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| Cocktail, semolina cake,tools: Check! |
About a year ago I decided to purchase a blu-ray copy of Ghost in the Shell, my DVD copy having got lost somewhere or lent out and never returned. I wound up buying Ghost in the Shell 2.0, which seemed to me a sad indication that the true sequel Ghost in the Shell: Innocence was being disowned by Manga entertainment or whoever puts those films out. I was sad to see that they had chosen to make some alterations to the original film in this reissue, including but not limited to re-voicing the Puppet Master (scandalous!), but the disc contained the theatrical version of the movie so it was basically a two for one. The disc arrived, and upon placing it into my PS3 I discovered that it would not read. Instead, I got a series of clicks and a sound like the disc drive wanted to throw up the disc before finally just quitting any and all attempts to read the movie. My PS3 still read games fine, so I just figured it was some random issue with this one disc, you know, as opposed to a problem that would require me to bust open my PS3.
Fast forward to a few months ago. I had rented the terrible Captain America from the Redbox at Wegmans only to find that it too would not read in my PS3. Perhaps this issue was one that affected all blu-ray movies and not just Ghost in the Shell 2.0? After putting the disc in many times, turning the PS3 on and off, and much cursing, the disc finally spun up properly and I was able to fall asleep during Captain America. I had resigned myself to just not watching anymore blu-rays until I bought Final Fantasy XIII after listening to some lively discussion about the series on Giant Bombcast and decided that I needed to see what that game was all about. When that game didn't load, displaying the same routine that those blu-ray movies had, I realized I had a serious (not really) problem.
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| Best $22 I ever spent! |
A few days of research suggested that I had one of two problems: either my blu-ray laser was dirty, or it was failing and needed to be replaced. I decided to crack open my ps3 to try and clean the laser first. This was simple enough after ordering the required tools on Amazon. Cleaning the laser did not solve my issue, though it did reveal the true nature of my problem. My blu-ray laser was failing and would no longer read dual layered blu-rays, which it turns out includes most movies and some games, Final Fantasy XIII included. I ordered a replacement blu-ray laser from some factory in Hong Kong the next day.
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| Blu-ray drive removed. |
Replacing the laser was a bit more harrowing than just cleaning the defective one had been. There were so many screws.... so many screws. Also, removing the main board and spindle motor from the drive took a little more bending and forcefulness than I was comfortable with. When that final screw finally comes out of the mount that keeps the laser attached to the little drive that moves it back and forth, and everything just falls apart, one begins to wonder whether or not they've made a huge mistake by voiding the warranty, as well as the option of post warranty service by Sony, of a mostly functional PS3 to implement a fix that'll allow them to play a game they weren't even terribly excited to play in the first place.
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| The guts of the blu-ray drive. |
In the end, after some finagling, I did manage to get the new laser installed and I was able to boot up Final Fantasy XIII. Even more surprising was the fact that it turns out that I did really want to play Final Fantasy XIII, but that I just didn't know it until after I spent a little time with the game. That's a story for next time, though. Lastly, it's my understanding that all PS3 slims use the same dual laser setup for the blu-ray drive, so if you run up against a similar problem I highly recommend purchasing a replacement laser (part# KES-450A), a torx t-8 sercurity driver, and a reasonably small phillips head screwdriver set. You can save yourself a couple of hundred dollars not having to replace your out of warranty PS3.
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