PS3 Not reading discs! HELP!

[Deverfro]

So I was playing The Last of Us, and it froze on a cut scene, bummer. So I tried holding down the power button, which just made the screen go black, so I turned it off by the switch as it was the only way.

Turned it back on, and now it won't read any discs. Everything looks normal, but the discs icon won't show up on the menu.

I was looking it up, and apparently I just have to reset the system to default, or something.

http://community.eu.playstation.com/t5/PlayStation-3-Technical-Help/If-your-PS3-is-not-reading-disks-there-may-be-a-solution/td-p/6086723

HELP ME, PLEASE!

EDIT: Another issue I had about a month ago was the disc would go in, but the motor would go, and it would just kinda sit there. I get the feling I've just fucked up the console as a whole. Balls.

 

[Frezzato]

Definitely back up your data first. Have you done that yet?

 

[Deverfro]

Definitely back up your data first. Have you done that yet?

I don't know how

 

[Frezzato]

I don't know how

That's fine. Before you make a move (and it's also good to do this in general), you'll need an external hard drive that's at least as large as the HDD installed in your PS3. I bought two enclosures, both for notebook hard drives and one for regular IDE discs. You're going to need to format the external as FAT32, which is the only format the PS3 recognizes. There's a free tool called Swissknife which will format drives as FAT32 using your PC.

More info to follow. Bear with me, I'm trying it myself to refresh my memory...

 

[Frezzato]

Okay, so I haven't had to format anything larger than 32GB as FAT32 in a while, so I didn't realize that there's no more free version of Swissknife for Windows 7. If you have XP still, it will work. If you have Windows 7, then this should work. Fat32Format [http://www.ridgecrop.demon.co.uk/index.htm?guiformat.htm].
*EDIT* I forgot to mention, don't click on the giant 'Download' button on that page. Click on the image of the program.

I wanted to ensure I wasn't giving you faulty info, so I reformatted my PS3 backup and started over again. Using Fat32Format (it's a very simple program), my PS3 recognized the external drive and is backing up now. I must warn you, it takes hours upon hours to finish. Before you start the backup, make sure you have the auto-turnoff feature disabled on the PS3.

 

[Frezzato]

snip

Bear in mind, you don't have to back up your system before trying that. It's a risk, but the guy who wrote that mentioned it as a precaution. I personally would not try that without backing up my data first, but you may have your reasons.

 

[SnowyGamester]

Didn't know it was possible for this to be a software issue...more often than not it's a faulty laser in the disk drive that causes this problem (a common fault in PS3s). If a factory reset doesn't help you can buy a replacement laser online and install it yourself for under $60...it's a fairly straightforward procedure, though not sure how much it would cost to fix at a repair shop or by sending it to Sony. If by chance it's still in warranty Sony should fix it for free.