PS3 disc randomly stopped working?

[Raidou Kuzunoha XIV]

I decided to play Deus Ex Human Revolution over this weekend, since I never actually completed it due to screwing up my platinum playthrough and dropping it. It's been years since I last played it, and I now have a new PS3 after my original fat PS3 died. I pop it in my PS3, and it's just a black screen. Try again a few times, get an update at one point, but then it's back to a black screen after it installs. Tried wiping it with a damp cloth and drying it, and it finally works, only now it keeps getting stuck installing at 8-9%, and I've tried it 3 times now (after wiping it each time), so I've just given up and ordered a new copy. Thankfully it's dirt cheap nowadays, even brand new, I would have been a lot more upset if this had happened to a game that's rare/expensive nowadays. All other discs I've tried on the PS3 are working fine, so I guess it must just be the disc.

 

The thing that bothers me is that I never had any issues with this game before, it has no scratches on the surface at all, it has a few tiny pinprick sized smudges, even after wiping it, but that's it. I have games that have nasty scratches that still work, I even had an older game disc that had disc rot that still worked for a few years before finally dying. I've never once had a game disc just randomly stop working on me for no obvious reason, and the fact the disc is still in pretty good condition bugs me as to why it won't work. The only game disc I can recall ever dying on me before that wasn't pre-owned was Super Smash Bros Melee, and that was really no surprise because I basically abused it as a kid and just kept it around wherever, not in its case.

 

Has anyone else ever had this happen to them? It's really bothering me now because I'm worried I may have some other old games that just suddenly won't work any more if I ever decide to play them, even if they've been kept in the cases all the time.

 

Edit: Just to edit this without needlessly bumping the thread for anyone that stumbles across this in the future with a similar issue; my new copy of Deus Ex came and installed perfectly fine, so I assumed it was indeed the disc. Recently though, I gave the old disc to my boyfriend and he installed it on his PS3 perfectly fine, just as it did on my last PS3. So it makes me think that maybe it is my PS3 somehow (I have had other weird unrelated disc drive issues occasionally, including another game that kept getting stuck at 98% on install despite nothing visibly wrong with the disc aside from some specks. It installed fine after swapping for another disc).

 

Hopefully this PS3, or the disc drive/blu ray laser at least, don't die on me any time soon considering I've only had it for just over a year now. I would recommend anyone reading this who has had a similar issue to try and test the disc on a different PS3 if possible, maybe ask if you can try it on a friend's PS3. If the disc works on theirs, you can at least perhaps prepare for the worst with your PS3.

Edited April 18, 2018 by SuperSmexy500

[JNSpradlin]

Sounds like the bluRay laser is going out.  Its a 30-45 minute process to change yourself. I had it happen myself where certain games played some didnt.

Edited March 9, 2018 by JNSpradlin
typo

[Lorajet]

Yes.  I panicked when my GTA V disc just stopped working because I wasn't ready to buy another PS3.  But was happy when other discs and movies didn't have a problem.

 

So marched down to Game Stop and bought a used GTA V disc.  No problems.  Easy and cheap fix than tearing the console apart.

[Raidou Kuzunoha XIV]

On 09/03/2018 at 2:29 PM, JNSpradlin said:

Sounds like the bluRay laser is going out.  Its a 30-45 minute process to change yourself. I had it happen myself where certain games played some didnt.

I'm not sure, I've literally tried out about 30+ different PS3 games since then, including some in poorer conditions and they all worked fine. The new copy of Deus Ex installed perfectly fine with no issues when that came too, seems a bit weird it would just be my PS3's laser when all other discs worked.

 

On 09/03/2018 at 2:32 PM, Lorajet said:

Yes.  I panicked when my GTA V disc just stopped working because I wasn't ready to buy another PS3.  But was happy when other discs and movies didn't have a problem.

 

So marched down to Game Stop and bought a used GTA V disc.  No problems.  Easy and cheap fix than tearing the console apart.

That sucks, but thankfully it was just the disc, as it was in my situation too.

Still really weird how a disc would just stop working when it's in pretty good condition, I only hope it doesn't happen to other games, especially any that may be hard to find nowadays.

[Guest]

Tiny pinprick smudges like dents? If on the right spots of the disc could totally F up the disc. Normally bluray disc are pretty strong and scratch resistant also they gave a coating to help the light read the disc better but if you got pinpricks, you def damaged sensitive area already.

[GT__Jedi]

11 minutes ago, ERGOPROXY-DECAY said:

Tiny pinprick smudges like dents? If on the right spots of the disc could totally F up the disc. Normally bluray disc are pretty strong and scratch resistant also they gave a coating to help the light read the disc better but if you got pinpricks, you def damaged sensitive area already.

Agree.  After the initial panic, I've cleaned the blu ray and the disc, but sometimes I guess it is just time to say goodbye and buy the game again. ?

[Raidou Kuzunoha XIV]

30 minutes ago, ERGOPROXY-DECAY said:

Tiny pinprick smudges like dents? If on the right spots of the disc could totally F up the disc. Normally bluray disc are pretty strong and scratch resistant also they gave a coating to help the light read the disc better but if you got pinpricks, you def damaged sensitive area already.

I'm not sure, there is one tiny smudge/pinprick on the disc that's visible at any angle I view the disc from, even just looking at it from the side if I hold it flat on my palm. I did buy the game pre-owned, though it worked before so I didn't think there was an issue, it's just been kept in the case when not in use so not sure what could have happened to it, but it did always have some smudges on the disc.

 

Not the first time I've had issues with pre-owned discs, but the issues tend to be obvious immediately, or during gameplay there'll be some section that I can't seem to advance past because it can't read the disc past that section. This game took about 4 or so years before it just stopped working on me.

 

I just try to always buy new nowadays whenever I can anyway, unless it's impossible to find a game new, or the new prices are insanely expensive. Aside from Smash Bros Melee as previously mentioned, I've never had a game I've bought brand new stop working on me.

[ProfBambam55]

I had the same problem with my uncharted 3 disc...took me a while to figure it out...the top of the disc was damaged...i.e where the data is...if I held it up to a light I could see tiny pin holes where light shone through...data compromised...you could have a look at the top...not saying it's 100% the case with yours but might be worth checking out...i had actually finished with the game, had stored it in its case for a while,  and pulled it out again to help a friend with co-op...no idea how it got damaged as it had always worked fine...ended up needing to get a new one... 

Edited March 11, 2018 by ProfBambam55

[Lady_Galleth2]

You have Disc rot.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disc_rot