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Xbox 360 RROD We Know: Sony PS3 YLOD, is it fake or real?

By: Daniel Chubb | February 27, 2008 | 58 Comments

Sony PS3 YLOD

Last month we heard about the Sony PS3 death with a so-called YLOD, today we have had a few more comments of Playstation 3 gamers getting the YLOD.

We all know the Xbox 360 RROD is fact and I have even had it myself, but gamers have mixed views about YLOD, is it real or fake.

This might be because it is very rare, while Microsoft’s 360 problem was a lot more common.

What do you think, Sony PS3 YLOD – Fake or Real?

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  • Johnny

    Well not everything is perfect and I do believe that the PS3 might have some tech issues (super duper miny minor though) at some point of it’s lifetime but it really isn’t nothing as serious as Microsofts multi-billion dollar issue.

    1 of 10 million I’ll say.

  • rofl

    Oh wow. ONE PS3 got a “YLOD” and suddenly it’s a problem for all of them?

    No thanks. I’ll take my chances.

  • The Future of Sega

    It’s fake. At one time I nearly played my PS3 for 24 hours straight….Nothings wrong with mine :)

  • The Future of Sega

    But I’ll have to admit. These so called “Next Generation” games aren’t so addictive as the previous gen games. Games like Goldeneye, Mortal Kombat Triology, NFL Blitz 2000, Zelda Majora’s Mask, Sonic Adventure, Halo (the original), Crash Bandicoot Warped 3, etc.

    They just don’t have that much fun or thrill in them like those games anymore. Theres too much focus on graphics, sound, hardrives, hype of a game, instead of the actual gameplay itself! And you know whats really sad about this, is that probably all of those games I mentioned above would probably rank higher than a handful of these next generations games.

  • Jim

    It is neither real nor fake based on the perameters you have set.

    RROD is a serious hardware failure that directly relates to the crappy parts inside the 360

    The YLOD, or whatever you seem to call it is something programmed into the system, it means it is too hot. In other words, anyone who gets this “YLOD” has their system enclosed and not enough ventilation is around it.

    First the PS3 will automatically shut itself off if it becomes too hot and is in danger of overheating. If you try to turn it back on after that has happened, you get this yellow light, which means the system is saying: “Hey stupid, I’m too hot right now because your too stupid to give me breathing room, please wait until I cool down.”

  • lance

    its real i had my ps3 for about 3 wks and i gotta ylod…got a new one then something else went wrong but it wasnt a YLOD but its getting fixed at the moment i gotta 360 also ive had mine since lauch it hasnt crapped out…yet but about 4 friends have had theres bite the dust 3 out of the 4 were using the intercooler

  • OLDGUY

    @The Future of Sega

    I don’t think it’s the games, I think it’s our age…well that’s what I’m blaming my lack of intrest in recent games on lol

  • Slayerking131 (psn)

    heres what it boils down to. Lets get some numbers here. I have never had this happen to my ps3, and yes i have left mine on over night to download a couple of demos before. so thats 1/1 that doesnt have it. Please comment if you own a ps3!!!

  • anonymous

    The ‘YLOD’ happens when the PS3 is turned on without an HDD installed.

  • brian

    Wait I have one its a “WGAS”, because who does really give a shit

  • Mornelithe

    I’ve had my 60g for 12-13 months now and it’s been on for a majority of that (Run folding@home constantly). Never had any problems like this myself…

    Morne

  • Amsterdam

    Jim above is correct 100%. I had the same issue…I had the PS3 in an entertainment center and the door shut..It shut off, i turned it on and it was yellow..I freaked out, un plugged it and all. Couldnt figure it out..The ps3 was HUMMING from the fans when it was plugged in..after plugging it back it when it was back to room temp, it worked fine. Havent had a single problem since then.

  • joel

    i have 2 ps3 one just for folding@home its been on for 34 day

  • martin

    its true….the ylod exists……and its not the cooling stuff…….if it gets over-heated the red lights blink…..so get ur facts right,,,,the ylod is cozd due to ssum kinda spindle breakage

  • Chicken Man

    thats soo fake!! all it means is that you need to clean the fans w/ a low power vacuum cleaner and it’ll work perfectly! (i read it in the manual and I’m sure this is what happens if u don’t)

  • Chad

    Its just 360 fans trying to make ps3 sound bad

  • Media Man

    Real or Fake, I wouldn’t know. My ps3 doesn’t over heat. It was well made.

  • martin

    @ chad

    im a ps fanboy dufus…..i at first dint believe this shit….but all of a sudden it happend to me…tats all

  • Ivan_PSP

    Fake FAKE Who ever believes this crap is an idiot. PS3 is made by real highly talent professional not that cares about making a great product too bad i can’t say the same for Microsoft hardware nightmare Xbox 360. Everyone that saids that they got a YLOD is a Xbox 360 fanboy dreaming of getting the greatest video game console and the strongest with the best games.

    This is not news is just fanboy talk.

  • Ivan_PSP

    Fake FAKE Who ever believes this crap is an idiot. PS3 is made by real highly talent professional not that cares about making a great product too bad i can’t say the same for Microsoft hardware nightmare Xbox 360. Everyone that saids that they got a YLOD is a Xbox 360 fanboy dreaming of getting the greatest video game console and the strongest with the best games.

    This is not news is just fanboy talk don’t believe YLOD is fake.

  • Craig

    Don’t know. Peoples PS3′s die but doesnt show a yrod.

  • stevie

    Ya, I guess if I was stupid enough to own a 360 then I’d probably start rumours too, thankfully, I’m not that stupid. PSPCWii FTW

    FUCK YOU MICROSHIT

  • anonymous

    I actualy got this once but it was for a short ammount of time and all I had to do was restart the console. afterwords there was no different in the before/after preformance.

  • carlos

    wow this site isnt biased or anything… go check out their other reviews ps3 related.. not coming here again.

  • Waleed

    i dont believe it
    i left my ps3 on for 3 days straight playin COD4
    literally for like 3days straight switching with my bro and cousin to play COD4. Nothing happened
    eventhough it was Hot as hell.
    BTW even this YLOD is real, eventhough i think it isn r shouldnot be a serious problem, since its very rare, at the most maybeif it exists 1 or 2 percent, which is nothing compared with the 36O’s 25 to 33 percent.
    So dont worry about, even if it does occur, which it wont, remember sony will gladly fix it 4 you.

  • SwissArmyBud

    It’s real. I have almost 2000 posts over at the official forums and I’ve seen this a couple times. It’s the same thing as the RROD, it just indicates a general hardware failure. No big deal, as others have already stated the number of people this happens to is incredibly small.

  • phil harrison

    IT’S REAL TRUST ME, I ALREADY GOT 3 YLOD AND THEN I JUST BOUGHT A 360 WHICH HAS NOT FAILED ME AT ALL AND DON’T REGRET BUYING BECAUSE IT HAS THE BEST GAMES COMPARED TO PS3. PS3 IS ONLY A GOOD BLU-RAY PLAYER AND THAT IS ALL.

  • dsd

    fake

  • Shadowkeeper

    I’m on my second PS3 first one got a blueray error. Stating all my disc’s were unreadable.

    However I suspect it was from the dust since I never turn the dang thing on. They just exchanged it and currently it seems to be fine.

    I bought the thing for blueray movies but as you already know the price is still too damn much for the movies.

    As for games…well the xbox 360 elite I have gets all my time.
    Never had an issue with the 360 Pro I have as well.

    People have to remember these are computers and not toys. They need a lot of breathing room.

  • juan

    i had my ps3 for 5 months now and almost never turn it off. cause i use it a lot for web movies pictures talking to with the webcam and downloading everthing new that come up in PSS.
    an cod4 alway on it.an it never gave me a problem.

  • josh chiaramonte

    that is bull crap there just hating on the ps3 because its like a million times better than the 360. i have one and it works exceptional, i dont know how many times friends xbox crap 6o’s broke down, come on microsoft theres no competition, your mezely little hdd isnt nothing, i have a 250gb hdd i can store as much stuff on it as i want, i do not recommend the 360 at all

  • The Future of Sega

    Hey do you guys want to know what is real!? Huh, huh!??……Is that this blog is GAY! Who gives a eagle’s penis about whether or not the YLOD exists! They’re are better things to talk about.

    Hey let’s talk about things that both the PS3 and Xbox 360 could improve on, that hasn’t been covered already.

  • Logic

    i have not had this problem.
    have run folding for 346 work units (@ 8hours each) since launch and runs great, it has only been switched off for maybe 2 hours each month for the past 7 months and seems to like/tolerate it.

  • Ivan_PSP

    OMG PLAYSTATION 3 doesn’t die like every Xbox 360 does, so all you Xbox 360 fanboy STF^ PS3 is not crap like your Xbox 360 is. YLOD is fake everything is lie stop lying you Xbox 360 geeks.

  • Daniel

    Ive had this happen to me exactly twice in the last 5 months! I dont know if its worth making a big song and dance over, though!!!!

    The first time, apparently it was because it couldnt read the HDD. But on further investigation, it was put down to the ambient temp of the room being too hot.

    Ive gone through two Xbox 360s. The second one is going strong. The first one completely crapped out after exactly one year, a launch model.

    I have no doubt at all that this “issue” is no where near anything as serious as the Xbox’s RROD !!

    Machines/Computers DO get HOT, remember???!!! As always, it comes down to having adequate ventillation for your console!! – Every extra spare half inch goes a LONG WAY!!!

    I have no doubt that maybe a few PS3s will have some crash/hang issues, but I also have no doubt in my mind that this is NOTHING like RROD!!!! Im almost positive!!!

    Apart from this happening twice to me, my PS3 is going strong. She hasnt died on me. I personally dont think she will! She just lets you know when its a no go! Know what I mean?

    When the 360 started to die on me, you just knew it was gonna be a slow and painful death!!

    I dont have the same “feeling” here!! ;-)

    But if she does die, so be it. I aint gonna be hissing over it.

    I have no concerns over this matter at all!! Just thought Id share my tiny history with anyone that gives a toss!!!

    Ciao 4 now!!

    Dan

  • Alex

    Just Ebay up “PS3 as-is” and count how many “Won’t power up”. YLOD is as real. I’ve got two. There is more than one way to throw a general system failure, it’s not just a heat issue. And for all the non-believers it’s “yellow” because the red and green led’s are on at the same time for a little bit while it’s choking to death.

  • Daniel

    Yeah, actually, that is a valid point there, Alex!

    I didnt bother so much with the fact that it might be a heat issue or not!!

    There is the odd occasion where it just doesnt “want” to boot, but those are very far and few between!! i just know that mine were an ambient heat issue… either way, I know that its NOT as much a huge drama as RROD !!

    But, before all the cool LEDs and stuff, Im not sure if anyone around here even remembers the same sort of thing happening to the original PlayStation – sometimes it just would NOT boot, and then other times, it could go for days at a time!!! Lol!!! Also, same with the DreamCast… AND the XBOX orig…

    Sometimes, they just WONT boot!!!

    But anyways – yep – people, including myself, forget that there is ALWAYS another reason as to why… you are right – its not JUST a heat issue!

    Daniel.

  • stoltobot

    I’ve got a similar problem with my NES. A red LED keeps flashing on and off. Sometimes I take the cartridge out and blow on the connectors and it plays. Maybe this will fix the burning ring of fire in your anus.

  • FUzzy 209

    I haven’t had the Yellow light of DOOOOOOM!! happen to me, and I play my Ps3 alot, and i still prefer the Xbox360 but damn the RROD happened to me twice already which is BS!!! piece of shit Microsoft needs to pull their heads out of their assess and get their shit together

  • moomooo

    it’s not fake i just got it, oh it only happens if your not plaiyng!

  • Greg

    This is true.I had my PS3 and it got the YLOD.And its only becomes permanent when the light turns from yellow to red.If it just stays at yellow then move it for more breathing air or just leave it off for awhile.But yes,it is true.

  • Atahualpa

    ALAS IT IS REAL!!!!!, IT HAPPENED TO ME 3 DAYS AGO, NO WARRANTY BY THE WAY , SO I AM DOOMED, 600€ TO THE GARBAGE, I READ, IT ONLY HAPPEN TO 60 GIG ANS 20 GIG MODELS. MINE WAS A 60 GIG AND I WAS PLAYING MGS4, I CANT SPARE ANOTHER 400 € ANYTIME SOON, MY BABY IS GONE, THE WORLD CAN END NOW………

  • LoveDoctor

    Offcourse it’s REAL, it happaned to me over the weekend! And after scanning the net I must admit that mine also kicked the bucket exactly at the 18months threshold! :(

    My PS3 is NOT in an enclosed space
    My PS3 had NOT been witched on for hours on-end

    In fact.. I was minding my own business watching The Matrix-Reloaded on Blu-ray when I pressed pause (I was about 10 minutes into the movie) and the system booted on me. I though I just start it up again, but it gave me the YLOD :(

    How a system can be overheated in a well ventilated spot after playing a movie for 10 minutes is beyond me. What I hear when it fails is a faint click or ping sound inside.. which to me sounds like the Power-Supply is busted.. :(

  • Nick

    Same as LoveDoctor. I played Resistance 2 for maybe 15 minutes and my ps3 crash and I got the ylod. I call Sony and I will lost all my save data for sure. And by the way don’t listen to stupid people who said “take off the hdd and put it back” it’s doesn’t work.

  • PS3 man

    Of course all the PS3 fanboys will say that there is no such thing. But I have two friends who have both gotten it and both of them have been having the biggest trouble with getting them fixed. Xbox360 is still the best. gayzorz lmfaowtfbbqidkbff

  • jojo

    That sounds fake but it could be possible… Does it happen to any PS3? Or the old ones with the chrome plate in the front only?
    I got a PS3 80GB without backwards compatibility…

  • disunion

    my friend also has a ps3. he has the old 60 gb one and has added a new HD in it. he’s put linux on it and constantly leaves it on 24+ about 5 days a week. When he’s not on he’s folding for Stanford University to cure cancer by way of the Life with Playstation program. So if anyones is pushed to the limit his is. His was even part of the first batch on ps3s.

    Mine is almost a year old and is the 40 gig. I too have replaced the hard drive for a 320.

  • Retired Gamer

    Here is the difference with PS3 and X-BOX360 with me

    My original core 360 I’ve had for 21/2 years approx. and it just now went RROD. I know it’s a cheap system, but I have had luck with it for a cheap system. I’m probably going to get arcade next week.

    My dads PS3 (2yrs. old never boxed up for long. Bought the spring after my BDay), still works. It’s gathered more dust than my X-Box. Only prob. is… he wont let me play with it.

    I am a yo-yo gamer, I put away my x-box for a year in between.

  • lec

    well i have 3 of this ps3 and the second just did the same thing all 3 the 600.00 model cecha01 60gb i think is not a small amount of them with this problem sony socks. (ylod)is real and they need to call them back.

  • Matt

    HAHAHAHA people who think their ps3 is invincible….i thought the same at around this time hell I even dared say the system is going to last a good 10 years….NO it didn’t PERIOD. they first wave of ps3′s get YLOD after 2-3 years and the new ones, well lets just say i wouldn’t say they are bullet proff either. I took SUCH good care of my ps3 and while i was in the middle of fallout 3 the damn thing died. Ps3 is better than shit-box but its still a P.O.S….to bad its the best P.O.S or i wouldn’t be getting another one today. ><

  • Matt

    Your comment is awaiting moderation.
    May 24, 2009 at 3:28 pmHAHAHAHA people who think their ps3 is invincible….i thought the same at around this time hell I even dared say the system was going to last a good 10 years….NO it didn’t, PERIOD. the first wave of ps3’s get YLOD after 2-3 years and the new ones, well lets just say say they aren’t bullet proof either. I took SUCH good care of my ps3 and while i was in the middle of Fallout 3 the damn thing got YLOD, AND NO this wasn’t a 60gb or 20gb this was a 40gb. Ps3 is better than shit-box 360 but its still a P.O.S….to bad its the best P.O.S or i wouldn’t be getting another one today. ><

  • Ian Davis

    My ps3 did the ylod two days ago. It is free standing on the cabinet , has never been moved and had only been on for 3 minutes ( last used 24 hours previous). So im afraid it does happen and its totally out of the blue , The english clan i belong to (n00b) have had at least 8 failures the same, this is on english 60 and 40 gig models

  • Werefaw

    its fake. my ps3 runs all day all night.
    my old 60gb broke but it never showed a “ylod”.
    the only problem ive had with the ps3 is with the controllers breaking which has happened frequently with the sixaxis, but only once with the dualshock 3, which just broke after about 6 months of constant use.

  • Adrian

    I have a PS3, and this have naver happend to mine. Its only u guys with XBOX who think this is happening.

  • Anj

    I had the YLOD last week, and have opted to send it to a 3rd party repairer because they charge only £69.99 (instead of Sony’s £128), you get a 6 month warranty (instead of Sony’s 3 month) and they keep your existing HD data intact (unlike Sony). Sony may believe the YLOD fault rate is less than 12,000 (which is what they told the BBC Watchdog program) but I believe its several magnitudes more than that since the repairer I talked to suggested they had fixed thousands of PS3s – all of which Sony wouldn’t count in their official stats.

  • http://www.piczo.com sam

    Im scared if my xbox3760 arcade console explodes

    This is my question How long do u Have to play to get the RROD?

  • Anvesh

    lol yeah I remember about this really fun game for the ps1 called Nascar rumble where you can use super powers.It was really fun.Now the ps3 and ps2 nascars are just raceing.
    And crash bandicoot is better than Uncharted gameplay wise.Spyro too

  • Bob

    It is real i got the ylod while playing modern warfare 2. Sony charges 150 to fix/ refurbish your PS3. IT SUCKS!!!!