The Playstation 3 is the current generation of console and while it's quite user-friendly and reliable, it's not perfect. A portion of users have reported suffering from the Yellow Light of Death. If you want to try a fix that doesn't require a technician, then continue on to try and deal with your PS3 YLOD.

Hard Drive

The Yellow Light of Death sometimes occurs when the hard disk fails during a routine writing operating, such as installing a game. When it fails, it can't always start working again, meaning you need to fix it, either by taking it to a professional technician or by doing it yourself. If you want to avoid fees for now and attempt a DIY fix, then continue on.

You'll need some knowledge of your personal computer and Playstation 3 to carry this out, though nothing too deep. Furthermore, you'll need a pen drive, a SATA 2.5' to Firewire or USB cable. This will be all that is necessary for this fix.

Before you continue, note that this technique will remove all the information from your Playstation 3 hard drive. Your saves and other data will be lost. If you're sure you want to continue, download the latest PS3 system software from Sony's knowledge base and onto the USB drive.

If you're on a Windows operating system, start by right clicking on My Computer. Then select Manage from the list and find Disk Management in the new window. In the adjacent section, you can see a list of your available hard drives. The Playstation 3 one should be there under a serial number as opposed to a traditional name. Right click on it and select format. A quick NTFS format should suffice.

Select Format, then carry out a quick NTFS format. Once complete, reinsert the drive into the Playstation 3 and turn the power on. If it's worked so far, you'll be prompted to insert the pen drive with the system software. Once the install is complete, if the fix has worked, you should be able to use your console as normal.