DIYgamer

Disassemble a PlayStation 3

2011-07-04T15:12:00.000-07:00

I recently acquired another 60 gig, backwards-compatible PS3 on craigslist for a mere $30. Only catch? It has the "Yellow Light of Death" (YLOD). This is basically the PlayStation 3 equivalent of the Xbox 360's Red Ring of Death (RROD). It's caused by the solder joints under one of the microchips on the board (usually the GPU - just like the 360) breaking or pulling away from the board.

In this tutorial I will guide you through the steps needed to disassemble your PS3 (fat model) so you can then later fix your YLOD. Another reason to disassemble your PS3 would be to dust it! This is the main cause of excess heat in these systems that leads to the Yellow Light of Death!

First thing you'll want to do is pop off the small plastic cover over your hard drive (HDD).

There will be a small blue screw in place - remove it and grade the little handle on the HDD. Pull it to the right and then away from the console.

Just above the HDD compartment is a small rubber cover. Remove it along with the screw!

Now you can slide the top of the PS3 off of it. Slide it towards the HDD end of the console and then lift.

There are quite a few screws here! Remove them all with a standard Philips head screw driver.

Once they are all out, CAREFULLY lift the top of the PS3 towards the front using the same motion you'd use to open a briefcase. Do this very carefully as there is a small, fragile ribbon cable attaching this piece to the console.

Take a good look at the small clip attaching the ribbon cable to the console. Lift the clip and slide the ribbon cable out. Please remember to undo the clip before pulling the cable out - there should be very little resistance once it's undone.

The top cover of your PS3 should be completely detached now. Unplug the small power cord right next to where the ribbon cable was attached. This goes to the blu-ray drive!

Lift the blu-ray drive from the front - being careful of the ribbon cable underneath it. Just like before - undo the clip and then slip the cable away from the board.

Unscrew the small screw near the back of the PS3 that was previously covered by your blu-ray drive. This holds the WiFi antenna in place. It will also have a thin, long wire attached near the front of the PlayStation, pull the connector on that end out as well.

After taking more screws out, you should be able to lift this small daughter board away from the console. It's the one that had the antenna attached to it.

Now we're going to remove the power supply. It's attached to the console by several screws and 2 power cords. Remove them all!

Lift the power supply straight up and away from the console.

Carefully unclip and remove the small ribbon cable from the front touch-pad assembly. Then unscrew the 4 screws holding the board in place and remove it along with it's little metal plate under it. You could also remove the ribbon cable from the motherboard instead of the smaller board side if you wish.

Now carefully flip you PS3 upside-down. (Like the Superman sticker the previous owner put on it? Lol!)

Life the bottom of the case away from the console. The back port covers will left behind.

There are a few plastic clips holding the black port cover on. Undue them and pull the cover off. The power button will come with it after you unscrew the last remaining screw holding it on.

Unplug the large fan's power cord.

Now unscrew the 3 screws holding the fan in place.

Lift the fan and dust it! This thing was extremely dusty when I took it out! A can of compressed air took care of that.

Remove the little power cable attached to the small, round battery. You can leave the battery in place - no need to take it out.

With a smaller Philips screwdriver, remove the 2 small screws on the HDD compartment.

Flip the console over again and remove the 2 long, parallel metal plates by first unscrewing them. These are the PS3's equivalent to the Xbox 360's X-clamp. They apply the pressure needed to hold the heat sink onto the GPU and CPU.

Back on the other side, you should be able to remove the heat sink from the console. Look at all the dust! No wonder this thing has the Yellow Light of Death!

You should be able to take the metal shielding off of the motherboard by lifting the pieces out of their hinges.

Use some rubber alcohol and remove the thermal compound from the GPU, CPU, and heat sink.

Make sure everything is thoroughly dusted and cleaned before you reassemble your PS3! Also remember to reapply more thermal compound - NEVER put it back together without it!

My next tutorial will go over 1 method of fixing the YLOD, so stay tuned!

Until next time...

A simple fan shroud mod for Xbox 360

2011-06-18T17:37:00.000-07:00

One reason why the Xbox 360 has so many problems is poor air circulation. When you open up an Xbox 360, you see 2 heat sinks and a white plastic "shroud" coordinating air flow.

What the Microsoft engineers seem to have forgotten is that air will travel in the path of least resistance. As a result, the heat sink on the left (for the GPU) receives a very small portion of the air flow to cool it off... this is why the GPU is where most problems occur on the Xbox 360.

To fix this, we're going to create a divider so that both heat sinks will receive equal air flow - greatly reducing the operating temperature of the GPU. I would highly recommend doing this to any 360 that is not under warranty, as it can prevent the RRoD.

First, download the PDF template for the divider.

Download Template

Print it out on either plain computer paper or card stock (doesn't matter)

Use some duct tape and tape the back of the paper behind the design - this will give it some rigidity if using paper.

Now flip it back over and cut out the design!

This should be the result once you're done cutting.

Now make a small 2-piece wide sheet of duct tape - sticky side up and place your divider on top. We're doing this so that both sides are taped and we can still see the outline of the design.

Cut off the excess duct tape while following the design. Your divider should now be fairly rigid and fully covered in duct tape.

Now that the divider is complete, take the plastic shroud out of your Xbox and do a test fit.

Notice how the divider touches the motherboard, but does not obstruct anything around the heat sinks. There is a small black capacitor near your fan - just put the divider on the other side of it as pictured.

Place the shroud back onto the Xbox 360 to make sure everything fits and nothing is obstructed.

Pull the shroud and the divider off together, so that the position of the divider will be correct when you place it back on. Tape the divider to the shroud.

Now place the shroud back on your Xbox 360. Guide the divider to make sure it's in the proper position.

Reassemble your Xbox 360 and enjoy a cooler GPU!

Please note that using this template on cardboard is okay. Some people think cardboard will catch fire, but I've tested the flammability of the cardboard with my heat gun using temperatures far hotter than anything your Xbox will ever produce (800F). The worst it did was blacken it. Also, please be sure to keep your Xbox 360 in an open area with plenty of ventilation so this mod can do it's job!

Until next time...

Fix the RRoD with X-clamp replacement

2011-06-13T21:23:00.000-07:00

Today I'll walk you through an easier way to fix the Red Ring of Death. This is commonly known as an X-clamp replacement because you replace the 2 x-shaped clamps holding the heat sinks onto the motherboard.

The theory behind this is that the clamps do not provide enough pressure to keep the heat sinks firmly attached to the board. Because of this, the heat causes the motherboard to warp and the CPU and GPU pull away from the board - causing the dreaded RRoD!

Here you see the underside of the motherboard along with the dreaded x-clamps in place! Remove them using the method I described in my disassembly tutorial.

Clean off the thermal paste on the CPU, GPU, and the two heat sinks. Rubbing alcohol works great for this.

Now gather your supplies! I'll link to all needed materials at the end of this post. You should have (at least) 16 washers and 8 screws.

Remove the "feet" from the heat sinks, these will be replaced with machine screws.

Reapply your thermal paste.

From the under side of the board, insert the 4 screws with 1 of the thinner nylon washers in between.

Place the thicker nylon washers on the top side of the board. The order from bottom to top should now be: Screw head, nylon washer, motherboard, nylon washer.

Lastly, place the appropriate heat sink on top of the screws. In this case I'm doing the CPU, so I'll use that heat sink. Make sure you put it on in the right direction!

Now apply pressure to both the bottom screws and the top of the heat sink and flip it over!

Using a screwdriver, screw the machine screws in LIGHTLY until they barely start to resist (it should be pretty much flat against the washer. Do this in a criss-cross pattern. Example: top-right screw then bottom-left screw, after that do top-left and bottom-right.

Once they are all BARELY tightened. Going around 1 more time in the same order and screw them in a quarter or half-turn.. until it feels snug. Do not over-tighten these! It could cause the RRoD to become worse!

Repeat this process with the other heat sink and your Xbox should look like this.

Plug in your A/V cable, power cable, and power button, and push the power button. Pray!

Success! If you still have the RRoD, try loosening and tightening your screws until it works. If this does not work for your 360, please refer to my heat gun tutorial - it is a much more thorough and permanent fix.

Amazon.com sells the supplies needed to perform this x-clamp repair at a great price... check out the link! If you need any help, don't hesitate to ask!

Until next time...

Fix the RRoD with a Heat Gun Reflow

2011-06-07T11:56:00.000-07:00

So now you have your Xbox 360 completely taken apart and you want to fix your Red Ring of Death. The Red Rings of Death is usually caused by solder joints under the microchips that become weak and break as a result of the constantly fluctuating temperature. What we are going to do is reflow the solder under the chip to reconnect the broken points.

First we're going to remove the thermal paste. This paste is used to transfer the heat generated by the CPU and GPU to the heat sinks (which then the fans cool). I use 70% isopropyl (rubbing alcohol). For really dry/tough paste, try a bottle of Goo Gone, just be sure to wash the surfaces with isopropyl afterwards. Just put a small amount on the end of a Q-tip and rub it off.

When finished, the chips will be a shiny, mirror-like surface. Make sure to also clean the bottom of the heat sinks. A small amount of excess paste around the silver part won't harm it. The chip shown on the left is the GPU, and the one on the right is the CPU. The RAM chips are the 4 black rectangle-shaped chips around the GPU. The ANA/HANA chip is the one at the top of the above picture - near the A/V port.

We're going to be using a heat gun and a griddle to heat the board up and melt the solder. I picked them both up at my local Wal-Mart for about $40 total. I also place a cookie cooling rack on top of the griddle to elevate the board from the hot griddle - you don't want the board to touch the griddle itself! (Don't laugh at our pink tiles!)

Since we're using a lot of heat, we're going to need to protect certain components on our board. The capacitors on top of the boards (the cylinder-looking components) can be easily damaged by excess heat, so we're going to make a shield out of foil and bubble wrap!

I made this shield using 1 layer foil, then 1 layer bubble wrap, then another layer of foil. This will provide an air pocket within the foil to absorb more of the heat. You'll want to cover everything except the chips shown in the image.

Heat up your griddle to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Once it's heated, place your covered board on the rack that's on the griddle. Let heat for about 5 minutes before proceeding. This will prevent the board from warping during the next step.

My heat gun has 2 settings - 750F (400C) and 1000F (540C). I will be using the lower setting of 750F, as the higher setting can and will damage the board.

Leaving the griddle on, use your heat gun and heat the chips on the board. Do NOT hold it still over 1 spot for more than 1 second - keep it moving sort of like you're blow-drying hair. Short, quick movements are key! Depending on your error code, you will want to focus more on certain chips than others.

After about 5-8 minutes of this, you'll want to let your board sit PERFECTLY STILL for about 40 minutes. This step is imperative - the solder is in a molten form and any movement could cause the solder to bridge with each other where it should not. Just wait until it's cool!

Once the board is cool, use a thermal paste (I use Arctic Silver 5) on top of the CPU and GPU. Only use about the size of a grain of rice. Also, you do not need to apply any to the heat sinks themselves.

Now spread the paste into an even coat over the silver parts of the chips. It should be almost transparent. I cut a piece of card stock off some junk mail I got earlier!

Reattach your heat sinks and X-clamps. When putting the X-clamps into position, your should attach opposite sides as opposed to a clockwise or counterclockwise motion. For example, do the top-left and bottom-right parts first, then top-right and bottom-left next.

Put your board back in the metal casing, plug in your fan, then plug in the front power panel.

Now plug in your A/V and power cable. If you do not plug in the A/V cable you will get 4 red lights.

Push the power button and pray!

Success! Now follow the steps in my Xbox 360 disassembly tutorial in reverse to reassemble your console. This fix could permanently fix consoles afflicted with the RRoD, but in some cases, the solder is so weak that all new solder is required under the chips, but that's a whole new tutorial. If your console still has a RRoD, check the error code (see my tutorial) and, if necessary, reflow the board again. I've had consoles that required 3 or 4 reflows before working correctly again, but after so many reflows, the solder can become brittle and weak, so try to make each reflow count - don't rush.

Until next time...

Xbox 360 Error Codes

2011-06-02T12:00:00.000-07:00

So you go the dreaded Red Ring of Death. Did you know that not all RRoDs are the same? Yes, each RRoD has a 4-digit secondary error code. In order to find your secondary error code, first power on the console. It should, obviously, be flashing 3 red lights.

Now what you'll want to do is hold the sync button (little round white button near memory slots) and tap the DVD eject key to cycle through the 4 digits in your error code.

The 4 lights around the little green power light should change to display your error code. Use the following guide to decipher your code:

4 lights = 0
1 light = 1
2 lights = 2
3 lights = 3

Mine flashed 4 lights, 4 lights, 2 lights, 4 lights. That means my error code is 0020. Take your error code over to this page and ctrl+F to find an explanation of your code. Mine says:

0020 See Error E08

So I'll ctrl+F over to E08 and this pops up:

E08: Unconfirmed: General I/O Malfunction, could be caused by an error with any of the I/O devies such as A/V port, USB, Hard drive, DVD drive, etc. over torquing of the AV or heatsync bolts can cause this error.

Great! Now we have an idea of what might be wrong. Unfortunately my error code is very vague - I will most likely check everything and perform a basic reflow or reball on the GPU (in a future tutorial!). If you have an error such as this one, google around and see what other people have done to fix theirs!

Leave a comment with your error code! I've dealt with a lot of these and may have some insight to your issues. In my next post, I will be performing a simple GPU reflow to hopefully fix this Xbox 360!

Until next time...

Disassemble an Xbox 360

2011-06-01T22:01:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my first tutorial! Today I will be showing you guys how to open an Xbox 360. Once it's open you'll be able to flash custom firmware to play backups, fix errors, perform case mods, and so much more!

Microsoft decided to go with a "screwless" assembly on their console, so it's a little tricky to open. I happen to have a spare RRoD console (that I will be fixing in another tutorial) to demonstrate the process of cracking one of these open.

I went to the dollar store and bought a set of precision screwdrivers for (you guessed it) one dollar. The one we're interested in is the 3/64" slotted (flat head) screwdriver. I'm sure a smaller or slightly larger one will work fine, but I like this one.

First thing you'll want to do is remove the faceplate, this can be done by grabbing the usb opening and pulling away. Be careful with the little door covering the USB ports - they break easily!

Now you'll want to remove the plastic covers on the top and bottom of the Xbox. Use the small screwdriver I mentioned earlier to poke into the little holes near them. There are 3 tabs on each side of each grill (12 total).

As you're poking them, you'll want to be pulling the grill away from the Xbox.

Now that those are off, turn your Xbox around so you're looking at the back. You're going to want to use that same screwdriver to poke more tabs on the back while gently pulling it apart with you're other hand.

It won't seem like they're coming apart until they're all disconnected.

Now focus your attention to the front. There are 4 clips holding the front of the case together. This is where you will be pulling the Microsoft warranty sticker off (if it isn't already).

Once they're all released, you can pull the bottom off. The one I have has already been taken apart so there are no screws. You will need a small Torx screwdriver to fully disassemble the Xbox (T-9 is the smallest one needed). If your Xbox has no screws, the top will be able to come off if you move the eject button.

Once you have your big screws taken out (there are a lot of them on the underside). You should have the bare bones of the Xbox. If you are wanting to flash the Xbox with a custom firmware, this is where you stop!

Moving on, you'll want to pull the power and SATA cords from the back of the DVD drive. These are pretty sturdy, so don't worry too much about ruining them.

Remove the DVD drive.

You can now take the power and SATA cables from the motherboard, as well as the big white plastic fan shroud. Remove the screws from the front of the power button's board and pull it away.

Remove the fan by first unplugging it's power source, then pulling the metal piece above it away, and finally pulling it towards the front of the Xbox.

The motherboard should now be able to be lifted from the metal housing. Hold onto the CPU heatsink (the larger one) and pull it away from the housing.

Turing the motherboard upside down will reveal 2 X shaped clamps holding the heat sinks to the board.

Using a large slotted screwdriver to remove these. What I like to do is insert it right where the x-clamps hang onto the screws and rotate it towards the middle of the X (in this case, counter clockwise).

Once the clamps are off, the heat will be free from the board! You're done!

Be sure to check back soon as I explain the Red Ring of Death, secondary error codes, and attempt to fix this Xbox 360!

An introduction...

2011-06-01T04:49:00.000-07:00

Hello readers!

I will be using this blog to post various tutorials on how to fix and/or modify your video games, game consoles, and other electronics. All of these tutorials will be written by myself and will include pictures of the processes. Hope you stick around and ask questions - I'm here to help!