[PS3] Console locking up during gameplay

[MrBill]

I got a 250GB PS3 Slim last December and it hasn't given me any trouble until the past few days. I'm starting to get more and more random lockups during game play. I've been playing mainly Black Ops and Madden '11 and while Madden hasn't completely frozen up yet but it will lock up for 10-15 seconds, Black Ops will at least 1-2 times a day if I'm going for a few hours.

I've checked to see if the discs were dirty and cleaned them just to be sure but it's still happening. Is this the sign a laser is going out or something else you other PS3 owners have experienced?

 

[MmmmBeeeeer]

When the laser went out on mine it just died, I had no problems before that. I do have Black Ops lock up at least once per play session, but I just attribute to it being a shitty port with a lot of bugs.

How do you store it? Possibly overheating? Is it full of dust?

 

[Twigg4075]

I've never heard of that but it almost sounds like a hard drice caching issue. Does anyone know how to clear the cache on the PS3?

I know with the 360 there is a combo of button presses.

 

[Twigg4075]

I did a quick Google search and found a ton of posts on the playstation.com boards. One of the first posts the guy said he deleted all the content in the "Game Data" folder, which I beleieve it's just updates and such, and that fixed the problem. I think that folder is basically the same as the cache for all your games.

 

[PP]

you could toss a spare hard drive in the ps3 and see if that resolves before u go about deleting anything.

 

[MrBill]

When the laser went out on mine it just died, I had no problems before that. I do have Black Ops lock up at least once per play session, but I just attribute to it being a shitty port with a lot of bugs.

How do you store it? Possibly overheating? Is it full of dust?

Sounds like it might just be the game then. I have noticed that this all seemed to coincide with the 1.03 patch coming out though...

It's on an entertainment shelf in my office with clear ventilation paths all around it. I keep compressed air handy to blow dust off of the vents on the back of the console pretty regularly.

I've never heard of that but it almost sounds like a hard drice caching issue. Does anyone know how to clear the cache on the PS3?

I know with the 360 there is a combo of button presses.

I did a quick Google search and found a ton of posts on the playstation.com boards. One of the first posts the guy said he deleted all the content in the "Game Data" folder, which I beleieve it's just updates and such, and that fixed the problem. I think that folder is basically the same as the cache for all your games.

I went and checked that out based on your first comment and found the same stuff. I'm deleting the 1.03 patch from my PS3 and then will reboot and start up Black Ops to download the patch again. Maybe something is corrupted on it?

 

[Twigg4075]

Sounds like it might just be the game then. I have noticed that this all seemed to coincide with the 1.03 patch coming out though...

It's on an entertainment shelf in my office with clear ventilation paths all around it. I keep compressed air handy to blow dust off of the vents on the back of the console pretty regularly.





I went and checked that out based on your first comment and found the same stuff. I'm deleting the 1.03 patch from my PS3 and then will reboot and start up Black Ops to download the patch again. Maybe something is corrupted on it?

Is that the most recent patch? I also read in that forum that whatever the most recent patch was is supposed to help speed up reading of blurays. That sounds great but apparently is causes the mototr in the older models to work too hard and die out. I have an older model so that does not sound good. But you have a newer one so I don't know.

How do you go about deleting a patch anyway?

 

[Maynard]

there is no clearing the cache option on the ps3. on the 360 u simply goto the memory device and select Y and then select clear cache

 

[Twigg4075]

there is no clearing the cache option on the ps3. on the 360 u simply goto the memory device and select Y and then select clear cache

Ok. Yeah, I think it was before the NXE you had to do a few more things.

But I'm also pretty sure deleting the files in the Games Data folder is the same thing as clearing the cache.

 

[MrBill]

Is that the most recent patch? I also read in that forum that whatever the most recent patch was is supposed to help speed up reading of blurays. That sounds great but apparently is causes the mototr in the older models to work too hard and die out. I have an older model so that does not sound good. But you have a newer one so I don't know.

How do you go about deleting a patch anyway?

Yes, 1.03 is the most recent patch. To delete it, you just go to game on the crossbar and up to game data utility and delete the data there for a particular game. When I started the game up again, it prompted me to download the 1.03 patch again before playing online. It doesn't delete your save game since that is saved in a different location.

I thought that might have done the trick since I was able to play about 5 rounds of domination before it froze up again. Sure hope this is nothing I have to start getting used to as it will suck the fun out of the game for me.

 

[Twigg4075]

Yes, 1.03 is the most recent patch. To delete it, you just go to game on the crossbar and up to game data utility and delete the data there for a particular game. When I started the game up again, it prompted me to download the 1.03 patch again before playing online. It doesn't delete your save game since that is saved in a different location.

I thought that might have done the trick since I was able to play about 5 rounds of domination before it froze up again. Sure hope this is nothing I have to start getting used to as it will suck the fun out of the game for me.

Did you try Madden too? I know when Black Ops first came out it froze on me a few times as well when playing online. I'm pretty sure that was a widely reported problme with the coding. I haven't played online in quite a while so I can't say if I still have the same problem. But I know I don't have that problem with Madden.

 

[padman59]

I think it's a memory or threading issue. It probably has more to do with the game you play rather than the actual hardware.

For example, MAG occasionally locks up my console when I'm in the larger game modes, but I've rarely experienced it on other games.

 

[red33]

ps3 freezes on black ops and fallut new vegas only.

but black ops was only after latest patch and well fallout has it share of bugs as we all know.

 

[MrBill]

Appreciate all of the feedback guys. I tried Madden earlier with no freezes and played about 90 minutes worth of Black Ops and no lock ups tonight. I'm thinking the answers is somewhere between a buggy patch 1.03 and maybe the initial download was corrupted...more likely a buggy code drop.

 

[MmmmBeeeeer]

Don't hold out the idea on Black Ops just being really buggy, I've read many complaints from people, including myself about BO locking up