PS3 (Research/Experimental) - NEC/TOKIN Capacitors Replacement - YLOD

I have a question about this since I'm new here. My PS3 got the YLOD during this past week and I've seen how it'll happen to people in some circumstances like if a heavy game is running. My PS3 goes yellow then blinks red about a second after the power button is pressed, and this happened after forgetting to turn the console off while a light 2D game was running, but before it worked completely fine so I assume one of the capacitors were on its last leg. My PS3 is a fat CECHL01. Should I just replace all of them? I'll have to buy Tantalum capacitors because I have enough 470uf electrolytics (mix of 10v and 16v) to replace all 4 chips but I'd rather not risk leakage. Someone suggested just removing dust and blasting with a heatgun but given they're capacitors, they're gonna die soon anyway given how old the PS3 is.
 
TyMiles2012 said:
I have a question about this since I'm new here. My PS3 got the YLOD during this past week and I've seen how it'll happen to people in some circumstances like if a heavy game is running. My PS3 goes yellow then blinks red about a second after the power button is pressed, and this happened after forgetting to turn the console off while a light 2D game was running, but before it worked completely fine so I assume one of the capacitors were on its last leg. My PS3 is a fat CECHL01. Should I just replace all of them? I'll have to buy Tantalum capacitors because I have enough 470uf electrolytics (mix of 10v and 16v) to replace all 4 chips but I'd rather not risk leakage. Someone suggested just removing dust and blasting with a heatgun but given they're capacitors, they're gonna die soon anyway given how old the PS3 is.
Click to expand...
You can't use electrolytics capacitor, they can't handle the work on this system.
You need to use tantalum caps, 330 uf, 2.5V, like mentionned on the first page.
Before trying to replace the nec tokin, you better should use the syscon reader method https://www.psx-place.com/threads/f...syscon-first-steps-and-error-reporting.30100/ - it is very cheap to purchase the board, quite easy to solder the 3 cable to do the diagnostic.
It will prevent you of replacing the cap for nothing and save you money.
 
azlox9 said:
You can't use electrolytics capacitor, they can't handle the work on this system.
You need to use tantalum caps, 330 uf, 2.5V, like mentionned on the first page.
Before trying to replace the nec tokin, you better should use the syscon reader method https://www.psx-place.com/threads/f...syscon-first-steps-and-error-reporting.30100/ - it is very cheap to purchase the board, quite easy to solder the 3 cable to do the diagnostic.
It will prevent you of replacing the cap for nothing and save you money.
Click to expand...

Cool, thank you! Yea my PS3 going out was really unexpected because I assumed it would gradually fail overtime. I'm curious to see exactly what's causing it.
 
Check the link in my signiture. There's lots of usefull info to help you get started. Spoiler, there's a big learning curve Sorry, the PS3 is a beast.
 
Hello all. I love what you guys have done here, and what a fantastic community. I went and purchased a YLOD CECHA01 off eBay to give it a whirl. The device does not look like it was opened previously, but it does look like,e someone lived near a beach with the lovely corrosion inside. Either way, I ran ps3syscon and received the following. Based on what I'm seeing it looks like I have some ICs to check, but I may be off. Regardless, thanks in advance!

Code: 
>$ errlog 
errlog  ofst[ 64]:err_code:0xffffffff, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[ 68]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[ 72]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[ 76]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[ 80]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[ 84]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[ 88]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff  
ofst[ 92]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff  
ofst[ 96]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[100]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[104]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[108]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[112]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff
ofst[116]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[120]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[124]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[  0]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[  4]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[  8]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[ 12]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[ 16]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[ 20]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[ 24]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[ 28]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[ 32]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[ 36]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[ 40]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[ 44]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[ 48]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[ 52]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[ 56]:err_code:0xa0a02131, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[ 60]:err_code:0xa0902031, clock:0xffffffff
 
My unit may be a candidate for this. I was playing uncharted 2 for about an hour when it cut off with YLOD. It was not overheating, 67/65C @ 30% fan. Is there a way to determine if the cap is at fault without soldering?
 
BruteForcer said:
Hello all. I love what you guys have done here, and what a fantastic community. I went and purchased a YLOD CECHA01 off eBay to give it a whirl. The device does not look like it was opened previously, but it does look like,e someone lived near a beach with the lovely corrosion inside. Either way, I ran ps3syscon and received the following. Based on what I'm seeing it looks like I have some ICs to check, but I may be off. Regardless, thanks in advance!

Code: 
>$ errlog 
errlog  ofst[ 64]:err_code:0xffffffff, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[ 68]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[ 72]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[ 76]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[ 80]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[ 84]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[ 88]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff  
ofst[ 92]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff  
ofst[ 96]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[100]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[104]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[108]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[112]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff
ofst[116]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[120]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[124]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[  0]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[  4]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[  8]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[ 12]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[ 16]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[ 20]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[ 24]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[ 28]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[ 32]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[ 36]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[ 40]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[ 44]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[ 48]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[ 52]:err_code:0xa0a02031, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[ 56]:err_code:0xa0a02131, clock:0xffffffff 
ofst[ 60]:err_code:0xa0902031, clock:0xffffffff
Click to expand...
Very interesting, and good news for you, the error code 2031 is very specific, you need to check the temperature monitor chip located next to the RSX, there are some photos of them in wiki
Check also the talk in between @RIP-Felix and me in this thread in the last couple of days, we was talking about that, there is a capacitor next to the thermal monitor that needs to be checked too

The interesting detail of your errorlog is the errors 2031 and 2131 are indicating the same component... in other words it seems to be the same error
For some reason the error can be recorded as 2031 or as 2131... but we dont know why
And it seems thats what happened to your PS3, your errorlog have tenths of 2031... but only one 2131

The same stuff seems to happen with all the error codes from category 2 (as example... the errors 2003, 2103, 2203 seems to indicate the same)
What do you think about this @RIP-Felix @M4j0r ?

raidriar said:
My unit may be a candidate for this. I was playing uncharted 2 for about an hour when it cut off with YLOD. It was not overheating, 67/65C @ 30% fan. Is there a way to determine if the cap is at fault without soldering?
Click to expand...
Yes but the PS3 should be able to boot for some minutes, to install the app from bucanero git, boot it, navigate the menus, etc..

The faulty tokins usually are related with syscon errors 1001 and 1002, but as probably you already know this errors are just a reference, most of the times is not posible to be 100% sure unless you get your hands dirty with hardware
 
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I can get in and run PS3
sandungas said:
Yes but the PS3 should be able to boot for some minutes, to install the app from bucanero git, boot it, navigate the menus, etc..

The faulty tokins usually are related with syscon errors 1001 and 1002, but as probably you already know this errors are just a reference, most of the times is not posible to be 100% sure unless you get your hands dirty with hardware
Click to expand...



Got the logs dumped. Mostly seeing A0801001, sometimes A0801200, very uncommonly A0902203. All points to issues with the Cell I guess?

Its weird because I can play many games just fine, even run uncharted 2 again and no problem after an hour.
 
raidriar said:
I can get in and run PS3




Got the logs dumped. Mostly seeing A0801001, sometimes A0801200, very uncommonly A0902203. All points to issues with the Cell I guess?

Its weird because I can play many games just fine, even run uncharted 2 again and no problem after an hour.
Click to expand...
You got the timestamps ?
The error A0801200 seems to be a CELL overheat but maybe happened months ago and there is no need to worry about it
A0902203 seems to be related to southbridge, but southbridge is connected to many "peripherals" and maybe the error came from a peripheral, as example a bad connection of the bluray ribbon cable, or a hdd with a hardware damage, dunno
A0801001 is the infamous error that seems to be related with the CELL tokins, but we should read it as "error in the CELL power lines"... this includes the tokins, but also other components in between the tokins and the power supply... and yeah even the power supply could be the culprit because is the source of all power lines, the error could be triggered by CELL because is the more power demanding but maybe is the whole motherboard what is underpowered, so i would start by replacing the PSU

Edit:
Instead of power we can also think in ripple/interferences in the power lines, and i guess the diagnostic should be the same... start by replacing the PSU because maybe is introducing ripple in the whole motherboard... is just the error 1001 is triggered by CELL because is the more sensitive to unestable power lines
 
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sandungas said:
You got the timestamps ?
The error A0801200 seems to be a CELL overheat but maybe happened months ago and there is no need to worry about it
A0902203 seems to be related to southbridge, but southbridge is connected to many "peripherals" and maybe the error came from a peripheral, as example a bad connection of the bluray ribbon cable, or a hdd with a hardware damage, dunno
A0801001 is the infamous error that seems to be related with the CELL tokins, but we should read it as "error in the CELL power lines"... this includes the tokins, but also other components in between the tokins and the power supply... and yeah even the power supply could be the culprit because is the source of all power lines, the error could be triggered by CELL because is the more power demanding but maybe is the whole motherboard what is underpowered, so i would start by replacing the PSU

Edit:
Instead of power we can also think in ripple/interferences in the power lines, and i guess the diagnostic should be the same... start by replacing the PSU because maybe is introducing ripple in the whole motherboard... is just the error 1001 is triggered by CELL because is the more sensitive to unestable power lines
Click to expand...
I have a spare APS226 I can try, or would it be better to get a APS 231?
The time stamps are messed up because CMOS battery is dead
 
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moptop219 said:
Just confirming the terminal directions on the Tants. The 470 Ohm are +ve i towards the centre. The 47 Ohm caps i have are also polar so the +ve should be towards the edge?
Click to expand...
Haha!

Um...that's an oversight on my part. I forgot to add the polarity symbols to the silkscreen layer. An easy fix. I'll update that soon.

Yes, the + rail travels through the center. Outer edge is GND.

EDIT: Just updated the silkscreen, uploaded changes to OSH Park, and updated the permalink. The polarity will be marked on all orders from now on. Thx for the feedback!
 
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raidriar said:
I have a spare APS226 I can try, or would it be better to get a APS 231?
The time stamps are messed up because CMOS battery is dead
Click to expand...
You are not mentioning your PS3 model, the compatibility of PSU's depends of his dimmensions, the connectors, and the total power in watts, check this list
https://www.psdevwiki.com/ps3/Power_Supply#PSU_Model_.40_SKU_compatiblity

In this case the dimmensions doesnt matters because is just a temporal test, you can use the PS3 for a couple of days without the top plastic case
The total watts... as a general rule... if the new PSU have more watts than the original from factory it will work fine
If it have less watts the console could be unestable, but there are many reports of people that replaced the factory PSU by others with a lot less wats and they was reporting success (for how long ?... we dont know)
Anyway, there is always a range because when sony calculates the required total power of the PSU they considers all the components are working at full load. CELL and RSX at 100%, the bluray and hdd spinning, all other chips of the motherboard working, wifi/bt module, and even a couple of dualshock3 controllers with the battery empty charging from the USB ports. In the practise this never happens, this is why usually we can reduce the watts of the PSU
Anyway, reducing the watts of the PSU is not a good idea because his performance decreases with time and there is always an excess of watts to counterfeit that

And about the connectors... click in the names of each PSU in the list in wiki, this will open pages dedicated to each PSU where you can see the pinout of the connectors
 
sandungas said:
You are not mentioning your PS3 model, the compatibility of PSU's depends of his dimmensions, the connectors, and the total power in watts, check this list
https://www.psdevwiki.com/ps3/Power_Supply#PSU_Model_.40_SKU_compatiblity

In this case the dimmensions doesnt matters because is just a temporal test, you can use the PS3 for a couple of days without the top plastic case
The total watts... as a general rule... if the new PSU have more watts than the original from factory it will work fine
If it have less watts the console could be unestable, but there are many reports of people that replaced the factory PSU by others with a lot less wats and they was reporting success (for how long ?... we dont know)
Anyway, there is always a range because when sony calculates the required total power of the PSU they considers all the components are working at full load. CELL and RSX at 100%, the bluray and hdd spinning, all other chips of the motherboard working, wifi/bt module, and even a couple of dualshock3 controllers with the battery empty charging from the USB ports. In the practise this never happens, this is why usually we can reduce the watts of the PSU
Anyway, reducing the watts of the PSU is not a good idea because his performance decreases with time and there is always an excess of watts to counterfeit that

And about the connectors... click in the names of each PSU in the list in wiki, this will open pages dedicated to each PSU where you can see the pinout of the connectors
Click to expand...
I only have A01, B01, and E01 units that I use so all are 90NM CELL/RSX.
 
Okay I got the PS3 syscon going. I tried it and every single error is A0203010. I think I used it correctly. I used Linux and ran ERRLOG GET and went from 00 to 14 in hex. Is there anything else I can do? The only lead I have right now is that it could be CELL related.

EDIT: Actually I'm gonna cover the solder points with kapton tape, reassemble it and try bringup and see what happens since I just found out about that command. I'll edit with results.
 
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