.gamespot.com/features/how-to-upgrade-your-playstation-3-hard-drive-6176090/

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So Restore PS3 database won't butcher my save files or anything? I'll back up before I try anyway, but I'm not sure which to start with, or do I need to restore BOTH database and file system? – Ben Brocka Apr 27 '12 at 21:54
Basically its like this. You're booting in to safe mode. From safe mode you have these options: 1 - Restart System 2 - Restore Default Settings - 1st option but most likely does not help. Just resets settings - no data loss Restore File System - This is 3rd option if first 2 fail. Should not result in data lost.. but back up just in case!! 3 - Rebuild Database - Do this SECOND. WILL result in the loss of playlist and message data, but should not result in the loss of other data 4 - Restore PS3 System - LAST option.. WILL LOSE DATA! 5 - System Update – divamatrix Apr 28 '12 at 1:51

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