PS3 yellow light of death (YLOD): diagnose properly, don't reflow
On YLOD the PS3's light goes green, yellow, then flashes red, and the console shuts down during hardware start-up. The common causes are the RSX graphics chip's internal solder bumps, the NEC/TOKIN filter capacitors that feed the CPU and GPU, and sometimes the PSU. Read the syscon error log to find out which, then fix the actual fault. Oven or heat-gun 'reflows' only buy time.
Written by the CircuitScope research team in our own words, from the sources listed at the end, and checked by our moderators.
On YLOD the PS3's light goes green, yellow, then flashes red, and the console shuts down during hardware start-up. The common causes are the RSX graphics chip's internal solder bumps, the NEC/TOKIN filter capacitors that feed the CPU and GPU, and sometimes the PSU. Read the syscon error log to find out which, then fix the actual fault. Oven or heat-gun 'reflows' only buy time.
Difficulty: Expert · Time: about 3 hours
Related codes / lights: A0801001 (CELL VDDC filtering), A0801002 (RSX VDDC filtering / NEC-TOKIN), 14FF, 1601, 1701, 1802, 3034 (commonly RSX solder joints), 3001 (12 V failure, usually PSU), 3003 / 3004 (CELL / RSX core power failure), 1200 / 1201 (CPU / GPU overheat)
Create a free CircuitScope account to see the full step-by-step guide.
- Every step, photo and measurement in this guide
- Pinouts, expected readings and fixes for the boards you work on
- Alerts when new guides are added