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In 2012, Sony Entertainment announced that the company would be releasing a new version of its 2006 Playstation 3 console. The new console is called the Playstation 3 Super Slim and is identified by the model number, CECH-4000. The PlayStation 3 Super Slim (CECH400x) is the third version of the PS3 video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was released October 25, 2012.

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Why won't my PS3 spin up a disc even after I replaced the disc drive?

A little while ago I purchased a used PS3 Super Slim (CECH-4301C) from ShopGoodWill. I probably should have fully tested it first before tearing it apart and cleaning it, but after I put it back together, I started it up and everything seemed to work fine until I put in a disc. The disc drive would not spin up the disc at all.

I then took off the cover and pushed the switch that the cover would press when it was closed to see how the disc drive would respond, and I saw that the laser head would move a little, but there was no laser shining and beyond the little movement it wouldn't do anything else.

At first I assumed the problem was the ribbon cable going from the laser head to the motherboard because it was a pretty badly wrinkled, so I found a replacement from a seller on eBay and bought it. I switched it out with the new ribbon cable and turned it on, but when I did, a small amount of smoke came from the laser head. I quickly turned it off then switched the ribbon cable back to the old one to check if everything was fine. Thankfully it was, but obviously the disc drive still didn't work. So I put the new ribbon cable back in and this time when I attempted to start the PS3 it would start for a few seconds then automatically shut off.

I contacted the eBay seller to talk about it and he said that the issue was that the disc drive is shorted somewhere. The motor that moves the laser head is independent of it, and therefore that works fine, but it's shorting in the laser head somewhere and therefore won't spin up the disk at all and the reason why its turning off the PS3

So I bought a new disc drive, the exact same one that comes in the PS3 (KEM-495 AAA) and I put it into the PS3 yesterday, but it still won't spin up a disc. The motor moves the laser head, but the laser won't shine either. So I'm back to square one. The PS3 won't spin up a disc despite me putting in a disc drive that is fully tested and working.

Any idea what the issue could be? At this point, I'm thinking it could be the connector where the ribbon cable connects to the motherboard, or it could be an issue on the motherboard, but everything else works fine, so I don't know how that could be the issue. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

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Hi!

I would replace the laser deck and see how that goes. In your case, you did, but the issue did stay the same.

In this case, please make sure that everything is connected as it should be! This is probably the case, so then the issue is somewhere on the motherboard. Could be a lot of things…

Not sure if you can share a video with us? That would be great.

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I just uploaded some videos and photos. The first video is with the new replacement disc drive and ribbon cable. And the second is with the original drive and ribbon cable. I added some photos of the ribbon cable connector if that is helpful.

Note: In neither of the videos did I use the replacement ribbon cable that I had purchased, the one that caused the PS3 to shut off after a few seconds.

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Everything is connected fine. Both are showing the exact same thing. It really looks like that it won’t even see the disc. It’s powering the drive, but nothing happens. I’m afraid that this is motherboard related :(…

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I took it apart again to get down to the motherboard. And from simply inspecting the connector everything looks fine. Do you know how I can check things to see if something isn't working properly, for instance a capacitor or connection somewhere?

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Not sure to be honest. You can try this as well: https://www.zedlabz.com/products/compati... sorry

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Maybe check the connector for bent pins? From what I can tell, the problem probably isn't on the disc drive or the cables, since you've got new ones. However, the pins on the connector that connects the cable to the motherboard could be bent, which in certain circumstances would cause the disc drive to short. I would suggest you to inspect the connectors on the motherboard for debris and bent or deformed pins. Also, the motherboard might have been shorted somewhere because it got in contact with that layer of metal(dunno what that's called), so maybe you can put some insulating tape on there.

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I added some more photos of the connector. It doesn't look like any of them are bent or out of shape. And when looking around that area of the motherboard I don't see anything that looks like an indication of a short.

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In that case I have no idea at all what the issue is. It could be a blown or defective capacitor, since the ps3 was released in 2012 and was 13 years old now. You might want to look for burn marks and sights of corrosion around capacitors, but I suggest you to get them all replaced. Those 13-year-old capacitors are going to be very unstable, and the next time one of them blew, you might end up with a cooked motherboard. I'm not really sure what kinds of capacitors are on ps3s though... Maybe you can check the markings on them?

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also it's not going to be difficult to replace a capacitor, since there are quite a lot of space to work with. I'm not really a pro on soldering(I can barely solder two wires together), but there are guides on YouTube that you can refer to. Good luck!

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