PS3 Slimline - replacement drive mechs?

[oracle_jedi]

Does anyone have a good lead on reliable replacement NOS drives for a Sony PS3 slimline?

 

I'm on attempt #3 from Amazon and still no working Bluray.

 

In short - the PS3 slimline appears to use two completely different drive mechanisms.   

 

The one I think I need is the KEM-450AAA or CECH-2001A.  It has a single ribbon cable that routes over the top of the drive and down the side.   The other drive is, I think, a KEM-450DAA or CECH-2501A.  It has I think two ribbon cables that emerge from the rear of the unit.  Honestly its a little hard to tell as many vendors seem to use stock pictures that may or may not actually represent the drive they are selling.

 

The drives are not interchangeable.

 

The first drive from Amazon did not match the picture and would not fit in my PS3.

 

The second drive spent 3 months being shipped from China, was "lost", and Amazon gave me a refund.

 

The third drive finally arrived today, after a month shipping from China.  It fits.  It doesn't work at all.  Whereas my current drive will read DVDs but not BD discs, this replacement drive wont read anything at all.  It spins up, will accept and eject discs, but the PS3 does not recognize any DVD or BD disc as being in the drive.  Swapping the drives back restores my partial functionality so its not the ribbon cable.  

 

I really don't want to wait another month or more for a drive that may or may not fit, and may or may not work.  

 

Advice?

 

Thanks

 

 

 

 

 

 

[oracle_jedi]

More googling, and this forum discussion: 

  

So it seems I have to "re-marry" the drive to the PS3.   Seen a few video links on doing this and there appear to be a number of ways to do it.

 

Oddly, none of the existing YT videos I watched on replacing the drive ever mentioned the need to "remarry" it.  

 

 

 

[Tavi]

I know with the PS3 fat models, there is a circuit board on the back of the Blu ray drive that you have to remove from the old drive, and replace the one on your new drive with it.

Otherwise, you get the same problem you are experiencing. The drive physically works but the console does not actually 'see' it for reading data from discs.

Doing a bit of googling, it does seem with the PS3 slims, there are some models that you have to do the same.

I did find you a decent youtube video that seems to explain it well, and discusses how to replace drives for various PS3 slim models.