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I haven't used my PS3 fat for a couple of years. Now to start it I have to try five or six times to enter safe mode, then select any option and it will start. I can play blue ray movies and some simple games. if I turn it off then turn back on in less than about 30 min it starts. If I try to play a more complex game it shuts down shortly after the intro. I replaced the hard drive -- no change. Help??

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  • cmos batteries aren't too expensive, and are pretty common around grocery and tech stores. Note the statistics of the current one, buy a new one, and see what happens?
    – nightsurfer
    Commented Jan 29, 2021 at 0:34
  • So, I found a 17 step description of changing the PRAM battery in a phat PS3. It involve removing the bluray drive and all sorts of stuff. Is there an easier way? Why did Sony bury the battery so deep?
    – GuzziBert
    Commented Jan 29, 2021 at 15:04
  • Sony had to smash quite a lot of tech into a very small device, so I'm not fully surprised it's that complicated. If those are the steps, then you'll need to do each one to avoid permanently damaging something. Sorry :/
    – nightsurfer
    Commented Jan 30, 2021 at 13:07

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Your Fat PS3 might be starting to show pre-Yellow Light Of Death problems.

Near the Cell CPU of the PS3, there are some capacitors that the console uses to store small amounts of energy for the processor to stay stable under very heavy loads. The fact that you mention that the console turns on with complex/heavy game also helps with my theory.

The YLOD or Yellow Light Of Death happens because Sony used really low quality capacitors on the Fat units and the first Slim unit (CECH-20XX).

Your only option is to go to a repair shop and request a YLOD fix or change this capacitors yourself (there is this well known guide for replacing the capacitors on PSX-Place).

I'm 100% sure that is not the CMOS battery, due to only being used to store the time when the console is powered off. You can even start a PS3 without a CMOS battery and it will work.

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If you can keep the PS3 pulled up long enough, try to see the Internal Storage Count, if its at, or close to Max storage, if you want to keep playing on it, I would recommend deleting some stuff you don't use/play anymore, or transfer it to the replaced hard drive.

When it shuts off like that, it could be a sign of what Lemon said, or it could be a storage issue.

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  • Thanks Joseph, I've replaced the hard drive so I think I'll be looking at the caps as Lemon said soon.
    – GuzziBert
    Commented Feb 4, 2021 at 15:59
  • No Problem @GuzziBert . Glad I could help.
    – Joseph Casey
    Commented Feb 4, 2021 at 21:28

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