First off the most common thing that people do during a PS3 troubleshoot is record the light codes they are given if they have any. The led on the front of the unit will blink in various red or yellow sequences to tell you what's wrong. These can range from hard drive failure, optical drive failure, fan failure, video connector failure, Ethernet failure, and overheating.
Aside from paying hundreds over bucks for a refurbishment or repairing it yourself with the help of sites like http://www.ylod.net/
Well the good news is that a video failure doesn't always mean something's wrong with the console. The video cord may be bad or the port may be bad, luckily the Playstation 3 has multiple interfaces for you to use. This is a bit of a bummer if you're use to that HDMI cable, but it's better than $150.00 worth of repairs. If it's really a problem you can get it fixed, but at least you can play it until then.
An optical drive failure is a bit less certain. It's either clogged up by dust and hair or it's dead. A simple can of compressed air will help you with this PS3 troubleshoot problem. If it works afterwards then that was the problem, if not then you have a busted drive and need repairs. Ethernet failure isn't something that the average user can repair either so you can either get it fixed or do without the PSN.
Now hard drive failure is an easy thing to take care of. The simple PS3 troubleshoot method for this is to yank it, blow out the slot with air, and then reinsert it. If it doesn't work then you can simply buy another. The PS3 uses a laptop size SATA drive for storage so repair and replacement is easy.
Finally we come to the most damning of problems for the PS3 which is heat. The system is a powerhouse but even the redesigned slim model can get really hot. So what do you do to fix it and make it playable again? Well assuming it's just an overheating issue due to the environment you can use the good old canned air again. Blow it into all the vents on the unit and see if that helps.
If it doesn't then you may need to go a step further. Assuming your unit simply doesn't run too hot you can cool it via an unorthodox method. This method is buying small USB powered fans for computers, plugging them into the USB ports on the PS3, and positioning them in front of the vents.
Again unorthodox, but it might work if nothing else does. When a PS3 troubleshoot looks unfixable unorthodox often works. That being said try everything short of voiding your warranty to fix the problem. If all else fails call Sony and have them honor the warranty or send it for repairs.
If your warranty is finished, paying $150-200 for the 6 weeks fixing from SONY is your 2nd last choice...
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