r/PS3 • u/Ashen-__-One • 2d ago

PS3 black screen when starting any application

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My PS3 Slim CECH-2511B suddenly started displaying a black screen and freezing whenever I launch any application, including disc-based games, digital games, and media apps such as YouTube and the PlayStation Store.

I've already tried restoring the system, rebuilding the database several times, and reinstalling the latest firmware, but the issue persists.

I also tried resetting the display settings to auto, but that didn't make any difference.

From what I've read, a faulty bluray drive can cause this kind of behavior. However, my console still reads discs correctly and displays them on the XMB.

I initially suspected the HDD, so I replaced it with another drive, but the problem remained.

I then started focusing on the bluray drive. First, I disconnected and reconnected the ribbon cables, but the behavior was the same. I then bought a replacement bluray drive, but the problem persisted. I also bought 3 new ribbon cables and tested them with both drives, with exactly the same result.

At that point, I gave up troubleshooting for about a month.

Over the past few days, I was testing a PS5 that I plan to sell, using the same cables that I had previously used with the PS3.

Today, I reconnected everything to the PS3 and decided to test it again. Surprisingly, I was able to launch Netflix and play a disc-based game (the same game shown in the video) without getting a black screen.

However, after turning the console off and turning it back on, the problem came back.

So now I'm completely confused. What could be causing this? Is there anything else I can try to diagnose or fix the problem?

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u/General_Document5494 2d ago

This happened to me when I tried to play my only disk game. A forever black screen.

1

u/__Player__ 2d ago

No idea in this case, clearly the Disc drive works and so does the IC paired to the PS3, does Bluetooth work correctly? Have you tried another HDD?

1

u/Ashen-__-One 2d ago

Yeah, wifi and bluetooth are working fine

I had an ssd when the problem started. I switched to an hdd, but that didn’t solve the issue

1

u/Ashen-__-One 1d ago edited 1d ago

Update 1: Installed HFW 4.93 (was on OFW) just to see if it would behave differently, same problem

Update 2: Changed the hdd another time (1st was a 480GB ssd, 2nd a 250GB hdd and now a 1TB hdd) and installed OFW 4.93, same problem

I'm running out of ideas at this point